Category Archives: Pacific
California Dungeness crab season faces delays in parts of state
The opening of the commercial Dungeness crab season has been delayed until at least Dec. 1 in the waters north of Bodega Head State Marine Reserve to the Sonoma/Mendocino county line because of elevated levels of domoic acid, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced today. The commercial fishery south of this area will open as scheduled Thursday, however. >click to read<10:51
West Coast Whale entanglement data collected
Whale entanglements off the West Coast and potential solutions to the escalating problem are the focus of a new report including the presentations and observations of fishermen, biologists, and fisheries managers who gathered at an August workshop on the subject.,, The report provides the notes and presentations from the 31 California, Oregon, and Washington experts who attended. Participating were Dungeness crab fishermen; gear specialists; marine mammal biologists and disentanglement specialists; conservation groups; and federal, tribal, and state agency representatives.,, Participants also expressed interest in a gear innovation developed by fishermen in the lobster fishery on the East Coast. >click to read<08:33
Feud over gill nets boils again
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission held a series of meetings at the Heathman Lodge in Vancouver from Thursday through Saturday to receive a report from state staff on the Columbia River Basin Salmon Management Policy C-3620, and review the results of that policy. During the Thursday meeting the WDWC was joined by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission. While the commissions heard the report and reviewed possible options for the future of the policy, members of the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) gathered outside the lodge to protest the prospect of the commission’s abandoning the policy entirely, which is one option being considered. >click to read<11:34
Fisherman jumps on humpback whale to free it from rope, not everyone is impressed
A commercial fisherman jumped on a humpback whale off the Central California coast to free it from being entangled in a rope, reports said this week, citing a video capturing the event in September. A rope was wrapped around the whale’s back and tail when Sam Synstelien jumped onto the mammal off Morro Bay,,, The crew initially reported the problem to the Coast Guard, who “kind of finally said there’s nothing else you can do,” Taron said. He said he was told that the Coast Guard couldn’t respond for hours,,, >click to read<12:25
To our valued readers here at Fishery Nation.
To our valued readers here at Fishery Nation. You have probably noticed recently there have been no postings on our website. I’m sorry to say that I have recently taken ill and have been hospitalized for the past week in the intensive care unit of my local hospital.
As you know, I’ve made it a priority in my life to keep you all informed on the goings on in our commercial fisheries here in the US and also abroad with stories and information that we feel is important to you, and also stories of interest. For the past seven years we have fulfilled this goal 365 days a year, every single day!
Please bear with me as we get through this situation and I am able to get back on my feet and continue what has become my passion, and mission in life, to keep the commercial fishermen informed and up to date as to the goings on in your industry.
If all goes well this will be a short period of time and I’ll soon be on my feet and able to get back at it.
Thank you one and all for your support and understanding. God bless you all, stay safe out there and please stay in touch with us.
Sincerely,
Borehead
Study to help prevent whale entanglements off Oregon
COOS BAY, Ore. (AP) — Crab Commission is supporting a multi-year study to prevent whale entanglements off the Oregon Coast The Coos Bay World reports that the board of the industry-funded agency approved nearly $45,000 toward the three-year $300,000 project. The U.S. Coast Guard, Oregon Sea Grant, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute plan to gather data on whale distributions and populations. .’>click to read<12:50
Fish cops’ keep eyes on the water
When too much of a resource is taken from area bays and beaches — a common occurrence when it comes to clams and crabs — it can put the species at risk of declining or disappearing. Preventing that is an ongoing battle in the Puget Sound region and requires having eyes on the water. >Click to read<11:27
Southern California diver captures Maine lobster – how is that possible?
A diver hunting spiny lobsters last Saturday off Southern California was surprised by the sight of a much larger lobster with large claws. The reason for Jim McKeeman’s astonishment was that spiny lobsters do not have claws and that this was, in fact, a Maine lobster – 3,000 miles from home. >click to read<11:19
Columbia River commercial fishery could hinge on century-old method
A series of nets strung between pilings just off the Columbia River shore may offer a glimpse of the future of commercial fishing in the river, even though it harkens back to the fishing practices of a century ago. But some gillnetters say that the experimental fish trap, also known as a pound net, is just another unworkable idea for catching salmon that threatens their livelihoods. One morning last week, researchers from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Wild Fish Conservancy worked the fish trap set in the Columbia a few miles upstream of Cathlamet, near Nassa Point. >click to read<09:34
Tri Marine Group sells plant to Silver Bay Seafoods
US tuna supplier Tri Marine Group has struck a deal to sell a plant in California. Tri Marine said the sale of the pelagic-processing factory to Alaska-based salmon-to-squid supplier Silver Bay Seafoods was subject to approval of the facility’s ground lease by the Port of Los Angeles. ,,, Silver Bay said the acquisition of the plant, located in San Pedro, meant it has unloading and processing facilities in the north and south of California. >click to read<14:28
San Mateo County Harbor Commission approves a much-contested hoist on pier
After Three Captains owner Larry Fortado won nearly $300,000 in arbitration from the San Mateo County Harbor District, the harbor commission agreed to permit the fish buyer to construct a much-contested hoist on Johnson Pier in Princeton. Harbor commissioners were conflicted about whether to do so at their regularly scheduled meeting on Oct. 17, even though the arbiter ordered them to allow the hoist. >click to read<12:41
Kitzhaber re-emerges to back gillnet ban on the Columbia River
Former Gov. John Kitzhaber has re-emerged to champion a divisive plan he implemented to ban gillnets on the Columbia River — even as state fishery managers say the plan is not living up to expectations.,, Commercial fishermen argue gillnet gear is selective and does not unduly impact salmon runs, while sport fishing and conservation groups disagree. So far, neither state has come up with a replacement gear for gillnets, though Washington has continued to experiment with seine nets. >click to read<19:12
Plan To Revive San Diego Fishing Industry Agreed Upon By Fishermen, Developer
After years of negotiations, San Diego’s fishermen and a local developer have signed an agreement to recapture a lost piece of the city’s history – a thriving commercial fishing trade that once employed thousands of people while netting hundreds of millions of dollars. Much of the agreement focuses on five acres called Tuna Harbor, and the role it will play within Seaport San Diego, the billion-dollar waterfront development expected to break ground in 2022. The marina is expected to provide a true “working waterfront” – a unique attraction for the Seaport project, an economic boon for the region and an opportunity for the fishermen to revive their struggling industry. >click to read< 16:11
Coast Guard medevacs injured man off Oregon Coast
The Coast Guard medically evacuated an injured crewmember off a commercial fishing vessel, 25 miles west of Brookings, Oregon, Monday morning. A boat crew aboard a 47-foot Motor Life Boat from Station Chetco River safely conducted the medevac of the 64-year-old male aboard the fishing vessel Arctic Storm and transported him to shore for further medical care. >click to read<21:13
Crabber caught poaching, hiding crab in trash cans under water before season opened
A crabber suspected of poaching a large amount of crab before the season began has been busted by wildlife officials. Officers with the stgarbage can full of crab ate’s Department of Fish & Wildlife received a tip from someone stating he had found a garbage can full of crab tied to a crab pot in the waters off Blaine the day before the commercial season began. The tipster stated the crabber was stockpiling recreationally caught crab for sale once the commercial season opened, officials said. >click to read<19:14
Island Voices: ‘Namgis First Nation – Why land-based fish farms work
We’ve seen the impact of sea lice, farm waste, lights and nets on salmon fry, clam beds, birds, sea mammals and other marine life.,,,the technology does exist today to grow large numbers of fish on land. It didn’t exist 30 years ago, and it took Kuterra, and a handful of other pilots around the world, to show the way to full-scale operations. Now, we have a very large farm being built in Florida, and when all its modules are finished, it will grow 90,000 tonnes of fish a year on a 33-hectare site. That’s almost as much fish as all of B.C. grows right now, on a piece of land much smaller than one square kilometre. >click to read<19:35
BOEM requires transit corridors for offshore wind energy areas
The federal Bureau of Offshore Energy Management is requiring offshore wind energy developers to set aside vessel transit corridors, amid intense discussions with the commercial fishing industry. In a notice published Friday in the Federal Register, the agency announced it would offer an additional 390,000 acres south of Massachusetts for lease on Dec. 13.,,, Critics of offshore wind, including a number of commercial fishing groups, urge the Trump administration to put the brakes on development and take a slower approach. But Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke has emerged as a strong advocate off building a U.S. offshore wind industry. >click to read<14:58
Crew of F/V Time Machine pulls 15 people from the water from unnamed burning vessel
The crew of the 42-foot fishing vessel Time Machine contacted Coast Guard Sector San Diego’s Joint Harbor Operations Center watchstanders around 9:35 p.m. to report seeing a nearby fishing boat on fire and multiple people in the water. The crew aboard the motor vessel Time Machine pulled 15 people from the water, including two who needed urgent medical attention. The survivors aboard the fishing vessel Time Machine reported that three people were still missing. >click to read<10:40
What About the Fish?!! Trump signs memo to send more water to San Joaquin Valley agribusiness
“Western water mismanagement has been horrendous for commercial, recreational, and guide fisheries in California,” said Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) executive director Noah Oppenheim in a statement. “Water users have sucked our rivers dry for far too long, and the fish have been paying the price.”,,, “Just last month the Secretary of Commerce declared our 2016 and 2017 fishing seasons to be official federal fishery disasters. >click to read<09:00
Fishing groups sue Humboldt Bay Harbor Recreation and Conservation District
A lawsuit was filed against the Humboldt Bay Harbor Recreation and Conservation District by the Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association and Trinidad Bay Fishermen’s Association. The two fishing groups are suing over a long list of allegations that include alleged dredging failures and money management issues among other things.,,,“Our objection is that the harbor district has essentially abandoned their mandated duty to maintain and protect the Woodley Island Marina for the benefit of the fishing fleet,” said Ken Bates, vice president of HFMA, who emailed a news release announcing the lawsuit. >click to read<11:45
Should Oregon Kill Sea Lions to Save the Salmon?
Used to be, they’d show up at Willamette Falls around late November—beefy males here to bulk up and loll on the docks. Call it sea lion winter break; time off from California’s Channel Islands rookeries, beaucoup steelhead to eat, zero problems. (No pups, no ladies, no predators.) When it was time to head back south, a 400-pound sea lion might have doubled in size, having chowed down on, at minimum, three 15-pound Pacific Northwest salmonids a day. >click to read<19:47
Columbia River: The fishing life before boats had motors
Several years ago, as Columbia-Pacific Heritage Museum Curator Barbara Minard and I were talking about the many losses of small fishing boats in those days before motors, she stated, with emphasis, “These boats are very important.”1879: “The sorry experiences of fishing this year, although it has cost many lives and the loss of much property in boats and nets, has demonstrated that the best place to catch fish, and the finest fish, is as close as possible to the bar at the entrance of the Columbia river. >click to read<18:07
Herschel, the Very Hungry Sea Lion
On a December day, the view at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks looks like a scene from a film noir.,, The locks were also the stage for the antics of one of the best-known bandits in Seattle history. A sea lion named Herschel, along with his gang of other hungry pinnipeds, ambushed steelhead traveling through the locks to their spawning grounds in the Lake Washington basin in the 1980s and ’90s. When the run crashed, locals were quick to place blame—sea lions were the obvious culprits. >click to read<09:21
‘What Happened in Craig’: Trying to piece together one of the state’s most perplexing murder mysteries
Leland Hale, along with his late coauthor Walter Gilmour, is known for writing the book “Butcher, Baker” about Anchorage serial killer Robert Hanson in the 1970s and early-’80s, which more recently was made into a movie. And Hale went back to 1980s Alaska for the subject of his new book, “What Happened in Craig?”, out this week.,, HALE: Let’s set the scene. It’s in September. It’s the end of the fishing season in Southeast Alaska. There’s a little town called Craig. There’s about a hundred fishing boats in town. So now the population has doubled and people are out celebrating because the fishing seasons over. They’ve made their money and one of the vessels there is actually from Blaine, Washington. >click to read<20:58
Feds declare salmon fishery disasters
California’s 2016 and 2017 commercial ocean salmon seasons have been declared as federal fisheries disasters, one of many declarations for the state and the rest of the West Coast. Declared by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce late last month, the West Coast fisheries disasters include the Klamath River fall run Chinook commercial ocean salmon fisheries of both California and Oregon and the 2017 Klamath fisheries of the Yurok and Hoopa Valley tribes. Those declarations are among a dozen for the West Coast alone and at this point, only $20 million has been appropriated for federal disaster relief. >click to read<09:18
Despite average pay of between $50,000 and $150,000 a year, commercial fishing operations have trouble luring workers
John Corbin is the manager and partner at Buck & Ann Fisheries in Warrenton, where he’s worked for 29 years. The company operates three boats that fish black and pacific cod as well as shrimp. The company employs about 13 people. We spoke with Corbin — who is also chairman of the Oregon Crab Commission — about labor challenges in the fisheries industry. In December you spoke out about the labor shortage in the fisheries industry. Has there been any relief? No, there really hasn’t. In fact, the more people I talk to, it’s becoming more and more of an issue. >click to read<17:41
Fishermen, scientists, researchers convene to address reeling coastal communities, fisheries
Commercial fishing fleets are skeletons of their former selves and their communities, once known for their abundant natural resources and food production, are suffering from increased poverty and food insecurity. In response, about 50 state and local officials, scientists, researchers, business owners and fishermen convened Friday, Oct. 5, for a ‘Fisheries Roundtable’ discussion at the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum in Ilwaco. They explored options to improving coastal fisheries and the communities they serve. >click to read<16:17
The Kitzhaber Plan – State compensation for gillnetters trickles down
Money local commercial salmon fishermen will soon receive as compensation after reform policies pushed them off the Columbia River is “not nothing.” But it’s not quite something, either. “It means a little bit of a paycheck,” said David Quashnick, a gillnetter who has been fishing since he was a teenager and now has two sons who run their own boats.,,, Recreational and salmon conservation groups said the changes would protect salmon. The commercial fishermen said it would destroy their way of life.,, In the past two years, a number of Oregon’s Fish and Wildlife commissioners say they now agree with the commercial fishermen. >click to read<10:57
A Woman at Sea
“I don’t really know that many women who do it,” Lauren Brady admits, looking out across the calm waters of Yaquina Bay on a rare sunny day in September. She has been commercial fishing since April, working on crabbing, shrimping, black cod fishing, and most recently tuna fishing boats. Brady agreed to meet with me to help readers gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of the few women who choose this career. >click to read<09:27
Coast Guard crew medically evacuates ill fishing vessel crewmember off Oregon Coast
The Coast Guard medically evacuated an ill crewmember off a commercial fishing vessel 10 miles west of Brookings, Wednesday afternoon. A boat crew aboard a 47-foot Motor Life Boat from Station Chetco River safely conducted the medevac of the 59-year-old chief engineer aboard the fishing vessel Alaska Ocean, and transported him to shore for further medical care. >click to read<21:51
