Saving Seafood

Chinook salmon are getting smaller, and researchers say killer whales may be to blame

December 31, 2019 — Chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, are getting smaller, and a team of scientists at the University of Washington think they know why. A new study says killer whales might be behind Chinook’s declining size.

Chinook salmon are an important part of life in Southeast Alaska. Part of the prized fish’s value is its size. Chinook are the largest Pacific salmon.

But in the last two years, returns have been low. Ketchikan, Wrangell and Petersburg all saw their king salmon derbies cancelled in 2018 and 2019. And forecasts for 2020 don’t look much better.

But it’s not just their numbers that are declining.

University of Washington researcher Jan Ohlberger published a paper last year that shows Chinook are getting smaller, too. Up to 10 percent smaller.

That discovery intrigued the researcher.

“The question is, what is the cause of that?” said Ohlberger in a recent phone interview.

A causal claim is difficult to make. Correlation, of course, doesn’t always imply causation.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

Oregon closes salmon fishery after Chinook die-off

December 16, 2019 — The Oregon Department of Wildlife has initiated a total closure of salmon fishing on the state’s North Coast due to a die-off of fall Chinook salmon caused by a parasite, according to The Statesman Journal.

Some two hundred Chinook have been wiped out in the Wilson River by the parasite cryptoba, which was also found in dead salmon in the Nestucca, Trask, and Kilchis river basins. The majority of the salmon were killed before they had the opportunity to spawn. Though the parasite is deadly to fish, it poses no risk to humans.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Endangered Winter-run Chinook Salmon Increase with Millions of Offspring Headed to Sea

December 9, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Biologists have estimated that almost 3.8 million juvenile winter-run Chinook salmon headed down the Sacramento River toward the ocean this year. This is the most offspring in a decade for the highly endangered population.

Typically about 80 percent of the outgoing juveniles have headed for the ocean by this time of year. This year’s total thus far is the most since 2009, when about 5 million juveniles traveled downriver.

The rebounding numbers of winter-run Chinook salmon reflect the critical help of a conservation fish hatchery and balanced water management. More favorable ocean conditions also benefited the parents of this year’s surging crop of juveniles, biologists say. About 8,000 adult fish returned to the Sacramento River to spawn earlier this year, the most since 2006.

“These fish continue to impress us with their resilience and their ability to survive if given the opportunity,” said Maria Rea, Assistant Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries’ California Central Valley Office. “By working cooperatively, we can make the best use of our suite of tools to protect and recover these endangered fish.”

Read the full release here

Nearly $670,000 in grants will help endangered orcas

November 21, 2019 — Nearly $670,000 in conservation grants will go toward the recovery of endangered Southern Resident killer whales, also known as orca whales.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and its partners made the announcement at an event Wednesday.

NFWF said the grants will generate $610,600 in matching contributions for a total of more than $1.2 million.

Though the 74 orcas eat salmon and other fish, they prefer Chinook salmon, which recent research showed are having low survival rates in early stages of life.  Because fewer fish are making it to the ocean, there are fewer fish of the size that killer whales need to feed, NFWF said.

NFWF said six grants announced Wednesday will support projects throughout the food chain and help habitat that’s important to both young Chinook and their prey.

In addition to the grants, a public campaign supported by the Killer Whale Recovery and Conservation Program and its partners  – “Be Whale Wise” – will help educate local boaters about how they can better protect orcas.

Read the full story at KIRO

Salmon shortage threatens food chain in Pacific NW

October 28, 2019 — What was once an endless supply in the Pacific Northwest is now endangered. Millions of Chinook salmon are not surviving migration. Now, the shortage is causing officials to make some difficult decisions.

As much as air or water, so much life in the Pacific Northwest depends on salmon. Over 130 species rely on nature’s original food delivery but fewer salmon are surviving the heroic swim from the open ocean to spawning streams hundreds of miles inland.

And that means trouble for two creatures that really, really love the king of fish. Killer whales and us.

In your grandparent’s day, the Columbia Basin seemed to produce a never-ending supply and salmon the size of people. But those big “June hog” Chinooks are extinct now and this year numbers were so low, the fall fishing season was canceled.

Columbia Riverkeeper Brett Vandenheuvel said, “The estimates are about 17 million salmon would return to the Columbia every year. It was the greatest salmon fishery in the world. And now it’s about a million fish return.”

And most of those are hatchery fish with weaker genes and less fat than their wild cousins. So the southern resident killer whales that live on Chinook are starving. There are only 73 of this kind of orca left on the planet and after a grieving orca mom pushed her dead calf around Puget Sound for weeks last summer, it rekindled a decades-old debate: salmon vs. dams.

Read the full story at KOBI

Ninth Circuit Orders Feds to Reexamine Army Corps’ Harm to Native Fish

October 8, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The National Marine Fisheries Service owes an explanation for why it decided that two dams on the Yuba River do not adversely affect threatened Chinook salmon, steelhead and green sturgeon, three Ninth Circuit judges ruled Thursday.

“The Ninth Circuit said you’re entitled to change your mind, but you’ve got to explain yourself and you haven’t,” said Christopher Sproul, an attorney with San Francisco-based Environmental Advocates. “We think this is an excellent win vindicating good government. If agencies are going to have environmental rollbacks, they can’t do it without good reasoning.”

The case marks the latest turn in a long-running dispute over the Army Corps of Engineers’ maintenance of the aging Daguerre Point and Englebright dams, both built before the passage of the Endangered Species Act.

According to environmental groups, the dams have long posed an impediment to migrating salmon. The over 100 year-old Daguerre Point has fish ladders, albeit crude and aging, over which salmon struggle to swim to reach their spawning grounds. But the 260-foot-high Englebright Dam, built in 1941, has no fish ladders at all and completely blocks fish passage to the upper Yuba River.

Since 2002, the service has considered the Corps’ maintenance of the dams an “agency action” that requires the Corps to comply with federal environmental law that protect threatened species.

As late as 2012, the service found the Corps’ activities were likely to harm salmon populations, but it suddenly reversed course in 2014 when it issued a biological opinion and a separate letter concurring with the Corps’ biological assessment for the Englebright Dam and adjoining powerhouses.

The service basically stopped treating the Corps’ activities as an “agency action,” effectively letting the Corps off the hook for its effect on the environment.

The Corps began consulting with the service in 2000 to improve passage, but salmon populations have continued to decline from their failure to mitigate the dams’ impacts.

In 2012, the service found the Corps’ activities were likely to harm the salmon species, but it suddenly reversed course in 2014 when it issued a biological opinion and a separate letter concurring with the Corps’ biological assessment for Englebright and its abutting hydroelectric facilities.

In 2018, the environmental non-profit Friends of the River lost a federal lawsuit over the service’s opinions on summary judgment.

On Thursday, the appellate court panel of Judge J. Clifford Wallace, Carlos Bea and Michelle Friedland ordered the federal court to take another look at the case.

“FOR argues that the Service acted arbitrarily and capriciously in changing its approach to analyzing the dams’ impact on threatened fish because the service did not provide a reasoned explanation for the change. We agree,” the judges wrote.

They found the service offered no explanation for why it changed its position.

“Given the Service’s failure to provide a reasoned explanation for why it changed positions on whether the continued existence of the dams and the hydroelectric facilities abutting Englebright constitute agency action, the district court erred in finding that the Service’s 2014 BiOp and LOC were not arbitrary and capricious,” their ruling says.

The judges also ordered the lower court to revisit Friends of the River’s claim that the Corps improperly granted licenses and easements to third parties to operate the hydroelectric facilities.

“The Ninth Circuit ruling underscores the principle that still exists in this country – that facts and law matter,” Sproul said.

The National Marine Fisheries Service was unavailable for comment late Thursday.

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

How Long Before These Salmon Are Gone? ‘Maybe 20 Years’

September 17, 2019 — The Middle Fork of the Salmon River, one of the wildest rivers in the contiguous United States, is prime fish habitat. Cold, clear waters from melting snow tumble out of the Salmon River Mountains and into the boulder-strewn river, which is federally protected.

Read the full story at The New York Times

Scientists Discover Three New Viruses That Infect Endangered Salmon

September 5, 2019 — Scientists from the University of British Columbia, Fisheries and Ocean Canada, and the Pacific Salmon Foundation have discovered three new viruses that infect endangered Chinook and sockeye salmon – including one that was previously thought to only infect mammals.

These fish are considered to be ‘keystone species’ – meaning they have a disproportionately large impact on their ecosystem, making them a high priority for conservation. However, populations of both Chinook and sockeye salmon have been declining in the Pacific Northwest for the last three decades despite increased fishing regulations.

Researchers believe viruses may be part of the cause of the salmon declines. To date, most research on salmon-infecting viruses has focused on the piscine orthoreovirus, or PRV. PRV can cause ‘Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation Disease’ (HSMI) in Atlantic salmon, devastating farmed stocks. However, PRV does not have the same disease-causing effect on Chinook and sockeye salmon.

Read the full story at Forbes

Will cutting salmon out of our diets save the Puget Sound orcas?

August 29, 2019 — Salmon is a popular food in the Pacific Northwest for humans and orcas alike. But, the Southern Resident Orcas are struggling with their sole food source, Chinook Salmon, getting smaller and smaller.

With that in mind, is it still a good idea for us to consume fish? Will cutting salmon out of our diets help our orca population rebound?

Ray Hilborn is a professor at the University of Washington’s University of School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. His research focuses on ways to best manage fisheries to provide sustainable benefits to human society.

“In general, fisheries have quite a bit lower environmental impact than livestock, and even with respect to crops, many fisheries look very good compared to crops,” said Hilborn.

Read the full story at K5 News

California sails toward biggest salmon harvest in years

August 26, 2019 — Trolling off the California coast, Sarah Bates leans over the side of her boat and pulls out a long, silvery fish prized by anglers and seafood lovers: wild king salmon.

Reeling in a fish “feels good every time,” but this year has been surprisingly good, said Bates, a commercial troller based in San Francisco.

She and other California fishermen are reporting one of the best salmon fishing seasons in years, thanks to heavy rain and snow that ended the state’s historic drought.

It’s a sharp reversal for chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, an iconic species that helps sustain many Pacific Coast fishing communities.

Read the full story at the Associated Press