Saving Seafood

Canadian authorities evaluate Cermaq’s planned salmon farms in Nova Scotia

February 3, 2020 — Nova Scotia’s fisheries and aquaculture ministry is taking people’s concerns about Cermaq Canada’s plan to establish operations in the province “very seriously”, CBC reported.

Cermaq Canada is looking at spending CAD 500 million ($378m) to create up to 20 open-pen salmon farms and land-based support facilities in Nova Scotia.

Some people who work and live in communities nestled along coastal areas Cermaq is eyeing for development have been speaking out and protesting against the plans.

However, open-pen fish farming is a huge economic driver for communities, bringing a tremendous amount of tax revenue for the province each year, according to Nova Scotia’s aquaculture minister, Keith Colwell.

“Open pen fish-farms already exist in the province, have for decades, and they will in the future,” Colwell told CBC.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Alaska governor’s budget proposal would trim some fishery programs

February 3, 2020 — Cuts proposed by Alaska governor Mike Dunleavy to his state’s Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) next fiscal budget could be felt in a number of commercial fisheries, reports Alaska Fish Radio‘s Laine Welch.

Dunleavy, a Republican elected in 2018, has proposed nipping $1 million next year from the agency’s nearly $67m budget, of which $36m comes from state general funds, according to Welch.

That would mean the closure of an office in Southeast Alaska and the elimination of red king crab assessments. Cuts also are on deck for stock assessments for Southeast urchin and sea cucumber fisheries, which will likely reduce dive time, Welch reported.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

PFMC: March 3-9, 2020 PFMC Meeting Notice and Agenda Now Available

January 31, 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 March 3-9, 2020 in Rohnert Park, California, to address issues related to groundfish, salmon, Pacific halibut, highly migratory species, ecosystem, habitat, and administrative matters. The meeting of the Council and its advisory entities will be held at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Sonoma Wine Country, One Doubletree Drive, Rohnert Park, CA 94928: telephone, 707-584-5466.

Please see the March 3-9, 2020 Council meeting notice on the Council’s website for meeting detail, schedule of advisory body meetings, our new E-Portal for submitting public comments, and public comment deadlines.

Key agenda items for the meeting include Council considerations to:

  • Adopt Public Review Alternatives for 2020 Ocean Salmon Fisheries
  • Adopt Final Forecasting Methods for Willapa Bay Coho Salmon
  • Consider Range of Alternatives for Transitioning Management of Non-Indian Directed Commercial Halibut Fishery from
  • International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) to PFMC/National Marine Fisheries Service
  • Adopt Public Review Options for Pacific Halibut Retention in 2020Salmon Troll Fishery
  • Adopt Final Pacific Halibut Retention Limits for 2020 Fixed Gear Sablefish Fishery
  • Annual Report on California Current Ecosystem
  • Adopt Final Updates to Fishery Ecosystem Plan Chapters 1 and 2, Including a Vision Statement, and a Revised Set of Goals and Objectives; Review Proposed Changes to Remaining Chapters
  • Update on 2021-2022 Groundfish Harvest Specifications and Management Measures
  • Consider Exempted Fishing Permits for 2021-2022 Groundfish Fisheries, Including Electronic Monitoring
  • Adopt Final Groundfish Inseason Adjustments for 2020, Including Shorebased Carryover
  • Review the Final Rule, Revisit Previous Council Recommendations, and Provide Guidance on Future Council Considerations for Drift Gillnet Swordfish Fishery Hardcaps

For further information:
Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff at 503-820-2280; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

ALASKA: State projects low returns of salmon to Upper Cook Inlet

January 30, 2020 — Another year of poor salmon returns is forecast this summer on one of the world’s most famous salmon streams.

Forecasts for Kenai River chinook (king) and sockeye (red) salmon are below average, according to estimates released this week by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

According to state biologists, this year’s forecast of large, early run Kenai River chinook salmon is just 4,794 fish, a return that would rank as the eighth-lowest return in the last 35 years but would be slightly higher than last year’s run of 4,216 fish. The average return over the past 35 years is more than 9,100 kings in the early run, fish that enter the river through June 30.

The department classifies large fish as those greater than 34 inches in length in order to differentiate 5-, 6- and 7-year fish from their younger, smaller counterparts.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Lawsuit targets Alaska salmon management to protect southern killer whales

January 27, 2020 — A conservation organization based in Washington state is threatening to sue the federal government over the management of Alaska’s chinook salmon fisheries.

The Wild Fish Conservancy claims that management strategies in Alaska approved by the government pose a threat to the survival of several salmon runs in Washington, and the killer whales who depend on them.

The Wild Fish Conservancy filed notice on January 9, stating its intentions to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service for violating the Endangered Species Act, and jeopardizing the existence of southern resident killer whales.

The Conservancy argues that an important food supply of the whales — endangered stocks of chinook salmon originating in Puget Sound, the lower Columbia River, the Willamette River, and Snake River — is being depleted by the commercial troll and sport harvest in Southeast Alaska.

Kurt Beardslee is the director of the Wild Fish Conservancy. Chinook — or king salmon — are managed under treaty between the United States and Canada, overseen by the Pacific Salmon Commission.

Read the full story at KNBA

Salmon’s rise, shrimp’s stagnancy, growing consolidation reshape seafood’s top 100

January 22, 2020 — The movements in this year’s edition of our World’s 100 Largest Seafood Companies report reflect some key trends that shaped the industry last year.

Salmon farmers, particularly those in Chile, and several key multi-species consolidators such as Canada’s Cooke and Parlevliet & Van der Plas (P&P) of The Netherlands had a strong year.

2019 wasn’t as fortunate for several other sub-sectors in the seafood business such as shrimp suppliers, and Japanese-based distributors and wholesalers that face the challenge of difficult population demographics.

This year’s list also features six companies that are newcomers to our ranking: Spanish tuna processing and catching group Atunes y Lomos, Vietnamese pangasius producer Vinh Hoan, US lobster and scallops supplier East Coast Seafood, processors Iceland Seafood International and Seachill UK — which made past rankings under its past incarnation Icelandic Group — and Spanish fishing firm Grupo Iberica de Congelados, which is better known by its abbreviation, Iberconsa.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Pink salmon disaster relief finally on the way

January 22, 2020 — It’s been a long time coming, but payments should soon be in hand for Alaska fishermen, processors and coastal communities hurt by the 2016 pink salmon run failure, the worst in 40 years. The funds are earmarked for Kodiak, Prince William Sound, Chignik, Lower Cook Inlet, South Alaska Peninsula, Southeast Alaska and Yakutat.

Congress okayed more than $56 million in federal relief in 2017, but the authorization to cut the money loose languished on NOAA desks in Washington, D.C., for more than two years.

The payouts got delayed again last October when salmon permit holders, who share the biggest chunk at nearly $32 million, were finally able to apply to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission for their checks.

But when it was discovered that the way in which the payouts were calculated was badly flawed, the commission put on the brakes.

“There was a big snafu because a lot of the crew was under-reported by the skippers. So Pacific States said that until everything gets squared away, no one is going to get any checks,” said Rep. Louise Stutes (R-Kodiak) who has been watchdogging the payouts since the pink fishery was declared a disaster.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

More than just temperature change at work as climate change hits salmon, research shows

January 17, 2020 — The four-year EU research project ClimeFish has established that there will be more factors than just water temperature at play as the full effects of climate change hit Norwegian salmon over the next five decades.

According to Elisabeth Ytteborg, a scientist at the research group Nofima, who collaborated with the UK’s University of Stirling on the project, local factors play a much bigger role than previously assumed on fish health as marine temperatures rise.

Although it has previously been determined that salmon die when water temperature hits 23°C, there has reportedly been a case that saw salmon died at a significantly lower temperature, 20°C.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Rising sea temperatures could threaten Atlantic salmon production

January 16, 2020 — In 2017, aquaculture production in the EU reached a decade high thanks to increased production of high-value species like salmon and seabass, according to a report by the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA). The same report also shows that in 2015, per capita world consumption of fish was 8 percent higher than in 2005, with Asia registering the highest growth, followed by Europe.

With the consumption of fish and shellfish expected to rise further, and  change rapidly affecting fisheries and habitats, it’s crucial to analyze the dynamics of fisheries and aquaculture production. The EU-funded ClimeFish project has been tackling this issue to help regulators, fish producers and aquaculture operators to predict, prepare and adapt to climate change.

Partially supported by ClimeFish, a team of researchers found that since the 1980s,  off the Norwegian coast have risen by 1 °C on average, as noted in a news item by project partner Nofima. The researchers predict further increases over the next decades, likely causing problems for . Salmon is the third most consumed farmed fish in the EU, according to EUMOFA.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

NOAA Fisheries Veterans Corps Turned My Life Around

January 15, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In 2015, I was separated from the U.S. Army with a General Discharge, Under Honorable Conditions. I returned to California with no idea what I was going to do. My hopes of attending a four-year college using the Post 9-11 G.I. Bill were squashed due to the characterization of my discharge. Over the next year, I would end up dropping out of community college and getting fired from my gas station job. My life was way off track, I lacked any purpose or vision, and I was headed nowhere fast. But this rock-bottom moment led me to a job posting for the California Conservation Corps (CCC), and my life was radically transformed in the best possible way.

I joined the CCC in July of 2016 and spent my first year in the traditional Corps program. I did activities such as litter clean up, fire fuel reduction, and invasive plant removal. The work opened my eyes to a whole new world of conservation and natural resource protection, but I felt the need to learn and do more. That’s when I requested a transfer to northern California and found out about the existence of the NOAA Veterans Corps Fisheries Program. I had no idea what “fisheries” meant or that California was home to salmon, but I liked that the job description included “working independently” and “hiking through creeks.” So, I took a leap of faith and took a position in the Vet Corps working at the Ukiah CCC Center. This turned out to be the best decision that I have ever made in my life.

Improving Habitat, Counting Salmon

Over the next two years I learned more about science and conservation than I ever did in any classroom setting. I spent three months leading a crew in the installation of “large woody debris” (a fancy science term for logs) on coastal streams. This improves the quality of habitat for endangered coho salmon.

After that, I spent about six months walking through the creeks of Sonoma and Mendocino counties. I counted spawning salmon and gathering data for biologists from the Mendocino Redwood Company and the Russian River Monitoring Program. When the salmon finished spawning, I used laser survey equipment to gather data about changes in the topography of stream channels. I spent one more season doing restoration work with the CCC before I decided to branch out once more. I transferred to the NOAA Vet Corps’ most unique site in Orleans, California.

Read the full release here