Saving Seafood

Oregon wants to untangle whales from crab fishery

July 23, 2019 — Oregon fishery managers are changing how the state’s lucrative Dungeness crab fishery will be managed to avoid tangling whales in commercial fishing gear.

Though the changes happening this season are relatively minor for commercial fishermen, difficult discussions are on the horizon.

The number of whales entangled so far this year off Oregon, Washington state and California appears to be down compared to prior years, according to preliminary reports. But Oregon wants to avoid a lawsuit like the one brought against California by the Center for Biological Diversity. That lawsuit, over impacts to whales from commercial fishing activities, settled in March.

For now, fishery managers will eliminate a two-week postseason cleanup period in the commercial Dungeness fishery — a grace period for fishermen to clear gear out of the water. Instead, all commercial gear must be out of the water by the last day of the season on Aug. 14.

The measure, along with others, including the introduction of new buoy tags to help better identify gear, were among a list of recommendations proposed by the Oregon Whale Entanglement Working Group. The stakeholder group, which includes fishermen and industry representatives as well as researchers and fishery managers, began meeting in 2017 following several years of record-high incidents of whale entanglement.

Read the full story at The Astorian

New Area 2A Halibut Season-Setting Process Begins in September

July 19, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Pacific Fishery Management Council, in an effort to reach out to non-Indian commercial fishermen, is requesting public comment on structuring the Area 2A (West Coast) commercial halibut fishery for the upcoming year at the September and November Council meetings.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife also plans to hold public meetings to discuss the issue.

The process is part of the transition from International Pacific Halibut Commission management to the Council.

In June, the Council committed to working closely with the IPHC and stakeholders on the transition, according to a Council press release. The Council will focus on a smooth transfer of management authority for the commercial directed fishery, and will rely on the IPHC to continue to issue licenses for this fishery in the near-term. The Council intends to maintain the current management structure, but may consider changes to vessel poundage limits and open periods.

At its September and November 2019 meetings, when the Council typically considers changes to its halibut Catch Sharing Plan, it will also make management recommendations for the 2020 directed commercial halibut fishery trip limits and fishing periods. These meetings will provide an opportunity for public, agency, and advisory body comment. The Groundfish Advisory Subpanel meetings held in conjunction with the September and November Council meetings will also provide an opportunity for public comment on this issue. As always, public comment will be accepted through the Council’s e-portal (pfmc.pcouncil.org) before the meetings, the statement said.

The September meeting will be held September 11-18 at the Riverside Hotel in Boise, Idaho. The November meeting will be held November 13-20 at the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa in Costa Mesa, California.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will hold public meetings August 5-8 to discuss fishing periods and trip limits for the 2020 directed commercial halibut fishery. Meeting dates and locations will be posted online at http://tinyurl.com/y58ccqn3; information is also available at (541) 867-4741.

Currently, the Departments of Fish and Wildlife for Washington and California do not have public meetings scheduled to discuss the non-Indian commercial directed halibut fishery season structure for 2020.

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

New technology could help salmon swim over hydroelectric dams

July 16, 2019 — A Seattle company called Whooshh Innovations has developed a creative way for fish to swim over hydroelectric dams. This product creates a pressure difference around the salmon, sucking the fish up a long tube and releasing it at the top of the dam.

“We do introduce a little bit of water to keep them moist and keep their gills moist and all those kinds of things for the few seconds it takes them to get through the system,” said Mike Dearan, Whooshh’s chief engineer.

The Whooshh system also takes pictures of salmon and sorts the fish as they travel, dividing up wild and hatchery fish. If there was a constant stream of fish, 86,000 salmon could move through just one of these Whooshh systems every day.

Read the full story at KATU

Patagonia’s hatchery movie misguided, inaccurate

July 9, 2019 — Outdoor clothing and gear manufacturer Patagonia recently released “Artifishal,” a misguided documentary full of misinformation about the role hatcheries play in salmon recovery.

The movie claims that salmon hatcheries are the main cause for the decline of salmon and should be eliminated. But it doesn’t present accurate science to back this up.

What we know for certain is that eliminating hatcheries would be the end of salmon fishing for generations. More than half of all the salmon harvested in Western Washington come from hatcheries.

Fisheries management is about balancing the H’s: Harvest, Hatchery and Habitat. We already are using the best available science to manage harvest and hatcheries carefully to protect threatened runs of salmon. Meanwhile, habitat continues to be lost faster than it can be restored. 

Hatcheries are not the cause of declining salmon runs. We wouldn’t need them if habitat could support sustainable salmon populations.

Another false claim made by the film is that hatcheries are the same as open water Atlantic salmon farms. They’re not.

Read the full story at The Reflector

Ad Hoc Climate and Communities Core Team to Hold Webinar August 8, 2019

July 9, 2019 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Pacific Council) Ad Hoc Climate and Communities Core Team (CCCT) will hold a meeting via webinar, which is open to the public.  The webinar will be held Thursday, August 8, 2019, from 9 a.m. until 11:30 a.m, Pacific Daylight Time.  The webinar time is an estimate; the meeting will adjourn when business for the day is complete.

Please see the CCCT August 8, 2019 webinar notice on the Council’s website for participation details.

A listening station is available at the Pacific Fishery Management Council office in Portland, Oregon.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Dr. Kit Dahl at 503-820-2422; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

Scientists studying effects of hatchery-raised salmon on wild salmon

July 9, 2019 — Tens of millions of salmon spawned and raised in hatcheries are released into waterways like the Columbia River every year.

The goal is to increase the numbers of the endangered fish. It is no doubt an important effort. But some wonder if this tinkering with Mother Nature could be harming wild salmon.

Scientists with NOAA Fisheries spent the first part of the summer along the Columbia River in Kalama and are hoping to answer that question.

They collected samples of juvenile chinook salmon. Some were wild, spawned in natural waterways. Others were spawned in hatcheries like Fallert Creek, just a few miles up the Kalama River.

In May, the hatchery released close to two million juvenile salmon into the area.

So, why are these scientists now scooping some of them up?

“With the input of all the hatchery fish coming in, we’re not quite sure where that leaves the wild stocks,” said Regan McNatte, a NOAA Research Fisheries biologist.

Simply put, they want to find out once and for all if the hatchery-raised fish are hurting the wild salmon in this area by competing too much with them for things like food and habitat.

Read the full story at KUTV

Shellfish growers are feeling climate change’s effects now

July 3, 2019 — Shellfish farming in Washington is a multimillion-dollar industry with a history as deep as Puget Sound. However, recent decades of warming oceans and higher levels of ocean acidification continue to challenge shellfish farming practices.

In and around Whatcom County there are several aquaculture farms, such as Lummi Shellfish Hatchery, Drayton HarborOyster Co., Blau Oyster and Taylor Shellfish in Samish Bay. Each farm varies in size, number of employees and type of shellfish produced, but they share one thing in common: the water quality of Puget Sound.

There are more than 300 aquaculture farms across Washington, according to the Pacific Shellfish Institute. A WashingtonState Maritime Sector Economic Impact Study in 2017 found that the industry directly supports 15,900 jobs. Samish Bay shellfish farms alone include $2 million annual payroll and $6 million in wholesale oysters, clams and geoduck.

In June, four ocean acidification bills made bipartisan progress, in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, to becoming law. The bills are designed to encourage research and spur new ideas for adapting to the affects of ocean acidification. The bills include the COAST Research Act of 2019, the Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act of 2019,the Ocean Acidification Innovation Act of 2019 and the NEAR Act of 2019.

As carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere a certain percentage is absorbed into the water, causing a chemical reaction that makes the water more acidic. According to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, roughly 25%of carbon dioxide emissions are absorbed into the worlds oceans. The process is similar to bubbles escaping from a soda can, but in reverse. Since the industrial revolution ocean acidification has increased by 30% and reduced carbonate ions by16%, said Bill Dewey, director of public affairs for Taylor Shellfish. By the end of the century it is predicted that ocean acidification will increase by 100% to 150% and reduce carbonate ions by 50%, said Dewey.

Read the full story at The Bellingham Business Journal

Pacific Council Slows Process on U.S. Management of Area 2A Commercial Halibut Fishery

July 1, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — After a couple years of exchanging ideas with the International Pacific Halibut Commission about management of the non-Indian commercial halibut fishery in Area 2A — Washington, Oregon and California — the Pacific Fishery Management Council plans to take incremental steps to take over management of the fishery.

Commercial fishermen have gone to IPHC meetings and pushed for individual quota systems and the IPHC has gone to the Council to propose longer seasons than single 10-hour openings. The Council and its advisory bodies have struggled with how to transition from IPHC management to U.S. management.

The Council decided last week when it met in San Diego to continue to work closely with the IPHC and stakeholders. And instead of a workshop, the Council will fold ideas into its traditional two-meeting catch-sharing plan discussion that takes place during September and November meetings. At the next Council meetings, in Boise, Idaho in September and in Costa Mesa, Calif., in November, the Council will consider small changes for the 2020 season.

Fishermen will likely see little change to the fishery in the next two years as the Council, NMFS and the IPHC work on background issues to support a management transition.

The Council also decided that:

– for 2020-2021, and maybe beyond, the Council would request IPHC continue to issue commercial licenses for the Area 2A fishery while NMFS works on development of new permitting regulations;

– it will request the IPHC and NMFS/Council share data regarding the 2A licensing system and commercial logbook data;

– it will reach out to fishery participants to let them know the Council’s intent to not consider major changes to the fishery for the next few years.

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

US Supreme Court ruling impacts marine insurance rates

June 26, 2019 — The United States Supreme Court on Monday, 24 June issued a decision likely to result in lower insurance premiums for U.S. fishing vessels.

The court ruled in favor of the defendant in the case Dutra v. Batterton. The plaintiff, a seaman employed by Dutra Group, who was injured when a hatch on a dredge vessel blew open and crushed his hand, sued Dutra seeking general and punitive damages, asserting that the vessel on which he was working was unseaworthy.

Lawyers representing Dutra Group argued that the claims for punitive damages are not eligible on the basis of unseaworthiness. Justices sided with Dutra, ruling that the plaintiff may not recover punitive damages on a claim of unseaworthiness, which reversed a previous ruling by the Ninth Circuit that the plaintiff was eligible for punitive damages.

Justice Alito wrote the majority opinion and was joined by Chief Justice Roberts, as well as Justices Gorsuch, Kagan, Kavanaugh, and Thomas. Justice Ginsberg wrote the dissenting opinion and was joined by Justices Breyer and Sotomayor.

Isaak Hurst, a lawyer at the International Maritime Group, a law firm in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A., said that the court’s decision was a “big win for vessel owners because of the conflicting body of law that has developed around ‘unseaworthiness.’”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

WASHINGTON: Outdoor notes: Application submitted to lethally remove sea lions from Columbia River

June 20, 2019 — The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, in partnership with several stakeholders, has submitted an application to remove by lethal force, California and Stellar sea lions that are preying on protected salmon and steelhead runs in the Columbia River and many of its tributaries.

Sea lion numbers have been growing alarmingly in the last decade, and they have been gathering below the Bonneville Dam to intercept salmon and steelhead as they make their way upstream. Many of the fish they are feeding on are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

Many runs of salmon, particularly chinook, are struggling. Chinook runs this year are so low that fishing closures have been enacted.

“The vast majority of these animals remain in coastal and offshore waters, but several hundred have established themselves in upriver locations,” said Kessina Lee, Region 5 director with WDFW in a news release. “Where salmon and steelhead numbers are low, any unmanaged increase in predation can cause serious problems.”

Read the full story at The Columbian