Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Alaska lawmakers, residents ask feds to limit how much salmon industrial trawlers catch

May 1, 2024 — U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, Alaskan Natives and family-owned fisheries are looking for a sea change in the fishing rights battle between local fishermen and industrial trawling fishing operations after a federal council recently denied a tribe-approved reduction in chum salmon catches.

In Western Alaska, local communities are experiencing a marked decrease in salmon populations. The reasons for the decline remain a subject of intense debate between industry executives, conservation experts and subsistence communities. Many residents point to the Seattle-based trawler fleets operating in the Bering Sea, which, while fishing for pollock, inadvertently capture large numbers of chum salmon as bycatch.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which oversees the regulations for fish caught in federal waters, recommended an annual bycatch total of 100,000 − well above the 22,000 limit the advisory council sought in a motion April 8. The pollock industry already has a hard cap restricting its take of Chinook salmon

Read the full article at USA Today

ALASKA: The federal government is assuming management of salmon fishing in parts of Alaska’s Cook Inlet

May 1, 2024 — Commercial and recreational salmon fishing in the federal waters of Cook Inlet will resume this summer, but under new management by the federal government, according to a rule made final this week.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service, also known as NOAA Fisheries, is taking over what had been state management of salmon in inlet waters designated as the federal exclusive economic zone, located more than 3 miles offshore.

The new rule goes into effect May 30.

Until now, the state had managed salmon fisheries in both state and federal waters of the inlet. But the switch in management was ordered by federal courts, as a result of litigation stretching back a decade.

The United Cook Inlet Drift Association, or UCIDA, which is made up of commercial salmon fishermen, sued the federal government in 2013 for failing to develop a salmon harvest management plan for the federal waters of the inlet. The National Marine Fisheries Service, rather than developing a Cook Inlet salmon plan, had deferred to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which since statehood has managed salmon harvests throughout the inlet in both state and federal waters.

The UCIDA lawsuit took issue with state management decisions and argued that the National Marine Fisheries Service was failing in its duties. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2016 ruled in UCIDA’s favor.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

CALIFORNIA: What’s being done to save California salmon as populations continue to decline?

April 24, 2024 — From the Sacramento River to the coast, salmon populations have struggled to survive, and fishing for salmon in California has been canceled for the second season in a row, marking the third season in the state’s history a fishing ban has been in place. The heart of the problem: dams and climate change.

Local business impacts

The 2024 season cancelation was announced on April 10, after the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) acted unanimously to recommend the closure of California’s commercial and recreational ocean salmon fisheries through the end of the year, repeating recommendations made in 2023 to close the fisheries.

This decision is a blow to salmon industries and fishermen like Rickey Acosta as many struggle to find alternatives.

“Without salmon season we’re forced to figure out new species to fish for areas that we are fishing at different times of the year and what it’s caused is an effort shift not only for myself but for all of the other boats,” Acosta said.

Acosta owns and operates Feeding Frenzy, a sportfishing guide company that takes people out on the waters of the Sacramento River and Pacific Ocean to fish.

Read the full article at CBS News

CALIFORNIA: California lawmakers request disaster declaration after state’s second straight salmon season cancelation

April 23, 2024 — More than 20 federal lawmakers from California have called on the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to declare a fishery disaster following the closure of the state’s salmon season for the second consecutive year.

Earlier this month, the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to close the 2024 commercial Chinook salmon fishery from the northern coast of the U.S. state of Oregon to the Mexico border. That closure is expected to go into effect in May.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: State anticipates status quo for 2024 Kuskokwim River salmon runs

April 20, 2024 — With another heavily restricted salmon fishing season just around the corner on the Kuskokwim River, state fisheries managers are not anticipating any drastic changes in terms of run strength from what was seen last year.

According to Chuck Brazil, a regional fisheries management coordinator with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game who oversees the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim (AYK) region, the forecast for chinook (king) salmon is in line with returns over the past decade.

“We’re looking at a near-recent average, which is about 120,000 to 140,000 fish,” Brazil said. “I would expect this upcoming season to look very similar to last season with limited openings, maybe one opening a week throughout the course of this chinook salmon season.”

The federal government, rather than the state, currently has the final say regarding when salmon fishing is allowed on the lower Kuskokwim River. This was confirmed by a recent U.S. District Court ruling in a case which calls into question management of the 180-mile portion of the river that flows through the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge.

Read the full article at KYUK

ALASKA: Residents speak on chinook moratorium at Yukon River Panel

April 16, 2024 — The Yukon River Panel, a joint Alaska-Canada salmon advisory organization held a multi-day pre-season meeting last week in Anchorage. Panel members heard presentations and public comments on a range of salmon issues, including a recent Alaska Canada agreement to close chinook salmon fishing for 7 years.

Wednesday’s agenda (April 10) included presentations by biologists on 2024 salmon run forecasts. Deena Jallen with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said another weak return of Yukon River Chinook is anticipated.

“We have a forecast of 45,000 to 68,000 fish, with a median value of 56,000 fish, and as a reminder the 2023 drainage-wide run size for chinook salmon was 58,000 fish, and no escapement goals were met in Alaska or Canada, so we’re anticipating a very low run, similar to last year, or smaller,” Jallen said.

About 40 percent of Yukon River chinook are Canadian origin, and Jallen said the outlook for those stocks is similarly bleak.

“Nineteen thousand to 28,000 fish with median value of 23,000 fish,” she said. “And that’s below the border passage objective of 71,000 fish, and the projected border passage could be as low as 9- to 19,000 fish.”

Read the full article at KYUK

CALIFRONIA: California fishermen urge action after salmon fishing is canceled for second year in a row

April 14, 2024 — California fishermen have spoken out against state water management policies after federal fishing officials canceled ocean salmon fishing season in the state for the second consecutive year, delivering a major blow to the fishing industry.

In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the Pacific Fishery Management Council − which is responsible for managing fisheries in federal waters along the West Coast − recommended closing all California commercial and recreational ocean salmon fisheries through the end of the year. Similar to last year’s recommendations, the council said this year’s closure will help conservation goals for salmon stocks.

“The forecasts for Chinook returning to California rivers this year are again very low,” council chair Brad Pettinger said in a statement Wednesday. “Despite improved drought conditions, the freshwater environment that contributed to these low forecasted returns may still be impacting the overall returns of Chinook.”

Read the full article at USA Today

CALIFORNIA: Newsom requests federal disaster funds as chinook salmon season faces likely closure

April 14, 2024 — California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Thursday he was requesting a federal fishery disaster declaration, after regional supervisors recommended a full closure of ocean salmon season for the second year in a row.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council — which oversees fishing along the Washington, Oregon and California coasts — voiced unanimous support on Wednesday for shuttering California’s commercial and recreational chinook salmon fisheries through the end of the year.

These recommendations are similar to those made in 2023, which was the first time such a closure occurred in 14 years.

“The forecasts for chinook returning to California rivers this year are again very low,” council Chair Brad Pettinger said in a Wednesday statement.

Read the full article at the Hill

California salmon fishing banned for second year in row

April 11, 2024 — In a devastating blow to California’s fishing industry, federal fishery managers unanimously voted today to cancel all commercial and recreational salmon fishing off the coast of California for the second year in a row.

The decision is designed to protect California’s dwindling salmon populations after drought and water diversions left river flows too warm and sluggish for the state’s iconic Chinook salmon to thrive.

Salmon abundance forecasts for the year “are just too low,” Marci Yaremko, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s appointee to the Pacific Fishery Management Council, said last week. “While the rainfall and the snowpacks have improved, the stocks and their habitats just need another year to recover.”

State and federal agencies are now expected to implement the closures for ocean fishing. Had the season not been in question again this year, recreational boats would likely already be fishing off the coast of California, while the commercial season typically runs from May through October.

Read the full article at CalMatters

OREGON: Fish out of water story ends with 77,000 young salmon in the wrong water

April 4, 2024 — First, the good news. When a 53-foot fish tanker truck crashed and rolled upside down on an embankment next to a creek in northeast Oregon, its driver suffered only minor injuries. And as the truck came to a rest, its tank settled downhill, next to the water.

That last detail was crucial for the truck’s cargo: some 102,000 spring Chinook smolts, or young salmon, that had been raised in a hatchery. The truck overturned on a twisting road that mirrors Lookingglass Creek — and some 77,000 fish made it from the tanker into the creek’s fresh, inviting water, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

But there is also bad news: 25,529 smolts died, recovered from the tanker and the bank of the creek. And the fish that survived are now living in the wrong waterway.

The fish had been raised at Lookingglass Hatchery to give a population boost to wild salmon in the Imnaha River, around 90 miles to the east.

Read the full article at NPR