Category Archives: Pacific
WDFW: Toxin domoic acid delays commercial Dungeness crab season until at least Jan. 1
The commercial Dungeness crab season opener faces a delay until at least Jan. 1 due to an excess of the marine toxin domoic acid in the guts of sampled crab, the Tri-State management group announced Tuesday evening, Dec. 8. The season had been previously set to start Dec. 16, depending on whether crab reached required minimum meat standards by then. “This decision was based on domoic acid tests of Dungeness crab collected by WDFW and analyzed by the Washington Department of Health,,, >click to read< 08:31
Court OKs deal to keep Jessie’s Ilwaco Fish Co. afloat
San Francisco-based Pucci Foods is positioned to take ownership after a ruling by Judge Goelz on Monday, Dec. 6, in Pacific County Superior Court in South Bend.,, With up to 65 employees depending on the time of year, Jessie’s has been one of the largest employers in Pacific County, according to the Washington State Employment Security Department. It was also Ilwaco’s biggest water customer. With the commercial Dungeness crab season looming, many were concerned about the possibility of losing a primary seafood processor ahead of the lucrative fishery and the impact of having fewer places for fishermen to deliver crab and compete for their business. >click to read< 07:57
Factory farmed salmon: inland farms offer alternative to diminishing wild stocks, with bigger carbon emissions
One of these land-based salmon farms is planned for Bucksport, Another is intended for Belfast,,, Meanwhile, Nordic Aquafarms, a Scandinavian company with two farms in Denmark, one in Norway and plans for another in northern California, has chosen Belfast for its site. A more ambitious project than that planned for Bucksport, the company hopes to create the second largest such farm in the world. Welcomed by officials for its potential contribution to the town’s economy, there has been opposition from some local people,,, Land based farming using an RAS, recirculating aquaculture system, raises the fish with no exposure to the ocean other than fast flowing, temperature controlled water which is pumped in and out of the fish tanks round the clock. >click to read< 14:15
Extended delay – Commercial Dungeness Crab fishing ban extended until Dec. 16
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife extended the delay of commercial crab fishing Nov. 24 from Point Arena down to Mexico after it spotted whales in crab fishing grounds. Scott Edson fishes in Half Moon Bay and isn’t surprised by the delay extension until Dec. 16. He expects the current delay to last even longer. Edson said the delays are a disaster for commercial fishermen trying to survive during a tough season and a pandemic. Increased delays cost him money in an already limited season,,, >click to read< 08:59
Nearly Entire U.S. Seafoods Trawler Crew Test Positive, Six Fish Processing Plant Employees Test Positive For Coronavirus
Two crewmembers of the trawler F/V Legacy tested positive for the virus on Thursday, according to the City of Unalaska, prompting providers from the local Iliuliuk Family and Health Services clinic to test the rest of the 25-person crew.,,, they showed that 22 more individuals were also positive. All crew members remain on board,,, >click to read<
Six Fish Processing Plant Employees And Two U.S. Seafoods Crewmembers Test Positive – On Friday, the City of Unalaska reported eight new cases of COVID-19 among employees at two local seafood processing plants and crewmembers of a United States Seafoods trawler. Five of the individuals are employed at Alyeska Seafoods and arrived in Unalaska by chartered flight,,, >click to read< 10:40
Touting Potential Economic Benefits, Crescent City Harbor District Commissions Offshore Wind Farm Study
Though the Crescent City Harbor District will move forward with a study on the “pluses and minuses” of offshore wind energy production to Del Norte County, the decision wasn’t unanimous. However, their colleagues Carol White and Rick Shepherd, a commercial fisherman, said they were concerned about the environmental impacts those turbines would have on Del Norte County waters. “Plus the last article I read said it cost up to four times more to put these out on the ocean as opposed to putting them on land,” Carol White said. “I’m with Rick I don’t think we should be messing with the ocean at this point, especially when fishermen are struggling to make ends meet.” >click to read< 09:37
Blue collar fishermen deserve to make a living, not persecution from weak minded politicians and wealthy enviros
Austen Brown started fishing commercially with his father off California’s coast when he was only 8 years old. By the time he was 13, Austen was making his own living as a fisherman, and he has spent the past few decades fishing for everything from codfish to shark. But perhaps his favorite target is the elusive swordfish.,, The swordfish is also a favorite catch for Chris Williams, who has spent more than 40 years plying his commercial fishing trade off the California coast, including targeting swordfish with drift gillnets. Tragically, California’s drift gillnet ban comes at the expense of the fishermen and their families who will be put out of business for no good reason. Video, >click to read< 08:34
Charleston Fishing Families looks to help prepare for Christmas during tough crabbing year
The Charleston crabbing community in Coos Bay is hit hard yet again, not only with COVID, but with another delay to the start of the season this year. Crab season is delayed to December 16th and there is always the possibility of that changing. That’s why the Charleston Fishing Families organization is stepping up to help their community during the holiday season. “We’re going to provide the Christmas breakfast, dinner, and toys for the kids this year,”,,, The nonprofit is accepting applications for this holiday program. They are looking to help 25 commercial fishing families, and families associated with the industry, like dock workers,, >video, click to read< 17:41
Marine Board of Investigation: Coast Guard looking for details regarding F/V Scandies Rose ahead of public hearing
After almost a year of investigation into the Dec. 31, 2019, sinking of the F/V Scandies Rose that left only two survivors, investigators are still looking for information before a public hearing in February. The Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation will hold a public hearing into the loss of the F/V Scandies Rose from Feb. 22 through March 5. The public hearing will be recorded and livestreamed for those who cannot attend in person. The MBI is looking into why the 130-foot crabber sank near Sutwik Island on New Year’s Eve, which resulted in the deaths of five crew members,,, The MBI also has the testimonies of the two survivors, Dean Gribble Jr. and John Lawler, who were found floating in high seas and freezing temperatures. >click to read< 13:25
Extended Closure of CA Dungeness Crab Fishing Season Will Hurt Working Families, Eliminate Holiday Crab Traditions
“Since mid-November, fishermen have had to sit idle at the dock and accept delays in the opening of their crab season due to the new, highly restrictive and unfair RAMP rules. “And now the season is being postponed for a full month,” said Ben Platt, president of the California Coast Crab Association (CCCA). Called the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program (RAMP), the new CDFW rules are more restrictive than even the strictest fishery laws in the nation,,, Our fishery is having zero impact on the species,,, “This is a huge success story, and in light of it, the new regulations constitute a solution in the absence of any real problem,” >click to read< 11:29
Monterey Bay Fishermen hit with new wave of Dungeness crab season delays
You couldn’t blame crab fishermen Tim and Dan Obert for feeling like they’re passing through the perfect storm. First there was the pandemic, which shut down restaurants and, in turn, much of the demand for Dungeness crab. Then a new regulation took effect on Nov. 1 that heavily restricts the Dungeness fishery’s operations when whales and sea turtles are around. Then the state delayed the opening of the Dungeness crab season until after Thanksgiving. “If you take all three of those things, you will destroy this fishery,” said Tim Obert, 35, of Scotts Valley. “There will be no crabbers left.” >click to read< 08:47
Evermore competition
“We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten.” Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Salmon farming is now well into that next 10, and if you’re an Alaska commercial fishermen or resident of an Alaska community still dependent on commercial fishing, you ought to be worried. Why? Because stories like this have become an almost weekly occurrence: “Norwegian company secures financing for industrial-scale salmon farm in rural Nevada.”, or in (Belfast, Me, Humboldt County, Ca., Maryland’s Eastern Shore,,, >click to read< 14:25
Delay in Dungeness crab season the latest in long string of delayed seasons
The Oregon Dungeness crab season has been delayed two weeks with a start date now set for December 16. It’s the latest in a long string of delayed seasons. The season start date is supposed to be December 1, but for six consecutive seasons it’s been delayed. “It’s a moving goalpost all the time with the Dungeness crab fishery and yeah, I guess were used to waiting here because the state makes the decision when we get to open the season,” says Nick Edwards, owner of F/V Carter Jon. >video, lick to read< 10:36
Plan will remove Klamath River dams, reopening the waterway along Oregon-California border
An agreement announced Tuesday paves the way for the largest dam demolition in U.S. history, a project that promises to reopen hundreds of miles of waterway along the Oregon-California border to salmon that are critical to tribes but have dwindled to almost nothing in recent years. If approved, the deal would revive plans to remove four massive hydroelectric dams on the lower Klamath River, creating the foundation for the most ambitious salmon restoration effort in history. >click to read< 12:16
Summer season a mixed bag for Port Townsend fishermen
With the summer season now well astern, many vessels of the Port Townsend fishing fleet have returned to Boat Haven to undergo routine maintenance and repairs. Joel Kawahara stayed in Washington waters for the summer season, aboard his 42-foot salmon troller, Karolee, based out of Quilcene. Jonathan Moore and his family recently returned to Port Townsend along with their 46-foot Little Hoquiam troller, Ocean Belle, following the close of the summer troll season in Alaska. Mike Carr and his 32-foot gillnetter Miss Melito also just hauled out in Port Townsend,,, >click to read< 10:42
Local Dungeness crab fishermen oppose new fish and wildlife regulations
The regulations are a product of concerns surrounding how often whales and other endangered species are getting caught in the ropes used to fish crabs. The regulations were met with some resistance from the local fishing community. However, conservationists argue the rules will do more good than harm to wildlife. Tim Obert, a fisherman, strongly opposes,,, “You’re driving down the street and you accidentally run over a squirrel or maybe you hit a deer on a mountain road, it doesn’t mean you go park your car in the garage and never turn it on again or never leave your house,” he said. Ben Platt, the President of the California Coast Crab Association, also opposes the regulations,,, >click to read< 08:13
Sea lions throw a party on Cowichan Bay’s federal breakwater to feast on spawning salmon
Steller and California sea lions jostle for space, bark 24-7, and leave stinky feces on the breakwater. About 300 sea lions will climb onto the 182-metre-long concrete dock at one time during at the height of the season, said federal harbour manager Mark Mercer. “They are three layers deep out there.” The majority are males, he said, likening the event to a big bachelor party. Depending on species, males range from about 850 to 2,500 pounds. “Like I tell people: ‘What you see on the breakwater is literally the tip of the iceberg. That’s a tenth of what’s out there.’ >click to read< 12:29
Behind the scenes with Seattle’s crab experts
It’s king crab season in the Bering Sea. That means around 300 people, including many from Fishermen’s Terminal in Seattle, the home port to the North Pacific Fishing Fleet, fly into Dutch Harbor, Alaska, for the harvest. And when king crab season is over, many of these fishermen and women switch to bairdi crab and snow crab. Which means they’ll be busy for four to five months and there will be a lot more crab on the market. As the executive director of Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, a nonprofit trade association that represents the crab industry, Jamie Goen knows a lot about the work that brings crab from the bottom of the sea to our tables. >click to read< 09:19
Offshore Wind Industry Cheers Biden Win
Trade groups representing the United States’ offshore wind sector are hailing the election of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States as significant to further growing the nation’s offshore wind capacity. Biden’s climate action plan calls for a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions by 2050. This would means a renewed focus on renewable energy, including offshore wind, as the United States is likely to rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change. Under the Biden Administration, it is expected that offshore wind will experience substantial growth from projects, supply chain development, and job creation, according to The Business Network for Offshore Wind, a non-profit that works to promote the offshore wind supply chain in the U.S. >click to read< 07:51
California crab fisherman are concerned the so-called ‘ropeless’ fishing gear, is not the answer
Is the so-called “ropeless” fishing gear the silver bullet for solving the perceived problem of marine mammal interactions in California’s crab fisheries. Several profit-driven environmental groups, including Oceana would like the public and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to believe these baseless claims. That’s because these groups are ramping up efforts to force California’s historic and economically most important fishery – which helps create millions of dollars annually for working families – to adopt expensive, impractical and unworkable new fishing gear, which would force most crab fishermen out of business. By Johnny Atkinson >click to read< 15:33
A thriving fishing industry
An article on the front page of the Aug. 4, 1966, Western World told the story. “Fishing activity in the Port of Bandon has definitely been on the increase during the past two weeks, reports Graydon Stinnett, owner of Bandon Seafood Market. “From an average of 21 fishing boats per day in July, mid-week count yesterday indicated 50 boats, and this number is apt to be raised by five or more per day, while the present season is in progress, said Stinnett. “Attracting a large number of California fishermen, Stinnett is now working at a peak capacity,,, >click to read< 08:13
Port of Ilwaco Boatyard abuzz: Skippers and crews get set for busy seasons
The boatyard has been even more abuzz than normal since arrival of a much-anticipated new 75-ton marine Travelift on Nov. 3. “Boats are getting bigger and wider and we want to modernize our facility to meet their needs,” Glenn said. The colossal new machinery has already eased haul-outs, as more boats begin to arrive, eager to complete annual maintenance ahead of upcoming fishing seasons, starting with Dungeness crab, typically in December. The new marine lift was assembled over two days outside the boatyard before making its first official haul out with the F/V Branko Storm on Nov. 5.,, >21 photos, click to read< 16:21
Punitive New Rules Will Crush CA Dungeness Crab Fishing Families, Threaten Holiday Crab Traditions
This week, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) put into effect onerous new regulations that among other things, could delay or close the state’s iconic crab fishery if whales are present near the crab grounds and could economically devastate our coastal communities that rely on the fishing and seafood industry. Called the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program (RAMP), these punitive rules also include triggers for crab fishery closures that are more restrictive than even the strictest fishery laws in the nation, the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). “Regulators seem to be more concerned about the optics in the media of the rare occurrence of an entangled whale than the fact that the populations of these marine mammals, which migrate off our coast, are skyrocketing, and may soon be eligible for removal from the Endangered Species List,” said Ben Platt, president of the California Coast Crab Association (CCCA). >click to read< 10:02
Coast Guard honors Oregon man with the Distinguished Public Service Award who saved 3 people from capsized commercial fishing boat
Curtis Green saw the 40-foot Darean Rose get stuck on a sand bar the day after Christmas 2019 as he worked the dock at Russell’s Marine Fuel & Supply, his family’s business in Charleston. Then the boat capsized. Green yelled for someone to do something. Then he looked around – and he got it done. “I saw the panic in their eyes, I could literally see the whites of their eyes as it was going down,” he said. “I just happened to be the closest one.” Video, >click to read< 07:46
Demolition nears for old codfish processing plant – what a story it has to tell!
The building is all that remains of what was, at its founding, the first codfish processing plant north of San Francisco. Many of the untreated pilings, eroded by time, tide and critters were driven by Capt. J.A. Matheson when he built the processing plant in September 1891. By October, the former Provincetown, Massachusetts, sea captain’s schooner, Lizzie Colby, arrived from the Bering Sea with its holds full of cod, ushering in an era of fish curing and fish canning that would provide jobs for hundreds and fuel the economy of an infant city, according to news stories at the time in the Anacortes American. >10 photos, click to read< 15:15
The sardine war hits a lull: Commercial fishing industry lands a victory in Pacific sardine management
The Pacific Fishery Management Council, which oversees fishing of Pacific sardines, voted unanimously in September to maintain the current sardine fishery management process that calls for reassessments after each year’s stock assessments. At the moment, the direct commercial sardine fishery is closed. “Fishery managers have failed to learn from the mistakes of history,” said Geoff Shester, senior scientist at marine conservation group Oceana,,, Diane Pleschner-Steele, executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association, argues that sardines are not overfished and “the Council’s unanimous decision shows that they understand reality, the big picture.” >click to read< 14:27
Settlement reached in sinking of F/V Scandies Rose for more than $9 million to surviving crewmen and families
The owners of the Scandies Rose have reached a settlement of more than $9 million with two surviving crew and the families of four men who died when the Washington-managed crab boat went down Dec. 31 off Alaska. Jerry Markham, an attorney for the families of three of the deceased, also confirmed the settlement, and said his clients “are relieved and pleased that the matter is settled.” The Scandies Rose disaster took the lives of five crew,,, The two survivors of the Scandies Rose, Dean Gribble Jr., and Jon Lawler, told harrowing tales of a severe list that imperiled the vessel. Both Lawler and Gribble eventually made it to a life raft.,,, >click to read< 10:14
A Day in the Life: Fourth Generation Puget Sound Crabber Whatcom Fisherman Kaegan Gudmundson
Kaegan Gudmundson knows he will soon depart Blaine Harbor on his small commercial crabbing boat Njordor, named after the Norse God. His vessel, at 25 feet, is one of the smaller boats in the fishery. He often operates a one-man crew and never has more than one other person crabbing with him. His boat is built for speed over size, allowing him to quickly travel between his pot locations. Gudmundson’s days start at 4:30 a.m. with coffee and breakfast before heading to the harbor. >click to read< 10:30
California crabbing rules a concern says North Coast fisherman
Local crab fisherman Mike Cunningham said he’s spoken with fishermen across the West Coast who take issue with the new rules. “We always look to avoid entanglements with whales,” Cunningham said. “The biggest problem (with the new rules) is that they are talking about closing massive areas to fishing. You could have an entanglement problem near Monterey, and the director (of Fish and Wildlife) could close the waters from Monterey up past Humboldt.” There are six fishing zones along the state’s coast. “The director now has the authority to do anything at any time,” Cunningham said. “Now, sometimes, it may just be a fleet advisory or warning, but it could go all the way to closing the entire coast to crab fishing.” The new rules stem from a lawsuit filed against the state by the Center for Biological Diversity, settled in 2019, >click to read< 19:48
Before Fiberglas – British Columbia & Wahl Boatyard
In the early 1900’s with the pushing through of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway from Edmonton to Prince Rupert, the Canadian government promoted land grants and settlements up the coast of British Columbia. Many Scandinavians took advantage of the opportunity and moved their families to Canada’s west coast. Fishing and logging were the staples of the economic engine at the time, and boats were needed for both as well as for transportation between coastal communities. Many of these settlers chose to build their own boats. In the early 1920’s, Ed Wahl moved his family from Norway and settled in Port Essington, a small community on the west coast situated due west of Edmonton and south of Prince Rupert, near the mouth of the Skeena River. photos, links, >click to read< 10:38
