March 30, 2021 โ The West Coast Seafood Processors Association (WCSPA) provided insight into the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic has had on some key west coast species and processors.
For many seafood species, the restaurant market is key. COVID has led to many eateries limiting capacity or sticking to takeout and delivery models, forcing a lot of seafood into freezers.
March 5, 2021 โ The West Coast Seafood Processors Association (WCSPA) said seafood processors are hoping to see improvements in 2021 as the vaccination process rolls out nationwide and restaurants begin to reopen.
Both fishermen and seafood processors are often the backbones of coastal communities, the WCSPA explained. The industries provide economic stability and generate thousands of local year-round jobs.
March 5, 2021 โ Domoic acid, price-haggling, and potential whale entanglement held up the Dungeness crab fishing up and down the West Coast this winter, further complicating a fishery already turned upside down by the pandemic.
Fishermen usually drop their pots from California to Washington in December, but did not start until January or February this season, depending on the state.
January 28, 2021 โ The following was released by the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, the Midwater Trawlers Cooperative, and the Oregon Trawl Commission:
On the same day the Biden Administration announced the Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, the fishing and seafood industry welcomed President Bidenโs commitment to healthy oceans and inclusion of the industry as a key stakeholder group to discussions about conserving 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
Fishermen and seafood processors are the backbone of many coastal communities, ensuring the stability of thousands of local seafood jobs coastwide. West Coast fisheries, including groundfish, pink shrimp, Dungeness crab, salmon, albacore tuna and Pacific hake, represent some of the best examples of sustainable fisheries management in the world. They emphasize a transparent stakeholder-driven process through both the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) and state fishery management agencies.
โWe appreciate that President Biden has committed to a science-based process with meaningful stakeholder engagement,โ West Coast Seafood Processors Association Executive Director Lori Steele said. โThankfully, our Council process already provides us this very solid foundation. We are looking forward to continuing to work with our Council partners, and we stand ready to engage with the Biden Administration to ensure the long-term health of our oceans.โ
January 12, 2021 โ Three-and-a-half weeks into Oregonโs 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 Fishermenโs Wives group said she canโt recall the last time negotiations went on this long. But sheโs hopeful the season goes well.
โFor the fisherman who are risking their lives, that are out there sacrificing their time, their energy, their health, their safetyโฆto bring seafood to the world,โ 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.
January 4, 2021 โ Two weeks after the season was set to open on Dec. 16, Oregon crabbers are still sitting at the dock waiting for a price before heading out to sea.
The California season is likewise delayed by price negotiations, while the Washington season has been delayed until at least Jan. 15 due to high domoic acid levels.
With no price agreement in sight, many would pin the price hang-up on the largest processor in the area, Pacific Seafood, but after a period of silence, the company has asserted itโs only one of many processors that contribute to determining the price, which is especially difficult this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While not directly involved, Lori Steel, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, said that as of Wednesday, negotiations were still ongoing behind closed doors, and a price could be decided at any time. Pacific Seafood is one of the companies that falls under the associationโs umbrella.
โThe companies I represent are working hard to get this going and find an agreement among the fishermen they buy from,โ Steel said. โWeโre all hopeful to see fishermen on the water as soon as possible.โ
Steel said the pandemic has been a huge source of uncertainty this year and has disrupted every part of the supply chain for the crab industry. She estimates that the government closures have caused restaurant and food service demand for crab to fall 70 percent, and other restrictions on employment have led to a labor shortage.
โPeople who donโt work in the industry need to understand that weโre a struggling industry right now, and the pandemic is putting unprecedented pressure on us from the harvesters all the way up the supply chain,โ Steel said. โWeโre doing the best we can, and itโs just been a tough year. We want to see this resolved and have our guys packing crab in the plants as soon as possible.โ
September 18, 2020 โ The Pacific Fisheries Management Council yesterday approved a rebuilding plan for the northern stock of Pacific sardines that incorporates the current status quo harvest policy, one of several alternatives before the panel.
The council chose Alternative 1 in large part because it was supported by the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Management Team, an advisory body to the council, along with fishermen, processors, and allied fishing businesses along the West Coast.
July 9, 2020 โ โThe good news is, weโre up and running again in Newport,โ said Lori Steele, executive director of West Coast Seafood Processors. โItโs really good news.โ
As part of the city of Newportโs declared water emergency, production at fish processing plants on the Bayfront had been halted. This action was taken because the city could not supply its industrial users with water, due to the unexpected fouling of membrane filters at the cityโs water treatment plant.
โThere were concerns that we were going to shut down longer than just through the holiday weekend,โ Steele told the News-Times early Tuesday afternoon. โThere were financial losses and disruption in the fishing community when this happened, but we got though it.โ
July 8, 2020 โ The following was released by the West Coast Seafood Processors Association:
Due to recent sightings of humpback whale aggregations on the inshore whale survey transects between Newport and North Bend and fishermenโs reports of humpbacks in the 25- to 50-fathom area between Seal Rock and Coos Bay, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is recommending all gear be moved to shallower water, preferably inside 25 fathoms.
Already, Oregon crab gear from this yearโs fishing season was found in June on a dead juvenile humpback whale off of Point Reyes, Calif.
It is in the industryโs best interest to avoid whale entanglements.
Fishermen should also observe best practices to avoid whales, especially during these months of higher ESA-listed humpback and blue whales off Oregon. Those best practices include:
May 21, 2020 โ The following was released by the West Coast Seafood Processors Association:
A research project started by a Pacific Northwest seafood company and a nonprofit group over coffee with researchers will get $295,800 in federal funding to continue its work. The collaborative survey data will help inform sardine stock assessments and improve the understanding of other coastal pelagic species such as herring, anchovies and mackerel.
Ocean Gold Seafood, based in Westport, Wash., was awarded a Saltonstall-Kennedy grant on behalf of the West Coast Pelagic Conservation Group to continue a collaborative project that will benefit the seafood industry and scientific data collection process. The grants, commonly referred to as S-K grants, are used to fund projects that address the needs of fishing communities, optimize economic benefits by building and maintaining sustainable fisheries and increase other opportunities to keep working waterfronts viable. The survey includes industry vessels and National Marine Fisheries Service and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife researchers and personnel.
โWe learned a lot though this collaborative process,โ Ocean Gold Chief Operations Officer Greg Shaughnessy said. โThe survey itself is an intricate and energized dance of scientific procedures all happening in real time and at once. The team is professional. I have fished over 50 years, but I learned more about the sardine and other coastal pelagic species than I ever imagined.โ
Shaughnessy said the survey was necessary to access some areas nearshore.
โThe coastal pelagics industry realized we needed a boat on the water to help assess the shallower areas that the deeper draft federal research vessels couldnโt access,โ Shaugnessy said. โWe all had open minds and worked together with state and federal scientists to acquire the best available data for the sardine stock assessment.โ
The project, โUtilize an Industry-Seine Fishing Vessel to Enhance Data Collection and Improve Assessment of Pacific Coast Coastal Pelagic Species for the Benefit of the Fishing Industry and Fishing Communities,โ builds on past proof-of-concept research projects in which the West Coast Pelagic group started to help assess the nearshore stocks. These shallower areas are habitat for large volumes of sardines and other pelagic fish.
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