February 22, 2023 — A vigorous debate over bycatch and calls for marine habitat protections is underway in advance of the beginning of Alaska’s lucrative pollock fishery in March.
The pollock fishery hit a wholesale value of USD 1.329 billion (EUR 1.358 billion) in 2022; However, that coincided with a devastating collapse in the state’s crab stocks and deteriorating returns in chinook and chum salmon fisheries. All of those fisheries are interconnected.
January 27, 2022 — ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
What would be one of the largest copper and gold mines in the world might never break ground. The EPA is expected to issue its final decision at the end of the month on the Pebble Mine in southwest Alaska. From member station KDLG, Izzy Ross reports.
ROSS: The EPA is exercising a rarely-used authority under the Clean Water Act, commonly called its veto authority. Agency officials declined to be interviewed for this story, but in a statement said the mine could harm fish spawning and breeding areas and that this action would protect the commercial and sport fisheries and a traditional way of life based on wild salmon. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied Pebble’s mining permit two years ago, but the company appealed that decision. Pebble spokesperson Mike Heatwole says the EPA is not following normal protocol by using this Clean Water Act authority before the appeal has even been processed.
MIKE HEATWOLE: We continue to say that it is largely unlawful and unprecedented, what the EPA is attempting to do regarding this project.
ROSS: And Heatwole says the company may sue. But the EPA’s use of this authority reflects its serious concerns about the mine’s impact on the region, says Joel Reynolds with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
JOEL REYNOLDS: It’s about as much opposition as one will ever see to a development project anywhere really but in particular, in a development-friendly state like Alaska.
Listen to the full story at KUNC
January 27, 2023 — In response to a petition by the Native Fish Society, Center for Biological Diversity and Umpqua Watersheds, the National Marine Fisheries Service determined today that the Oregon Coast and southern Oregon/Northern California Coast Chinook salmon may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act.
“I’m pleased that Chinook salmon in Oregon and Northern California are that much closer to being protected under the Endangered Species Act,” said Meg Townsend, freshwater attorney at the Center. “These giants among Pacific salmon are irreplaceable icons of the Pacific Northwest. Chinooks bring important nutrients from the ocean to our forests, feed endangered Southern Resident orcas, and are a source of food and admiration for communities up and down the coast.”
Chinook are anadromous, returning from the ocean to the freshwater streams where they were born to reproduce. The Oregon and California Chinook salmon populations contain both early and late-run variants, otherwise known as spring-run and fall-run Chinook salmon.
Spring-run Chinook salmon enter coastal rivers from the ocean in the spring and migrate upstream as they mature, holding in deep pools in rivers through the summer, and spawning in early fall in the upper reaches of watersheds. Conversely, fall-run Chinook enter the rivers in the fall and spawn shortly thereafter.
November 9, 2022 — St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.A.-based seafood supplier Seven Seas International is voluntarily recalling Giant Food private-label Sockeye Smoked because it has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
The recalled product, which includes 540 cases under only one lot number, was distributed by Carlisle, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.-based Giant Food in the U.S. states of Maryland, Virginia, Washington, Delaware, and the city of Washington D.C.
October 17, 2022 — Americans’ purchasing habits are being further affecting by inflation, leading to them reduce their fresh and frozen seafood purchases.
Prices of frozen seafood, fresh finfish, and shelf-stable seafood were significantly higher in September compared to last year, according to new data from IRI and 210 Analytics, though prices on fresh shellfish actually dropped.
September 12, 2022 — The Aquaculture Stewardship Council has released an updated version of its salmon standard with a new approach to sea lice monitoring that environmental groups have criticized.
ASC released version 1.4 of its salmon standard on 5 September, following a science-based review process. The new edition of the standard has a specific scope on sea lice management, with the aim of establishing more robustness in sea lice sampling and monitoring and the requirement that salmon farmers take immediate action to remediate sea lice problems if they pass certain thresholds, ASC said.
September 1, 2022 — Two top Democrats in Washington State have come out in favor of eventually breaching four hydroelectric dams in the lower Snake River to try to save endangered salmon runs, a contentious option that environmentalists, tribes and business groups in the region have argued over for decades.
In recommendations issued on Thursday, Senator Patty Murray and Gov. Jay Inslee provided their most definitive stance in the fight to save salmon in the Columbia River basin and honor longstanding treaties with tribal nations in the Pacific Northwest.
A draft version of a study that Ms. Murray and Mr. Inslee commissioned found this summer that removing the four dams was the most promising approach to salmon recovery. The report said it would cost $10.3 billion to $27.2 billion to replace the electricity generated by the dams, find other ways to ship grain from the region and provide irrigation water. But the draft stopped short of taking a position on removing the dams.
In the recommendations, the governor and the senator said that breaching the dams “must be an option we strive to make viable.”
Ms. Murray said in a statement that salmon runs were clearly struggling, and that extinction of the region’s salmon was not an option. But because breaching the dams would need congressional authorization and bipartisan support, she said, there had to be credible possibilities for replacing renewable energy sources, keeping shipping costs down and countering the effects of climate change.
August 29, 2022 — Last week, the PBS Newshour featured a segment on salmon farming, addressing the challenges and innovations that have accompanied the industry’s growth. Newshour science correspondent Miles O’Brien talked to salmon farming industry members about the state of the industry and improvements being implemented. As demand for seafood increases each year, aquaculture is likely to play a major role in keeping Americans well-fed and healthy.
Below is an excerpt from the transcript of the segment. Watch the full video here.
Miles O’Brien:
Off of Swan’s Island, we boarded the ship where they monitor and feed their crop of nearly a half-million salmon. They’re kept in 16 flexible floating nets made with stainless steel fiber to guard against escapes.
We watched as they fed some of the fish using a network of submerged cameras.
Andrew Lively, Cooke Aquaculture:
He’s seeing the fish, and there’s no feed coming down through the water column.
Miles O’Brien:
The trick is releasing the feed at just the right rate. Too fast, and it falls to the bottom of the sea, impacting the bottom line. But it also can cause an environmental problem. As the feed decomposes, it generates nitrogen, as does the fish poop.
High nitrogen levels are a persistent problem for salmon farmers.
Do you feel like you have met those challenges?
Andrew Lively:
One of the big ways to deal with that challenge is proper site location and proper density. We’re in an area that gets about a 12-foot rise and fall of water twice a day, so lots of current, lots of freshwater going through here.
Miles O’Brien:
Even at the perfect location, fish farmers must closely monitor a myriad of factors to keep their crops healthy.
Farmed salmon are frequently beset with serious infestations of sea lice. To combat the problem, Cooke deploys custom designed boats equipped with warm freshwater showers to clean the fish. It’s an expensive solution that might soon have an unlikely replacement.
Marine biologist Steve Eddy is director of the Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research at the University of Maine.
These fish are lumpfish. Tell me about them.
Steve Eddy:
So these are used as a cleaner fish to remove sea lice off of farmed salmon, a form of biological control.
Miles O’Brien:
Researchers here believe one or two lumpfish per 10 salmon in a pen should be enough to delouse the whole school.
It takes about three years for a salmon to grow from egg to market. As complex and resource-intensive as aquaculture is, its sustainability compares favorably to some land-based agriculture.
August 1, 2022 –Salmon remains one of the top-selling seafood items in U.S. grocery stores despite rising prices in recent months.
Salmon sales jumped 9.3 percent to more than USD 2.5 billion (EUR 2.5 billion) during the month. The category saw a significant sales hike despite the price per pound jumping 18.2 percent to USD 11.35 (EUR 11.06) for the four weeks ending 26 June. The growth in sales came despite inflation impacting overall fresh seafood sales, which dropped 6.2 percent to nearly USD 6.7 billion (EUR 6.5 billion) for the four weeks ending 10 July, according to IRI and 210 Analytics.
July 29, 2022 — The seafood industry is firing back against recently published articles and books that are taking shots at the farmed salmon industry.
A recently published book, Salmon Wars, the Dark Underbelly of our Favorite Fish, has been gaining attention from some media outlets, including Bloomberg, which listed it among the 10 best summer books shedding light on “today’s most-pressing issues.” Written by Pulitzer Price-winning journalist Douglas Frantz and his wife – accomplished investigative journalist Catherine Collins – the book purports to expose the “dark underbelly of our favorite fish.”