Salmon Archives - Page 30 of 135

Canada launches C$647 mln strategy to stave off Pacific wild salmon collapse

June 9, 2021 — Canada launched a C$647.1 million ($535.10 million) strategy on Tuesday to restore Pacific wild salmon stocks that are on the brink of collapse due to climate change, habitat degradation and harvesting pressures.

The investment, first announced in the federal budget in April, will be the largest ever government contribution to efforts to save the species, which has huge cultural and ecological significance on the west coast.

“Many Pacific wild salmon are on the verge of collapse, and we need to take bold, ambitious action now if we are to reverse the trend and give them a fighting chance at survival,” Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan said in a statement.

The government’s Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative will focus on stronger science and habitat restoration, stabilizing and growing the salmon populations, modernizing fisheries, and deeper coordination between stakeholders including indigenous people and the fisheries industry.

Read the full story at Reuters

How to track salmon catches and market trends for every region of Alaska

June 8, 2021 — Buyers are awaiting Alaska salmon from fisheries that are opening almost daily across the state, and it’s easy to track catches and market trends for every region.

Fishery managers forecast a statewide catch topping 190 million salmon this year, 61% higher than the 2020 take of just over 118 million. But globally, the supply of wild salmon is expected to be down amid increased demand.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Run Forecasts and Harvest Projections for 2021 Alaska Salmon Fisheries and Review of the 2020 Season provides breakdowns for all species by region.

And salmon catches are updated daily at Fish and Game’s Blue Sheet, found at its commercial fisheries web page. They also post weekly summaries of harvests broken out by every region along with comparisons to past years.

Predictions for the 2021 mix of fish call for a catch of 269,000 Chinook salmon, up slightly from 2020 but 25% below the 10-year average.

The projected sockeye harvest of 46.6 million will help replenish low inventories that saw strong export prices in early 2021 and “a continued promising market,” said Dan Lesh, a fisheries economist with the McKinley Research Group who compiles weekly updates during the season for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

What Happens After Dam Removals

June 8, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Maine’s Penobscot River has more than 100 dams, many of which are aging and no longer serve their original purpose. Removing dams is becoming more common, with the purposes of addressing hazards posed by these aging dams, returning natural river flow and function, or both.

For Atlantic salmon and other species of sea-run fish, the last 200 years of dammed rivers and disconnected streams have, combined with historic fisheries and lower marine survival, spelled decline, and for Atlantic salmon, disaster. The storied Atlantic salmon runs had fish returning by the thousands to Northeast rivers. They are now limited to just a few rivers in Maine, with fewer than 2,000 fish returning each year. These runs are heavily reliant on hatchery-raised fish. The Penobscot River is home to the largest remaining population of endangered Atlantic salmon in the United States. Dams have been identified as one of the primary factors in the decline of Atlantic salmon.

Over the last decade, researchers have been studying whether removing two Penobscot River dams in 2012 and 2013 improved ecosystem conditions for salmon and other aquatic species. So far, results are promising.

Read the whole story on our website.

Read the full release here

Murkowski and Colleagues Stand Up for Wild-Caught Salmon

June 8, 2021 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK):

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) reintroduced the Genetically Engineered Salmon Labeling Act, which will allow consumers to make informed decisions when purchasing salmon. The bill works to ensure that any genetically engineered (GE) salmon products sold in the U.S. are clearly labeled “genetically engineered” in the market name. This requirement would apply to the entire lineage of salmon modified via recombinant DNA technology. The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

“It is absolutely essential that consumers be fully informed about what they are buying and feeding their families—especially when it comes to purchasing a genetically engineered salmon product. As an Alaskan who knows the tremendous benefits of eating healthy, wild Alaskan salmon, it’s imperative that Americans have the information to make that choice. When you splice DNA from another animal and combine it with farmed salmon, you are essentially creating a new species, and I have serious concerns with that. If we are going to allow this fake fish to be sold in stores, there must be clear labeling. We owe it to American consumers to ensure that any labeling of GE salmon is clear, effective, and understandable.”

Background: Through her role on the Appropriations Committee, Senator Murkowski has included language in previous appropriation bills to prevent the introduction of GE salmon to the U.S. market until the completion of a consumer study to determine the effectiveness of USDA’s labeling guidelines for bioengineered foods. USDA’s labeling guidelines did not require mandatory labeling of GE salmon, but instead allowed producers to use QR codes or 1-800 numbers for more information, which Senator Murkowski stressed were inadequate. Senator Murkowski’s years-long fight to ensure that any salmon that is genetically engineered be clearly labeled goes back to November 2015, when the FDA made the decision to approve GE salmon for human consumption.

Returns & rebounds: Electronics suppliers and installers are ready for service, following a year of restricted global supply chains

June 7, 2021 — Regardless of where one stands on the mask mandate for commercial fishermen, it’s safe to say coronavirus has affected almost every aspect of fisheries. The marine electronics market is working a double-edged sword.

“Demand is through the roof,” says Furuno’s Matt Wood. “And we have products back ordered.”

Furuno is not alone. More than 18 months of restrictions aimed at combating the pandemic resulted in a significant slowdown of imports from Asia, including marine electronics products. But as fishermen gear up for a return to something more like normal, suppliers and installers of the latest fishfinders and transducers have their hands full.

Among the rising stars in the Furuno line is the DFF3D echosounder, introduced three years ago. Fishermen are using the split-beam sounder with different transducers in a variety of applications.

“These have really caught fire,” says Wood. “And we’ve just scratched the surface of what they can do. In the East they are using them with Time Zero for bottom building, in Southeast Alaska, too.”

Some salmon trollers have reported good results with the DFF3D. “They can use it to steer side to side,” says Wood. “Salmon are hard to see on any sounder, but if you look at it long enough, you can see them.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Public Input on Proposal to Close Commercial Salmon Fishing in the Cook Inlet EEZ

June 4, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Council recommended measure responds to court ruling requiring Federal management of EEZ waters in Cook Inlet

NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comments on a proposal to amend the Fishery Management Plan for the Salmon Fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska (Salmon FMP) to prohibit commercial salmon fishing in federal waters, also called the exclusive economic zone or EEZ, in Cook Inlet. The proposed action would not close any salmon fishing in State of Alaska waters.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council first developed the Salmon FMP under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act more than 40 years ago. The current Salmon FMP excludes designated federal waters in Cook Inlet. That has allowed the State of Alaska to manage commercial salmon fishing in the area.

North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization Meeting Concludes: West Greenland Measures Disappointing

June 4, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

On Friday, June 4, the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) concluded its 38th Annual Meeting (held virtually). NASCO is an intergovernmental organization formed to promote the conservation, restoration, enhancement, and rational management of wild Atlantic salmon stocks in the North Atlantic Ocean. NASCO’s members are Canada, Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland) (DFG), the European Union, Norway, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Representatives from a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) also attended the meeting.

Participants discussed a number of matters critical to Atlantic salmon conservation and management, including a new regulatory measure for the mixed stock fishery that occurs off West Greenland. This fishery, which operates against the scientific advice, takes critically endangered U.S. origin salmon. As such, our highest priority during the meeting was to agree to a regulatory measure that reduced the catch in the fishery to the lowest possible level and ensured effective management and control.

While a new interim regulatory measure was adopted for the fishery off West Greenland, the United States is deeply concerned about many of its key provisions. In order to avoid allowing the fishery to operate outside of any international constraints, we stopped short of blocking consensus on this one-year measure. However, we expressed our extreme displeasure with several provisions including a 27 ton Total Allowable Catch (TAC), the failure to implement the required 10 ton reduction in the 2021 TAC to account for overharvest in 2020, and the lack of an overharvest payback provision applicable to any future overharvests. The European Union, Canada, and the United Kingdom largely shared the U.S. concerns about the new regulatory measure. All indicated that the catch level was too high, especially without a requirement to ensure any overharvest of the TAC would be addressed. DFG, however, was not willing to change its position on the size of total TAC or the inclusion of the overharvest payback provision.

The new measure will maintain the prohibition on factory landings and exports of Atlantic salmon from Greenland, and require DFG to continue to implement previously agreed monitoring, control, and reporting measures. The new regulatory measure will apply to the fishery off West Greenland in 2021 only, and Parties agreed that they would meet before the 2022 NASCO annual meeting to continue discussions on the development of a longer-term measure. The United States looks forward to these discussions and to the adoption of a stronger measure at the 2022 NASCO annual meeting.

Visit our web page to read the Closing Statement from the U.S. Head of Delegation to NASCO, Kim Damon-Randall, Deputy Regional Administrator for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office.

Read the full release here

Baird Station: The First National Fish Hatchery June 01, 2021

June 3, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Spencer Baird, founder of NOAA Fisheries, was aware of the need to research how and why fishery stocks could be depleted. His first trip to Woods Hole in 1863, before he was appointed as the first U.S. Fish Commissioner, was conducted partly as tourist, partly as fisheries researcher.

Once he became commissioner in 1871, Baird’s charge was to “ascertain whether any and what diminution in the number of food fishes of the coast and inland lakes has occurred.” The additional task of “supplementing declining native stocks of coastal and lake food fish through fish propagation” was added in 1872.

That same year, Baird hired fish culturist Livingston Stone and sent him to California to find a good source for chinook salmon eggs. Stone accomplished far more.

Livingston Stone and Baird Station

Livingston Stone was born in Boston in 1836 and graduated from Harvard in 1857. He became a church pastor, but health issues required him to spend as much time outdoors as possible. He turned to fish and fisheries. In 1870, he helped found the American Fish Culturists Association, which later became the American Fisheries Society.

Hatcheries and a Fish Park

With colleagues Myron Green and Willard Perrin, Stone soon established Baird Station, named after Spencer Baird, on northern California’s McCloud River. It was the first federal fish hatchery and California’s first freshwater fish station, focused on salmon.

With the help and collaboration of local Native American people—the Winnemem Wintu—salmon eggs were routinely gathered and shipped by railroad. They were sent to East Coast locations to stock streams, and for shipment overseas. The need to feed a growing population led to the decision to transplant established East Coast marine species—American shad, striped bass, eels, lobster, catfish, and Penobscot salmon—to the West Coast. Today the West Coast shad population is healthy and striped bass is a favorite sport fish.

Noting the decline of West Coast salmon stocks, Stone advocated for a national salmon park in Alaska. Established in 1892 on Afognak Island, it was rescinded in the 1930s, but it foreshadowed the creation of today’s marine protected areas.

Read the full release here

JON BRODERICK AND KATE CRUMP: Stop the Pebble Mine forever

June 3, 2021 — Every summer, thousands of commercial and sport fishermen, seafood processors and sport fishing guides — many of them Oregonians — migrate to western Alaska for the remarkable annual return of tens of millions of wild sockeye salmon to Bristol Bay.

Bristol Bay’s salmon have sustained the Indigenous people of Bristol Bay for millennia, and today they remain the backbone of the bay’s local communities. These salmon also support a thriving, renewable industry that feeds Alaska’s economy and provides income for families like ours in the Pacific Northwest.

In recent years, Bristol Bay’s salmon generated 15,000 American jobs and created $2.2 billion in renewable annual revenue. Half of all the sockeye salmon sold in global markets comes from Bristol Bay.

And yet, since the late 1980s, Bristol Bay’s rare and sustainable fishery has been threatened by plans for a colossal open-pit gold and copper mine — the Pebble Mine — that a Canadian mining company would blast out of the bay’s pristine headwaters, irreparably disrupting the watershed and leaving behind significant toxic mining waste that must be stored in perpetuity.

Read the full story at The Daily Astorian

Limiting Chinook Fishing in Low-Return Years to Help Killer Whales: What Do You Think?

June 3, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is asking for public input on a Pacific Fishery Management Council recommendation to reduce impacts from fishing off the West Coast. The recommendation would be implemented if salmon numbers fall too low to provide enough prey for the 75 endangered Southern Resident killer whales.

NOAA Fisheries is proposing to adopt the Council’s recommendation, and conducted a consultation under the Endangered Species Act. This consultation ensured that the amended fisheries management plan does not jeopardize the continued existence of threatened or endangered species, or negatively impact designated critical habitat. It incorporated recent research that revealed new details of when and where the whales forage, and their preferred prey.

The Council created a workgroup of representatives from West Coast states, tribes, and NOAA Fisheries to examine the issue. The workgroup completed a risk assessment evaluating the impact of fisheries on West Coast Chinook salmon abundance and, in turn, on the Southern Residents, and developed recommendations.

Late last year the Council adopted the workgroup’s suggestions. They included limiting commercial and recreational fishing in certain places off California, Oregon, and Washington when estimated Chinook salmon numbers north of Cape Falcon, Oregon, fall below a certain level of abundance.

The workgroup recommended that level be set as the average of the seven lowest years of forecast salmon abundance off the northern Oregon and Washington coasts. This average is currently estimated at 966,000. Chinook numbers have remained above that level in recent years; 2007 was the last year when forecasts would have fallen below the threshold.

Read the full release here