Saving Seafood

Tuna too few: Commercial season off to standard slow start

July 21, 2021 — Commercial albacore tuna season swam into action last week with the first official landings hitting local docks.

Safe Coast Seafoods and Ilwaco Landing each recorded their first offload of the 2021 commercial tuna season Monday, July 12 in Ilwaco.

Landings have been slow to start the season, fishermen and processors reported, which is par for the course. August has historically been the month with the heaviest commercial tuna landings for Oregon and Washington, with the season wrapping up around October, depending on weather.

“It’s a pretty typical start with fish scattered and in low numbers, but we are encouraged that the water temperature and sea life look more typical and are in good shape to hold large numbers (of tuna) as they come in,” said Tre-Fin Day-Boat Seafood co-founder Michael Domeyer, who recorded their first tuna of the season Saturday, July 17.

Read the full story at The Chinook Observer

House panel OKs spending to control sea lions

July 19, 2021 — U.S. Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA-03) and Kurt Schrader (OR-05) on July 14 announced that a joint Community Project Funding request they supported to protect endangered salmon, steelhead and other native fish species within the Columbia River system from sea lion predation, has been approved for $892,000.

The House Appropriations Committee — Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies included the funding request as part of its Fiscal Year 2022 spending plan. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is the recipient and would use the funding on equipment and related needs to remove sea lions in the Columbia River and its tributaries as outlined by a 2018 law Herrera Beutler and Schrader advocated.

The U.S. House as a whole and the U.S. Senate also must approve the spending before it will be dispersed to WDFW.

According to a press release from the representatives, the need for sea lion removal has sharply increased in recent years, as a record number of California and Steller sea lions come to the Columbia, Willamette and Snake Rivers, posing an extreme threat to struggling salmon, steelhead, sturgeon and other fish in the waterways. NOAA Fisheries says sea lions especially prey on adult salmon and steelhead migrating upriver from the ocean to Bonneville Dam, Willamette Falls and other tributaries to the Columbia River, further threatening the growth of native fish populations.

Read the full story at the Chinook Observer

Commerce Department declares four fishery disasters

July 1, 2021 — Four U.S. fisheries, from New York’s troubled bay scallops to Northwest salmon, were declared to have suffered fishery disasters in 2018-2020 by Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo this week.

The collapses affected two states, Alaska and New York, and two Tribes, the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis, in Washington.

“Fisheries are essential to our communities and economy, and we want to ensure America is in a position to remain competitive on the global stage,” Secretary Raimondo in a June 29 announcement. “These determinations allow us to lend a helping hand to the fishing families and communities that have experienced very real and difficult setbacks in the last few years.”

The secretary of commerce with NMFS evaluates fishery disaster requests, based primarily on data submitted by the requesting state or tribe.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Pacific Northwest heat wave sets up ‘grim’ migration for salmon on Columbia, Snake rivers

June 30, 2021 — This is shaping up to be a dire summer for fish and trees.

Temperatures in the Columbia and Snake rivers are already within two degrees of the slaughter zone of 2015, when half the sockeye salmon run was lost because of high water temperatures. An estimated 250,000 sockeye died that year long before reaching their spawning grounds.

The sockeye run is at its peak right now just as temperatures hit record highs across Washington state and in Idaho. Spring and summer chinook and steelhead migrating in the rivers also are at risk.

Salmon are cold-water animals. Temperatures above 62 degrees make them more vulnerable to disease, and as temperatures climb higher, they will stop migrating altogether.

The risk of heat stress is present in the mainstem rivers, but also in fish ladders, where salmon will turn around and head back down river if the temperature is higher at the top of the ladder than where they entered it. Cooling water released at the top of the ladders can only do so much as air temperatures reach unprecedented highs.

Water temperatures are already at dangerous levels despite an earlier start to cold-water releases from deep in the Dworshak Dam, on the Clearwater River, upstream of Lower Granite Dam on the Lower Snake River. Nonetheless, temperatures in the tailrace at Lower Granite are still edging above safe levels for salmon and are even hotter downriver.

Read the full story at The Seattle Times

Retired Biologist Leaves Legacy of Gains for Salmon Across Central Washington

June 23, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Dale Bambrick jokes he has seen the world, or at least as much as you can see between Issaquah and Ellensburg. He retired in May after 20 years leading NOAA Fisheries’ Ellensburg Office, and delivering critical gains for salmon and steelhead across Central Washington.

“I have never seen someone so committed to the resource, who was willing to say what was important and work so hard to make things happen,” said Barry Thom, Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region. “I have always appreciated Dale’s commitment and his humor to get us through some pretty tough issues.”

Dale Bambrick spent 37 years protecting and improving habitat and more to recover salmon in central Washington. Dale grew up in Issaquah and then crossed the mountains to attend Central Washington University in Ellensburg. He started as an art major, but with the encouragement of a professor he switched to biology.

In 1983 Dale’s advisor encouraged him to pursue a doctorate at Oregon State University. Instead, he accepted an offer from Grant County Public Utility District to join its environmental division. There he studied strategies to improve the survival of fish passing through dams, such as guidance nets that funnel fish toward safer passage routes. He also pondered the future: Should he be a teacher, a fish biologist, or go to graduate school?

In 1988 Dale left Grant County to work for the Yakama Nation’s fisheries division, starting as a habitat biologist. Three years later he became Environmental Director, building a strong team. He helped lay the foundations for habitat conservation plans in the upper Columbia, assuring improvements for salmon. He developed the fisheries portion of the Yakama Nation’s Forest Management Plan. He also helped shape state water policy, returning more water to streams for fish.

Read the full release here

Local Divers Plunge into Puget Sound to Count Endangered Rockfish

June 17, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Counting fish can be difficult. Fish move, hide, and reproduce; they eat and are eaten. Many have evolved coloration patterns and body shapes that help them avoid being seen. The small size of young fish makes them especially hard to see. They may show up at inconsistent times and places, or not at all, depending on unpredictable environmental conditions.

This was the quandary rockfish experts faced in 2017. The federal recovery plan for bocaccio and yelloweye rockfish in Puget Sound called for annual surveys of the endangered rockfish produced that year, also known as young-of-the-year fish.

Very little is known about how young fish join rockfish populations in Puget Sound, a process called recruitment. Sometimes few fish recruit into the population, despite adequate abundance of reproductive adults. When climatic and oceanographic conditions align, however, rockfish recruits arrive in near-shore habitats in great abundance. Understanding the conditions that lead to these boom years is key to developing management actions to protect and recover rockfish in the region.

That still left the difficult question of how to count tiny (less than 10 centimeters long) rockfish recruits throughout Puget Sound. The best option for NOAA was a collaborative effort with partners throughout the region, including community scientists who are also scuba divers. Scuba diving offers the opportunity to observe fish directly, including taking photos, with minimal disturbance or disruption of their behavior, and no mortality.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Joins Orca Action Month with Events Throughout June

June 7, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

This month, NOAA Fisheries is helping orca fans everywhere learn about and help protect endangered Southern Resident killer whales (called orcas) and other killer whales in the Northwest. Join us for a month of interesting webinars, educational opportunities, and outdoor activities.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has again proclaimed June Orca Action Month, which is organized by Orca Network and the members of the Orca Salmon Alliance.

“This is a time to consider what Southern Residents mean to the Northwest, and the whole West Coast,” said Scott Rumsey, Deputy Regional Administrator of NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region. “We are fortunate to live in a place with these wild predators, and we have a responsibility to look out for them. Whether it’s reducing polluted stormwater by planting a rain garden, or saving energy by walking instead of driving, we all can contribute.”

Many events this year will be online, expanding their reach not only across the country but around the world. Whether you live in Puyallup or Paris, you can ask biologists questions about the latest orca science. You can also join in interactive exercises that will provide new insight in how our personal actions can contribute to orca recovery.

An in-person kick-off event on June 6 helps start the activities. They will include socially-distanced volunteer habitat restoration such as restoring stream habitat on Chico Creek in Kitsap County and at Bothell’s largest park, the former Wayne Golf Course. Weekend kayak tours will explore Elliott Bay and the Duwamish River with guest speakers explaining the threats facing Southern Resident orcas.

Read the full release here

Northwest tuna vessel owners fined for ‘paper captain’ violations

June 2, 2021 — Federal teams working in the Pacific Northwest uncovered eight cases of U.S.-flag commercial vessels illegally employing foreign nationals during the summer tuna season out of Washington state, Coast Guard officials said.

Working with Customs and Board Protection and NMFS law enforcement officers, the Coast Guard says since 2019 it documented so-called “paper captain” violations – documentation claiming a U.S. crew member as the captain, when in fact the vessel was under command of a foreign national.

“Paper captain is a term applied to an individual listed on documents as a U.S.-flagged vessel’s captain but in actuality serves as a deckhand or in a similar lower‐level capacity. It is the law that a documented vessel be under the command of a U.S. citizen,” according to a Coast Guard statement.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

WASHINGTON: WDFW seeks feedback on plan to distribute $40 million in relief funding to commercial fishing, charter fishing, seafood processing and shellfish aquaculture industry members

May 28, 2021 — The following was released by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife:

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is looking for feedback from commercial fishers, shellfish growers, charter boat owners, seafood processors, and members of the public as it develops a spending plan for $40 million in federal relief funding for industry members impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The funding is part of an additional $255 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding approved by the U.S. Congress that followed an initial $300 appropriation, of which Washington state received $50 million, last summer. The current allocation includes $30 million for all federally recognized tribes in coastal states and the Great Lakes and $15 million for Great Lakes states.

“We’re thrilled to be able to begin the process to provide another round of relief funding distributed to support commercial seafood, charter and shellfish aquaculture industry members here in Washington state,” said Ron Warren, WDFW fish policy director. “We applaud our federal leaders for relentlessly championing this funding. As we develop a fair and balanced plan to distribute this funding, it’s critical that we hear from industry members most impacted by the pandemic.”

In coordination with the Governor’s Office, WDFW will be working with the state departments of Agriculture and Commerce to develop criteria for receiving funding assistance based on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) guidance.

Once developed, Washington will submit its plan to NOAA fisheries for approval and then to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission to manage the application process and distribute funds.

To learn more and provide feedback, industry members are invited to tune in to an online public meeting at 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, June 8: https://zoom.us/j/96045781724

For more information on how to participate and to find call-in details, visit wdfw.wa.gov/licenses/commercial/federal-disaster-assistance/cares-act. The meeting will be recorded and posted online so people can also watch the meetings afterwards at their convenience.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife works to preserve, protect and perpetuate fish, wildlife and ecosystems while providing sustainable fish, wildlife, and recreational and commercial opportunities.