Saving Seafood

Small Genetic Difference Determines Chinook Salmon Migration Timing, New Study Shows

October 30, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The annual migration of Chinook salmon up West Coast rivers from the ocean has enriched ecosystems, inspired cultures, and shaped landscapes. Yet the timing of their migration is controlled by one small section of their genome, according to research published this week in Science.

This is the first time scientists have linked a single gene region to such an influential difference in a vertebrate species. For salmon, it determines whether they return upriver from the ocean in spring or fall. This has crucial implications for other species that rely on them for food. First author Neil Thompson of the University of California Santa Cruz and NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center said that this small genetic difference can have a major effect on a complex pattern of migration and reproduction.

Fish migrating upriver in spring may access habitat such as higher elevation tributaries. These habitats become less accessible to Chinook salmon migrating later in the year when stream flows decline. The result is that fall-run Chinook salmon remain lower in the watershed without continuing up into the tributaries.

However, the construction of dams in the West blocked spring-run Chinook salmon from much of their original spawning habitat. This contributed to the listing of several spring-migrating fish under the Endangered Species Act. Fall-run Chinook salmon on the West Coast are generally more abundant.

The scientists identified the gene region influencing migration with whole-genome sequencing. Then, they scientists examined the genetic pattern in more than 500 Chinook salmon caught by the Yurok Tribe in the Klamath River estuary. They analyzed the effects of variation in this genetic region on migration timing and other physiological traits.

Read the full release here

Tongass twisted: Alaska salmon habitat loses clearcutting protections

October 30, 2020 — As expected, the Trump administration has removed a 2001 Roadless Rule exemption for more than 9 million acres of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest.

A notice posted in the Federal Register on Wednesday, Oct. 28, confirms the plans indicated in the final environmental impact statement, released in September, to open lands to the removal of old-growth trees and the construction of logging roads after nearly 20 years of protection.

“I’m disappointed,” said Seth Stewart of Yakobi Fisheries in Pelican, Alaska. “Exempting the Tongass National Forest and opening 9.3 million acres to old growth logging is a shot in the gut to fishing and tourism businesses in Southeast Alaska that have been driving the economy in Southeast Alaska for decades.”

The Tongass produces more salmon than all other national forests combined, according to Trout Unlimited, and the fishing and tourism industry supported by the intact forest account for more than 25 percent of local jobs in the region.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

AquaBounty announces Kentucky as next planned GE salmon farm site

October 30, 2020 — AquaBounty Technologies announced that Mayfield, Kentucky, U.S.A., has been selected as its favored site for a future 10,000 metric ton (MT) land-based salmon farm.

The new farm would be the first large-scale commercial facility for the company’s AquAdvantage salmon – a proprietary genetically engineered Atlantic salmon. The new location would be eight times the size of the company’s existing farm in Albany, Indiana, which currently has a production capacity of 1,200 MT.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Russia Hopes to Compensate Unsuccessful Salmon Fishing Season by Increase of Pollock Catch This Year

October 27, 2020 — Russia hopes to compensate the unsuccessful salmon fishing season this year with the increase of production of ivasi sardine, mackerel and pollock, according to recent statements made by the head of the Russian Federal Agency for Fishery (Rosrybolovstvo), Ilya Shestakov, during his recent meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin.  

During the meeting, which was dedicated to the situation in the domestic fishing sector, Shestakov said despite the pandemic, the current situation in the industry remains stable.  

Read the full story at Seafood News

Groups still want state to consider Atlantic salmon for endangered status

October 15, 2020 — After being rebuffed by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Maine Department of Marine Resources, a group of conservation groups and individuals is remaining steadfast in its effort to have the state conduct an investigation into whether Atlantic salmon deserve inclusion on the Maine list of endangered species.

In June, that group of 10 groups and six individuals wrote to the DIF&W seeking an investigation. However, a month later in July, DIF&W commissioner Judy Camuso and marine resources commissioner Patrick Keliher replied saying they didn’t think state listing was needed, citing ongoing federal Endangered Species Act protection for the species, and cooperation between state, federal and non-governmental organizations on salmon conservation efforts.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Fall fishing: Alaska’s commercial fleets load up on pollock, Dungeness, king crabs and more

October 9, 2020 — As always, there is a lot of fishing action going on after summer salmon.

At Southeast Alaska, beam trawlers are back on the water targeting 650,000 pounds of pink and sidestripe shrimp in a third opener.

Southeast’s Dungeness season reopened on Oct. 1, and a few million pounds are likely to come out of that fishery. There will again be no opener for red or blue king crab because of low abundances.

On Oct. 5, a hundred or more divers also could be heading down for more than 1.7 million pounds of red sea cucumbers. A catch of just under 3 million pounds of sea urchins also is up for grabs, but there may be a lack of buyers. Southeast divers also are targeting giant geoduck clams.

At Prince William Sound, a 15,000-pound test fishery just wrapped up for golden king crabs; likewise, a nearly 7 million pound golden king crab fishery is ongoing along the Aleutian Islands.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

ALASKA: Lower supplies of wild Pacific salmon by major producers push up prices

October 7, 2020 — Now that the 2020 pack of Alaska salmon has been caught and put up, stakeholders will get a better picture of how global prices may rise or fall.

Nearly 75% of the value of Alaska’s salmon exports is driven by sales between July and October. And right now, lower supplies of wild Pacific salmon by the major producers are pushing up prices as the bulk of those sales are made.

For sockeye salmon, global supplier and market tracker Tradex reports that frozen fillets are in high demand and supplies are hard to source for all sizes. With a catch this year topping 45 million, Alaska is the leading producer of that popular commodity.

“Luckily, sockeye harvests were once again abundant in Bristol Bay as fishermen caught nearly 200 million pounds. Although that’s a bigger than average harvest for Bristol Bay, it’s still down 9% from last year. With lower sockeye harvests in Russia and closures in Canada, we estimate the global sockeye harvest declined by 26% in 2020,” said Andy Wink, executive director of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association speaking on the Tradex Three-Minute Market Report.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

ALASKA: Disaster Declaration for SE Fisheries Sought

October 6, 2020 — Five Southeast legislators are calling on Gov. Dunleavy to seek a federal fisheries disaster declaration for Southeast because of poor harvests and low prices.

“Reports from the Southeast commercial fishing fleets indicate a dismal year for salmon returns in the region. There has also been a significant drop in prices fishermen get from processors. This, paired with reduced economic opportunity caused by COVID-19, has led many of our communities to request declarations of economic disaster,” the legislators said in a letter to the governor.

Read the full story at Seafood News

ALASKA: State legislative leaders ask Dunleavy not to help Pebble

October 5, 2020 — Two Alaska legislative leaders have called on the state’s governor to stop assisting the development of a proposed copper and gold mine.

House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, an independent, and Republican Rep. Louise Stutes wrote to Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy Tuesday about the Pebble Mine project.

The legislators said the administration should not provide state land for a mitigation plan that developers hope will lead to a federal permit for the proposed open-pit mine about 200 miles (322 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage.

The mine would straddle salmon-producing headwaters of the Bristol Bay fishery.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

New Videos Put Restitution to Work for Imperiled Coho Salmon

October 2, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Coho salmon once supported a wealth of tribal, commercial, and recreational fisheries along the West Coast. Today some populations of the swift silvery fish are nearing extinction. The good news? We can reverse that decline, as biologists and others demonstrate in a new video series that offers hope for California’s endangered fish and wildlife species.

The video series was produced in collaboration with state and federal fish and wildlife agencies with a community service payment made by a real estate development company. The company pleaded guilty in 2016 in a federal criminal case involving the endangered California tiger salamander. In a separate but related case, the owner of the development company agreed to protect a 107-acre ranch in Contra Costa County that provides habitat for endangered species.

The Saving Species Together video series and a supporting website highlight collaborative efforts to recover endangered species including:

  • California tiger salamander
  • San Joaquin kit fox
  • Western snowy plover
  • Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast coho salmon

“When we collaborate, we can make very real progress in protecting these species,” said Bob Pagliuco, a NOAA Fisheries habitat restoration specialist. He worked with Humboldt Redwood Company and Trout Unlimited to build an off-channel pond for juvenile coho in the Eel River Watershed. The coho salmon video tells how a supportive landowner helped return fish to their historic habitat. “The educational campaign launched by these videos is a way to help the public understand how habitat destruction affects species and how we can protect habitats to save these species.”

Read the full release here