Saving Seafood

CALIFORNIA: As Salmon and Squid Seasons Rebound, New Questions

August 4, 2021 — Over the last few months, hundreds of boats have been fishing off of—or transiting along—Santa Cruz County’s coastline. Industry analysts report plenty of bright spots in both the salmon and squid markets this season. But after some scientific studies were scuttled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, and other research couldn’t be completed due to wildfires, fisheries management is still undergoing its own pandemic comeback, as climate change fears remain ever-present.

“It’s definitely been a good season,” Scotts Valley resident Hans Haveman, the CEO of H&H Fresh Fish at the Santa Cruz Harbor says during a late-June interview. “Unfortunately, regulation from the state and feds have shut us down right when it’s goin’ good.”

SALMON STOCK

Serious drought conditions in California have led to less water moving through the Klamath River Basin, up north near the Oregon-California state line, prompting the state’s largest native tribe, the Yurok, to warn in May that “unless groundwater extraction is moderated, it is a virtual certainty that Chinook and Coho salmon will not be able to reach their spawning grounds due to insufficient flows for migration.” Its fisheries department discovered an “extremely abnormal” number of juvenile salmon dying, with 97% of the small fish infected by a parasite called C. shasta. And when authorities are forced to take action to mitigate such problems, the effects ripple down to Santa Cruz County, Haveman says.

“They don’t want us to catch any of the fish from the Klamath River—like, zero,” he says, explaining how restrictions in other areas increased the number of Chinook, or king, salmon fishermen docked here. “That pretty much makes Monterey Bay the hotspot for the entire fleet.”

The season started with a bang. At one point there were about 45 salmon boats with slips in Santa Cruz, according to harbor staff. Mike Conroy, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, a trade association representing West Coast commercial fishers, said the price was good, too—$12 a pound for king—at the outset.

Read the full story at Good Times

Offshore wind pushes West without fisheries input, stakeholders say

May 27, 2021 — The Interior Department announced on Tuesday, May 25, that two areas off the California coast would be targeted for wind energy projects, including a nearly 400-square-mile wind farm in Morro Bay.

“The offshore wind industry has the potential to create tens of thousands of good-paying union jobs across the nation, while combating the negative effects of climate change,” U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a press release.

Commercial fishermen on both coasts continue to be concerned about what the federal push for offshore wind projects means for their jobs. Fishing groups say their feedback has largely been ignored.

“The fishing industry has been told these areas work best for offshore wind developers; but no one has asked us what areas would work best for us,” said Mike Conroy, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association, in a statement released on Tuesday.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

California and US agree to allow big offshore wind farm

May 26, 2021 — California and the U.S. government announced an agreement Tuesday to open up areas off the state’s central and northern coasts to the first commercial wind energy farms on the Pacific Coast.

The pact that would float hundreds of turbines off the coast of Morro Bay and Humboldt Bay was touted as a breakthrough to eventually power 1.6 million homes and help the state and federal government reach ambitious climate change goals through clean energy production.

“California, as we all know, has a world class offshore wind resource, and it can play a major role in helping to accelerate California’s and the nation’s transition to clean energy,” National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy said.

Fishermen, however, are concerned that construction and operation of projects on this scale could disrupt the ecosystem and that they were not consulted on the impact the locations could have on their industry.

“We feel we’ve not been invited to have a seat at the table. We feel we’re on the menu,” said Mike Conroy, executive director of The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

US West Coast fishermen bristle against newly announced wind farm projects

May 26, 2021 — Mike Conroy, the executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association, hoped he’d have a little more time to get ready before the federal government planned to move forward with offshore wind energy projects on the U.S. West Coast. But that was before the U.S. Department of the Interior announcement on Tuesday, 25 May, indicating two areas off the California coast would be targeted for wind energy projects.

“I believe that a clean energy future is within our grasp in the United States, but it will take all of us and the best-available science to make it happen. Today’s announcement reflects months of active engagement and dedication between partners who are committed to advancing a clean energy future,” U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a press release. “The offshore wind industry has the potential to create tens of thousands of good-paying union jobs across the nation, while combating the negative effects of climate change. Interior is proud to be part of an all-of-government approach toward the Biden-Harris administration’s ambitious renewable energy goals.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

The White House is backing plans to open up the California coast to wind farms.

May 26, 2021 — The following is an excerpt from an article published in the New York Times:

The notion of wind farms churning in the Pacific Ocean, creating clean energy to power homes and businesses, has long been dismissed because of logistical challenges posed by a deep ocean floor and opposition from the military, which prefers no obstacles for its Navy ships.

But evolving technology and a president determined to rapidly expand wind energy have dramatically shifted the prospects for wind farms in the Pacific. On Tuesday, the Navy abandoned its opposition and joined the Interior Department to give its blessing to two areas off the California coast that the government said can be developed for wind turbines.

The plan allows commercial offshore wind farms in a 399-square-mile area in Morro Bay along central California, and another area off the coast of Humboldt in Northern California.

The announcement came weeks after the Biden administration approved the nation’s first ever commercial-scale offshore wind farm, to be built off the coast of Massachusetts. About a dozen other offshore wind projects along the East Coast are now under federal review.

The administration estimates that wind turbines in Morro Bay and near Humboldt could together eventually generate enough electricity to power 1.6 million homes.

If those numbers are realized, it could make the California coast one of the largest generators of wind power in the world. The new coastal Massachusetts wind farm is expected to have up to 84 giant wind turbines. By comparison, Mr. Newsom estimated that the California sites could hold more than 300 turbines.

But groups representing the fishing industry are outraged, saying that the administration has sped forward with a plan that is larger and more potentially disruptive to marine life than they had anticipated.

“We’re totally against this,” said Tom Hafer, president of the Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization. “We’ve been consulting with the Castle Wind people for a long time, and we helped pick the spot and developed a memorandum of understanding on an area that we thought would be sustainable for us. That was about 120 square miles. This is 399 square miles. We’re going to lose a whole bunch of fishing grounds. There will be cables in the water. We don’t know how the whales will react. There are a lot of unknowns. People don’t realize how massive this project will be.”

Read the full story here

In response, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association (PCFFA) released the following statement:

Earlier today, the federal government and State of California announced, “an effort to advance areas for offshore wind off the northern and central coasts of California – opening up the Pacific Coast to its first commercial scale offshore clean energy projects.” In its Fact Sheet, the White House indicated its intent to change the size and shape of the Morro Bay Call Area; and to advance “the Humboldt Call Area as a potential Wind Energy Area.” Governor Newsom’s press statement pays homage to his California Comeback Plan which includes a proposed $20 million in funding to support California’s offshore wind capacity. Unfortunately, none of this funding will be used to support fisheries research or impacts mitigation.

Also today, BOEM announced it will hold “a virtual California Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting open to the public to listen and attend on June 24, 2021 to discuss both central and northern California offshore wind planning areas considered for future leasing and next steps in the BOEM leasing process moving forward.” Unfortunately for many in the fishing community, that is when the June Pacific Fishery Management Council begins. It is inexcusable that BOEM, who has claimed to engage closely with the Council, would schedule a Task Force meeting during the Council’s meeting. The fishing community will now have to choose between attending the Council meeting and participating in discussions fostering our sustainable fisheries or attending a meeting where they will be told that dire consequences are possible for the fisheries the Council manages.

“The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) remains concerned about rushing unproven technology, with unknown impacts to our ocean ecosystem, in locations which were not identified with any meaningful input by the fishing industry. Floating wind turbines have not been deployed in the scale being considered off the California coast. Far too many questions remain unanswered regarding potential impacts to marine life which is dependent on a healthy ecosystem” said Mike Conroy, PCFFA’s Executive Director. “For example, potential impacts to upwelling, potential impacts of noise generated by construction and operation of an industrial offshore wind farm, and impacts of electromagnetic fields on pacific coast salmon stocks, other important commercial and recreational fish stocks, marine mammals and sea birds are all still unanswered.”

“The fishing industry has been told these areas work best for offshore wind developers; but no one has asked us what areas would work best for us” added Mike Conroy. “There has been no effort to engage with or partner with fishermen, no planning process to evaluate fisheries data and spatial needs to inform this development, nor is there a clear process for how to do that through permitting now that we have missed the opportunity to plan effectively. The areas announced today are large areas; and with additional Call Areas likely to be identified off California and Oregon later this year, a comprehensive, upfront, cumulative effects analysis should be required.”

We do want to offer our sincere thanks and appreciation to California State Senator McGuire for the comments he made today during the Senate Budget Subcommittee #2 hearing when addressing the $700,000 earmarked for outreach “to ports, Tribes, labor, coastal communities and more” he noted the commercial fishing industry is missing. “We need to look at what potential impacts there will be for commercial fishermen with offshore wind.” He went on to say, “we need to make sure that the commercial fishing fleet have a seat at the table.” We thank Senator McGuire for his continued support of the commercial fishing industry and look forward to discussions with him and his staff regarding Senate Bill 413.

Read the full release here

OREGON: Klamath Basin Tribes, stakeholders ask Biden Administration for Drought Disaster Relief

April 27, 2021 — Klamath Basin Tribes, Conservationists and Commercial Fishermen are calling on the Biden Administration for extreme Drought Economic Disaster Relief.

The Klamath Basin straddles the Oregon-California border, and encompasses an area roughly the size of Maryland.

On Friday, April 16, a coalition of three Klamath Basin Tribes joined with conservationists and commercial fisherman groups to write a joint letter to President Biden.

In this joint letter to President Biden, the groups said they urgently called for federal help to blunt the immediate disastrous economic consequences from impacts of the drought for farmers and ranchers as well as commercial and subsistence fishermen and Tribes.

They said the letter requested investment in short-term measures to assist native species, including fish and birds, as well as longer-term infrastructure improvements designed to prevent similar disasters in future low-water years.

Read the full story at KRCR

Fishermen, Tribes brace for another abysmal salmon season

April 19, 2021 — Glen Spain, the Northwest regional director for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, is running out of adjectives to describe how bad things have gotten for the West Coast’s salmon fisheries.

Due in part to years of drought in the Klamath Basin, hundreds of miles of ocean will be completely closed to commercial fishing boats this summer.

The attitude of fishermen, Spain said, is: “Oh God, not again.”

Fishery managers used last year’s jack numbers to estimate how many salmon will be migrating from open ocean to rivers this year.

Spain said poor salmon returns on the Klamath River are largely responsible for stringent rules as far south as Monterey, Calif., and as far north as the Columbia River. That’s because salmon from the Klamath can travel hundreds of miles to the north or south beyond the KMZ. Management decisions are made based on the lowest-performing rivers.

“The weakest stock is the weakest link. The weakest stock puts the cap on how many can be caught,” Spain said. “The Klamath is the weak stock again this year, as it has been for several years. It’s a ripple effect up and down the coast.”

Read the full story at the Herald and News

Fishermen’s group declares “partial victory” after court ruling on GM salmon

January 3, 2020 — Even though a federal judge ruled in December that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has the authority to regulate genetically modified salmon, a commercial fishing group that sued the agency is declaring “partial victory.”

That’s because, in May, the judge will hear arguments on the second part of the case, which questions whether the FDA’s approval of GM salmon was deficient.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

‘Desperately needed’: Congress OKs more than $29 million in disaster relief for California fisheries

May 1, 2019 — It’s taken four years but fishermen along California’s North Coast who have seen crab and salmon seasons truncated and even closed altogether will finally see some relief after $29.65 million in federal disaster relief funding was approved by Congress.

It was in the 2015-16 year the Dungeness crab fishery and the Yurok Chinook salmon fishery both collapsed due to poor water quality. Despite $200 million in relief funding made available in 2018, the release of the money was delayed by the U.S. Department of Commerce and it took a letter from U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman and Rep. Jackie Speier to get the ball rolling again last year.

“We’ve been waiting almost two years since these funds were made available by appropriations from Congress,” said Noah Oppenheim, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Association on Monday. “These funds have been desperately needed for a long time and the crab fishermen are already experiencing another severe hardship with whale entanglements and the funds are needed more now than they were before.”

Oppenheim said local crab fishermen will see anywhere from $22,000 to $45,000 depending on the size of their operation and it’s not as if someone has hit the lottery, this is money that will be used on the basics and the bare necessities.

Read the full story at the Santa Cruz Sentinel 

California Considers Sport Crab Fishery for Action Relating to Whale Entanglement

April 19, 2019 — The California Fish and Game Commission is proactively working to avoid further whale entanglements — and further lawsuits.

On Wednesday the Commission approved the Marine Resources Committee to take up the issue of recreational crab fishing, and possibly other fixed gear fisheries, and its potential to entangle whales. The commercial fleet early on questioned why other fisheries, particularly sport fisheries, were not subject to the same scrutiny as the commercial sector.

The commercial season closed earlier this week, on April 15, as part of a settlement agreement between the Center for Biological Diversity, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, which intervened on the case.

CDFW Director Charlton “Chuck” Bonham said during the introduction that, despite a lot of the rhetoric, the increase in whale entanglements in 2015 and 2016 were examples of the real-life impacts of climate change. While the commercial crab season was delayed for months due to elevated levels of domoic acid, whales also ventured closer to shore in search of prey species. Both of those events were linked to warmer ocean waters.

Bonham said during the progression of the lawsuit, the department concluded the judge was likely to rule against the state. Had that happened, the court could have become a “special master” of the crab fishery, he said, and that inserting a federal judge in the management of the fishery wouldn’t make it any easier.

Thus, the state proceeded with settlement discussions between all three parties and began working with NOAA to establish a habitat conservation plan for the whales and get an incidental take permit for the fishery. The process could take up to two years. In the meantime, for some areas, particularly south of Mendocino County, the commercial fishery is scheduled to close on April 1.

The state also is accelerating its rulemaking activities relative to gear, furthering its gear retrieval program, restricting buoy and line configurations and furthering support for the Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group, Bonham said.

However, there’s also an equity issue, he said.

“It’s time to think about a refined approach to how we manage fixed gear in the water,” noting that recreational crab fishing could have similar issues with whale entanglements as the commercial crabbers have had.

PCFFA Executive Director supported the director’s comments.

“You can’t overstate the impact,” Oppenheim said of the effect on commercial fishermen and processors. “[It was] a seismic shock to our industry.”

The confidential nature of the settlement discussions did not allow any of the parties to discuss potential solutions with the broader fleet, leaving many crabbers frustrated when the agreement was finally disclosed. The fleet had less than a month to remove their gear from the water.

Oppenheim described the past few months as the worst period of his professional career, but it pales in comparison to the livelihoods of his members, he said. Many fishermen are losing the spring fishery on which they depend. Others had to delay their fishing seasons due to elevated levels of domoic acid, so the early closure only made things worse.

Now, recreational fishermen and other fixed gear fishermen may face the same quandary. Entanglements in other fisheries could have an impact on the settlement agreement.

Sport fishermen noted there are vast differences between commercial and sport crabbing gear and sport fishermen should not be subject to the same settlement agreement.

It’s manifestly unfair to apply that settlement on parties who had no representation to the discussion, said George Osborne, a lobbyist for the Coastside Fishing Club. Osborn said the club insists that any management measures on recreational crabbers be proportionate to the degree that anglers may be contributing to the whale and turtle entanglements.

Commission President Eric Sklar said the commission and managers recognize the differences between the fisheries.

The Marine Resources Committee will continue the discussion when it meets on July 11.

This article was republished with permission from SeafoodNews.com