Saving Seafood

ALASKA: With prices low, many fishermen are skipping Southeast’s Dungeness crab season

June 27, 2023 — The Southeast Alaska Dungeness crab fishery opened on June 15. But roughly a quarter of the fleet in Petersburg is skipping the season. That’s partly because many of them are expecting low prices.

Two days before crabbing started, Petersburg fisherman Paul Menish was in the cabin of his boat, the Hi Nikki, speculating on crab prices.

“Sounds like prices aren’t going to be as low as we were quoted three weeks ago,” said Menish. “Now, it’s just rumors, but that the prices will be for Dungeness, will be in north at two dollars. Which isn’t a good price but better than three weeks ago.”

It turns out Menish was right.

When he sold his first load to OBI Seafoods in Petersburg, he said he got $2.10 a pound. That’s 50 cents lower than the starting price last summer.

Kevin Timm is the fleet manager at OBI Seafoods in Petersburg. He said the problem is that there’s still a lot of Dungeness crab left over from last year. He said it’s expensive and customers just aren’t buying it.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

ALASKA: Crab pots ‘absolutely stuffed’ as Bering Sea Dungeness fishery breaks records

June 27, 2023 — While many Bering Sea crab populations are in freefall, Dungeness crab is breaking records in regions that hardly used to see them.

The North Peninsula District in the eastern Bering Sea opened as a commercial Dungeness fishery in the early ‘90s. In those early days, it was common for just one or two boats to fish there — many seasons, there were none.

The numbers increased modestly over the ensuing decades — but that growth has recently become exponential.

“The pots that we’re seeing coming out of this fishery are absolutely stuffed with crab,” said Ethan Nichols, who works for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “Like, you don’t even know how many crabs can fit in a pot.”

Nichols is Fish and Game’s assistant area manager for groundfish and shellfish in Dutch Harbor. He said the fishery boomed last year and became the largest Dungeness crab fishery in Alaska — bringing in 35% of the state’s total Dungeness landings.

Read the full article at KTOO

The Case for Ropeless

June 27, 2023 — Allow me to touch a “third rail” of fisheries politics: Lobstermen, crabbers, and other fishermen currently in the crosshairs of environmental groups over whale entanglements need to get behind ropeless fishing technology. On-demand gear can keep you on the water when the presence of whales would otherwise trigger a closure, it’s not about admitting defeat but find opportunities to keep fishing.

Coming is the time when trap fisheries will face two options: start using ropeless gear, or lose significant chunks – if not all ­– of the fishing season. Resistance now will likely put many in a world of pain later.

Over the years I have participated in numerous fixed gear fisheries in the North Pacific. I have also written extensively on whale entanglements in West Coast Dungeness crab and in other fisheries here for National Fisherman and in other outlets. I often find myself as not only a bridge builder but also an antagonist.

I’m willing to call out the bad actors and misdeeds within the commercial fishing industry while also critical of the bad faith engagement and the reckless hyperbole some of the environmental organizations using both the courts and media to attack working-class fishermen. In this position I found myself resistant to ropeless fishing gear, seeing it as an unfounded and expensive proposition.

But over the past few years I have changed my mind. I now see ropeless as the best forward to save fisheries, whales, and the reputation of an industry currently facing a public relations crisis.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

CALIFORNIA: Catch is up but prices are down with Dungeness crab season facing limits in Northern California

May 15, 2023 — The Dungeness crab season in the north of the U.S. state of California will face additional limits on 15 May in response to whale sightings in local waters.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife already closed most of the state’s waters to Dungeness crab fishing on 15 April to prevent interactions with migrating humpback whales. Now, fishers in zones 1 and 2 – stretching between the state’s boarder with Oregon and Point Arena, California – will face a 30-fathom constraint, according to the CDFW.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

California cuts short commercial Dungeness crab season

April 2, 2023 — California will cut short the commercial Dungeness crab season to protect humpback whales from becoming entangled in trap and buoy lines, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Thursday.

Commercial fishing will end on April 15 from the Mendocino county line to the Mexican border, the agency said. It will still be allowed in the waters off Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties.

Recreational crabbing also will be allowed.

Read the full article at Associated Press  

Researchers are looking into risk factors for whales who get caught up in fishing gear

March 22, 2023 — Researchers with Oregon State University are trying to better protect whales from getting entangled in fishing gear. They have discovered some areas of the ocean are more at risk for whales to get caught up in that gear, and the research has been forcing some changes for some fisherman.

The research is focused on fishing for Dungeness Crab. It was three years ago when the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife made changes to how many pots fisherman could have out, it was always a way to keep whales from getting caught in their lines.

Read the full article at KGW

California crab fisherman sues Pacific Seafood over alleged crab price-fixing

March 21, 2023 — A crab fisherman in the U.S. state of California has sued Pacific Seafood alleging it has “artificially suppressed” the price paid to fishermen for Dungeness crab.

The fisherman, Brad Little, filed the suit in a federal court in San Francisco, California, alleging he and 1,400 other commercial crab fishermen in California, Oregon, and Washington were paid lower prices for crab due to a price-fixing scheme perpetrated by Pacific Seafood. The complaint alleges Pacific Seafood fixed the price of crab through a “multipronged strategy of monopsonization, coercion, dumping, and secret deals.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Huge price drop for Dungeness crab is a tough deal for Washington state crabbers

February 21, 2o23 — When you hear about a “market correction,” here it is in a dramatic display: a plunge of two-thirds or more in the price of Washington Dungeness crab.

There are plenty of reasons why.

One is that you, the consumer, are willing to pay only so much for what one industry insider says “is probably looked at like a luxury item.” Well, time to party on, consumers.

“They’re really loving it. They’re super happy that they can get an awesome product,” says Michael Fodness, meat and seafood director for the six-store, locally owned Town & Country Markets.

Those stores are charging $5.99 to $7.98 per pound for Dungeness, but the higher price is for “premium 2-ups,” meaning each crab weighs at least 2 pounds, with a higher meat-to-shell ratio.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

OREGON: Dungeness crab season opens this week on last sections of Oregon’s coastline — with possible caveat

February 2, 2023 — The final two stretches of Oregon’s coast will open for commercial Dungeness crab fishing this week. But there may be some restrictions.

The coastline to the north from Cape Falcon to the Washington border opens for commercial crabbing Wednesday, Feb. 1. The south coast from Cape Arago to the California border is set to open this Saturday, Feb. 4.

The commercial season was delayed this year due to crab with low meat fill and high domoic acid levels.

Read the full article at OPB

ALASKA: Northwest, Alaska crabbers strike for better prices

January 19, 2023 — The new year started off with a fizzle for West Coast and Alaska crab fisheries, with fleets in Oregon and Alaska striking for higher ex-vessel prices. 

In Oregon, the Dungeness Dec. 1 opening was delayed in hopes that meat fill in the crabs would increase, and that levels of domoic acid would decrease in some of the test areas. Equally driving delays was the fleet’s effort of nudging processors’ offers closer to $4.75 per pound, like they started with in 2022, rather than the $2.25 per pound they offered in the advent of the 2023 season. 

The official date of the opening had been moved to Jan. 15, with areas in Washington opening on Feb. 1, but many opted to stay tied to the docks in hopes that prices among processors would start closer to $4.

Read the full article at National Fisherman