Saving Seafood

Market Grows for Community Supported Fisheries Bringing Expanded Benefits to Fishermen

May 3, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Fishermen from every coastal state in the nation are expanding markets for their catch through community supported fisheries (CSF), a way to get fresh-caught fish into the hands of discerning customers who also want to know more about how and where the fish were caught, and even who the fisherman was.

The growth of CSFs, modeled largely after community supported agriculture (CSA), has been impressive. The first one began in Port Clyde, ME, in 2007 as an effort to revitalize a small village’s fishing legacy. Port Clyde Fresh Catch sold shares in the early days and subscribers got whatever the small (about a dozen vessels) fleet caught that season.

Today Port Clyde has a retail store, website, and drop-off locations for customers to pick up their fish or purchase without becoming a member.

The largest CSF in the country is Cape Ann Fresh Catch out of Gloucester, with over 700 members. This week, they are featuring “wicked fresh” spring scallops for $20/lb. But if you want something else, go online or to their retail store for smoked fish, fresh fish & shellfish, baked goods, and their own line of prepared foods.

While the structure of the 30-plus individual CSFs in the U.S. may differ — some sell shares or subscriptions, others have evolved to processing plants and storefronts — they all operate with three goals in mind: environmental stewardship, economic stability, and social improvements.

In the case of two Alaska-based CSFs, those goals are also the core mission of the organizations that formed the CSF. The oldest of the two, Alaska’s Own, is part of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association based in Sitka. All profits from Alaskans Own go directly towards supporting fishery conservation research, initiatives to keep fishing access rights local and ensure new entrants to the fishery are able to buy in.

Alaskans Own will deliver fish to their CSF cities of Sitka, Juneau, Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Seattle or will ship anywhere for custom orders.

The Alaska Marine Conservation Coalition, based in Anchorage, formed Catch 49 four years ago and so far are uniquely focused on Alaskans only. Many Alaskans would never have access to Norton Sound red king crab, Kodiak tanner crab or Prince William Sound spot prawns without Catch 49. The CSF delivers to a designated site in Anchorage, Fairbanks or Homer, about two weeks after the ordering period closes.

“Although the program is quite consumer focused, we have had a high level of interest from foodservice operators in Alaska,” Catch 49 spokesman Cassandra Squibb said in an interview with IntraFish earlier this year. All profits go towards AMCC’s fisheries conservation efforts.

The process is usually pretty simple. As the Port Orford Sustainable Seafood CFA says: “You Join. We Catch, Package and Deliver. You Enjoy.”

The reason fishermen in central Oregon created a CSF is a familiar story on both coasts.

The large traditional buyers still operating in the area bought fish from the fleet but shipped it elsewhere. “We set out to pay a fair-trade price to local fishermen for their fish, to process the fish right here in Port Orford and to pay processing employees a fair wage,” the CSF explained on their website.

“We wanted to sell Port Orford fish in Port Orford, and to provide high-quality, sustainable, traceable fish to Oregonians.

“In the beginning, we marketed fish at a handful of retail outlets, several high-end restaurants, and farmers markets. CSF members are closer to the communities that catch and process their local seafood. It encourages sustainable fishing practices, and it strengthens relationships between fishermen and consumers.

“The ocean is a public resource – it’s as much yours as it is mine.  Fishermen are just licensed agents to access seafood for you,” they said.

As with most CSFs, additional information on where the fish was caught, what gear was used, the name of the vessel and information on the skipper and crew is provided. Indeed, knowing each step in the supply chain and offering a much shorter delivery from dock to kitchen, is a key advantage to CSFs.

Another key is the ‘custom’ nature of CSFs — every fish is brought on board with care, the beauty of the environment and the responsibility commercial fishermen feel as stewards of it is described and photographed by people who obviously love what they do. Recipes are offered along with stories of the family.

There are now more than 420 locations across the nation where individual fishermen sell their catch.

Local Catch, a network of CSFs supporting the sustainability concept, offers an interactive map to find CSF delivery locations in Canada and the U.S. Among the hundreds shown is one in Wibaux, so far east in Montana it’s almost North Dakota.

It’s a delivery spot for Cedar Plank Seafoods, a family fishing operation out of Petersburg, AK.

The connection between a CSF delivery station on a ranch in eastern Montana and a third-generation fisherman from Petersburg entails a long-ago grandmother’s visit to Washington’s San Juan Islands, bringing Alaska salmon from her brother back to Wilbaux to serve during the annual cattle branding. Then decades later her granddaughter helps to host pheasant hunters at that ranch, meets hunters who fish in Alaska and who eventually invite her up for a season, where she, a little later, meets the fisherman who will become her husband from Petersburg.

Exactly the kind of story CSF members love to hear.

This story was originally published on Seafood News, it is republished with permission.

 

Senators Feinstein, Harris introduce bill to ban drift nets in California

April 30, 2018 — A bipartisan bill to ban controversial drift net fishing off California’s coast was introduced Thursday by Democratic California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, along with West Virginia Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito.

The nets, which can be more than a mile long, are intended to catch swordfish but end up trapping dolphins, sea lions and a host of other marine life, many of which die.

“The use of drift nets to target swordfish harms too many endangered or protected marine animals and should be phased out,” Feinstein said in an emailed statement. “It’s unacceptable that a single California fishery that uses this type of drift net is killing more dolphins and porpoises than the rest of the West Coast combined.”

Large mesh drift nets are already banned in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, as well as off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii, according to Feinstein. Additionally, the United States is a signatory to international agreements that ban large drift nets in international waters.

Read the full story at the Orange County Register

 

Oregon adopts new rules for crab

April 24, 2018 — Harmful algal blooms complicated commercial Dungeness crab seasons on the Oregon Coast for the past three seasons, threatening the viability of the state’s most valuable fishery.

Now fishery managers and industry representatives hope new rules will allow more flexibility for where and how fishing closures occur when toxin levels spike, as well as improve the state’s ability to track contaminated crab through the seafood market.

Traceability measures were put in place on a temporary basis last December. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission made the rules permanent at a meeting Friday in Astoria. The five commissioners present all voted in favor of adopting the new rules, though Commissioner Bruce Buckmaster of Astoria said he did not want to inadvertently penalize companies who already might have efficient tracking systems in place.

He supported the “intent and efforts” of the rules, though, saying, “It is of benefit to the fishing fleet, it’s a benefit to the processors.”

Representatives from West Coast seafood processing giant Pacific Seafood attended Friday’s meeting and had advocated for the ability to use the company’s existing electronic tracking system. They also did not want to have to track the date of crab landed under an evisceration order — when crab is sold with the guts removed. The company’s representatives said it could be difficult to provide these landing dates given the high volume of seafood the company handles and mixed lots with large date ranges that might be pulled out of storage.

Read the full story at the Daily Astorian

 

Conservationists, West Coast bottom fishermen embrace ‘grand bargain’

April 16, 2018 — People who love fresh Northwest seafood and the sea should take note of what happened recently in a hotel conference room by Portland’s airport.

There, the Pacific Fishery Management Council approved a plan to protect more coral, sponges, reefs and other sensitive animals and formations from the nets of bottom trawlers who work off the West Coast.

The measure also offers something for fishermen: a reopening of some prime fishing areas that had been off-limits. The end result is intended to be greater marine conservation protection and more fresh fish flowing into regional markets.

Much of the plan was hashed out through years of collaboration between commercial fishermen and marine environmental groups involving marathon hours of meetings in port communities to find common ground.

“This was one of the best things that I’ve done: people coming together with different mindsets and trying to … see about this grand bargain that would work for everyone,” said Brad Pettinger, who for decades has owned a fishing boat and serves as executive director of the Oregon Trawl Commission.

Read the full story at the Seattle Times

 

PFMC Opens Areas Formerly Closed to Trawling; Permanently Protects 135,000 Square Miles

April 13, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — This week the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) adopted major changes to the West Coast groundfish fishery after more than 30 meetings with industry members and ENGOs. The Council announced Wednesday that 135,000 square miles of ocean off the West Coast will be permanently protected, while a previously closed area of roughly 3,000 square miles will be reopened to commercial fishing.

“The decision demonstrates the Council’s commitment to protecting important fish habitats including rocky reefs, corals, and sponges,” said Council Chair Phil Anderson. “The decision was informed by sound science and further informed by the fishing industry and environmental community who are to be commended for their important contribution to the Council’s decision. The result provides an increase in habitat protection while providing greater opportunity for our trawl fleet to more efficiently harvest target stocks. The West Coast trawl fishery has been reduced in size and transformed into a sustainable fishery including full accountability that provides that public with high quality fish products.”

Much of the area that has been reopened was closed in 2002 — the Rockfish Conservation Area, a strip of area from the Canada to Mexico borders — to minimize catch of rockfish stocks listed as overfished at the time. While the RCA covered areas of sensitive, high value habitat like underwater cliffs, rock piles and pinnacles where several of the depleted species congregate and reproduce, it also prevented access to vast areas of sandy, soft-bottom seafloor where more plentiful target species like Dover sole and sablefish are found.

Most of those overfished rockfish stocks have since been rebuilt to sustainable population levels, which allowed for the reopening, Environmental Defense Fund said in a press release.

PFMC’s decision was backed by the EDF, as well as the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Nature Conservancy, who worked with fishermen such as Oregon Trawl Commission Director Brad Pettinger and California Shellfish Company’s Special Projects Leader Tom Libby to compile data to identify currently unprotected areas of sensitive habitat and protected areas that could be reopened.

“This was an amazing team effort, with fishermen and environmentalists focused on the goal of opening up closed fishing grounds and carving out the areas that really need protection,” said Ralph Brown, a fisherman from Brookings, Oregon. “I’m looking forward to going back to some of my old favorite fishing grounds.”
The new closure will protect corals off the coast of California while also giving new opportunities for the bottom trawl fleet.

“This is compelling conservation because it recognizes that teamwork between conservationists and fishermen, coupled with strong science, can lead to major changes that make our West Coast groundfish industry more sustainable, resilient and profitable over the long term,” Environmental Defense Fund’s Oceans Program West Coast Director Shems Jud said.

When the fishery adopted catch shares in 2011 discarding of bycatch dropped 80 percent and it became clear it was time to update the RCA, because the new system strongly incentivizes fishermen to avoid overfished species.

“We knew that if we could identify currently unprotected areas of sensitive habitat, including areas inside the RCA, the Council could protect those areas while opening up valuable fishing grounds,” said Jud. “We worked together to combine information from new academic studies, fisheries observer data, and modeling with fishermen’s logbooks, charts and knowledge gained from decades of combined fishing experience.”

This story originally appeared on Seafood News, it is republished with permission.   

 

West Coast Salmon Seasons Set After Week of Tensions, Struggles

April 13, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — This week the Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted ocean salmon season recommendations that provide recreational and commercial opportunities for most of the Pacific coast, and achieve conservation goals for the numerous individual salmon stocks on the West Coast.

“It has been another challenging year for the Council, its advisers, fishery stakeholders and the public as we strive to balance fishing opportunities with the conservation needs we are facing on Chinook and coho salmon stocks, both north and south of Cape Falcon,” Council Executive Director Chuck Tracy said in a press release. “The Council has recommended ocean salmon seasons on the West Coast this year that provide important protections for stocks of concern, including Lower Columbia River natural fall Chinook, Puget Sound Chinook, Washington coastal coho, and Sacramento River fall Chinook.”

Fisheries in Washington and northern Oregon, referred to as “North of Falcon” due to Cape Falcon being located near Nehalem in northern Oregon, depend largely on Columbia River Chinook and coho stocks. Overall, Columbia River fall Chinook forecasts are considered low to moderate compared to the recent 10-year average. Hatchery coho stocks originating from the Columbia River together with natural stocks originating from the Queets River and Grays Harbor are expected to return at low levels resulting in very low harvest quotas, as was the case in 2017.

Washington state and tribal co-managers struggled during the week’s Council meeting to find solutions. Finally, on Tuesday, they agreed to fishing seasons that meets conservation goals for wild fish while providing fishing opportunities on healthy salmon runs.

A variety of unfavorable environmental conditions, including severe flooding in rivers and warm ocean water, have reduced the number of salmon returning to Washington’s rivers in recent years, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife fish program leader Ron Warren said. In addition, the loss of quality rearing and spawning habitat continues to take a toll on salmon populations throughout the region, where some stocks are listed for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, he said.

The overall non-Indian total allowable catch for the area is 55,000 Chinook coastwide, compared to 90,000 last year, and 47,600 marked hatchery coho, the same as last year. Fisheries are designed to provide harvest opportunity on healthy Chinook returns primarily destined for the Columbia River, while avoiding coho stocks of concern.

Non-Indian ocean commercial fisheries north of Cape Falcon include traditional, but reduced, Chinook seasons in the spring (May-June) and summer season (July through mid-September). Non-Indian ocean commercial fisheries in this area will have access to a total of 27,500 Chinook, compared to 45,000 Chinook last year, and a marked coho quota of 5,600, the same as last year.

Tribal ocean fisheries north of Cape Falcon are similar in structure to past years, with quotas that include 40,000 Chinook and 12,500 coho, the same as last year.

“It’s critical that we ensure fisheries are consistent with ongoing efforts to protect and rebuild wild salmon stocks,” Warren said in a press release. “Unfortunately, the loss of salmon habitat continues to outpace these recovery efforts.”

In California and Oregon south of Cape Falcon, will be limited, as expected, due to Klamath River and Sacramento fall Chinook and also to Oregon Coast natural coho — but some opportunities in Oregon are better this year than last.

“While this won’t be a banner year for ocean salmon fishing, overall it’s an improvement from 2017. This is particularly true for communities on the Southern Oregon coast, which were hit hard by 2017’s salmon closures,” Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Deputy Fish Division Administrator Chris Kern said in a press release.

Commercial fisheries from Cape Falcon to Humbug Mt. in Oregon will open on May 4 and will and continue through Aug. 29 with intermittent closures. This area will also be open continuously in September and October, with weekly limits and a depth restriction in October.

Fisheries from Humbug Mt., Oregon, to Humboldt South Jetty, California, will be open intermittently from May through August. Monthly quotas will be in place for the Oregon portion of the Klamath Management Zone from June through August. In 2017, all Oregon commercial salmon trolling was closed south of Florence.

“I want to thank the many advisors, tribal members, agency staff, and members of the general public, who all worked hard to ensure that conservation goals for salmon stocks are met while providing fishing opportunities for communities up and down the West Coast,” Kern said.

In the California portion of the KMZ, monthly Chinook quotas will be in place from May through August. The quotas all feature landing and possession limits, and the Californian portion of this area will be open five days a week.

Between Horse Mountain and Pigeon Point, the Fort Bragg and San Francisco areas, the area will be open for a week in late July, most of August and all of September. From Pigeon Point to the Mexico border, the Chinook season will be open during the first week in May and the last two weeks of June. There will also be a season from Point Reyes to Point San Pedro (a subset of the San Francisco area), consisting of two five-day periods in October.

After the last week of tensions, Council members, state advisers and tribes did leave the meeting with a bit of positive news: a renewed commitment by Indian and non-Indian fishermen to work together for the future of salmon and salmon fishing, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission chair Lorraine Loomis said.

“No fisherman wants to catch the last salmon. We know that the ongoing loss of habitat, a population explosion of hungry seals and sea lions and the needs of endangered southern resident killer whales are the real challenges facing us today. We must work together if we are going to restore salmon to sustainable levels,” she said.

Council chairman Phil Anderson noted fishermen bear the burden of conserving these fish populations while their demise is largely out of the seafood industry’s control.

“This year’s package includes some very restrictive seasons in both commercial and recreational fisheries along the entire coast,” Anderson said. “Low abundances of Chinook and coho are in part due to the poor ocean conditions the adult fish faced as juveniles when they entered the ocean, and poor in-river habitat and water conditions.”

These recommendations will be forwarded to the National Marine Fisheries Service for approval by May 1, 2018.

This story originally appeared on Seafood News, it is republished with permission.   

 

PFMC: West Coast Salmon Season Dates Set

April 11, 2018 — PORTLAND, Ore. — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

This week the Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted ocean salmon season recommendations that provide recreational and commercial opportunities for most of the Pacific coast, and achieve conservation goals for the numerous individual salmon stocks on the West Coast.

The recommendation will be forwarded to the National Marine Fisheries Service for approval by May 1, 2018.

“It has been another challenging year for the Council, its advisors, fishery stakeholders and the public as we strive to balance fishing opportunities with the conservation needs we are facing on Chinook and coho salmon stocks, both north and south of Cape Falcon,” said Council Executive Director Chuck Tracy. “The Council has recommended ocean salmon seasons on the west coast this year that provide important protections for stocks of concern, including Lower Columbia River natural fall Chinook, Puget Sound Chinook, Washington coastal coho, and Sacramento River fall Chinook.”

“This year’s package includes some very restrictive seasons in both commercial and recreational fisheries along the entire coast. Low abundances of Chinook and coho are in part due to the poor ocean conditions the adult fish faced as juveniles when they entered the ocean, and poor in-river habitat and water conditions. Tribal, commercial, and recreational fishers continue to bear a large part of the burden of conservation,” said Council Chair Phil Anderson.

Washington and Northern Oregon (North of Cape Falcon)

Fisheries north of Cape Falcon (near Nehalem in northern Oregon) depend largely on Columbia River Chinook and coho stocks. Overall, Columbia River fall Chinook forecasts are considered low to moderate compared to the recent 10-year average.  Hatchery coho stocks originating from the Columbia River together with natural stocks originating from the Queets River and Grays Harbor are expected to return at low levels resulting in very low harvest quotas as was the case in 2017.

North of Cape Falcon, the overall non-Indian total allowable catch is 55,000 Chinook coastwide (compared to 90,000 last year) and 47,600 marked hatchery coho (the same as last year). Fisheries are designed to provide harvest opportunity on healthy Chinook returns primarily destined for the Columbia River, while avoiding coho stocks of concern.

Commercial Fisheries

Non-Indian ocean commercial fisheries north of Cape Falcon include traditional, but reduced, Chinook seasons in the spring (May-June) and summer season (July through mid-September). Non-Indian ocean commercial fisheries in this area will have access to a total of 27,500 Chinook (compared to 45,000 Chinook last year), and a marked coho quota of 5,600 (the same as last year).

Tribal ocean fisheries north of Cape Falcon are similar in structure to past years, with quotas that include 40,000 Chinook and 12,500 coho (the same as last year).

View the release in its entirety here.

 

Species battle pits protected sea lions against fragile fish

March 23, 2018 — The 700-pound sea lion blinked in the sun, sniffed the sea air and then lazily shifted to the edge of the truck bed and plopped onto the beach below.

Freed from the cage that carried him to the ocean, the massive marine mammal shuffled into the surf, looked left, looked right and then started swimming north as a collective groan went up from wildlife officials who watched from the shore.

After two days spent trapping and relocating the animal designated #U253, he was headed back to where he started — an Oregon river 130 miles (209 kilometers) from the Pacific Ocean that has become an all-you-can-eat fish buffet for hungry sea lions.

“I think he’s saying, ‘Ah, crap! I’ve got to swim all the way back?'” said Bryan Wright, an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife scientist.

It’s a frustrating dance between California sea lions and Oregon wildlife managers that’s become all too familiar in recent months. The state is trying to evict dozens of the federally protected animals from an inland river where they feast on salmon and steelhead that are listed under the Endangered Species Act.

The bizarre survival war has intensified recently as the sea lion population rebounds and fish populations decline in the Pacific Northwest.

The sea lions breed each summer off Southern California and northern Mexico, then the males cruise up the Pacific Coast to forage. Hunted for their thick fur, the mammals’ numbers dropped dramatically but have rebounded from 30,000 in the late 1960s to about 300,000 today due to the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at ABC News

 

Sea lions keep eating the Northwest’s endangered fish

March 22, 2018 — NEWPORT, Ore. — Two species of fish listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act are facing a growing challenge in Oregon from hungry sea lions.

The federally protected California sea lions are traveling into the Columbia River and its tributaries to snack on fragile fish populations.

After a decade killing the hungriest sea lions in one area, wildlife officials now want to do so at Willamette Falls, a waterfall in the Willamette River about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Portland.

The falls represent a new battleground in a bizarre survival war between fish and sea lions in the Pacific Northwest.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New York Post

 

Halibut Catch Limits for Alaska Made Official Today

March 21, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Alaska’s halibut fishermen can be forgiven if they’re confused about catch limits for the season starting this Saturday, March 24.

The final numbers are published today in the Federal Register and they are lower than last year, but — in Alaska — exactly at the levels recommended by the U.S. Commissioners of the International Pacific Halibut Commission last January.

The commercial catch limits, by regulatory area, are as follows.

Area 2C (Southeast Alaska) — the commercial IFQ is 3.57 million pounds, down 15.2% from last year’s commercial quota of 4.21 mlbs.  The charter sector received810,000 lbs. this year, down 12% from last year’s charter allocation of 920,000 in Area 2C.

Area 3A (Gulf of Alaska) — the commercial quota is 7.35 mlbs, down 5% from last year’s commercial quota of 7.74 mlbs. For the 3A charter sector, the quota dropped 5% to 1.79 mlbs. from last year’s 1.89 mlbs.

Area 3B (Kodiak, Western Gulf) — 2.62 mlbs. compared to 3.14 mlbs. last year. A drop of 16.6%.

Area 4A (Bering Sea) — 1.37 mlbs. compared to 1.39 mlbs last year. Down 1.4 %.

Area 4B (Aleutian Islands) — 1.05 mlbs. compared to 1.14 mlbs. last year, a 7.9% decline.

Area 4CDE (Bering Sea) — 1.58 mlbs. compared to 1.7 mbls. last year, a drop of 7.1%.

Total Alaskan commercial quota this year (not including sports charters) of 17,540 mlbs. is a 10% drop from last year’s 19.32 mbls.

The catch limits for Washington, Oregon, and California are not yet finalized. Washington State has asked for a readjustment of the .69 mlbs. recommended by the U.S. Commissioners in January to a higher number. The final catch limit is expected to be published on Monday March 26, but effective on the season opening date of March 24. Regulatory Area 2A, which encompasses waters off those three states, won’t open until later in the year.

The Alaska catch limits reflect the recommendations made by the U.S. Commissioners but those recommendations were not reflected in the initial NMFS Rule of March 9 or in the IPHC’s Rule Book that was mailed out to stakeholders last week.

Earlier versions of the catch limits also referred to catch share plan totals, which included sport catch, and some version reported Total Constant Exploitation Yield, which included wastage, bycatch, and subsistence removals.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.