Saving Seafood

WASHINGTON: Washington’s Commercial Dungeness Crab Season Launches, Tri-State Management for West Coast Fisheries

February 5, 2025 —  The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has officially commenced the state’s coastal commercial Dungeness crab season, following detailed test fishing and data analysis. Commercial fishers cast their pots in the waters stretching from Klipsan Beach on the Long Beach Peninsula down to Cape Falcon in Oregon, as of January 15, 2025. The much-anticipated crabbing also includes the Columbia River and Willapa Bay regions, while the remaining portion of the season, from Klipsan Beach to the U.S.-Canada border and encompassing Grays Harbor, kicks off on February 11, as reported by the WDFW website.

The coordination for the season’s launch is a tri-state affair, with Washington, Oregon, and California fisheries departments working together under an agreement from the 1990s that aims for cooperative management of the Dungeness crab fishery across the West Coast. The agreement outlines potential season openings as early as December 1, with actual dates hinging on the health and condition of the crabs, determined through careful test fishing. Biologists and scientific technicians from WDFW have boarded commercial vessels to collect and measure crabs, ensuring that they achieve a threshold of 23% meat recovery before officially declaring a season opener, which signifies the crabs’ readiness for the market both in terms of quantity and quality.

According to a test fishing trip out of Westport, WDFW coastal shellfish technician Clayton Parson said, “Once you hit that 23% mark, the crabs are improving every day and are ready to be harvested.” This benchmark is crucial considering the Dungeness crab’s economic significance; for instance, the 2023–24 coastal commercial season brought in $66.8 million for the state, as per the WDFW Medium article. Testament to the industry’s value is the record-setting $88.2 million from the 2021–22 season.

Read the full article at Hoodline

Washington state officers cite group for illegal crab harvesting

January 24, 2025 — Wildlife officers from the U.S. state of Washington caught a group illegally harvesting crabs from the Puget Sound, citing them for multiple violations.

According to a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) social media post, officers spotted a group harvesting crab late in the evening off the pier in the city of Mukilteo, just north of Seattle. The officers followed one of the harvesters as they brought crab back to their vehicle, where an inspection revealed dozens of crabs inside a bag and a cooler.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

WASHINGTON: Washington State bans net-pen aquaculture

January 9, 2025 — Commercial finfish pen aquaculture appears finished in Washington State, after the Board of Natural Resources voted Jan. 7 to ban the industry.

The vote was a victory for Washington State’s Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, who pushed for strict limitations on leasing state tidelands for aquaculture.

“Avoiding impacts is our legal and moral responsibility,” Franz said, according to the Seattle Times. “I ask why did we ever allow this…I am asking the board to learn from the past and the effects of our decision.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

WASHINGTON: US state of Washington reaffirms ban on net pen aquaculture

January 8, 2025 — The State Board of Natural Resources for the U.S. state of Washington has voted to finalize a ban on finfish farming in state waters, codifying a ban that was first implemented unilaterally in 2022.

Momentum for a state ban on net pen aquaculture grew after the 2017 collapse of a Cypress Island fish farm operated by aquaculture company Cooke, which released hundreds of thousands of Atlantic salmon into state waters. Cooke was fined for the collapse, and ultimately, the state legislature passed a law ending Atlantic salmon farming in the state.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US West Coast governors seek financial relief for albacore fishers

January 3, 2024 — The governors of California, Oregon, and Washington have asked the U.S. federal government to provide financial aid for the states’ struggling commercial West Coast Pacific albacore troll/hook-and-line fishery.

Last year was the fishery’s worst performing season in 30 years, California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a recent statement. The fishery generated USD 9.5 million (EUR 9.3 million) in ex-vessel value in 2024, notably lower than the five-year average of USD 24.6 million (EUR 24 million).

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

West Coast Dungeness fleets navigate changes, delays

December 11, 2024 — While California’s Dungeness crab fleet waits for delayed waters to open, Washington and Oregon fishermen have geared up for their 2024-2025 seasons under familiar pressures of conservation and commerce. With winter crabbing generally in full swing, balancing marine sustainability with vital economic returns is the focus.

In Washington, the Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) emphasizes its regulatory approach to protecting marine mammals, citing updates from previous seasons as a foundation for the current year. Measures to reduce entanglement risk remain crucial, with state and tribal co-managers collaborating to meet conservation goals while supporting fishermen. WDFW published a Dungeness Crab Newsletter to go over a report of the 2023- 2024 season and new regulations for this year. Other sources have shared that the Washington Dungeness season will be delayed until the end of 2024.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Dungeness crab season cancelled for remainder of 2024 in California, Washington

December 10, 2024 — Fisheries regulators on the West Coast are further delaying the opening of their states’ respective commercial Dungeness crab seasons due to the presence of humpback whales and low meat quality, with all but a small portion of Oregon’s coast unlikely to open before the end of the year.

On 6 December, the state of California announced it was delaying the start of the commercial crab season for a third time this year, citing the continued presence of blue and humpback whales in the area. The season was initially slated to open on 15 November.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Washington state bolsters support for salmon recovery in Columbia Basin

December 6, 2024 — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) has directed state agencies to take immediate actions aimed at safeguarding the region’s dwindling salmon population, while warning the incoming Trump administration to refrain from backtracking on federal commitments.

In an executive order signed this week, Inslee asked state officials and organizations to strengthen their work on restoring the Columbia River Basin’s salmon population, advance science-based solutions, revive habitats and bring together diverse interest groups.

“Salmon have inhabited Washington for millions of years, but their time is running out,” Inslee said in a statement. “We cannot waver for a moment, now or in the future, in our work to restore these runs.”

The order emphasizes the state of Washington’s commitment to collaborating with other stakeholders, referencing a December 2023 partnership with Oregon and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Nez Perce Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs — collectively known as the “Six Sovereigns.”

Read the full story at The Hill

 

WASHINGTON: Environmental settlement to close two Washington fish hatchery programs

October 11, 2024 — An environmental lawsuit accusing federally-funded fish hatchery programs of contributing to the decline of threatened salmon and steelhead and endangering the orcas that prey on wild salmon ended on Thursday in a settlement that will see the closure of two Washington state fishery programs and the reduction of a third.

Wild Fish Conservancy and The Conservation Angler filed a lawsuit against the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in April, arguing that the department’s Lower Columbia River basin hatchery programs violated the Endangered Species Act.

Now, the Washougal River winter steelhead hatchery program is set to close at the beginning of next year, according to the consent decree, which both parties filed in September and U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle signed on Thursday.

The Deep River net pens coho salmon program has until April to close, and the Kalama River/Fallert Creek Chinook salmon hatchery program will limit its release to 1.9 million fish in 2025.

Read the full article at Courthouse News Service

WASHINGTON: Sockeye run gets a break from heat: Columbia River’s record run had faced peril from earlier warm weather

September 18, 2024 — Earlier this summer, the record return of sockeye salmon on the Columbia River looked to be doomed by water too warm to pass. But the run got a well-timed break from the heat.

The Fish Passage Center recorded an astonishing 755,909 sockeye over Bonneville Dam this year, smashing the 10-year average return of 329,570. About three-quarters of those fish were headed to their Canadian spawning grounds via the Okanogan River.

The huge success of this year’s run was helped by better management by dam operators of water conditions in the Columbia on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border. It helped a boomlet of baby sockeye make it to the sea, where improved ocean conditions also contributed. Implementation of a fish water management tool since 2014 has been key in turning this run of salmon around from near extinction in 1994 to one of the strongest in the Columbia Basin — despite crossing nine dams.

Read the full article at The Columbian