Saving Seafood

News for the Pacific Region

U.S. House committee hears testimony on importance of fishing rights to Am Samoa

September 21, 2023 — Uifa’atali Amata took part in a hearing Tuesday in the House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations that examined U.S. waters and the marine sanctuary and monument. The hearing was titled, “Examining Barriers to Access in Federal Waters: A Closer Look at the Marine Sanctuary and Monument System.”

Congresswoman Amata gave remarks and used a visual display of the Pacific waters to defend the need for fishing rights, before asking key questions of the expert witnesses, emphasizing the fact that 51 percent of the two million square mile U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has been designated via presidential proclamation.

“I want to show just how much the Biden Administration is taking from Samoans and other indigenous peoples in the Pacific. By expanding the Pacific Remote Island Marine National Monument, we will lose nearly all U.S. EEZ’s in the Pacific,” Congresswoman Amata warned. “At this critical time, with China increasingly gaining a foothold in the region, the United States will quickly become nothing more than a passive bystander in the world’s largest fishery.”

Read the full article at Samoa News

Fisheries council opposes Biden administration’s plans for new marine monument

September 20, 2023 — The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, at its latest meeting, again signaled its opposition to the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden’s plans to establish a new marine monument in the Pacific Remote Islands.

The administration’s proposal would form a new sanctuary around the Pacific Remote Islands using the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, creating a 770,000 square mile area that would be fully conserved. The conservation plan, the council said at its latest meeting, is likely already satisfied by the existing fishing regulations that govern the area.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Pacific islands sanctuary debated at House hearing

September 20, 2023 — The Biden administration’s proposal to protect 770,000 square miles with a new mid-Pacific marine sanctuary took center stage Tuesday during a Congressional oversight committee – with commercial fishing advocates arguing the process of setting aside ocean waters can short-circuit requirements for public input in fisheries policymaking.

The House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee oversight hearing was billed as “Examining Barriers to Access in Federal Waters: A Closer Look at the Marine Sanctuary and Monument System.” It focused on the plan to expand waters around the existing Remote Island National Monument into a wider sanctuary, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration conducting a scoping process that included a workshop in American Samoa last week.

The prospect of potential future limits on fishing in the region is alarming, said Rep. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, R-American Samoa, delegate to Congress.

In its potential extent the proposal is “about to take all of our EEZ (exclusive economic zone) away from us,” said Aumua Amata. American Samoa depends on the purse seine tuna fleet and the cannery it supplies, she stressed: “We are a one-industry economy.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

CALIFORNIA: Half Moon Bay fishermen reeling from lost income amid salmon fishery closure

September 21, 2023 — Commercial salmon fishing season has been closed in the state of California for the past several months and fishermen in Half Moon Bay are feeling the impacts.

At Half Moon Bay’s Pillar Point Harbor, it’s so quiet even the sea lions are bored.

“It’s quiet, you look at this harbor and it’s just empty, there’s no activity,” Porter McHenry, a commercial fisherman said.

McHenry says at this time of the year, from May to October, he would typically rely on salmon.

“There’s going to be nothing until crab season,” he said.

Back in March, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said the drought from recent years limited salmon’s ability to breed and that there weren’t enough to open the commercial season this year.

Read the full article at ABC 7 News

OREGON: Federal officials will meet with Oregonians about controversial offshore wind energy projects

September 10, 2023 — Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management officials will meet with Oregonians concerned or curious about potential floating offshore wind energy projects following public and political outcry.

Officials will host three in-person meetings in Gold Beach, Coos Bay and Brookings on Sept. 26, 27 and 28. The agency also doubled the public comment period from 30 to 60 days, until Oct. 16.

Generating clean energy from wind turbines floating in the Pacific Ocean is part of state and federal plans to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions contributing to global climate change. But some residents of the Oregon Coast and several tribal nations are concerned about the potential impact to marine life, fisheries and the industries and people who depend on them.

Coos Bay and Brookings are closest to the two swaths of Pacific Ocean identified by the ocean energy agency as ideal for large wind turbines that would float about 18 to 32 miles from land. Energy generated across the 344 square miles of open ocean identified for the projects could power nearly 200,000 homes. The federal agency would like to host an auction by year’s end, allowing companies interested in developing ocean wind energy to bid on leases for the sites. A similar auction in California in 2022 brought in $757 million in winning bids for four companies.

Read the full article at Oregon Capital Chronicle 

HAWAII: Hawai‘i Marine Animal Response Earns 2023 Partner in the Spotlight Award

August 31, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In 2023, we recognized Hawai‘i Marine Animal Response as a Partner in the Spotlight for expanding and enhancing recovery of Hawaiian monk seals. These seals are one of our most imperiled marine species.

Hawaiʻi Marine Animal Response works with Hawaiian monk seals and other marine protected species on the islands of O‘ahu and Moloka‘i. Since partnering with NOAA in 2016, their more than 80 volunteers, interns, and staff have spent countless hours conducting field responses for seals on shore and at sea. They have:

  • Responded to stranded seals and newborn pups
  • Monitored injured and compromised individuals
  • Collected important health and stranding response data
  • Developed unique projects to educate public community members

“We feel honored to be able to take an active role in the recovery of the Hawaiian monk seal population and to be a key NOAA partner in this endeavor,” expressed HMAR founder and president Jon Gelman.

Outreach and education are key to HMAR’s mission. Their efforts to educate the public in the field is complemented by their work in schools and at local events around the islands. Educational programs in schools include the naming of monk seal pups using protocols developed by Hawaiian educators. This creates a strong sense of kuleana (responsibility) and stewardship of monk seals for students and teachers.

These monitoring and outreach efforts have been especially valuable when seals are born in highly populated areas. In 2017, we all got a big surprise when RH58 (Rocky) gave birth to RJ58 (Kaimana), the first pup ever born in busy Waikīkī. This was the beginning of adaptive management for Waikīkī pupping. Four Waikīkī pups have been born since then, most recently in 2023. HMAR volunteers and staff continue to be the boots on the ground to work alongside NOAA and other entities, creating a safe environment in this high-traffic beach area.

“Our team works incredibly hard 12 hours a day, 7 days a week,” Gelman said. “And it’s worth every ounce of effort we put in because we’re all so committed to the recovery of this species. Hawaiian monk seals are special biologically and culturally, and it’s a happy day any time we’re able to help even one seal.”

 

OREGON: Oregon tribes protest offshore wind plans

August 26, 2023 — Federal officials’ announcement of two draft wind energy areas off the Oregon coast poses danger to fisheries, jobs and the state’s coastal environment, the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians say.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s proposal “was premature and threatens fisheries, local fishing jobs, and some of Oregon pristine ocean viewsheds, some of which are sacred to the Tribe,” the confederation said in a statement issued Tuesday.

Objections coming out of Oregon are echoing those lodged against offshore wind projects off the East Coast, where local groups continue to mount fierce political and legal campaigns over anticipate impact on fishing and ocean views from coastal communities.

In months leading up to the draft wind areas release, BOEM was urged by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, fishing advocacy groups, tribes and Oregon elected officials to pause and start its planning process over again.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

CALIFORNIA: Commercial crabbers worry bringing sea otters back to San Francisco Bay could hurt industry

August 26, 2023 — There is a push by conservationists to reintroduce threatened sea otters to San Francisco Bay waters, but local crab fishermen are concerned the move could hurt their already struggling industry.

Federal wildlife officials say it’s possible, but haven’t made a decision whether to green light the move. Those efforts worry fishermen like Dick Ogg because of the sea mammals’ voracious appetite for crustaceans like Dungeness crab.

“I don’t feel like it’s our place to pick them up and relocate them. Yes, there could be impacts to the fishery,” said Ogg.

The fur trade era in the 19th century nearly wiped out the now-endangered species. Marine biologists are trying to determine what’s best for conservation, fisheries like the Dungeness crab industry and the marine environment.

“Sea otters tend to promote the resilience of kelp and sea grass. And those habitats provide habitat and food for hundreds upon hundreds of species,” explained U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Lilian Carswell, who specializes in sea otters.

Read the full article at CBS News

Ocean off California’s Central Coast may be ‘thermal refuge’ from climate change, study says

August 23, 2023 — In an otherwise warming planet, new research shows that the ocean off California’s Central Coast may be a thermal refuge for marine wildlife.

Cal Poly associate professor Ryan Walter, who teaches physics, and fourth-year physics student Michael Dalsin analyzed temperature data gathered from 1978 through 2020 at a site just north of Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

They found that while other areas of the world see sharp rises in ocean temperatures and more frequent and more intense heatwaves, the Central Coast hasn’t seen such intense trends.

The region still experiences marine heatwaves and cold spells brought on by factors such as the ocean-wide climactic patterns of El Niño and La Niña, but cold current upwelling brought on by strong local winds helps maintain the marine ecosystem along the Central Coast, according to a study by Walter and Dalsin published on July 31.

Read the full story at the Merced Sun-Star