Saving Seafood

OREGON: ‘Super’ El Niño may affect Oregon salmon

October 6, 2026 — Something fishy could be happening off the Oregon coast.

A greater-than-90 % chance of a very strong El Niño is expected to develop, with warm surface water temperatures already arriving along the California coast.

Scientists are watching what warmer water could mean for local fisheries and marine life.

When we talk about El Niño or La Niña, we often focus on how it affects the weather. But underwater, the effects would mean life or death for some marine life – including salmon.

“When you go to the marine environment, it’s not always quite as rosy when there’s an El Niño event,” said Spencer Sawasake, a habitat division deputy administrator with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Read the full article at KATU

California tops U.S. in whale entanglements, NOAA report finds

October 2, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries has released a report documenting 76 confirmed whale entanglements across the United States in 2025, a decrease from 95 cases the previous year, with California reporting the highest number of incidents.

Scientists expressed concern over the ongoing issue. “It is, I think, disheartening to see the numbers are still remaining high and we’re not seeing that decrease that we were hoping to see,” said Geoff Shester, Senior Scientist and Director of Fishery Innovation for Oceana.

The report revealed that about 46% of confirmed entanglements in 2025 involved commercial or recreational fishing gear.

“When these are confirmed, most of the entanglements are caused by fishing gear. In California, the Dungeness crab fishery is the one that does seem to be the biggest culprit. It’s obviously because that’s the biggest fishery that we have that uses traps,” said Shester.

Read the full article at KSBW

As Trump rolls back endangered species protections, US lawmakers push bill to support their recovery

October 2, 2026 — With the administration of U.S. Donald Trump moving quickly to roll back endangered species protections, some U.S. lawmakers have introduced a bill to support and improve species recovery efforts.

“Protecting the thousands of endangered species and strengthening recovery efforts must be a bipartisan cause – it is a shared responsibility that takes all of us. My new legislation with Senator [Pete] Ricketts [R-Nebraska] updates the Endangered Species Act to ensure policies that will help species on the verge of extinction survive and recover are implemented efficiently, based on science, and in partnership with private landowners and states. We must all do our part to leave the world a better place than we found it,” U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-California) said in a release.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

CALIFORNIA: California governor signs Dungeness crab fishing reforms into law

October 1, 2026 — California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed several changes to the state’s Dungeness crab fishery into law, adopting recommendations made by the Dungeness Crab Task Force (DC TF).

The DCTF was established to give commercial fishers a path for suggesting regulatory changes to the state’s Dungeness crab management. Introduced by State Senator Mike McGuire, SB 1393 applied those recommendations to the law.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

CALIFORNIA: Monterey Bay’s fishing industry is changing: Here’s what Santa Cruz fishers are catching now

September 30, 2026 — A Monterey Bay nonprofit recently released an historic report on the state of the area’s fishing industry, offering data that takes a closer look at tidal shifts to fisheries, number of boats and infrastructure at the Monterey, Moss Landing and Santa Cruz harbors.

The nonprofit Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust produced the Monterey Bay Commercial Fisheries: Status and Trends Report with help from researchers at UC Santa Cruz, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station. It looked at data on fishing activity from 1981 to 2024, with a detailed focus on the past 14 years, and released the findings earlier this month.

The report outlines substantial changes to fishing strategies and types of fisheries, and a huge decline in the number of vessels throughout Monterey Bay. It notes that each port could make specific improvements to its infrastructure to support the industry, from installing public ice machines and access to cold storage to establishing regular onsite seafood markets.

The data also paints a picture of resilience, with fishers adapting to changing environmental conditions and maintaining Monterey Bay as a prominent fishing hub in the state.

Read the full article at Lookout Santa Cruz

CALIFORNIA: Cold storage industry laments signing of California bills increasing fines, requirements

September 30, 2026 — In response to the destruction of a massive cold storage facility in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., in June, California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law two bills raising fines and emergency requirements for cold storage providers.

“Boyle Heights showed us the lasting impact a major facility emergency can have on a community. These laws strengthen the tools, resources, and accountability needed to protect residents and help communities respond when emergencies happen,” Newsom said in a statement.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

CALIFORNIA: Unusual shark, fish species spotted off California coast ahead of El Niño

September 29, 2026 — With warmer ocean waters and an anticipated El Niño weather event quickly approaching, local scientists are expecting some unusual guests off the Southern California coast — including hammerhead sharks, devil rays and whale sharks near La Jolla.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting that the 2026-2027 El Niño weather pattern could be among the strongest on record, bringing warmer-than-average ocean temperatures and wetter, more intense winters to California.

In preparation, scientists at the La Jolla-based Scripps Institution of Oceanography launched its El Niño Resource Hub in late August to outline the ways in which El Niño could impact ocean life. The streamlined website tackles frequently asked questions from local scientists’ perspectives, drawing upon data from previous El Niño events and others like it.

“We’re at the edge of a very strong El Niño that’s bringing pretty warm water to the Southern California area, and with that we’re seeing species that are popping up that we don’t typically see in this area,” Jack Elstner, a Ph.D. candidate for biological oceanography at Scripps, told the La Jolla Light.

Read the full article at The Mercury News

21 states challenge ESA changes that could affect US fisheries

September 24, 2026 — A coalition of 21 state attorneys general is challenging the Trump administration’s changes to the Endangered Species Act (ESA), setting up a legal fight over rules that could affect commercial fisheries, species protection, and marine habitat.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta co-led two lawsuits filed against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries. The states are challenging revisions involving the definition of “harm,” critical habitat designations, and protections for species listed as threatened.

The lawsuits ask the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to vacate the rules, arguing they violate the Endangered Species Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act.

The changes could be particularly relevant to commercial fishermen because NOAA Fisheries administers the ESA for many marine and anadromous species. ESA protections can influence fishing regulations, federal permitting, habitat protections, and measures intended to reduce interactions with protected species.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

New York, California sue to block Trump administration deals canceling offshore wind projects

September 23, 2026 — Democratic attorneys general from California and New York sued the Trump administration Tuesday over its plans to buy back offshore wind leases as President Donald Trump seeks to discourage the expansion of wind energy in favor of fossil fuels.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said he is suing over removal of a project off his state’s coast planned by Chicago-based Invenergy. The Trump administration said in June that it’s buying back the company’s U.S. offshore wind leases for four wind projects on the East and West coasts.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, meanwhile, led seven states in suits seeking to block the Invenergy deal and another proposal with Bluepoint Wind, which agreed in April to end a wind farm under development off the New York and New Jersey coast.

The deals would hand energy companies $1.4 billion in taxpayer dollars in exchange for the cancellation of multiple projects. ln all, the Trump administration has pledged nearly $4 billion to companies to walk away from projects across the country.

Read the full article at The Associated Press