Saving Seafood

Environmentalists spar with Obama administration over fish catches

April 7, 2016 — WASHINGTON — A proposed federal rule that would give regional councils more say in setting catch limits on fish has sparked rare friction between the Obama administration and environmental groups.

The proposal, years in the making, could take effect this summer. It would provide the eight councils “additional clarity and potential flexibility” to comply with the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act.

Groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and Earth Justice say the change could roll back nearly a decade of progress in rescuing once-overfished populations.

Since Congress updated Magnuson-Stevens in 2006, the number of stocks labeled as overfished or subject to overfishing has dropped to the lowest level in 20 years of tracking.

“We would go backwards from what is now a pretty successful rule,” said Lee Crockett, director of U.S. Ocean Conservation for the Pew Charitable Trusts. “This adds more flexibility to what was pretty clear guidelines, and our experience has been that when flexibility is provided to these fishery management councils, it’s not a good thing.”

The councils, which include state officials, environmental activists and industry representatives, determine catch limits on dozens of stocks, including cod off New England, red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico and salmon in the Pacific.

They follow science-driven guidelines — first issued in early 2009 in the waning days of the Bush administration — that are enforced through the “National Standard 1” regulation, which the proposed rule would modify.

Read the full story at USA Today

Feds: Habitat, dams, hatcheries keys to saving Maine salmon

April 4, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — The Gulf of Maine’s endangered salmon will need restored habitats, removal of dams, aggressive hatchery programs and other conservations actions if its population is to rebound, according to a federal government plan to save the fading and iconic fish.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released a recovery plan for the Gulf of Maine salmon, listed as endangered in 2000, that is intended as a roadmap to sustainability for a fish whose populations have plummeted since the 1800s.

Recovery will take time and patience — the plan estimates 75 years and $350 million, which would have to come from some combination of federal, state and private money. The wildlife service estimates 100,000 adult salmon returned to the Penobscot River each year in the 19th century, and less than 750 of the fish returned to spawn in Maine rivers last year.

Maine’s salmon face numerous threats, and one of the biggest is the continued presence of dams that prevent them from spawning, said Dan Kircheis, a fisheries biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service. He said there are 400 dams in the state in areas that affect salmon.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Gloucester Times

PFMC: Salmon Preseason Report II, including Public Hearings Schedule

March 24, 2016 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

Notice of Availability; Reminder Notice of Public Hearings

Preseason Report II:  Proposed Alternatives and Environmental Assessment Part 2 for 2016 Ocean Salmon Fishery Regulations

The document Preseason Report II: Proposed Alternatives and Environmental Assessment Part 2 for 2016 Ocean Salmon Fishery Regulations; Regulation Identifier Number 0648-BF56 has been posted to the Council’s website. Please visit the 2016 Preseason Report II webpage to view and download the document. 

Public Comment Opportunities on the Proposed Management Alternatives

The Council solicits public comments on the proposed management Alternatives in preparation for adopting final management recommendations at its April meeting. Oral and written comments on the proposed management Alternatives may be presented at the public hearings listed below (you may also see the “Salmon Public Hearings” notice on our website):

Monday, March 28, 2016, 7 pm

 

Monday, March 28, 2016, 7 pm

 

Tuesday, March 29, 2016, 7 pm

Chateau Westport

Beach Room

710 W Hancock

Westport, WA 98595

360-268-9101

Driving Directions

 

Red Lion Hotel

South Umpqua Room

1313 N Bayshore Drive

Coos Bay, OR 97420

541-267-4141

Driving Directions

 

Motel 6

Convention Room

400 S. Main St.

Fort Bragg, CA 95437

707-964-4761

Driving Directions

Additional comment will be accepted during the April Council meeting. Written comments received at the Council office by 11:59 PM, Sunday, April 3, 2016 will be copied and distributed to all Council members.

For further information regarding the salmon management documents, please contact: Mr. Mike Burner at 503-820-2414 or toll free 1-866-806-7204, ext. 414.

False Claims about ‘Frankenfish’

March 24, 2016 — Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she opposes federal approval of genetically engineered salmon “for the health of both consumers and fisheries.” But there is no scientific evidence that suggests GE salmon will pose a significant risk to either.

Murkowski claims GE salmon may “interbreed with the wild stocks, and thus perhaps destroy them.” But GE salmon have been rendered sterile — meaning they can’t interbreed with wild salmon stocks. Geographic and physical confinement measures also limit the likelihood that the GE fish will escape and survive.

As for human consumption, scientists engineered GE salmon to grow faster than non-GE farm-raised salmon by inserting genes from two other fish into the genome of an Atlantic salmon. After these changes, the GE salmon remained nutritionally and physiologically comparable to non-GE salmon, according to Food and Drug Administration’s scientific assessments, so the agency deemed GE salmon “safe to eat.”

FDA Approves GE Salmon

The FDA approved GE salmon – marketed by AquaBounty Technologies Inc. as “AquAdvantage Salmon” – on Nov. 19, 2015. AquaBounty first submitted its application to the FDA in 1995.

By inserting DNA from other fish, the company’s scientists engineered Atlantic salmon to reach market size faster than non-GE farm-raised Atlantic salmon. As per AquaBounty’s FDA application, the GE salmon will only be raised and farmed in inland facilities on Prince Edward Island in Canada and in Panama.

AquAdvantage Salmon was the first GE animal (as opposed to a plant) approved for human consumption in the United States.

However, it’s unclear when the GE fish will reach supermarkets. Back in November, when the FDA approved the product, Ronald Stotish, the chief executive of AquaBounty, told the New York Times that “the salmon would not be in stores immediately because it would take about two years for even these fast-growing salmon to reach market size.”

In January, the FDA also issued a ban on the import and sale of GE salmon until the agency “publishes final labeling guidelines for informing consumers of such content,” the FDA said. The ban was the result of language Murkowski introduced into the 2016 fiscal budget, or omnibus, bill. 

False claims about GE salmon have come from politicians on both sides of the party divide. While Murkowski is a Republican, Rep. Jared Huffman, a Democrat from California, has said, for example, that “by approving GE salmon, the FDA is allowing the release of a new hybrid animal that could pose a danger to our wild salmon populations, damage the ecosystems they live in, and undermine our domestic commercial fisheries.”

But Murkowski has arguably been one of the most vocal and active opponents. On her website, she notes the importance Alaska’s fisheries to the economy of her state. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the “seafood industry contributes 78,500 jobs to the Alaskan economy and an estimated $5.8 billion annually with Bristol Bay sockeye salmon … representing some of the largest salmon … fisheries in the world.” For this reason, Murkowski has “supported Alaska’s fisheries … through legislation and her position on the Senate Appropriations Committee,” as her website says.

The day the FDA approved GE salmon, Murkowski voiced her opposition on the Senate floor, claiming the FDA’s decision was “quite disturbing news to any of us who care about our wild species of salmon.” Specifically, she questioned the FDA’s ability to certify that GE salmon don’t “interbreed with the wild stocks, and thus perhaps destroy them.” In that speech, and later press releases, Murkowski called particular attention to GE salmon’s threat to Alaskan salmon stocks.

Murkowski also said that as someone “who believes that the real thing is the best thing for our families,” she found the FDA’s approval of GE salmon “very troubling.” In fact, she said, “I don’t even know that I want to call it a fish,” and instead referred to the GE salmon as a “frankenfish” and an “organism” generally. Likewise, in a Nov. 23 press release, Murkowski said: “Genetically modifying salmon is messing with nature’s perfect brain food. The real thing is not only the safe choice, but it’s the best thing.”

Most recently, Murkowski said in a March 3 press release: “I still adamantly oppose the FDA’s approval of GE salmon, for the health of both consumers and fisheries.” In this release, Murkowski announced the introduction of her Genetically Engineered Salmon Labeling Act, cosponsored with Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan and Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell.

This legislation calls for the market name of GE salmon to “include the words ‘Genetically Engineered’ or ‘GE.’ ” It would also authorize “an independent scientific review” of the effects of GE salmon on wild salmon stocks and for human consumption.

Read the full article at FactCheck.org

Disastrous season forecast for commercial and recreational salmon fishers

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (March 17, 2016) — On Sunday, March 13, the Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted three public review alternatives for the 2016 salmon season off the West Coast of the United States. The Council will select a final alternative at their next meeting in Vancouver, Washington on April 9-14.

“The mix of salmon runs this year is unusual,” said outgoing Executive Director Donald McIsaac. “In the north, the return of fall Chinook to the Columbia River is forecast to be exceptionally high again, but expectations for wild coho runs to the Washington Coast and Puget Sound areas can only be described as disastrous. In the south, the Sacramento River fall Chinook are healthy, but Klamath River fall Chinook are so poor that the Council’s policy calls for a low ‘de minimis’ catch in ocean fisheries.”

“This will be a challenging year for salmon fisheries. Several key stocks are less abundant than usual due to environmental conditions like the California drought and El Niño, which have affected ocean abundance for some stocks. However, there are alternatives that provide opportunities for both commercial and recreational salmon fishing coastwide,” said Council Vice-Chair Herb Pollard.

Read the full story at the South Beach Bulletin

Pacific Ocean salmon fishing shutdown an option for 2016 season

March 14, 2016 — Recreational and commercial salmon fishing off the coast of Washington could be shut down this summer because of a low number of returning coho salmon. The closure is one of three options being considered by the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which sets fishing seasons in ocean waters 3 to 200 miles off the Pacific coast.

The two other options, released early Monday would permit some salmon fishing this year.

Fishery biologists expect 380,000 Columbia River hatchery coho to return to the Washington coast this year, only about half of last year’s forecast. There were 242,000 coho that returned last year to the Columbia River, where some coho stocks are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Biologists are citing a lack of forage fish and warmer water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean “blob” and from El Nino as key factors in last year’s lower than expected return of coho.

It’s not what we want to see, since all the coastal fishing communities are dependent on tourism and our commercial fishers going out and catching salmon. Butch Smith, owner of CoHo Charters and Motel in Ilwaco

As for chinook, the forecast calls for a robust return of Columbia River fall chinook salmon this year. That includes about 223,000 lower river hatchery fish, which traditionally have been the backbone of the recreational ocean chinook fishery, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The last time the ocean salmon fishing season was closed was 1994. In 2008, fishing was severely curtailed.

“It’s not what we want to see, since all the coastal fishing communities are dependent on tourism and our commercial fishers going out and catching salmon. That’s our Microsoft and Boeing out here on the coast,” said Butch Smith, owner of CoHo Charters and Motel in Ilwaco. He also serves on a state advisory panel and was at the meeting in Sacramento where the ocean options were discussed.

Smith and Tony Floor, director of fishing affairs for the Northwest Marine Trade Association, believe there are enough salmon to craft some sort of fishing season for 2016.

Read the full story at The News Tribune

The West Coast Challenge

March 9, 2016 — Fisheries on the West Coast of America have come under intense pressure after closures and a dramatic fall in stock levels. Adrian Tatum looks at the challenges over the last few years.

Sometimes when something is broken it seems almost impossible to fix. Commercial fishing on the West Coast of America is far from broken but parts of it do need fixing.

Nearly a year ago its commercial sardine fishery was closed after the population of Pacific sardines had fallen to alarming levels. In April last year, scientists made a recommendation for full closure after the population was estimated to be below 150,000 tonnes. It has been a dramatic decline, as in 2007 there were 1.4 million tonnes.

The sardine fishery has not only been a major revenue source for West Coast fishermen, but many other species of fish such as tuna also rely on a plentiful supply for food. Scientists believed that by closing it last year it would give the population a chance to recover. But just last month, it was revealed that the sardine population has not recovered, and is in fact still declining at a fast rate. Scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Service say that by the summer, the population is likely to be 33% lower than in 2015.

Bycatch reduction

Like most fisheries around the world, West Coast fishermen are facing up to a bycatch reduction plan. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is considering a plan which would allocate individual bycatch caps to groundfish vessels in the Gulf of Alaska rather than targeting specific large species. Back in 2011, the council passed a series of salmon and halibut bycatch reductions which angered fleet owners and fishermen. Now many Gulf of Alaska fishermen feel the recent changes will have a ‘crippling’ affect on its groundfish fleet.

Approximately 85% of the North Pacific groundfish fisheries are rationalised. This means fish quotas are assigned to individual vessels or fishing cooperatives. It is widely believed by some experts that this is the best way to ensure minimal bycatch, meaning vessels can fish without a time limit and are therefore more likely to avoid some of the endangered species such as salmon and halibut. But this process can also have a negative effect on the industry. Recent years have seen rationalisation being applied to the Bering Sea crab fishery where the number of boats fishing for crab fell by two thirds in just one year, with the loss of over 1,000 jobs.

Read the full story at World Fishing & Aquaculture

Murkowski Introduces Updated Legislation to Require Labeling of GE Salmon

March 3, 2016 — The following was released by the Office of Senator Lisa Murkowski:

Today U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) continued her fight against “Frankenfish” by introducing legislation to mandate labeling of genetically engineered (GE) salmon. The Genetically Engineered Salmon Labeling Act, co-sponsored by Senators Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), changes the acceptable market name for any salmon that is genetically engineered to include the words “genetically engineered” or “GE.” The bill also requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to ensure a third-party scientific review of the FDA’s environmental assessment of AquaAdvantage salmon, focusing in particular on the effects that GE salmon could have upon wild stocks and ecosystems. Congressman Don Young (R-AK) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

“We have had success in in the fight against Frankenfish, but I won’t let up until it is mandatory to make clear to consumers whether they are purchasing Frankenfish or the wild, healthy, sustainably-caught, delicious real thing,” said Murkowski. “I still adamantly oppose the FDA’s approval of GE salmon, for the health of both consumers and fisheries. But at least with this legislation, Alaskans and consumers across the rest of the country won’t be deceived and will be aware of what it is they are seeing on store shelves.”

Background:

  • November 2015: In response to the FDA’s decision to approve GE salmon for human consumption, Murkowski announced that she would block the confirmation of Dr. Robert Califf to be FDA Commissioner until her concerns regarding labeling guidelines for GE salmon had been resolved.
  • December 2015: Murkowski successfully inserted a provision in the omnibus bill that blocks the FDA from introducing GE salmon into the market until it publishes labeling guidelines so consumers are aware of what is contained in the product they are purchasing.
  • January 2016: Murkowski officially placed a hold on Dr. Califf’s confirmation after he advanced out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
  • January 2016: In direct response to Senator Murkowski’s efforts, the FDA announced an import ban on GE salmon until labeling guidelines had been published.
  • February 2016: The FDA provided Senator Murkowski with technical drafting assistance on legislative language that would effectively mandate labeling of GE salmon, and in response Senator Murkowski lifted her hold on Dr. Califf’s nomination.

View the release online

West Coast Sardine Populations, Long Sinking, Look Even Worse in Forecast

February 26, 2016 — Sardines off the West Coast have continued on a steep decline, with populations this summer forecast to be down 93 percent from a 2007 peak, according to a draft assessment from the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The sardines are a key forage food for sea lions, salmon and many other species, as well as a source of income for commercial fishermen.

In some years, sardines have been worth from $10 million to more than $20 million annually to a West Coast fleet.

Last year, the sardine implosion was so severe that the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to call off the season that was scheduled to start in July for West Coast fleets, including those in Washington state.

This year, as the council meets this spring, it will have more bad news on sardines to review.

The stocks of sardines aged one year or older are forecast to be 64,422 metric tons, about a third lower than the 2015 assessment.

“Pacific sardines are an incredibly important economic and ecological ocean resource,” said Geoff Shester, a fishery scientist with Oceana, a marine conservation group. “Fishermen with lost income will suffer financially, and marine animals like California sea lion pups will face another year of fighting starvation.”

Albert Carter, of Ocean Gold Seafood in southwest Washington, said sardines are a significant part of the company business when populations are strong.

Carter, who serves on a Pacific Fishery Management Council advisory committee, said he has not had a chance to review the new sardine assessment. But he said if populations have continued to decline, he does not expect a 2016 season.

Read the full story at the Seattle Times

California DFW to Host Public Meeting on Ocean Salmon Fisheries

February 18, 2016 — SANTA ROSA, California — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) invites the public to attend its upcoming annual Ocean Salmon Information Meeting. A review of last year’s ocean salmon fisheries and spawning escapement will be presented, in addition to the outlook for this year’s sport and commercial ocean salmon fisheries.

The meeting will be held Wednesday, March 2 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Sonoma County Water Agency, 404 Aviation Blvd. in Santa Rosa (95403).

Anglers are encouraged to provide input on potential fishing seasons to a panel of California salmon scientists, managers and representatives who will be directly involved in the upcoming Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) meetings in March and April.

Read the full release at San Diego Newscape