Saving Seafood

Can killing seals save salmon? Conservationists and Washington lawmakers disagree

July 23, 2026 — A marine wildlife hospital based in the Pacific Northwest is worried about an alarming trend: seals coming to them alive, but gravely injured.

Earlier this month, the organization treated its third seal in less than a year with a gunshot wound. That seal pup, named Waffles, was found over Fourth of July weekend. It had to be euthanized once it was determined its injuries were too severe.

“It’s not uncommon for us to see animals that have been shot,” said Casey Mclean, executive director and veterinary nurse at SR3 SeaLife Response + Rehab + Research. “Historically, we often found those animals dead. Now we’re starting to see more of them alive and suffering from gunshot injuries.”This trend, Mclean believes, is being fueled by misinformation about the role marine mammals play in Washington’s continually struggling salmon populations.

Her concern is amplified by a congressional bipartisan bill from two Washington lawmakers, U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner, a Republican, and U.S. Rep. Emily Randall, a Democrat. The Northwest Endangered Salmon Predation Prevention Act (H.R. 9621) would expand the ability of federal, state, and tribal authorities to remove seals and sea lions, known collectively as pinnipeds, from Washington waters in an effort to boost salmon recovery.

In statements to KING 5, both sponsors of the bill lambasted the shooting of the seal pup as illegal, but insisted it should not be confused with what they’re proposing.

“Joe Schmo or any person off the streets shouldn’t be shooting seals or sea lions,” Randall said. “What we have proposed is a robust process to figure out how we can have responsible management of a population that’s decimating our salmon.”

“No one should be illegally poaching sea lions,” Baumgartner said. “I hope the perpetrator is identified and brought to justice. This does not have anything to do with my bipartisan bill to try to save and restore our endangered salmon populations.”

Supporters of the proposal, like the representatives, argue reducing pinnipeds could help struggling salmon populations. However, critics like Mclean say the bill ignores more significant threats to salmon and risks repeating decades-old mistakes in wildlife management.

Read the full article at KUOW

Trump fires new salvo in trade dispute with Canada amid ongoing USMCA discussions

July 21, 2026 — United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer announced new 50 percent tariffs on Canadian goods, continuing a trade dispute even as talks over the United States, Mexico, Canada agreement (USMCA) are ongoing.

Greer announced 50 percent tariffs on three types of goods: motor vehicles, alcohol, and dairy. The tariffs mark a new chapter in the U.S.’s ongoing dispute with Canada, as U.S. President Donald Trump has continuously threatened Canada with tariffs since taking office in January 2025, including threats of 100 percent tariffs in February 2026 after Canada and China finalized a trade deal.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Alaskans voice pollution concerns over New Polaris gold mine project near Taku River

June 18, 2026 — A proposed gold mine in British Columbia, Canada, is causing controversy for residents in Alaska.

The New Polaris gold mine is 100 kilometers south of Atlin, British Columbia, and is located near the Alaska border, particularly near the city of Juneau, according to a report by CBC. The project is owned by Vancouver, Canada-based natural resource acquisition company Canagold, which is looking to refurbish the abandoned mine and produce an estimated 90,000 kilograms of ore daily. CBC reported that the gold mine dates back to 1929 with its first gold discovery and remained operational from 1937 to 1957.

Read the full article at the SeafoodSource

Proposed New Polaris mine raises concerns about Taku River salmon, but mining company assures safegaurds

May 18, 2026 — Canagold Resources, the company proposing to open the New Polaris gold mine on the Tulsequah River in British Columbia, says it’s taking steps to protect the environment.

The Tulsequah is a tributary of the Taku River in Alaska, which is known as the most productive salmon stream in Southeast. All five Pacific salmon species spawn in the river, including the largest Chinook run in the region. Although there hasn’t been a concerted effort to study whether mining has affected Taku River salmon, some are concerned it could.

Chris Pharness is the senior vice president of sustainability and permitting at Canagold. He said the company plans to operate in ways that avoid harming the watershed and the fish in it.

For instance, he said Canagold originally planned to use cyanide to separate gold on-site.

“We were going to produce doré, which is unrefined gold, on site,” Pharness said. “But, you know, in consideration of the fisheries values and water quality values and things like that, we decided against that.”

Instead, Pharness said they’ll use another method that involves less chemical processing, called flotation. A foaming agent creates bubbles to concentrate gold out of waste rock. He said the gold concentrate will be shipped somewhere else for further processing.

Read the full article at KTOO

UW study shows PNW waters acidifying faster than rest of world’s oceans

April 23, 2026 — The waters off the Pacific Northwest are becoming more acidic at a faster rate than the rest of the world’s oceans, a global problem exacerbated by the region’s unique geography, according to a University of Washington study.

Researchers found the California Current System, which runs along the West Coast from British Columbia to Baja California, and the Salish Sea, which includes Puget Sound, have experienced amplified acidification over the past 130 years, outpacing the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide.

“We are already naturally acidic and then we see this bump and then we’re saying that extra bit is increasing faster than we expected,” said Alex Gagnon, an associate professor of oceanography at UW and principal investigator on the study.

The Pacific Northwest is naturally prone to acidic ocean conditions because of a process called upwelling, in which cold, nutrient-rich water is pulled up from the deep ocean to the surface.

Read the full article at King 5

Halibut quota hits record low as fishermen compete for shrinking catch

March 26, 2026 — Pacific halibut users – commercial, sport, subsistence and personal use – will compete for a total harvest of just 29.33 million pounds this year, the lowest yield determined by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) in its 102-year-old history.

The new total is 1.3 percent below the 2025 coast-wide quota.

It breaks out at 24.27 million pounds for the U.S. portion, the same as last year, which includes Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California. A catch total of 5.06 million pounds is allocated for British Columbia.

The 2026 Pacific halibut fishery will close Dec. 7.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Sanctions threats loom as IPHC sets historic low 2026 halibut harvest

January 30, 2026 — The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) set the 2026 Pacific halibut harvest at a historic low last week, following tense U.S.-Canada negotiations that included threats of economic sanctions against Canadian halibut exports.

The Northern Journal reported that the four-day annual IPHC meeting in Bellevue, Washington, came amid strained relations between the two countries under the Trump administration, whose tariff policies and rhetoric toward Canada have fueled political friction.

Serving as the non-voting head of the U.S. delegation was Drew Lawler, a political appointee to NOAA. During private negotiations, U.S. representatives threatened tariffs or other trade restrictions unless Canada agreed to reduce British Columbia’s share of the halibut catch.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Pacific halibut catches declined this year

December 9, 2025 — The Pacific halibut fishery ended on Dec. 7, and by all accounts, things remained on a stagnant trend. Stakeholders are dealing with the fallout from the lowest Pacific halibut spawning biomass in 40 years, and harvesters widely reported catches of fewer and smaller fish.

The annual survey conducted since 1963 by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) revealed little change in the halibut stock that stretches from Alaska’s northern Bering Sea, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon to California’s Monterey Bay.

By early December, coast-wide commercial landings of halibut totaled 16.7 million pounds, down 16 percent from the same time last year and reflecting just  80 percent of the allowable catch limit in 2025.

According to a report by the IPHC at its interim meeting on December 2, total halibut takes (called mortalities) from all sectors – commercial, sport, personal use, and subsistence – were 28.8 million pounds, down 12% from last year, and marking the lowest removals in 100 years.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Alaska Tribes deliver 30,000 letters opposing Canadian mining near salmon-bearing rivers

November 18, 2025 — Conservation groups delivered nearly 30,000 letters to Canadian lawmakers opposing mining developments in British Columbia, which U.S.-based Tribes say could harm Alaskan salmon fisheries.

“The provincial government is blatantly ignoring the rights of Indigenous peoples to protect their traditional territory from toxic mining pollution,” Earthjustice Supervising Senior Attorney Ramin Pejan said in a release. “Thousands of people have raised their voice in opposition, and the government should take notice.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Trump revokes agreement to protect salmon

July 28, 2025 —A September 2023 presidential memorandum of understanding (MOU) from the Biden administration called for the elimination of four Snake River dams that the MOU said contributed to the near extinction of 13 salmon and steelhead fish populations that return each year to the Columbia Basin from the Pacific Ocean to spawn.

Supporters of the Biden MOU say the fish are important to local tribal health and sovereignty and to basin ecosystems, and the declines are affecting southern resident orcas off the coasts of British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. The orcas eat the salmon.

The 2023 agreement was between the federal government and four Lower Columbia River tribes — Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, and the Nez Perce Tribe, as well as the states of Oregon and Washington. The tribes want the dams removed.

Opponents argue that the dams support river navigation for maritime barge operations, passenger vessels, irrigation, and emissions-free hydropower for nearby communities and should be maintained.

Read the full article at WorkBoat