Saving Seafood

California Current Fish Surveys Resume with 3-Month Assessment of Sardine, Anchovy, and Mackerel

July 30, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries has begun an ambitious assessment of small pelagic fish reaching from the Canadian border to the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula, in cooperation with Mexico, which will help determine how many fish can be caught off the West Coast.

The COVID-19 pandemic had idled surveys for sardine, anchovy, and other species of small coastal pelagic species (CPS) off the West Coast since 2019. Small pelagic species are important ecologically and provide food for larger fish, such as tunas. The new assessment resumes regular CPS  surveys by collecting data from NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker, commercial fishing vessels equipped with acoustic technology, and autonomous Saildrones.

The Lasker left San Diego on July 6, becoming the centerpiece of the 3-month survey. It will cover thousands of miles in U.S., and Mexican waters. NOAA Fisheries scientists are coordinating efforts with federal fisheries agencies in Mexico and Canada, providing a science foundation for future decisions on fishing levels and seasons.

“Organizing and coordinating this survey was a tremendous feat of collaboration,” said Kristen Koch, Director of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, which is leading the survey. “Collecting data across all three countries will provide a valuable foundation for management of these important transboundary species.”

The Lasker will survey coastal pelagic fish along transects in the California Current, quantifying the fish with echosounders. These instruments include an advanced new model that can for the first time also measure the velocities of fish as they swim relative to the ship. The measurements will help to understand whether and how fish respond to survey vessels and if those reactions affect the quality of data on the numbers and distributions of fish.

Read the full release here

Shasta River Habitat Restoration Builds Salmon’s Resilience to Rising Temperatures

July 28, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Many species, such as salmon, rely on cool waters to survive during the hot summer months. But with temperatures rising due to climate change, these cold-water habitats are being threatened. In California’s Shasta River, a NOAA-supported habitat restoration project is helping to keep waters cool for salmon.

The Shasta River is an important tributary of the Klamath River, which was once the third largest salmon-producing river on the West Coast. Historically, the Shasta River supported more than 80,000 salmon each year. Today, however, only up to a few thousand adult salmon return to the river each year.

One of the issues facing Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, and threatened coho salmon in the Shasta River is a lack of healthy habitat. In particular, high water temperatures and poor water quality during the hot summer months can lead to lethal conditions for salmon.

Juvenile salmon need access to cool water to survive warm summer temperatures. In healthy habitats, trees and other vegetation growing along the banks of rivers and streams provide shade that keeps the water cool. Deep, fast-moving waterways also stay cooler than shallow, slower-moving ones. As water temperatures continue to rise due to climate change, maintaining these cold-water habitats for salmon becomes more crucial.

On Big Springs Creek, a tributary to the Shasta River, water temperatures were heating up as high as 77 degrees Fahrenheit—too warm for salmon to tolerate. These high temperatures were caused in part by uncontrolled livestock grazing. Cows were eating the vegetation that otherwise would have provided shade and kept the water cool. They were also trampling the streambed, creating a shallower, wider river channel that was more easily heated by the sun’s rays.

Read the full release here

Warming rivers in U.S. West killing fish, imperiling industry

July 27, 2021 — Baby salmon are dying by the thousands in one California river, and an entire run of endangered salmon could be wiped out in another. Fishermen who make their living off adult salmon, once they enter the Pacific Ocean, are sounding the alarm as blistering heat waves and extended drought in the U.S. West raise water temperatures and imperil fish from Idaho to California.

Hundreds of thousands of young salmon are dying in Northern California’s Klamath River as low water levels brought about by drought allow a parasite to thrive, devastating a Native American tribe whose diet and traditions are tied to the fish. And wildlife officials said the Sacramento River is facing a “near-complete loss” of young Chinook salmon due to abnormally warm water.

A crash in one year’s class of young salmon can have lasting effects on the total population and shorten or stop the fishing season, a growing concern as climate change continues to make the West hotter and drier. That could be devastating to the commercial salmon fishing industry, which in California alone is worth $1.4 billion.

The plummeting catch already has led to skyrocketing retail prices for salmon, hurting customers who say they can no longer afford the $35 per pound of fish, said Mike Hudson, who has spent the last 25 years catching and selling salmon at farmers markets in Berkeley.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at NBC News

House panel OKs spending to control sea lions

July 19, 2021 — U.S. Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA-03) and Kurt Schrader (OR-05) on July 14 announced that a joint Community Project Funding request they supported to protect endangered salmon, steelhead and other native fish species within the Columbia River system from sea lion predation, has been approved for $892,000.

The House Appropriations Committee — Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies included the funding request as part of its Fiscal Year 2022 spending plan. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is the recipient and would use the funding on equipment and related needs to remove sea lions in the Columbia River and its tributaries as outlined by a 2018 law Herrera Beutler and Schrader advocated.

The U.S. House as a whole and the U.S. Senate also must approve the spending before it will be dispersed to WDFW.

According to a press release from the representatives, the need for sea lion removal has sharply increased in recent years, as a record number of California and Steller sea lions come to the Columbia, Willamette and Snake Rivers, posing an extreme threat to struggling salmon, steelhead, sturgeon and other fish in the waterways. NOAA Fisheries says sea lions especially prey on adult salmon and steelhead migrating upriver from the ocean to Bonneville Dam, Willamette Falls and other tributaries to the Columbia River, further threatening the growth of native fish populations.

Read the full story at the Chinook Observer

California’s first offshore wind project has Morro Bay fishermen worried

July 19, 2021 — Fishermen in Morro Bay are about to get a much taller neighbor than the ancient volcanic mound that stands like a giant at the tip of the harbor.

Wind turbines are coming.

“These things are as big as skyscrapers,” says Chris Pavone, who’s among roughly 120 fishermen who trap, troll, and drop lines off Morro Bay and Avila Beach.

He’s worried about what could become the first offshore wind farm on the West Coast. Approved by the Biden administration, the project would bring roughly 200 floating turbines into the open ocean off the Central Coast.

It’s a huge leap towards California’s goal of 100% clean electric power by 2045, but fishermen say a 399-square mile wind farm will become another place they can’t fish, in addition to dozens of marine protected areas already out of bounds to them.

“If you saw a map of where you can’t fish, it’s like a mosaic on the ocean,” says Pavone. “For me to make a really good day and make money, I’m driving an hour, hour and a half in my boat.”

Read the full story at KCBX

$8.3 Million in Funding Recommended for Coastal and Marine Habitat Restoration Projects

July 16, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA is recommending nearly $8.3 million in funding to continue 23 ongoing habitat restoration projects through our Community-based Restoration Program. These projects will restore habitat for coastal and marine species in 13 states and territories and provide benefits for communities and the environment. The projects will also support coastal communities that rely on healthy habitats for benefits like clean drinking water, flood and storm protection, and industries like boating, fishing, and tourism.

By reopening rivers to fish passage, reconnecting rivers to their floodplains, and reducing coastal runoff, these projects will support oysters, corals, and several fish species. They will also aid in the recovery of four NOAA Species in the Spotlight:

Recipients and their partners include nonprofits; federal, state, and local agencies; tribes; private sector businesses; and academia.

Read the full release here

CALIFORNIA: Local fishing voices are left out of offshore wind discussions

July 16, 2021 — The waters off the shore of Morro Bay have been the focal point of a potential wind farm development site since 2015.

Between 2015 and 2017, a state intergovernmental task force that evaluated offshore wind power for the state of California was established, and its members included the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Morro Bay mayor and a City Council member, and regional state representatives. However, the fishing industry was largely left out.

At the time, the community engaged with the task force through public hearings to learn about the project’s blueprints—although its potential impacts weren’t shared. The project was halted in 2018 because the then-designated area conflicted with naval operations.

Public conversations about offshore wind regained steam in 2021 for two reasons. U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) led an effort to work with the U.S. Department of Defense to reduce the project development area to 399 square miles—enough to produce 3 gigawatts of energy. Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization President Tom Hafer said he believes there’s also a renewed interest in this type of energy generating project because of the new presidential administration.

Castle Wind has engaged with organizations and leaders within the fishing community, but there’s no guarantee that it will be the project developer. Annie Hawkins, executive director for the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), said that proactive engagement is needed from all agencies involved.

RODA was established and worked on the East Coast because there were concerns about the exclusion of fishing voices during offshore wind project discussions. Their first project was Block Island off the coast of Rhode Island, which is a five-turbine wind farm.

Read the full story at The New Times

California, Florida fish mortality pinned to drought, climate change

July 15, 2021 — California officials warned this week that salmon in the state’s Sacramento River might not survive the region’s historic drought.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said that “nearly all” of the endangered winter-run Chinook salmon’s juveniles might not make it through the season, according to The Sacramento Bee.

The publication reported Wednesday that a final blow, after two years of “severe mortality during the last drought,” would risk the extinction of the species — even though the agency has hauled millions of the Chinook salmon to Bay Area waters as a precaution.

Triple-digit temperatures have plagued the West, killing hundreds of people in the last major heat wave. The severe conditions have exacerbated the climate-driven “megadrought,” leading to less water and less streamflow.

Read the full story at Fox News

NGO uses shareholder-sponsored proposals to push ocean plastic commitments

July 15, 2021 — As You Sow, an NGO based in Oakland, California, U.S.A., is riding a wave of success from its tactic of borrowing the shares of activist investors to submit shareholder proposals aimed at securing greater corporate transparency and commitments on ocean plastic.

As You Sow focuses on changing corporate policy on topics like climate change or ocean plastics by engaging with shareholders, who in turn seek greater environmental commitments from the companies they are invested in. According to As You Sow Senior Vice President Conrad MacKerron, the tactic was slow to start at first, but has been gaining steam.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

CALIFORNIA: CDFW Successfully Relocates 1.1 Million Hatchery Salmon Until Klamath River Drought Conditions Improve

July 15, 2021 — The following was released by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:

Due to drought and poor water conditions in the Klamath River, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) successfully relocated 1.1 million juvenile, fall-run Chinook salmon from its Iron Gate Fish Hatchery in Siskiyou County. The fish were trucked to a nearby satellite facility and to the Trinity River Hatchery 122 miles away where the fish will remain until conditions in the Klamath River improve.

The baby salmon, about seven months old and about three inches in length, are normally released into the Klamath River in May and June. Due to warm water temperatures, low water flow and an exceedingly high probability of succumbing to disease in the river, CDFW decided to retain these salmon within its hatchery system over the summer until Klamath River conditions improve. The unprecedented relocation happened after extensive monitoring, discussion and close collaboration with federal partners, academic specialists and three Native American tribes in the lower Klamath Basin.

The temporary relocation marks the first time CDFW has not released salmon into the Klamath River since construction of the Iron Gate Fish Hatchery in 1962.

CDFW relocated the 1.1 million salmon to provide adequate water conditions over the summer and additional space to accommodate the growing fish. Another 1 million juvenile Chinook salmon will remain at Iron Gate.

“It’s extremely challenging to raise cold water fish species in a drought,” said Dr. Mark Clifford, Hatchery Environmental Scientist for CDFW’s Northern Region. “The reality is most of these fish would have died if we released them into the river. We need to maintain the integrity of the fall run on the Klamath River and we especially can’t afford to lose this generation of fish.”

Four Klamath River dams are slated for removal by 2024, the largest dam removal undertaking in U.S. history. The removal is expected to restore fish access to the entire river and the relocated Iron Gate fish could be the first salmon to return to a new Klamath River after their life in the ocean and find miles of additional spawning habitat and contribute to future generations of wild fish.

Read the full release here