Saving Seafood

New ‘Salmon Wars’ Book Spreads Menhaden Myths

July 14, 2022 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition:

Yesterday, Macmillan Publishers released Salmon Wars, a factually questionable book by former Los Angeles Times managing editor Douglas Frantz and former journalist turned private writer Catherine Collins. The book falsely claims that “overfishing from the Gulf of Mexico north to the Chesapeake Bay threatens a slender fish called a menhaden,” and inaccurately states that menhaden is “an integral player in minimizing algae blooms because it eats phytoplankton.”

According to the February 2020 stock assessment accepted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the Congressionally-chartered interstate compact that regulates shared migratory fishery resources among East Coast states, Atlantic menhaden is neither overfished nor is overfishing occurring. A simple cursory review of the assessment clearly illustrates that the Atlantic menhaden population has not been overfished in several decades. Similarly, in 2021, the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission found that the “Gulf of Mexico Gulf Menhaden stock is not experiencing overfishing and is not overfished.”

In fact, both Atlantic and Gulf menhaden are certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, which operates the world’s most respected global fishery certification program. This designation indicates that the stock is “fished in a way that does not threaten the population’s long-term health and minimizes the damaging effects of fishing to the surrounding wildlife and ecosystem.”

Mr. Frantz and Ms. Collins also continued to misinform their audience by making the oft-repeated claim that menhaden minimize algae blooms. This statement was discredited in a study conducted by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at the College of William and Mary that proved menhaden do not improve overall water quality in the Chesapeake Bay. The study examined “the amount of phytoplankton and nitrogen consumed and excreted by small groups of juvenile and adult menhaden during 6-hour periods,” and found that “older menhaden hardly fed on phytoplankton at all.”  

The study, published in the February 22, 2010, issue of the Marine Ecology Progress Series, concluded that “based on [their] results as well as ecosystem modeling simulations, menhaden do not appear to represent a significant mechanism for removing nutrient inputs to the Bay.”

NWAA Reaction to New Anti-Aquaculture Book: “A Rehash of Old Claims”

July 14, 2022 — The following was released by the NWAA:

The Northwest Aquaculture Alliance (NWAA) is an organization of industry leading companies from Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska, who are engaged in the responsible production of aquatic foods. Our member companies embrace and comply with some of the most stringent standards in the world in the production of both finfish and shellfish—making these products highly desirable and in-demand in restaurants and retail supermarkets. Consumers care how their seafood is produced. So do we. For this reason, we take exception to the latest anti-aquaculture book to hit the market. We believe it does a disservice to the public to publish what is essentially a rehash of old, largely disproven, claims.

From a Washington state perspective, agencies such as the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), the Washington Department of Ecology, and the Department of Natural Resources, have been leaders in developing stringent regulations governing the production of aquatic foods such as salmonids, while protecting wild fish stocks and the environment. Our members welcome the regulatory oversight of these agencies and strive to be transparent and open with respect to aquaculture practices in Washington.

For example, in 2020, when our member company, Cooke Aquaculture Pacific, sought to transition from farming Atlantic salmon to steelhead, the state approved the petition to grow all-female, sterile trout. That approval imposed numerous new conditions on fish farming in Washington, which Cooke readily accepted. As part of that approval, WDFW engaged in extensive analysis and found no risk of significant adverse impacts associated with Cooke’s farming.

Environmental groups unsuccessfully appealed that decision, losing a hearing in Superior Court in 2020, and then again after the Washington State Supreme Court upheld that approval in a unanimous decision. Additionally, after a multi-year evaluation, the National Marine Fisheries Service/NOAA recently completed its extensive analysis of fish farming in Washington, concluding that there is no harm to listed species at farming levels equal to or less than the historic maximum production in Washington.

Our NWAA member companies depend on a healthy environment to farm and are committed to supporting the environment. Cooke Aquaculture Pacific, for example, has not only embraced increased regulation of its operations, but the company has made enormous strides in working on fisheries enhancement projects in Washington as well as elsewhere. Cooke is committed to developing partnerships with the Tribes and local communities that benefit residents and the region, helping to ensure that there are wild fish for generations to come, and healthy, sustainable farmed fish to help meet the food demands of a growing global population.

Read the full release at NWAA

ALASKA: In victory for commercial fishermen, court orders Cook Inlet fishery to reopen

July 5, 2022 — Cook Inlet drift fishermen can fish the federal waters of the inlet this summer after all.

That’s after a district court judge shot down a federal rule that would have closed a large part of the inlet to commercial salmon fishing. Fishermen said it would have been a death knell for the fishery, which has 500 drift permit-holders.

One of those permit-holders is Erik Huebsch, of Kasilof. He’s vice president of the United Cook Inlet Drift Association, which filed the suit. And he said he’s pleased.

“Opening the EEZ is vital to the fleet,” Huebsch said. “Without opening the EEZ, the drift fishery is really not viable. That’s where we go to catch fish.”

The EEZ is the inlet’s exclusive economic zone. And it’s the federal waters that start three nautical miles offshore, south of Kalgin Island.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

University of Idaho study shows climate change is shrinking natural habitat for salmon

June 29, 2022 — A new study from the University of Idaho finds climate change is shrinking the natural habitat for salmon. The university’s study, published by the American Geophysical Union journal Geophysical Research Letters, confirmed that lower water volumes and warm temperatures are dramatically shrinking spawning beds and nurseries for the fish. 

U of I Eco hydraulics Professor Daniele Tonina and her colleagues examined Bear Valley Creek which is known for its population of Chinook salmon. According to a university press release, the stream’s wide valley, meandering main river and cozy side-streams made the site “representative of ideal salmon habitats in the Pacific Northwest.” 

The team mapped the river’s channels and floodplain, and used 60 years of historical stream-flow data, from 1957 to 2016, to calculate trends in the flow. The team then used the data to predict estimated changes to salmon habitat up to the year 2090.  

The study period illustrated that the stream flow volume dropped by 19%, and slowed by 17%. That means less overall area suitable for salmon nests and a loss of off-channel havens as side-streams get cut off from the main channel. The salmon lost 23% of their spawning habitat as well. 

Read the full story at KXLY

Canadian Fisheries Minister Announces 2-Year Renewal of Discovery Island Fish Farm Leases

June 24, 2022 — Progress is being made to transition from open-net pen salmon aquaculture in British Columbia.

Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, announced on Wednesday that the Government of Canada is committed to transition from open-net pen salmon aquaculture in British Columbia’s coastal waters in a manner that “protects wild salmon, the environment and the economy.” As part of that commitment, the government agency is introducing draft framework for the transition. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) will be relying on input from the Government of British Columbia, First Nations, industry, local governments, stakeholders, and British Columbians to develop the final transition plan. Consultations will continue until early 2023, with the expectation that the final transition plan will be completed by spring 2023.

As the DFO works with partners and receives feedback, marine finfish aquaculture facilities outside of the Discovery islands will have a two-year renewal of licenses. These licenses will have stronger requirements for aquaculture facilities, including the implementation of standardized reporting requirements and sea lice management plans, as well as wild salmon monitoring. The DFO says that all of this will “improve the management of the salmon aquaculture industry and help protect wild salmon stocks and their habitat.”

Read the full story at Seafood News

Canada renews BC salmon farm licenses for two years

June 23, 2022 — Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has announced a two-year renewal of licenses for marine finfish aquaculture facilities outside the Discovery Islands in British Columbia, Canada.

The decision by the government impacts salmon farms run by Mowi, Grieg, and Cermaq, and according to a release by the DFO, is part of a planned transition from open-net pen salmon aquaculture in B.C. The decision is part of an ongoing government push to phase out all net-pen fish farming in the area – Canada’s Liberal Party and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have called for a shift away from net-pen farming by 2025.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

China’s salmon consumption growth imperiled by higher import prices

June 22, 2022 — Chinese consumers are facing soaring prices for imported salmon, and that may not be good for long-term market growth, according to Fan Xubing, head of the Beijing-based seafood marketing consultancy Seabridge.

Exports of fresh Norwegian Atlantic salmon to China increased 67 percent in value year-on-year between January and May 2022, even while dropping 11 percent in volume. That jump is part of a global surge in salmon prices as many global markets bounce back following years of COVID-19-related dining and public gathering restrictions, according to Andreas Thorud, the Norwegian Seafood Council’s representative in China.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

ALASKA: Management council declines action on Bering Sea bycatch to address Yukon-Kuskokwim salmon subsistence worries

June 22, 2022 — Despite hours of testimony from residents of the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers who called for urgent action to curb the salmon bycatch by Bering Sea trawlers, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council decided to approach the problem more methodically.

In a unanimous vote near the end of its five-day meeting in Sitka, the Council recommended further study of salmon declines in the Bering Sea, and a closer look at their connection to climate change.

Salmon abundance in the Yukon River, the third-largest river in North America, has dropped sharply in the past two years.

The forecast is no better this season.

Many Yukon and Kuskokwim River residents voiced concern during last Monday’s call.

“At this point, there should be alarm bells going off all over not only in our communities, but all over the state and federal government agencies,” said Vivian Korthuis, the chief executive officer for the Association of Village Council Presidents, a consortium of 56 federally-recognized tribes on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

ALASKA: Fishermen say Bristol Bay protections must be stronger

June 20, 2022 — One of the oldest Bristol Bay fishing associations came out strongly against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed new limits on the potential Pebble Mine, reflecting unease that the much-heralded move does not go far enough.

“The Bristol Bay Fishermen’s Association regrets that it cannot support the EPA’s weak and watered-down 2022 PD (proposed determination),” said David Harsila, a spokesman for the association in a statement this week.

“The watershed will not be protected, and a large-scale mining operation could still be permitted. We demand that EPA do more to protect the Bristol Bay drainages.”

Under the Obama administration, the EPA in 2014 proposed a declaration under section 404 (c) of the Clean Water Act to protect headwaters of Bristol Bay salmon streams from pollution generated by mining for gold, copper and other metal ores in the Pebble Deposit.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

ALASKA: Salmon bycatch, electronic monitoring on the table at Sitka meeting of North Pacific Fishery Management Council

June 9, 2022 — The bycatch of chinook and chum salmon is on the agenda, as the spring meeting of the North Pacific Management Council gets underway in Sitka this week (June 9-14).

In addition to hearing how much salmon is being intercepted in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea by the trawl fisheries, the council will review a proposal to supplement the human observer program with electronic monitoring.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council regulates the so-called “federal fisheries” which take place outside the three-mile limit of Alaska’s state waters, and within the exclusive economic zone of the United States which extends 200 miles offshore.

Read the full story at KCAW