Daily Archives: April 15, 2022

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Nicholas P. Sullivan, Tufts University

(THE CONVERSATION) People in the worlds developed nations live in a post-industrial era, working mainly in service or knowledge industries. Manufacturers increasingly rely on sensors, robots, artificial intelligence and machine learning to replace human labor or make it more efficient. Farmers can monitor crop health via satellite and apply pesticides and fertilizers with drones.

Commercial fishing, one of the oldest industries in the world, is a stark exception. Industrial fishing, with factory ships and deep-sea trawlers that land thousands of tons of fish at a time, are still the dominant hunting mode in much of the world.

This approach has led to overfishing, stock depletions, habitat destruction, the senseless killing of unwanted by-catch and wastage of as much as 30% to 40% of landed fish. Industrial fishing has devastated artisanal pre-industrial fleets in Asia, Africa and the the Pacific.

The end product is largely a commodity that travels around the world like a manufactured part or digital currency, rather than fresh domestic produce from the sea. An average fish travels 5,000 miles before reaching a plate, according to sustainable-fishing advocates. Some is frozen, shipped to Asia for processing, then refrozen and returned to the U.S.

But these patterns are starting to change. In my new book, The Blue Revolution: Hunting, Harvesting, and Farming Seafood in the Information Age, I describe how commercial fishing has begun an encouraging shift toward a less destructive, more transparent post-industrial era. This is true in the U.S., Scandinavia, most of the European Union, Iceland, New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, the Philippines and much of South America.

Fishing with data

Changes in behavior, technology and policy are occurring throughout the fishing industry. Here are some examples:

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Global Fishing Watch, an international nonprofit, monitors and creates open-access visualizations of global fishing activity on the internet with a 72-hour delay. This transparency breakthrough has led to the arrest and conviction of owners and captains of boats fishing illegally.

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The Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability, an international business-to-business initiative, creates voluntary industry standards for seafood traceability. These standards are designed to help harmonize various systems that track seafood through the supply chain, so they all collect the same key information and rely on the same data sources. This information lets buyers know where their seafood comes from and whether it was produced sustainably.

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Fishing boats in New Bedford, Massachusetts the top U.S. fishing port, based on total catch value are rigged with sensors to develop a Marine Data Bank that will give fishermen data on ocean temperature, salinity and oxygen levels. Linking this data to actual stock behavior and catch levels is expected to help fishermen target certain species and avoid unintentional bycatch.

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Annual catch limits, divvied up through individual quotas for each fisherman, have helped curb overfishing. Imposing catch shares can be highly controversial, but since the year 2000, 47 U.S. stocks that were overfished and shut down have been rebuilt and reopened for fishing, thanks to policy judgments based on the best available science. Examples include Bering Sea snow crab, North Atlantic swordfish and red grouper in the Gulf of Mexico.

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A growing fishie movement that mirrors the widespread foodie locavore movement has been gaining steam for more than a decade. Taking a page from agriculture, subscribers to community-supported fisheries pay in advance for regular deliveries from local fishermen. Such engagement between consumers and producers is beginning to shape buying patterns and introduce consumers to new types of fish that are abundant but not iconic like the cod of yore.

Growing fish on land

Aquaculture is the fastest-growing form of food production in the world, led by China. The U.S., which has exclusive jurisdiction over 3.4 million square miles of ocean, has a mere 1% share of the global market.

But aquaculture, mostly shellfish and kelp, is the third-largest fisheries sector in the Greater Atlantic region, after lobsters and scallops. Entrepreneurs are also raising finfish including salmon, branzino, barramundi, steelhead, eels and kingfish mostly in large, land-based recirculating systems that reuse 95% or more of their water.

Industrial-scale ocean salmon farming in Norway in the 1990s was largely responsible for the perception that farmed fish were bad for wild fish and ocean habitats. Today this industry has moved to less dense deep-water offshore pens or land-based recirculating systems.

Virtually all new salmon farms in the U.S. in Florida, Wisconsin, Indiana, and several planned for Maine and California are land-based. In some cases, water from the fish tanks circulates through greenhouses to grow vegetables or hemp, a system called aquaponics.

There is heated debate over proposals to open U.S. federal waters, between 3 and 200 miles offshore, for ocean aquaculture. Whatever the outcome, its clear that without a growing mariculture industry, the U.S. wont be able to reduce and may even widen its $17 billion seafood trade deficit.

A voracious China

This kind of progress isnt uniform throughout the fishing industry. Notably, China is the worlds top seafood producer, accounting for 15% of the global wild catch as well as 60% of aquaculture production. Chinese fishing exerts huge influence on the oceans. Observers estimate that Chinas fishing fleet may be as large as 800,000 vessels and its distant-water fleet may include up to 17,000 vessels, compared to 300 for the U.S.

According to a study by the nonprofit advocacy group Oceana using Global Fishing Watch data, between 2019 and 2021 Chinese boats carried out 47 million hours of fishing activity. More than 20% of this activity was on the high seas or inside the 200-mile exclusive economic zones of more than 80 other nations. Fishing in other countries waters without authorization, as some Chinese boats do, is illegal. Chinese ships often target West African, South American, Mexican and Korean waters.

Most Chinese distant-water ships are so large that they scoop up as many fish in one week as local boats from Senegal or Mexico might catch in a year. Much of this fishing would not be profitable without government subsidies. Clearly, holding China to higher standards is a priority for maintaining healthy global fisheries.

The oceans restorative power

There is no shortage of gloomy information about how overfishing, along with other stresses like climate change, is affecting the worlds oceans. Nonetheless, I believe it bears emphasizing that over 78% of current marine fish landings come from biologically sustainable stocks, according to the United Nations. And overharvested fisheries often can rebound with smart management.

For example, the U.S. east coast scallop fishery, which was essentially defunct in the mid-1990s, is now a sustainable US$570 million a year industry.

Another success story is Cabo Pulmo, a five-mile stretch of coast at the southeast end of Mexicos Baja Peninsula. Once a vital fishing ground, Cabo Pulmo was barren in the early 1990s after intense overfishing. Then local communities persuaded the Mexican government to turn the area into a marine park where fishing was barred.

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In 1999, Cabo Pulmo was an underwater desert. Ten years later, it was a kaleidoscope of life and color, ecologist Enric Sala, director of National Geographics Pristine Seas Project, observed in 2018.

Scientists say that thanks to effective management, marine life in Cabo Pulmo has recovered to a level that makes the reserve comparable to remote, pristine sites that have never been fished. Fishing outside of the refuge has also rebounded, showing that conservation and fishing are not incompatible. In my view, thats a good benchmark for a post-industrial ocean future.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/the-information-age-is-starting-to-transform-fishing-worldwide-179352.

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The information age is starting to transform fishing worldwide - Jacksonville Journal-Courier

With a sailing range of around 100 kms and top speed of 10 knots, the Asahi electric tanker is ready to cruise past conventional waves of mobility on high seas.

By : HT Auto Desk |Updated on: 14 Apr 2022, 05:28 PM

In a world fast moving towards electric mobility, the dominance of land machines powered by battery is overwhelming. But the shift is also slowly making its way into the high seas with Japan's Asahi Tanker recently confirming that its electric tanker is all set for ship-refuelling operations from later this month. The 62-metre-long tanker is powered by high-capacity lithium-ion batteries that help it have a sailing range of around 100 kms.

The electric tanker taking to the high seas may be a small step towards electrification of mobility options on water but it is extremely significant. Asahi Tanker is looking at helping Japan reduce its carbon emissions, esepcially as the country is the world's fifth-largest CO2 emitter but also one with the stated objective of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

The electric tanker, therefore, could well be just the start of more such options to come. Capable of sailing at speeds up to 10 knots, the construction of the tanker was completed last month and it has a cargo capacity of 1,000 kilolitres of marine oil. It is, obviously, expensive to build and costs around $9.6 million vis-a-vis $6 million for a tanker of its kind but with conventional source of energy.

The plan foe now is for it to carry marine fuel from refineries to other tankers or ships in the Tokyo Bay area at least once a day. And Asahi Tanker is banking on gaining larger acceptance for clean energy solutions to eventually help it recover its building costs.

(With inputs from Reuters)

First Published Date: 14 Apr 2022, 03:36 PM IST

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World's first-ever all-electric tanker to begin ship-refueling operations - HT Auto

On this week's episode of Quirks & Quarks with Bob McDonald:

The first land animal to go legless three hundred million years ago

Early vertebrates put in a lot of effort evolving fins into the legs that would carry them up on to land. Now a newly studied 305 million year old fossil suggests one ungrateful lineage decided to abandon its limbs for snake-like slithering almost immediately after. Hillary Maddin, a paleontologist in the Department of Earth Sciences at Carleton University, was part of the team that analyzed the fossil. Their work was published in Nature Ecology and Evolution

Quirks and Quarks7:47The first land animal to go legless three hundred million years ago

What did history smell like? New field of science aims to find out

Most archeology is aimed at digging up artifacts that can tell us what the ancient past looked like. But in a new paper published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, PhD candidate Barbara Huber, from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, issues a call to action. She's urging fellow archaeologists to focus on what the past smelled like. By using the latest biomolecular technology, Huber has been able to extract scent residues from perfumes and incense in pots dating back thousands of years, and has even extracted spices from the proteins in ancient skeletal teeth. Huber says that these scents can paint a vivid picture about trade routes, societal hierarchies, and rituals.

Quirks and Quarks8:10What did history smell like? New field of science aims to find out

This Canadian researcher was trapped on a Russian ship as war broke out

Evgeny Pakhomov, a professor in the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, found himself in an unenviable position when Russia invaded Ukraine in February. He was chief scientist for an international research expedition to study salmon on the high seas, with investigators from Canada, Japan, South Korea, the U.S. and Russia. Which is why he ended up on board a Russian fisheries research vessel in the middle of the Pacific, with no way to get home.

Quirks and Quarks9:12This Canadian researcher was trapped on a Russian ship as war broke out

Sharks sleep, sometimes with their eyes wide open

Craig Radford, an associate professor of marine science at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, found that, contrary to popular belief, sharks, just like humans, sleep to conserve energy. The team correlated a resting body posture with reduced metabolic activity, which indicated sleep. They were surprised to find, however, that sometimes sharks sleep with their eyes wide open. The research was published in the Royal Society Biology Letters.

Quirks and Quarks7:37Sharks sleep, sometimes with their eyes wide open

A new book puts together the story of how people came to the Americas

Over the last 30 years new archeological discoveries and DNA evidence have rewritten the story of the first people in the Americas. We now know people were here earlier than we'd thought, and much more about where they came from and how they got here. Bob speaks with anthropologist Jennifer Raff about the new story and her book, Origin, A Genetic History of the Americas.

Quirks and Quarks17:44A new book puts together the story of how people came to the Americas

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Apr 16: Legless fossils, smells of the past, research with Russia and more - CBC.ca

Van Ninja, who provide new van leasing and used van sales, have been crunching the numbers from The National Careers Service to identify which industries are working their employees the hardest.

Tractor drivers were found to be working the longest hours, on average 60 to 62 hours per week including weekends and Bank Holidays.

Those involved in the agricultural sector are known for spending countless hours in the fields. Growing fresh greens and taking care of animals is a rewarding and gratifying job and it allows you to breathe in clean air while immersed in the glorious countryside.

That said, it is a very demanding profession.

From ploughing fields and planting seeds, to spraying and harvesting crops, there are numerous tasks to tick off the to-do list.

Whats more, tractor drivers are also expected to know the ins and outs of their vehicle and carry out repairs and maintenance checks on a regular basis.

Next on the list are the Merchant Navy engineers, ratings, and offshore drillers who work up to 55 hours each week.

They may all have different sets of duties, but they do have one thing in common - extensive work shifts.

Life on the high seas comes with both crucial and time-consuming tasks.

Merchant Navy ratings, for instance, help with the day-to-day running of a ship, such as operating lifting gear, inspecting cargo holds, and cleaning the deck area.

Naval engineers and offshore drillers monitor complex equipment and take command of technical operations, and their expertise is essential at any moment.

The salary is a good incentive for taking on the extra hours and responsibilities though.

They can expect to earn up to 70,000 and 60,000 per year respectively.

While some employees have no choice but to spend long hours in the workplace, other professionals have the chance to juggle their jobs and private lives more effectively.

Leading the way when it comes to more balanced working hours are florists.

Ultimately, it is a rewarding job that uplifts peoples moods.

One of the main advantages of this profession is that it provides great flexibility.

Florists tend to work on average from 28 to 30 hours per week, and may only spend weekends in the shop on a rota.

Money advisers are next up. Money advisers can benefit from a balanced work-life routine. On average, they spend 30 to 32 hours in the office each week, with flexible evenings, weekends, and work patterns. They can aspire to earn up to 28,000 per year and, considering the amount of time they dedicate to their jobs, it is certainly an inviting salary.

Fitness instructors work, on average, 32 to 34 hours a week.

While helping others, they are also maintaining their own wellness by working balanced, reasonable hours every week.

Based on customer demand, they can also freelance and regulate their shifts accordingly.

All things considered, they can hope to reach a sound maximum wage of 25,000 per year.

With all of this in mind, will you be swapping the tractor cab in favour of creating floral displays?

Read the original here:

Tractor drivers top list of employees working the longest hours - Farming Life

Since 2002, Kingdom Hearts has transported players into almost every weird and wonderful Disney world imaginable. From classics such as Peter Pan and Pinocchio, to modern cult hits like Big Hero 6 and Tangled, the Square Enix series has continually provided lovingly recreated worlds from the House of Mouses history to roam around in.

With Kingdom Hearts 4 in early development and tantalizingly perched just over the horizon, were ready to explore where Sora, Donald and Goofy should head next. After all, there have been some serious blind spots in Kingdom Hearts, and several Disney deep cuts and hidden gems that have yet to be mined.

So grab your keyblades and rev up your Gummi Ships. Here are the 10 Disney worlds we want to see in Kingdom Hearts 4.

Kingdom Hearts finally opened the door to Pixars library of classics with the inclusion of Toy Story and Monsters Inc. in Kingdom Hearts 3. Kingdom Hearts 4 offers a chance for, arguably, the animation studios best movie in a decade to make its mark bolstered by the graphical prowess of Unreal Engine 5.

Coco follows frustrated musician Miguel through the Land of the Dead in the hopes of finding his great-great-grandfather a legendary singer.

The Pixar release already seems tailor-made for the Kingdom Hearts treatment: We can picture Sora, Goofy, and Donald in their skeletal Day of the Dead get-ups, while the carnival of color surrounding the films musical energy would really pop on the current generation of consoles. From a gameplay perspective, Coco could also be a way for a series to freshen up after the overuse of the similarly-styled The Nightmare Before Christmas. Most of all, we just want to hear Kingdom Hearts take on Remember Me.'

Disney owns Lucasfilm, the creators of Star Wars, so this is totally fair game and could follow in the footsteps of the likes of Tron and Pirates of the Caribbean as live-action properties that made the leap from cinema to consoles.

Sora swapping his Keyblade for a lightsaber already seems like a no-brainer as, too, does pitting Disneys great and good up against the likes of Darth Vader and the Emperor. What we wouldnt give for a trip to the Death Star or smacking down some Organization XIII members on Tatooine.

A minor detail in the initial Kingdom Hearts 4 reveal trailer already has fans speculating that Endor could be part of the game which makes a galaxy far, far away less of a pipe dream than you might expect.

Its difficult to believe that The Jungle Book, Disneys 1967 adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling story, hasnt already appeared in Kingdom Hearts. For one thing, its got a savannahs worth of iconic characters including Baloo and Mowgli that could make for perfect companions, plus a cherry on top that heightens any Kingdom Hearts level: a classic song in the shape of the Bear Necessities. The series penchant for remixing classic Disney villains into boss battles also works in Jungle Books favor as Shere Khan would make a formidable opponent for all but the most skilled of Keyblade Masters.

We could also envision Jungle Book taking some cues from Winnie the Poohs 100 Acre Wood by sprinkling in some rhythm minigames and other side activities across its luscious, sprawling environments. Lets just hope it would be a little less confusing than the original 2002 games labyrinthian Tarzan levels.

This is a great idea, right? Youre welcome. Disneys seafaring adventure seemed to usher in a new generation of stories at the company, ones specifically focused on the backgrounds, heritages, and histories of underrepresented groups.

Moana, specifically, revolves around the Polynesians on the island of Motuni. There, a girl named Moana is tasked with finding the demigod Maui so they can help overcome the blight afflicting the island.

That quest alone is set up perfectly for a couple of hours of Kingdom Hearts magic. Throw in some vehicle sections on the high seas and youve got the perfect evolution of Destiny Islands from the original Kingdom Hearts ready and waiting for Sora to stamp around in.

We got a taste of what Wreck-It Ralph could offer during his debut as a summon in Kingdom Hearts 3, as well as Game Central Station appearing in mobile spin-off Union X. The opportunity to flesh out that concept further or visit a fully realized Litwaks Arcade, though, is too good to turn down.

Series creator Tetsuya Nomura could get deliciously meta with the cabinets on offer. It would be a seamless way to homage various classic video games such as Donkey Kong and mascot kart racers without stepping into lawsuit territory.

Now that Sora is in Smash Bros, theres even the remotest of possibilities that Nintendo could return the favor and allow one of their characters such as Bowser, who appeared in Wreck-It Ralph to appear. Forget Avengers: Infinity War, that would be the ultimate crossover.

One of the most overlooked Disney features in recent memory, The Emperors New Groove deserves its moment in the sun in Kingdom Hearts 4.

The 2000 animation stars David Spade as a selfish Incan ruler named Kuzco who is accidentally turned into a llama. Because reasons. That would act as the perfect jumping-on point for Sora to arrive, helping shepherd Kuzco through the events of the film.

Kingdom Hearts has already been great at lavishing attention on Disneys more obvious classics. Kingdom Hearts 4 should mark the turning point towards a celebration of all things Disney even those that didnt light up the box office. Besides, The Emperors New Groove is ripe for a Kingdom Hearts makeover; the Incan Empire could provide fertile ground for Square Enixs always-imaginative team of level designers.

Turning Red is Pixars most recent work, charting the struggles of Chinese-Canadian Meilin after she discovers her familys unfortunate curse: when she loses control of her emotions, she turns into a giant red panda.

Mechanically, this could work similarly to Kingdom Hearts 3s San Fransokyo, a larger open world space for the Heartless to invade. It could also thematically tie into Sora stumbling his way around real locations in Quadratum. Kingdom Hearts 4 is already giving us its spin on Tokyo, so why not go further and bring Turning Reds 2002-era Toronto into the mix?

Itd be a real missed opportunity, too, if the movies final act a stadium showdown against, you guessed it, another red panda isnt turned into a multi-stage boss battle.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire sunk without a trace on its 2001 release. The animated effort, starring Michael J. Fox, saw Milo Thatch join an expedition to find Atlantis. Its beautifully realized world absolutely deserves to be resurfaced in the next instalment of Kingdom Hearts.

Atlantis also offers a way for the series to hit the reset button. Its been a little tiring revisiting Olympus and Agrabah across two decades. Kingdom Hearts finally has the chance to really freshen its roster up with this ancient destination and potentially revive interest in a forgotten classic in the process.

Because only Kingdom Hearts could give us the faintest possibility of Goofy meeting Galactus and Donald quacking at Deadpool.

In truth, a Marvel/Kingdom Hearts crossover has enough potential for an entire game franchise, in much the same way the original series sprinkled in some Final Fantasy fan service. Yet, theres plenty of scope for just one world think a SHIELD Helicarrier, Doctor Dooms Latveria, or the Baxter Building to prop up a few hours of concentrated superhero action here. The likes of Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Captain America would be perfect foils for Sora, imparting lessons of leadership and how to get over losing a loved one.

Why hasnt Sora visited The Happiest Place on Earth yet? Its many, many iconic attractions are ripe for the picking from a gameplay perspective, with each having enough potential for separate levels and areas in a world.

Imagine Sora taking a trip up Space Mountain or being dwarfed in Its a Small World. Plus, it would provide ample opportunities for Nomura and company to break the fourth wall and explain exactly why there are giant mascots of Mickey, Donald, and Goofy running around the park. Hows that for Disney magic?

Love yourself some Disney? Check out every new Disney movie coming out between now and 2023.

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10 Disney worlds we want to see in Kingdom Hearts 4 - Gamesradar

For several years, a mysterious and relatively unassuming ship called the Carolyn Chouest has plied the waters of the Pacific, executing an unknown number of secret special operations missions whose details may never be known.

But the ghost-like vessel with a fascinating history, known now as an afloat staging base, may have finally encountered an unbeatable adversary.

The Pentagon's budget axe.

At a time when U.S. military leaders continuously refer to China as a pacing threat of great concern, the Pentagon wants to save money by ending its lease of the Carolyn Chouest. It's a unique, multi-purpose converted submarine support vessel now used by special operations forces in the Pacific. Unless Congress insists otherwise, that mission will end Thanksgiving week.

In a document released late last month, the Pentagon said it wants to discontinue the Special Operations Command Pacific Afloat Staging Base under a plan to trim $2.7 billion by retiring vulnerable systems and programs that no longer meet mission and/or security needs to support more relevant modernization efforts.

That decision has raised questions on both the Senate and House Armed Services committees. Each tell The War Zone that they want an explanation about the impact of no longer having the Carolyn Chouest's capabilities.

While the Pentagon document does not mention the ship by name, the Carolyn Chouest directly supports 335 days of uninterrupted availability for Special Operations Command Pacific and Naval Special Warfare Command operational requirements and mission planning, according to U.S. Special Operations Commands FY 22 Operation and Maintenance budget.

But beyond that, little is known about the current capabilities of this mysterious ship, which does not appear in the Navys Military Sealift Command inventory list even though MSC manages the ships operational budget as part of the Navys Working Capital Fund.Another special operations boat - the highly modified MV Ocean Trader - is also leased by MSC but does not appear on its inventory list. You can read more about that elusive mothership here.

The Carolyn Chouest was most recently spotted by ship trackers near Marine Air Corps Station Iwakuni, Japan on March 2.

The elusive ship actually has a remarkable past, with its mission changing dramatically over time. As a result, it appears radically different from the vessel that was launched in 1994.

The Carolyn Chouest was originally built as a 238-foot offshore support vessel with a displacement of just under 1,600 tons. It was constructed at North American Shipbuilding's yard in Larose, Louisiana, which is associated with the Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) company, at a cost of between $15 million to $20 million, according to a story published in 2000 in the Cape Cod Times. The Carolyn Chouest is one of at least four ECO vessels currently operating under contract to the Navy.

At least as originally built, Carolyn Chouest's main power came from two 12-cylinder Caterpillar diesel engines that pushed out a combined 10,800 horsepower to two Kort Nozzle variable pitch propellers. A state-of-the-art, computer-controlled 1,000 horsepower, drop-down, variable speed, omnidirectional thruster gave her enhanced maneuvering capabilities and the ability to stay on station without an anchor. The ship could turn in her own length, and accurately maintain position, even in high seas, as well use its bow thruster to work in shallow waters and for docking.

The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command first chartered Carolyn Chouest in the mid-1990s to support the activities of the NR-1, a highly specialized nuclear-powered mini-submarine capable of diving to extreme depths. The 146-foot long, 12-foot wide boat mini-sub entered service in 1969 and was the Navys smallest nuclear submarine, being capable of "underwater search and recovery, oceanographic research missions, installation and maintenance of underwater equipment to a depth of almost a half a mile."

NR-1 was used for a variety of classified missions, as well as research and development and test and evaluation tasks. In 1976, the Navy disclosed that NR-1 had been used to help recover sensitive portions of an F-14 Tomcat, including at least one AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missile, after the jet fell off the deck of the aircraft carrier USSJohn F. Kennedy and into the Atlantic Ocean during an exercise. It also supported non-military missions, including helping to recover components of the Space Shuttle Challenger after it was destroyed in an explosion shortly after its launch in 1986.

In 1995, with the help of Carolyn Chouest, NR-1 was used to survey the wreck of the HMHS Britannic, the sister ship of the RMS Titantic, which was used as a hospital ship during World War I and had sunk off the coast of Greece after hitting a naval mine in 1916. In 2002, the pair helped chart the location of the Civil War-era USS Monitor, the Navy's first ironclad ship, which sank during a storm off the coast of North Carolina in 1862.

Carolyn Chouest carried out various other missions that did not involve NR-1. In 1999, it helped with the recovery of the wreck of EgyptAir Flight 990 off the coast of Massachusetts. The ship deployed a remotely operated underwater vehicle, or ROV, named Magnum to help with those efforts. The ship also towed the Canadian Navy'sVictoria classsubmarine HMCSChicoutimi back to port after it suffered a major fire, which killed one sailor and injured two more, off the coast of Ireland in 2004.

During its time as a submarine support vessel, the Carolyn Chouest was considered a flat-bottomed ocean-going tug that didn't cut the waves very well, according to a 2018 Kitsap Sun article about the NR-1, which didnt have the power to travel to sea on its own and needed the help of the Carolyn Chouest. The ship also featured its own onboard laboratory facilities and could accommodate up to 40 people at a time, including its crew and supporting personnel, such as the crew of the NR-1.

In 2008, the Navy decommissioned NR-1. Carolyn Chouest continued to operate under contract to the Navy, but the details about its subsequent service are murky.

Pictures of the ship show that, at least by 2011, it had been reconfigured to some degree with an additional superstructure installed over its previously open rear deck. The addition featured multiple cranes and the ship was seen carrying various cargo containers on top, which might have been configured for use as various kinds of workspaces.

Sometime between the 2011-2012 and 2017-2018 timeframes, Carolyn Chouest underwent a much more significant conversion into a sea base platform specially configured to support U.S. special operations forces in the Pacific region. The cost of the modifications is unclear. They are not spelled out in budget documents and officials from SOCOM, the Navy and the Edison Chouest Offshore shipyard did not provide answers. INDOPACOM declined to comment. It was also repainted in the process, trading its orange hull and yellow superstructure for a much more discreet blue-and-white motif.

In its current configuration, Carolyn Chouest still features the raised superstructure at the rear, with pictures showing containers, again possibly being used as workspaces or for storage, as well as a catapult for launching small drones, on top of it. The ship's central superstructure has also been enlarged, which would provide additional spaces for personnel accommodation, mission planning, and more. Overall, it is now also absolutely festooned with antenna domes typically associated with satellite communications systems, as well as other kinds of extremely-high-frequency (EHF) and ultra-high-frequency (UHF) communications arrays.

Pictures and videos of Carolyn Chouest from ship spotters in Japan show it can also carry a variety of jet skis, rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIB), and other watercraft commonly employed by U.S. special operations forces. The imagery on multiple occasions shows it loaded with at least two Naval Special Warfare Combatant Craft Assault special operations speedboats, which you can read more about here.

Carolyn Chouest, which has been spotted operating around Japan, Singapore, and Guam since 2017, according to online ship tracking software, has been serving a role very similar to that of the MV Ocean Trader, the other far more elaborate shadowy special operations sea base operating under contract to the Navy. It has also been spotted equipped with a drone-launching catapult and carrying CCA boats.

However, unlike Carolyn Chouest, Ocean Trader, which was most recently spotted off the coast of southern France, features hangars to go along with a large flight deck on top that can support various kinds of special operations helicopters. The ship also has a large garage-like bay that can carry all types of vehicles, in addition to its Combat Craft Assault boats that sit behind apertures on the sides of its upper hull.

Questions about when, why and how it was modified were also unanswered Wednesday afternoon by SOCOM, the Navy and the shipbuilder, Edison Chouest Offshore.

We will provide those answers as soon as they are available.

But there's more to the decision to end the Carolyn Chouest's lease than just wanting to stop paying for a vessel that cost U.S. Special Operations Command upwards of at least $40 million since 2008.

The issue, a defense official told The War Zone, is that the Carolyn Chouest had been chartered using what was known as overseas contingency funds. That was money designed to fight the so-called global war on terrorism. However, with the end of the war in Afghanistan looming and fewer troops deployed to Iraq, the Biden administration emptied that pot of money in April, 2021.

So with that money no longer available, the current lease will not be renewed.

The ship is in SOCOM's budget out of expediency, according to the defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to explain the process.

Sometime around 2008, the geographic combatant command then known as U.S. Pacific Command had a need for this type of vessel. It just so happened that the Carolyn Chouest's main mission, as a support vessel for NR1, was ending. So it was the right-sized ship at the right time to meet PACOM's needs.

And because SOCOM already had a contract with the Edison Chouest Offshore shipyard, the lease for the Carolyn Chouest was put under its purview, but paid for by OCO funds.

At the time, PACOM was assisting the Philippines in its ongoing fight against Islamic insurgents, so that was how the funding was justified.

In December 2018, the Navy signed off on the first of three contract extensions for the Carolyn Chouest.

ECO was awarded a $7.4 million contract to exercise an option under a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract with reimbursable elements for one maritime support vessel, according to the Defense Department.

This vessel will be utilized to launch, recover, refuel, and resupply of small crafts in the then-U.S. Pacific Command (now INDOPACOM) region.

The contract included a 12-month base period, three 12-month option periods, and one 11-month option period.

If all options were exercised, it would have brought the total value of the contract to a little more than $41 million.

Two subsequent contracts were set by the Navy, one in December 2019 for $7.6 million, and one in December 2020 for $7.7 million.

Work on the third contract was to be performed in the INDOPACOM region. It was expected to be completed, if all options are exercised by Nov. 21, 2022, according to the Defense Department. The option will be funded by fiscal 2021 (Navy) working capital funds in the amount of $6,001,581 that will expire at the end of the fiscal year; and fiscal 2022 (Navy) working capital funds in the amount of $1,738,974 that will expire at the end of fiscal 2022.

The U.S. Navys Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting authority.

Though the Pentagon now wants to discontinue leasing the Carolyn Chouest, a former commander of Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines told The War Zone that afloat staging bases like it are important assets for special operations forces in the Pacific.

It is my opinion that US SOF would greatly benefit from an afloat staging base through INDOPACOM, said David Maxwell, a retired Army Special Forces colonel who worked with the USNS GySgt. Fred W. Stockham afloat staging base when he served as the commander of JSOTF-P in 2006 and 2007.

Afloat staging bases provide support, staging, and command and control capabilities when land bases are not available due to operations in the vicinity of denied areas or due lack of host nation access in the region which might be due to political considerations, said Maxwell. It will provide SOCPAC and assigned SOF the agility and flexibility to operate throughout the region.

SOCPAC, he said, should have an organic capability so assigned SOF can routinely train using this capability in order to be ready when contingencies arise.

Special Operations Forces, he added, should not conduct operations from an afloat staging with the first time use being during a contingency.

Maxwell said there is another advantage of afloat staging. It provides SOF the ability to base forces in the vicinity of operational areas and potentially outside of an adversary's engagement ability.

The vessels offer the ability to launch and recover SOF teams and can serve as an intelligence platform to support mission planning and deployed elements, he said. It can provide logistical support to deployed forces.

When Maxwell commanded JSOTF-P, we employed an afloat staging base to support operations by Philippine special operations forces throughout the Sulu archipelago to great effect.," he said. "I think this is a very necessary capability and I would recommend it be fully resourced.

Two key Congressional committees share concerns about the Pentagon's decision to end the Carolyn Chouest lease.

I am always concerned, and many of my colleagues are too, when the Department of Defense divests to invest, because oftentimes, investment never follows, Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jim Inhofe, (R-Okla) told The War Zone. In this case, as we always do, the Armed Services Committee will look at the proposal closely to decide whether the risks to mission and force are acceptable.

The House Armed Services Committee is going to look into the Pentagons decision to end the Carolyn Chouest lease as well.

Were beginning dialogue with the Department to understand the impact and why this decision was made, a House Armed Services Committee aide told The War Zone Tuesday afternoon.

The Carolyn Chouest wasn't the only vessel the Pentagon is seeking to cut from its budget as part of the $2.7 billion re-prioritization initiative.

Several other Navy vessels - including both Montford Point class expeditionary transfer dock ships - are also on the chopping block. You can read more about those ships here. Then again, the Carolyn Chouest is a leased capability, so it isn't exactly the same as divesting ships from the fleet. Regardless, it is a very low cost asset to keep available compared to the Navy's far more costly to operate warships.

But the Pentagon now has a number of extremely capable Expeditionary Sea Base ships in its inventory.

They act as multi-function mobile sea bases and support the forward deployment of everything from special operations to minesweeping forces.

The ships - 785-long, displacing 90,000 tons fully loaded and based on the Alaska class crude oil tanker - were originally called Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) and the MLP Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB), respectively, according to the Navy.

The ESBs, designed for aviation facilities, berthing, equipment staging support, and command and control, have a four-spot flight deck, mission deck and hangar.You can read more about these ships here.

These are massively more capable ships than the Carolyn Chouest, and one of them, USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5), is now operating in the Pacific. This could be one factor that led to the Carolyn Chouest's lack of funding. Still, these are absolutely massive ships, they do not offer the extremely low-profile and low cost of operation that something like the Carolyn Chouest provides. They are also not fully tailored to the special operations support mission. And, of course, a ship can only be in one place at one time. Not every mission requires a gigantic ESB.In fact, the vast majority of them do not. So it could be argued that these assets could be seen as complementary more than swappable.

As the Pentagon's decision on that afloat staging base makes its way through the congressional budget process, more information about the vessel and its capabilities will likely become public. And it is quite possible that enough rationale will be provided to get this shadowy ship's lease renewed.

Update 6:50 PM EST:

U.S. Special Operations Command spokesman Army Col. Curt Kellogg has provided additional information about the Carolyn Chouest lease. In Fiscal Year 2017, the U.S. government put out a bid for a contractor-owned and operated vessel.

Several companies submitted bids with Edison Chouest Offshore winning the contract resulting in their making modifications to the Carolyn Chouest to meet the requirements of the contract, Kellogg said. The contract is for a base year plus four option years at a pre-negotiated price for the option years. Total value of the 5-year charter is $60.1 million, including all operating costs for ship, civilian mariner crew, fuel, port services, food and other miscellaneous support services per the contract.

The vessel is at the end of a 5-year Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, and USSOCOM ended the budget line to fund other higher priority requirements, he said.

Contact the author: Howard@thewarzone.com

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This Is The Shadowy Special Operations Mothership You've Never Heard Of - The War Zone

Point-and-click games may not be as anywhere close to as popular today as they were in their 1990s heyday, but classics within the genre were undoubtedly influential to many narrative-focused games. Back then and even today, a great point-and-click game features a story that puts butts in seats, is filled with witty banter, and engages your brain with puzzles that'll make you feel smarter when the clues click into place. With surprising reveal of Return to Monkey Island, we decided to round up the best point-and-click games across the ages (in no particular order). While many of our picks are older, genre-defining classics, there are some modern must-play titles here, including the recently released gem Norco. All of the games on this list are still playable and easily obtainable on modern platforms, so we've included links where you can get them today.

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Ahead of its time in multiple departments, 1993's Day of the Tentacle is still a wonderfully absurd point-and-click from the golden age of LucasArts. Finally remastered in 2016, Day of the Tentacle remains a masterpiece that helped lay the foundation for a genre that was about to reach its peak. The remaster is a perfect reminder of this, sharpening the visuals with original hand-drawn art, adding a high-fidelity soundtrack, and retaining all the classic gameplay that made this title a hilarious head-scratcher. Day of the Tentacle Remastered is available on PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and mobile devices.

LucasArts at its very best, Grim Fandango's tale of love and death is a sprawling adventure that plays out across several years. Packed with fantastic voice-acting and dripping with level design that set a new benchmark for games when it first arrived in 1998, Manny Calavera's journey through the underworld is still regarded as the pinnacle of the point-and-click genre. The remastered version is well worth a look, and like the best games in that category, it's packed with a number of substantial upgrades. You can grab it on consoles, PC, and mobile devices.

Read our Grim Fandango Remastered review.

LucasArts had been on a creative roll since its formation, and in 1990 the studio continued to prove that it was a heavyweight force to be reckoned with when it released The Secret of Monkey Island. Witty, charming, and well-animated sequels further fleshed out the tale of wannabe pirate Guybrush Threepwood and the comical world he inhabited. LeChuck's Revenge and Curse of Monkey Island all contributed to creating an incredible trilogy of high seas adventure, and while additional titles might not have recaptured that magic, the whole collection is still worth checking out on PC. Return to Monkey Island will be the sixth entry in the series and the first in more than a decade.

Read our Monkey Island Collection review.

Telltale Games found a recipe for success with Sam and Max, as the revival of the classic LucasArts IP came at the perfect time. Featuring an original story told in episodic fashion, the freelance police were back in action and ready to turn the town upside down in search of clues. Somehow managing to be both bizarre and logical, Sam and Max Save the World was a bonkers return to form for the duo. Later seasons might not have reached the same level of quality, but the tongue-in-cheek escapades of the first season is still a highlight worth experiencing. Sam and Max Save the World is available on Xbox, Switch, and PC.

Read our Sam and Max: Save the World review.

At its peak, Telltale Games was a creative force in gaming that was regularly churning out well-received point-and-click games. The Walking Dead was the studio's breakout game and led to a flurry of episodic adventures across numerous popular franchises. Building on the foundation set by earlier projects and defining the studio for a new decade, the Walking Dead Games are a haunting collection of cel-shaded episodic horror, fast-paced QTEs, and decisions that had tangible consequences. Five games in The Walking Dead Telltale series were released. The first entry was always the best, and there were some less-than-stellar spin-offs, but the final story arc brought Clementine's emotional journey to an impactful close. The Walking Dead's structure and gameplay found its way into other Telltale adventures such as the brilliant Telltale's Batman and The Wolf Among Us. You can play The Walking Dead on consoles, PC, and mobile devices.

Read our The Walking Dead reviews.

Time has taken its toll on the King's Quest series, but the original point-and-click is still an incredibly important part of gaming history. Essentially helping Sierra Entertainment evolve into a gaming juggernaut during the 1980s, King's Quest was a pioneer with its use of animation and almost-3D environments to create a graphic adventure. If you're looking to enter that kingdom and experience a less medieval point-and-click approach, check out the 2015 remake for a nostalgic dive into the past.

Read our King's Quest review.

What happens when you mix Twin Peaks with X-Files? You get this gentle love letter to supernatural TV series that also throws in plenty of LucasArts influences into its mix of puzzles and retro graphics. The big draw with Thimbleweed Park was its creative approach to puzzles, as it regularly tested your grey matter with imaginative solutions for its various puzzles. Loaded with a regular number of "EUREKA!" moments when you figured out those enigmas, the game is an ingenious homage to the past. Thimbleweed Park is available on just about every modern platform.

Read our Thimbleweed Park review.

Myst is required gaming for any point-and-click fan, and easily one of the biggest titles in the entire genre. A blockbuster game that had some fiendishly challenging puzzles to solve, Myst also featured some of the best set design of its time. If you were going to be stumped, at least you'd get a great view in the process. In the years since it first arrived, Myst has been ported to a wide range of platforms and can be found on most modern consoles. To get the most immersive experience possible, check out the VR version if you're able to.

Read our Myst review.

The game that introduced the world to the revolutionary design of the SCUMM interface, Maniac Mansion paved the way for LucasArts to create some of the best point-and-click games of all time. At the same time, Maniac Mansion is more than just a genre-defining tech showcase. It's a game that pokes gentle fun at horror films and B-movies, always having fun with its subject matter and thinking outside of the narrative box. Technology comes and goes, but the genuine affection for its cinematic inspirations and heartfelt humor helped define an era of gaming. You can pick up Maniac Mansion for cheap on Steam.

Point-and-click games had been used across a wide variety of genres, but Phantasmagoria was one of the few titles brave enough to use the format for horror. A huge departure from the more family-friendly King's Quest that Roberta Williams had created, Phantasmagoria mixed FMVs with terrifying encounters that was groundbreaking for its time. While some of the visuals might look dated by today's standards, the game still has a talent for being constantly unsettling. It's an interactive B-movie with some of the best overacting around. A cheesy classic that was unique for its time.

Read our Phantasmagoria review.

Credit to Funcom, as The Longest Journey certainly lived up to its title. A sweeping odyssey set across time, The Longest Journey is seen as one of the last great point-and-click games during the twilight of the genre. Released in 2000, it was a beautifully-rendered visual masterpiece, loaded with dialogue, and filled with foul-mouthed characters. If you have plenty of time to spare, give it a look on pC.

Read our The Longest Journey review.

Fans and supporters of Kentucky Route Zero had to exercise extreme patience for this episodic series, but with each chapter released, developer Cardboard Computer reminded people that the wait was more than worthwhile. Delayed satisfaction wrapped up in intriguing layers of mystery and fresh perspectives, Kentucky Route Zero is one of the finest point-and-click games of the modern era. If you're just checking it out, the good news is that you can grab all five acts of this magical realist adventure game in one complete package. No waiting years between chapters required.

Read our Kentucky Route Zero reviews.

Harrison Ford's whip-wielding hero of archeology was destined to be a video game headliner, and in 1992 he got to embark on what is arguably considered to be the best Indiana Jones game. Fate of Atlantis was an adventure that would have been impossible to realize on the silver screen, a swashbuckling tale of mystery and danger that offered versatile play styles. An Indiana Jones game that was heavy on cerebral challenges and punch-powered action, it was another feather in the LucasArts fedora when it first hit the scene.

There is no game: Wrong Dimension is as high-concept a title that you can point and possibly click at, a collection of meta-commentary and silliness that never takes itself too seriously. It's one of those titles that has to be played to be understood, as its abstract design and clever puzzles create one of the best paradoxes you'll ever interact with. It's a game, but it also isn't one. And the only way for that statement to make sense, is to try this underrated gem out for yourself.

Every great point-and-click game has an element that helps it stand apart from others in its genre, and for The Procession To Calvary, that X-factor is its beautiful absurdity. Taking a museum's worth of fine Renaissance art and using those assorted canvases to paint a puzzling picture, the game runs wild with Monty Python-esque humor. Whip-smart dialogue and bizarrely fun puzzles make this game a must-play on the bucket list for anyone who's a fan of the point-and-click genre.

A point-and-click game in an arthouse movie format that blends sliding-tile puzzles into its elegant design, Gorogoa still manages to use these cathartic themes to create exciting moments within its world. Some of the puzzles may leave you scratching your scalp raw, but nothing beats the feeling of successfully completing its visual riddles. Even if you can't solve those puzzles, the game is gorgeous to look at, an artisanal and hand-crafted mystery that'll challenge your perception.

Read our Gorogoa review.

An adventure game that features a more retro inspiration in its art direction, Norco is a more somber tale of life in the South. Melancholic characters inhabit a land that bears the scars of the merciless march of the oil industry, environmental ruin has set in, and a community is under siege in a game that has deep layers of storytelling. It's leagues more somber than anything else on this list, but Norco still manages to provide a thin sliver of hope within its pixelated tale of decay.

Read our Norco review.

Mobile devices have become the perfect platform for point-and-click games, and the 2013 game Device 6 still stands apart from the pack for its novel approach to taking advantage of that technology. What starts out as a text adventure quickly evolves into a highly interactive puzzle game that's backed by a jazz soundtrack and a unique layout. It has an eye-catching design that uses the iOS medium to tell a fantastic story.

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Best Point-And-Click Games To Play Ahead Of Return To Monkey Island - GameSpot

By Tom Dowling

State benefits rose this week but with spiralling living costs and inflation reaching 7% many disabled people and carers are going to be much worse off.

Almost 1 million carers receiving the main carers benefit, Carers Allowance, will get an increase of just 2.10 a week, which is based on inflation rates of only 3.1% set last year.

The allowance rises from 67.60 a week to 69.70, while the earnings limit for those claiming the benefit will rise from 128 to 132 a week.

As the National Living Wage (NLW) has also increased, it means that anyone employed on the NLW will see a real terms cut in the number of hours they are able to work and still keep their Carers Allowance.

This will fall from a maximum 14.36 hours of work a week to only 13.89 hours a week to stay within the limit. If a carer goes over the earnings limit, they lose all of their Carers Allowance. For people caring for a severely disabled person for more than 35 hours a week, the carer element of Universal Credit rises to 168.81 a month.

Helen Walker, head of national charity Carers UK, said: As the cost of living crisis piles on the stress and pressure to household finances across the UK, the below inflation increases to Carers Allowance and Universal Credit are yet another blow for hard pressed carers.

Many carers have a reduced capacity to work because of their caring responsibilities or have had to give up work altogether. Despite the majority of carers having taken on more care during the pandemic, which has protected our health and care systems, they face a real terms cut in the level of financial support they receive. Carers do not deserve more hardship when they have done so much.

Caring for someone can mean extra costs like having to use more electricity for special equipment, more heating to keep someone frail or unwell warm, and needing to spend more on special food. Once again the UK Government has failed to increase the Earnings Limit for Carers Allowance in line with rises in the National Living Wage meaning carers can now work just 13 hours a week and retain their entitlement to Carers Allowance.

What we need urgently is a system that legislates for a year-on-year rise, in line with at least 16 times the National Living Wage along with significant increases to carers benefits.

Children of all abilities and their families can now sail across the world without stepping outside their homes, thanks to a new and exciting online project.

Sea Girl is an interactive, choose your own adventure experience that takes the whole family across the high seas.

Children are encouraged to help Ellen, Naomi and the cat Tarzoon, decide whether to meet turtles, explore the Caribbean or follow dolphins. The show is fully captioned.

The project was inspired by the extraordinary achievements of Laura Dekker, the youngest person to have solo travelled across the world in a sailing boat.

New Zealand-born Laura was just 14 when she set off and 16 when she completed her trip.

For more information about All Together NOW! visit the website.

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I Can Do That column: 'Inflation increases to Carers Allowance and Universal Credit are yet another blow for hard pressed carers' - In Your Area