Category Archives: Pacific
The Coronavirus pandemic could change U.S. fisheries forever. Will it be for better or for worse?!
The first symptoms appeared long before Covid-19 gained a stronghold on U.S. shores, as China went into its first lockdown and a critical export market disappeared overnight,,, Then as social distancing rules kicked in here, another major organ of the U.S. supply chain, restaurants, where most seafood purchases are made, fell limp. Many fishermen across the country have pivoted to direct-marketing models by selling their catch off their boats,,, To many in the food industry, the pandemic’s impact has exposed the fundamental vulnerabilities of a system that has long favored efficiency over resilience. >click to read< 09:48
Battle fishing between Alaska and the Aleutians
“The waves were smashing into the boat. The tide was coming in, and the boat was starting to tip. This was late in the season, and we couldn’t see anybody around. Our radios were broken, so we couldn’t call for help, and our greenhorn captain was having a complete mental breakdown. He was an emotionally unstable guy anyway. He was up on the fly bridge of the boat, ripping components out and throwing them overboard, including things that worked. Myself and the other deckhand, Erik – there were only three of us on the boat – we were looking at each other: ‘What do we do? Do we need to get our survival suits on? Like, what’s happening here? Are we going to die?’” >click to read< 08:58
UPDATED: Firefighters battle huge ship fire at Port of Tacoma’s Pier 12
Tacoma firefighters battled a large ship fire in the Port of Tacoma into the early morning. The vessel on fire is the 356-foot Alaskan fish processor Aleutian Falcon, moored at Trident Seafoods on Pier 12. Engine companies on the scene were reporting two large plumes of black smoke from the ship and towering flames amidships. At midnight, the ship was reported listing heavily. >click to read< 07:32. Crews on three fire boats battled a stubborn fire for hours overnight on a moored commercial fishing boat at the Port of Tacoma, more video, >click to read< 11:05
Coast Guard completes 3 rescues during busy crab season opener
Station Cape Disappointment, along with Station Grays Harbor, launched 47-foot Motor Lifeboat [MLB] rescue crews at 7:30 a.m. for a fishing vessel taking on water near Willapa Bay. A Coast Guard helicopter eventually hoisted three individuals and their dog off their capsized vessel. The crew was then diverted at 9:15 a.m., south in the vicinity of Gearhart, Ore., to assist another fishing vessel with an injured crewmember. Simultaneously, a separate MLB rescue crew was assisting the crew of a 66-foot fishing vessel off the coast of Long Beach, Wash. The initial distress call came in at 9:30 a.m., stating a vessel with five people aboard was disabled and drifting to shore, dragging its anchor. In 16 to 18-foot seas,,, >Video, click to read< 21:49
Herring Fishermen Sue Chevron Over California Oil Leak
A pipeline rupture that gushed hundreds of gallons of oil into the San Francisco Bay spurred a class action filed Tuesday that accuses a Chevron refinery of prioritizing profits over safety and threatening the survival of herring in the area for years to come. “We have been working for years to preserve and protect the herring that spawn in the Bay,” said plaintiff John Mellor, a longtime fisherman and vice president of the San Francisco Herring Association. On Feb. 9, a Chevron refinery in the East Bay city of Richmond, California, discovered a pipeline leak,,, >click to read< 10:45
Tugboat Rex is back in service
Ralph Criteser donated his trusty tugboat to the Port of Toledo when he closed down his moorage on the Yaquina River in early 2019. At his docks, boathouse and workshop, the World War II veteran of the U.S. Navy helped successive generations of local fishermen get their professional sea legs. “In the early years, Ralph not only took care of us but took care of our boats. Our boats were like his family,” one fisherman said. “A lot of us came here with not a lot of money and not a lot of experience in boat work, and Ralph really kind of took us under his wing and made sure we sailed out of here safely, and he really was responsible for any success that any of us might have had in the fishing industry.” His words were met with applause and shouts of “hear, hear” from the crowd. photos, >click to read< 09:55
“The Fishmonger” Tommy Gomes to Star in TV Show and Open Point Loma Seafood Market
San Diego’s seafood culture, from its fishermen to the city’s chefs and restaurants, will be the subject of a new television show premiering Monday, March 1, on the Outdoor Channel. The Fishmonger stars local seafood expert Tommy Gomes, a native San Diegan and former commercial fisherman whose long career in the industry includes 15 years with Catalina Offshore Products, where he founded a walk-in fish market for the wholesaler and started a educational dinner series. >click to read< 08:50
Humboldt County crabbers opposed to ropeless gear bill, the Whale Entanglement Prevention Act
A bill recently introduced to the California State Assembly is expected to deliver a blow to the ailing crab fishing industry,,, Assembly Bill 534, or the Whale Entanglement Prevention Act, was written and introduced to this state chamber by Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) on Feb. 10 and is sponsored by the environmental organizations Center for Biological Diversity and Social Compassion in Legislation. The proposed legislation would require Dungeness crab fishing operations to only use ropeless gear by Nov. 1, 2025. >click to read< 22:50
What to do about seals?
Atlantic Seal Science Task Team, Dear Sir/Madam, I wish to contribute input to the work of the Atlantic Seal Science Task Team related to DFO’s science activities and programs regarding seals, and the role of the animals in the ecosystem in Atlantic Canada and Quebec. To begin, I want to refer to the February, 1990 Independent Review of the State of the Northern Cod Stock by the late Dr. Leslie Harris, a report that questioned the impact of seals on the marine ecosystem. The Review Panel, which held a series of province-wide public hearings at the time, was “repeatedly confronted” by inshore fishermen with the issue of the growth of the seal herds, and the impacts on the abundance of cod.,, >click to read< By Ryan Cleary 12:04
This Year’s Dungeness Crab Fishery a Shell of its Former Self
New regulations and price strikes delayed the start of the season. Dungeness crab fishermen face the worst catch numbers in decades. CDFW monitors for whales, and sea turtles and can delay or halt Dungeness crab commercial fishing if they determine that the risk of entanglement is high. That happened twice at the beginning of this season. The presence of humpback whales kept the fishermen out of the water from the originally scheduled start date of Nov. 15 until Dec. 23. Some fishermen, like Ben Platt, president of the California Coast Crab Association, worry that the new regulations will squeeze the season into a few months every year. Half Moon Bay-based fisherman Tim Obert agrees. “The Thanksgiving market’s huge for us,” he says. “The RAMP has taken that out.” >click to read< 21:10
A Fundraiser by Lawauna Cappa – Westport Fisherman loses livelihood & home at sea
This morning my brother Matt Finley and his crew left the Westport dock with f/v Terry F loaded with crab pots to finally begin the crab season.,, The fishing vessel began taking on water and sinking.,,, I am tearful writing this with the thoughts of how things could have gone. I am thankful that my brother, his two crewmen, and his dog were all rescued. The fishing vessel is a loss…it was Matt’s livelihood and his home. >>click to read< and please, donate if you can! 11:30
F/V Terry F runs into serious trouble, Coast Guard rescues crew and a dog, vessel breaks up, Fundraiser!
The crabber F/V Terry F ran into life-threatening trouble near the north end of the peninsula Saturday morning in the first hours of the Dungeness 73-hour pre-soak period. The U.S. Coast Guard rescued three crewmembers after the vessel reportedly lost power and began taking on water at about 7:30 a.m. about 4 miles offshore from the mouth of Willapa Bay.,, They instructed the crew to enter the water one at a time to meet a rescue swimmer. All three were wearing survival suits and communication gear. The commercial crab season started Saturday morning when boats were allowed to set their pots offshore. John Weldon photos, >click to read< 17:50
Video: Coast Guard rescues 3 people, 1 dog from fishing vessel taking on water near Willapa Bay, WA – A Coast Guard Sector Columbia River aircrew aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter rescue three mariners and a dog from a sinking vessel near Willapa Bay, WA, Saturday, Feb. 13. >click to watch<
A Fundraiser by Lawauna Cappa – Westport Fisherman loses livelihood & home at sea – This morning my brother Matt Finley and his crew left the Westport dock with f/v Terry F loaded with crab pots to finally begin the crab season.,, The fishing vessel began taking on water and sinking.,,, >>click to read< and please, donate if you can!
‘Mask police’: Commercial fishermen, watermen required to wear masks on boats via Biden, Coast Guard COVID orders
The U.S. Coast Guard is requiring masks be worn on commercial fishing boats and other vessels as part of President Joe Biden’s executive orders mandating face coverings on federally regulated transportation vehicles.,, Now, they are also going to be enforced on watermen and those working on fishing boats, according to the Coast Guard. U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md.-1st, said mandating the mask on watermen and fishermen working outdoors is burdensome, goes against the science of how of and where COVID is spread and could require masks to be worn at all times on boats, including while sleeping. >click to read< 19:10
Congressman Harris Asks for Clarification on Mask Mandate for Small Craft Fishing Vessels – The Coast Guard has issued guidance that all commercial fishing vessel occupants will be required to wear masks, and that they will enforce this mandate. >click to read<
Tough times felt by renowned Port Townsend lutefisk business
Scott Kimmel, owner of Port Townsend’s New Day Fisheries, says COVID-19 has caused his lutefisk operation to take a nosedive. But the pandemic isn’t solely to blame for a downward trend,,, Lutefisk is dried cod that has been rehydrated in a lye solution before being boiled or baked,, It is perhaps more-aptly described as a traditional Scandinavian dish which either strikes mortal fear into the hearts of those who’ve known it,,, It just depends on who you ask. But as Kimmel’s lutefisk sales show, most folks these days probably fall into that former category. “Our sales have been declining for years and years just because our customers have been passing away and the younger generation’s not picking up the slack,” Kimmel said. “So, it’s a dying business, is what that is. >click to read<13:19
CARES Act relief funds for New Bedford fisheries topped $5 million
In May 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced an allocation of $300 million for fisheries assistance. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Massachusetts received the third-highest amount in funding with about $28 million. Alaska and Washington received the most with $50 million each and Maine was fifth with about $20.3 million. New Bedford alone received about $3.8 million, or approximately 13.6% of the state’s allocation. The funds provided much-needed relief for an industry seeing up to a 49% drop in landings revenue,,, >click to read< 08:12
One in a Million? Rare Albino Crab Finds a Home at Humboldt State University Marine Lab
An albino Dungeness crab caught in the Bay Area was brought up to local outfit Comet Fisheries, which help revive the unusual crustacean by placing it in an aeriated tank before HSU’s Marine Lab came to take it to a new home. Based on pictures on a Facebook post by Comet Fisheries, based over at Woodley Island, a crab expert says looks like the real thing. (ODFW), described them as rare, according to an announcement from the Oregon Coast Aquarium when it had one on exhibit, possibly as rare as one in a million. >click to read< 07:35
Noyo Harbor: How’s the Dungeness crab season playing out this year? Word on the dock is grim
Dungeness crab season is off to a pitiful start this year. Some crabbers pulled their gear out and threw the towel in just one day into the season.,,, Gene Mathieuso, whose family has worked in the fishing industry since the early 20th century said that he has seen years as bad as this before.“1973 was probably the worst season we’ve ever had,” he said. “Landings were less than a million, at 880,000 pounds.” For reference, the average total California dungeness catch from 2010 to 2020 was around 14 million pounds. Mathieuso said he anticipates that this year will rival 1973. photos, >click to read< 12:25
Oregon commercial crab fishery to open north of Cape Falcon Feb. 16
This area has remained closed to commercial crabbing to coordinate an orderly start with the Washington coastal Dungeness crab fishery. Results from recent domoic acid testing of crab viscera (guts) conducted by the state of Washington indicate that levels of the marine biotoxin domoic acid are still elevated in the viscera of crab. Until further notice, all crab harvested from Point Chehalis, Wash. to the Washington/Oregon border will be required to have the viscera (guts) removed ,,, Prior to the opener, crab vessels in this area will be allowed to set gear from Feb. 13 onwards, >click to read< 07:43
Canada’s sockeye salmon find their way home again after 50 years
For the first time in over 50 years, spawning sockeye salmon will return to Okanagan Lake in British Columbia,,, A fish ladder, left inoperable after the Penticton Dam was built in the 1950s, has been restored by the Okanagan Nation Alliance and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. A crane was used to remove a wooden gate blocking off the narrow concrete passage, opening the way for fish to get through. “To watch that gate go up, and to know that fish can finally return to their historic grounds, was a tearful moment,” she said. McFayden is a member of the Okanagan River Restoration Initiative (ORRI) and the Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance. >click to read< 07:55
Hauling Out F/V Sunup, the crab vessel that sunk at the South Jetty
January 24, a commercial crabbing boat, the Sunup, lost propulsion and crashed at the entrance to Humboldt Bay near the South Jetty. Three of its crew had to be rescued. The vessel eventually broke up and parts of it sunk. On Friday and Saturday, several companies worked together to remove the remaining parts of the vessel from out of the water. Photographer Jae Wood, who captured much of the recovery, photo-documented the operation. >click to read< 16:00
GOP congressman pitches plan to breach Lower Snake River dams in new vision for Northwest, Salmon
Could Congressman Mike Simpson, a Republican from a conservative district in eastern Idaho, have launched a concept that will forever alter life on the Columbia and Snake — and finally honor tribal treaty fishing rights in the Columbia Basin? His proposal includes removing the earthen berms adjacent to all four Lower Snake River hydroelectric dams to let the river run free, to help save salmon from extinction, while spending billions of dollars to replace the benefits of the dams for agriculture, energy and transportation.,,, Simpson is careful to point out that what he has released is an overall concept that provides only broad spending targets for key initiatives. What he wants is a regional conversation about a new vision for the Northwest. What if we stopped debating whether the Lower Snake River dams are valuable, and recognize that they are, then figure out together how to replace those benefits? video, >click to read< 14:15
New crab boat faces the harsh realities of a tough season
The commercial Dungeness crab season is well underway and there’s a new boat in town. When a retired school teacher looking for a hobby and well-established fishermen in Charleston get together, a boat is built. “He said he just bought some plans and he showed them to me, and they were exactly the kind of boat I was looking for,” said Bill Lucero, an owner of the Michelle Marie Fishing Vessel. “So, one thing led to another and we decided to build this boat.” video, photos, >click to read< 08:06
CDQ Leaders, Western Alaskan communities join to buy out crab industry pioneers
Thirty communities, Coastal Villages Region Fund (CVRF), and Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation (BBEDC) announced significant crab industry acquisitions to bring new revenues to Western Alaskan communities. The buy-out of the Mariner Companies, a Seattle-based fishing enterprise majority-owned by Kevin Kaldestad and Gordon Kristjanson, provides participating communities with opilio and red king crab quota, equaling 3% of the total crab fishery; while CVRF and BBEDC will acquire full ownership of seven crabbing vessels. The deal enables communities to increase their revenues from the fisheries to deliver more programs and benefits to their residents and provides additional revenue for CVRF and BBEDC programs that serve those communities. >click to read< 10:53
Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat Victory placed on restricted duty
For more than 60 years, one name was the best hope for large commercial vessels stranded or imperiled at sea off the central Oregon coast. Victory. The 52-foot motor lifeboat Victory came to Newport’s Station Yaquina Bay in 1956 (although it remained nameless until the 1970s). It was the first of four steel 52-foot vessels built by the U.S. Coast Guard to replace its aging wooden lifeboats, Invincible and Triumph, and was joined in the early 1960s by the Intrepid, Invincible II and Triumph II, stationed at Grays Harbor, Coos Bay and Cape Disappointment, respectively. The four boats are the only named vessels smaller than 65 feet in the guard’s fleet. “Right now, we’ve basically restricted the use of all four of our 52-foot special weather boats here in the Pacific Northwest,” >click to read< 11:18
California lobstermen ride high-price wave from China
Since it became home to California’s first lobster fishery in the early 1870s, the coastal city of Santa Barbara has established a long and proud history of lobster fishing. The industry is now experiencing a surge in demand because of a trade war between nations that are thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean. Almost all of the lobsters caught in the waters off of Santa Barbara’s coast this season will end up in China, where an ongoing dispute with Australia has worked to the advantage of California’s lobster fishing community. The surge in demand from Chinese markets has resulted in high prices that fishermen and distributors here say are without precedent, as well as plenty of uncertainty. >click to read< 08:36
Crabbing families deserve TLC in this tough season
In normal times, this year’s disastrous Dungeness crab season would be big news beyond the coast. Even in this abnormal year, it’s time for elected officials and agencies to pay closer attention to how local families are being hurt by lack of crabbing. Typical measures of economic pain fail to capture the extent of damage.,, The most immediate problem for both commercial crabbing and recreational clamming is the marine toxin domoic acid,,, There are a lot of needy folks this year. That creates a risk that crab-dependent families may be overlooked. This fishery is a disaster and should be treated as an emergency. >click to read< 20:22
Halibut catch limits soar for Central Gulf fishermen
The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) completed its 97th Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington, on Friday (Jan. 29), with decisions on total halibut mortality, fishery limits, fishing dates, and other fishery regulation changes for the upcoming season… The 2021 Pacific Halibut commercial fishery catch limits went up significantly for fishermen in the regulatory Area 3A, the Central Gulf of Alaska, with a 26.95-percent increase from just over 7-million pounds available in 2020, to nearly 9-million pounds this year. All other areas but two saw an increase in poundage from last year. Canadian fishermen in Area 2B get a two-percent increase, equivalent to 11,000 pounds. >click to read< 17:26
Mark Siino inherits a fishing boat hand-built by his grandfather, and transforms it into a floating classroom.
Mark Siino never met his grandfather, Angelo Siino, but he now spends his days running his hands over a boat his grandfather built. The General Pershing is a 60-foot fishing boat hand-built in the 1920s in Monterey by Angelo, with his brothers Gaetano and Francesco and their father, Erasmo, all Sicilian immigrants. Now, after moving from owner to owner for nearly a century, the boat has retired its fishing permits and come home, and back to the descendants of its original craftsmen. Siino, along with a team of volunteers, has for years been restoring the boat to convert it into a floating environmental and marine science classroom. >click to read< 10:05
Scientists puzzled by 30,000 chinook that seem to be missing from Yukon River
Salmon counts on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border in 2020 were discussed recently at a meeting of the Yukon River Panel. One finding stood out. Last year about 77,000 chinook salmon were counted swimming by the Pilot Sonar station near the mouth of the Yukon River in Alaska. About 1,750 kilometres upriver, at the Eagle Sonar station, just before the Alaska-Yukon border, about 49,500 were counted. This could mean fish are dying or being miscounted, or that harvesting is going unreported, though there is no evidence of that. All parties agree that it’s a mystery and requires investigation. >click to read< 19:25
U.S. Coast Guard to hold virtual formal hearing for loss of F/V Scandies Rose
The U.S. Coast Guard is scheduled to conduct a formal hearing starting Monday February 22 in Edmonds Wash., to consider evidence related to the sinking of the fishing vessel Scandies Rose. The hearing will focus on the conditions influencing the vessel prior to and at the time of the casualty. This will include weather, icing, fisheries, the Scandies Rose’s material condition, owner and operator organizational structures and culture, the regulatory compliance record of the vessel, and testimony from the survivors and others.>click to read< 12:21
Marine Board of Investigation: Coast Guard looking for details regarding F/V Scandies Rose ahead of public hearing, November 25, 2020 – >click to read<
