Saving Seafood

PFMC: Notice of availability: Salmon Preseason Report II (March 19, 2020)

March 20, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The following document has been posted to the Council’s website:

Public hearings on the proposed management alternatives

Comments on the proposed management alternatives may be presented at the following public hearings which will be held via webinar only due to public health concerns related to COVID19 :

Alternative ways to provide public comment

Public comment is also being accepted through April 2 at 5pm via our E-Portal. Agenda Item E.1 is the most appropriate for Salmon alternatives adopted in March.

For further information

U.S., Canada close border for non-essential travel, supply chain exempted

March 19, 2020 — Border crossing between Canada and the U.S. will be closed for non-essential travels in an effort by both countries to slow the spread of Covid-19. The movement of goods and supplies between the two countries, as well as Canadians and Americans who cross the border daily for essential work-related matters will still be able to do so.

This new development was announced Wednesday by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“Our governments recognize that it is critical that we preserve supply chains between both countries. These supply chains ensure that food, fuel and life saving medicines reach people on both sides of the border,” Trudeau said, as he addressed reporters from outside his home in Ottawa where he has been self-isolating after his wife tested positive of Covid-19.

Read the full story at Aquaculture North America

Conservationists Say Salmon Fishing Plan Imperils Whales

March 19, 2020 — The government allowed salmon fishing in Alaska at rates its own reports said will push endangered Southern Resident killer whales closer to extinction, environmental groups claim in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

Salmon born in the rivers and streams of Oregon, Washington state and British Columbia migrate to the Pacific Ocean and through the Gulf of Alaska, home to a major troll fishing fleet. In southeast Alaska, 97% of the Chinook salmon fishermen harvest were born elsewhere. The fish they take never make it back to their home waters, where they could have been dinner for the 72 remaining Southern Resident killer whales – a genetically distinct group of orca that are starving due to a lack of their main prey.

“It is reckless and irresponsible for NOAA to approve this harvest, these salmon don’t belong to Alaska, they belong to Southern Resident killer whales, indigenous peoples, and fishing communities down the coast,” Kurt Beardslee, Wild Fish Conservancy’s executive director, said Wednesday in a press release.

Read the full story at the Courthouse News Service

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:

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