July 6, 2017 — Crabbers, seafood processors and state biologists agree that the most recent Dungeness crab season, which ended June 30 south of Mendocino County and will wrap up next week to the north, is above average.
Controversial drift-gill net fishery wins long-fought battle
June 13, 2017 — Federal fishery managers denied a proposal this week to immediately shut down Southern California’s most controversial fishery in the event that wide-mesh gill nets accidentally kill a handful of certain marine mammals or sea turtle species.
The swordfish and thresher shark fishery will remain open, even if it kills several whales or sea turtles, the NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries decided.
The decision not to institute so-called hard caps on the fishery comes after a public review period initiated last year was extended to discuss the law proposed by the state’s Pacific Fishery Management Council in 2014.
For the few dozen fishers who still catch swordfish and thresher sharks off Southern California in deep-water drift gill nets, the decision brought a big sigh of relief.
“It’s a great feeling to know that NOAA is using science and not political pressure to decide this issue,” said longtime local fisherman David Haworth. “We have just a few people fighting against millions of environmentalists who think taking one of anything is too many: That would be great, but we have to feed the whole world.”
The decision was a blow to Oceana, The Pew Charitable Trusts and other conservation groups that have lobbied for years to close the fishery.
“We’re disappointed that NOAA Fisheries decided to abandon these plans. It’s a long time coming,” said Paul Shively, project director for The Pew Charitable Trusts. “We did a poll (in 2015) that showed overwhelming support with Californians to shut down the fishery.
“This still remains the most harmful fishery on the West Coast when it comes to marine mammals and sea turtles.”
West Coast Senators Add Voices To Request For Salmon Disaster Declaration
June 9, 2017 — Four West Coast senators are calling on the Trump administration to declare a salmon fishery emergency and provide aid to economically struggling coastal communities.
Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon — as well as Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris from California — released a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Friday calling for the declaration. It comes in the wake of a similar appeal two weeks ago from the two states’ governors, Kate Brown of Oregon and Jerry Brown of California.
So far, the Trump administration has not publicly responded.
Concerns about idled salmon fishing fleets this year were raised after recommendations to restrict salmon fishing off the coasts of California and Oregon.
White sharks rebound in California
June 10, 2017 — Most of the millions of beachgoers who flock to southern California’s coast never notice the baby sharks swimming laps just offshore, but that’s starting to change.
The sharks aren’t on the prowl for sunblock-glazed snacks: the Southern California Bight – the coastal waters from Santa Barbara to the U.S.-Mexico border – is a white shark nursery.
It’s where the young predators hide out, stay warm, and learn to hunt, before joining adults in deeper seas.
Though their species has long been declining, baby white sharks are making a surprising comeback in the Bight.
Their return tells a bigger environmental success story: federal and state regulations stretching back 40 years have curtailed pollution and repaired the marine food web that includes white sharks (formerly called great white sharks). “You can’t have an ecosystem that’s badly damaged and have predators,” Chris Lowe, director of the Shark Lab at California State University-Long Beach, says.
The Bight’s baby white sharks declined for a number of reasons, Lowe says: poor water quality, their decimation as gillnetting bycatch, and the near-extirpation of the prey that adult sharks rely on.
Likewise, no single environmental law saved them. Instead, a suite of regulations enacted from the 1970s to the mid 1990s helped restore southern California’s coastal ecosystem enough for its white shark nursery to eventually start recovering.
CALIFORNIA: Squaring off over selling directly from boats at Fisherman’s Wharf
June 5, 2017 — Should local seafood be permitted to be sold straight from the boat in San Francisco?
Ramped-Up Efforts to Protect Mexican Fisheries Netting Results
June 2, 2017 — Criminal charges filed against a father-son duo accused of illegally importing sea cucumbers from Mexico for huge profit by selling the seafood delicacy for $17.5 million in Asia have highlighted the tension between keeping fishing sustainable and ensuring fishermen can maintain their livelihood off the ocean. Courthouse News took a deep dive into the current state of Mexican fisheries and found while some depleted fisheries have been restored in recent years, the stakes have been raised for those who make their living selling the prized delicacies.
Last week David Mayorquin and Ramon Torres Mayorquin were arraigned in San Diego’s federal court on charges related to the illegal trafficking of sea cucumbers through San Diego’s port of entry. The two owned and operated Arizona-based seafood company Blessings Inc. and had a legal permit to import the sea creatures – which are related to sea urchins and starfish.
But the Mayorquins skirted international rules on importing sea cucumbers, which allow them to be fished only in season. The animals must also be a certain size and caught in limited quantities to maintain the population in Mexican fisheries like the one in Yucatan where the sea cucumbers purchased by the family were allegedly poached from.
Since the U.S. Attorney’s Office began investigating illegal quantities of sea cucumbers coming through San Diego’s port of entry, the border city has seen a stark drop in imports of the sea creature: over 90 percent in the past three years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Science and Technology.
In 2013, more than 2.4 million pounds of sea cucumbers worth over $27 million crossed San Diego’s border from Mexico. By 2016, only 155,000 pounds of imported sea cucumbers worth $1.1 million was declared at San Diego’s port of entry, according to NOAA.
While enforcement efforts on both sides of the border appear to be deterring illegal poaching and overfishing of protected species such as sea cucumbers, the stakes are higher for those who stand to make millions off delicacies prized in Asian markets.
West Coast Ocean Acidification Rates Among Highest In World
June 2, 2017 — Carbon emissions aren’t just causing climate change, they’re having a profound effect on ocean chemistry.
Our oceans are becoming more acidic and this is a major threat to fisheries.
Researchers have now recorded some of the highest levels of ocean acidification in the world, right off the coast of the Pacific Northwest.
When oceans absorb carbon, they become more acidic, preventing oysters and tiny marine snails at the base of the food chain from forming shells.
A new study from Oregon State University documents ocean acidification off the coast of California and Oregon.
“What we didn’t know is that if you’re an animal living on the shore, how often do you see a bad day?” Francis Chan, a lead author, said. “And now because we have sensors that are actually taking a measurement of ocean PH every 10 minutes throughout the summer, we can start to build that picture.”
The study found that while there were persistent hotspots of destructive acid levels, there were also areas that stayed within healthy ranges.
Pelagic Data Systems teaming with Alan Lovewell, Real Good Fish to install vessel tracking systems in California
May 26, 2017 — A new partnership between Pelagic Data Systems and Alan Lovewell’s Real Good Fish will place vessel tracking systems onboard commercial fishing boats in California.
Pelagic Data Systems makes lightweight, solar-powered vessel tracking technology. Real Good Fish is a community supported fishery that makes weekly deliveries of locally caught seafood to about 1,500 shareholders in the Monterey and San Francisco Bay areas. The partnership will provide Real Good Fish’s members detailed information about where, when and how their seafood – including black cod, dungeness crab, king salmon, lingcod, rockfish, and sanddabs – was caught, via a weekly email newsletter.
“From fishermen to seafood lovers, we’re working together to explore the intersection of seafood and technology in the interest of solving some of the toughest problems that face our oceans and plates,” Lovewell, who founded Real Good Fish in 2012, said. “I would like to see how this technology helps our fishermen and consumers work more closely together to provide a more enriching, empowering, and collaborative experience for our community.”
California, Oregon governors request salmon disaster declaration
May 26, 2017 — California Gov. Jerry Brown and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown called on the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross on Thursday to declare a federal fisheries disaster due to this year’s unprecedented low number of ocean salmon, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The disaster declaration would allow Congress to appropriate relief funds to aid losses sustained by the salmon fishing fleet in California and Oregon. North Coast representatives including state Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) and 2nd District Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) had asked Jerry Brown to request a disaster declaration earlier this year after the Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended restricting salmon fishing off the coasts of California and Oregon.
Ocean salmon fishing for Klamath River salmon is completely closed this year after the council predicted the lowest return of spawning Chinook salmon on record at about 12,000 fish.
Tribes, fishing organizations and North Coast representatives praised the governors’ requests on Thursday.
MAST Open House & Technology Expo Begins May 24 In Hueneme, California
May 19, 2017 — The following was released by The Port of Hueneme:
Each year, the Port of Hueneme hosts the MAST (Maritime Advanced Systems & Technology) Open House & Expo to foster ideas, innovation and leading edge technologies for the advancement of ports and the maritime environment. In attendance and exhibiting their technologies are representatives from some of the region’s most cutting-edge companies, plus marine scientists, maritime industry experts, and academic leaders.
When: Wednesday, May 24
- 9:00 am – Networking and Registration
- 10:00 am – 12:00 pm – PRESS ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND (Press Interviews and Great Photo Opportunities) (Press welcomed throughout the Day)
- 10:00 am – 6:00 pm – Exhibits, Demonstrations and Panel Discussions
- 10:45 am – 12:00 pm – STEM and High School Students arrive for demonstrations
- 3:45 pm – Social Reception – VIP Speakers and ABCANZ Military Visitors
Where: Port of Hueneme | 333 Ponoma Street, Port Hueneme
Highlights: Over 100 students expected to attend; cutting-edge technology demonstrations; great photo opportunities. Press encouraged to attend at 10:00 am.
Who: Each year, the Port of Hueneme hosts the MAST (Maritime Advanced Systems & Technology) Open House & Expo to foster ideas, innovation and leading edge technologies for the advancement of ports and the maritime environment. In attendance and exhibiting their technologies are representatives from some of the region’s most cutting-edge companies, plus marine scientists, maritime industry experts, and academic leaders.
Students are invited to participate in the morning to observe technologies and demonstrations in the MAST Open House as well as meet with real- life industry pros to discover maritime industry career paths during the Maritime Career Exploration Day fair.
What: MAST fosters leading edge technological innovation and integration in a port and maritime environment. The MAST Lab joins a federated network of leading academic, research, test and evaluation, in-service engineering and operational centers to further expand the region’s ability to provide solutions to national security challenges.
Features of MAST:
- Multiple exhibits sharing exciting new technologies and areas of research
- Relevant technology demonstrations and collaborative opportunities
- Subject matter expert panels and facilitated discussions
- Collaborative interchange between public and private sector stakeholders
- An entry point for business and industry partnerships with education
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