Saving Seafood

WA: Governor Inslee announces sweeping salmon strategy

December 15, 2021 — Gov. Jay Inslee announced a new strategy regarding salmon Tuesday afternoon on tribal land above the Swinomish Channel.

“On behalf of our tribal communities, we will act,” Inslee said. “On behalf of our recreational fishers, we will act. On behalf of our commercial fisheries, we will act. And on behalf of our grandchildren, we will act this session of the Legislature.”

The governor was joined by dignitaries, tribal members from the Swinomish, Tulalip and Nisqually communities, legislators and representatives from state agencies that work on salmon, water and habitat issues.

Read the full story at the Skagit Valley Herald

 

NOAA Fisheries Joins Orca Action Month with Events Throughout June

June 7, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

This month, NOAA Fisheries is helping orca fans everywhere learn about and help protect endangered Southern Resident killer whales (called orcas) and other killer whales in the Northwest. Join us for a month of interesting webinars, educational opportunities, and outdoor activities.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has again proclaimed June Orca Action Month, which is organized by Orca Network and the members of the Orca Salmon Alliance.

“This is a time to consider what Southern Residents mean to the Northwest, and the whole West Coast,” said Scott Rumsey, Deputy Regional Administrator of NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region. “We are fortunate to live in a place with these wild predators, and we have a responsibility to look out for them. Whether it’s reducing polluted stormwater by planting a rain garden, or saving energy by walking instead of driving, we all can contribute.”

Many events this year will be online, expanding their reach not only across the country but around the world. Whether you live in Puyallup or Paris, you can ask biologists questions about the latest orca science. You can also join in interactive exercises that will provide new insight in how our personal actions can contribute to orca recovery.

An in-person kick-off event on June 6 helps start the activities. They will include socially-distanced volunteer habitat restoration such as restoring stream habitat on Chico Creek in Kitsap County and at Bothell’s largest park, the former Wayne Golf Course. Weekend kayak tours will explore Elliott Bay and the Duwamish River with guest speakers explaining the threats facing Southern Resident orcas.

Read the full release here

Washington Governor Inslee Signs Bill Protecting Marine Waters From Seabed Mining

May 4, 2021 — The marine waters off the coast of Washington face an overwhelming number of threats, including industrialization, pollution, warming waters, ocean acidification, and more. Now it appears that the ecosystem and wildlife there will get a reprieve from at least one potential hazard: Governor Jay Inslee (D) signed bipartisan legislation today prohibiting seabed mining for hard minerals, including precious metals, metal-rich sands, and gemstones, within 3 miles of Washington shores. This farsighted measure, introduced Jan. 12 by Democratic state Senators Kevin Van De Wege and Christine Rolfes, protects commercial and recreational fisheries, marine wildlife, and the communities and Tribal Nations that depend on them from the damage such mineral extraction would inflict. The Pew Charitable Trusts thanks the Washington Legislature and Gov. Inslee for their precautionary approach to the issue.

Seabed mining could harm sensitive habitats, for example from dredges destroying corals and sponges or sediment plumes from mining machines injuring salmon and other species. This could in turn hurt communities that depend on fishing, tourism, and cultural resources.

This is not a theoretical problem. The hard minerals found in Washington’s nearshore waters have attracted interest from mining companies for decades. The state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has issued exploration and mining leases for iron- and titanium-rich black sands in several areas at the mouth of the Columbia River, including one in the 1960s for a project that spurred construction of a concentrating plant. DNR issued a similar seabed mining lease in the 1980s for an operation off the Long Beach Peninsula that also failed to get off the ground.

Read the full story at Pew Charitable Trusts

Washington sends plan to feds to help commercial fishers

December 9, 2020 — The state said Tuesday that it submitted a draft plan to federal officials for how to distribute $50 million in federal COVID-19 relief to members of Washington’s commercial seafood, shellfish and charter industries.

The CARES Act provides $300 million to states to distribute to fisheries participants with Washington and Alaska receiving the highest allocation of $50 million each.

“The pandemic had early and dramatic impacts to shellfish and commercial fishing businesses. These activities play an outsized role in our state, especially in our tribal and natural resources dependent economies,” Gov. Jay Inslee said. “I am pleased that we will soon have more assistance available to help these hurting businesses recover.”

“Submitting this plan for federal review brings us one step closer to getting this funding into the hands of commercial fishing and shellfish industry members who need it most,” said Ron Warren, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) fish policy director. “We applaud Washington’s congressional delegation for securing this relief for members of Washington’s commercial seafood, shellfish and charter industries.”

The draft plan goes to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-Fisheries for review and approval.

Read the full story at The Daily World

NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region Commends Work of Washington State’s Killer Whale Task Force

October 22, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region commends Governor Inslee for convening the Task Force on Southern Resident Killer Whales and the Task Force co-chairs, members, and working groups for crafting a broad package of recovery recommendations for this signature Washington species. As a member of the Task Force and the Federal lead for recovery, NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region appreciated the opportunity to discuss this critical issue through a robust public process and looks forward to pursuing actions together that will support recovery of Southern Resident killer whales and their salmon prey.

The Task Force recommendations supplement and complement NOAA Fisheries’ 2008 Recovery Plan for Southern Residents with thoughtful and effective actions that address the three main threats to the whales: lack of prey, vessel traffic and noise, and contaminants. The Task Force recommendations also draw from and support the long-term recovery programs for Chinook salmon, the primary prey for the whales. NOAA Fisheries has helped lay groundwork for some of the recommendations through research on each of the threats and critical grant programs, such as the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund which supports habitat restoration and Endangered Species Act grants which fund enforcement of vessel regulations by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The Governor’s Task Force has helped focus public attention and energy on Southern Resident recovery when it is so urgently needed. We look forward to continuing this important collaboration with the State, tribes, Task Force, and public to implement these recommendations as soon as possible.

Read the full release here

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

Task force teams up with Canada for orca solutions

June 21, 2019 — The United States and Canada are working together to save the endangered Southern resident orca.

The Southern Resident Killer Whale Task Force met for a second time this year for a review of the successful Legislature season and to discuss the group’s next steps on June 3 in Puyallup. Also, earlier this month, a new orca calf was spotted with J pod, the second baby to be sighted this year.

“A lot of good things have happened,” task force co-chair Stephanie Solien said. “Today is really a day to celebrate.”

There was significant progress made by the Legislature this year, Solien explained, with $933 million in actions passed related to Southern resident recovery.

“This funding is significant and will go a long way to helping in implementing our recommendations. And we thank the Legislature for that,” Solien said.

Solien said there are two more meetings scheduled for the task force, one in September and another in October, after which the group will make more suggestions to Gov. Jay Inslee. Over the summer, workgroups will gather to come up with ideas to present to the group during the September meeting.

Read the full story at The Islands’ Sounder

WASHINGTON: Gov. Jay Inslee’s orca-recovery agenda advancing, but billion-dollar funding yet to be seen

April 22, 2019 — Gov. Jay Inslee’s orca agenda is advancing in the Washington state Legislature, but with the budget yet to be decided how much of the governor’s billion-dollar-bold ambition will be accomplished is yet to be seen.

Budgets passed by the House and Senate so far contain no funding to continue the governor’s task force on orca recovery. There’s no agreement yet on funding the governor’s proposed panel to consider the effects of breaching the Lower Snake River dams. And revenue measures to help pay for everything, from increasing hatchery production to enforcement of habitat protections, have yet to be decided.

There also were policy disappointments for the governor, who got no takers for his request for legislation to put a temporary stop on whale watching of southern resident killer whales; no lawmaker would introduce the bill. A vessel noise-reduction package will take years to implement with rule making yet to be done, and because U.S. Coast Guard regulations include important exemptions, including for commercial shipping that makes most of the noise that can disrupt orcas as they hunt.

Read the full story at the Seattle Times

First Bill to Help Save Orcas Passed in Washington State

April 12, 2019 — The first in a series of bills intended to help prevent the extinction of Southern Resident killer whales is headed to the desk of Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee. The measure, which Inslee requested, would protect habitat for the Chinook salmon the whales eat.

Southern Resident killer whales live in the inland coastal waters near Seattle. Suffering from a lack of their main source of food – threatened Chinook salmon – as well as toxic home waters and a cacophony of ship noise that dampens their ability to hunt and communicate, their population has reached a 30-year low of 74 whales.

Inslee convened a task force in March 2018 to guide state action to prevent the whales’ extinction. The task force issued its first-year recommendations this past November. The following month, Inslee proposed over $1 billion in state funding to implement the recommendations and asked the Legislature to introduce bills where necessary to accomplish task force recommendations.

House Bill 1579 is the first of a suite of such bills to pass the Legislature, clearing the state Senate on Wednesday night and now awaiting Inslee’s signature. The bill encourages the catch of non-native fish that eat young Chinook salmon as they swim toward the ocean and compete for habitat in Washington’s rivers and estuaries, and increases catch limits for bass, channel catfish and walleye. Fishermen will now be required to get a license to catch freshwater smelt, which Chinook eat.

Read the full story at the Courthouse News Service

Groups: US must consider how salmon fishing hurts orcas

December 19, 2018 — The federal government is violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to consider how salmon fishing off the West Coast is affecting endangered killer whales, two conservation groups said Tuesday as they threatened a lawsuit.

The Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity and the Washington state-based Wild Fish Conservancy notified President Donald Trump’s administration they intend to file a lawsuit within 60 days unless officials reevaluate whether the fishing further jeopardizes orcas that frequent the inland waters of the Pacific Northwest.

“We can’t allow business as usual in the salmon fisheries while Southern Resident killer whales are starving to death,” Julie Teel Simmonds, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a news release.

The orcas’ plight has received much attention this year as scientists warn that they’re on the brink of extinction. There are just 74 left, the lowest number since more than 50 were captured for aquarium display in the 1970s, and no calf born in the last three years has survived. One mother whale captured attention around the world this summer when she carried her dead calf on her head for 17 days in an apparent attempt to revive it.

Last week, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced what he called a “herculean” $1.1 billion plan to help the population recover. The Democrat said the money would go toward protecting and restoring habitat for salmon, especially chinook, the orcas’ favored prey; boosting production from salmon hatcheries; storm-water cleanup; and quieting vessel traffic, which can interfere with the whales’ hunting and communication.

But conservationists say more must be done. While a federal judge has ordered the government to consider boosting salmon runs by breaching four dams on the Lower Snake River, that prospect remains highly controversial and Republicans in Congress have vowed to oppose it.

Unlike other populations of orcas, which feed on marine mammals including seals, the southern residents eat salmon — primarily chinook. The conservation groups said Tuesday that one way to help them immediately would be to catch fewer salmon off the coast, where the whales spend their winters.

Read the full story from the Associated Press