Saving Seafood

Chinook lawsuit still looms over Alaska trollers

September 7, 2022 –A lawsuit filed against National Marine Fisheries Service in 2020 reared its head in a Washington district court on Aug. 8, and it could spell changes in fisheries management for Southeast Alaska trollers.

The case stems from a suit brought by the Wild Fish Conservancy that challenges the biological rationale in setting allocations of Pacific Salmon Treaty chinooks that Southeast trollers catch.

The premise of the case is that NMFS, in its biological opinion, did not consider a portion of the commingling stocks as forage fish for a pod of 74 killer whales in Puget Sound, rendering the agency out of compliance with the Endangered Species Act.

Like other legal battles between the fishing industry and environmental groups, this case stems from differing interpretations of the data.

The Wild Fish Conservancy contends that 97 percent of the troll-caught chinooks originate in drainages outside of Alaska. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, meanwhile, estimates those numbers between 30 and 80 percent, and that the percentages vary each year.

Though some feared that a subsequent injunction filed by the conservancy could stop the fishery after the initial case was filed in 2020, that didn’t happen.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Green crabs have already invaded Washington’s shorelines. Now they’re heading to Alaska.

September 7, 2022 — The first signs of the Alaskan invasion were discovered by an intern.

In July, a young woman walking the shoreline of the Metlakatla Indian Community during an internship with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found a shell of a known menace in the U.S. — the European green crab.

Two more were soon discovered. It was a day many had been dreading for years.

“We always knew we were eventually going to see evidence of green crab,” said Dustin Winter, a member of the Metlakatla Indian Community and the program director of its fish and wildlife department. “I didn’t think it was going to happen so quickly.”

Within a month and half, more than 80 live green crabs had been trapped along the Metlakatla shoreline, Winter said, making the community ground zero in the fight against the species in Alaska, though it’s possible other areas of Alaska have been colonized already.

The green crab is a notorious invasive species that has reshaped U.S. ecosystems and hammered East Coast commercial fisheries for decades. The discovery of the species in Alaska represents a profound risk in a state that accounts for about 60% of the nation’s seafood harvest.

They’re also almost impossible to remove. Nowhere in the world have green crabs been eradicated after they’ve established a population, scientists say. The discovery, which experts say is likely tied to warming waters due to climate change, threatens Alaskan economies, ecosystems and longstanding ways of life.

Read the full article at NBC News

Tribal fishery disasters declared in the West; $17.4 million allocated

September 1, 2022 — U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced today her determination and the allocation of $17.4 million to address fishery disasters that occurred in multiple tribal salmon fisheries on the West Coast from 2014 to 2019.

“Sustainable and resilient fisheries play a vital role in helping tribal communities put food on the table and in supporting economic well-being,” said Secretary Raimondo. “It’s our hope that this disaster declaration will help the affected tribes recover from these disasters and increase their ability to combat future challenges.”

The Secretary found that the following fisheries met the requirements for a fishery disaster determination:

  • 2019 Fraser River & Skagit River Salmon Fisheries (the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Tulalip, Upper Skagit Tribes).
  • 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019 Fraser River and Nooksack River Terminal Area Sockeye, Chinook, Chum, Coho, and Pink Salmon Fishery (Lummi Nation).
  • 2019 Puget Sound Fall Chum Salmon Fishery (Squaxin Island Tribe).
  • 2014 and 2019 Fraser River Sockeye and Puget Sound Chum, and Coho Salmon Fishery (Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe).
  • 2019 Klamath River Fall Chinook Salmon Fishery (Yurok Tribe).

The Secretary, working with NOAA Fisheries, evaluates each fishery disaster request based primarily on data submitted by the requesting tribe, state or appointed official. Positive determinations make these fisheries eligible for disaster assistance from NOAA. In order to allocate funding across the eligible disasters, NOAA Fisheries used commercial revenue loss information. The agency also took into consideration traditional uses that cannot be accounted for in commercial revenue loss alone, such as cultural and subsistence uses.

“NOAA has great respect for our tribal fishery co-managers, and their knowledge, science and history are invaluable to our work managing and restoring fisheries,” said Janet Coit, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “With climate change impacts further stressing our fisheries and waterways, it is essential that we work together to take on the challenges in our ecosystems and communities.”

These funds will help improve the long-term economic and environmental sustainability of the impacted fisheries. Funds can be used to assist fisheries participants, including commercial fishermen, charter businesses, shore-side infrastructure providers and subsistence users. Activities that can be considered for funding include fishery-related infrastructure projects, habitat restoration, tribal and fishing permit buybacks, job retraining and more. Some fishery-related businesses impacted by this fishery disaster may also be eligible for assistance from the Small Business Administration. 

In the coming months, NOAA Fisheries will work with the tribes receiving allocations under this announcement on administering these disaster relief funds. Fishing communities and individuals affected by these disasters should work with their tribe and/or the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission as appropriate.

Bycatch Reduction Week marked by NOAA Fisheries

September 1, 2022 — During its 2022 Bycatch Reduction Week, August 22-26, NOAA Fisheries shared details of its efforts and projects to reduce bycatch in U.S. fisheries in recent years – focusing on the development, testing and adoption of gear that aids in decreasing bycatch.

It’s important, the organization notes, “to discuss bycatch reduction efforts through the lens of innovation rather than just more regulations. Preventing bycatch entirely may be impossible, but it can be managed, accounted for and at least mitigated through innovative approaches.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NFWF, NOAA announce $7.7 million in conservation grants to support coastal resilience

August 29, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) today announced $7.7 million in new grants using funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support ongoing natural infrastructure projects in seven states. These grants will support the design and implementation of projects to enhance the resilience of coastal communities and improve habitat for fish and wildlife in Hawai‘i, Maine, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Virginia. The eight grants announced today will leverage more than $3 million in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of $11.1 million.

The grants were awarded through the National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF), a partnership between NFWF, NOAA, Shell, TransRe, and Occidental, with additional funding from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the Bezos Earth Fund, and also using funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. NFWF worked to award an early slate of grants in August, ahead of its standard annual award date, so that communities experiencing increasing impacts from rising seas, more intense storms, and other coastal hazards would have funding to spend towards resilience projects. In 2022, NFWF anticipates investing approximately $140 million in grants through the NCRF once additional awards are announced in November.

“Maintaining and rehabilitating our coasts is critical for the health and economic wellbeing of coastal communities, especially in the face of impacts from climate change like flooding and extreme storms,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “Thanks to funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Biden Administration is making meaningful long-term investments that will strengthen coastal communities and allow them to flourish for generations.”

“As coastal communities face growing threats including coastal flooding and hurricanes, communities need resources immediately to help them reduce threats and increase resilience,” said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF. “The Foundation has worked extremely hard to provide this funding as quickly as possible to help these communities bolster their natural defenses to current and future storms, while also enhancing the coastal habitats that are so vital to both communities and wildlife.”

“Climate-driven floods and storms threaten all coastal communities, and these locally-driven projects are critical for developing effective natural infrastructure,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “By investing in local communities, we invest in our nation’s resilience.”

The projects supported by the eight grants announced today will restore and enhance a diverse range of coastal habitats—including wetlands, dunes and tidal rivers—that are vital to the survival of many fish and wildlife species and provide natural buffers for communities against storms and other coastal hazards. These awards build on previously funded NCRF projects and will support efforts of the grantees to finalize project designs and implement important nature-based coastal resilience projects across the country.

NFWF, in partnership with NOAA and joined initially by Shell and TransRe, launched the NCRF in 2018 to support on-the-ground projects to engage communities and reduce their vulnerability to growing risks from coastal storms, sea-level rise, flooding, erosion and extreme weather through strengthening natural ecosystems that also benefit fish and wildlife.

A list of the 2022 National Coastal Resilience Fund early-slated grants is available here.

ALASKA: To encourage more young fishermen, look to farm programs as models, new study argues

August 23, 2022 — Young Alaskans seeking to break into commercial fishing face a lot of the same barriers that confront young farmers in the Lower 48 states, but they have far fewer resources to help overcome those barriers, according to newly published research.

A study by Alaska experts with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration argues that the fishing industry and the communities that depend on fishing should have support similar to that offered to young farmers.

“The sheer scale, depth, and breadth of programming for beginning farmers makes the comparison to new fisheries entrant programs stark. Yet the lack of a new generation of fishermen poses similar risks to national food security and should be treated with similar urgency,” said the study, published in the Journal of Rural Studies.

The aging of Alaska’s commercial fishing workforce has been a concern for several years. The phenomenon is widespread enough that there is a catchphrase for it: the “graying of the fleet.”

Other coastal states also have problems with an aging fisheries workforce, but the issue is accentuated in Alaska because of the importance of the size and importance of the industry here, said Marysia Szymkowiak of NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center, one of the two authors.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

ALASKA: Steller sea lions most likely victims of human-caused marine mammal deaths in Alaska

August 22, 2022 — Over a five-year period, 867 Alaska sea lions, seals, whales and small cetaceans like dolphins died or were gravely injured from interactions with humans, according to a report newly released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The report, required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, lists documented cases of human-inflicted harm from 2016 to 2020 to mammal species managed by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service.

The vast majority of cases involve entanglements in fishing gear or marine debris, and Steller sea lions made up the vast majority of the animals that fell victim, said the report, which was released by the NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Radio

NOAA says no to rock shrimp trawling at the Oculina Coral Reef

August 17, 2022 — One of the world’s first marine protected areas dating back to 1984, the Ocullina Coral Reef was about to be opened to rock shrimp trawling. But National Marine Fisheries Service has rejected that option over potential damage to the reef ecosystem.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council proposed Amendment 10 to its coral and reefs management plan. It came as a surprise to conservation groups, as it suggested the opening part of the Oculina Coral Reef, a 90-mile strip of reefs off the central east coast of Florida, to fishing activities.

In 1984 the council designated part of the Oculina Bank as protected habitat, prohibiting use of bottom trawls, bottom longlines, dredges, fish traps, and to mitigate the risk of damage by fishing gear to Oculina coral.

In 2000, the council further expanded the protected area, and again in 2014 when it extended the protected area northward – including the area proposed in 2022 for reopening to rock shrimp fishing.

Information on shrimp fishing effort in the area and its economic value to the rock shrimp portion of the shrimp fishery was discussed by the council very late in the development of the 2014 amendment, Coral Amendment 8. Rock shrimp fishermen had then requested adjustment of the area boundary, and provided coordinates of the important fishing grounds in that area.

Read the full article at The National Fisherman

Some ships push back at rules requiring slowdown for whales

August 15, 2022 — Federal regulators who want to enforce new vessel speed rules to help protect rare whales can expect some pushback from ship operators.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the new proposed rules, which are designed to protect the last remaining North Atlantic right whales, last month. The rules would expand seasonal slow zones off the East Coast, and require more vessels to comply with the rules.

The agency’s National Marine Fisheries Service is holding a series of informational meetings on the new rules, including one scheduled for Aug. 16. Some shipping and maritime groups said they have concerns the rules could make their jobs more difficult or less safe.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

Science to Support Sustainable Shellfish and Seaweed Aquaculture Development in Alaska State Waters

August 12, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The Alaska Fisheries Science Center released its new strategic research plan for shellfish and seaweed aquaculture in Alaska. This strategic research plan will be used to guide science center aquaculture-related research over the next 5 years. It will provide needed information for state and federal regulatory agencies and coastal communities in Alaska. It supports NOAA Fisheries efforts to ensure a sustainable seafood supply and economic opportunities for U.S. citizens.

“This science will support the state and NOAA’s efforts to promote shellfish and seaweed production to stimulate job growth and ensure resilient coastal communities. This research will provide an important foundation for sustainable development,” said Bob Foy, Alaska Fisheries Science Center Director. “Marine aquaculture contributes to restoration efforts in Alaska, and is increasing economic opportunities for coastal communities through the farming of shellfish and seaweed.”

As of January 2022, the Alaska aquaculture industry is relatively small-scale, consisting of around 82 permitted farms. Another 24 farms have permits pending. The combined economic value of the industry is around $1.5 million.

At present, commercial aquaculture operations have largely focused on Pacific oysters, kelp, and blue mussel production in state waters. Finfish aquaculture is prohibited. The main regions of aquaculture development in Alaska are Southeast and Southcentral (Prince William Sound, Kenai Peninsula, and Kodiak).

However, NOAA Fisheries is interested in increasing shellfish and seaweed production for the long-term benefit of Alaska’s economy, environment, and communities. The state of Alaska hopes to build a $100 million per year industry to promote job growth and marine resource products in state waters over the next 20 years.

Read the full release here