Saving Seafood

Financial outlook sunny for salmon fishermen, plus commercial salmon openers around Alaska

May 29, 2018 — Forces are aligned for a nice payday for Alaska’s salmon fishermen.

There is no backlog from last season in cold storages, a lower harvest forecast is boosting demand, prices for competing farmed salmon have remained high all year, and a devalued U.S. dollar makes Alaska salmon more appealing to foreign customers.

“Over the past year the dollar has weakened 11 percent against the euro, 9 percent against the British pound, 5 percent against the Japanese yen, and 7 percent against the Chinese yuan. That makes Alaska salmon and other seafood more affordable to those top overseas customers,” said Garrett Evridge, a fisheries analyst at the McDowell Group.

Last year Alaska seafood exports set records in terms of volume and value — 1.1 billion metric tons valued at $3.45 billion. Alaska salmon accounted for 22 percent of the volume and 36 percent of the value.

On the home front, the weaker dollar will make imports from Chile, the largest farmed salmon importer to the U.S. followed by Norway, more expensive. That also will apply to imports of competing wild salmon from Canada where — if it materializes — a big sockeye run is predicted in nearby British Columbia.

“About every four years we expect a relatively large harvest from the Fraser River run in B.C. In 2014 they produced about 83 million pounds of salmon and sockeye was the largest component,” Evridge said. “Likewise, a weaker dollar will make wild salmon imports from Russia and Japan more expensive for U.S. buyers.”

Russia, which had grown from a $10 million customer of primarily pink salmon roe to $60 million in 2013, has banned all imports of U.S. seafood since 2014. Meanwhile, that country continues to send millions of tons of salmon and other seafood into the U.S.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

 

Oregon: Sea lions continue to eat endangered fish

May 29, 2018 — All the time, money and sacrifice to improve salmon and steelhead passage in the Willamette River won’t mean a thing unless wildlife managers can get rid of sea lions feasting on the fish at Willamette Falls.

That was the message Tuesday from Shaun Clements, senior policy adviser for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, who met at the falls with Liz Hamilton, executive director of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, and Suzanne Kunse, district director for U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore.

The group watched as several sea lions patrolled the waterfalls and nearby fish ladders. Clements said there could be as many as 50-60 sea lions in the area on any given day in April or early May, and the animals are responsible for eating roughly 20 percent of this year’s already paltry winter steelhead run.

As of May 22, ODFW has counted just 2,086 winter steelhead at Willamette Falls. That’s less than half of the 10-year average and 22 percent of the 50-year average.

ODFW applied in October 2017 to kill sea lions from Willamette Falls under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, though Clements said he does not expect a decision from the National Marine Fisheries Service until the end of the year. The department also tried relocating 10 California sea lions to a beach south of Newport earlier this year, only to see the animals return in just six days.

Read the full story at the Capital Press

 

Zinke says Interior reorganization still on track in speech at Fort Peck

May 22, 2018 — FORT PECK, Mont. — It wasn’t a Sunday sermon, but those who skipped church to hear Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke speak at Fort Peck Dam nonetheless received a parable — of two fish.

Zinke, a former Montana U.S. representative, told attendees that changes were underway to stop government agencies from offering differing views on matters like the environment or wildlife, differences that sandbag permitting of federal projects.

The fish, a trout and salmon, have become staples of the story, which Zinke, a Republican, has been telling since announcing a reorganizing of the Department of Interior.

“Imagine if you have a salmon and a trout in the same stream. Upstream you have a dam. Downstream you have irrigation and that stream passes by a Forest Service holding,” Zinke said. “It happens all the time. This is how our government manages our resources: The trout is managed by Fish and Wildlife Services through me. The salmon is Department of Commerce through NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service). Upstream the water flow and temperature is often Army Corps of Engineers, except sometimes it’s BOR (Bureau of Reclamation).”

The government agencies pile up as the stream threads through a national forest and beyond.

Read the full story at the Billings Gazette

 

Washington: Eat. Pray. Truck. How A Northwest Tribe Brings Salmon Home

May 22, 2018 — The Puyallup Tribe welcomed the first salmon of the year back to the Puyallup River in Tacoma on Tuesday.

Strangely, perhaps, that chinook’s epic journey from mid-Pacific Ocean to a Puyallup fishing net begins with a sloshing tanker truck.

Tribes from Alaska to California have held annual “first salmon” ceremonies for centuries to thank the wide-ranging fishes for coming home after years at sea.

But some years, the Puyallup River barely has enough chinook salmon to support a ceremony, let alone a tribe whose diet used to be mostly salmon.

Threats to the biggest species of salmon’s survival abound. Yet this year, the Puyallups have at least one reason to hope chinook could make a big comeback.

Follow the Puyallup River upstream from Tacoma, and it’ll take you to the slopes and glaciers of Mount Rainier. That is if a dam doesn’t stop you.

On a branch called the White River, two dams have been giving fish trouble for more than 70 years.

The dams have also given birth to another longstanding tradition for the Puyallups: The tribe and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers trap fish heading upstream and take them for a 10-mile drive in a tanker truck.

Read the full story at OPB

 

Washington state finds virus in Cooke Atlantic salmon, plans expanded testing

May 21, 2018 — After identifying an exotic virus in fish raised by Cooke Aquaculture, Washington state is planning to test at other sites where the pathogen from Atlantic salmon may have been spread.

The state this week blocked restocking of one of Cooke’s net pens after fish at the company’s rearing facility in Thurston County tested positive for the virus.

Ken Warheit, fish-health manager for the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW), will, as soon as possible, test Cooke’s settling ponds at its incubator in Rochester, Thurston County, as well as Scatter Creek and its confluence with the Chehalis River for the presence of the virus found in the Atlantic salmon smolts raised by Cooke.

The pathogen could have contaminated surrounding water, raising a concern for its potential to affect native Pacific salmon, Warheit said.

Cooke’s request for a permit to transfer the smolts to open-water net pens for growing to harvest size was denied for the same reason, Warheit said.

Read the full story at the Seattle Times

 

Maine Wants to Return Salmon, Herring to Historic Habitat

May 21, 2018 — AUGUSTA, Maine — A Maine state project aims to bring salmon and river herring back to a tributary of one of the state’s major rivers.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is using its Species Recovery Grants to States Program to award more than $310,000 to the Maine Department of Marine Resources for the project. The state wants to restore salmon and herring back to Togus Stream.

The stream is a tributary of the Kennebec River. The state says the river was once home to the fish, but the construction of barriers has blocked them from their historical habitat for more than two centuries.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at US News

 

NOAA report: Number of overfished stocks in U.S. reaches all time low

May 17, 2018 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The number of domestic fish stocks listed as overfished has reached an all-time low, with three species of West Coast rockfish rebuilt to sustainable levels, according to the 2017 Status of U.S. Fisheries report to Congress. The number of stocks on the overfishing list also remained near all-time lows, an encouraging indicator that the U.S. fishery management system is achieving its long-term sustainability goals.

“Ending overfishing and rebuilding stocks provides two key benefits for the American people,” said Chris Oliver, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “First, it strengthens the value of U.S. fisheries’ contribution to the economy, which in 2015 exceeded $208 billion dollars. Second, it supports the communities and marine ecosystems that depend on healthy fisheries.”

Three West Coast stocks were rebuilt to target levels in 2017, bringing the total number of rebuilt U.S. marine fish stocks to 44 since 2000:

  • Bocaccio
  • Darkblotched rockfish
  • Pacific ocean perch

The overfishing list at the end of 2017 included 30 stocks, and the overfished list included 35 stocks. Overall, 91 percent of U.S marine fish stocks are not subject to overfishing and 87 percent are not overfished.  A stock is on the overfishing list when the harvest rate – a direct result of fishing activities – is too high. A stock is on the overfished list when the population size of a stock is too low, whether because of fishing or other causes, such as environmental changes.

Six stocks were removed from the overfishing list:

  • Sailfish – Western Atlantic
  • Blue king crab – Pribilof Islands
  • Puerto Rico Wrasses Complex
  • Coho salmon – Puget Sound: Hood Canal
  • Winter flounder – Georges Bank
  • Witch flounder – Northwestern Atlantic Coast (due to significant scientific uncertainty, the status of this stock cannot be determined following a 2017 assessment)

Six stocks came off the overfished list:

  • Yelloweye rockfish – Pacific Coast
  • Winter flounder – Georges Bank
  • Gray triggerfish – Gulf of Mexico
  • Red snapper – Gulf of Mexico
  • Pacific ocean perch – Pacific Coast
  • Bluefin tuna – Western Atlantic (due to significant scientific uncertainty, the status of this stock cannot be determined following a 2017 assessment)

“Rebuilding stocks to fully utilize our fisheries is one way NOAA can reduce our nation’s seafood deficit,” said Oliver. “We look forward to exploring innovative approaches to fisheries management and working with our partners to ensure America’s fisheries remain the world’s most sustainable.”

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and our other social media channels.

 

How the world’s second largest indoor salmon farm could take shape in Maine

May 11, 2018 — BELFAST, Maine — You might have to squint through the trees to spot the world’s second largest salmon farm in Belfast, according to computer renderings unveiled Wednesday.

Nordic Aquafarms, a Norwegian aquaculture firm, says its due diligence, the process used to determine whether the project would be feasible, is about 90 percent complete, and is ready to start applying for permits.

Nordic hosted its latest information session at the Hutchinson Center in Belfast on Wednesday night.

In its first phase, Nordic would build a 300,000-square-foot building on a 40-acre plot near the Northport town line. The building will be about 10-15 feet shorter than surrounding trees, largely hiding it from view, according to Nordic’s CEO Erik Heim.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

Washington state places voluntary ‘no-go’ zone along western San Juan Island to protect orcas

May 9, 2018 — OLYMPIA, Wash. — State fish and wildlife managers are asking boaters to avoid an area along the west side of San Juan Island in an effort to protect a dwindling population of Southern Resident killer whales.

Despite state and federal government protection, the population of Southern Resident killer whales has declined from 98 whales in 1995 to just 76 in December 2017.

The state said major threats to the whales include a lack of chinook salmon,  disturbance from vessel traffic and increased noise, and toxic contaminants.

“The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will be working with partner agencies and stakeholder groups to help educate people about the voluntary ‘no-go’ zone, which applies to all recreational boats – fishing or otherwise – as well as commercial vessels, the department said.

Read the full story at KCPQ

 

Chinese fish farm tests deep-sea waters with ‘world’s biggest’ salmon cage

May 8, 2018 — A Chinese fisheries company will soon launch a massive deep-sea salmon farming facility in the eastern province of Shandong to help meet the country’s growing appetite for seafood.

Shandong Wanzefeng Fishery, the operator, said a fully submersible net cage called Deep Blue No 1, the world’s biggest, was delivered to the shipyard of state-owned Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry on Friday, state-run Xinhua reported.

The 35-metre-high cage will be deployed in the Yellow Sea about 130 nautical miles east of Rizhao where the cold water is believed to be a suitable habitat for the fish.

Wang Yu, head of the Hubei Marine Engineering Equipment Research Institute, which designed the system, said the cage had a volume of 50,000 cubic metres and could generate a harvest of about 1,500 tonnes of salmon per season.

Read the full story at the South China Morning Post