Saving Seafood

EPA sides with tribes on petition to regulate toxic tire chemical that kills salmon

November 10, 2023 — In August, three Native tribes — two in Washington, and one in California — petitioned the EPA to regulate the use of 6PPD in tire manufacturing.

6PPD has been in use for decades as a bonding agent to prevent cracking and general wear and tear in tires. When the surface of the tire reacts with ozone or oxygen, it turns into a new compound called 6PPD-Quinone.

“6PPD-Q, which we’ve now discovered, is the second most toxic chemical ever evaluated to aquatic life,” said Elizabeth Forsyth, senior attorney with Earthjustice’s Biodiversity Defense Program, who worked on the petition.

The primary result of exposure is called urban runoff mortality syndrome, which kills up to 100% of coho salmon returning to streams in an urban watershed.

The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, Puyallup Tribe, and Yurok Tribe in California signed onto the petition asking the EPA to regulate the use of 6PPD in tire manufacturing. Proponents hope regulation will push tire manufacturers to develop alternatives to 6PPD. A letter of resolution for support was also signed by a coalition of 57 Northwest tribes.

Read the full article at KUOW

ALASKA: Alaska Salmon Research Task Force issues progress report, seeks public input

October 26, 2023 — Beset by changing climate, population swings and declining salmon returns in some regions, Alaska salmon are under unprecedented pressures.

The Alaska Salmon Research Task Force is now seeking public comment on an early version of their draft report to help build its work plan.

In an announcement through the National Marine Fisheries Service, task force members said they need advice on “existing knowledge, research gaps, and applied research that is needed to better understand the increased variability and declining salmon returns in some regions of Alaska.”

The task force is especially interested in hearing comments about Indigenous and traditional knowledge that can be applied to the Pacific salmon life cycle framework now under development by the task force.

Comments can be submitted online with this form. People can also comment in person during the November 14-15, 2023 Alaska Salmon Research Task Force meeting in Anchorage. The session will be held at the William A. Egan Civic & Convention Center, Summit Hall (Lower Level), 555 W 5th Ave, Anchorage, AK 99501.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

OREGON: Struggling salmon fishermen getting federal help in Oregon and along West Coast, but it may be too late

October 24, 2023 — The federal government will dole out disaster relief to commercial Chinook salmon fishermen who have weathered a string of poor seasons on the Oregon Coast. But some fishermen say the help won’t be enough to rescue the fast-shrinking industry.

Earlier this month, two years after a request by Oregon’s governor, the U.S. Department of Commerce declared a Chinook fishery disaster for 2018, 2019 and 2020, years when local salmon populations plummeted. Fishing regulators blame the drop on poor habitat conditions and climate change near the California-Oregon border, where thousands of Chinook migrate from the ocean up rivers and streams to spawn.

Read the full article at OPB

Dispute about salmon and whales between Alaska and Washington again before federal regulators

October 10, 2023 — The fishing of chinook or king salmon is back on the desk of the National Marine Fisheries Service, part of the whipsaw rulings this past summer that saw the king salmon season shut down — and then reinstated — as a case brought by environmentalists wound its way through the courts.

NMFS issued a notice Wednesday it is beginning work on an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and a review of alternatives to its incidental take statement (ITS). The ITS is the amount of take allowed to occur in compliance with the Endangered Species Act.

NMFS is accepting public comments through noon on Nov. 20, said Gretchen Harrington, assistant regional administrator for the Sustainable Fisheries Division. The EIS is required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The case, Wild Fish Conservancy v. Quan, was filed in U.S. District Court in March 2020. Lawyers for WFC argued fishery managers and representatives of the Pacific Salmon Treaty were ignoring their own research by allowing fishing that harmed the endangered king salmon and the southern resident killer whale population, which feeds on them.

Read the full article at Juneau Empire

ALASKA: Why sockeye flourish and chinook fail in Alaska’s changing climate

July 27, 2023 — University of Washington ecologist Daniel Schindler is at the mouth of a salmon stream at Lake Nerka, in Southwest Alaska. It’s roiling with fish.

“They sort of pile up in balls of thousands of fish for a couple of weeks. I think that’s when they’re doing their final maturation,” he said of the sockeye mob. “They’re jostling with each other and splashing, occasionally jumping.”

Schindler is in his 27th year of field work, studying Bristol Bay sockeye. This year is on par with the sockeye abundance Bristol Bay has seen in the last decade, he said, which is far higher than the historical average.

The unlikely hero of this story of plenty: Climate change.

“We tend to think of climate warming is bad news for wild animals,” he said. “But for sockeye Bristol Bay warming has been good news.”

For other salmon, climate change is a villain.

Chinook – or king – salmon are in terrible decline all over the state, and especially dire on the Yukon River. Meanwhile, sockeye – or reds – are having another banner year in Bristol Bay, and everywhere.  Scientists say they don’t know exactly why one salmon species is doing so well while the other is in crisis, but some clues are coming into sharper focus.

One key difference, Schindler said, is what kind of river habit each species needs.

Sockeye use lakes as their nurseries. Since the 1980s the water in those lakes has warmed significantly. The warmth stimulates plankton to reproduce more, and young sockeye eat plankton. Fifty years ago, Schindler said, a lot of sockeye spent two years in Lake Nerka before heading out to sea.

“And now they grow so fast that nearly all of them leave after a single year in freshwater, which is a reflection of the fact that the freshwater systems have become more productive,” he said.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

Warmer Ocean Temperatures Increase Risk of Salmon Bycatch in Pacific Hake Fishery

July 17, 2023 — Rates of Chinook salmon bycatch in the Pacific hake fishery rise during years when ocean temperatures are warmer, a signal that climate change and increased frequency of marine heatwaves could lead to higher bycatch rates, new research indicates.

During years when sea surface temperatures were higher, including during a marine heatwave, Chinook salmon were more likely to overlap with the Pacific hake and raise the risk of bycatch as they sought refuge from higher temperatures.

The findings, based on 20 years of bycatch data and ocean temperature records, provide new insight into the ecological mechanisms that underlie bycatch, which is the incidental capture of a non-targeted species, said the study’s lead author, Megan Sabal.

“The impact of ocean warming on bycatch has potential cultural, economic and ecological consequences, as the hake and salmon fisheries are each worth millions of dollars and salmon are critical to both Indigenous tribes’ cultural heritage and healthy ecosystems,” said Sabal, who worked on the project as a postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University.

Pacific hake, also known as Pacific whiting, is the largest commercial fishery by tonnage on the U.S. West Coast. The rate is low, but bycatch remains a concern for the Chinook salmon population, said Michael Banks, a marine fisheries genomics, conservation and behavior professor at Oregon State University and a co-author of the study.

Read the full article at ECO Magazine

Warmer ocean temperatures increase risk of salmon bycatch in Pacific hake fishery

July 13, 2023 — Rates of Chinook salmon bycatch in the Pacific hake fishery rise during years when ocean temperatures are warmer, a signal that climate change and increased frequency of marine heatwaves could lead to higher bycatch rates, new research indicates.

During years when  were higher, including during a marine heatwave, Chinook  were more likely to overlap with the Pacific hake and raise the risk of bycatch as they sought refuge from higher temperatures.

The findings, based on 20 years of bycatch data and ocean temperature records, provide new insight into the ecological mechanisms that underlie bycatch, which is the incidental capture of a non-targeted species, said the study’s lead author, Megan Sabal.

“The impact of ocean warming on bycatch has potential cultural, economic and ecological consequences, as the hake and salmon fisheries are each worth millions of dollars and salmon are critical to both Indigenous tribes’ cultural heritage and healthy ecosystems,” said Sabal, who worked on the project as a postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University.

Pacific hake, also known as Pacific whiting, is the largest commercial fishery by tonnage on the U.S. West Coast. The rate is low but bycatch remains a concern for the Chinook salmon population, said Michael Banks, a marine fisheries genomics, conservation and behavior professor at Oregon State University and a co-author of the study.

“The hake fishing industry is very sensitive to the impacts of bycatch on salmon and has been diligent in reducing it, but changing  might become an increasing issue,” he said.

The research was just published in the journal Fish and Fisheries.

Pacific hake school in midwater depths off the West Coast from southern Baja California to the Gulf of Alaska. Hake is commonly used in surimi, a type of minced fish used to make imitation crab.

Read the full article at PHYS.org

ALASKA: Dunleavy again vetoes research project on salmon bycatch

June 23, 2023 — Among the projects Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed from the state budget on Monday was salmon research to help determine the causes of the chinook and chum crisis in western Alaska.

Dunleavy vetoed $513,000 for research on the origins of salmon caught by accident in the Bering Sea pollock fishery, as well as the origin of salmon intercepted by fishermen off the Alaska Peninsula in what’s known as “Area M.” Dunleavy vetoed the project last year, too.

“You never know what’s going to come of these budgets. But this is quite a disappointment, again,” said Karen Gillis, program director of the Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association. The association was to receive the money and pass it on to a partnership of federal and university scientists.

Read the full article at KYUK

OREGON: Oregon gov. calls for fishery resource disaster over Chinook season closure off West Coast

April 24, 2023 — Oregon Governor Tina Kotek is calling on the U.S. government to declare a federal fishery resource disaster over the closure of the 2023 season for all commercial and most recreational Chinook salmon fishing along much of the West Coast.

This month, the Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended closing all commercial ocean fishing ror Chinook from Cape Falcon on Oregon’s northern coast to Mexico. The action is in response to low Chinook returns.

Read the full article at KCBY