Saving Seafood

Impacts of ocean heat wave found off SF Bay Area coast

July 12, 2024 — The ocean is no place to escape a heat wave. According to a recent condition report from the Greater Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries, the effects of a 2014 to 2016 marine heat wave had a cascading effect with impacts that echoed from deep sea krill to shoreline restaurants.

The domino effect began with the tiny shrimp-like critters that feed the biggest animals on earth, blue whales. Looking at data collected between 2010 and 2022, scientists with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration found that the heat wave caused a notable decline in nutritious krill, and a proportional increase in less nutritious, gelatinous zooplankton in the sanctuaries off the Northern California coast.

Read the full article at Chesapeake Bay Magazine 

Climate change is causing low-oxygen levels in Pacific Northwest ocean, report says

June 17, 2024 — A recent report out of Oregon State University paints a picture of how ocean oxygen levels have decreased in the Pacific Northwest over the years.

The report found near-bottom levels of dissolved oxygen in the waters off of Washington, Oregon and Northern California in 2021. JPR’s Roman Battaglia talked to Jack Barth, professor of oceanography at OSU, about his report and what these low oxygen levels mean for marine life.

Roman Battaglia: One thing I noticed in this study was that the levels seem pretty different in different parts of the coast. For example, in northern California and the southern Oregon coast, the oxygen levels seem much higher than they are in southern Washington and the northern Oregon coast. But why is there so much variability?

Jack Barth: That was the second big outcome of the paper, is that there really are regional differences. And importantly, we can explain them by oceanographic processes. So that higher oxygen level off southern Oregon, that’s because the continental shelf is relatively narrow. So it can flush water on and off pretty effectively from the deep ocean and flush out that low oxygen water so it stays high. And it looks like a pretty good area for fisheries. As you get into the wider continental shelves off central Oregon and Washington, the water sticks around longer; it doesn’t get flushed off as effectively. So that keeps those low oxygen waters near the bottom on those wider shelves.

Read the full transcript at OPB

Commercial salmon fishermen eye Klamath dam removal with cautious hope

June 17, 2024 — Dave Bitts can bring in over 100 salmon by himself.

“That’s an exceptionally good day. If I catch 20 fish it’s worth the trip,” says Bitts.

At 76, he still fishes for salmon alone. Standing in the cockpit on the stern deck of his wooden trawler, Elmarue, he can keep an eye on all six wires; when one of the lines starts to dance, he brings the fish in, stunning it with his gaff while it’s still in the water. Then he uses the tool to hook the salmon behind the gills and swings it onto the deck.

“By the way, I want that fish cleaned and chilling in a single water flush within half an hour; that’s the standard,” says Bitts. “I want you to enjoy eating it as much as I enjoyed catching it.”

Bitts has commercial permits for both crab and salmon. Normally, in late May, he’d be out salmon fishing; instead, he’s just returned from a late crab run and tucked Elmarue into her slip at Woodley Island, a tidy marina in Humboldt Bay right across the waterfront near Eureka’s Old Town.

In April, for the second year in a row, the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted unanimously to close California’s commercial and recreational ocean salmon fishery. The closure was based on woefully low numbers of adult salmon expected to return to several California rivers.

The east end of the marina is stocked with sailboats and pleasure craft, but on the west end you can spot several commercial boats — Inua, Joy Ann, and My Lady, her deck piled high with crab pots.

“There’s not that many anymore, because there’s not much salmon season anymore,” says Bitts.

Read the full article at OPB

CALIFORNIA: Port of Hueneme makes historic announcement during World Ocean Day celebration

June 12, 2024 — Holly Lohuis has made it her mission to tell students the importance of protecting the ocean for future generations.

Part of that conservation conversation includes protecting endangered whales.

The Port of Hueneme and Oxnard Harbor District vowed to make all operations at the Port Of Hueneme zero emissions within the next 6 years— a change that will not only help save marine life and preserve ecosystems, but will also improve public health.

“We want clean air for our community. We want the workers working at the docks to breathe clean air. We want them to have quiet equipment to ensure the best public safety for the workforce on the waterfront,” said Port of Hueneme CEO and Port Director Kristin Decas.

Read the full article at KEYT

CALIFORNIA: Pelicans are starving: Scientists might know why

June 3, 2024 — There’s a broken link in the food chain of California’s brown pelicans, adding a sad chapter to one of conservation’s most striking success stories.

Emaciated birds are turning up in California’s ponds, reservoirs, backyards and even San Francisco’s Oracle Park during a baseball game—far from their wild ocean home.

Wildlife centers are inundated with the gangly, prehistoric-looking seabirds, nursing them back to health with fluids, fish and medications, but the cost is a staggering $1,500 per bird. Injuries can easily double the cost.

“They’re feathered skeletons,” said Rebecca Duerr, director of research and  at International Bird Rescue, which is treating 200 pelicans at its Fairfield center and 70 pelicans in Los Angeles. “Hunched over and folded up.”

Read the full article at The Mercury News

Hoping to protect turtles, feds announce limited fishing restrictions off West Coast

June 2, 2024 — In an effort to protect endangered loggerhead sea turtles, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced on Thursday that fishing with large-mesh drift gillnets will be prohibited in federal waters off the coast of Southern California from the beginning of June until the end of August.

The announcement was made after officials determined that El Niño weather conditions are happening in Southern California.

El Niño causes a variety of weather effects across the United States — including warmer water in the Pacific and in turn less phytoplankton for fish to eat, disrupting the food chain of sea creatures that eat those fish.

Large-mesh drift gillnets are sometimes miles-long nets used to catch fish like swordfish. They can inadvertently catch other sea creatures like whales, dolphins, sharks and turtles.

Read the full article at Courthouse News Service

SLO County Judge Rules Against Local Fishermen

May 26, 2024 — A San Luis Obispo County judge last week rejected a request from Morro Bay and Port San Luis fishermen for a preliminary injunction to stop wind energy companies from surveying the ocean floor.

Signed into law in Oct. 2023, Senate Bill 286 requires the statewide strategy for wind energy to include best practices for addressing impacts to commercial and recreational fisheries. Local fishermen argue wind companies have failed to follow best practices because they have not put protocols in place to protect the fishing industry.

San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen found the requirements in Senate Bill 286 vague. Specifically, when the protocols and protections need to be in place: before or after work is completed.

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

CALIFORNIA: Dungeness crab fisherman expand testing of pop-up traps amid CA’s continuous early season closures

May 26, 2024 — For Brand Little and the crew of the Pale Horse, fishing for Dungeness crab is an increasingly tight business. Like the rest of the fleet, he’s watched the crabbing season shrink, with early closures meant to protect migrating whales from becoming entangled in trap lines. But this season, he’s still pushing his traps into the sea, weeks after last month’s official closing.

It’s part of an experimental program that’s now expanded to more than two dozen boats. All using special pop-up trap systems, designed to avoid entanglements.

“It’s a lot more work. Takes maybe three to four times as long as traditional gear. It’s not easy, but what we’ve been going through isn’t easy either. I mean, we’ve had 80% of our opportunity taken away,” Little said.

While it’s lying on the ocean floor, the boat is able to locate the individual trap, and then trigger the release using a remote device. The buoy shoots to the surface, carrying the line with it. The crew retrieves the line and pulls up the trap, limiting the time a whale could come in contact with it.

Little was one of two beta testers.

Read the full article at ABC 7

California congressman urges closer consultation with tribes on offshore wind

May 21, 2024 — A congressman who represents California’s north coast has sent a letter to federal regulators asking that they “urgently place” a senior official in the state to respond to tribal needs as wind power is developed offshore.

U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman sent the letter as the U.S. offshore wind industry begins to take shape and as tribal communities in California and Oregon express frustration with what they say is a lack of consultation on proposals that affect culturally significant waters and land.

“Regional tribal nations are asking for the opportunity to help influence the way in which offshore wind is executed off the shores of the West Coast,” said Heidi Moore-Guynup, director of tribal and government affairs for Blue Lake Rancheria, in an interview Friday. “They’ve been the stewards of the waterways, bays and oceans since time immemorial and want to ensure that the health of such waterways and the species that live among them is preserved.”

Read the full article at the Associated Press

CALIFORNIA: What’s being done to save California salmon as populations continue to decline?

April 24, 2024 — From the Sacramento River to the coast, salmon populations have struggled to survive, and fishing for salmon in California has been canceled for the second season in a row, marking the third season in the state’s history a fishing ban has been in place. The heart of the problem: dams and climate change.

Local business impacts

The 2024 season cancelation was announced on April 10, after the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) acted unanimously to recommend the closure of California’s commercial and recreational ocean salmon fisheries through the end of the year, repeating recommendations made in 2023 to close the fisheries.

This decision is a blow to salmon industries and fishermen like Rickey Acosta as many struggle to find alternatives.

“Without salmon season we’re forced to figure out new species to fish for areas that we are fishing at different times of the year and what it’s caused is an effort shift not only for myself but for all of the other boats,” Acosta said.

Acosta owns and operates Feeding Frenzy, a sportfishing guide company that takes people out on the waters of the Sacramento River and Pacific Ocean to fish.

Read the full article at CBS News