Saving Seafood

Oregon fishing families face climate change impacts

June 7, 2021 — For four generations Kevin and Taunette Dixon’s families have followed the rhythm of the sea: Harvesting groundfish, such as cod and pollock, early in the year. Pink shrimp beginning in April, sometimes followed by albacore in the fall. Then, Dungeness crab, Oregon’s biggest and most lucrative fishery, just in time to bring in holiday cash.

It’s been the same for fishing families up and down the Oregon Coast.

But the ocean is changing, and with it, life in tight-knit coastal communities.

For the past six years, Oregon’s traditional Dec. 1 Dungeness opening has been significantly delayed because elevated domoic acid levels make the crab unsafe to eat.

The toxin comes from harmful algal blooms caused by marine heatwaves, which are increasing in frequency and intensity.

The warming planet can actually fill the catch with poison.

And this is only one effect of climate change.

Oregon now has a regular “hypoxia season,” when ocean oxygen levels near the sea floor plummet and some sea life flees the region or dies.

In 2017, a huge hypoxia event occurred off Washington. The next year it extended into Oregon, resulting in almost no halibut caught. Over the next two years, Oregon commercial crabbers reported pulling up pot after pot of dead, suffocated crabs.

Read the full story from the Salem Statesman Journal at USA Today

Fishermen’s wives: how unsung efforts keep a way of life afloat

March 11, 2021 — In spring 2020, the fishing community of Newport, Oregon, shuttered along with the rest of the country. A coronavirus outbreak at a local Pacific Seafood processing plant left fishermen sitting on docks with no buyers for their Dungeness crabs, while restaurants closed and families found themselves housebound.

That’s when Taunette Dixon and her organization, the Newport Fishermen’s Wives, stepped in. This group quickly mobilized to provide food, supplies, infant formula, pet food, fuel cards, masks, gloves and money for past-due utility payments to fishing families who had been hit by the pandemic.

For 50 years, groups like Dixon’s have formed the behind-the-scenes backbone of their communities, often lobbying on behalf of their husbands, who leave for months at a time to fish.

In fishing towns where fishermen’s spouses stay onshore, fishermen’s wives associations have served as mutual aid groups, social support networks and political agitators. Dixon and her colleagues mend nets, keep books, care for families, fight for or against environmental regulations, navigate byzantine quota systems and act as onshore brokers communicating information to husbands out at sea.

Data about these women is scarce, and there’s not much research quantifying exactly how much work they perform for the industry, but social scientists call their labor an “informal subsidy”. And yet, when policymakers talk about supporting fishermen, women like Dixon are often left out of the conversation. And at a local level, members of these groups say their individual efforts can go unnoticed or taken for granted.

Read the full story at The Guardian

OREGON: So Far, 2021 Dungeness Crab Season A Mixed Pot

January 21, 2021 — The good news is, the market price for crab is up since a deal was reached nearly two weeks ago. Processors then agreed to $2.75 a pound. But Taunette Dixon of the Newport Fisherman’s Wives group – who owns a crabbing vessel herself – said that’s improved for some since.

“We delivered to a local plant here and received $2.75 on the 16th,” Dixon told KLCC.   “I called a friend who was a live crab buyer, and their price is $4 per pound right now.”

The downside, is that there are fewer Dungeness Crab this season.  They are in great health and full of meat, adds Dixon.  This has also caused larger crabbing vessels to look towards other seafood markets.

Read the full story at KLCC

Oregon Dungeness crab vessels are finally headed to sea

January 12, 2021 — Three-and-a-half weeks into Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab season, crab boats are finally heading out to sea.

Haggling over the opening price was the sticking point between processors and fishermen.  An agreement on $2.75 per pound was announced Friday night.

Taunette Dixon of the Newport Fishermen’s Wives group said she can’t recall the last time negotiations went on this long.  But she’s hopeful the season goes well.

“For the fisherman who are risking their lives, that are out there sacrificing their time, their energy, their health, their safety…to bring seafood to the world,” Dixon said.

Lori Steele, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, said the COVID-19 pandemic really hit the industry starting in March 2020.

Read the full story at OPB