Saving Seafood

US fishing groups to sue over chemicals in tires

August 30, 2023 — Two fishing industry groups plan to sue a baker’s dozen of U.S. tire manufacturers over a chemical found in rubber tires, which the groups claim have had “devastating impacts” on salmon and steelhead.

The chemical, 6PPD, is used to prevent tires from degrading too quickly. However, it breaks down into 6PPD-quinone when exposed to ground-level ozone. The new chemical can kill coho salmon within hours of exposure and can lead to urban runoff mortality syndrome, according to environmental nonprofit Earthjustice, which is representing the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR) and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) in the lawsuit.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Environmental law group threatens to sue tire manufacturers over pollutants

August 22, 2023 — On Aug. 15, environmental litigation group, Earthjustice, notified more than a dozen American tire manufacturers of their intent to sue them over violations of the Endangered Species Act if they do nothing to stop their alleged chemical pollution.

In the letter to the tire manufacturers, Earthjustice acknowledges that the suit is being made on behalf of the Institute for Fisheries Resources and Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, because chemicals used in the production of tires has had adverse impacts on coho, steelhead and Chinook salmon species.

Read the full story at Seattle Weekly

West Coast fishermen, other stakeholders grapple with salmon season closure

April 11, 2023 — Salmon anglers and environmental conservationists alike are working to restore the west coast salmon population in light of salmon season being officially cancelled last week.

According to Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) Executive Director Glen Spain, the consequences that led to salmon season being cancelled this year will likely affect the next few season as well.

This is because there is a three-year period of time between when a salmon is born and when it makes it out to the ocean; but over this past three-year period, multiple water policies led to even lower water levels in California rivers, which lower and warmer than usual due to the drought in the state.

This caused many salmon to die in the rivers before they could even begin their journeys to the ocean.

Read the full article at KRCR

CALIFORNIA: As Salmon and Squid Seasons Rebound, New Questions

August 4, 2021 — Over the last few months, hundreds of boats have been fishing off of—or transiting along—Santa Cruz County’s coastline. Industry analysts report plenty of bright spots in both the salmon and squid markets this season. But after some scientific studies were scuttled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, and other research couldn’t be completed due to wildfires, fisheries management is still undergoing its own pandemic comeback, as climate change fears remain ever-present.

“It’s definitely been a good season,” Scotts Valley resident Hans Haveman, the CEO of H&H Fresh Fish at the Santa Cruz Harbor says during a late-June interview. “Unfortunately, regulation from the state and feds have shut us down right when it’s goin’ good.”

SALMON STOCK

Serious drought conditions in California have led to less water moving through the Klamath River Basin, up north near the Oregon-California state line, prompting the state’s largest native tribe, the Yurok, to warn in May that “unless groundwater extraction is moderated, it is a virtual certainty that Chinook and Coho salmon will not be able to reach their spawning grounds due to insufficient flows for migration.” Its fisheries department discovered an “extremely abnormal” number of juvenile salmon dying, with 97% of the small fish infected by a parasite called C. shasta. And when authorities are forced to take action to mitigate such problems, the effects ripple down to Santa Cruz County, Haveman says.

“They don’t want us to catch any of the fish from the Klamath River—like, zero,” he says, explaining how restrictions in other areas increased the number of Chinook, or king, salmon fishermen docked here. “That pretty much makes Monterey Bay the hotspot for the entire fleet.”

The season started with a bang. At one point there were about 45 salmon boats with slips in Santa Cruz, according to harbor staff. Mike Conroy, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, a trade association representing West Coast commercial fishers, said the price was good, too—$12 a pound for king—at the outset.

Read the full story at Good Times

California and US agree to allow big offshore wind farm

May 26, 2021 — California and the U.S. government announced an agreement Tuesday to open up areas off the state’s central and northern coasts to the first commercial wind energy farms on the Pacific Coast.

The pact that would float hundreds of turbines off the coast of Morro Bay and Humboldt Bay was touted as a breakthrough to eventually power 1.6 million homes and help the state and federal government reach ambitious climate change goals through clean energy production.

“California, as we all know, has a world class offshore wind resource, and it can play a major role in helping to accelerate California’s and the nation’s transition to clean energy,” National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy said.

Fishermen, however, are concerned that construction and operation of projects on this scale could disrupt the ecosystem and that they were not consulted on the impact the locations could have on their industry.

“We feel we’ve not been invited to have a seat at the table. We feel we’re on the menu,” said Mike Conroy, executive director of The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

OREGON: Klamath Basin Tribes, stakeholders ask Biden Administration for Drought Disaster Relief

April 27, 2021 — Klamath Basin Tribes, Conservationists and Commercial Fishermen are calling on the Biden Administration for extreme Drought Economic Disaster Relief.

The Klamath Basin straddles the Oregon-California border, and encompasses an area roughly the size of Maryland.

On Friday, April 16, a coalition of three Klamath Basin Tribes joined with conservationists and commercial fisherman groups to write a joint letter to President Biden.

In this joint letter to President Biden, the groups said they urgently called for federal help to blunt the immediate disastrous economic consequences from impacts of the drought for farmers and ranchers as well as commercial and subsistence fishermen and Tribes.

They said the letter requested investment in short-term measures to assist native species, including fish and birds, as well as longer-term infrastructure improvements designed to prevent similar disasters in future low-water years.

Read the full story at KRCR

Fishermen, Tribes brace for another abysmal salmon season

April 19, 2021 — Glen Spain, the Northwest regional director for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, is running out of adjectives to describe how bad things have gotten for the West Coast’s salmon fisheries.

Due in part to years of drought in the Klamath Basin, hundreds of miles of ocean will be completely closed to commercial fishing boats this summer.

The attitude of fishermen, Spain said, is: “Oh God, not again.”

Fishery managers used last year’s jack numbers to estimate how many salmon will be migrating from open ocean to rivers this year.

Spain said poor salmon returns on the Klamath River are largely responsible for stringent rules as far south as Monterey, Calif., and as far north as the Columbia River. That’s because salmon from the Klamath can travel hundreds of miles to the north or south beyond the KMZ. Management decisions are made based on the lowest-performing rivers.

“The weakest stock is the weakest link. The weakest stock puts the cap on how many can be caught,” Spain said. “The Klamath is the weak stock again this year, as it has been for several years. It’s a ripple effect up and down the coast.”

Read the full story at the Herald and News

The pandemic could change U.S. fisheries forever. Will it be for better or for worse?

February 19, 2021 — Not unlike its effect on humans, the pandemic’s impact on the seafood industry has been variable, erratic, often devastating. The first symptoms appeared long before Covid-19 gained a stronghold on U.S. shores, as China went into its first lockdown and a critical export market disappeared overnight—seafood processors and dealers in Maine saw international demand for lobsters temporarily vanish. Then as social distancing rules kicked in here, another major organ of the U.S. supply chain—restaurants, where most seafood purchases are made—fell limp. Then Covid outbreaks at processing plants caused the system to further buckle, leaving many fishermen with nowhere to sell their catch. Prices for many species plummeted. Some fishers gave up for the season, leaving boats tied up at the docks.

“It wasn’t worth it,” recalled Brian Pearce, a commercial fisherman based in Portland, Maine, who catches pollock, hake, and cod, and has barely fished since the pandemic started. “The price was to the point where you’re not going to make enough money.”

To many in the food industry, the pandemic’s impact has exposed the fundamental vulnerabilities of a system that has long favored efficiency over resilience.  Like supply chains that draw products from many sources but are ultimately contingent on single outlets (e.g., export markets or restaurants). Or the fact that the majority of U.S.-caught seafood is exported to other countries, but—paradoxically—most seafood Americans eat is imported.

Read the full story at The Counter

CALIFORNIA: North Bay crab season delayed again

November 27, 2020 — Commercial crab fishing is becoming a turkey of a profession this year, as the season in the zone stretching from Gualala Point south to the Mexico border is delayed again to Dec. 16.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife decided Tuesday to put a hold on the season because the whales have failed to migrate south to their nesting grounds in sufficient numbers. The mammals, which wildlife officials contend risk entanglement with the crab fishing gear, have hung out along the California coast longer than usual.

This is the second time the season has been delayed. It was supposed to start Nov. 15, but those plans were squashed about three weeks ago when the launch moved to Dec. 1.

But the state agency conducted a survey on Nov. 21 and found many whales off shore in the zone from Point Arena south through the San Francisco Bay Area.

“The whales haven’t left the vicinity. If this extends, there’s going to be serious financial consequences to the fleet — and this is on the heels of COVID,” Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations Executive Director Mike Conroy told the Business Journal. He predicted many crab fishermen, who take part in an industry valued at $51 million in California in 2019, would lose their boats and homes.

Read the full story at The North Bay Business Journal

Making Waves: Offshore Wind and Commercial Fishing

November 17, 2020 — Join NF editors Kirk Moore and Jessica Hathaway for a discussion on the future of offshore wind power with panelists Annie Hawkins, executive director of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance in Washington, D.C.; Mike Conroy, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations in San Francisco; and Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association; Montauk, N.Y.

Ask questions for the panel in our Member Forum — details below the video.

We will be talking about the latest developments with proposed wind energy projects off the East Coast — and how soon those proposals will come to the West Coast. Topics include the upcoming federal environmental impact statement on the cumulative impacts of Vineyard Wind and other East Coast projects; the status of wind energy planning off the West Coast; the state of relations and communications between fishermen and the wind industry; and fishermen’s concerns with safety and adequate vessel traffic lanes between turbines.

Bonnie Brady: “It’s really important for fishermen to lock arms and work together before they get run over by these things on their historic fishing grounds.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman