California Archives - Page 102 of 107

Disastrous season forecast for commercial and recreational salmon fishers

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (March 17, 2016) — On Sunday, March 13, the Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted three public review alternatives for the 2016 salmon season off the West Coast of the United States. The Council will select a final alternative at their next meeting in Vancouver, Washington on April 9-14.

“The mix of salmon runs this year is unusual,” said outgoing Executive Director Donald McIsaac. “In the north, the return of fall Chinook to the Columbia River is forecast to be exceptionally high again, but expectations for wild coho runs to the Washington Coast and Puget Sound areas can only be described as disastrous. In the south, the Sacramento River fall Chinook are healthy, but Klamath River fall Chinook are so poor that the Council’s policy calls for a low ‘de minimis’ catch in ocean fisheries.”

“This will be a challenging year for salmon fisheries. Several key stocks are less abundant than usual due to environmental conditions like the California drought and El Niño, which have affected ocean abundance for some stocks. However, there are alternatives that provide opportunities for both commercial and recreational salmon fishing coastwide,” said Council Vice-Chair Herb Pollard.

Read the full story at the South Beach Bulletin

CALIFORNIA: State lawmakers push for crab fishing industry emergency relief

March 4, 2016 — The loss of this year’s crab season has cost the industry more than $100 million and has driven many of the captains and crews to the brink of financial insolvency. On Friday, three Bay Area members of Congress announced their pushing for emergency relief for these farmers of the sea.

Peninsula Congresswoman Jackie Speier and North Bay Congressman Jared Huffman announced they have proposed that Congress pass the Crab Disaster Emergency Assistance Act. It’s a direct response to the massive losses suffered by California crabbers and crew due to toxic algae that killed their season.

“This bill would provide $138 million to crab fishermen along our coast to help them through this horrific season,” says Representative Jackie Speier, (D) San Mateo.

Read the full story at KTVU

Southern California Fisheries Hit Hard By Warming Water

March 2, 2016 — Squid have pretty much disappeared from Southern California in the last several months.

“Squid’s kind of our bread and butter. That’s what a lot of us make our payments and survive on,” said Corbin Hanson who fishes off the coast of Southern California.

“It’s extremely frustrating. It’s demoralizing to go out and not be able to catch anything,” Hanson said.

Hanson has not caught any squid for more than four months. Squid is one of California’s largest commercial fisheries, and much of it is exported to countries in Asia and the Mediterranean.

Oceanographer Andrew Leising with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries said unusually warm water is causing squid and other fish to move farther north. At a meeting at the Aquarium of the Pacific, scientists explained one cause of the warming waters is what they call “the blob.”

“During the, say, 30-year record, this event “the blob” stands out far beyond anything we’ve seen in that 30 years. And in terms of that total warmth of the water, it’s pretty much the warmest we’ve ever measured and over an extremely large volume of water,” Leising said.

Read the full story and watch the video from Voice of America

In Mexico, Fish Poachers Push Endangered Porpoises to Brink

March 1, 2016 — In 2013, Song Shen Zhen, a 75-year-old resident of Calexico, California, was attempting to re-enter the United States from Mexico when border patrol noticed a strange lump beneath the floor mats of his Dodge Attitude. The plastic bags beneath the mats contained not cocaine, but another valuable product: 27 swim bladders from the totoaba, a critically endangered fish whose air bladders, a Chinese delicacy with alleged medicinal value, fetch up to $20,000 apiece. Agents tracked Zhen to his house, where they discovered a makeshift factory containing another 214 bladders. Altogether, Zhen’s contraband was worth an estimated $3.6 million.

The robust black market is grim news for totoaba — but it’s an even greater catastrophe for vaquita, a diminutive porpoise that dwells solely in the northernmost reaches of the Gulf of California, the narrow body of water that extends between the Baja Peninsula and mainland Mexico. Since 1997, around 80 percent of the world’s vaquitas have perished as bycatch, many in gill nets operated by illegal totoaba fishermen.

Today, fewer than 100 vaquitas remain, earning it the dubious title of world’s most endangered marine mammal. Scientists fear the porpoise could vanish by 2018. “The possible extinction of the vaquita is the most important issue facing the marine mammal community right now,” says Barbara Taylor, a conservation biologist with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center.

The vaquita — “little cow” in Spanish — is a creature of superlatives. Not only is it the most imperiled cetacean, it is also the smallest, at less than five feet long from snout to tail, and the most geographically restricted: Its entire range could fit four times within Los Angeles’ city limits. Prominent black patches ring its eyes and trace its lips, giving Phocoena sinus a charming, panda-like appearance. The porpoise, which typically travels in pairs or small groups and communicates using rapid clicks, is famously cryptic; conservationists recently went two years without documenting a single sighting. Some Mexican fishermen insist the vaquita is already extinct, photographic evidence notwithstanding.

Read the full story at Yale Environment 360

San Diego tuna chief addresses Congress

March 1, 2016 — A leader in the San Diego tuna industry addressed U.S. Congress on Tuesday over fishing restrictions on the high seas that he said favor foreign boats.

American Tunaboat Association head Brian Hallman threw his support behind legislation that would potentially give U.S. boats a leg up in treaty negotiations for areas of the world’s largest ocean.

The U.S. fleet, many with ties or based in San Diego, has had a rough year so far, losing access to massive sections of the western and central Pacific Ocean.

Compliance in international waters — for things like how many days boats are allowed to fish for tuna in areas where there is no treaty — is governed by three multinational agreements.

The legislation, called the Ensuring Access to Pacific Fisheries Act, was introduced by congressional delegate Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa) and Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska).

Its basic function would give more people a chance to negotiate for fishing rights instead of just two people from the federal government.

Read the full story at The San Diego Union-Tribune

An Essential Part of the Magnuson-Stevens Act Reaches 20 Years

February 29, 20156 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

As we celebrate 40 years of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, we reflect on how one revision to the Act has resulted in 20 years of protection for habitats that are vital to our nation’s fisheries. Join us this year in honoring the remarkable efforts and accomplishments through the Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Program, which was mandated by Congress in 1996.

Healthy Fish Habitat is Truly Essential

Healthy habitat provides the foundation for productive fisheries and resilient coastal communities. Fish habitats provide homes to many of our important commercial and recreational species, and also protect our coastal communities by acting as buffers from storms and wave damage. These benefits are linked, because the areas where fish grow and thrive are often close to shore, where thousands of fishers work and millions of people live.

NOAA’s EFH mandate has charged us to seek out the best available science to understand how and why habitats are important to our species. To date, NOAA Fisheries and the regional fishery management councils have described habitats for more than 1,000 species.

Collaboration is Key

EFH has saved large amounts of both habitat and money. Together, NOAA Fisheries and the regional councils have succeeded in protecting more than 800 million acres of habitat. That’s the size of eight Californias! Plus, NOAA Fisheries has worked with state and federal agencies to improve the design, construction, and operation of hundreds of coastal and marine infrastructure projects. These collaborations have reduced habitat impacts and saved many millions of taxpayer dollars by inspiring greater attention to smart development that allows both ecosystems and economies to thrive.

Thankfully, a determined group of people made EFH a reality 20 years ago, and the future of sustainable fisheries will rely heavily on its continued success. In our reflections, we also have an opportunity to look forward, refine our approach, and make EFH even more effective. Today, we invite you to learn more and peruse stories of how EFH works—and works well.

Wildlife secrets revealed with advanced tracking devices

February 29, 2016 — BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Solar-powered trackers on wings have recorded California condors soaring to 15,000 feet, while locators attached to humpback whales have revealed 1,000-foot dives to underwater mountains. And GPS collars on Yellowstone grizzly bears are giving new insights into one of the most studied large carnivore populations in the world.

Technological advances in recent years have allowed what could be the most inquisitive Earth dweller of them all, humans, to invent ever more ingenious tracking devices to find out what their fellow inhabitants are up to.

“It’s a large field that’s developing very fast,” said Alex Zerbini, a research biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration‘s National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle. “There are many types of tags being developed for many species of marine animals.”

Scientists say the trove of information thanks to ever smaller, tougher and more powerful tracking devices is leading to discoveries that could be used to make better wildlife and habitat management decisions.

The devices are also revealing the secret lives of hard-to-study animals.

For example, Zerbini said, scientists recently discovered humpback whales diving to underwater mountains on a regular basis, and also making the dives during migrations.

In Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding area, more sophisticated tracking devices on grizzly bears are providing information, notably on their ability to find food, that could be a factor in whether Endangered Species Act protections are lifted.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at San Francisco Chronicle

West Coast Sardine Populations, Long Sinking, Look Even Worse in Forecast

February 26, 2016 — Sardines off the West Coast have continued on a steep decline, with populations this summer forecast to be down 93 percent from a 2007 peak, according to a draft assessment from the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The sardines are a key forage food for sea lions, salmon and many other species, as well as a source of income for commercial fishermen.

In some years, sardines have been worth from $10 million to more than $20 million annually to a West Coast fleet.

Last year, the sardine implosion was so severe that the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to call off the season that was scheduled to start in July for West Coast fleets, including those in Washington state.

This year, as the council meets this spring, it will have more bad news on sardines to review.

The stocks of sardines aged one year or older are forecast to be 64,422 metric tons, about a third lower than the 2015 assessment.

“Pacific sardines are an incredibly important economic and ecological ocean resource,” said Geoff Shester, a fishery scientist with Oceana, a marine conservation group. “Fishermen with lost income will suffer financially, and marine animals like California sea lion pups will face another year of fighting starvation.”

Albert Carter, of Ocean Gold Seafood in southwest Washington, said sardines are a significant part of the company business when populations are strong.

Carter, who serves on a Pacific Fishery Management Council advisory committee, said he has not had a chance to review the new sardine assessment. But he said if populations have continued to decline, he does not expect a 2016 season.

Read the full story at the Seattle Times

California DFW to Host Public Meeting on Ocean Salmon Fisheries

February 18, 2016 — SANTA ROSA, California — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) invites the public to attend its upcoming annual Ocean Salmon Information Meeting. A review of last year’s ocean salmon fisheries and spawning escapement will be presented, in addition to the outlook for this year’s sport and commercial ocean salmon fisheries.

The meeting will be held Wednesday, March 2 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Sonoma County Water Agency, 404 Aviation Blvd. in Santa Rosa (95403).

Anglers are encouraged to provide input on potential fishing seasons to a panel of California salmon scientists, managers and representatives who will be directly involved in the upcoming Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) meetings in March and April.

Read the full release at San Diego Newscape

Dungeness crab season remains closed despite potential for partial open

February 17, 2016 — SAN FRANCISCO — Commercial crab fisheries will now remain closed until state officials lift the health advisory along the entire California coastline.

That decision was made on Wednesday. CDFW officials may open crab fisheries south of the border between Mendocino and Sonoma counties once the state Department of Public Health clears all of the crabs along that stretch of the coast for human consumption.

The commercial crab season has taken a huge financial hit, stalled since public health officials determined the crabs had high levels of domoic acid which is a neurotoxin.

The determination followed the strong recommendation by members of the Dungeness Crab Task Force, who urged state officials on Tuesday to keep the season closed until the health advisory was lifted coast-wide, or at a minimum, for an area south of Point Arena.

The commercial crab season has been stalled since public health officials determined the crabs had high levels of domoic acid, a neurotoxin.

But on Thursday, the CDFW said it would allow recreational crab fishing south of Point Reyes after health officials cleared the crabs for human consumption.

Read the full story at KRON4