Saving Seafood

Ocean heatwave known as ‘The Blob’ is warming up the West Coast – and endangering animals

September 11, 2019 — It could be the return of “The Blob” and scientists are worried.

A huge mass of extra warm water extending from Baja California in Mexico all the way to Alaska and the Bering Sea could result in death for many sea lions and salmon, as well as toxic algae blooms that can poison mussels, crabs and other sea life.

When it happened in 2014 it was dubbed “The Blob” and disrupted sea life between Southern California and Alaska. Now it’s back.

The ocean heatwave began to form in June.

“Temperatures are about as warm as have ever been observed in any of these locations. It developed in mid-June and it’s gotten really big really fast,” said Nate Mantua, head of the Landscape Ecology Team at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center in Santa Cruz, California.

Read the full story at USA Today

NPFMC meets in Homer September 30 – October 9

September 10, 2019 — The following was released by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is meeting in Homer for the first time since July 1983, when Homer-area resident Clem Tillion was then serving as Council chairman. The Council will be in Homer again September 30 through October 9, 2019. Fishery managers, commercial and recreational fishermen, fishing families, and other local and regional stakeholders are all encouraged to attend.

The Council agenda includes an evaluation of modifying halibut bycatch limits in the Bering Sea to take into account halibut abundance, a final action on a proposal to change observer fees for partial coverage fisheries, discussion of potential changes to the Bering Sea cod fisheries, and development of salmon management for the portion of the Cook Inlet fishery access and management that occurs in Federal waters. “We’re excited for the Council back to meet in Homer and to hear directly from the local fishermen and stakeholders that have an interest in Federal fisheries.” – Simon Kinneen, Council Chair.

Read a short summary of each agenda item here.

The Council will be holding its first “Introduction to the Council process” workshop on Tuesday, October 1 from 5:30 – 7pm at the Best Western. “We are reaching out to stakeholders who may not normally have a chance to attend a Council meeting, to provide an opportunity to learn about the process, and how to participate effectively,” notes David Witherell, Executive Director. The Council introductory workshop will also offer a brief outline of what topics are on the agenda so participants can gauge how they might be of interest.

Local stakeholders may also be interested in some of the Council committees that are meeting this week. Monday September 30, from 9-5 at the Best Western, the Council’s Cook Inlet Salmon Committee will be informally discussing progress on federal management of the salmon fishery in the EEZ of Cook Inlet. The Council’s Community Engagement Committee will be meeting Tuesday, October 1 from 8-5 at the Land’s End to develop strategies to improve the Council’s engagement with rural and Alaska Native communities. NMFS is also hosting a Recreational Fishery Roundtable Wednesday, October 2 from 5:30 – 7pm at the Best Western.

All of the Council’s meetings are public, with the exception of executive session. Local input is important and can provide critical insight from those ‘on the water’ who are affected by the Council’s actions. The Council’s meetings and presentations are broadcast through a link on the webpage (www.npfmc.org) and public comment is accepted for every meeting ahead of time through the electronic meeting portal: meetings.npfmc.org. That same meeting portal includes all details, documents and related materials for every meeting.

Alaska seafood industry veteran passes away

September 10, 2019 — Ed Luttrell II, president and owner of Kinematics Marine Equipment and a longtime Pacific Northwest seafood industry executive, died suddenly on 2 September.

Luttrell, 67, who lived in Marysville, Washington, passed away while visiting his family ranch in Roseburg, Oregon. A cause of death will not be discovered until an autopsy can be conducted, James Davis, shop manager for Kinematics, told SeafoodSource.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Current Marine Heat Wave Reminds Scientists Of ‘The Blob’

September 9, 2019 — A marine heat wave off the West Coast is causing ocean temperatures to rise from Alaska to California. Scientists say it looks a lot like the warm water mass they nicknamed the blob five years ago.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

All right. Ocean temperatures, from Alaska down here to California, have been rising. This is a marine heat wave, and scientists say it looks a lot like a mass of warm water that appeared five years ago and was nicknamed “the blob.” Cassandra Profita with Oregon Public Broadcasting has more.

CASSANDRA PROFITA, BYLINE: The current marine heat wave isn’t quite as big or as warm as the blob, at least, not yet. But the last heat wave caused major upheaval in the ocean. A toxic algae bloom made it unsafe for people to eat shellfish up and down the coast so many crab and clam fisheries were closed. Salmon and sea lions had less food to eat, and warm-water species started showing up farther north. Chris Harvey is a biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service.

CHRIS HARVEY: Given the severity of the last marine heat wave, the blob, we definitely felt it was our responsibility at this point to say this is something that we are concerned about, and we’re going to continue watching it with regular monitoring along the West Coast.

Read the full story at NPR

Lawsuit claims Cook Inlet exploration would diminish endangered belugas

September 5, 2019 — Two environmental groups are suing the Trump administration for its decision allowing Hilcorp to disturb beluga whales as it explores Cook Inlet for offshore oil and gas.

Cook Inlet keeper is one of groups suing. Advocacy Director Bob Shavelson says seismic blasts and other exploration work would devastate a population already suffering from the effects of climate change and other factors.

“The Cook Inlet beluga whales are literally teetering on the edge of extinction,” he said. “There was a general idea that, with the halt to Native subsistence hunting in 1999, that the population would rebound. But that didn’t occur.”

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

Comfish cuts: Alaska fisheries officials cope with nearly $1 million in budget losses

September 4, 2019 — Now the shuffling begins at Alaska fisheries offices around the state as the effects from the state’s veto volleys become more clear.

For the commercial fisheries division of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, an $85 million budget, about half of which is from state general funds, reflects a $997,000 dollar cut for FY 2020. Where and how the cuts will play out across Alaska’s far-flung coastal regions is now being decided by fishery managers.

“Now that the salmon season is about over, we’re taking a good close look at this and what we’re going to put in the water next season. We’ve been assured we can look at our commfish budget in total and reduce the lowest priority projects,” said Doug Vincent-Lang, department commissioner.

Some layoffs are likely, and vacancies and retiree positions may not be filled to save money, he added.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

ALASKA: Blue king crab fisheries in the Bering Sea are struggling

September 4, 2019 — Every year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports to Congress on the status of U.S. fisheries. The report breaks the data down by region, and highlights which stocks are in “overfishing” and “overfished” status, as well as which stocks have been rebuilt.

The 2018 report, released in August, shows an Alaska stock was just added to the nation’s overfished list.

Krista Milani, a natural resource specialist with NOAA Fisheries in Unalaska, said the recently released report shows the number of U.S. fish stocks subject to overfishing remains at a near all-time low — meaning there are a lot of healthy, sustainable populations. But in Alaska, it’s not all good news.

“For the Alaska region, we didn’t have any fisheries that were in overfishing status, but we do have two stocks that are considered overfished,” Milani said.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

Pink salmon harvest running late but surging in Alaska’s Prince William Sound

August 30, 2019 — The pink salmon harvest is running behind in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, a problem that’s been linked to a record heat wave and drought conditions, but it’s making a strong push, the Cordova (Alaska) Times reports.

Typically by this date, 90% of the catch is complete, but instead, it seems that the harvest is just beginning, Charlie Russell, a biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, reportedly told the newspaper. Russell said his agency is seeing a lot of die-offs before the fish are successful in spawning.

“They are still hanging out at the mouth of rivers. There is no rain. Until it rains the fish are in a holding pattern waiting at the creek’s mouth. This run is so late that it doesn’t follow a historical run timing curve,” Russell said.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

ALASKA: Gov. Dunleavy encourages Canadian company weighing investment in Pebble mine

August 29, 2019 — Gov. Mike Dunleavy told the head of a Canadian mineral company that he would support his decision to invest in the Pebble copper and gold project, after the company received a letter from anti-Pebble groups arguing against the investment, according to a letter from the governor.

Dunleavy, who has taken a neutral stance on the project, told Randy Smallwood, president of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp., that the state will stand by the company’s possible investment in Pebble, according to the July 30 letter from the governor obtained through a public records request.

“I understand your potential investment would be structured to financially support Pebble’s completion of the permitting process,” Dunleavy said in the letter. “Every permittee deserves that opportunity, and it is my mission to assure that any project attempting to stake claim in Alaska is afforded this basic right.”

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News