Saving Seafood

Dungeness crab fishery along California coast closed due to whale entanglements

April 8, 2022 — All commercial Dungeness crab fishery along California’s coast will be closed this month after humpback whales were found entangled in fishing gear, wildlife authorities said.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Wednesday that fishery zones from the Sonoma-Mendocino county life north to the Oregon state line will close at noon on April 20. The closure comes after the department had already announced that commercial crab traps would have to be removed from fishery zones from the Sonoma-Mendocino county line down south to the U.S.-Mexico border by Friday.

“We received reports of additional humpback whale entanglements and moved quickly to close the fishery to protect migrating humpback whales that are just starting to return to California waters,” said Director Bonham.

Read the full story at KRON4

 

California orders an April 8 end to Dungeness crab season in Bay Area, Central Coast

March 28, 2022 — The commercial Dungeness crab-fishing season started late for the Bay Area and Central Coast regions. And it’s ending early.

On Friday afternoon, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife ruled that the season must close April 8 to protect migrating humpback whales. Two whales have recently become entangled in crab-fishing gear, one off the San Mateo County coast and one in Monterey Bay.

Until then, the state is asking all fishermen and mariners to keep an eye out for entangled whales and report them to the U.S. Coast Guard so that a “disentanglement response team” can be sent out to remove the gear.

“The past few seasons have been difficult for fishing families, communities and businesses, but it is imperative that we strike the right balance between protecting humpback whales and providing fishing opportunity,” Charlton H. Bonham, CDFW director, said in a statement about his decision.

Read the full story at the Mercury News

CALIFORNIA: Crab fishing closures recommended after whale entanglements

March 23, 2022 — Two humpback whales were tangled in fishing gear off central California in recent days and state wildlife officials are recommending commercial Dungeness crab fishing be suspended to reduce the risk of more entanglements as the whales migrate north.

One humpback was caught in commercial crab nets off Moss Beach, just north of Half Moon Bay, on March 17. Two days later, a second whale was spotted trailing a set of crabbing lines in Monterey Bay, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement.

Wildlife officials on Monday recommended commercial Dungeness crab fishing from Monterey Bay, south of San Francisco, to the Mexican border stop on April 8. The closures wouldn’t affect recreational Dungeness crab fishing.

Read the full story at the Sacramento Bee

CALIFORNIA: Oil spill cleanup improves, fisheries to stay closed longer

November 8, 2021 — Five weeks after a ruptured underwater pipeline spilled crude in the waters off Southern California, cleanup crews have cleared about a third of the shoreline and the amount of oily waste collected is tapering, an official said Friday.

Fisheries remain closed and aren’t likely to reopen before the final week of the month, said Lt. Christian Corbo of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Crews have removed upward of 500,000 pounds (227,000 kilograms) of tar balls, as well as oil-tainted sand, seaweed and driftwood. The amount of oily debris collected each day has tapered off, and more than a third of the shoreline is nearing final cleanup approval.

Read the full story at the AP

 

California, Florida fish mortality pinned to drought, climate change

July 15, 2021 — California officials warned this week that salmon in the state’s Sacramento River might not survive the region’s historic drought.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said that “nearly all” of the endangered winter-run Chinook salmon’s juveniles might not make it through the season, according to The Sacramento Bee.

The publication reported Wednesday that a final blow, after two years of “severe mortality during the last drought,” would risk the extinction of the species — even though the agency has hauled millions of the Chinook salmon to Bay Area waters as a precaution.

Triple-digit temperatures have plagued the West, killing hundreds of people in the last major heat wave. The severe conditions have exacerbated the climate-driven “megadrought,” leading to less water and less streamflow.

Read the full story at Fox News

CALIFORNIA: CDFW Successfully Relocates 1.1 Million Hatchery Salmon Until Klamath River Drought Conditions Improve

July 15, 2021 — The following was released by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:

Due to drought and poor water conditions in the Klamath River, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) successfully relocated 1.1 million juvenile, fall-run Chinook salmon from its Iron Gate Fish Hatchery in Siskiyou County. The fish were trucked to a nearby satellite facility and to the Trinity River Hatchery 122 miles away where the fish will remain until conditions in the Klamath River improve.

The baby salmon, about seven months old and about three inches in length, are normally released into the Klamath River in May and June. Due to warm water temperatures, low water flow and an exceedingly high probability of succumbing to disease in the river, CDFW decided to retain these salmon within its hatchery system over the summer until Klamath River conditions improve. The unprecedented relocation happened after extensive monitoring, discussion and close collaboration with federal partners, academic specialists and three Native American tribes in the lower Klamath Basin.

The temporary relocation marks the first time CDFW has not released salmon into the Klamath River since construction of the Iron Gate Fish Hatchery in 1962.

CDFW relocated the 1.1 million salmon to provide adequate water conditions over the summer and additional space to accommodate the growing fish. Another 1 million juvenile Chinook salmon will remain at Iron Gate.

“It’s extremely challenging to raise cold water fish species in a drought,” said Dr. Mark Clifford, Hatchery Environmental Scientist for CDFW’s Northern Region. “The reality is most of these fish would have died if we released them into the river. We need to maintain the integrity of the fall run on the Klamath River and we especially can’t afford to lose this generation of fish.”

Four Klamath River dams are slated for removal by 2024, the largest dam removal undertaking in U.S. history. The removal is expected to restore fish access to the entire river and the relocated Iron Gate fish could be the first salmon to return to a new Klamath River after their life in the ocean and find miles of additional spawning habitat and contribute to future generations of wild fish.

Read the full release here

CALIFORNIA: Monterey Bay fishermen work to reduce chances of whale entanglements

July 13, 2021 — On a cool Thursday morning this week, Calder Deyerle powered up his Boston Whaler and headed out of Moss Landing Harbor in search of the catch of the day. But this catch had no fins or tails or claws. Deyerle was hunting crab gear.

Five or six years ago, more than 70 whales — mostly fin, blue and humpbacks — became caught in the lines that connect a surface buoy to the crab trap resting on the ocean floor. Because of a crash in the krill population, the whales came in closer to shore to feed on alternative food sources and right into the crab lines.

Lines and traps meant for Dungeness crabs can be deadly to whales that become ensnared in the equipment, often causing dehydration, infected wounds, breathing or reproduction problems and even starvation.

But efforts by Dungeness crab fishermen have dramatically reduced the number of whale entanglements. There have been none this year. The far greater threat to whales today is not from crab gear, rather from ship strikes.

Deyerle is one of nine Monterey Bay commercial fishermen who are contributing to a project called the Lost Gear Recovery Project that is coordinated by the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust, which in turn is permitted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Read the full story at the Monterey Herald

Dire drought warning: California says ‘nearly all’ salmon could die in Sacramento River

July 9, 2021 — The drought is making the Sacramento River so hot that “nearly all” of an endangered salmon species’ juveniles could be cooked to death this fall, California officials warned this week.

In a brief update on the perilous state of the river issued this week, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife made a dire prediction about the endangered winter-run Chinook salmon and its struggles against consistently hot weather in the Sacramento Valley.

“This persistent heat dome over the West Coast will likely result in earlier loss of ability to provide cool water and subsequently it is possible that nearly all in-river juveniles will not survive this season,” the department said.

Given that the salmon generally have a three-year life cycle, a near-total wipeout of one year’s run of juveniles “greatly increases the risk of extinction for the species,” said Doug Obegi, a lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The winter-run salmon endured two years of severe mortality during the last drought as well.

Read the full story at The Sacramento Bee

IPHC Announces Early Closure of California Sports Halibut Fishery as 39,000 lb Limit is Caught

July 2, 2021 — For the first time in at least six years, the California sports fishery for Pacific halibut closed on June 30, months earlier than the usual September closure and among the highest allocations in that period for recreational stakeholders.

Based on the latest catch projections, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) “expects the 2021 California recreational quota of 39,260 net pounds will be exceeded unless the fishery is closed,” the department announced in a statement on Tuesday this week.

Read the full story at Seafood News