Saving Seafood

‘Desperately needed’: Congress OKs more than $29 million in disaster relief for California fisheries

May 1, 2019 — It’s taken four years but fishermen along California’s North Coast who have seen crab and salmon seasons truncated and even closed altogether will finally see some relief after $29.65 million in federal disaster relief funding was approved by Congress.

It was in the 2015-16 year the Dungeness crab fishery and the Yurok Chinook salmon fishery both collapsed due to poor water quality. Despite $200 million in relief funding made available in 2018, the release of the money was delayed by the U.S. Department of Commerce and it took a letter from U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman and Rep. Jackie Speier to get the ball rolling again last year.

“We’ve been waiting almost two years since these funds were made available by appropriations from Congress,” said Noah Oppenheim, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Association on Monday. “These funds have been desperately needed for a long time and the crab fishermen are already experiencing another severe hardship with whale entanglements and the funds are needed more now than they were before.”

Oppenheim said local crab fishermen will see anywhere from $22,000 to $45,000 depending on the size of their operation and it’s not as if someone has hit the lottery, this is money that will be used on the basics and the bare necessities.

Read the full story at the Santa Cruz Sentinel 

Experts Say Seafood Production is Declining in North Carolina

April 25, 2019 — It’s not hard to find seafood here in the Cape Fear, but where does our local seafood industry stand in terms of sustainability?

“We have a lot of new growers,” Seaview Crab Company Co-owner Sam Romano said. “It’s an exciting time to grow oysters in North Carolina.”

As the demand goes up, supply tends to go down. Entrepreneurs like Romano are trying to change that with the help of Fish 2.0.

“Our seafood production in North Carolina has actually been going down for a variety of reasons,” Romano said. “But shellfish is something that’s new and up and coming.”

Entrepreneurs came out to a two-day workshop hosted by UNCW and Fish 2.0. At the workshop they pitched business proposals and new technology for the fishing industry.

Read the full story at WWAY 3

ASMFC 2019 Spring Meeting Supplemental Materials Now Available

April 24, 2019 — The following was published by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Supplemental materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Spring Meeting are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2019-spring-meeting for the following Boards/Committees (click on “Supplemental” following each relevant committee header to access the information). For ease of access, supplemental meeting materials have been combined into one PDF – http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/2019SpringMeeting/2019SpringMtgMaterialsSupplemental.pdf.

American Lobster Management Board – Progress Report on Draft American Lobster Addendum XXVIII
 
Atlantic Herring Management Board – Advisory Panel Review of Draft Addendum II; Overview of 1A Management Tools
 
Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board – Technical Committee Report on Percent Reduction in Harvest to Achieve Fishing Mortality Threshold and Target in 2020, and Example Recreational Options to Achieve Those Reductions;  Correspondence Regarding Striped Bass Management; Public Comment
 
Law Enforcement Committee – MAFMC Letter on Law Enforcement/For-hire Workshop
 
Executive Committee – Revised Agenda & Draft Work Group Meeting SOPPS
 
Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board – Plan Development Team Report on Black Sea Bass Commercial Management
 
Business Session – Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment Summary
 
Horseshoe Crab Management Board – Technical Committee and Stock Assessment Subcommittee Task List; Public Comment; James Cooper Tribute to Board
 
Interstate Fisheries Management Program Policy Board – Revised Draft Agenda and Meeting Overview
 
South Atlantic State/Federal Fisheries Management Board – Committee Task List; MD DNR Memo: State-Gathered Public Input on Potential Management Measures for Atlantic Croaker and Spot
 
As a reminder, Board meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning April 29th at 1 p.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 12:15 p.m.) on Thursday, May 2nd. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. No comments or questions will be accepted via the webinar. Should technical difficulties arise while streaming the broadcast the boards/sections will continue their deliberations without interruption. We will attempt to resume the broadcast as soon as possible. Please go to – https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1041506190356646145 – to register.

Explaining California’s sudden humpback entanglement surge

April 22, 2019 — Every year, humpback whales make their annual trek from tropical calving grounds to feed in the cold, nutrient-rich waters off the coast of California. Historically, they arrived to feast in June just as the Dungeness crab fishery was closing and gear was being pulled in for the season. But in 2012, they arrived a few weeks earlier than normal. In 2014, they were a month early. By 2015, the humpbacks arrived in April, a full two months earlier than the norm.

That shift has been dangerous for the whales. In March, it was the subject of a lawsuit settlement that prompted an early end to the Dungeness crab season. Some of our own research has determined the cause: climate change.

Humpback sightings from the Golden Gate Bridge are a hallmark of summer in San Francisco. The whales come to feed where the narrow straits of the Bay meet the ocean. Marine life abounds here, where nutrient-dense water feeds blooms of phytoplankton. They are then eaten by zooplankton, including krill, tiny reddish shrimp-like crustaceans which are a favored food for whales. Seasonal blooms of these tiny animals support the ecosystem bottom-up, producing a massive marine buffet for fish, birds and other marine mammals. Predators gorge themselves in the summer and fall when this area supports the most amount of food.

Where there are high concentrations of fish, there are people catching them, and the whales’ earlier arrival has driven more interactions with West Coast fisheries. Since 2014, the number of whales entangled in Dungeness crab pots has escalated dramatically, with 129 cases reported between 2015 and 2017, compared to around 10 each year in previous decades.

Read the full story at the San Francisco Examiner 

ALASKA: Fisheries management a bright spot for state despite budget roller coaster

April 22, 2019 — Times are tight for state budgets these days. It’s easy to forget the crucial role government agencies play in sustaining our economy. Fisheries are a prime example. Most Alaskans don’t know that Alaska is world-famous for its management of fisheries through a system based on science.

Even those of us familiar with highly political “fish wars” over allocations of salmon between sport and commercial fishers sometimes forget that.

To be able to fight over fish we need healthy fisheries, however. Thanks to the commitment of Alaskans over the years to science-based fisheries management — in fact, since we became a state in 1959 — we’ve been blessed with a huge natural resource that employs thousands and feeds millions.

The sustainability of that depends on science-based management. For that, Alaskans can give themselves a pat on the back.

Interestingly, Alaska was the first place where the scientific principles of sustained-yield fisheries management were put in place on a broad scale, first with salmon and now with all the fisheries we manage in both state and federal waters, including cod, crab, herring and pollock.

Before Alaska became a state, our salmon fisheries were overfished and depleted. There had been decades of mismanagement by the federal government.

Read the full story at Anchorage Daily News

Many California Crabbers Switching to Chinook Trolling as Salmon Seasons Are Set

April 18, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — From San Francisco to Crescent City, Calif., crab pots were being loaded onto trailers and stacked in port lots for storage as Dungeness crabbers were forced to stop fishing Monday.

But there may be a little light at the end of the tunnel: Many crabbers also fish for salmon, and California salmon trollers will have more than 25 percent additional opportunity this year.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council announced the final West Coast salmon seasons Monday at its meeting in Rohnert Part, Calif.

“Although some salmon stocks are returning in stronger numbers than last year, balancing fishing opportunities with conservation is always a challenge for the Council, its advisors, fishery stakeholders and the public,” Council Executive Director Chuck Tracy said in a press release. “The seasons this year continue to protect stocks of concern, including Puget Sound Chinook, Washington natural coho, and Sacramento River fall Chinook.”

In addition to recommending salmon regulations for 2019, the Council developed a plan to work collaboratively with NMFS on southern resident killer whales, which are listed under the Endangered Species Act. Conservation groups have sued to force NMFS to take action to provide more salmon to orcas.

“This year’s package was adopted after careful consideration and analysis in order to meet our conservation objectives, consider impacts on the prey base important to southern resident killer whales, and consider in-river and Puget Sound fisheries,” Council Chair Phil Anderson said in the statement. “The Council also established a workgroup that will be working closely with the National Marine Fisheries Service to assess on a longer term basis the ocean salmon fisheries’ effect to the prey base of southern resident killer whales.”

However, for now, many California crabbers will be taking the crab blocks off their vessels and putting on their salmon gear. This year’s seasons open in some areas in May.

“It’s the best season we’ve seen in a while, though it’s still not wide-open fishing,” Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations Executive Director Noah Oppenheim was quoted as saying in the San Francisco Chronicle. “It’s important there are opportunities spread throughout the coast. They’re going to need to operate in this fishery after having lost crab fishing time in the spring.”

Between Horse Mountain and Point Arena (Fort Bragg), Calif., the area will be open June 4-30, July 11-31, and August 1-28. From Point Arena to Pigeon Point (San Francisco), the area will be open May 16-31, June 4-30, July 11-31, August 1-28, and September 1-30. From Pigeon Point to the Mexico border (Monterey), the area will be open all of May, June 4-30, and July 11-31. There will also be a season from Point Reyes to Point San Pedro, a subset of the San Francisco area, on October 1-4, 7-11, and 14-15.

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

CALIFORNIA: Fishermen Reeling After Lawsuit Brings Early Closure to Crab Season

April 11, 2019 — Bay Area crab fishermen were racing to haul in their crab traps following the settlement of a lawsuit that is shutting down the commercial dungeness crab season nearly two months early.

Crab season, which opens in November and normally runs until the end of June, is shutting down April 15th as part of a settlement aimed at reducing the number of whale entanglements in crab gear. The settlement follows a lawsuit filed by the environmental group Center For Biological Diversity targeting the State of California over an increase in entanglements.

“We’ve always believed there were common sense solutions to this problem,” said Steve Jones, spokesman for CBD, “and we feel by working with the state and the crabbers we’ve found one in this case.”

Fishermen said they were blind-sided by the settlement, getting notice of the early shutdown only two weeks before the deadline. Earlier this week in the fishing hamlet of Bodega Bay on the Sonoma Coast, boats filled with crab traps pulled in to the docks to unload their traps.

Read the full story at NBC Los Angeles

US proposes tariffs on European Union goods, seafood products considered

April 9, 2019 — The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday, 8 April, it will consider adding new tariffs on products from the European Union, and seafood imports are on the list for potential duties.

The action stems from a World Trade Organization ruling that stated E.U. illegally subsidized airplane-maker Airbus, creating an unfair trade advantage. As a result of that ruling, the U.S. is contemplating tariffs on USD 11 billion (EUR 9.76 billion) in goods from the 28 member nations in the union.

“The E.U. has taken advantage of the U.S. on trade for many years,” President Trump tweeted on Tuesday morning. “It will soon stop!”

The announcement from Office of the U.S. Trade Representative gives a list of nine products from four E.U. members. The products include helicopters, aircraft, fuselages, and associated parts originating from France, Germany, Spain, and Great Britain.

However, a second list of products the Trade Representative is considering includes products from all member nations. The products include salmon fillets, swordfish steaks, crabmeat, clams, scallops, and other seafood items.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US lawmakers hail added H-2B visas but want Congress to make reforms

April 9, 2019 — The U.S. seafood industry and others that rely on temporary labor received good news at the end of last month when President Donald Trump’s administration announced it would allocate an extra 30,000 visas under the H-2B worker program.

It’s a marked change from the last couple years, when the administration released only 15,000 visas, which companies can use to hire foreign workers for non-agricultural jobs. This year’s announcement by the Department of Homeland Security also comes two full months ahead of last year’s. That will give seafood processors and other companies more time to apply and bring workers in for the seasonal jobs.

The decision means 63,000 visas will be available for companies through the end of the fiscal year, which ends in September. However, the 30,000 additional visas will only be available to workers who received one during one of the last three fiscal years.

Maryland officials applauded the news. The state’s crab industry has been hard hit by the lack of visas, with some businesses having to close because they could not get visas they needed to secure workers. In addition to seafood processors, hotels, landscapers, and the horse-racing trainers are among the businesses that seek these waivers to hire staff for their seasonal needs.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Jonah Crab Moves Mainstream In Gulf Of Maine After Decades As Lobster Bycatch

April 2, 2019 — Regulators are taking comments on plans to expand a lucrative new crab fishery that’s stirring interest in the Gulf of Maine.

Jonah crabs are a native species that, until recently, was mainly caught as bycatch – by accident – in lobster pots.

Now, as warming waters push the lobster fishery north, more fishermen – especially in southern New England – are targeting Jonah crabs on purpose to supplement their income.

New Hampshire Fish and Game biologist Josh Carloni says in Northern New England and the Gulf of Maine, lobster is still king – but that could change.

Read the full story at New Hampshire Public Radio