Saving Seafood

Fisheries disaster money after ‘Blob’ just now being disbursed as new marine heatwave looms

September 30, 2019 — The marine heatwave known as “The Blob” wreaked havoc on Northwest fisheries during 2015 and 2016, Ron Warren, fish policy director for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, told a Senate committee Wednesday.

And before the federal government could even provide disaster relief for that event, another marine heatwave loomed, he said.

The Blob stoked marine temperatures nearly 7 degrees higher than normal, according to his testimony. Fewer coho salmon returned. Those that did return were smaller. Fisheries had to be closed.

Gov. Jay Inslee and representatives of several tribal governments in 2016 requested millions of dollars in federal fishing disaster funds to help offset the losses to fishing communities.

Now, more than three years later, the fishing disaster money has only just arrived from the feds, Warren told senators. The money, including some for tribes and about $1.5 million for nontreaty fishing communities in Washington state, is in the process of being distributed.

Read the full story at The Seattle Times

Fish are in trouble with the climate crisis, IPCC report finds

September 27, 2019 — Since the 1970s, the climate crisis has made our oceans warmer and more acidic, reducing the number of fish we rely on for our food and putting the future of fish in peril, according to a major UN report out Wednesday.

Rising temperatures mean oceans will have less oxygen, and this, along with more heatwaves and increased acidification, will make fish move further away from the coast and create larger deadzones, where life cannot survive.

Ultimately, the report said, this will lead to the extinction of some species of fish, which Americans have been eating an increasing amount of recent years.

The US dietary guidelines recommend 8-12 ounces of seafood a week to keep a healthy diet. Fish plays an even bigger role internationally, providing up to half of all animal protein eaten in developing countries and it remains a leading source of vitamins and minerals.

Read the full story at CNN

‘Staggering’ new report on climate change is bad news for fisheries

September 26, 2019 — A new report has warned the rate and magnitude of changes to the ocean, glaciers, and ice sheets due to climate change are happening much faster than previously predicted.

In response to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on “the ocean and cryosphere in a changing climate”, Andrew Norton, director of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) said:

“This report’s findings are staggering. The rate and magnitude of change to the ocean, glaciers and ice sheets are happening much faster than previously predicted. The climate emergency must be met with equally accelerated action.”

The science clearly shows the effects on the ocean will disproportionately hit tropical areas, which are home to the highest concentration of people living in poverty, he said. Their lives and livelihoods ― particularly small-scale fishers ― are at risk from rising sea levels, ocean warming, acidification and plummeting catches of fish.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Landmark climate report paints dim picture of ocean health

September 26, 2019 — Rising sea levels threaten New York and other major cites, the world’s glaciers are melting at alarming rates and global fisheries are shrinking. These are just some of the impacts that emissions of greenhouse gases have already triggered across the planet, according to a new landmark report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

More than 100 authors from 36 countries assessed the latest scientific literature related to the ocean and cryosphere in a changing climate for the report, referencing about 7,000 scientific publications for the report titled — “Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.” It is the last of three special reports from the IPCC following on climate change.

“The open sea, the Arctic, the Antarctic and the high mountains may seem far away to many people,” said Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC. “But we depend on them and are influenced by them directly and indirectly in many ways – for weather and climate, for food and water, for energy, trade, transport, recreation and tourism, for health and wellbeing, for culture and identity.”

Read the full story at IntraFish

Senator Cantwell Pushes for Changes to Fisheries Disaster Process, Highlights Failures to Support Southwest Washington Fishermen

September 25, 2019 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA):

At a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing today on fisheries disasters, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the Ranking Member of the committee, highlighted the importance of responding to fisheries disasters and pushed for reforms to the process.

“In Washington, fisheries are a cornerstone of our maritime economy. Its related businesses and seafood processors, ship builders, gear manufacturers, support 60% of our maritime economy, which is about 146,000 jobs and $30 billion in economic activity,” Cantwell said. “Washington has experienced 17 fishery disasters since 1992, including crab, groundfish, and salmon. Unfortunately, the fisheries disaster process has become more burdensome, and has resulted in less funding and lengthy delays, putting an unnecessary burden on fishermen and fishing communities.”

In particular, Cantwell discussed the 2016 Coho salmon fishery disaster, which impacted fisheries across the state.

“The Coho disaster impacted Tribes, commercial fisherman, charter and recreational fisherman… but not all groups received adequate funding from NOAA,” Cantwell said. “In a shift from previous policy, the administration determined that the charter fishermen should not be included in the economic determination. Thus, I believe Washington did not receive adequate funding for this disaster.”

Ron Warren, the Director of Fish Policy at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, testified at the hearing about the impact of that inadequate funding for Washington state’s economy.

“If you add the charters from the coast and charters from Puget Sound, as well as the troll fishery and other fisheries that had been included, you’d be looking at about $100 million to the state of Washington,” Warren said.

The decision to exclude charter fishermen from disaster funding has impacted communities throughout the state, but it has been particularly devastating in fishing-dependent communities in Southwest Washington, like Westport and Ilwaco.

Butch Smith, President of the Ilwaco Charter Association, said: “The charter fishing industry brings in millions of dollars for Washington’s coastal economy. Nobody knows why charter fishing income was dropped from the 2016 disaster declaration, but in Westport, WA, alone, five charter boats have already left Westport and the Washington coast. People have lost houses and businesses as a result of the disaster. I’m glad Senator Cantwell is working on this issue, and I will work with her to make sure our charter fishermen get the support they need when disasters are declared.”

“I am concerned that the charter fisherman have not been treated fairly, and that’s why I plan to work with you, Mr. Chairman, on bipartisan measures that help ensure that small business charter fishermen are mandated into the Disaster Relief Recovery Act so they do receive adequate funding,” Cantwell said to Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) at the hearing.

Throughout her time in the Senate, Cantwell has prioritized working on issues that impact the fishing industry. In 2015, she introduced bipartisan legislation to create a national ocean acidification monitoring strategy to prioritize investments in ocean acidification sensors to areas that need it most. In 2018, she worked with colleagues in the House and Senate to secure $200 million in federal funding to help communities with declared fisheries disasters. She has also fought to protect Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed from harmful mining and opposed drilling off the coasts of Washington and Oregon.

Video of Senator Cantwell’s opening statement at the hearing is available HERE, audio is HERE, and a transcript is HERE.

Video of Senator Cantwell’s Q&A with witnesses is available HERE, audio is HERE, and a transcript is HERE.

MSC urges countries to adapt to climate change as it suspends North Sea cod certification

September 24, 2019 — The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has announced the suspension of the North Sea cod fishery certification due to stocks of the fishery dropping below safe biological levels.

The suspension comes after the latest scientific advice revealed that the stock – once thought in good health – appears to be in decline despite industry initiatives, such as avoiding catching juvenile fish that are critical to the reproduction cycle. The root cause of the decline is unclear, but scientists suggest that climate change could be an overarching cause.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

The oceans are taking a beating under climate change, U.N. report warns

September 25, 2019 — The planet is in hot water — literally — and that will have dire consequences for humanity, warns a new United Nations report on the state of the world’s oceans and ice.

Over the next century, climate change will make the oceans warmer and more acidic. Melting ice sheets will drive up sea levels at an accelerating pace. Marine heat waves will become 20 to 50 times more frequent, harming sensitive ecosystems. And the total biomass of animals in the sea could drop by as much as 15%, according to the sobering assessment by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

“The oceans and ice are in trouble, so we’re all in trouble,” said Michael Oppenheimer, a climate scientist at Princeton and a lead author of the report.

But while some damage is inevitable at this point, the report makes clear that society’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades will determine how bad things ultimately get.

Read the full story at the Los Angeles Times

Marine heat wave dubbed ‘Blob’ resurges in Pacific; mass deaths of sea life feared

September 23, 2019 — Across vast stretches of the Pacific Ocean extending from Hawaii north to the shores of Alaska, and southeast to near California, a new marine heat wave is underway.

This event is widely referred to as ‘‘The Blob Part Two,’’ or just another ‘‘Blob.’’ The first event, which took place from 2014 through 2016, earned that odd moniker based on its bold red appearance on maps of ocean surface temperatures.

The new incarnation already has caused coral bleaching in the Hawaiian islands and may be tied to strandings of marine mammals along the California coast. If it intensifies and seeps into deeper waters, this marine heat wave could favor another drought in California by altering the jet stream flowing across the Pacific.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Maine Fishermen Prepare For Losses And Gains In A Climate-Changed Ocean

September 23, 2019 — In 30 years, the Gulf of Maine will have been transformed by climate change. Its waters will inexorably grow warmer, and the species that flourish there will be those that can adapt. The same might be said for the Mainers who make their living from the sea. The future of the state’s marine economy may well belong to those who can adapt.

A little over a year ago, reporter Fred Bever visited a small estuary on the far side of Chebeague Island, where lobsterman Jeff Putnam was working on a little side-business.

“These are oysters that I started just this year,” Putnam said at the time.

Putnam established the Sandy Point oyster farm to add a new revenue stream to his business, and, he says, provide future options for his children.

“Hopefully the lobster resource will still be strong when they grow up, and that will be there and that will be an option but there’s certainly no guarantee that’s the case,” he said. “So I wanted to show them there is another way to make a living.”

With the state’s lobster harvest now appearing to fall off from recent record levels, Bever called Jeff this week to see how the oysters are coming along.

Read the full story at Maine Public

All the pressing questions on fish migration

September 19, 2019 — It’s not 20 questions—it’s even more: Now researchers have identified 100 pressing questions on fish migration.

An international team of researchers, lead by Robert Lennox at NORCE (Norwegian Research Centre), have developed the list of questions, published in a paper by the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.

Fish migration is of high ecological importance, and many  depend on predictable migrations of fish for their subsistence and livelihoods.

At the same time, fish  is under significant threat, Lennox and his co-authors point out.

To ensure a , researchers therefore need to identify the pressing questions, and answer them in the years to come.

Read the full story at PHYS.org