Saving Seafood

The COVID-19 Slowdown Will Show Whether Quieter Seas Help Killer Whales

June 30, 2020 — Deborah Giles and her dog are on a mad search for floating poop. Killer whale poop, to be precise.

Giles, a killer whale biologist at the University of Washington’s Center for Conservation Biology, is cruising the Strait of Juan De Fuca, a roughly 15-mile-wide inlet between Canada’s Vancouver Island and Washington state. The coastal waterway is a hotspot for migrating killer whales. Lately, the waters have been calmer and quieter because of boating and border restrictions enacted in the wake of COVID-19. That is why Giles has brought her scat-tracking dog, Eba, who will sniff the air as the boat cruises then start licking her lips, whining, and barking as they get closer to killer whale excrement.

These buoyant, information-rich fecal samples ready for collection. Giles wants to know if the hushed waters are helping whales relax. “It’s just such a novel situation where we just don’t have people going out on their boats,” she says. “It’s markedly different.”

Read the full story at Smithsonian Magazine

Sound Strategy: Hunting with the Southern Residents, Part 1

June 15, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

This is the time of year when boats multiply on the inland waters of Washington as more people get outdoors for the summer. It is also the time when many long for a precious chance to see the endangered Southern Resident killer whales.

Boats generate noise, though, which—combined with the boat traffic itself—is considered one of the main threats to the Southern Residents. It can interfere with the whales’ use of echolocation, a form of sonar they use to find the Chinook salmon they favor as prey. Regardless of how many salmon might be available, noise can make it harder for the whales to find them.

That can be particularly costly for the Southern Residents because salmon do not gather in schools as some fish do. The whales must find each one individually—painstakingly hunting one fish at a time.

Read the full release here

Southern Resident Killer Whale Workgroup to hold online meeting June 30, 2020

June 5, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Pacific Council)  Ad Hoc Southern Resident Killer Whale Workgroup (Workgroup) will meet via webinar, and this meeting will be open to the public.  The  webinar meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 30, 2020, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, or until business for the day has been completed.

Please see the SRKW Workgroup online meeting notice on the Council’s website for participation details.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Robin Ehlke at 503-820-2410; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

Researchers Probe Orca Poop for Microplastics: Part 2

May 21, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

How do microplastics end up in killer whale feces?

“There are two ways that the whales could ingest microplastics,” says Kim Parsons, Research Geneticist with NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center. “They could incidentally swallow particles in sea water while eating fish, or they could ingest salmon that are themselves contaminated with microplastic particles.”

She suspects that most of the microplastics in orca poop are coming from the whales’ prey. The particles are traveling up the food chain from gut to gut, from herring to salmon to orca.

But why does it matter for orcas if their guts are full of microplastic particles and fibers?

How ingestion of microplastics affects marine mammals is both poorly understood and scientifically controversial. So the answer is, we don’t know yet, but scientists are concerned for the health of organisms at all levels of the marine food chain.

You might own a reusable water bottle advertised as being free of toxic chemical additives like bisphenol A, or BPA. Many chemicals found in microplastics are pollutants, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, phthalates, and BPA and its substitutes. Some of these chemicals are known endocrine disruptors, which means that the chemicals can disrupt an animal’s natural hormones. The chemicals may affect reproduction, growth and development, and ultimately population viability. When microplastics are moving through the whales’ digestive tract, the harmful chemicals could leach into their bodies.

Read the full release here

Killer Whale Recovery Begins With Salmon Habitat, and That Begins With You

May 12, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Consider this Northwest twist on a familiar saying: “Give a killer whale a salmon, and it will eat for a day. Restore the habitat the salmon and whales depend on, and they will live for generations to come.” At NOAA Fisheries we are determined to get more Chinook salmon to the endangered Southern Resident killer whales, and that begins with more and better habitat.

It is up to everyone to maintain room for these magnificent creatures as our own footprint on the Puget Sound region grows ever bigger.Focusing on salmon habitat is essential.

Improving Salmon Habitat

Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s Orca Task Force emphasized habitat. It highlighted actions such as removing culverts that block salmon migration, protecting shoreline habitat, and building on other efforts throughout the region. We must work together to restore the streams where salmon spawn and grow, and protect the dwindling nearshore habitat that shelters and nourishes juveniles.

Improving fish passage through dams must continue. It is important to get salmon into their prime habitat.

Through partnerships, we’ve made progress in recent years on these goals. Restored habitat in the Skagit River estuary, funded in part by the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, now supports hundreds of thousands more Chinook salmon smolts. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is constructing fish passage at Mud Mountain Dam, renewing access to miles of habitat in the White River. The Nisqually Tribe led one of Puget Sound’s most ambitious tidal marsh restoration efforts in the Nisqually River Delta—just to name a few.

Read the full release here

PFMC: Southern Resident Killer Whale Workgroup to hold online meeting June 1, 2020

May 6, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Pacific Council)  Ad Hoc Southern Resident Killer Whale Workgroup (Workgroup) will meet via webinar, and this meeting will be open to the public.  The  webinar meeting will be held on Monday, June 1, 2020, from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, or until business for the day has been completed.

Please see the SRKW Workgroup online meeting notice on the Council’s website for participation details.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Robin Ehlke at 503-820-2410; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

Washington lawsuit targets Alaska trollers

April 29, 2020 — Nearly 1,600 trollers who fish for king salmon in Southeast Alaska could be beached this summer over a lawsuit to protect killer whales — in Washington’s Puget Sound.

On April 16 the Wild Fish Conservancy filed an injunction against NMFS to block the summer king salmon season set to open July 1 until the lawsuit is resolved.

KCAW in Sitka reported the Conservancy claims NOAA has failed to allow enough king salmon to return to Puget Sound to feed endangered resident killer whales. Their lawsuit says that 97 percent of the kings caught in Southeast’s troll fishery are from British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. Alaska data show catches range from 30 to 80 percent, depending on the year.

Amy Daugherty, director of the Alaska Trollers Association, said her group is in shock and has intervened in the lawsuit.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Feds Looking at Protections for Spring-Run Chinook Salmon in Oregon

April 13, 2020 — A petition seeking to extend federal wildlife protections to spring-run Chinook salmon found along Oregon’s coast has merit and could warrant listing the fish under the Endangered Species Act, the Trump administration said Friday.

The spring-run salmon are the main food source for the Southern Resident killer whales, an endangered population of orca living in the Pacific Northwest.

Chinook salmon populations are also found in Washington state, Idaho and California.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) decision came after a 90-day review process and means the Chinook salmon could be listed as threatened or endangered pending an additional one-year in-depth analysis.

After the year-long study, the agency could determine that the salmon — scientific name Oncorhynchus tshawytscha — could be listed as a threatened or endangered Evolutionarily Significant Unit, or ESU, under federal law.

The process will allow scientists, commercial fishing representatives, wildlife advocates and others to submit additional information on impacts stemming from protecting the salmon population and its habitat under the Endangered Species Act.

Read the full story at the Courthouse News Service

West Coast Salmon Fishing and Southern Residents: Part 1

April 3, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Southern Resident killer whales have long pursued the biggest and most nourishing Chinook salmon from coastal Pacific waters. Chinook salmon fishing is also a mainstay of the West Coast economy, generating nearly $72 million in income last year.

Is there room for both?

The answer is yes, with safeguards. NOAA Fisheries prioritizes the needs of Southern Residents in setting salmon fishing seasons, as the Endangered Species Act requires. We also recognize the importance of salmon fisheries to port communities up and down the West Coast, as outlined by laws including the Magnuson Stevens Act.

We are working with states, tribes, and the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council). We are examining in detail how West Coast fisheries affect prey for the Southern Residents. So far, the analysis has indicated that Council fisheries have been taking a small proportion of the available Chinook salmon each year.

Read the full release here

PFMC: Ad Hoc Southern Resident Killer Whale Workgroup to hold webinar April 28, 2020

March 20, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Pacific Council)  Ad Hoc Southern Resident Killer Whale Workgroup (Workgroup) will meet via webinar, and this meeting will be open to the public.  The  webinar meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 28, 2020, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, or until business for the day has been completed.

Please see the SRKW Workgroup Webinar Notice on the Council’s website for participation details.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Ms. Robin Ehlke  at 503-820-2410; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.