California Archives - Saving Seafood

CALIFORNIA: Many California fishermen are nearing retirement. Can the industry save its graying fleet?

July 1, 2026 — In choppy surf off of La Jolla, fisherman Shane Volberding fought to land a yellowtail, a silver and gold fish prized in the sushi seafood trade.

Gulls wheeled above the water as the fish dove and darted against him, dragging the line. One crank at a time, Volberding reeled it in, jabbed it with a gaffe and then hoisted it on deck. As he grappled with the thrashing fish, his deckhand Destiny Louise Silva hauled in another yellowtail and dunked it in a bucket, tail up.

The swift, back-to-back catch was the highlight of an unusually productive day on the water that yielded seven yellowtail and other fish, not counting the ones snatched by thieving sea lions.

“That’s a really good day for yellowtails,” Volberding said. “They’re usually very hard to catch.”

That lucky happenstance belies the unpredictability of California’s commercial fishing sector, where the speculative nature of the catch collides with complex regulations, economic hurdles and a graying fleet.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

CALIFORNIA: California declares progress in restoring salmon populations

July 1, 2026 — The U.S. state of California has declared progress in restoring salmon populations and habitats, completing half of the actions laid out in the California Salmon Strategy for a Hotter, Drier Future that was issued more than two years ago.

“Restoring California’s salmon is not just an environmental goal. It is part of our commitment to the rivers, tribes, communities, and ecosystems that define this state,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a release. “Success is rooted in persistence, collaboration, science, and respect for tribal sovereignty. Salmon recovery is a signal of what is possible when we restore nature with urgency and purpose. This is only the beginning.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Environmental group sues federal government to boost protections for Pacific coast sunflower sea stars

June 29, 2026 — The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, pushing to finalize long‑delayed protections for the imperiled sunflower sea star.

Sunflower sea stars (Pycnopodia helianthoides) are enormous compared to their counterparts, about 3 feet wide with up to 24 arms. They display a wide range of colors, often in combinations including bright orange, yellow-red, brown, purple, pink and occasionally blue. They occur throughout intertidal and subtidal coastal waters of the Northeast Pacific Ocean from the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, to at least northern Baja California, Mexico.

The animals used to be abundant along Oregon’s coast — but nearly 90% of the entire population has been lost due to a gruesome disease known as Sea Star Wasting Syndrome. It causes their arms to twist, melt away and fall off, ultimately resulting in death.

Read the full article at KLCC

CALIFORNIA: State Cites Health Hazard In Ban On Commercial Anchovy, Sardine Fishing

June 29, 2026 — State wildlife officials have restricted commercial fishing for northern anchovy and Pacific sardine in Monterey Bay after finding a toxin that can cause nausea, diarrhea and even death in humans.

Fish sampled from the bay contained elevated levels of domoic acid, a potent neurotoxin produced by a naturally occurring marine algae, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said Friday.

The agency restricted the commercial take of northern anchovy and Pacific sardine for human consumption in the area south of Pigeon Point, San Mateo County, to a line due west from Point Lobos, Monterey County.

Read the full article at Bay City News Service

Commerce Department releases $123.6 million in fishery disaster aid

June 24, 2026 — The U.S. Department of Commerce announced June 17 the allocation of $123.6 million in fishery disaster relief funding to address a series of commercial fishery collapses that struck Alaska, Oregon, California, and Washington’s Squaxin Island Tribe between 2019 and 2023. The money was appropriated by Congress through the American Relief Act, 2025.

The funding covers six previously declared fishery resource disasters: the 2023–2024 Bering Sea snow crab fishery in Alaska; the 2023 Oregon ocean commercial salmon fishery; the 2022 Chignik salmon fishery in Alaska; the 2023 Upper Cook Inlet East Side Setnet salmon fishery in Alaska; the 2024 California Sacramento River Fall Chinook and Klamath River Fall Chinook ocean and inland salmon fisheries; and the 2023 Squaxin Island Tribe Puget Sound Fall Chum salmon fishery in Washington.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NOAA to send $123 million in disaster relief to West Coast salmon fisheries

June 24, 2026 — Federal disaster relief funding is on the way for California’s struggling salmon fishing industry after years of closures and restrictions tied to low salmon return numbers.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced $123 million in fishery disaster funding for California, Oregon and Alaska to help mitigate losses from poor salmon returns that forced widespread closures.

James Stone, president of the NorCal Guides and Sportsmen’s Association, said California’s salmon fishery has been devastated and described the state’s role in seeking disaster assistance.

“And it is the design for the state of California to file an emergency disaster for that publicly trusted resource,” Stone said.

Read the full article at KRCR

NOAA announces USD 124 million in fisheries disaster assistance

June 23, 2025 — NOAA has announced USD 124 million (EUR 109 million) in fisheries disaster aid to the states of Alaska, Oregon, and California, as well as the Squaxin Island Tribe.

“Fishery resource disasters have devastating effects on local communities and our economy,” NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs said in a release. “This disaster funding provides much needed assistance to our fishing industry, and we will work with the affected communities to help them recover. This action demonstrates our continued commitment to hardworking American fishermen and to the president’s vision to uphold the United States as the world’s dominant seafood leader.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Trump administration to buy back another energy company’s offshore wind leases for 4 more projects

June 18,2026 — The Trump administration said Wednesday it’s buying back another energy company’s U.S. offshore wind leases for four more wind projects, as it seeks to discourage the expansion of wind energy in favor of fossil fuels.

The latest deal brings the total amount spent on these agreements to nearly $2.6 billion.

Chicago-based Invenergy has agreed to end its four offshore wind leases that were very early in development in exchange for reimbursements of lease fees totaling $765 million. The company had already canceled the largest of the four in November, Leading Light Wind off New Jersey’s coast. The others are off the coasts of Maine and California. It will invest that money in natural gas and geothermal ventures that can be built more quickly instead.

By buying back leases, the Republican administration is stopping offshore wind farms that President Donald Trump does not support, and redirecting the money to fossil fuel projects that he does. It adopted this strategy after federal courts thwarted Trump’s efforts to stop offshore wind development through executive action. Trump has frequently talked about his hatred of wind power and calls turbines ugly.

Read the full article at The Associated Press

Trump Administration to Buy Back Four More Offshore Wind Leases

June 18, 2026 — Continuing its strategy of canceling offshore wind projects by buying back the leases in exchange for other energy investments, the Department of the Interior announced its third agreement. The administration has committed nearly $2.6 billion to canceling offshore wind leases even as the strategy is being challenged in court and by regulators.

Invenergy will voluntarily terminate four offshore wind leases it purchased in the past from the government and will redirect the investments toward other domestic energy sources, said the Department of the Interior. It valued the four leases at $765 million for one lease in the New York Bight for a New Jersey wind farm, two for floating offshore wind farms in Maine, and one off the coast of California.

The largest and most advanced of the projects was Leading Light Wind, which had submitted its offshore wind project bid to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) in August 2023. It called for up to 2.4 GW, which would have made it the largest in the United States. It would have been more than 40 miles off the coast near Atlantic City, New Jersey, and included a battery storage option that would provide 253 MW of advanced energy storage, but it had yet to submit a Construction and Operations Plan proposal to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

NOAA says $123 million coming for six ‘fishery resource disasters’

June 18, 2026 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said a package of fishery disaster relief for West Coast and Alaska fishermen is on the way.

NOAA announced the allocation of $123.6 million in fishery resource disaster funding, appropriated by Congress in the American Relief Act, 2025. The money will go to address fishery resource disasters that occurred in Oregon, California, the Squaxin Island tribe in Washington State, and multiple Alaska fisheries between 2019 and 2023.

“Fishery resource disasters have devastating effects on local communities and our economy,” said Neil Jacobs, NOAA’s administrator. “This disaster funding provides much needed assistance to our fishing industry, and we will work with the affected communities to help them recover.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman