State and Local Archives - Page 86 of 895

ALASKA: “Crisis … years in the making” – Alaska’s seafood sector reeling after Trident’s announced withdrawal

January 4, 2024 — Alaska’s seafood industry is reeling after Trident Seafoods announced its plan to sell off several processing plants.

The Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based vertically integrated seafood harvesting and processing company, which has a huge footprint across Alaska’s seafood sector, announced on 12 December that it plans to divest itself of its Alaskan assets in Kodiak, Ketchikan, Petersburg, and False Pass, as well as the South Naknek Diamond NN cannery facility and its support facilities in Chignik.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MASSACHUSETTS: Mass. receives $4.6 million in federal funds to help protect North Atlantic right whales

January 3, 2024 — Massachusetts is receiving more than $4.6 million in federal funds to support an array of conservation efforts for the endangered North Atlantic right whale, state officials said.

In a recent statement, the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs said the money, coupled with a separate $475,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, will help “bolster development” of fishing gear technology that can reduce entanglements, a leading cause of death for large whales.

The funds will also support the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries’ “ongoing research and monitoring” of right whale migratory patterns and the distribution of fishing gear to lobstermen that can mitigate harm to right whales.

Read the full article at the Boston Globe

MAINE: Maine lobstermen sue the state over electronic boat tracking rules

January 3, 2024 — Five lobstermen are suing the Maine Department of Marine Resources in an effort to stop new electronic boat monitoring requirements.

Under new rules that went into effect last month, lobstermen with federal fishing permits must install monitors on their boats that track their location each minute.

Attorney Thimi Mina said the lobstermen believe that the tracking is a violation of their constitutional right to privacy, equal protection and due process.

Read the full article at nhpr

NORTH CAROLINA: Hook, line and sinking: What’s the future of NC’s commercial fishing industry?

January 3, 2023 — With a well-trained hook of the line by one of the founders and co-owners of Wilmington’s Seaview Crab Company, a few loops around the puller and a flick of a switch, the crab pot soon emerged.

Inside the pot, a dozen or so blue crabs scampered around, some using their impressive claws to attach themselves to the mesh-sides of the cage.

“It’s not always easy, but this never gets old,” Romano, 44, said as he emptied the crabs into a holding bin before checking to make sure they were all of legal size, the lucky ones getting tossed back into the waterway. The others were divided by size into containers to be sold individually − “These are the ones everyone wants,” Romano joked as he held up a good-sized crab − or to be sent to a crab house to be picked apart for their meat.

“It just clears my head when I’m out here,” Romano said with a Cheshire cat-like grin as he prepared to toss the now-empty pot back into the water. “I can leave most of my other problems behind for a few hours.”

For generations, fishing has been a way of life in coastal North Carolina. The industry, which used to provide much of the seafood served along the U.S. East Coast, provided jobs and a good livelihood for the hardy souls who put in the long hours on the water. Communities evolved around the routines of fishing and the requirements of different fisheries, and local traditions and histories became intertwined with water.

But driven by factors as varied as rising operational costs, the declining health of many fisheries, the changing face of coastal towns as more retirees and property investors move in, increased foreign competition and even climate change, commercial fishing and the fishermen themselves are changing in North Carolina.

The industry isn’t in danger of disappearing, but what it will become in the coming years and decades is still to be determined.

Read the full article at the Star News Online

CALIFORNIA: Dungeness Crab season begins January 5

January 2, 2023 — The commercial Dungeness crab season commences in Del Norte County, this week. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFWD) announced the Dungeness season is now open in zones 1 and 2, Sonoma County line to the Oregon border. The delay in zones 3-6, South of the Sonoma / Mendocino will continue to be restricted.

Multiple delays in opening the Crab season have been attributed to excessive humpback whale entanglements and the high number of whale sightings, according to the DFWD Assessment and Mitigation program.

Recently, an endangered Pacific Sea Turtle became entangled and drowned in commercial crabbing gear. The recreational fishery opened on November 4 with hoop nets and the recreational Crab was lifted in zone 1, California’s most northerly zone.

Read the full article at the Triplicate

ALASKA: Alaska’s 2023 ecosystem status reports released by NOAA Fisheries

December 31, 2023 — NOAA Fisheries released the 2023 Ecosystem Status Reports for the eastern Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and the Gulf of Alaska. The reports provide the basis for current conditions and trends for critical oceanographic, biological, and ecological indicators in marine ecosystems.

Every year, fishery managers at NOAA, U.S. federal and state agencies, academic institutions, tribes, nonprofits, and scientists contribute to the reports. The data and information from these reports support federal commercial fish and crab fisheries management. For nearly three decades, fishery management has relied on these reports to understand further how commercial fish and crab populations are affected by changes in the marine environment.

“Warming at rates four times faster than the rest of the ocean, Alaska’s Arctic ecosystems are a bellwether for climate change. Now more than ever, ecosystem and climate-related data and information are essential to support adaptive resource management and resilient commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries, and rural and coastal communities,” said Robert Roy, director of Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

MASSACHUSETTS: Massachusetts gets more than $4 million for new lobster fishing gear to protect right whales, other measures

December 31, 2023 — The feds are shellin’ out millions of dollars to the Bay State for new lobster fishing gear in the hopes of protecting North Atlantic right whales.

The Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Marine Fisheries on Friday announced that it will receive more than $4.6 million from a congressional appropriation to boost DMF’s conservation program for the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

DMF will use part of this funding from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to provide new lobster fishing gear that’s designed to protect right whales.

Massachusetts near-shore waters host up to 80% of the total population of North Atlantic right whales in late winter and early spring — as the whales migrate north and feed in the nutrient-rich waters of Cape Cod Bay and Massachusetts Bay. The two greatest threats for the endangered species are entanglements in fishing gear and vessel strikes, according to advocates.

Read the full article at the Boston Herald

HAWAII: Increased fishing quota translates to abundant supply of New Year’s ahi

December 31, 2023 — New Year’s means fresh fish on the table for many Hawaii families.

Dozens of people flocked to Pier 38 at Honolulu Harbor Thursday morning to grab some sashimi and ahi ahead of the New Year’s festivities.

While prices vary, Michael Goto of the United Fishing Agency says there’s an abundant supply of bigeye tuna.

That’s because the Hawaii Longline Association got their quota limit increased by an international commission by up to 85%.

Read the full article at Hawaii News Now

ALASKA: Small Bering Sea red crab quota fills fast; starvation theory in opilio disappearance

December 31, 2023 — The Bering Sea fleet fished on a total allowable catch (TAC) quota of 2.15 million pounds of red king crab in October. Though the regulatory season runs until Jan. 15, the 2023-2024 fishery just lasted until Nov. 18, with 31 vessels delivering nearly all the quota.

Weighing in at an average 6.6 pounds each, the crabs were a bit larger this year than the average 6.11 pounds during the 2020-2021 fishery.

Biomass estimates from National Marine Fisheries Service trawl surveys conducted last summer put the crab population above the threshold to set a quota and warranted the season this year. The fishery had been closed since the 2020-2021 season. Ex-vessel prices averaged $8 per pound.

“Overall, most vessels reported good fishing and did not have trouble catching this year’s small quota,” says Ethan Nichols, area management biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Dutch Harbor.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Ecosystem reports show continuing effects of warming in Alaska’s marine waters

December 28, 2023 — The waters off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands registered the warmest winter temperatures in over a century, part of a decade-long period of warming, according to a report issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The record-high temperatures in the western and central Aleutians moderated later in the year but warmer-than-normal conditions persisted for the rest of the year throughout the waters around the 1,100 mile chain extending from southwestern Alaska, according to the 2023 NOAA Fisheries Ecosystem Status report for the region.

The Aleutians report is one of three annual ecosystem status reports issued by NOAA Fisheries for marine areas of Alaska. The reports, compiled by large teams of scientists, were released earlier this month and presented to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the panel that sets regulated commercial fishing in federal waters off Alaska.

Read the full article at KTOO