State and Local Archives - Page 3 of 998

MAINE: Maine officials monitoring Casco Bay algae bloom

September 10, 2026 — An algae bloom in Casco Bay could be harming fish and shellfish.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources is monitoring the bloom of a common phytoplankton called Karenia mikimotoi. The phytoplankton are not harmful to humans, but they can produce compounds that can harm fish and shellfish.

The department was alerted to the bloom when the Portland Harbor Master and wharf owners in Portland Harbor noticed a dark brown tint to the water, according to a social media post by the Maine DMR .

Read the full article at Spectrum News

MAINE: Toxic phytoplankton blooms believed to be killing shellfish off Maine coast

September 10, 2026 — Right now, the Maine Department of Marine Resources is monitoring a threat to fish and shellfish from Casco Bay to Middle Bay in Harpswell.

Testing shows counts of toxic phytoplankton blooms are relatively low.

Yet they’re still believed to be what’s killing lobsters and littleneck clams off Harpswell and in Portland Harbor.

While the phytoplankton blooms, like the one causing brownish water off Widgery Wharf, can be deadly to fish and shellfish, it is not harmful to humans.

Read the full article at WGME

CALIFORNIA: California announces fishery restoration partnership with Hoopa Valley Tribe

September 10, 2026 — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced a fishery restoration partnership with the Hoopa Valley Tribe to help salmon populations recover.

“This partnership demonstrates how Tribal and state agencies can work together to achieve multiple resource management goals,” CDFW Director Meghan Hertel said in a release. “I’m incredibly proud of the hard work by our Tribal partners and CDFW staff that led us to this historic accomplishment.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

OREGON: Oregon’s yelloweye rockfish fishery to reopen after 25 years

September 9, 2026 — A species once declared overfished has rebounded, and its return to the docks will give scientists their first good look at the fish in decades.

Oregon fishing fleets will be allowed to keep and sell yelloweye rockfish next year for the first time in 25 years.

The species was declared overfished in 2002, closing commercial fishing for it. A recent assessment found the population has rebuilt.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife fishery manager Troy Buell discussed the change with fishermen at a meeting in Port Orford Thursday.

“There was a time I didn’t think I’d ever see another yelloweye rockfish at the dock legally,” Buell said. “Now, it’s rebuilt.”

The amount fishermen will be allowed to land in 2027 and 2028 is small compared with catch limits for other species, but it represents a significant milestone in the recovery of yelloweye rockfish.

Read the full story at OPB

OREGON: Pacific Seafood and Oregon regulators are locked in battle over wastewater treatment from its coastal processing plants

September 9, 2026 — Supporting the fishing fleets that fan out to sea from the Oregon coast, there are about three dozen industrial processing businesses that clean, cut and package the products before they’re shipped to consumers around the world.

It’s not a pretty process.

One byproduct of all those fish guts and shellfish innards is wastewater packed with solids and oils, as well as possibly chemicals, bacteria and heavy metals. Whatever isn’t filtered out gets discharged back into the ocean, where it can deplete dissolved oxygen that fish and other aquatic species need to breathe, and can pose risks to public health.

Seafood processing plants have been locked in a battle with environmental regulators over water pollution, with millions of dollars in fines piling up and legal fights that have spanned years. Meanwhile, the business is consolidating and, from an employment standpoint, shrinking.

The fight pits Oregon’s environmental aspirations against one of its legacy industries — one that remains a defining part of life on the Oregon coast even as its footprint contracts.

Read the full article at The Oregonian

ALASKA: Kodiak salmon season yields more fish, higher prices than expected

September 9, 2026 — The summer commercial salmon season is winding down in Kodiak. Between high diesel prices and late salmon returns, this year’s season had plenty of twists. KMXT’s Katherine Irving broke it all down with Kodiak commercial salmon fisherman Darren Platt on Sep. 1.

The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Katherine Irving, KMXT: How has the season been so far?

Darren Platt: It’s been a pretty decent season here, I’d say. More fish than we expected, and higher prices than anybody thought we’d get in our lifetimes.

KMXT: And did you know that prices were going to be high at the beginning of the season, or was that a surprise to you?

Platt: We knew they were going to be high, but not where they are now. There’s people that always say, “Oh, we’re going to get this or that,” every year and you just wait till they post a price. And this year, when they posted it, everybody was shocked.

KMXT: And were the prices high for all species?

Platt: Every species had high prices this year. The highest I’ve seen in my career, I believe. Pinks right now we’re getting 70 cents [a pound]. In 2023, we were getting 18 cents a pound.

Read the full transcript at KMXT

ALASKA: Commercial red king crab fishery to open in Southeast Alaska for second year in a row

September 8, 2026 — Commercial red king crab fishermen in Southeast Alaska are getting a competitive fishery this year, the state Department of Fish and Game announced this week.

The fishery starts Nov. 1.

It’s the second year in a row that the fishery will open, after several years of not having one.

Adam Messmer, regional shellfish biologist for the department, said it’s the first time since 2001-03 that the region is getting a consecutive fishery.

“So, you know, 20-plus years since we’ve had fisheries back to back,” Messmer said.

Read the full article at KFSK

ALASKA: Haines fishermen say the salmon runs aren’t great this year, but the prices are

September 8, 2026 — In the runup to this year’s fishing season, Haines fisherman Dan Kendryna made some expensive but much-needed upgrades to his gillnetter.

“That was before I knew the prices. But I can finally breathe a little bit now that that’s done and the season covered it,” he said. “Sometimes it doesn’t.”

He said this year has been “pretty incredible,” financially speaking. That has more to do with sky-high fish prices than with the fishing itself. Overall, Kendryna said the fishing hasn’t been extraordinary, but high prices made up for it — and then some.

“A lot of people have been doing some upgrades that they haven’t been able to justify in a long time,” Kendryna said.

Haines Packing Company, a local processor, did not respond to a request for comment about this summer’s prices. But local fishermen say prices for all of the salmon species were higher than any they remember in decades.

Read the full article at KTOO

CALIFORNIA: El Niño bringing changes to Northern California ocean conditions and marine life

September 6, 2026 — Massive bluefin tuna are being reeled in off Northern California in numbers local fishermen say they rarely see.

Dustin Barbane, who runs D&D Fishing Company out of Richmond, said crews are seeing bluefin feeding aggressively near the surface.

“We’re seeing them foaming, or busting up on anchovies,” Barbane said. “They’re eating bait on the surface.”

Bluefin tuna generally favor warmer water, and fishermen say this year’s catches have been unusually strong.

“We’ve seen guys catch up to eight tuna in a day, which is pretty unheard of up here,” he said.

The unusual activity is not limited to tuna. Commercial fisherman Dick Ogg, based in Bodega Bay, said fishermen have noticed rapid shifts in water temperature, unusual concentrations of anchovies and even large numbers of giant octopus.

“It’s kind of a weird thing,” Ogg said. “All of a sudden guys were seeing 20, 25 octopus in their pots all of a sudden up and down the coast.”

Read the full article at the CBS News

ALASKA: Seagrant launches Alaska Oyster Voyage interactive map and logging tool to encourage oyster consumption

September 5, 2026 — University of Alaska Fairbanks-based Alaska Sea Grant launched the Alaska Oyster Voyage this summer, encouraging patrons to both taste and log different oysters across the state from varying vendors.

The program is in partnership with the Alaska Shellfish Growers Association. The two organizations created a digital “Alaska Oyster Trail” that’s interactive for users to navigate guided oyster farm tours, raw bars, and oyster vendors – similar to projects done in Maine and North Carolina.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource