Saving Seafood

April 4-10, 2020 PFMC Meeting Notice (WEBINAR) and Agenda Now Available

March 18, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC or Council) and its advisory bodies will meet April 4‐10, 2020 by webinar only, to address issues related to groundfish, salmon, Pacific halibut, coastal pelagic species, and administrative matters.

Please see the April 4-10, 2020 Council meeting notice on the Council’s website for further updates and details regarding webinar participation; schedule of advisory body meetings, our E-Portal for submitting public comments, and public comment deadlines.

Key agenda items for the meeting include Council considerations to:

  • Adopt Final Management Measures for 2020 Ocean Salmon Fisheries
  • Consider Process for Southern Oregon Northern California Coastal Coho Endangered Species Act Consultation Recommendations
  • Adopt Final Incidental Pacific Halibut Catch Recommendations for 2020 and Early 2021 Non‐Indian Salmon Troll Fisheries
  • Adopt a Pacific Sardine Assessment, Final Harvest Specifications, and Management Measures for the 2020‐2021 Sardine Fishery
  • Adopt Final Preferred Harvest Specifications and Preliminary Management Measures for 2021‐2022 Groundfish Fisheries

Meetings of advisory bodies will also be conducted by webinar based on the schedules in the agenda. There will be one opportunity for public comment daily in each of the webinars.

Instructions for how to connect to those webinars will be posted on the Council’s April 2020 Meeting webpage prior to the first day of the meeting.

Please note that the evolving public health situation regarding COVID‐19 may further affect the conduct of the April Council and advisory body meetings. Pacific Council staff will monitor COVID‐19 developments and will determine if there is a need for additional measures. If such measures are deemed necessary, Council staff will post notice of them prominently on our website (www.pcouncil.org). Potential meeting participants are encouraged to check the Pacific Council’s website frequently for such information and updates.

For further information:

PFMC: Salmon hearings will be conducted via webinar only

March 17, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

Due to public health concerns related to COVID19 the Pacific Fishery Management Council will be conducting the following Salmon hearings via webinar only.

We recognize these meetings are typically held in person, but given the circumstances we feel the webinar platform is the best way to proceed. We appreciate your patience and flexibility.

The links below will take you to the specific meeting information participation:

Attendee instructions:

A few days in advance of the meeting, please reference the following materials and video to practice joining the meeting. This is to ensure your ability to participate, as troubleshooting moments before the meeting will be difficult.

Alternative ways to provide public comment:

Public comment is also being accepted through March 27th at 5pm via our E-Portal. Agenda Item E.1 is the most appropriate for Salmon alternatives adopted in March.

Coronavirus increasingly impacting Scotland’s salmon exports

March 16, 2020 — The controls that have been imposed in various markets to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic have made it difficult for some of Scotland’s salmon exporters to get products to customers, and the trade situation is likely to deteriorate before improvements are seen, the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO) has said.

U.S. President Donald Trump extended a European travel ban to include the United Kingdom and Ireland on Saturday, 14 March. Cargo remains exempt from the ban, but the number of trans-Atlantic flights has dropped as a result, significantly reducing bellyhold cargo capacity from the market, according to Air Cargo News.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

PFMC: April Council meeting and March salmon public hearings will be conducted by Webinar Only due to COVID-19

March 16, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

Due to public health concerns regarding COVID-19, the Pacific Fishery Management Council will be conducting its April 4-10 Council and Advisory Body meetings and its March salmon public hearings by Webinar Only.

Please see the March 13, 2020 News Release for related information.

Council staff will be releasing updated meeting and hearing information next week.

Endangered coho salmon preservation an upstream battle in California

March 13, 2020 — The endangered coho salmon of Tomales Bay, north of San Francisco, are getting assistance from a stream restoration effort that could help rescue them from near-extinction locally.

Through the project, fish ecologists hope they can restore habitat to rebuild decimated populations of the historic fish, which once was a staple of indigenous diets and later California commercial fishing.

Central California coast coho salmon formerly were plentiful on the West Coast, but the population has shrunk so low that the fish is listed as endangered in California, Oregon and Washington under the federal Endangered Species Act. It is now illegal to catch coho salmon in California. Cohos are not protected in Alaska.

The fishes’ spawning grounds are becoming hard to find. Unlike Chinook salmon, which lay eggs in rushing rivers, coho prefer small streams.

Read the full story at UPI

NOAA Fisheries Part of International Team to Study Salmon in Gulf of Alaska Under Continuing Warm Conditions

March 13, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries scientists are part of an international team that set sail on April 11. They are studying the impacts of continued warm ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Alaska on Pacific salmon survival.  It has been estimated that one-third of all Pacific salmon spend the winter in the Gulf of Alaska. While reduced in size compared to previous years, the current marine heatwave affecting the Gulf remains one of the top five largest heatwaves on record in the North Pacific in the last 40 years.

“Salmon affect more people culturally, economically, and recreationally than any other fish in the world,” said Doug Mecum, Deputy Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region. “This International Year of the Salmon expedition in the Gulf of Alaska expands international salmon research on the high seas to build understanding of how a changing climate may influence salmon ocean habitats, distributions, and productivity.”

Scientists suspect young salmon that can find sufficient food and experience enhanced early marine growth are those that best survive their first winter at sea. The survival of these fish largely determines the size of subsequent adult salmon populations. So, scientists think that environmental conditions have the greatest influence on salmon survival during their first year at sea.

“We know that ocean and climate conditions play a major role in regulating salmon abundances,” said Wess Strasburger, who will serve as chief scientist on the first leg of the survey. “But we don’t have a good understanding of the mechanisms regulating salmon abundances in the ocean.”

Read the full release here

Low Salmon Forecasts Cast a Pall Over Upcoming Salmon Seasons

March 12, 2020 — Forecasts for many Chinook and coho stocks on the West Coast are low — lower than last year and some nearing historic lows. Regardless, the Pacific Fishery Management Council and its advisory bodies developed alternatives for sport and commercial ocean salmon fisheries when it met last week in Rohnert Park, Calif.

The alternatives now go out for public review before the Council makes a final decision on salmon seasons at its meeting in Vancouver, Wash., on April 5-10.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Maine regulators to make decision on large salmon farm

March 10, 2020 — Maine regulators plan to make a decision about a large salmon farm after they take the last of the public comments about the proposal.

Norway-based Nordic Aquafarms wants to build the land-based farm, which would produce tens of millions of pounds of salmon per year. The Maine Department of Marine Resources has hosted public hearings about the proposal that have garnered some criticism of the project from residents.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

West Coast Waters Shift Toward Productive Conditions, But Lingering Heat May “Tilt” Marine Ecosystem

March 6, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Burgeoning populations of anchovy and a healthy crop of California sea lion pups reflected improved productivity off parts of the West Coast in 2019. However, lingering offshore heat worked against recovery of salmon stocks and reduced fishing success, a new analysis reports.

The California Current Ecosystem Status Report explains that ocean conditions off the West Coast remain unusually variable. This has been the case since the arrival of a major marine heatwave in 2014 known as “The Blob.” NOAA Fisheries’ two West Coast laboratories, the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Southwest Fisheries Science Center, issue the report each year to the Pacific Fishery Management Council.

“There is not a real clear picture here,” said Chris Harvey, co-editor of the report developed by the two laboratories’ Integrated Ecosystem Assessment approach. The approach integrates physical, biological, economic, and importantly social conditions of the California Current marine ecosystem into the decision-making process. “On the one hand, we have a lot of anchovy out there. On the other hand, we also have a lot of warm water. That is not usually a sign of improved productivity.”

Read the full release here