Saving Seafood

California congressman urges closer consultation with tribes on offshore wind

May 21, 2024 — A congressman who represents California’s north coast has sent a letter to federal regulators asking that they “urgently place” a senior official in the state to respond to tribal needs as wind power is developed offshore.

U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman sent the letter as the U.S. offshore wind industry begins to take shape and as tribal communities in California and Oregon express frustration with what they say is a lack of consultation on proposals that affect culturally significant waters and land.

“Regional tribal nations are asking for the opportunity to help influence the way in which offshore wind is executed off the shores of the West Coast,” said Heidi Moore-Guynup, director of tribal and government affairs for Blue Lake Rancheria, in an interview Friday. “They’ve been the stewards of the waterways, bays and oceans since time immemorial and want to ensure that the health of such waterways and the species that live among them is preserved.”

Read the full article at the Associated Press

CALIFORNIA: What’s being done to save California salmon as populations continue to decline?

April 24, 2024 — From the Sacramento River to the coast, salmon populations have struggled to survive, and fishing for salmon in California has been canceled for the second season in a row, marking the third season in the state’s history a fishing ban has been in place. The heart of the problem: dams and climate change.

Local business impacts

The 2024 season cancelation was announced on April 10, after the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) acted unanimously to recommend the closure of California’s commercial and recreational ocean salmon fisheries through the end of the year, repeating recommendations made in 2023 to close the fisheries.

This decision is a blow to salmon industries and fishermen like Rickey Acosta as many struggle to find alternatives.

“Without salmon season we’re forced to figure out new species to fish for areas that we are fishing at different times of the year and what it’s caused is an effort shift not only for myself but for all of the other boats,” Acosta said.

Acosta owns and operates Feeding Frenzy, a sportfishing guide company that takes people out on the waters of the Sacramento River and Pacific Ocean to fish.

Read the full article at CBS News

CALIFORNIA: California lawmakers request disaster declaration after state’s second straight salmon season cancelation

April 23, 2024 — More than 20 federal lawmakers from California have called on the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to declare a fishery disaster following the closure of the state’s salmon season for the second consecutive year.

Earlier this month, the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to close the 2024 commercial Chinook salmon fishery from the northern coast of the U.S. state of Oregon to the Mexico border. That closure is expected to go into effect in May.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

CALIFORNIA: Crab fishermen test pop-up fishing gear to reduce whale entanglements

April 17, 2024 — The commercial Dungeness crab fishing industry was closed early in central and southern California on April 8 because of entanglement risks from returning Humpback whales to state waters where they forage.

Traditionally, the Dungeness crab fishing season runs from November through June using vertical line fishing gear that spans from the surface to the seafloor.

Whales can get trapped in these vertical lines, including whales that are protected as endangered.

After whale entanglements spiked from 2015 to 2018, the Dungeness crab season has faced delay or closure since 2019.

Season closures are affecting the fishing business, but now during this closure, a handful of commercial fishermen such as Brand Little, are testing a whale-safe kind of fishing gear, called “pop-up” or “ropeless” fishing gear, hoping the state will authorize this alternative for use next season, so fishermen can still work.

Commercial fisherman Brand Little described how the first test of the spring season went with about 20 fishermen.

“They said it went remarkably well. Everything popped up, everything came back, they caught crabs and they’re like, this is so much better than putting the gear in the gear shed and quit making money. We still have a couple months left in our statutory season, so this isn’t as great as the way we normally do it, but this is better than nothing,” Little said.

Read the full article at Spectrum News

CALIFORNIA: Local fishermen speak out against proposed bill seeking further restrictions on commercial fishing

April 14, 2024 — For Zack Robinson, fishing isn’t just a job.

“The ocean’s my life,” he said.

Robinson has been gill-netting for 15 years, catching halibut and seabass.

“Gill netting is my passion. I love it. There are a lot of misconceptions about net fishing. It’s not a dirty fishery like they say it is. We are not the bad guys, and that hurts, to work so hard and to be told you’re no good,” Robinson said.

He says that if Assembly Bill 2220 passes, it would threaten his livelihood.

Read the full article at KSBY

CALIFRONIA: California fishermen urge action after salmon fishing is canceled for second year in a row

April 14, 2024 — California fishermen have spoken out against state water management policies after federal fishing officials canceled ocean salmon fishing season in the state for the second consecutive year, delivering a major blow to the fishing industry.

In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the Pacific Fishery Management Council − which is responsible for managing fisheries in federal waters along the West Coast − recommended closing all California commercial and recreational ocean salmon fisheries through the end of the year. Similar to last year’s recommendations, the council said this year’s closure will help conservation goals for salmon stocks.

“The forecasts for Chinook returning to California rivers this year are again very low,” council chair Brad Pettinger said in a statement Wednesday. “Despite improved drought conditions, the freshwater environment that contributed to these low forecasted returns may still be impacting the overall returns of Chinook.”

Read the full article at USA Today

CALIFORNIA: Newsom requests federal disaster funds as chinook salmon season faces likely closure

April 14, 2024 — California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Thursday he was requesting a federal fishery disaster declaration, after regional supervisors recommended a full closure of ocean salmon season for the second year in a row.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council — which oversees fishing along the Washington, Oregon and California coasts — voiced unanimous support on Wednesday for shuttering California’s commercial and recreational chinook salmon fisheries through the end of the year.

These recommendations are similar to those made in 2023, which was the first time such a closure occurred in 14 years.

“The forecasts for chinook returning to California rivers this year are again very low,” council Chair Brad Pettinger said in a Wednesday statement.

Read the full article at the Hill

California salmon fishing banned for second year in row

April 11, 2024 — In a devastating blow to California’s fishing industry, federal fishery managers unanimously voted today to cancel all commercial and recreational salmon fishing off the coast of California for the second year in a row.

The decision is designed to protect California’s dwindling salmon populations after drought and water diversions left river flows too warm and sluggish for the state’s iconic Chinook salmon to thrive.

Salmon abundance forecasts for the year “are just too low,” Marci Yaremko, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s appointee to the Pacific Fishery Management Council, said last week. “While the rainfall and the snowpacks have improved, the stocks and their habitats just need another year to recover.”

State and federal agencies are now expected to implement the closures for ocean fishing. Had the season not been in question again this year, recreational boats would likely already be fishing off the coast of California, while the commercial season typically runs from May through October.

Read the full article at CalMatters

CALIFRONIA: With whales present, California wildlife department stops crab fishing to reduce entanglement threat

April 8, 2024 — With humpback whales heading back to their feeding grounds off coastal California and gray whales migrating north to Alaska, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced it will close the commercial and recreational Dungeness crab fisheries in southern and central fishing zones including Monterey Bay to reduce the risk of entanglements.

Recently spotters with the department counted as many as 34 humpbacks in one day, said Ryan Bartling, a senior environmental scientists at the wildlife agency. The increased presence of whales observed by planes overhead and vessels on the water triggered the decision to close the fishing season on April 8.

“As it becomes summer, it is not uncommon to see dozens of groups of humpbacks foraging between Monterey Bay and the Gulf of the Farallones (near San Francisco),” he said.

With the closure, the wildlife department is also expected to examine new draft regulations for the fishery, which could set even stricter requirements for when crab fishermen can start fishing with lines and pots and when the season must end.

In former years, before a settlement that led to current regulations limiting the season when the giant mammals are spotted in larger numbers, Dungeness crab fishermen typically started in mid-November and pulled their traps in June. This season, they weren’t allowed to start until late January; fishermen have since pulled in 13 million pounds of crabs worth about $43.4 million.

Whales – and other animals of the sea – can get wrapped up in the lines that connect the pots catching crabs on the ocean floor to buoys on the water’s surface – in 2023, 27 whales were caught in fishing gear off the West Coast, five of which were wrapped up in California Dungeness crab gear, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration records.

Read the full article at Santa Cruz Sentinel 

CALIFORNIA: California’s salmon fishing season could face second year of total closure

April 8, 2024 — Fishing regulators are poised to potentially shut down California’s king salmon season for the second time in two years, and just the third time in history.

The Pacific Fisheries Management Council kicked-off its annual meeting in Seattle, Washington where it will determine the upcoming season which normally begins in May. But still feeling the impacts of the recent drought which has decimated the salmon population, the council is considering either closing the season entirely, or allowing extremely limited fishing.

“For the second year in a row we’re looking at very likely a full closure,” anticipated Jared Davis, owner of the Salty Lady charter fishing boat in Sausalito.

Although California has seen two consecutive winters of heavy rains, the issue with the adult salmon has tentacles in the drought. Salmon are on a three-year life cycle and this year’s crop of adult fish were spawned in the grips of the drought. The complete closure of last year’s season was only the second full closure in history and hit the fishing industry hard.

Read the full article at NBC 4