Saving Seafood

Seafood retailing “remains in flux” as supply-chain woes hamper sales

November 16, 2021 — Sales of frozen, fresh, and shelf-stable seafood in the United States returned to 2020 levels in October, but growth has been hampered by supply-chain issues, according to new data and insight provided to SeafoodSource.

“Twenty months into the pandemic, seafood retailing remains in flux,” 210 Analytics Principal Anne-Marie Roerink told SeafoodSource. “Continually changing consumer consumption and buying patterns, high inflation, and severe supply-chain constraints have yet to create a new and lasting balance of supply and demand.”Sales of frozen, fresh, and shelf-stable seafood in the United States returned to 2020 levels in October, but growth has been hampered by supply-chain issues, according to new data and insight provided to SeafoodSource.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Alaskan Fishermen Sue NMFS, Department of Commerce Over Cook Inlet Salmon Fishery Closure

November 15, 2021 — A trio of Alaskan fishermen has sued the National Marine Fisheries Service (NFMS)’s Assistant Administrator Janet Coit and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo for a recently announced rule change that will close commercial salmon fishing in the federal waters of Cook Inlet, as SeafoodNews covered on November 4.

The fishermen, Wes Humbyrd, Robert Wolfe and Dan Anderson, argue that the rule, which implemented Amendment 14 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Salmon Fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska (Salmon FMP), was unconstitutional.

“This casually destructive rule must be vacated, however, because it violates the Constitution’s Appointments Clause and Take Care Clause. These “essential” structural provisions of the Constitution are accountability-preserving mechanisms,” the complaint from the fishermen wrote. “Their basic function is to ensure presidential control over the agents who exercise executive power on his behalf.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Salmon Fishermen Sue to Block Federal Shutdown of Alaskan Fishery

November 12, 2021 — Salmon fishermen are suing the Biden administration because an “unaccountable” federal fisheries board plans to shut down federal waters in Cook Inlet in Alaska, a move that will put them out of business.

The legal complaint in Humbyrd v. Raimondo was filed Nov. 9 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. Longtime salmon fishermen Wes Humbyrd, Robert Wolfe, and Dan Anderson are suing Gina Raimondo in her official capacity as secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

A regulation known as Amendment 14 that was proposed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, a body created under federal law, would permanently close the federal waters of Cook Inlet in Alaska to commercial salmon fishing. This federally controlled area spans 3 nautical miles to 200 nautical miles off Alaska and is referred to as the Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone.

“In less than a month, the Rule will permanently close the commercial salmon fishery in Cook Inlet’s federal waters—not because the fishery is overfished or for any other conservation or environmental reason, but simply because the government finds it too bothersome to coordinate with the State of Alaska in managing the fishery,” the legal complaint states.

Read the full story at The Epoch Times

 

Recovery for Salmon and Soldiers: A Veteran’s Story

November 11, 2021 — I served nearly 5 years in the United States Army as a Specialist and an Infantry Team Leader. However, three surgeries and grueling physical therapy took their toll. My injuries ultimately led to a new focus in life, and I separated from the service in April 2018.

I decided I needed a career change and returned to college to study fisheries, a field I have been truly passionate about since I was a kid. While working on my fisheries education, I was fortunate to meet a friend who introduced me to Anna Kagley, fish biologist with the Fish Ecology Division at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center. She would go on to become my mentor and supervisor.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

NOAA Veterans Corps Progress By The Numbers, 2021

November 11, 2021 — The NOAA Veterans Corps provides opportunities for military veterans to build their skills and work experience contributing to habitat and fisheries restoration projects.

Through strong partnerships, the months- to years-long paid training program for veterans includes marine and freshwater restoration for native fish and other natural resources. Veterans Corpsmembers’ experiences can also include:

  • Researching the effects of climate change on marine invertebrates
  • Tracking the status of habitat restoration projects and fish populations
  • Helping control invasive marine species

These efforts are helping a variety of threatened and endangered species recover, including:

Read the full story from NOAA Fisheries

Alaska Salmon Strong: Catch, value and volume hit a high mark

November 9, 2021 — Alaska’s 2021 salmon fishery produced the third highest catch, fish poundage and value on record, dating back to 1975.

According to preliminary harvests and values by region from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the catch of nearly 234 million salmon had a dockside value of almost $644 million, and weighed in at 858.5 million pounds.

That compares to 117 million salmon harvested in 2020 valued at just over $295 million and a combined weight of 517.5 million pounds.

All Alaska regions saw salmon earnings double or nearly triple from last year, except for the Kuskokwim, Yukon and Kotzebue, where values decreased.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

A court decision may help endangered orcas, but Alaskan fishermen are wary

November 8, 2021 — The southern resident killer whale population, three pods of orcas that ply the coastal waters between Monterey, California, and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, has dwindled to only 73 members. Scientists believe this endangered species, which relies almost exclusively on Chinook — or king — salmon, which are also in steep decline, is basically starving its way to extinction.

This past September, however, the U.S. District Court in Seattle seemed to offer the marine mammals a lifeline when it issued a preliminary decision that might make more Chinook available to orcas. Responding to a lawsuit filed by the Wild Fish Conservancy, the court found that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the agency responsible for management of both fisheries and endangered marine species, had violated the Endangered Species Act when it determined that commercial harvest of Chinook off southeast Alaska would not jeopardize southern residents or endangered king salmon populations.

But while the court decision is expected to help orcas, it may be bad news for fishermen, as NMFS will likely need to rethink Chinook harvests.

Read the full story at FERN News

 

USCG, Canadian Coast Guard Target IUU Fishing in North Pacific

November 5, 2021 — The U.S. Coast Guard has wrapped up a joint patrol with Canadian, South Korean and Japanese fisheries officials to target illegal fishing operations in the North Pacific. The operation was hosted by the US Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf, and it included the deployment of a Fisheries and Oceans Canada aircraft patrol based in Japan.

The boarding and inspections teams found prohibited fishing gear; failure to maintain records of catch; improper vessel markings; and illegal retention of salmon. Overall, the operation detected 42 violations of regional fisheries management organization rules, including 25 serious violations. These will be reported to the vessels’ flag states, which could potentially choose to exercise the option to take enforcement action.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

 

NOAA closes federal Cook Inlet waters to commercial salmon fishing for 2022

November 4, 2021 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries this week amended one of its fishery management plans to now bar commercial salmon fishermen from operating in the federal waters of Cook Inlet, the main body of water located just west of the Kenai Peninsula in the Southcentral part of the state.

The amendment, Amendment 14, does not close any salmon fishing in state waters, but instead prohibits commercial salmon fishing in the federal waters of Cook Inlet, the area spanning from 3 nautical miles to 200 nautical miles off the coast of Alaska and referred to as the Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone, or EEZ.

The change is to go into effect to be in place for the 2022 Cook Inlet EEZ commercial salmon fishery. It’s the result of a decision made in December 2020 by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which had been weighing four alternatives for dealing with the fishery management plan for salmon in the EEZ.

The first alternative would have taken no action, and the second option was to have federal oversight of the waters with some management delegated to the state. The third alternative was complete federal oversight and management of the Cook Inlet EEZ, and the fourth was to have federal oversight of the EEZ waters and to close them to commercial salmon fishing.

Read the full story at Alaska’s News Source

 

Survivor salmon that withstand drought and ocean warming provide a lifeline for California Chinook

November 2, 2021 — In drought years and when marine heat waves warm the Pacific Ocean, late-migrating juvenile spring-run Chinook salmon of California’s Central Valley are the ultimate survivors. They are among the few salmon that survive in those difficult years and return to spawning rivers to keep their populations alive, according to a study published October 28 in Nature Climate Change.

The trouble is that this late-migrating behavior hangs on only in a few rivers where remain cool enough for the fish to survive the summer. Today, this habitat is primarily found above barrier dams. Those fish that spend a year in their home streams as juveniles leave in the fall. They arrive in the larger and more likely to survive their one to three years at sea.

Researchers led by first author Flora Cordoleani, associate project scientist with the Institute of Marine Sciences at UC Santa Cruz and NOAA Fisheries, based their findings on an analysis of the ear bones of , called otoliths. These bones incorporate the distinctive isotope ratios of different Central Valley Rivers and the ocean as they grow sequential layers.

Read the full story at PHYS.org