Saving Seafood

Officials: No Sardine Fishing Off California This Year Due to Steep Population Decline

April 17, 2019 — West coast regulators have voted unanimously to ban commercial sardine fishing for the fifth straight year after a recent evaluation of the northern Pacific stock revealed a steep decline.

The ban on commercial sardine catch spans the entire length of the U.S. West Coast. The 2019 season would have opened July 1.

A new assessment of northern Pacific sardine stocks by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates populations of the small silvery fish have declined more than 98 percent since 2006.

Not all fishermen agree with the decision to keep the sardine fishery shuttered.

Diane Pleschner-Steele, executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association, said NOAA’s sardine survey under-counts the fish, and that the fishermen she hears from are noticing a comeback.

“They are so frustrated because they drive by school after school after school and they can’t fish,” Pleschner-Steele said. “This is their livelihood and they have families and they are losing their jobs.

Read the full story at KQED

West Coast Fisheries Disaster Funding Included in Senate Appropriations Bill

February 8, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — As news of a Wednesday night Senate agreement on the federal budget bill that included millions for disaster aid filtered out, many fishermen and processors on the West Coast wondered whether fisheries aid was included.

The short answer: Yes, according to Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations Executive Director Noah Oppenheim.

“We called on Congress to step up and provide fishery disaster assistance, and today they delivered. West Coast fishermen express their heartfelt gratitude to key senators and members of congress who fought hard for their constituents,” Oppenheim said in a statement. “Fishery disasters don’t flood cities or burn down houses, but they do devastate coastal communities and threaten the fishing way of life. These fishery disaster appropriations will go a long way towards beginning the healing process for hundreds of working fishing families on the West Coast.”

Read the full story with a subscription at Seafood News

 

Fishing leaders: Has the Monterey Bay sanctuary kept its promise?

December 22, 2017 — The answer is no, not to fishermen; please let us explain.

Reflect back to 1992 when the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary was proposed. While fishermen and most others agreed that it could help prevent offshore oil development, we had concerns about how sanctuary authority might affect those of us who provide food from ocean resources.

There was also public discussion about how stakeholders would have a say in the new federal bureaucracy. Commercial fishermen and recreational anglers had killed two earlier sanctuary proposals over these concerns.

In response, fishermen heard that the new sanctuary would not threaten our livelihoods or create fishing regulations. It was a broad assurance, and repeated often by both elected and NOAA officials. Based on this, fishing leaders weren’t neutral, they supported it, even traveling to Washington, D.C.

This promise was never a free-pass from fishing regulations. Rather, it acknowledged that fishery laws, such as the Magnuson-Stevens Act, already provided science-based management. Under that law, overfishing has ended on the West Coast, and several thousands of square miles of quality habitat are protected. It also acknowledged that sanctuaries are not intended to manage fisheries.

The promise is written into the sanctuary’s designation document. If any problem arose, the sanctuary would work with us for a solution.

Read the full editorial at the Santa Cruz Sentinel

 

Fish 2.0 Awards Second Round of Prizes in 2017 Competition

December 13, 2017 — CARMEL, Calif. — The following was released by Fish 2.0:

Fish 2.0 today announced the winners of its 11 ICX (Industry Connection) prizes, the final awards in the Fish 2.0 2017 competition for sustainable seafood businesses.

The competition’s cash prize winners were announced Nov. 8 at the close of the Fish 2.0 2017 Innovation Forum at Stanford University. Those awards went to the eight seafood ventures—one in each of the competition’s six regional and two global tracks—that earned the highest scores from investor-judges.

All of the 39 finalists from around the world who presented at the Forum were eligible for ICX prizes. These prizes are unique opportunities for ventures to gain market insights and expertise from industry leaders who support growth and innovation in sustainable seafood. Offered by investors and buyers, intermediaries and other seafood companies, ICX prizes include invitations to work directly with industry leaders on investment structures and growth plans or developing branding and market penetration strategies; to attend investor and industry events; and to meet and present to retail and wholesale partners in Europe and the U.S.

“It’s important for us to support the growth of the sustainable seafood sector as well as innovations in this sector,” said Guy Dean, vice president and chief sustainability officer at Albion Farms & Fisheries. “Fish 2.0 does just that, and their results have been fabulous. As a successful protein company, we are happy to help coach and mentor entrepreneurs because they will ultimately create positive impact for our industry and for future generations. In addition, this is a great opportunity for us to learn about new initiatives. In fact, we gain as much value in learning about the prize recipient’s innovation as we hope the prize recipient gains from our input and work with them.”

ICX prize recipients were chosen based on fit with the prize criteria and ability to take full advantage of the prize.

“Given Alltech’s ACE principle commitment to agricultural solutions that benefit the animal, consumer and environment, and to improving aquafeed specifically, we were eager to partner with Fish 2.0 in identifying companies that might be able to complement our core competencies and capabilities,” said Dr. Sasha Tozzi, algae technical manager at Alltech. “We are very excited to meet NovoNutrients to learn more about their technology, which could have many applications in Alltech’s animal nutrition. ShellBond’s capability to use swine waste as a source of a natural carotenoid antioxidant is another compelling match.”

Here is the full list of ICX prizes and winners, by prize sponsor:

Albion Farms & Fisheries
Prize: A full day of expert consultation with the Albion Farms & Fisheries senior leadership team and CSO, including advice and insight on opening new market opportunities and business growth strategies.
Winner: Fish Extend of Santiago, Chile, whose product extends the shelf life of fresh fish using natural ingredients, reducing production losses due to spoilage.

Alltech
Prize: Two passes for ONE: the Alltech Ideas Conference in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2018, and private meetings in Lexington with members of the Alltech team.
Winners: NovoNutrients of Sunnyvale, California (also the competition’s Supply Chain Innovation track winner), which is using food-grade bacteria to make fish food from industrial carbon emissions; and
ShellBond of Wilmington, North Carolina, whose technology solves problems in oyster habitat restoration, spat sedimentation, oil cleanup and nonorganic antioxidants in salmon farms.

Australis Aquaculture
Prize: One-day consultation with the Australis CEO and leadership team on how to introduce new products to market and/or scale an aquaculture enterprise.
Winner:VakSea of Baltimore, which has developed a patented oral vaccine delivered via fish feed that promotes healthier fish and decreases antibiotic use in aquaculture.

Calvert Impact Capital (formerly Calvert Foundation)
Prize: Half-day expert consultation with Calvert Impact Capital lending staff who lead its Women Investing in Women program, including mentorship, guidance and information on accessing financing.
Winner: American Unagi of Thomaston, Maine (the competition’s short-pitch winner), which grows locally harvested glass eels to market size in a land-based aquaculture system.

FishChoice
Prize: Two half-day meetings or one full-day meeting for up to three people with the FishChoice leadership team, who will share FishChoice’s expertise on sustainable seafood ratings and certifications.
Winner: Fair Agora of Bangkok, whose Verifik8 monitoring and verification software collects data from fish farms and cooperatives to help seafood buyers make safe and responsible choices.

IntraFish
Prize: Two tickets to the IntraFish Seafood Investor Forum in either New York or London.
Winners: ColomboSky of Verona, Italy, whose Aqua-X technology for the marine aquaculture industry uses satellite images, in-situ data and expert supervision to monitor and forecast water quality; and
TunaSolutions of Sydney, a fair-trade online marketplace for the tuna industry that connect fishers with buyers and facilitates real-time trading through a series of online auctions.

Rabobank International
Prize: Half-day meeting and consultation with the Rabobank North American seafood lending team, and a consultation with Rabobank’s global seafood analyst.
Winner: SmartCatch of Palo Alto, California, whose flagship product is DigiCatch, a remotely controllable video, lighting and oceanographic catch monitoring system.

RSF Social Finance
Prize: One-day visit to the RSF Social Finance offices for coaching sessions with the social enterprise lending team and the RSF marketing team.
Winner: Real Oyster Cult of Duxbury, Massachusetts (also the competition’s New England track winner), which ships fresh oysters from all over North America direct to consumers overnight.

Stavis Seafoods
Prize: Half-day consultation with the Stavis Seafoods CEO and responsible sourcing manager, including mentorship, guidance and information on accessing new market opportunities.
Winner: OneForNeptune of Santa Fe, New Mexico, which offers healthy, high-protein snack foods made from underutilized and undervalued U.S. groundfish species and industry offcuts.

TomAlgae
Prize: Two-day consultation with specialists from TomAlgae, who will offer advice and expertise on successfully scaling oyster aquaculture production.
Winners: Panacea Oysters of Spring Creek, Florida (also the competition’s South Atlantic and Gulf Coast Shellfish track winner), which is restoring oyster farming in Apalachicola Bay by creating a unified brand and guaranteeing purchases to farmers; and Pensacola Bay Oyster Company of Pensacola, Florida, an oyster farm producing premium oysters for the half-shell market, with the goal of restoring the Gulf Coast’s environment and working waterfronts.

Wabel
Prize: The Wabel Retail Prize includes an invitation to the Wabel Summit, at least eight meetings with fish buyers from Europe’s largest retail groups, and more.
Winner: Northline Seafoods of Sitka, Alaska (also the competition’s U.S. West Coast track winner), whose unique floating processing facility eliminates waste and extends the shelf life of sustainable wild salmon.

“Our team is thrilled to receive the Stavis Seafoods ICX prize,” said Nick Mendoza, CEO of OneForNeptune. “We’re introducing seafood products to a consumer market dominated by non-seafood meat snacks, which is both a challenge and an opportunity. Guidance from a company that is nearly 100 years old could be pivotal to our success, helping us to avoid the mistakes and pitfalls that can derail young companies. This prize gives us an invaluable opportunity to learn directly from Richard Stavis, a seafood innovator who has successfully grown a large company while continuing to focus attention on fishing communities, sustainable sourcing and enhancing consumer awareness.”

Fish 2.0 founder and executive director Monica Jain said the prizes and the spirit behind them exemplify what Fish 2.0 is all about—growing the sustainable seafood industry through connections and learning. “We’re grateful to these forward-thinking prize givers for offering their time and resources to these ventures and to the field,” she said. “Over the past years, these prizes and the partnerships that result from them have led to extraordinary growth acceleration for the winning ventures and the prize givers. These are golden opportunities.”

The prize givers benefit along with the entrepreneurs. “Participation in Fish 2.0 gives us fantastic insight into the sustainable seafood sector—it’s a great way to build our network and learn about the range of innovation and investment activity that’s happening to support sustainable oceans,” said Leigh Moran, senior officer, strategy, at Calvert Impact Capital. “Offering an ICX prize is a great way for CIC to be more involved in Fish 2.0 and continue learning about the sector.”

About Fish 2.0

Fish 2.0 is a Carmel, California–based social enterprise that connects investors and entrepreneurs to grow the global sustainable seafood sector. Working through Fish 2.0’s expanding global network, regional workshops and other events, and online competition platform, Fish 2.0 participants collaborate to drive innovation, business growth and positive impact. Everyone benefits: Entrepreneurs meet potential investors, partners and advisors. Investors and advisors get early access to investment opportunities and learn about emerging technologies and trends. Industry leaders gain direct access to sustainable seafood suppliers and partners.

 

Center For Biological Diversity Takes Aim at California Dungeness Fishery With New Petition

November 15, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Center for Biological Diversity is attacking the California Dungeness Crab fishery again — this time under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

A petition, co-signed by the Turtle Island Restoration Network, asks the National Marine Fisheries Service to designate the California crab fishery as a Category 1 fishery under the Marine Mammal Protection Act because of its rising injuries to humpback, blue, killer and gray whales, the Center said in a press release. Moving the fishery into the top category of concern would prioritize state and federal resources to help protect whales along the West Coast, the statement also said.

But the press release fails to note the petition itself goes much deeper. The Center focuses on the Central American breeding population of humpback whales — which feed primarily in California waters.

CBD cites an estimated average of 1.35 mortalities per year between 2011-2015. The Center also references the potential biological removal (PBR) of 0.8 in the stock assessment is below the estimated mortalities.

“This shows that the California Dungeness crab pot fishery – and not the
Oregon or Washington Dungeness crab pot fishery – primarily impacts the Central America [distinct population segment]. Without additional information, all interactions of the California Dungeness crab pot
fishery should be assigned to the Central America DPS,” the center says in the petition.

However, the years cited do not include the most recent seasons, when fewer whales were entangled.

Furthermore, the Center requests NOAA add blue whales; the offshore stock of killer whales; and the endangered Western North Pacific population of gray whales — of which three of seven tagged whales have been documented on the West Coast — to the list of marine mammals injured or killed in the California crab fishery.

A 2017-18 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program (RAMP) report, a pilot program put together by the California Dungeness Crab Fishing gear Working Group, identifies four priority factors that evaluate elevated risk of whale entanglements: crab season delay, forage/ocean conditions, whale concentrations and rate of entanglements. The report uses established data sources and the expertise of the working group members to determine entanglement risks.

The Working Group determined the whale concentration risk level is moderate; rate of entanglements risk is low; the chance of a season delay is low; and whale forage and ocean conditions risk level also is low.

The Central California crab season opened today, although some smaller vessels may be holding off for better weather.

“We are excited with the on-time opening of our local Dungeness crab season,” Angela Cincotta, with Alioto-Lazio Fish Company, said this morning. “We pray that all of our fishermen stay safe while the weather bats them about the sea. We are thankful for their commitment to our industry and their respect of the oceans.”

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

 

LED Lights Show Promise for Decreasing Salmon Bycatch in West Coast Whiting Fishery

November 10, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Light-emitting diodes – LEDs – are proving effective for lowering bycatch in fisheries besides West Coast pink shrimp.

A study by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Northwest Fisheries Science Center shows that LEDs are very effective in directing Chinook salmon to escape windows in Pacific hake trawl nets, according to a statement from the National Marine Fisheries Service. Chinook salmon bycatch in the hake fishery, the largest groundfish fishery on the West Coast, can be an issue; if too many Chinook salmon are caught, management measures may be implemented to conserve salmon stocks.

NMFS requested an Endangered Species Act Section 7 re-consultation on the take of salmon species in the West Coast groundfish fishery in 2013. Now, four years later, the biological opinion or “BiOp” and accompanying incidental take statement is scheduled to be completed in December.

However, avoiding salmon bycatch is an ongoing issue for the whiting fishery and the midwater rockfish fishery. The use of LEDs on the nets, similar to how they are used in the pink shrimp fishery to channel eulachon smelt out escape holes, may prove useful in the future. The LEDs researchers and fishermen used for this project were developed for use on longlines, designed for rugged use in the ocean environment.

The development of efficient, cost-effective LED technology has led to a growing list of innovative residential and industrial applications, according to the statement from NMFS. With NOAA Fisheries’ Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program funding, researchers found LEDs can play an important role in productive and sustainable fisheries as well.

Data show that Chinook salmon are much more likely to exit the nets where lights are placed—86 percent of escaped salmon used the well-lit, LED-framed openings. While further research is underway, the data suggest the LEDs can increase the salmon’s escapement overall, NMFS said.

Mark Lomeli, a researcher at the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, said the challenge was to develop a salmon excluder design to lower incidental salmon bycatch. He and other researchers worked with fishermen to use two sets of large, open escape windows that allowed salmon to swim out.

“Our data and video observations indicate that at deeper, darker depths where trawl nets go, light from the LEDs are enhancing the salmon’s ability to perceive the escape areas and the areas outside the nets,” Lomeli said in the NMFS report.

The key to keeping hake in and guide Chinook out is fish behavior. Salmon are stronger swimmers and can escape. By the time the whiting get to part of the net where the excluders are positioned, they are too fatigued to swim out.

Researchers said the technology could also be adapted for other fisheries, such as for reducing salmon bycatch in the Alaska pollock fishery.

“Many fishermen are aware of this technology now and use it if they think Chinook bycatch will be an issue,” Lomeli was quoted as saying in the statement. “It’s easy to use, relatively cheap, and widely available. You can easily clip the lights to the webbing of the net around the escape openings. With these research results in hand, the lights are on the shelf for them when they need them. We think these LEDs are low-hanging fruit for contributing to the recovery of this species, and can also play an important role in the stability of this fishery.”

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

 

D.B. Pleschner: Nearshore anchovy abundance not proof fishery is collapsing

November 2, 2017 — Recently, Dr. William Sydeman of the Farallon Institute, published a study claiming that the abundance of anchovy near shore — especially in places like Monterey — is evidence that the population is collapsing.

Sydeman’s logic is based on an old argument that collapsed populations always shrink inshore. But there’s one big problem with that theory — it’s unsupported by scientific evidence. In fact, that logic was based on an old sardine theory that has since been debunked. There’s certainly no evidence that low anchovy biomass results in an increase in anchovy in the nearshore area of Central California.

In fact, the opposite is likely true. According to the Monterey Herald, the anchovies that flooded into Monterey Harbor in September were 3 inches long. Pete Guglielmo, an anchovy processor in Monterey, exclaimed, “Inside Monterey harbor and the outer break wall, you can walk on 3-inch anchovy. What a sight to see! They are running the air pumps in the harbor to keep them alive.”

In other words, the abundance of 3-inch (young-of-the-year) anchovy in the nearshore region implies that there is a strong 2017 year-class. A record abundance of young-of-the-year also was documented in scientific cruises going back to 2015, as well as observed by fishermen in both northern and southern California.

Read the full story at the Monterey Herald

 

Entangled: Making The Sea Safer For Whales

November 1, 2017 — More than 30 times this year, the federal government has received reports of whales tangled in fishing gear along the West Coast. Sometimes the whales manage to wriggle free. Other times you see heart-rending pictures on the news or a rescue mission.

The culprit often involves Dungeness crab pot lines. Now Oregon crabbers are working with marine scientists to make the seas safer for whales and to avoid a black mark on their brand.

Bob Eder has fished commercially out of Newport, Oregon for decades.

“Over 45 years of pulling crab pots—I think I’ve probably hauled in close to a million—I’ve never encountered an entangled whale,” he said.

‘We want to be proactive’

Eder often sees whales at sea and recognizes just one bad outcome blamed on fishing gear could be all it takes to cause a PR nightmare. Whale numbers are up, but so are sightings of humpback whales, gray whales and the odd blue whale entangled in fishing lines and buoys—especially in California.

“We want to get out ahead of it. We want to be proactive,” Eder said. “We don’t want to be sued by the Center for Biological Diversity. We want to see what we can do to mitigate the situation.”

The Center for Biological Diversity is an environmental group and it did just sue the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The group wants a federal judge to order the state regulator to make crab fishermen do more to avoid harm to endangered whales.

Crab traps themselves are not the problem, but rather the heavy-duty ropes stretching from the seafloor to one or more buoys at the surface. Whales can snag a fin or a tail and get all tangled up if there’s too much slack in the vertical line or excess floating on the surface.

“They normally don’t come in where our gear is,” Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission Executive Director Hugh Link said. “But when we get warmer water and the feed comes in closer to shore, then we have an issue.”

Link and Eder are two members of a work group of crabbers, marine biologists and government agency and nonprofit representatives. They’ve been meeting in Oregon since March.

A grant from NOAA Fisheries launched what is known as the Oregon Whale Entanglement Work Group, which is facilitated and now supported by Oregon Sea Grant. Washington state crabbers and other interested parties plan to meet in Montesano on November 8 to hear an update on whale entanglements and discuss whether the Washington-based/the local fleet should launch a proactive work group too.

The work group agreed to distribute a flyer to crab boat operators ahead of the season opener next month with best practices for setting and tending gear. Oregon and Washington also have programs to retrieve lost or derelict fishing gear. The work group next plans to survey the fleet about potential season modifications and area closures to keep whales away from gauntlets of ropes.

Read the full story at KUOW

 

In Their Own Words: Sablefish Gear Switching in the West Coast Trawl Quota Program

October 23, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The West Coast trawl catch shares program (individual fishing quota/IFQ program) was implemented in 2011 for the groundfish fishery — but it’s not without its problems. One provision rose to the top during the current five-year review as the most controversial: gear switching.

Sablefish is the most valuable groundfish, on a per-pound basis, on the West Coast. It is often graded on quality and at least five different sizes. Most sablefish is sold to Japan and a few other countries, but domestic markets have been in expanding for a few years. Whereas most other groundfish species have ex-vessel prices of cents per pound, sablefish frequently goes for dollars per pound. Better quality fish, i.e., those that are caught by longline or pots, typically fetch higher prices.

On the West Coast, sablefish — or blackcod — are caught in a mixed species fishery by trawl and are targeted by longline and pots. The species is an important component of the trawl “deepwater complex” that includes Dover sole, thornyhead rockfish and sablefish. Dover sole is a low price/high-volume species for trawlers but access may be limited if a trawler has insufficient sablefish quota.

Proponents of the trawl catch shares program in the late 2000s included an option to be able to switch gears to catch sablefish. That is, a trawler could use any legal groundfish gear, including pots and longline, to catch the valuable species if they so desired. Some fishermen say this was intended to allow trawlers to catch smaller amounts of sablefish that may be leftover from harvesting their deepwater complex. Other fishermen say it was intended to allow a switch to what some claim is an environmentally cleaner harvesting method. Because a single provision may have multiple purposes, both may be correct.

Regardless, the effect of the provision was that some fixed-gear vessels purchased trawl permits and quota and are now harvesting sablefish. Sablefish quota prices increased to the point where some trawlers could not afford to buy or lease it on the open market in order to access their Dover sole quota. Others may have simply chosen not to buy or lease the quota. A limited supply of sablefish quota overall may also have been the culprit for some trawlers not being able to access their Dover sole. In some years, the quota went quickly and less than five percent was available by year’s end. At the same time, fixed-gear vessels have made significant investments in gear and equipment to access trawl sablefish quota. Processors are concerned blackcod will continue to act as a choke species, limiting access to the volumes of groundfish necessary to keep processing crews working.

But there’s another wrinkle. Sablefish quota is available in two distributions: north or south of 36 degrees N. Latitude — near Point Conception in southern California. A handful of fixed-gear vessels using trawl quota have traveled from Oregon and Washington to fish the southern area. Southern California fixed-gear fishermen found themselves with new entrants on their traditional fishing grounds.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council in September took the first step at making the gear-switching provision work for everyone. One of the proposals includes eliminating the management line at 36 degrees north latitude, thereby creating one coastwide pool of quota. The Council also proposed mitigation measures to limit gear switching.

Seafood News talked with four people representing the major factions concerned about the sablefish gear-switching provision:

  • Jeff Lackey, a trawl vessel manager from Newport, Ore.
  • Michele Longo Eder, whose family members are fixed gear fishermen who have made investments in the trawl program
  • Mike Okoniewski, who works for a processor that depends on trawl groundfish
  • Chris Hoeflinger, representing Southern California traditional fixed-gear fishermen

Seafood News will run their perspectives, in their own words, of the gear-switching issue this week. The Pacific Fishery Management Council will be wrestling with this issue over the coming months.

— Susan Chambers

In his own words: Jeff Lackey, trawl vessel manager from Newport, Ore.:

The trawl catch shares program that began in 2011 has some positive elements. However, it has also led to operational difficulties that have significantly decreased catch for bottom trawlers.

The unintended consequence of the catch shares program was that a significant fixed-gear fishery for sablefish sprang up almost literally overnight within the trawl fishery. Hundreds of thousands of pounds of sablefish quota a year were going to fixed gear vessels and then coming to the dock without the associated catch of other groundfish species.

So by 2016, five years later, the species that trawl catch of sablefish helps get to the dock had seen their coastwide annual catch drop by about a third compared to pre-catch shares capacity. That’s roughly 14 million pounds a year in lost catch and corresponding seafood available to the consumer. This translates to dozens of lost full time jobs in the processing sector alone, as well as dozens of trawl vessels that left the fishery.

In 2011, some trawlers left the fishery altogether and some switched to the shrimp fishery rather than compete with fixed gear boats that were buying trawl permits and entering the trawl individual fishing quota (IFQ) fishery. It is difficult to generalize the business plan of each individual trawl vessel as each has a different set of circumstances, such as the amount of quota they have and the other fisheries they participate in.

However, when you match the individual stories of difficulty in executing a viable fishery given sablefish limitations with the overall data of a diminished fishery, a clear picture emerges. The lost yearly bottom trawl catch is about what one would expect for the amount of sablefish that has been lost from the trawl fishery. To return the fishery to pre-IFQ program catch levels and allow the stability the program affords to make even more gains, the coastwide sablefish quota allocated to the trawl IFQ program would need to be caught by trawl vessels to facilitate the catch of other groundfish species.

This story originally appeared on Seafood News, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission

Environmental group sues after Trump administration scraps effort to protect West Coast sea animals

July 14, 2017 — An environmental group has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s withdrawal of proposed limits on the number of endangered whales, dolphins and sea turtles that can be killed or injured by sword-fishing nets on the West Coast.

Oceana Inc., which lodged the case late Wednesday in Los Angeles, alleges that the government violated required procedures for rescinding the proposed caps that had been recommended in 2015 by the federal Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Named as defendants in the U.S. District Court case are Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

“The withdrawal of this important protection for whales, sea turtles, and other species is plainly illegal,” said Mariel Combs, Oceana’s attorney. “The law requires the fisheries service to respect the fishery management council’s expertise in managing fisheries.”

Read the full story at the Los Angeles Times