Saving Seafood

State and Local

Maryland can start construction on its first offshore wind farm

December 5, 2024 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved US Wind’s Construction and Operations Plan for Maryland’s first offshore wind farm Tuesday.

The state has ambitious offshore wind goals and past failed agreements with Danish renewable energy giant Orsted.

“After more than four years of rigorous and robust analysis, we are thrilled to have secured this final BOEM approval,” said US Wind CEO Jeff Grybowski. “US Wind’s projects will produce massive amounts of homegrown energy and will help satisfy the region’s critical need for more electricity, all while supporting good local jobs.”

The Maryland Offshore Wind Project is planned in three phases, two of which have been named – MarWin and Momentum Wind – and have received offshore renewable energy certificates from the state of Maryland.

Read the full story at The Center Square

MAINE: Want local scallops? Now’s the time to find ’em

December 3, 2024 — Scallops, briny and delicious and from local waters, are ready for dining at home and in restaurants as the commercial scallop season opens across all Maine fishing zones.

Commercial diving and dragging for scallops is divided into three zones, with fishing areas in Hancock County and parts of Washington County within Zone 2. Divers in Zone 2 began hand-catching scallops Nov. 17 but dragging is just underway, while both diving and dragging open in Zones 1 and 3 in early December.

As Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) balances the health of the state’s scallop resources against the needs of the commercial fishing industry, Upper Machias Bay, Moosabec Reach and Upper Cranberries in Zone 2 are closed for recovery and rebuilding, while scallop fishing grounds in Gouldsboro and Dyers Bay, along with Upper Blue Hill Bay, are established as new limited access areas.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Alaska’s pink returns cause a low salmon harvest year overall

December 3, 2024 — Alaska’s commercial salmon harvests plummeted this year, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The department’s annual report shows that the statewide harvest of just over 100 million fish was the third lowest on record. And the pounds harvested — 450 million — were the lowest on record. The numbers came with a decline in the fishery’s overall value, too.

The poor harvest results were driven mostly by weak pink salmon returns statewide. Bristol Bay’s annual sockeye run – the most valuable salmon fishery in the state at $128 million – saw another good year. The Southeast region saw lower runs across the board, except for chums. But pink salmon, which are harvested in the millions across the state, drove the overall harvest numbers way down.

Pinks run on a two-year cycle and even years are always lower than odd years. But 2024 saw a dramatic swing. The overall harvest was 42% below projections.

“So that was a bit unexpected,” said Forrest Bowers, the state’s Deputy Director of the Division of Commercial Fisheries. “Even with that awareness of the distinct, even odd year cycle of pink salmon, returns for pink salmon were poor in 2024, even for an even year.”

Read the full story at KFSK

With Trump, New Bedford’s fishermen hope for better times

December 2, 2024 — A cold wind cut across New Bedford harbor as Jim Kendall, a retired scallop boat captain, surveyed the city’s main fishing pier. Many of the boats sat idle, while a few crew members cleaned their decks and repaired equipment.

Kendall remembers how busy these docks used to be years ago, when there were fewer regulations and closures, and fishermen could head out most days of the year.

Now, “if you can fish, say, 60 days a year, you’re doing pretty damn good,” he said.

New Bedford is the most valuable commercial fishing port in the country, landing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of seafood every year. But Kendall said bringing in that haul is getting harder, and the margins tighter. He blames Washington, and specifically the Democratic Party, for the change in fortunes.

“A lot of the Democrats had basically forgotten about the fishing industry or just don’t pay much regard to it,” he said.

As for President-elect Trump, “the fishing industry is really supporting him.”

All across Massachusetts’ South Coast, cities and towns that voted for President Biden in 2020 flipped to Trump’s column in 2024. The former president even came close to winning here in New Bedford, a storied working-class city that overwhelmingly supported Biden just four years ago.

Kendall said he’s surprised Trump didn’t win New Bedford outright, given all the support he sees among the fishermen.

Read the full story at WBUR

Marin’s early-season salmon activity raises hopes of rebound

December 2, 2024 — Marin biologists say an early abundance of salmon returning to nesting grounds in local creeks is signaling that this year’s spawning season could be one for the record books.

“We saw more chinook salmon in a single day than we’ve ever seen before,” said Eric Ettlinger, aquatic ecologist for the Marin Municipal Water District. Ettlinger and his team monitor activity at the county’s main salmon stronghold at Lagunitas Creek.

As of Tuesday, biologists had already discovered 169 live adult chinook salmon in the creek and its tributaries, breaking a previous record of 134 in a single season. There were also 60 chinook redds, or nests, also surpassing the previous record of 49 in a season. The salmon are listed as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act.

What’s more, the team observed 37 adults of the endangered coho salmon, and six of their redds. Chum salmon, which are rare for Marin, are also spawning: Five adults and two redds were discovered.

Read the full story at the Marin Independent Journal

 

Alaska’s total commercial salmon harvest this year was ultra-low in both quantity and value

December 2, 2024 — The number of Alaska salmon harvested by commercial fishers was the third smallest since all-species records began in 1985, and the value to harvesters, when adjusted for inflation, was the lowest reported since 1975, state officials said.

Additionally, the 450 million pounds of salmon that the total harvest contained was the lowest on record, officials said.

The totals come from a preliminary recap of this year’s salmon season issued on Nov. 18 by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Only 101.2 million salmon were harvested this year, less than half the 232.2 million harvested last year, the department reported. The money paid to fishers for their catches, known as ex-vessel value, totaled $304 million, down from $398 million last year, the department said,

The poor results from this year’s salmon harvests are part of a multitude of troubles in Alaska’s seafood industry, a key economic sector in the state.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

CALIFORNIA: California’s 2023 salmon disaster relief funding to be released by end of year

November 29, 2024 — U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (D-California) said that NOAA Fisheries will finally release financial relief for the 2023 closure of the California’s salmon fishery, but it could still be a while before fishers receive that relief.

California’s fishing community has been devastated by back-to-back closures of the state’s Chinook salmon fisheries. California lawmakers urged the federal government to approve financial relief quickly, citing the severe impact the closures are having on coastal communities that depend on salmon. However, the federal government’s bureaucratic process for fishery disaster relief can take multiple years.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: The current state of Alaska fisheries

November 27, 2024 — The state of Alaskan fisheries was discussed at this year’s Pacific Marine Expo. The panel featured Senator Gary Stevens, president of the Alaska State Senate, Jeremy Woodrow, executive director of Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, and Nels Ure, deputy director of Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay.

Senator Stevens began the discussion, highlighting the Alaska Seafood Task Force, comprised of four senators and four representatives, which was established to address industry challenges. “We’re facing enormous problems in the state of Alaska right now in the fishing industry,” Stevens said. “We will introduce legislation in mid-January, which will then go through committees in both the House and Senate,” he noted, emphasizing the importance of finding solutions for fishermen, processors, marketers, and impacted communities.

Stevens highlighted difficulties faced in communities like King Cove and the Pibilofs that have lost their processing capabilities. To combat these issues, the task force is exploring incentives for innovation, improved marketing, and tax credits for value-added equipment. “Processors, fishermen, and communities are all in the same boat,” Stevens said, underlining the need for collaboration.

Jeremy Woodrow of ASMI discussed Alaska’s position in the global seafood market. He stressed the importance of capitalizing on opportunities created by the U.S. ban on Russian seafood imports, which has opened a $450 million market gap. “This is our number one opportunity right now, to sell more Alaska seafood to more Americans,” Woodrow said.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

MASSACHUSETTS: Town Urges Islanders To Lobby Federal And State Preservation Authorities Over SouthCoast Wind Mitigation

November 27, 2024 — With the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) set to issue a permit for the SouthCoast Wind project south of Nantucket next month, the town has put out an “urgent” plea for island residents to lobby state and federal preservation authorities to stall the process.

The goal is not only to get BOEM to improve its proposed mitigation for Nantucket, but also to potentially drag out the approval process beyond the Jan. 20th, 2025 inauguration of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump, who has vowed to end offshore wind projects on “day one.”

The SouthCoast Wind project is still in the midst of the so-called Section 106 process of the National Historic Preservation Act, which deals with the impacts on historic propertiesthe Se and gives the town standing with BOEM, as the island is a registered National Historic Landmark. The town has already objected to BOEM’s mitigation proposal for the SouthCoast Wind: just $150,000 for historic property surveys and archeological assessments – to limit the impact of the offshore energy development on the island. Despite those objections during the Section 106 process, BOEM appears poised to issue a permit for SouthCoast Wind on December 19, an approval which opponents believe is being rushed through before the Biden administration leaves the White House.

Read the full article at Nantucket Current

NEW JERSEY: Watchdog group calls for greater transparency in turbines used for New Jersey wind farm

November 27, 2024 — A New Jersey shore community is calling on state regulators and an offshore wind company to conduct a transparent and detailed safety analysis on the turbines selected for the Atlantic Shores South Project.

Save Long Beach Island, a group dedicated to preserving the New Jersey shoreline, sent two invitations to the developers of the Atlantic Shores South Project to participate in a panel discussion on the proposed 200 wind turbines plotted for 8.7 miles offshore. Both requests were ignored.

Read the full article at Washington Examiner