Category Archives: Pacific
Crawling with crab … at last
Pacific County boat decks are finally crawling with healthy Dungeness crab after a two-month regulatory delay, a tardy start due to violent seas and a disastrous fire that wrecked a top processing plant. We were out 24 hours and we got 25,000 pounds,” said F/V Brandy owner Ryan Walters, 42, upon returning to port with crew Monday, Feb. 5, to offload at Safe Coast Seafoods in Ilwaco. It was their third successful trip of the season, Walters said, in what has been a busy start to the season for area crabbers. Historically, three-quarters of the commercial volume is landed within the first few weeks of the season, when fishing pressure is the heaviest. “We missed the first day, and wish we would have stayed in the second — the weather wasn’t very nice,” Walters said regarding the rough weather and ocean conditions that kept most in the marina on opening day. 10 photos, more, >>click to read<< 15:26
Unalaska pushes back against proposed bycatch restrictions on pollock fishery
Unalaska leaders are pushing back against a proposed petition to eliminate Chinook bycatch in the Bering Sea Alaska pollock fishery. Nearly 100 tribes and communities in western Alaska, including the Association of Village Council Presidents, signed an emergency petition that would set a zero-bycatch limit on Chinook salmon in the pollock trawl fishery for 180 days. Unalaska Mayor Vince Tutiakoff Sr. said in a letter that a zero-cap would “effectively shut down the entire pollock fishery of the Bering Sea,” and create a “dire situation” for Unalaska. links, more, ??click to read<< 11:19
Fishing advocates say California salmon disaster fund is too low
The $20.6 million allocated for federal relief for California’s Chinook salmon stocking is only two-thirds of the state’s aid request, and threatens the existence of fishing businesses, California commercial fishermen and rental recreational groups said, on Monday. In a letter to U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association, the Golden Gate Fishermen’s Association and the Northern California Guides and Sportsmen’s Association called for “immediate full funding of salmon disaster funding assistance” at $30.7 million. Data sought by state officials. “The state’s economic analysis already falls short of expected needs, and the federal disaster aid package adds insult to injury,” fishing group leaders wrote in their joint letter. more, >>click to read<< 08:56
Powerful winter storm pummels the Golden State
Millions of Southern Californians are waking up to a powerful storm that’s expected to linger over the region through Monday, bringing risks of dangerous flooding, road closures, power outages and other hazards. The slow-moving atmospheric river made its way into Southern California on Sunday afternoon after dousing the Bay Area and Central Coast earlier in the weekend. National Weather Service officials issued flash flood warnings for large swaths of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties. The warnings were set to expire at 12 a.m. Monday but could be extended. It wasn’t just SoCal; the atmospheric river brought heavy rain and strong winds across the Bay Area and Central Coast earlier Sunday. more, >>click to read<< 09:40
$20M+ in federal funds to California fisheries for disaster relief, $7M+ Oregon
More than $7,000,000 is going to Oregon fisheries as part of $42,000,000 in federal fishery disaster funding. Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced allocation of those funds for recovery from fishery disasters in Oregon, Alaska, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and Yurok Tribe fisheries from 2017 to 2022. The federal funding will help ocean commercial fishermen in Oregon recover from significant economic losses in 2018, 2019, and 2020 from declining salmon populations. For California, U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced allocation of $20.6-million to address a fishery resource disaster that occurred in the 2023 Sacramento River Fall Chinook and Klamath River Fall Chinook Ocean and inland salmon fisheries. more, >>click to read<< 10:00
Dungeness crab: The West Coast’s forever fishery
Fourth-generation fisherman Kelsey Cutting has photos of boats prominently displayed in his Long Beach, Wash., dining room. On one side is his grandfather’s old trawler, the Lulu 2, a 35-foot wooden double ender. “The other side I have a picture of my boat, the Jeannie Irene, which is a 50-foot fiberglass boat, and it’s 10 years old. It’s a big difference,” Cutting said. The fishing fleet on the West Coast has gotten bigger and more modern, and the portion of boats that can operate in relatively poor weather has increased, he said. The job remains dangerous, though, and storms can be unforgiving. But there can be a handsome payoff at the docks, especially for Dungeness crab. The West Coast’s top fishery surpassed $200 million in value in Washington, Oregon and California in 2022-23. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 15:46
Oregon Coastal Caucus still concerned about offshore wind
Lawmakers representing Oregon’s coastal communities reiterated their concerns about offshore wind development to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in a strongly worded letter last week. Organized as the Oregon Coastal Caucus, the January 19 letter urging BOEM to prioritize the concerns of coastal community members and current ocean users was signed by seven Oregon legislators. They are Rep. David Gomberg, Sen. Dick Anderson, Sen. David Brock Smith, Sen. Suzanne Weber, Rep. Boomer Wright, Rep. Cyrus Javadi, and Rep. David Gomberg, Sen. Dick Anderson, Sen. David Brock Smith, Sen. Suzanne Weber, Rep. Boomer Wright, Rep. Cyrus Javadi,. “We cannot move forward with offshore wind in Oregon until the needs and concerns of these groups have been addressed,” the letter stated, noting opposition from the fishing industry, marine scientists, engineers, environmentalists, tribal governments, and coastal municipalities. more, >>click to read<< 08:53
Crabbers rebound from Southwest Washington seafood facility fire
On Monday, commercial crabbers in Oregon and Washington state started dropping baited circular steel crab pots into the ocean. On Thursday, they will start hauling them back up, hopefully full of Dungeness crab. It’s a critical and fast-paced time. The bulk of the crab caught in the lucrative fishery is typically landed in the early weeks of the season. On the water this week are fishermen who saw hundreds of their crab pots burn up in a fire at a seafood landing facility in Ilwaco, Washington, a week before the fishery was set to open. An estimated 4,000 pots were lost in the Jan. 22 fire at the Bornstein Seafoods facility. Now, almost as many are back in the fishermen’s hands. more, >>click to read<< 07:21
Keyport to take over crab quota after King Cove closure
Edmonds-based Keyport LLC, a processor and supplier of wholesale wild-caught crab and frozen seafood, announced today, Jan. 29, that it will take over the crab quota left stranded after Peter Pan Seafood Co. recently decided to close its King Cove Alaska processing facility for the season. The closure in the middle of the season has left numerous crab harvesters with no alternative for delivering their catch. According to Keyport, its move to secure the quota “sends a lifeline to the Alaska crab fisheries and brings a stabilizing force to an industry amid turbulence.” Keyport will manage the processing quota previously slated for King Cove for the Western Bering Sea Tanner crab fishery (WBT) and the Eastern Bering Sea Tanner crab fishery (EBT), expanding Keyport’s 2024 processing portfolio, which includes Alaska Red King crab, Golden King crab, and Bairdi. more, >>click to read<< 11:24
Washington’s Coastal Dungeness Crab Commercial Season Opens Feb. 1
Washington’s coastal Dungeness crab commercial season will open coastwide with a reduced pot limit on Feb. 1, state fishery managers announced this month. The coastal Dungeness crab industry is one of the most important commercial fisheries in the state, particularly for coastal communities and economies. According to a recent report by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), the value of state crab landings during the 2022-23 season was $64.6 million. This is the second-highest total value recorded in the past 10 years, surpassed only by the previous season high of $88.2 million in 2021-22. Reduced pot limits will apply to all state commercial fishers coastwide. Those with permanent pot limits of 500 or 300 will be allowed to use 400 or 250 pots, respectively. more, >>click to read<< 10:00
U.S. Department of Commerce allocates more than $42M in fishery disaster funding
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced today the allocation of more than $42 million to address fishery disasters that occurred in Alaska, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oregon and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and Yurok Tribe fisheries from 2017 to 2022. “Sustainable fisheries are essential to the health of our communities and support the nation’s economic well-being,” said Secretary Raimondo. “With these allocations, it is our hope that these funds help the affected communities and tribes recover from these disasters.” Today’s announcement applies to the following fishery disasters: Links, more, >>click to read<< 14:34
Ilwaco community rallies to salvage crabbing season after fire
Deckhand Curtis McKenzie and his captain, Zeke Estrella, of the Sunset Charge pulled up to Ilwaco Landing last Monday to drop off crab pots. The landing, which serves as a hub for Dungeness crab harvests, was oddly quiet, and workers didn’t meet them as they pulled in. So they went down to see what was going on. They smelled smoke, then saw an inferno. Estrella pushed into the growing blaze with a fire extinguisher, but the flames were too intense. They would later overwhelm firefighters and level the wooden dock and fish-receiving facility owned by Bornstein Seafoods. Thousands of stacked crab pots, carefully prepared and waiting for the season beginning Thursday, were destroyed. For some, it was unclear whether fishers could recover in time. But just hours after the fire, as smoke rose from the remnants, the port was buzzing as the community pulled together to restore what was lost. lots of photos, more, >>click to read<< 10:25
NOAA confirms 67 large whale entanglements nationally in 2022 – none involving the North Atlantic right whale
NOAA Fisheries has released the National Report on Large Whale Entanglements Confirmed in the United States in 2022. In 2022, there were 67 large whale entanglement cases – a slight decrease from 2021 and slightly below the historical average. The majority involved humpback whales and there were no confirmed entanglement cases with the endangered North Atlantic right whale. Over 85 percent of all confirmed live whale entanglement reports were observed off the coast of four states: California (34.3 percent), Massachusetts (20.9 percent), Alaska (14.9 percent) and Hawaii (14.9 percent). links, more, >>click to read<< 09:15
Crabber who lost pots in Ilwaco fire thankful for donations, volunteers
Zeke Estrella survived a boat sinking in the Pacific Ocean. Estrella said Monday’s fire at Ilwaco Landing was worse. “We lost 570 crab pots,” said Estrella, captain of the F/V Sunset Charge. The fire destroyed thousands of crab pots stored on the landing ahead of the start of commercial Dungeness crab season next week. About 8,500 crab pots on the deck were surrounding the building at the time of the fire. Estrella said despite the losses, he expects to replace all of his lost pots by Monday thanks to donations and volunteer work from crabbers up and down the West Coast. Twenty volunteers showed up Thursday to his Ilwaco property bringing pots, buoys, and ropes. Video, more, >>click to read<< 21:55
Humboldt Bay awarded nearly half billion dollar grant for offshore wind terminal
On Tuesday, the Humboldt Bay Harbor District was awarded almost half a billion dollars in federal grant funds to construct its offshore wind terminal in far Northern California. $426.7 million will go to the harbor district from the Department of Transportation’s Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects program. That program was funded through the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. U.S. Representative Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, said he’s been pressuring the Department of Transportation to fund this major green-energy project. “I think this is gonna be great for the climate,” he said. “I think it’s going to be great for the community, and it’s going to be a gift that keeps on giving in terms of jobs, workforce development, economic development.” more, >>click to read<< 15:52
Fishing community rallying following fire at Ilwaco Landing
The fire at the Ilwaco Landing is likely to keep smoldering until Wednesday. However, the impact of the industrial fire could be felt in this fishing community for years. The fire destroyed several structures and more than 1,000 crab pots, according to Ilwaco Fire Chief Jeff Archer.“It’s a really big deal,” said George Pederson, skipper of the Judy S crab boat. “It’s the livelihood of the whole area.” He said crabbers from Washington, Oregon, and California are organizing donations to help crabbers get pots in the Pacific this year. Video, more, >>click to read<< 09:40
Frustrated fishermen get good news: good rockfishing, salmon fishing to return in 2024
With an oversized head, bulbous eyes and narrow body, the quillback rockfish looks like a golden bullfrog armed with a quiver full of arrows on its back. Few sport fishermen want to keep, much less eat, the famously sharp and ouchy and skinny quillback, which are reeled by those seeking meatier rockfish. But it was the quillback, which is often tossed back into the sea, whose population plummet caused a shutdown that impacted the entire rockfish industry, both for commercial and for party boats operating out of Mendocino Coast’s Noyo Harbor. That mysterious plunge in quillback numbers cut off all near-shore rockfish fishing last year, causing an organized outcry by fishermen and a new plan for 2024. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 07:15
Fire devastates Ilwaco seafood facility
A massive fire broke out at a crab-landing facility on Monday, inflicting significant damage and destroying fishing gear ahead of the commercial Dungeness crab season. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is unknown. However, witnesses said that hundreds of crab harvesting pots stacked in preparation for the upcoming opener of the commercial Dungeness crab season were destroyed in the blaze. The commercial Dungeness season, among the most lucrative fisheries, is set to open Feb. 1 following multiple delays. more, >>click to read<< 06:15
Read the final Coast Guard report on the 2019 sinking of F/V Scandies Rose in Gulf of Alaska
The U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation has issued its final report on the sinking of the 130-foot crab vessel Scandies Rose on New Year’s Eve, 2019, a tragedy that took the lives of five men on board, including the captain. Two crew members, Dean Gribble Jr., of Edmonds, Wash., and Jon Lawler, of Anchorage, survived by reaching a life raft in the roiling the Gulf of Alaska; they were rescued by U.S. Coast Guard near Sutwick Island off the Alaska Peninsula. Captain Gary Cobban, Jr. and his son David, Seth Rousseau-Gano, Arthur Ganacias, and Brock Rainey died. Lawler died in a motorcycle accident on Oct. 31, 2021, leaving Gribble as the sole survivor of the disaster. The Marine Board of Investigations found a major factor in the sinking was the captain’s judgment. An earlier report by the National Transportation Safety Board was more guarded in assigning blame. more, >>click to read<< 08:19
First crab hauls come ashore, but Northern California fishermen frustrated by $3 price point
Dungeness crab season finally started this week following regulatory delays and a fisherman’s strike. While the strike aimed to get a better price from the fish processing companies that buy a large portion of the crabs, local fishermen are still frustrated with the starting price of $3 per pound across California. Harrison Ibach, president of Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association, said so far the weather has been less than favorable and the price leaves a lot to be desired. “No one is happy with the fact that the processors are still paying more in Oregon than they are in California,” he said. The price is better than last year’s historic low of $2.25 that coupled with a large number of crabs. But this is up to a dollar lower than what processors are paying Oregon crabbers, said Ibach, the reasoning for which isn’t entirely clear. more, >>click to read<< 16:21
Dungeness crab season gets underway amid hope for relief in commercial fishing fleet
On Sunday, veteran fisherman Chris Lawson learned he had lost his eldest granddaughter in a terrible crash on the Bay Bridge. The next day, he was out on his commercial fishing vessel, Seaward, setting traps on the ocean floor in preparation for the delayed start of the Dungeness crab season Thursday at 12:01 a.m. Moving on is part of the grieving process, said Lawson, a third-generation commercial fisherman. But this year, it also was a necessity. Scarce fishing opportunities over the past year have pushed many in the commercial fishing industry to the brink, so the chance to finally harvest crab, even in the middle of the night, was not to be missed. Lawson’s girlfriend’s son, whom he calls his “stepson,” launched as well, setting pots from a second boat. Video, photos, more, >>click to read<< 08:18
Newport Fishermen’s Wives work to show up whenever, or wherever, their community needs them
On a windy wet Saturday in January, the Newport Fishermen’s Wives end their annual meeting at Mo’s Seafood and Chowder on the bayfront and welcome visitors. As servers deliver tureens of clam chowder and platters of thick buttery toast, the group members stand to introduce themselves. Then, from the far end of the table, Denise Porter rises. “I started with the Fishermen’s Wives five years ago when my husband passed away,” Porter begins, noting that the anniversary of the capsizing that took Josh Porter’s life was just three days away. “First, I want to say I wouldn’t be standing here if it weren’t for you,” Porter says. “You walked me through everything … This is my passion. This organization is amazing.” Founded in the 1970s, the Newport Fishermen’s Wives today is the public face of the fishing community, a band of women known for showing up wherever needed, whether it be serving casseroles at a funeral, providing safety gear for the fleet or helping a family make ends meet. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 20:46
(PHOTOS) Crab On
As is seemingly never not the case these days, the start of our local commercial Dungeness crab season was again delayed this year. First, it was poor meat quality that prompted the CDFW to push back opening day to Jan. 5. Then, there was another setback: another setback caused by stalled negotiations on this year’s market price for the tasty crustaceans. Crabbing is complicated, people! But that’s all behind us now. On Monday morning Humboldt’s commercial crabbers set out, bright and early, to get their pots in the water. The crab is coming, friends. Local photographer and LoCO pal Matt Filar dragged it out of bed at the crack of Monday’s dawn to document and honor the hard work of our hometown heroic fishermen. We present some of his shots below. >>click to view<< 17:50
Fall of the kings
The Seattle-area-based Wild Fish Conservancy has dropped a bomb on the Alaska commercial fishing industry with a petition to the federal government demanding it list the state’s Chinook salmon as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Such a listing would almost certainly to lead to yet more restrictions on Chinook-directed fisheries, such as the troll fishery in Southeast Alaska and the drift gillnet fishery off the mouth of the Copper River, which has been found to intercept some Chinook bound for rivers in Southeast, British Columbia and the Lower 48. The number of those fish now caught in the Copper’s Chinook fishery is not large but appears to increase in years when ocean waters are warm which could present issues going forward. more, >>click to read<< 17:17
Op-Ed: Engineering insights when building a trawler
Constructing a new factory trawler fishing vessel in the United States is not an undertaking for the faint of heart. Thinking back to an article written about 10 years ago, industry scholars predicted a boom in shipbuilding to replace the Alaskan fishing fleet. While naval architects, shipyards and equipment suppliers saw a boom in their immediate future, the renewal of the fishing fleet has barely begun. In fact, less than 5% of the fishing trawlers in the Alaskan fishery have been replaced. The refrigerated seawater (RSW) catcher fleet has seen one large conversion join the ranks. The Amendment 80 fleet has seen three new construction vessels, along with one sponsoning and one conversion project. The American Fisheries Act (AFA) fleet has seen one new-build project completed. Vessels in all three fleets have seen significant upgrades in this time, but the underlying hulls still date from the 1980s and 90s with some going back as far as the 1960s and 70s. more, >>click to read<< 10:16
Commercial Fishers Say Biden Admin’s ‘Ocean Justice’ Initiative Totally Ignores Their Concerns
The Biden Administration announced the “ocean justice” strategy in December 2023 during the United Nations (UN) climate summit, known as COP28, in order “to advance environmental justice for communities that rely on the ocean and Great Lakes for economic, cultural, spiritual, recreational and food security purposes.” However, several stakeholders in the commercial fishing industry who depend on the fruits of America’s waters to make a living and are therefore interested in sustainable use of the oceans, say that the administration is overlooking their concerns about how the oceans are managed, especially with regard to the administration’s extensive efforts to fast track industrial scale offshore wind. more, >>click to read<< 10:19
How the Boldt decision 50 years ago remade Pacific Northwest fishing
Louie Ungaro waited out the turn of the tide, when chum salmon — he hoped — would hit his net. Fishing here is his tradition, a practice and a way of life as old as his people, the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.“Elliott Bay ain’t going nowhere, and neither are we,” said Ungaro, a member of the tribe’s council and lifelong hunter and fisher. Yet it took violent protests and a decision appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm their right to fish, explicitly stated in treaties signed by their ancestors nearly 170 years ago as settlers colonized the Pacific Northwest. The decision handed down by U.S. District Court Judge George Boldt 50 years ago next month was the result of sacrifices made by Native fishers and their families jailed and beaten while defending these rights. And yet now another threat looms over all they fought for: scarcity of the fish themselves. Photos, more, >>click to read< 08:53
No turning back: The largest dam removal in U.S. history begins
One hundred seventy-three feet high, with a 740-foot crest, Iron Gate Dam is an earth embankment dam with a skinny, many-fingered reservoir behind it. The lowering — or drawdown — of Iron Gate and two other reservoirs on the Klamath River will make way for the removal of three remaining hydroelectric dams that are part of the Lower Klamath Project in Northern California and southern Oregon. For decades, these barriers have blocked salmon, steelhead and Pacific lamprey from accessing habitat above them and contributed to poor water quality below. The Klamath River was once the third-largest salmon producer on the West Coast, but in the time since the dams were constructed, the Klamath’s coho and Chinook runs have dwindled to a fraction of their historic abundance. more, >>click to read<< 13:34
Fishermen are gearing up for the Dungeness crab season to start next week
After months of delays, local fishermen will finally be allowed to fish for Dungeness crab off of the Central Coast. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced the season will reopen on Jan. 18; however, fleets will only be allowed to use 50 percent of their traps. Meanwhile, those in the industry say the delays and restrictions are frustrating. “The last five years, we’ve been losing all our holiday markets. That means we have to go out in rougher weather,” said Chris Zajac, a Santa Cruz Dungeness crab fisherman. “We only get a month and a half to fish, whereas we used to get eight months to fish for crab,” Zajac said. Video, >>click to read<< 11:24
CDFW Opens Commercial Dungeness Crab Fishery in the Central Management Area Under Trap Reduction and Lifts Recreational Crab Trap Restriction
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) will open the commercial Dungeness crab fishery from the Sonoma/Mendocino county line to the U.S./Mexico border (Central Management Area: Fishing Zones 3-6) under a 50 percent trap reduction beginning Jan. 18, 2024, at 12:01 a.m. with a 64-hour pre-soak to begin on Jan. 15, 2024, at 8 a.m. This management decision is a balanced approach that achieves two outcomes. First, this trap reduction will help reduce entanglement risk for humpback whales by reducing the amount of gear and vertical lines in the water. Second, the decision gets the commercial fishery open statewide. This management decision includes exhaustive coordination with affected fishers, businesses and environmental organizations. CDFW reached this decision after seeking feedback and input from the California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group, during a meeting on Jan. 10, 2024. The working group expressed broad support for this management decision. more, >>click to read<<17:33
