April 17, 2019 — West coast regulators have voted unanimously to ban commercial sardine fishing for the fifth straight year after a recent evaluation of the northern Pacific stock revealed a steep decline.
The ban on commercial sardine catch spans the entire length of the U.S. West Coast. The 2019 season would have opened July 1.
A new assessment of northern Pacific sardine stocks by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates populations of the small silvery fish have declined more than 98 percent since 2006.
Not all fishermen agree with the decision to keep the sardine fishery shuttered.
Diane Pleschner-Steele, executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association, said NOAA’s sardine survey under-counts the fish, and that the fishermen she hears from are noticing a comeback.
“They are so frustrated because they drive by school after school after school and they can’t fish,” Pleschner-Steele said. “This is their livelihood and they have families and they are losing their jobs.