Saving Seafood

Safe Catch charts rapid growth, earns plastic neutral certification

April 21, 2021 — Safe Catch, which tests its tuna and salmon for mercury, is seeing high demand for its products in the U.S. and has plans to expand throughout the country and abroad.

The San Francisco, California-based supplier recently became the first rePurpose Certified Plastic Neutral seafood company via a partnership with rePurpose Global. The organization funds the collection, processing, and reuse of as much plastic waste as it uses across its packaging and operations, Safe Catch said in a press release.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Fishermen, Tribes brace for another abysmal salmon season

April 19, 2021 — Glen Spain, the Northwest regional director for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, is running out of adjectives to describe how bad things have gotten for the West Coast’s salmon fisheries.

Due in part to years of drought in the Klamath Basin, hundreds of miles of ocean will be completely closed to commercial fishing boats this summer.

The attitude of fishermen, Spain said, is: “Oh God, not again.”

Fishery managers used last year’s jack numbers to estimate how many salmon will be migrating from open ocean to rivers this year.

Spain said poor salmon returns on the Klamath River are largely responsible for stringent rules as far south as Monterey, Calif., and as far north as the Columbia River. That’s because salmon from the Klamath can travel hundreds of miles to the north or south beyond the KMZ. Management decisions are made based on the lowest-performing rivers.

“The weakest stock is the weakest link. The weakest stock puts the cap on how many can be caught,” Spain said. “The Klamath is the weak stock again this year, as it has been for several years. It’s a ripple effect up and down the coast.”

Read the full story at the Herald and News

Epic Drought Means Water Crisis on Oregon-California Border

April 15, 2021 — Hundreds of farmers who rely on a massive irrigation project that spans the Oregon–California border learned Wednesday they will get a tiny fraction of the water they need amid the worst drought in decades, as federal regulators attempt to balance the needs of agriculture against federally threatened and endangered fish species that are central to the heritage of several tribes.

Oregon’s governor said the prolonged drought in the region has the “full attention of our offices,” and she is working with congressional delegates, the White House and federal agencies to find relief for those affected.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation briefed irrigators, tribes and environmental groups early Wednesday after delaying the decision a month. The federally owned irrigation project will draw 33,000 acre-feet of water from Upper Klamath Lake, which farmers said was roughly 8% of what they need in such a dry year. Water deliveries will also start June 1, two months later than usual, for the 1,400 irrigators who farm the 225,000 acres (91,000 hectares).

“The simple fact is it just hasn’t rained or snowed this year. We all know how dry our fields are, and the rest of the watersheds are in the same boat. … There is no easy way to say this,” Ben DuVal, president of the Klamath Water Users Association, told several dozen irrigators who gathered in Klamath Falls on Wednesday morning to hear the news.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News and World Report

Steep decline in giant sea turtles seen off US West Coast

April 9, 2021 — Scientists were documenting stranded sea turtles on California’s beaches nearly 40 years ago when they noticed that leatherbacks — massive sea turtles that date to the time of the dinosaurs — were among those washing up on shore. It was strange because the nearest known population of the giants was several thousand miles away in the waters of Central and South America.

Their mysterious presence led researchers to a startling discovery. A subset of leatherbacks that hatches on beaches in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands were migrating 7,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean to the cold waters off the U.S. West Coast, where they gorged on jellyfish before swimming back. The epic journey stunned scientists.

“There are birds that go farther, but they fly. There’s a whale shark that might swim a little further, but it doesn’t have to come up for air. This animal is actually pushing water all the way across the Pacific Ocean,” said Scott Benson, an ecologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries service in Monterey, who has studied the turtles for decades. “It’s just a majestic animal.”

But now, just as scientists are beginning to fully understand the amazing odyssey, the turtles are disappearing — and fast.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

California crabbers, activists tangle over ropeless gear legislation

April 7, 2021 — A coalition of California fishing and seafood groups is grappling with environmental groups and animal welfare activists over state legislation to mandate the adoption of ropeless gear in commercial and recreational fisheries to protect whales.

The struggle is closely watched on the East Coast, where Massachusetts state fisheries officials are embarking on a one-year experiment with ropeless or “pop-up” gear aiming to reduce entanglement danger for endangered right whales.

One tack taken by California Dungeness crabbers when talking to state lawmakers is to portray ropeless gear as unreliable – and potentially increasing the danger that lost gear poses to marine mammals.

“We have a pretty strong argument on our side,” said Ben Platt, president of the California Coast Crab Association. “I think the thing that resonates most is that anyone on the fishing industry side worked with pop-up gear thinks it is unworkable.”

“There’s at least a 20 percent failure rate,” said Platt. If used widely that could lead to “tangles of lost gear…not only a huge marine pollution issue,” he said. “That’s really our number-one argument and that’s what they (state legislators) seem to key in on.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Pacific waters off the West Coast showed improved productivity, says NOAA

April 6, 2021 — Ocean waters off the West Coast showed signs of improved productivity in 2020 after several years of warm water and poor fisheries conditions, according to the most recent California Current Ecosystem status report released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The transition last year from an El Nino to La Nina climate pattern, paired with a strong upwelling of cold water from the deep ocean, created ideal conditions for nutrient-rich plankton to proliferate, according to the report. These tiny organisms provided food for larger marine animals, and their abundance helped grow populations of fish, birds, and mammals such as sea lions higher up the food chain.

“It does look like there was better upwelling on average than we’ve seen in several years,” said Chris Harvey, a researcher with NOAA and co-editor of the report released in March. “We saw more plankton, and the plankton we saw were the cool-water varieties that have more stored fat — more food and better-quality food.”

The report was compiled by NOAA researchers and presented on March 10 to the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which manages commercial, tribal, and recreational fishing in federal waters off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington. The council will use the report to better understand conditions within the whole ecosystem when making management decisions and recommendations in the future.

Read the full story at The East Bay Times

After Year Of Pandemic, Seafood Industry Hopes 2021 Brings Calmer Waters

April 1, 2021 — April 1 is the start of pink shrimp season across the Pacific Coastline. Seafood industry officials hope it’s one that’ll offset the pandemic’s effects on markets that began a year ago.

The West Coast Seafood Processors Association represents companies in Oregon, Washington, and California. Executive director, Lori Steele, said last year at this time, the COVID-19 pandemic froze customer demand practically overnight.  She said demand from restaurants fell more than 70%, so hopefully 2021 will see a rebound.

“The more that we can support the restaurant industry, and get consumers back out to the coast and eating seafood we’re going to see some improvements,” Steele told KLCC.

“But I also think that we are also be dealing with the economic consequences of this pandemic beyond just 2021, unfortunately.”

Read the full story at KLCC

PFMC: Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast Coho Workgroup to hold online meeting May 12, 2021

March 31, 2021 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast (SONCC) Coho Workgroup will host an online meeting that is open to the public.  The meeting will be held Wednesday, May 12, 2021 from 9 a.m., Pacific Daylight Time, until 5 p.m., or until business for the day has been completed.

Please see the SONCC Coho Workgroup online meeting notice on the Council’s website for purpose and participation details.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff Robin Ehlke at 503-820-2410; toll free 1-866-806-7204, extension 410

Oregon Sets New Regulations for Growing Market Squid Fishery

March 29, 2021 — While California’s market squid has dipped over the past few years, it’s hit the big time in Oregon: The state has established directed fishery regulations for the growing fishing effort for Doryteuthis opalescens.

More market squid have been showing up in Oregon waters since 2016 and fishermen followed. From the 1980s to 2015, the catch was sporadic, with the harvest off of Oregon totaling a little more than 4.5 million pounds for that entire time. The squid — and the fishermen — were most prevalent off of California.

Read the full story at Seafood News

PFMC: Notice of availability: Salmon Preseason Report II (March 22, 2021)

March 23, 2021 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The following document has been posted to the Council’s website:

Public hearings on the proposed management alternatives

Hearings held on-line only

  • Washington
    Tuesday, March 23, 2021, 7:00 p.m.
  • California
    Tuesday, March 23, 2021, 7:00 p.m.
  • Oregon
    Wednesday, March 24, 2021, 7:00 p.m.

Written public comment on the Alternatives may also be submitted to the PFMC’s Public Comment Electronic Portal  (E-Portal).  The public comment deadline is 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday, April 5, 2021.

Public comment on the Alternatives will also be accepted during the April Council meeting (held via webinar) on Thursday, April 8, during the public comment period for Agenda Item D.1.

For further information