Saving Seafood

US promises $240 million to improve fish hatcheries, protect tribal rights in Pacific Northwest

July 26, 2024 — The U.S. government will invest $240 million in salmon and steelhead hatcheries in the Pacific Northwest to boost declining fish populations and support the treaty-protected fishing rights of Native American tribes, officials announced Thursday.

The departments of Commerce and the Interior said there will be an initial $54 million for hatchery maintenance and modernization made available to 27 tribes in the region, which includes Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska.

The hatcheries “produce the salmon that tribes need to live,” said Jennifer Quan, the regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region. “We are talking about food for the tribes and supporting their culture and their spirituality.”

Some of the facilities are on the brink of failure, Quan said, with a backlog of deferred maintenance that has a cost estimated at more than $1 billion.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

WASHINGTON: Are offshore wind turbines in Washington’s future?

July 24, 2024 — Washington is considering dipping its toes in the world of offshore wind turbines. By 2026, the state will likely decide whether to take a plunge.

But that depends on whether Washington voters decide to retain the state’s cap-and-invest program, which raises money from carbon-producing companies to invest in green energy and pollution mitigation.

An offshore turbine is a windmill-like turbine that looks and operates like the ones found on land – only much bigger.

Most offshore turbines are along the coasts of Europe and East Asia. The United States has two commercial-sized offshore wind turbine farms capable of producing a total of 42 megawatts, compared to the worldwide production 64,300 megawatts.

The first American offshore project was Block Island, 12 miles south of Rhode Island, which went online in 2016 with five turbines to generate 30 megawatts. In comparison, Washington’s largest proposed land turbine project – in the Horse Heaven Hills south of Kennewick – would build 100 to 222 turbines to generate between 236 megawatts and roughly 1,150 megawatts. Its exact size is still being debated at the state level.

Read the full article at Crosscut

WASHINGTON: Washington secures $28M for salmon habitat restoration projects

July 23, 2024 — U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) announced on Monday more than $28 million in funding for three projects in Washington state aimed at restoring habitats for threatened salmon species.

The grants, awarded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Program, were secured through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.

Read the full article at FOX 13

Record salmon migration runs into hot water

July 18, 2024 — A persistent heat wave gripping parts of Washington state could spike temperatures as high as 105 degrees this week, prompting warnings from the National Weather Service to drink plenty of fluids, avoid the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors.

There’s no mention of what to do, however, if you’re a salmon swimming upstream to spawn.

As air temperatures hit records in recent weeks, Native American and state fisheries experts and environmentalists are warning that water temperatures in the Columbia River Basin are similarly on the rise.

Those warming waters — in major tributaries like the Okanogan River and the Snake River — come at the same time as annual migrations of sockeye salmon from the Pacific Ocean, complicating a spawning ritual that spans hundreds of miles and is already peppered with human-made obstacles. Although salmon populations in the region have benefited from efforts to improve their spawning habitat, restore river flows and remove barriers from their travels, fisheries managers worry long periods of hot water could ruin it all in the years to come.

“Those water temperatures are warmer than ever this year,” said Tom Iverson, regional coordinator for the Yakama Nation Fisheries. “Literally, they’re almost too warm to swim in.”

That’s because the fish — including a record run of nearly 740,000 sockeye past the Bonneville Dam at border of Washington and Oregon as of Sunday, nearly 235 percent above the 10-year average — prefer a water temperature below 68 degrees.

The Okanogan River, which will be traversed by the majority of those fish during the final leg of their journey into British Columbia and a series of four chain lakes, has reached temperatures of nearly 83 degrees in recent days, according to U.S. Geological Survey data.

Reservoirs along the Lower Snake River, which are home to endangered Snake River sockeye, similarly crested to 69.53 degrees, according to the nonprofit Save Our Wild Salmon, which tracks water temperatures.

Read the full article at E&E News

17 Industry Groups Ask Congress to Fund North Pacific Fisheries Surveys at No Less Than $15M

May 16, 2024 — A letter from 17 industry leaders to Senators Patty Murray of Washington and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska urged Congress to “prioritize immediate and long-term funding” for the annual surveys of core commercial fisheries populations in the North Pacific done by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC).

The May 10 letter was based on an earlier letter from the Freezer Longline Coalition (FLC), a trade association representing the owners of 19 longline vessels that target Pacific cod, urging the senators to bolster the survey program with funding and a strategic plan.

FLC’s executive director Chad See noted in his April 25 letter how essential collection of data is to support the sustainable management of North Pacific species, which provide “60% of all seafood harvested in the U.S. each year, directly support nearly 50,000 jobs and contribute nearly $16 billion to the U.S. economy.”

Just as annual surveys give scientists core data over a long term, missing or delaying surveys may leave scientists in the dark on anomalies that impact a species’ health. The cancellation of surveys during Covid meant managers were unaware of a continued, catastrophic drop in Bering Sea snow crab abundance. The head’s up they would have gotten in 2019 was not fully realized until 2021, delaying measures to recover the stock and contributing to unintentionally high catch limits.

“Stock data aside, North Pacific surveys also generate a wealth of other data that is helping NMFS scientists and fisheries stakeholders to better understand the impacts of climate change in the region and to anticipate potential management changes and other actions to support the continued sustainability of the fisheries, the marine ecosystem and the fishermen and communities that rely on the resource,” FLC’s See wrote in the April letter. “Perhaps more than anywhere else, the Arctic region within which the North Pacific lies is experiencing first-hand the impacts of a changing climate.”

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

Leave the imported shrimp, take the local bivalves: sustainable seafood choices

April 25, 2024 — Seafood and the Pacific Northwest go hand in hand. Maybe you’re one of those people out fishing, clamming, and crabbing during the season. But if you’re more of a shopper, your options aren’t all local and sustainable.

Jessica Gephart is an assistant professor at the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. She was recently quoted in a piece in The Guardian titled “Goodbye cod, hello herring: why putting a different fish on your dish will help the planet.” She told KUOW’s Kim Malcolm about her studies, and why our seafood choices matter.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Read the full article at KUOW

Op-ed: Marine protected areas in British Columbia only good for bragging rights

March 25, 2024 — Ray Hilborn has a doctorate from the University of British Columbia and is a professor at the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Washington State Academy of Sciences. He has been awarded the Volvo Environmental Prize and the International Fisheries Science Prize, and has published over 300 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Marine fisheries in British Columbia, Canada, not only provide excellent seafood for Canadians, they also employ thousands of people and support small coastal communities, and yet these fisheries are seen to be in trouble, the industry is vilified, and immediate action is demanded.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

White House, tribal leaders hail ‘historic’ deal to restore salmon runs in Pacific Northwest

February 26, 2024 —  The Biden administration, leaders of four Columbia River Basin tribes and the governors of Oregon and Washington celebrated on Friday as they signed papers formally launching a $1 billion plan to help recover depleted salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest.

The plan, announced in December, stopped short of calling for the removal of four controversial dams on the Snake River, as some environmental groups and tribal leaders have urged. But officials said it would boost clean energy production and help offset hydropower, transportation and other benefits provided by the dams should Congress ever agree to breach them.

The plan brokered by the Biden administration pauses long-running litigation over federal dam operations and represents the most significant step yet toward eventually taking the four Snake River dams down. The plan will strengthen tribal clean energy projects and provide other benefits for tribes and other communities that depend on the Columbia Basin for agriculture, energy, recreation and transportation, the White House said.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

 

Agreement to save Pacific Northwest salmon population signed

February 24, 2024 — A “landmark” agreement was signed by the federal government, the Pacific Northwest, and tribes to help save declining salmon populations in the Columbia Basin.

Friday’s ceremonial signing formalizes the Biden administration’s historic agreement made in December with Oregon, Washington, advocacy groups, and the “Six Sovereigns,” including the Yakima, Umatilla, Warm Springs, and Nez Pierce tribes.

The effort aims to preserve ecosystems supporting wild salmon, steelhead, and other native fish habitats in the region.

The agreement includes efforts to expand tribally sponsored clean energy production and aims to provide stability to communities that rely on the Columbia Basin.

The agreement includes efforts to expand tribally sponsored clean energy production and aims to provide stability to communities that rely on the Columbia Basin.

Read the full article at KOIN