West Coast Seafood Processors Association Archives

Oregon Dungeness crab vessels are finally headed to sea

January 12, 2021 — Three-and-a-half weeks into Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab season, crab boats are finally heading out to sea.

Haggling over the opening price was the sticking point between processors and fishermen. An agreement on $2.75 per pound was announced Friday night.

Taunette Dixon of the Newport Fishermen’s Wives group said she can’t recall the last time negotiations went on this long. But she’s hopeful the season goes well.

“For the fisherman who are risking their lives, that are out there sacrificing their time, their energy, their health, their safety…to bring seafood to the world,” Dixon said.

Lori Steele, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, said the COVID-19 pandemic really hit the industry starting in March 2020.

Read the full story at OPB

No agreement yet on crab prices

January 4, 2021 — Two weeks after the season was set to open on Dec. 16, Oregon crabbers are still sitting at the dock waiting for a price before heading out to sea.

The California season is likewise delayed by price negotiations, while the Washington season has been delayed until at least Jan. 15 due to high domoic acid levels.

With no price agreement in sight, many would pin the price hang-up on the largest processor in the area, Pacific Seafood, but after a period of silence, the company has asserted it’s only one of many processors that contribute to determining the price, which is especially difficult this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While not directly involved, Lori Steel, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, said that as of Wednesday, negotiations were still ongoing behind closed doors, and a price could be decided at any time. Pacific Seafood is one of the companies that falls under the association’s umbrella.

“The companies I represent are working hard to get this going and find an agreement among the fishermen they buy from,” Steel said. “We’re all hopeful to see fishermen on the water as soon as possible.”

Steel said the pandemic has been a huge source of uncertainty this year and has disrupted every part of the supply chain for the crab industry. She estimates that the government closures have caused restaurant and food service demand for crab to fall 70 percent, and other restrictions on employment have led to a labor shortage.

“People who don’t work in the industry need to understand that we’re a struggling industry right now, and the pandemic is putting unprecedented pressure on us from the harvesters all the way up the supply chain,” Steel said. “We’re doing the best we can, and it’s just been a tough year. We want to see this resolved and have our guys packing crab in the plants as soon as possible.”

Read the full story at the Newport News Times

Pacific Council Unanimously Approves Pacific Sardine Rebuilding Plan

September 18, 2020 — The Pacific Fisheries Management Council yesterday approved a rebuilding plan for the northern stock of Pacific sardines that incorporates the current status quo harvest policy, one of several alternatives before the panel.

The council chose Alternative 1 in large part because it was supported by the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Management Team, an advisory body to the council, along with fishermen, processors, and allied fishing businesses along the West Coast.

Read the full story at Seafood News

OREGON: Newport restores water to commercial users

July 9, 2020 — “The good news is, we’re up and running again in Newport,” said Lori Steele, executive director of West Coast Seafood Processors. “It’s really good news.”

As part of the city of Newport’s declared water emergency, production at fish processing plants on the Bayfront had been halted. This action was taken because the city could not supply its industrial users with water, due to the unexpected fouling of membrane filters at the city’s water treatment plant.

“There were concerns that we were going to shut down longer than just through the holiday weekend,” Steele told the News-Times early Tuesday afternoon. “There were financial losses and disruption in the fishing community when this happened, but we got though it.”

Read the full story at the Newport News Times

Attention Crabbers: Whales spotted off Oregon Coast

July 8, 2020 — The following was released by the West Coast Seafood Processors Association:

Due to recent sightings of humpback whale aggregations on the inshore whale survey transects between Newport and North Bend and fishermen’s reports of humpbacks in the 25- to 50-fathom area between Seal Rock and Coos Bay, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is recommending all gear be moved to shallower water, preferably inside 25 fathoms.

Already, Oregon crab gear from this year’s fishing season was found in June on a dead juvenile humpback whale off of Point Reyes, Calif.

It is in the industry’s best interest to avoid whale entanglements.

Fishermen should also observe best practices to avoid whales, especially during these months of higher ESA-listed humpback and blue whales off Oregon. Those best practices include:

Removing fishing gear not actively tended;
Use the minimum amount of scope necessary to compensate for tides, currents and weather;
Remove excess lines floating at the surface;
Maintain gear to ensure lines and buoys are in good working condition and clearly marked;
Remove all crab pots from the ocean by August 14;
Bring derelict gear to shore in-season; and
Consider participating in the post-season derelict gear program.

Grant funding takes West Coast sardine study to next level

May 21, 2020 — The following was released by the West Coast Seafood Processors Association:

A research project started by a Pacific Northwest seafood company and a nonprofit group over coffee with researchers will get $295,800 in federal funding to continue its work. The collaborative survey data will help inform sardine stock assessments and improve the understanding of other coastal pelagic species such as herring, anchovies and mackerel.

Ocean Gold Seafood, based in Westport, Wash., was awarded a Saltonstall-Kennedy grant on behalf of the West Coast Pelagic Conservation Group to continue a collaborative project that will benefit the seafood industry and scientific data collection process. The grants, commonly referred to as S-K grants, are used to fund projects that address the needs of fishing communities, optimize economic benefits by building and maintaining sustainable fisheries and increase other opportunities to keep working waterfronts viable. The survey includes industry vessels and National Marine Fisheries Service and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife researchers and personnel.

“We learned a lot though this collaborative process,” Ocean Gold Chief Operations Officer Greg Shaughnessy said. “The survey itself is an intricate and energized dance of scientific procedures all happening in real time and at once. The team is professional. I have fished over 50 years, but I learned more about the sardine and other coastal pelagic species than I ever imagined.”

Shaughnessy said the survey was necessary to access some areas nearshore.

“The coastal pelagics industry realized we needed a boat on the water to help assess the shallower areas that the deeper draft federal research vessels couldn’t access,” Shaugnessy said. “We all had open minds and worked together with state and federal scientists to acquire the best available data for the sardine stock assessment.”

The project, “Utilize an Industry-Seine Fishing Vessel to Enhance Data Collection and Improve Assessment of Pacific Coast Coastal Pelagic Species for the Benefit of the Fishing Industry and Fishing Communities,” builds on past proof-of-concept research projects in which the West Coast Pelagic group started to help assess the nearshore stocks. These shallower areas are habitat for large volumes of sardines and other pelagic fish.

Read the full release here

Seafood industry seeks to weather coronavirus

May 19, 2020 — Two of the North Coast’s largest seafood processors have reopened in time for one of Oregon’s biggest fisheries after an outbreak of the coronavirus among workers.

Pacific Seafood in Warrenton and Bornstein Seafoods in Astoria are returning to business with numerous safety precautions in place to prevent the spread of the virus.

Fishing, an industry that always juggles some degree of uncertainty even in the best conditions, now faces many more unknowns because of the coronavirus.

“The whole thing is a nightmare,” said Lori Steele, the executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association.

Read the full story at The Astorian

Saving Seafood Coalition Members Thank Rep. Jared Huffman for Fisheries Listening Sessions

January 8, 2020 — The following was released by the National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

Members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities (NCFC) would like to thank Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) and the members of the House Natural Resources Committee for their work in 2019 hosting their series of listening sessions on the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA). NCFC members from across the country have participated in the sessions, bringing the concerns of the fishing industry directly into the MSA reauthorization process. NCFC looks forward to continue working with the Committee on MSA in 2020.

The listening sessions, which began in October with two days of hearings in Northern California and continued with additional hearings in Seattle and Baltimore, are gathering input on the state of U.S. fisheries from fishermen and other stakeholders. At each stop, fishermen have shared with the committee how current fisheries management is working—and how it can be reformed.

In Arcata, California, Wayne Heikkila, Executive Director of the Western Fishboat Owners Association (WFOA) discussed funding and science issues, as well as the need to distinguish between fish stocks that are actually experiencing overfishing and those that are depleted due to other causes. WFOA is a non-profit association representing albacore troll-vessel owners and supporting businesses in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii.

In San Francisco, Mike Conroy, founder of West Coast Fisheries Consultants, discussed the need for better science to help fill data gaps, and how increased collaboration with the industry could help address this shortcoming.

In Seattle, Lori Steele, Executive Director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association (WCSPA) told the committee about the need for additional flexibility in the Magnuson-Stevens Act, while still honoring the Act’s conservation goals. The hearing also discussed how to meet the long-term needs of fishing communities, especially in the face of climate change. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, WCSPA members are shore-based processors of fish and shellfish in Washington, Oregon and California.

In Baltimore, Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director of the Garden State Seafood Association (GSSA) informed the committee on key successes protecting forage species and adopting protections for critical coral habitats in the Mid-Atlantic. He raised concerns over the impacts of overly precautionary approach to the MSA has led to underfishing of fish stocks. Specifically, he noted that risk-adverse management has led to unpredictable quotas, stemming from fluctuating estimates of scientific uncertainty. GSSA represents fishing industry members who sustainably harvest seafood from New Jersey’s inshore & offshore waters.

“We have been testifying since 2009 on the unintended consequences of the 2006 reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act,” said Greg DiDomenico. “As part of these hearings we’ve provided the Chairman with 10 years worth of written testimony so that we can finally fix these issues in the next update to MSA.”

West Coast rockfish population rebuild project a success, NOAA says

May 15, 2019 — West Coast fishing communities earned millions of dollars from a trial program allowing fishermen to cash in on rebounding rockfish populations, NOAA announced last month.

Exempted fishing permits (EFPs) were granted to a number of vessels under the trial period, which brought in almost 14 million pounds of fish, with the aim being taking some of the strain off overfished species such as salmon. The catch brought in USD 5.5 million (EUR 4.9 million) in additional revenue, according to Lori Steele, the executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association.

“We were eager for groundfish vessels to take advantage of healthy stocks and high quotas as quickly as possible while being sensitive to the need to minimize interactions with salmon and other protected species,” Steele said. “NOAA Fisheries stepped up and helped us design this EFP to provide fishing opportunities and collect important information the agency needed.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Rebounding Populations and New Flexibility Boost Catches by West Coast Groundfish Fleet

April 16, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

A trial effort that gave West Coast trawl fishermen new flexibility in how they fish helped them take advantage of rebounding rockfish numbers to catch almost 14 million pounds of fish in 2018 while still protecting salmon and other species.

The additional catches brought about $5.5 million in additional revenue to West Coast communities, according to NOAA Fisheries’ estimates.

The initiative made use of exempted fishing permits, or EFPs, which allow NOAA Fisheries to temporarily exempt certain vessels from certain fishing restrictions to test new fishing gear or methods. The trial period also helps NOAA Fisheries determine whether to adopt these changes on a larger scale and create new regulations based on the results.

“We were eager for groundfish vessels to take advantage of healthy stocks and high quotas as quickly as possible while being sensitive to the need to minimize interactions with salmon and other protected species,” said Lori Steele, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, which joined other industry groups in proposing the pilot effort. “NOAA Fisheries stepped up and helped us design this EFP to provide fishing opportunities and collect important information the agency needed.”

Read the full release here