Saving Seafood

Where will the whales be? Ask the climate model

December 11, 2023 — The opening of California’s commercial crab season, which normally starts in November, is delayed once again to protect humpback whales foraging for krill and anchovies along the coast.

This region of the Pacific has been under the grip of a marine heat wave since May. “The Blob,” as this mass of warm water has become known, is squeezing cooler water preferred by whales and their prey close to shore, where fishers set their traps.

This crowding can lead to literal tangles between whales and fishing equipment, endangering the animals’ lives and requiring grueling rescue missions.

In a new study, scientists say they can now use global temperature models, commonly used in climate science, to predict up to a year in advance when hot ocean temperatures will raise the risk of whale entanglements. This lead time could allow state regulators, fishers and other businesses that depend on the fishery — as well as Californians hoping for a Dungeness crab holiday meal — to plan ahead for potential fishing restrictions.

“It really just helps give a lot more information and reduce some of that uncertainty about the future,” said Steph Brodie, lead author of the study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications. Brodie is currently a research scientist at Australia’s national science agency but conducted this research while working at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of California, Santa Cruz.

The tool analyzed in the new study, called the Habitat Compression Index, works by feeding sea-surface temperature measurements into an equation that estimates the likelihood of whale habitat shrinking closer to shore. Previously, the index analyzed only recent conditions, using data from the previous month.

Read the full article at The New York Times

NOAA Fisheries issues disaster declaration for two California salmon fisheries

December 11, 2023 — NOAA Fisheries has determined a fishery took place in two California salmon fisheries, clearing the path for the fishing industry in those areas to receive financial relief. The U.S. Small Business Administration is also offering low-interest federal disaster loans to businesses affected by the closure.

In April 2023, California Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis requested fishery disaster determinations for the Sacramento River Fall chinook fishery and the Klamath River fall chinook, ocean, and inland salmon fisheries.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Where Will the Whales Be? Ask the Climate Model.

December 5, 2023 — The opening of California’s commercial crab season, which normally starts in November, is delayed once again to protect humpback whales foraging for krill and anchovies along the coast.

This region of the Pacific has been under the grip of a marine heat wave since May. “The Blob,” as this mass of warm water has become known, is squeezing cooler water preferred by whales and their prey close to shore, where fishermen set their traps.

This crowding can lead to literal tangles between whales and fishing equipment, endangering the animals’ lives and requiring grueling rescue missions.

In a new study, scientists say they can now use global temperature models, commonly used in climate science, to predict up to a year in advance when hot ocean temperatures raise the risk of whale entanglements. This lead time could allow state regulators, fishermen, and other businesses that depend on the fishery — as well as Californians hoping for a Dungeness crab holiday meal — to plan ahead for potential fishing restrictions.

“It really just helps give a lot more information and reduce some of that uncertainty about the future,” said Steph Brodie, lead author of the study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications. Dr. Brodie is currently a research scientist at Australia’s national science agency, but conducted this research while working at the University of California Santa Cruz and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Read the full story at the New York Times

US land-based aquaculture projects achieve permitting, funding progress

November 23, 2023 — Nordic Aquafarms has received a “notice of intent to issue” a major permit for its land-based recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) farm in Humboldt County, California, U.S.A., while across the country in Millinocket, Maine, Katahdin Salmon’s RAS project has received additional funding.

The California Coastal Commission voted 12-0 to move a wastewater discharge permit for Nordic Aquafarm’s project forward, which the company said is the final major permit between it and groundbreaking on the aquaculture facility. Nordic Aquafarms, which was originally planning to build a salmon farm, has since changed course to build a yellowtail farm on the site of the former Samoa Pulp Mill near the town of Eureka, California.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

EPA sides with tribes on petition to regulate toxic tire chemical that kills salmon

November 10, 2023 — In August, three Native tribes — two in Washington, and one in California — petitioned the EPA to regulate the use of 6PPD in tire manufacturing.

6PPD has been in use for decades as a bonding agent to prevent cracking and general wear and tear in tires. When the surface of the tire reacts with ozone or oxygen, it turns into a new compound called 6PPD-Quinone.

“6PPD-Q, which we’ve now discovered, is the second most toxic chemical ever evaluated to aquatic life,” said Elizabeth Forsyth, senior attorney with Earthjustice’s Biodiversity Defense Program, who worked on the petition.

The primary result of exposure is called urban runoff mortality syndrome, which kills up to 100% of coho salmon returning to streams in an urban watershed.

The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, Puyallup Tribe, and Yurok Tribe in California signed onto the petition asking the EPA to regulate the use of 6PPD in tire manufacturing. Proponents hope regulation will push tire manufacturers to develop alternatives to 6PPD. A letter of resolution for support was also signed by a coalition of 57 Northwest tribes.

Read the full article at KUOW

Commercial fishing groups sue 13 US tire makers over rubber preservative that’s deadly to salmon

November 9, 2023 — The 13 largest U.S. tire manufacturers are facing a lawsuit from a pair of California commercial fishing organizations that could force the companies to stop using a chemical added to almost every tire because it kills migrating salmon.

Also found in footwear, synthetic turf and playground equipment, the rubber preservative 6PPD has been used in tires for 60 years. As tires wear, tiny particles of rubber are left behind on roads and parking lots, breaking down into a byproduct, 6PPD-quinone, that is deadly to salmon, steelhead trout and other aquatic wildlife when rains wash it into rivers.

“This is the biggest environmental disaster that the world doesn’t quite know about yet,” said Elizabeth Forsyth, an attorney with the environmental law firm Earthjustice, which is representing the fishing groups. “It’s causing devastating impacts to threatened and endangered species.”

The Institute for Fisheries Resources and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on Wednesday against Goodyear, Bridgestone, Continental and others.

In an emailed statement, Bridgestone spokesman Steve Kinkade said the company would not comment on the lawsuit, but that it “remains committed to safety, quality and the environment and continues to invest in researching alternative and sustainably sourced materials in our products.”

Read the full article at ABC News

CALIFORNIA: California commercial Dungeness crab fishing season delayed

November 8, 2o23 — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced a delay in the season opener for California commercial Dungeness crab fishing off the Central and Southern Coast to protect whales from entanglement.

The decision is based on a combination of excessive humpback whale entanglements in California Dungeness crab gear over the last three years and high numbers of recent humpback whale sightings off the central coast according to CDFW’s Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program criteria.

The recreational Dungeness crab fishery will open statewide on November 4; however, recreational crab traps will not be allowed for the Central Coast (Fishing Zones 3 and 4) due to the high abundance of whales.

Read the full article at the Triplicate

CALIFORNIA: California delays Dungeness season; next assessment Nov. 17

October 31, 2023 — California’s Dungeness crab season is delayed again past the Nov. 15 opening date, owing to high numbers of humpback whales observed off the coast, Charlton Bonham, director of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, announced Thursday.

 Bonham and state officials will reassess the risks of whale entanglements in crab gear on Nov. 17, with an eye toward a possible Dec. 1 opening. But luck has not been with crab fishermen in recent years, and this is the fifth annual season delay in a row. The fall 2022 opening was delayed three times, finally opening on Dec. 31 but with a 50 percent trap reduction through January.

This time the commercial fishery opening will be delayed in Fishing Zones 3, 4, 5 and 6. Meanwhile deployment and use of crab traps in any recreational fishery is temporarily prohibited in Fishing Zones 3 and 4, with a recreational fleet advisory in all zones, according to a statement issued by Bonham’s office.

“Large aggregations of humpback whales continue to forage between Bodega Bay and Monterey and allowing the use of crab traps would increase the risk of an entanglement in those fishing zones,” said Bonham. “We will continue to work with both the recreational and commercial Dungeness crab fisheries to protect whales while working to maximize fishing opportunity.”

Read the full article at National Fisherman

CALIFORNIA: ‘Another Attempt to Industrialize the Coast’: California’s Central Coast Residents Work to Stop — or at Least Slow Down — Offshore Wind

October 17, 2023 — Joey Racano used to have a dining room table. Now the sunlit nook off the family kitchen more often than not serves as a conference room. The table is covered with maps, thick binders bulging with tech reports, towers of meeting minutes, abandoned coffee mugs — the accumulation of years of community vigilance.

On this day, his home is a lively place where a handful of locals are discussing one of California’s most complex and audacious initiatives — loading the Pacific Ocean with sprawling wind farms that float 20 miles from shore.

Read the full article at Santa Barbra Independent