Saving Seafood

Washington State River Restoration Project to Revive Salmon Habitat, Support Local Jobs

May 7, 2025 — This spring, NOAA partner the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership broke ground on a large-scale salmon habitat restoration project on the lower East Fork Lewis River in Washington State. This project will support the recovery of threatened steelhead and salmon on one of the few undammed rivers in the Lower Columbia River watershed. It will also inject millions into the local economy and generate hundreds local jobs in construction, heavy equipment operations, trucking, engineering, forestry, and other industries.

In addition, the work will help maintain fishing opportunities that further contribute to the local economy.

Flooding Destroys Habitat

In 1996, Steve Manlow, Executive Director of the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board, watched in horror as a 500-year flood event destroyed crucial salmon and steelhead habitat on the lower East Fork Lewis River. Flood waters breached the levees around nine abandoned gravel mining pits, fundamentally shifting the river’s course.

This once-braided, multi-channel river began flowing through the excavated pits. It formed a series of interconnected warm-water ponds that prevent salmon and steelhead from migrating upstream for much of the year. The river channel deepened, cutting off floodplain habitat and causing severe erosion downstream.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

WASHINGTON: Kitsap part of recovery effort for two Puget Sound marine species

April 30, 2025 — Two key marine species in Puget Sound have become symbols of resilience, thanks to Kitsap-based recovery programs and a senior at Bainbridge High School.

Efforts to restore bull kelp and pinto abalone, both essential parts of the marine ecosystem in Washington, may receive a boost after state leaders in Olympia and at the Department of Fish and Wildlife highlighted recovery efforts this legislative session.

Governor Bob Ferguson signed bill HB 1631 into law, designating bull kelp as the state’s official marine forest. The text of the law is simple and does not come with additional protections for the seaweed, but that’s intentional, explained Betsy Peabody, director of the Puget Sound Restoration Fund — the idea is to create a new state symbol.

“The basic idea is to recognize bull kelp forests as part of our identity — for our state, tribes, ecosystem, economies, communities, our way of life, and really see that,” said Peabody. “Sometimes we’re so enchanted with the things that forests support and feed — the birds, the fish, the orcas, all those wonderful things — that we don’t see the forest that makes those species possible. It really was just trying to make the forests that are foundational to all these incredible marine species more visible.”

Read the full story at the Kitsap Daily News

Proposed federal cuts jeopardize Pacific salmon habitat restoration, tribal rights

April 14, 2025 — The Trump administration wants to eliminate several programs that benefit Pacific salmon, the iconic but widely threatened species of the Pacific Northwest.

Much of the effort to keep Pacific salmon from disappearing is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

An internal document from the Office of Management and Budget, reviewed by KUOW, calls for eliminating NOAA’s Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, as well as national grant programs for species recovery, interjurisdictional fisheries, and habitat conservation and restoration.

Overall, NOAA would see a 27% cut in its $6 billion budget under the White House proposal, which has not been finalized and is subject to Congressional approval.

In 2023, the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund distributed $107 million to states and tribes, with Washington state receiving $26 million, more than any other recipient. Coastwide, the fund restored 3,624 acres of salmon habitat in 2023 and removed obstacles enabling salmon to reach an additional 202 miles of spawning streams, according to NOAA.

“It’s very troublesome because we just want to get the work done and get our salmon back,” Lummi Nation Councilmember Lisa Wilson said.

Read the full article at OPB

WASHINGTON: Washington commission approves new line marking rule for Dungeness crab fishery

April 11, 2025 — State regulators in Washington have approved a new line marking rule for traps used in the state’s Dungeness crab fishery in the hopes of reducing the risk vertical lines pose to whales.

“These proposed regulations are instrumental in advancing conservation efforts around whale entanglements,” Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Coastal Marine Fisheries Whale Entanglement Coordinator Megan Hintz said in February, when the changes were first proposed.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

WASHINGTON: WA farmers, seafood producers brace for Chinese tariffs as trade war deepens

April 7, 2025 — Another day, another Washington state industry caught in the trade crossfire between the U.S. and much of the rest of the world.

On Friday, farmers, seafood companies and other food makers in Washington were weighing potential damage after China announced 34% tariffs on U.S. exports, starting next Thursday, in retaliation for a new 34% U.S. tariff on Chinese goods announced Wednesday by President Donald Trump.

Though not unexpected, China’s tariff tit-for-tat means yet more pain for trade-reliant Washington, which last year sold nearly $700 million in everything from beef and seafood to wheat and hay to China, the state’s No. 4 export market for agricultural goods and seafood.

“It’s just unprecedented, what’s happening,” said Mark Anderson of Ellensburg-based Anderson Hay, which sells 70% of its crop overseas, including in China, of the latest tariffs. “And the more you dive into the details, the scarier the consequences are, because they’re all unknown.”

Read the full article at The Seattle Times

WASHINGTON: Washington legislators propose USD 5 billion plan to fund culvert removals, reopen habitat to salmon

April 3, 2025 — Lawmakers in the U.S. state of Washington have proposed a USD 5 billion (EUR 4.6 billion) plan for removing or replacing culverts in the state to open up historic salmon spawning habitat.

The plan is a response to the state’s decade-long efforts to comply with a 2013 federal court order that found the state’s culverts blocked salmon and steelhead trout migration, violating Tribal rights.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Tracking Dungeness crabs amid changing waters

March 31, 2025 — In the Pacific Northwest, Dungeness crab is a crucial fishery that supports so many fishermen. As ocean conditions shift, researchers in Washington are working to understand how these changes impact one of the region’s most valuable catches.

According to a recent report by King 5 News, a team of scientists from NOAA and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is closely monitoring Dungeness crab populations in Puget Sound. Using a combination of tracking technology and environmental analysis, the researchers aim to gather critical data on how factors like ocean acidification and warming waters affect the species.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Northwest Aquaculture Alliance sues state of Washington over commercial net pen ban

March 13, 2025 — The Northwest Aquaculture Alliance (NWAA) has sued the U.S. state of Washington’s Department of Natural Resources over a recently finalized rule banning net pen aquaculture.

The lawsuit comes after the department approved a rule banning finfish farming in state waters, codifying a ban that had been implemented unilaterally by Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz in 2022. A court ultimately ruled that the executive order had “no legal effect” and was simply the beginning of a rulemaking process. Following the court ruling, Franz worked to complete the rulemaking process to codify the ban, and in January 2025 the State Board of Natural Resources voted to finalize the rule.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Aquaculture nonprofit sues Washington Department of Natural Resources over ban on net pen fish farming

March 3, 2025 — A Washington aquaculture nonprofit is suing the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) over its recent ban on net pen fish farming on state-owned aquatic lands in Washington.

The lawsuit, filed on Feb. 27 in Thurston County Superior Court, was brought forth by the Northwest Aquaculture Alliance. It alleges the state agency’s rulemaking process was “predetermined and inadequate,” the lawsuit states.

Net pens are large floating structures where fish or seafood are grown and have been used in the Salish Sea for four decades. In January, the DNR banned the use of commercial net pens in state waters and said the ban would help protect Puget Sound waterways.

With the ban, the lawsuit claims DNR failed to follow the Administrative Procedure Act, violated the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) and created arbitrary rules.

“DNR does not have unfettered authority to regulate aquaculture,” the lawsuit states.

Northwest Aquaculture Alliance also claims DNR’s ban harms its members by reducing or fully eliminating business opportunities.

Read the full article at KTVB

WASHINGTON: Imposter captain steals Westport fishing boat with crew onboard

February 26, 2025 — An imposter stole a fishing vessel — with the crew still on board — from a dock in Westport, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Police.

WDFW Sergeant Alexander was reportedly patrolling in Westport when he “heard a radio call for a vehicle theft in progress; not the usual car or motorcycle theft, but an eight-million-dollar, 80-foot commercial fishing vessel, the Jamie Marie.”

According to police, the imposter had boarded the boat, awoken the crew, and informed them that they needed to get underway. The newer crew who didn’t know the captain didn’t argue, thinking he was perhaps an alternate operator or sent by the real captain.

Read the full article at KIRO 7