Saving Seafood

Regular review of California current finds reduced biological productivity

August 8, 2019 — Researchers with a joint venture of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CalCOF) are finding it a slow summer for biological productivity in US west coast waters, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

CalCOF, which expanded from a program organized in 1949 to better understand the collapse of the California sardine industry, cruises the coast quarterly to check fisheries, marine ecosystems and water chemistry. This time the scientists spent 16 days reviewing the Southern California Bight and California Current.

Read the full story at the Undercurrent News

Bloomberg: Bankruptcy a possibility for Bumble Bee

August 7, 2019 — Bumble Bee Foods is considering filing for bankruptcy to alleviate it of increasingly dire financial situation.

The San Diego, California, U.S.A.-based firm, which claims it is the largest seller of packaged seafood in North America, exceeded the leverage ratio it is allowed under the terms of its senior debt, according to Bloomberg. That sent the firm into technical default on its principal operating loan, a USD 650 million (EUR 550 million) facility with Brookfield Principal Credit as the administrative agent. However, its lenders have agreed to a forbearance period, allowing the company to continue its efforts to restructure itself to regain its profitability, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Latest surveys show vaquita porpoise population at less than 19 individuals

August 6, 2019 — A new survey published in Royal Society Open Science has dire news for the survival of the vaquita porpoise – a small porpoise that lives in an area of the Mexican coast in the Gulf of California.

Using passive acoustic survey devices – which detect the vaquita due to the species’ use of echolocating “clicks” – the report determined that fewer than 19 individual vaquitas remained as of autumn 2018. The acoustic surveys, which started in 2011, have shown a 99 percent decline in the detection rate of the animals.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Research cruise off California finds it’s a slow summer for biological productivity

August 6, 2019 — In parts of the California Current this summer, the ocean was clear, azure, and almost empty.

The high water clarity, and low biological productivity, were some of the defining features that struck scientists returning from a cruise with the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation (CalCOFI) program, a 70-year study of West Coast waters.

Although the lack of life sounds ominous, scientists said it’s neither good, nor bad, but an interesting observation that will add to their knowledge of the California Current.

“I have never seen the water so blue in my life,” said Dave Griffith, a fisheries biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “It was beautiful. It looked like Lake Tahoe out there. You don’t have upwelling, which is what brings the nutrients up to the surface.”

Read the full story at the Los Angeles Times

With 14.4 Million lbs. Caught, Halibut Fleet Reaches Half-Way Mark on Landings, Season

August 5, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) announced catches of 14.4 million pounds as of August 1, out of a total quota of 29.43 mlbs. That catch limit is distributed across the North American west coast from California to the Bering Sea.

In three areas — IPHC Regulatory Area 2A, 2B, and 2C, the annual limit is subject to various catch sharing plans between commercial, tribal, and sports sectors.

Area 2A’s commercial catch reached 494,583 lbs on July 1 and, with an allowable limit of 497,000 lbs., was closed for the rest of 2019. Fishermen in Washington, Oregon and California caught more than its overall quota during three 10-hour openers, one each on June 26, July 10 and July 24.

The 2A allocation for the commercial fishery south of Pt. Chehalis was 115.41 tons, or 254,426 pounds; fishermen caught 119.75 tons, or 264,000 pounds of halibut. Preliminary reports show the average ex-vessel price to Oregon fishermen this year was $4.57 a pound. The average ex-vessel price in July last year across all three states was $5.10 per pound, but that figure may include halibut caught in other fisheries as well.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council and IPHC are in the process of transferring management responsibility from IPHC to U.S. management – Council, NMFS and the states. Initial discussions about 2020 halibut management will be discussed at the September and November Council meetings in Boise, Idaho, and Costa Mesa, Calif., respectively.

While commercial fishing in Area 2A is closed, recreational fishing in all three states is still open. IPHC reported no landings for the sports sector in Area 2A  (WA, OR, CA) as of August 1, 2019.

Area 4CDE has no catch sharing plan, but they are directly impacted by the incidental catch of halibut caught in bottom trawls that target flatfish. That catch, which has decreased over the years due to declining populations and efforts by the flatfish fleet to avoid halibut, is taken off the top in quota calculations at the beginning of the year.

Bycatch is included in the “total removals” metric, which is used for historical comparisons and includes subsistence, recreational, and research takes as well as bycatch.

In a recent broadcast, Laine Welch of Fish Radio reported that halibut fisherman turned broadcaster Jeff Lockwood is now tracking bycatch numbers into weekly reports on KBBI in Homer, the nation’s top halibut port.

“I thought this is kind of interesting. After years of being a halibut fisherman, everybody talks about and knows about halibut bycatch but none of us really knew what was going on,” Lockwood told Fish Radio.

The NOAA spreadsheets through July 13 noted that total halibut bycatch in other Alaska fisheries this year was about 4.8 million pounds of which 92 percent came from Bering Sea bottom trawlers.

So far the bycatch pace is ahead of last year. According to the weekly landings report for flatfish trawlers, 2019 trawl halibut mortality is 1,608 mt  or 3.54 mlbs. compared to 1,385 mt or 3.05 mlbs for the same time period in 2018. In 2019, the catcher-processors account for 1,089 mt or 2.4 mlbs and catcher vessels for 519 mt or 1.14 mlbs, about the same ratio as 2018.

Overall, commercial fisheries took 61 percent of the halibut catch in 2018, recreational users took 19 percent, subsistence users took three percent, and bycatch by fisheries targeting other species accounted for 16 percent of the total catch limit.

The record low point on total removals was in 1977 with 34 mlbs. This year total removals are 38.61 mlbs, slightly lower than last year’s 38.78 mlbs and significantly lower than 2017’s 42.58 mlbs.   The 100-year average for this fishery is 63 mlbs.

While all areas are around the halfway mark in catches of annual allocation, two fleets — those fishing off the coast of British Columbia and those fishing the Western Aleutians, are outpacing other areas by a slight margin. Each of those areas have landed 55% of their 2019 quota.

The season is two weeks past the half way mark. Halibut and sablefish season opened in most areas March 15 and will close in all areas, if not closed earlier, on November 14, 2019.

Individual areas, their quotas and actual catches are below.

Area 2A: landings to date .75 mlbs out of 1.5 mlbs 2019 quota

Area 2B: landings to date 3.27 mlbs out of 5.95 mlbs quota

Area 2C: landings to date 2.38 mlbs out of 4.49 mlbs quota

Area 3A: landings to date 5.03 mlbs out of 10.26 mlbs quota

Area 3B: landings to date 1.14 mlbs out of 2.33 mlbs quota

Area 4A: landings to date .5 mlbs out of 1.65 mlbs quota

Area 4B: landings to date .66 mlbs out 1.21 mlbs quota

Area 4CDE: landings to date .62 out of 2.04 mbls quota

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

CALIFORNIA: A Deep Dive into the San Diego Fishing Industry

August 1, 2019 — “The beginning was tough—they didn’t trust us,” says Yehudi “Gaf” Gaffen, CEO of Protea Waterfront Development, referring to San Diego’s fishermen and women. “For decades they’ve been discriminated against and business has been taken away from them. People take advantage of them.”

Gaffen and his company have won the bid to redevelop the San Diego harbor. Their $2 billion “Seaport San Diego” plan will historically alter the future of the city’s waterfront—70 acres, to be almost exact. The fate of local fishers lies largely in his hands.

And a little fish market on a little dock may be the reason both Gaffen and the fishers themselves are so keenly aware of their vital importance.

Read the full story at San Diego Magazine

Population of Critically Endangered Vaquita Porpoises Now Less Than 19 Individuals

August 1, 2019 — There are now less than 19 individual vaquita porpoises left in the wild, according to an alarming new survey. Scientists say immediate measures are now required to save this enigmatic species from extinction.

If fishing nets continue to be used illegally off the coast of Mexico, vaquita porpoises (Phocoena sinus) will likely become extinct within a year, according to new research published today in Royal Society Open Science. This species, which lives exclusively in the upper Gulf of California, is listed by the IUCN as Critically Endangered. As the new research shows, and despite measures taken by the Mexican government in 2015 to crack down on the use of illegal nets, the population of vaquita porpoises continues to decline.

Vaquita porpoises are the world’s smallest cetacean. On average, females measure around 140 centimeters (55 inches) in length, while males are slightly shorter at 135 centimeters (53 inches) long. Vaquitas, which translates to “small cow” in Spanish, have a gray or white complexion, a tall dorsal fin, dark eye rings, and long flippers.

Read the full story at Gizmodo

5 shark attack survivors explain how they made it out alive

July 31, 2019 — A 19-year-old surfer who suffered a vicious shark bite last month was determined to face his fears as soon as his wounds healed.

Not only did Austin Reed return to the ocean just over a month after the attack, he went back to the exact site of the harrowing encounter, North Carolina’s Ocean Isle Beach.

“I went back to the spot where I got bit,” Reed told Willie Geist and Savannah Guthrie on TODAY Wednesday. “I thought that was the best way to get closure.”

Reed was one of five shark attack survivors who shared their stories on TODAY Wednesday.

He was joined by Keane Webre-Hayes, who needed 1,000 stitches after being attacked in California while lobster diving; Tiffany Johnson, a mother of three whose right arm was amputated after she was bitten while snorkeling in the Bahamas; Lola Pollina, who was bitten at New York’s Fire Island last year; and Jonathan Hernandez, who was attacked last month while spearfishing in the Bahamas.

Read the full story at Today

CALIFORNIA: CDFW Informational Notice – Webinar Postponed – Prioritizing State-Managed Fisheries: Informational Update and Discussion

July 30, 2019 — The following was released by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the upcoming webinar on Tuesday, July 30 at 1:00 PM PST has been postponed. We appreciate your understanding regarding this last-minute change. We look forward to sharing details about the new webinar date and time as soon as possible.

For the latest information, visit CDFW’s Marine Management News blogsite.

California coasts recovering, but more marine heatwaves like ‘The Blob’ expected

July 26, 2019 — The effects of the marine heatwave off the California coast from 2014 to 2016, better known as The Blob, that led to a decrease in Chinook salmon and virtually shut down the Dungeness crab industry are finally starting to wear off.

The heatwave led to major shifts in the marine ecosystem, with species of fish migrating to different regions where the temperature was more favorable. It caused declines in certain species and increases in others. A type of algae that produces the neurotoxin domoic acid also outcompeted other forms of algae, leading to huge blooms that poisoned a variety of sea life, such as Dungeness crab.

“It wasn’t about (a lack of) abundance,” said Noah Oppenheim, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. “It was about destabilized ecosystems.”

The ecosystem is still recovering from the marine heatwave, slowly cooling down, but conditions are improving enough to have led to a 12.3% increase in West Coast fishery revenues, primarily “driven by Pacific hake, Dungeness crab and market squid,” according to the 2019 California Current Ecosystem Status Report prepared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Jennifer Gilden, the Pacific Fishery Management Council’s staff officer for outreach, habitat and legislation, said the ocean conditions are improving, though the Chinook salmon population has yet to fully recover.

“This year won’t be great,” Gilden said, “but conditions will be improving over the next few years.”

Read the full story at Mercury News