Saving Seafood

Microplastics in vast majority of Oregon shellfish, study finds

November 13, 2019 — A Portland State University study found tiny pieces of plastic in the vast majority of razor clams and oysters sampled along the Oregon coast and noted that the primary source of contamination was from fibers used in synthetic textiles.

Those microscopic fibers can be shed by yoga pants, fleeces and other active wear made of synthetic textiles during a wash — up to 700,000 per load of laundry, according to the study, which was reported on Tuesday in The Oregonian/OregonLive. These fibers are in the wastewater from laundry machines that eventually winds up in the ocean, although some of the tiny plastic fibers could also come from derelict fishing gear, the newspaper said.

The shellfish in question were plucked from 15 sites, from Clatsop in the north to Gold Beach near the California border, in both the spring and summer of 2017. Of the roughly 300 shellfish analyzed, all but two contained at least some microplastics, Elise Granek, a PSU professor of environmental science and management, said.

The study was published in the journal Limnology and Oceanography Letters.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at KOMO

Sen. Cantwell Language to Expand Tribal Eligibility, Include Charter Fishermen in Fisheries Disaster Process Passes Committee

November 13, 2019 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA):

Provisions introduced by U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to reform the federal fisheries disaster process passed the committee today. Cantwell’s provisions would expand and protect Tribal eligibility for fisheries disaster assistance and require charter fishermen to be included in economic relief.

“This legislation will help improve the federal fisheries disaster management program that impacted fishermen in coastal communities so that they will get financial relief faster,” Cantwell said. “As we all know, fisheries issues impact lots of different aspects of our community. But certainly the commercial and recreational fishermen deserve to be compensated as well, and with communities on our Pacific Coast that are very dependent on charter activities, I want to make sure, in the case of a disaster, that they too can apply and receive funding.”

In a September hearing, Cantwell highlighted the failures of the current disaster process by discussing the 2016 Coho salmon fishery disaster, which impacted fisheries throughout Washington state.

“The Coho disaster impacted Tribes, commercial fisherman, charter and recreational fisherman… but not all groups received adequate funding from NOAA,” Cantwell said at the September hearing. “In a shift from previous policy, the administration determined that the charter fishermen should not be included in the economic determination. Thus, I believe Washington did not receive adequate funding for this disaster.”

Throughout her time in the Senate, Cantwell has prioritized working on issues that impact the fishing industry. In 2015, she introduced bipartisan legislation to create a national ocean acidification monitoring strategy to prioritize investments in ocean acidification sensors to areas that need it most. In 2018, she worked with colleagues in the House and Senate to secure $200 million in federal funding to help communities with declared fisheries disasters. She has also fought to protect Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed from harmful mining and opposed drilling off the coasts of Washington and Oregon.

Video of Senator Cantwell’s remarks at today’s hearing is available HERE and audio is HERE.

Video of Senator Cantwell’s opening statement at a September Commerce Committee hearing is available HERE, audio is HERE, and a transcript is HERE.

Video of Senator Cantwell’s Q&A with witnesses at the September hearing is available HERE, audio is HERE, and a transcript is HERE.

Feds Propose PNW Habitat Protections For Orcas And Humpback Whales

November 7, 2019 — Federal wildlife regulators are proposing to designate large swaths of the Pacific Ocean off Oregon, Washington and California as critical habitat for endangered humpback whales and orcas.

One of the habitat designations is specifically for Southern Resident Killer Whales, which spend about half the year in the Salish Sea north of Seattle. They feed on salmon. There are fewer than 80 of these orcas remaining.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is also proposing two critical habitat areas for two distinct groups of humpback whales that breed off the coast of Mexico and Central America. The new habitat designation covers the Pacific Northwest feeding grounds of the whales.

If finalized, the designation would provide an extra level of protection that would require any federally permitted project to consider impacts to the whale habitat.

“That’s anything from an Army Corps of Engineers permit for construction in water to a Navy sonar testing or training activity or NOAA doing a federal approval for a fishery,” said Lynne Barre, recovery coordinator for the NOAA Fisheries Southern Resident Killer Whale program.

Read the full story at OPB

Salmon shortage threatens food chain in Pacific NW

October 28, 2019 — What was once an endless supply in the Pacific Northwest is now endangered. Millions of Chinook salmon are not surviving migration. Now, the shortage is causing officials to make some difficult decisions.

As much as air or water, so much life in the Pacific Northwest depends on salmon. Over 130 species rely on nature’s original food delivery but fewer salmon are surviving the heroic swim from the open ocean to spawning streams hundreds of miles inland.

And that means trouble for two creatures that really, really love the king of fish. Killer whales and us.

In your grandparent’s day, the Columbia Basin seemed to produce a never-ending supply and salmon the size of people. But those big “June hog” Chinooks are extinct now and this year numbers were so low, the fall fishing season was canceled.

Columbia Riverkeeper Brett Vandenheuvel said, “The estimates are about 17 million salmon would return to the Columbia every year. It was the greatest salmon fishery in the world. And now it’s about a million fish return.”

And most of those are hatchery fish with weaker genes and less fat than their wild cousins. So the southern resident killer whales that live on Chinook are starving. There are only 73 of this kind of orca left on the planet and after a grieving orca mom pushed her dead calf around Puget Sound for weeks last summer, it rekindled a decades-old debate: salmon vs. dams.

Read the full story at KOBI

Bill Monroe: Oregon seeking expanded sea lion controls following success of steelhead protections at Willamette Falls, Bonneville Dam

October 28, 2019 — Having fended off the threat of extinction of wild winter steelhead over Willamette Falls, Oregon biologists are now joining counterparts in Washington, Idaho and Native American tribes to expand that success.

Tuesday is the deadline set by the National Marine Fisheries Service for comments on a state and tribal proposal to reduce protections for both California and Steller sea lions in the Columbia river and its tributaries.

Changes in federal rules to streamline the control of sea lions have been approved by congress, but the states and tribes must still apply for authorization.

Current permits only allow the capture and killing of specific California sea lions at either Willamette Falls or Bonneville Dam.

The new proposal calls for the lethal take and euthanization of both California and Steller sea lions from anywhere in the Columbia River between the Interstate 205 bridge upriver to McNary Dam and from any lower Columbia tributaries such as the Willamette, Cowlitz and Lewis rivers. While there are no known sea lions upriver from The Dalles Dam (and only rumors of one between there and Bonneville), the area brings key fishing areas into the fold for six Native American tribes.

Read the full story at The Oregonian

Oregon Receives Authorization to Remove California Sea Lions Preying on Imperiled Fish at Willamette Falls

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

California sea lions documented as repeatedly preying on threatened salmon and steelhead near Willamette Falls on the Willamette River can be removed and euthanized, under authorization NOAA Fisheries granted to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) yesterday.

The authorization is one element of ongoing efforts by ODFW, NOAA Fisheries, tribes, and many local and watershed groups to protect and recover threatened upper Willamette River steelhead and upper Willamette River Chinook salmon, which are also affected by a variety of factors, including dams, habitat loss, and other predators.

“This is an action we believe is urgently necessary to protect these highly vulnerable fish populations. It is a choice we wish we did not have to make, but at this point it is a necessary step to improve survival of these fish that we all want to see recover,” said Chris Yates, Assistant Regional Administrator for Protected Resources in NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region. “The science tells us that the sooner we act to reduce predation, the better we will protect the fish and the fewer sea lions that would have to be removed in the long run.”

ODFW applied to NOAA Fisheries in October 2017 for authorization to remove individually identifiable California sea lions that are having a significant negative impact on salmon and steelhead that migrate up the Willamette River past Willamette Falls. Under the provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NOAA Fisheries convened a task force of representatives from federal and state agencies, tribes, and conservation and fishing organizations to review the application.

Read the full release here

Crabbing industry up to challenge of reducing whale entanglements

October 18, 2019 — Oregon’s commercial crabbing industry prides itself on sustainability. Though Dungeness crab has been harvested commercially since the late 1800s, this population is considered to be stable to increasing along the West Coast — thanks to commercial and recreational regulations that protect the breeding population and ensure the state’s official crustacean will be conserved for future generations.

Now, the fishing industry is facing a new environmental challenge — whale entanglements in crabbing gear. Before 2014, such entanglements were rare, numbering about 10 annually off the entire West Coast. Since then, entanglements have become more common, peaking at 55 in 2015 and numbering 46 off the West Coast last year, according to NOAA.

Forensics of each entanglement tell us that about half of them can be attributed to fishing gear, a third to Dungeness crab gear. Most of the crabbing gear entanglements are attributed to California fisheries, but Oregon gear has been confirmed in several entanglements over the past few years. Whales can be disentangled in some cases, and fishermen and other ocean users know to immediately report incidents to a hotline or hail the U.S. Coast Guard to initiate a response from NOAA’s disentanglement team.

Read the full story at The Newport News Times

OREGON: Fishermen first aid and safety training returns to Newport

October 9, 2019 — Commercial fishing is a dangerous and challenging occupation. Everyone wants to be safe, but the risk of injury is always there. Adding to the challenges of being at sea in hazardous conditions is the difficulty in finding first aid training that fits the needs of commercial fishermen. The U.S. Coast Guard requires that one or more crewmembers be first aid and CPR trained, but most first aid courses are “land-based” and assume you have quick access to an ambulance and hospital — not what you experience at sea, in poor weather and rough seas, working long hours on physically demanding tasks.

With this in mind, a team from Oregon State University and Oregon Sea Grant developed Fishermen First Aid and Safety Training (FFAST), designed around the principles of wilderness first aid to better enable fishermen to prevent and treat injuries they are likely to encounter at sea. The course meets U.S. Coast Guard requirements for on-board first aid training and complements a U.S. Coast Guard required training commonly known as the “Drill Conductor Course,” where fishermen learn how to conduct safety drills on a regular basis to prepare the crew for emergencies. The training takes into account the small crews, common injuries, vessel environments, cold water, rough seas and delayed emergency response times typical to Pacific Northwest fisheries.

Read the full story at the Newport News Times

Salmon Methodology Review meeting via Webinar October 22, 2019

September 30, 2019 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Pacific Council) Salmon Technical Team and Scientific and Statistical Salmon Subcommittee will hold a joint methodology review meeting.  This meeting will be held via webinar and is open to the public.

The webinar will be held Tuesday, October 22, 2019 at 9 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, and will end at 4 p.m. or when business for the day has been completed.

Please see the Salmon Methodology Review webinar notice on the Council’s website for participation details.

A public listening station will be provided at the Council office in Portland, Oregon.

For further information:

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

PFMC: Reminder – Groundfish Management Team to hold work session in Portland, OR October 7-11, 2019

September 23, 2019 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Groundfish Management Team (GMT) will hold a week-long work session that is open to the public.   The GMT meeting will be held Monday, October 7, 2019 from 1 p.m. until business for the day is completed.  The GMT meeting will reconvene Tuesday, October 8 through Friday, October 11 from 8:30 a.m. until business for each day has been completed.

Please see the GMT October 7-11, 2019 meeting notice on the Council’s website for full details.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Todd Phillips  at 503-820-2426; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.