Saving Seafood

Dungeness drag: Fleet agrees to shutter early

March 29, 2019 — The California Dungeness crab season will come to an early end this year on April 15 — three months ahead of schedule — leaving millions of dollars of product in the water. The fleet opted for the early closure to settle a lawsuit over whale entanglement rather than risk the possibility of an indefinite closure.

“The settlement is going to be extremely painful and extremely difficult to deal with,” said Noah Oppenheim, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. “But this was the best possible deal that was acceptable to all parties.”

At issue is a 2017 lawsuit in federal court by the Oakland, Calif.-based Center for Biological Diversity that argued the state of California and fishermen were in violation of the Endangered Species Act after a three-year spike in whale entanglements in Dungeness crab fishing gear from 2014 to 2017.

The lawsuit sought the closure of the state-managed fishery until a federal incidental take permit was established — a process that could take years to implement.

Commercial fishermen, state regulators and biologists had convened a California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group in 2015 to find ways to limit whale entanglements while avoiding the burdensome federal incidental take permits.

A preliminary count for 2018 showed 45 whale entanglements on the West Coast, compared with 31 confirmed entanglements in 2017. Between 2000 and 2014, the West Coast saw an average of 10 entanglements per year, according to NOAA data.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

CDFW, Center for Biological Diversity, PCFFA Agree to Whale Entanglement Settlement

March 28, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — In less than a month, California crabbers will have to pack in their crab pots and end their season, thanks to a settlement agreement filed in federal court Tuesday.

The legal settlement protects whales and sea turtles from entanglement in commercial Dungeness crab gear. The Center for Biological Diversity sued the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in October 2017 after a drastic increase in the number of whale entanglements off the West Coast.

In a joint statement between the Center, CDFW and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, who intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of the fishing industry, the entities said Californians will be pleased to know that Dungeness crab will be caught off the coast with greater care for endangered wildlife under the settlement. The early closure this year is just one of many stipulations in the settlement.

“As I’ve said many times, no one wants whale entanglements to happen,” CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham said in the press release. “This agreement represents hours of intense negotiation to help ensure they don’t happen while supporting the resiliency of the crab fishery in the long run. I am thankful for the leadership of the Center for Biological Diversity and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations who realized something needed to be done together.”

“This is great news for whales and sea turtles fighting extinction off California’s coast,” Kristen Monsell, a Center for Biological Diversity attorney, said in the statement. “The settlement will reduce serious threats from crab gear to these beautiful and highly endangered animals. This agreement is a turning point that gets us closer to zero entanglements and a healthy ocean.”

The settlement, subject to court approval, creates a comprehensive approach to the problem of whale entanglements. It expedites state regulation, ensures stakeholder input from the Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group and formalizes a first-ever commitment by CDFW to pursue a federal permit for protecting endangered species. While these steps are executed, the settlement calls for this year’s crab season to end three months early and prescribes protective measures for future springtime fishing seasons, when the greatest number of whales are present off the California coast.

In November 2018, CDFW announced it would seek a federal permit under the Endangered Species Act to address protected species interactions with the crab fishery. Obtaining a permit and developing a conservation plan as part of that process can take years, so the settlement spells out interim protections.

“This settlement represents the path back to normality for California’s crab fishery with built-in protections for whales and crab fishing operations under the Endangered Species Act,” PCFFA Executive Director Noah Oppenheim said in the statement. “The past several years have been extraordinarily challenging for fishing families, and the actions we’re taking here are no exception. But in the end, we’re going to emerge together with a resilient, prosperous, and protective fishery that will continue to feed California and the nation.”

However, as word got out that crabbers would have to pull their gear soon, frustration and anger followed.

Bodega Bay crab fisherman Tony Anello was quoted in the Press-Democrat as saying, “It hurts. Guys like me, right now I want to fish to the end.”

Most of the crab season is over in the first few weeks after it opens. As the crab supply dwindles, ex-vessel prices frequently rise and some of the fishermen rely on the limited supply for small markets in the spring and summer.

Already many large processors have stopped buying crab and turned to other fisheries as the pink shrimp and salmon seasons are set to open soon.

Fishermen and processors in other states are still waiting to understand the full ramifications of the agreement. What it will mean for next year’s fishery, whether the Center may sue other states, how regulations will change are all in question right now.

For example, the California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group, started in 2015 in reaction to whale entanglements, has made progress, but apparently not enough to satisfy the Center. Kristin Monsell, the CBD attorney, was once a member of the Working Group at its inception, according to working group records, but CBD pulled out of the group later.

Like California’s working group, Oregon and Washington have developed similar entities to deal with entanglements. They too have representatives of sport and commercial fishermen, ENGOs, industry, marine mammal experts and state and federal managers.

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

CALIFORNIA: Restrictions on overfished sardines in Monterey Bay create financial hardships for fishermen

March 28, 2019 — Sardine fishermen in Monterey Bay are facing a fifth straight year of restrictions on the amount they will be permitted to catch, creating financial hardships for the commercial industry.

A new draft assessment from the National Marine Fisheries Service indicates a sardine population of 27,547 metric tons. According to the Fisheries Service, any tonnage below 50,000 metric tons is considered “overfished.” That’s a 98.5 percent collapse since 2006.

The restriction, which would essentially cancel the 2019-2020 commercial sardine season, must be applied when populations drop under 150,000 metric tons, said Geoff Shester, senior scientist with the Monterey office of Oceana, a marine environmental watchdog group.

“The crash of Pacific sardines has been difficult to watch,” Shester said. “We’ve witnessed dramatic starvation effects to ocean animals.”

The collapse is a result of overfishing, Shester said. Sardine populations go through natural cyclical fluctuations, but to see numbers this low is caused from over-fishing.

Diane Pleschner-Steele, executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association, was not available to comment Wednesday, but she told the Monterey Herald following the 2018 assessment that “fishermen are seeing more sardines, not less, especially in nearshore waters.”

Read the full story at the Santa Cruz Sentinel

CALIFORNIA: Dramatic sardine population decline means likely West Coast fishing ban

March 27, 2019 — There won’t be any boats pulling bulging nets of fresh sardines out of the ocean along the West Coast this year after another dramatic decline in population virtually guarantees a ban on the commercial take of the tiny schooling fish.

The northern Pacific sardine population, stretching from Mexico to British Columbia, has plummeted 98.5 percent since 2006, according to a draft stock assessment released this week by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Pacific Fishery Management Council.

It means regulators have no choice but to ban sardine fishing for the fifth straight year starting July 1 from Mexico to the Canadian border.

“We’ve been urging for an overhaul to the way sardine are managed for the last seven years,” said Geoff Shester, a senior scientist with Oceana, an ocean conservation advocacy group. “It is critical to hold fishery managers accountable for exacerbating this modern-day sardine collapse and seek management changes to use best available science to learn from our mistakes.”

Read the full story at the San Francisco Chronicle

Study maps where tunas, sharks and fishing ships meet

March 26, 2019 — Overfishing is rapidly pushing many of the world’s sharks and tunas toward extinction. The world’s fastest known shark, the shortfin mako, for example, was recently uplisted to endangered on the IUCN Red List, its decline mostly attributed to overfishing.

But researchers are only beginning to figure out where and when people fish them the most. Now, a new study has some answers.

By analyzing the trails of more than 900 fishing vessels and more than 800 sharks and tunas in the northeast Pacific, researchers have identified regions where the two tend to overlap. This information, researchers say, can be used to manage fisheries, especially in the high seas, the swaths of ocean that lie beyond the jurisdiction of individual countries.

“These fish [sharks and tunas] may travel thousands of miles every year, crossing international boundaries and management jurisdictions,” said Timothy White, lead author of the study and a graduate student in biology at Stanford University, California. “In order to sustainably manage them, we need to know where they migrate and where people fish them, but this info is surprisingly difficult to gather for sharks and tunas of the open ocean.”

Read the full story at Mongabay

A California battle over swordfish — and gill nets

March 19, 2019 — Conservationists are pushing a $1 million effort this summer to change the way swordfish are caught off the California coast by phasing out the use of gill nets. They are the mile-long nylon nets used to catch swordfish but that also ensnare other species, causing conservation organizations to seek an end to their use.

Commercial fishermen can use gill nets now, with a drift gill net shark and swordfish permit from the Department of Fish and Wildlife. But a new California law will officially ban gill nets as of January 2023.

The law requires the department to establish a voluntary “permit transition program” that will reimburse fishermen for giving up the use of gill nets. The state has set aside $1 million in public money for the program and an additional $1 million will be sought in private donations.

The law requires the state to establish a volunteer “permit transition program” by March 31, 2020, which will serve as the mechanism for the reimbursement program.

“California is one of the last places globally that still allows these wasteful fishing nets to be used, so it’s high time the Golden State transitions to cleaner, more sustainable fishing gears to provide a domestic swordfish product to Californians and visitors alike who enjoy local seafood products, said Ashley Blacow-Draeger, a spokeswoman for the ocean-conservation organization Oceana.

Read the full story at Capitol Weekly

Cooke Inc. Acquires All Seas Wholesale, Inc.

March 19, 2019 — The following was released by Cooke Inc:

Cooke Inc. (“Cooke”), a New Brunswick company and parent of Cooke Aquaculture Inc., has acquired All Seas Wholesale, Inc. of California, a distributor of up to forty species of fresh seafood, live shellfish, and frozen seafood products. The transaction was completed in mid-February of this year.

For 33 years, All Seas Wholesale, Inc. has been proudly servicing the San Francisco Bay area’s hotels, country clubs, airline & event caterers, upscale retail markets, and restaurants as a same day purveyor of the finest quality seafoods.

“Purchasing All Seas allows us to continue to strengthen our vertical integration and distribute our True North Seafood products to additional markets,” said Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke Inc. “All Seas prides itself on being able to receive an order early in the morning and have it delivered fresh to the customer to serve on their lunch menu that same day, and that fits very well with our drive for high standards in both top quality products and customer satisfaction.”

“We are thrilled to have joined the Cooke family of companies,” said Peggy Howse, General Manager, All Seas Wholesale. “Cooke is respected globally for delivering delicious, sustainable seafood products and now All Seas Wholesale will be taken to the next level serving customers.”

“95% of All Seas Wholesale employees have been with the company for over 10 years,” added Howse. “Our devoted professionals have united with the top seafood team dedicated to offering freshest seafood imaginable.”

The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed as both companies are private family-owned businesses.

Cooke Inc. is showcasing it’s fresh, sustainable True North Seafood Company branded products this week in Boston, MA, at Seafood Expo North America, in booths 1133 & 1233.

Read the full release here

Cooke strikes again, buys California distributor

March 19, 2019 — Acquisitive seafood group Cooke has snapped up a distributor based on the US West Coast, the company confirmed to Undercurrent Newsduring the Boston seafood show.

Cooke confirmed a deal for All Seas Wholesale of San Francisco, California, having bought JC Seafood, an importer based in Florida, last year. The news of the deal comes days after Cooke confirmed the acquisition of shrimp farmer and processor Farallon Aquaculture de Nicaragua, after also buying Seajoy Group earlier this year.

Undercurrent sources said the deal is done and Peggy Howse, general manager of All Seas, was on the Cooke booth at the Boston show. A spokesman for Cooke then confirmed this.

“I can confirm with you that Cooke Inc. acquired All Seas Wholesale of San Francisco, CA, in mid-February of this year,” said Joel Richardson, vice president of public relations with New Brunswick, Canada-based Cooke, in a statement sent to Undercurrent.

“We are thrilled to have joined the Cooke family of companies,” said Howse, in the statement. “Cooke is respected globally for delivering delicious, sustainable seafood products and now All Seas Wholesale will be taken to the next level serving customers.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Whales are facing a big, deadly threat along West Coast: Massive container ships

March 18, 2019 — One day last May, a container ship entered the San Francisco Bay with extra cargo.

A 45-foot-long dead female fin whale was draped across the ship’s bow. The impact with the ship had broken her back, ruptured her organs and caused severe internal bleeding.

Ten whale deaths were attributed to ship strikes in 2018 — the highest number on record in California since NOAA Fisheries began tracking in 1982. The mortality rate represents an enormous increase from the average 3.4 ship strike victims recorded annually in the five previous years.

Five of the 10 whales that died with boat collision injuries in 2018 were endangered or threatened fin, blue and humpback whales. Despite the prevalence of whale mortalities linked to ship strikes, few rules are in place on the West Coast to mitigate collisions.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

Fisheries Managers Face Mixed Forecast For Northwest Salmon, Concerns Over Endangered Orca

March 12, 2019 — About this time every year, the Pacific Northwest gets a report card from the natural world. It comes in the form of salmon run forecasts and gives us an indication of how healthy the Pacific Ocean and our rivers and streams are.

The grades are in, and here’s what you need to know about our scores.

How’d we do this year?

It’s definitely looking like we’re in for a “there’s room for improvement” kind of year.

Every spring, a group called the Pacific Fishery Management Council gets together and look at the salmon forecasts from the Puget Sound all the way down to the Sacramento River in California. They use this data to decide at a week-long meeting in April what overall catch limits will be. This catch allowance is then split between commercial, recreational and tribal fishermen in the Pacific Northwest. The goal is to make sure we don’t catch more salmon than the numbers can actually support.

Read the full story at KLCC