Saving Seafood

Endangered orcas get new protection from US government

August 2, 2021 — Endangered killer whales received new habitat protections from the U.S. government Friday.

The National Marine Fisheries Service finalized rules to expand the Southern Resident orca’s critical habitat from the Canadian border down to Point Sur, California, adding 15,910 square miles (41,207 square kilometers) of foraging areas, river mouths and migratory pathways.

Seattlepi.com reports that the total protected area now encompasses more than 18,000 square miles (46,620 square kilometers).

“These critically endangered orcas are finally getting the federal habitat protections they desperately need,” said Julie Teel Simmonds, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Canada announces big cuts to commercial fishing to protect wild salmon that Washington’s orcas eat

June 30, 2021 — Canada is slashing and closing commercial coastal fishing on more than 100 salmon stocks and permanently downsizing the fleet through voluntary license buybacks in an urgent effort to protect wild salmon from extinction.

Stating Pacific salmon are in long-term decline with many runs on the verge of collapse, Bernadette Jordan, minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, announced Tuesday that bold action is needed now to stabilize and rebuild stocks before it is too late.

Salmon managers on the U.S. side of the border also are taking steps in an effort to respond to dwindling salmon stocks upon which endangered southern resident orcas rely, including increasing funding to certain hatcheries to increase production.

Some of the Canadian reductions announced in a video news conference Tuesday went into effect immediately. The cutbacks are part of a broader $647 million initiative to save wild salmon, including habitat improvements and a reconsideration of Canada’s aquaculture industry in B.C. waters.

The closures and reductions affect commercial salmon fisheries and First Nations communal commercial fisheries.

Read the full story at The Seattle Times

Events, fisheries proposal keep endangered orcas in the spotlight

June 14, 2021 — While endangered Southern Resident orca whales found in the Salish Sea are rarely seen by the average person, the species continues to be in the spotlight.

Several organizations are holding events throughout June to celebrate Orca Action Month, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries is gathering input on several plans that could shape efforts to protect and understand the species.

Regional wildlife photographer Bart Rulon showcased the species with several of his photos during a Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group event held online Thursday.

Rulon and others who spend significant time on the water have seen the orcas interact with their families, their food and other wildlife including harbor porpoises.

He shared photos of one mother-son duo routinely seen together, from the time the son’s dorsal fin was small next to his mother’s, to now, with the full-grown son dwarfing his mother thanks to male orcas’ larger size.

Read the full story at The Columbian

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

Limiting Chinook Fishing in Low-Return Years to Help Killer Whales: What Do You Think?

June 3, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is asking for public input on a Pacific Fishery Management Council recommendation to reduce impacts from fishing off the West Coast. The recommendation would be implemented if salmon numbers fall too low to provide enough prey for the 75 endangered Southern Resident killer whales.

NOAA Fisheries is proposing to adopt the Council’s recommendation, and conducted a consultation under the Endangered Species Act. This consultation ensured that the amended fisheries management plan does not jeopardize the continued existence of threatened or endangered species, or negatively impact designated critical habitat. It incorporated recent research that revealed new details of when and where the whales forage, and their preferred prey.

The Council created a workgroup of representatives from West Coast states, tribes, and NOAA Fisheries to examine the issue. The workgroup completed a risk assessment evaluating the impact of fisheries on West Coast Chinook salmon abundance and, in turn, on the Southern Residents, and developed recommendations.

Late last year the Council adopted the workgroup’s suggestions. They included limiting commercial and recreational fishing in certain places off California, Oregon, and Washington when estimated Chinook salmon numbers north of Cape Falcon, Oregon, fall below a certain level of abundance.

The workgroup recommended that level be set as the average of the seven lowest years of forecast salmon abundance off the northern Oregon and Washington coasts. This average is currently estimated at 966,000. Chinook numbers have remained above that level in recent years; 2007 was the last year when forecasts would have fallen below the threshold.

Read the full release here

8 Things You Might Not Know About Threatened & Endangered Species in the Pacific

May 24, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

It’s Endangered Species Day! This is a time to celebrate the threatened and endangered species in the Pacific Islands region and renew our dedication to protecting and conserving them! With that in mind, we’re bringing you some interesting—and perhaps surprising—facts about our protected species. We’re and sharing how you can help make sure they’re around for future generations to enjoy.

Here’s why we think the threatened and endangered species in the Pacific Islands region are some of the most interesting animals on the planet!

1. False killer whales like to share!

These closely bonded animals not only share their prey with one another, but they’ve also been known to approach human snorkelers and divers with offerings from their fresh catch.

False killer whales are the least abundant species of toothed whale in Hawai‘i. And of the three populations that live here, the main Hawaiian Islands insular population is listed as endangered with fewer than 200 individuals remaining. While encounters are rare, we encourage you to report sightings at the NOAA Marine Wildlife Hotline: (888) 256-9840.

Check out the 2020 field update from our partners at Cascadia Research Collective

2. Male hawksbill sea turtles spend their lives at sea and are rarely observed or tagged.

The hawksbill population of Hawaiʻi may be the most endangered turtle population in the world. There are fewer than 200 known adult female hawksbill sea turtles (honuʻea) in Hawaiʻi, but scientists don’t know how many males are out there. They suspect the number may be small because only around 20 percent of Hawaiʻi hawksbills that strand (are dead or injured) on the beach are male. What’s more, incubation temperature determines a hatchling’s sex: high temperatures produce females, suggesting fewer males will be born as global temperatures increase. Report all honu‘ea sightings to RespectWildlife@noaa.gov.

Learn to distinguish honu‘ea from the more common honu (green sea turtle) by their narrow heads and pointed beaks

Read the full release here

The PNW is a leader on forage fish management — but it needs better data

May 18, 2021 — Endangered species like salmon and orca get lots of attention in Washington. We painstakingly track their numbers, and each new baby, individual death or a population crash has the potential to spur international reactions. But some species they rely on rarely achieve recognition.

These small, silvery creatures — herring, anchovies, euchalon and more — shuttle energy through the food web between primary producers, like microscopic plants and algae, and bigger aquatic predators.

“They’re small fish that most people don’t typically see but that really make the marine food web go round for larger organisms … that pay attention to where those things are and where they’re not,” says Dr. Jen Zamon, a research fishery biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center who works on forage fish. “And if they’re moving around, that’s going to change the distribution of everything else that’s feeding upon them.”

“Pretty much anything in the water that has a mouth big enough to fit a forage fish in it eats forage fish,” says Phil Dionne, a research scientist with the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife who specializes in forage fish.

Read the full story at Crosscut

Feds start review of endangered Southern Resident orcas

April 27, 2021 — NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service says it’s starting a five-year status review of the Southern Resident orcas.

NOAA Fisheries published a notice in the Federal Register about the status review last week, The Skagit Valley Herald reported. The whales were listed as endangered in 2005 under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Since the 1990s, the number of orcas in the three family groups — called J, K and L pods — that make up the population has dropped from the high 90s into the 70s.

The orcas, also called killer whales, live along the West Coast and frequent the Salish Sea.

Since 2005, the orca population has decreased from 88 orcas to a recent low of 72, according to the Center for Whale Research and NOAA Fisheries. As of February, the population was estimated at 75 with some recently identified calves.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

NOAA Fisheries Fact-Checks Orca Bycatch Photo Circulating on Social Media

April 22, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries would like to clear up the disinformation surrounding a photo being circulated on social media of two orca whales taken as bycatch by a trawler in Alaskan waters. NOAA Office of Law Enforcement has confirmed that the photo is from an April 2020 incident. In that case, there were two independent fisheries observers aboard the vessel. The orca takes were reported promptly by the observers and vessel owner/operator to NOAA Fisheries, as required.

We do not have any recent reports of bycatch involving orcas off Alaska.

The United States’ science-based fishery management process is designed to provide optimum yield while preventing overfishing, minimizing bycatch, and protecting habitats where fish live. Section 118 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act allows for the incidental, but not intentional, takes of marine mammals in commercial fisheries. “Take” includes harassment, hunting, capturing, collecting, or killing of marine mammals. However, a marine mammal take is not legal unless it is reported by the vessel owners or operators through the Marine Mammal Authorization Program.

Bycatch of orcas in Alaska fisheries by any gear is very low. While incidental take of any individual marine mammal is concerning, NOAA Fisheries does not consider the low level of interactions between orcas and commercial fisheries in Alaska to have an adverse impact on any orca stock at a population level. No orca stocks in the Alaska region are listed as endangered, threatened, and/or candidate species under the Endangered Species Act.

Through the North Pacific Observer Program, our agency has rigorous methods for tracking catch and bycatch. At least two fisheries observers are required aboard all trawl catcher-processor vessels fishing off Alaska, so every haul is observed.

In addition to information collected by observers, vessel owners or operators must report to NOAA Fisheries all incidental mortalities and injuries of marine mammals that occur during commercial fishing operations. They must be reported within 48 hours of the end of the fishing trip under the law.

Read the full release here

Alaska Files to Defend Salmon Fisheries in Southeast Alaska

March 17, 2021 — The State of Alaska has moved to intervene in a federal case that threatens state management of Alaska’s salmon fisheries.

The Wild Fish Conservancy, a conservation organization based in Washington state, claims that Alaska’s management of fisheries under the Pacific Salmon Treaty threatens the survival of several salmon stocks in Washington and Oregon, and the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales that depend on them.

The lawsuit seeks to shut down all salmon fisheries in the federal waters off the coast of Southeast Alaska.

Read the full story at KINY