Category Archives: Pacific
Salmon populations are struggling, bringing economic woes for California’s fishing fleet
The season typically runs from May to October, but California Chinook salmon populations have declined so severely in recent years that fishery authorities are considering whether to adopt severe restrictions this season or impose a ban on fishing altogether for the second consecutive year. For those whose livelihoods revolve around catching salmon, the shutdown has brought hard times and widespread frustration. “It’s devastating. It’s absolutely devastating,” said commercial fisherman Chris Pedersen. “They’re literally killing the salmon fleet.” Pedersen, who is 64 and has been fishing for salmon since he was a boy, turned to other work over the past year to make ends meet. He has fiberglassed boats, delivered meals and built sheds at a horse ranch. “You’ve got to do whatever you can to live,” he said. Photos, video, more, >>click to read<< 07:48
Man found dead inside fishing boat that hit rocks near Point Reyes
A Half Moon Bay man was found dead after his fishing boat crashed into rocks Thursday afternoon near Point Reyes, officials said. The Coast Guard sent a rescue swimmer to the wrecked boat, The Westerly. The swimmer could see someone inside but could not get into the cabin. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office sent rescue helicopter Henry 1 to the boat near Chimney Rock, and a paramedic and tactical flight officer descended by rope onto the boat as waves battered it and it was listing on its side. The damaged boat then began to sink. The helicopter rescue crew broke into the boat’s cabin where they found the man dead. He was later identified as Matthew Paul, 49. The crew extracted Paul’s body and it was airlifted to the Marin County Coroner’s Office, which continues to investigate his cause of death. Video, more, <<click to read<< 11:42
1 person found dead on crashed fishing boat at Point Reyes
A person was found dead in a crashed fishing boat found by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office Helicopter Unit (Henry-1) on Thursday. At around 4:30 p.m., Henry-1 responded to calls of a boat that crashed into the rocky shoreline near Chimney Rock in Point Reyes. A rescue swimmer from the U.S. Coast Guard was deployed and located a person in the boat. However, the swimmer was unable to access the cabin without breaching equipment, the sheriff’s office said. Video, more, >>click to read<< 19:29
The One Weird Trick Trump Could Use to Get Away with January 6th
Far from shore after a week at sea, a Florida fisherman named John Yates was buste
d by wildlife officials for catching grouper that were too small. But before returning to the dock a day later, Yates chucked the contraband fish overboard rather than hand them over to authorities. So, the federal government charged Yates with destroying evidence under a law passed in response to the energy giant Enron and its shady financial practices. Called the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the law was intended to crack down on financial fraud and evidence destruction. Yates argued that the law governed document shredding and fish aren’t documents. Eight years later, the Supreme Court sided with the fisherman in a precedent-setting 2015 decision that limited prosecutions. Today, that dump of grouper could wind up getting Donald Trump off the hook for January 6th. more, >>click to read<< 10:47
Commercial fishing fleet still waiting for its homeport
Members of Gig Harbor’s fishing fleet have waited more than a decade for the city to build a Commercial Fishing Homeport, which has been part of the plan for Ancich Park since 2013. It looks like they will have to wait at least another year. Negotiations between the city and the National Marine Fisheries Service over mitigation for the $3.2 million project have stalled. The city likely will miss the so-called “fish window” for overwater construction this year. The city already has a design, local and state permits, and financing — including a substantial donation from the Gig Harbor Commercial Fishermen’s Club. But it doesn’t have the go-ahead from NMFS, which determines what mitigation is necessary to proceed. For the local commercial fishing industry, the clock is ticking. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 06:36
You’re Young and Want to Make It Fishing? Good Luck
Duncan Cameron is a fisherman, like his dad and his dad’s dad before him. They count themselves among the scores of families who have made their livings on the water, pulling riches from the deep. But today, Cameron says young fishers like him are being priced out. Cameron is part of a group of fishers, conservationists and politicians who say independent owner-operators like himself are increasingly competing with big money to get a finite number of government licenses and quota they need to fish. Today, some of those licenses are worth hundreds of thousands or even more than a million dollars, something Cameron said has allowed major corporations to control a growing stake in a public resource. photos, more, >>click to read<< 07:27
F/V Aleutian Storm: Volunteers rally to clear Sonoma Coast beach of debris from wrecked fishing vessel
“It was a great great, great turnout, I’m so inspired,” said Cea Higgins, who helped organize the event as advocacy coordinator and former executive director of Coastwalk/California Coastal Trail Association. She estimated at least 85 people, each of whom filled two or three 30-gallon contractor garbage bags, showed up on a day threatened by rain that, ultimately, stayed pretty much away. “We’re so, so lucky, it’s primarily been sunny,” Higgins said. “We just had one little squall move through. And by the time everybody got their rain gear on, it stopped.” The 58-foot Aleutian Storm came aground late Feb. 9 and was torn apart by subsequent winter storms. 9 slides of good people, more, >>click to read<< 18:46
This Marine knows seafood
U.S. Marine veteran Jon Barnard loves fresh seafood. In fact, he loves it so much that he moved to the Oregon coast, bought a boat and started a commercial fishing business so he could share his passion with everyone. “There’s nothing better than coming off of the ocean to a meal of fresh seafood.” says Barnard. From his boat ‘El Desarae’ Jon fishes to order for restaurants and individual customers. “We are a custom order fish seller direct to end user. We sell today what we catch today. Our fish are individually caught, bled and iced to provide the freshest, high quality fish available. We fish seasonal catch including ling cod, nearshore ground fish species and albacore tuna.” 4 photos, more, >>click to read<< 20:04
Sonoma County’s fishing community facing uncertain future with potential salmon season closure
In 2024, California’s ocean salmon fishing industry stands at a critical juncture. The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC), cognizant of the challenges salmon populations face due to years of drought and environmental pressures, has laid out three potential paths for the salmon fishing season off California’s coast. Dick Ogg, president of the Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Marketing Association, explains. “They need to come up with three options, each impacting us differently. Some options might leave a little room for commercial activity, but it’s all quite uncertain,” underscoring the dire straits faced by those who rely on the sea for their livelihood. The potential for another season of deep cuts or complete shutdowns looms large, posing not just an economic challenge but a threat to a way of life cherished by many generations. “This cuts to the heart of Bodega Bay,” Ogg said. “We’re a real working fishing community.” more, >>click to read<< 18:17
Fisherman is seriously injured when boat runs aground in Santa Barbara
A fisherman suffered a serious head laceration and was taken to the hospital Wednesday evening after his lobster boat ran aground in Santa Barbara, according to the Santa Barbara City Fire Department. Only one person was aboard the 25- to 30-foot Martha Jane, which ended up on the shoreline below Mesa Lane, fire Battalion Chief Jim McCoy told Noozhawk. The details of the incident were unclear, McCoy said, but the man apparently became trapped somewhere on board and was unable to control the vessel, McCoy said. more, >>click to read<< 11:17
Scallop wallop – Japanese imports are taking a bite out of New Bedford’s lucrative seafood industry at a time when the region’s shellfish are in shorter supply.
Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, landed a deal to supply U.S. military bases in Japan with scallops and other Japanese seafood products. Japan is an ally, he said, and it is important to support one of their major industries in a challenging moment. “In America we have a saying about being a good neighbor,” Emanuel said, according to the military news service Stars and Stripes. “This is being a good neighbor.” The recent spike in Japanese scallop imports is a complex political tangle. But in the U.S. seafood trade, distributors aren’t buying Japanese scallops to be neighborly, as Emanuel put it. “It’s business,” said Drew Minkiewicz, a D.C. attorney who represents commercial fishing and shipping interests. “Japan’s government is making a targeted effort to push as many scallops as they can into the U.S. That competes directly with our scallops here.” more, >>click to read<< 12:36
California’s commercial salmon fishermen face another disaster of a season amid proposed federal restrictions
A regional fishery council is mulling three proposals for commercial salmon season, with one canceling the season entirely and the other two severely limiting how long the season would last and how many salmon could be taken. While two of the proposed options do offer limited commercial fishing opportunities, at least one local fisherman says the restrictions would significantly curb the viability of salmon fishing. “These really aren’t a viable option for anyone,” said Tim Obert, a Ben Lomond resident who’s been fishing salmon commercially for close to 20 years. Obert is president of the Santa Cruz Commercial Fishermen’s Association, sits on the state of California’s Dungeness Crab Task Force and is also a part of several working groups that advised the council in coming up with the alternative proposals. more, >>click to read<< 11:07
Offshore wind or tribal rights? Biden’s California dilemma.
Several offshore wind developers want to build the state’s first farms off the coast here, projects that are needed for California and the White House to reach decarbonization goals. But this summer, the administration is also likely to designate the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary in coastal waters that surround Morro Bay, a plan that the offshore wind industry says blocks their access to the grid. Equinor, Golden State Wind and Invenergy California Offshore, companies with offshore wind farms planned off the bay, hope to carve out guaranteed paths for their power lines to reach shore, when the NOAA finalizes the sanctuary in coming months. “The ocean should not be the sacrificial lamb for our unquenchable thirst for energy,” said Violet Sage Walker, chair of the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, the Indigenous tibe that proposed the marinre sanctuary to NOAA. more, >>click to read<< 09:29
Press Democrat Editorial: North Coast fishers need help
The bad news keeps piling up for the North Coast’s beleaguered fishing industry. Crab season was delayed yet again this winter, and now salmon season may be canceled entirely for the second consecutive year. Even a hopeful development — the ongoing removal of four obsolete hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River — turned sour when as many as 830,000 hatchery fish died within days after being released in the Klamath, apparently because of high water pressure inside a bypass tunnel at Iron Gate Dam. Commercial and sport fishing have supported families in Bodega Bay, Fort Bragg and other North Coast towns for generations. “The identity of Bodega Bay is fishing,” Dick Ogg, a local skipper and president of the Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Marketing Association, told the editorial board. “The town itself, that is what we are, fishermen.” more, >>click to read<< 07:01
Western Flyer Restoration: The John Steinbeck fishing seiner
Built in Tacoma, Washington, the state-of-the-art seiner was launched from Western Boat Building Company in 1937, destined for the sardine trade of Monterey, California. Builder and shipyard owner, Martin Petrich Sr, specialized in sturdy vessels. For Western Flyer, he used a single, 64ft piece of old-growth fir for the keel; ribs were white oak; fir planks steamed, fitted, and caulked with cotton. The boat’s strength was offset by a graceful sheer and jaunty wheelhouse. In early 1940, scientist Ed Ricketts and author John Steinbeck combed the Monterey waterfront for a vessel that would carry them, along with a small crew and makeshift biology lab, on a scientific research mission to Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. No one was willing until Western Flyer tied to the pier and her captain, Tony Berry, agreed. 12 Photos, more, >>click to read<< 15:37
Federal Council Announces California Ocean Salmon Season Alternatives for 2024
The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) has produced three options for ocean salmon seasons beginning May 16, 2024. Two of the three alternatives would authorize short ocean salmon season dates and establish small harvest limits for commercial and sport fishing off California in 2024. The third alternative would close the ocean fisheries off California for a second consecutive year. The alternatives were approved by the PFMC for public review Monday. Meanwhile, abundance of Klamath River Fall Chinook is forecast at 180,700 adults. At this level of abundance, the Pacific Coast Salmon Fishery Management Plan authorizes only low levels of fishing on these stocks, and requires management be designed to allow most of the adult population to return to the river to spawn. links, more, >>click to read<< 11:11
Garibaldi – Home of World-Class Dungeness Crab Thanks to Experienced, Professional Commercial Fishing Fleet
Did you know that Garibaldi, Oregon produces some of the best Dungeness crab? This small-town port has taken advantage of its close proximity to the ocean by employing new techniques and using smaller boats to earn the honor of having the lowest Dungeness crab dead loss of any port, anywhere. Experts from around the world have come to Garibaldi to see how they manage it. Dead loss is the almost inevitable result of fishing; some crabs tend to die on the boat before getting to port. Reducing this is good for the fishery and good for the boat. photos, more, >>click to read<< 06:43
Federal judge to rule on reduction in trawler halibut bycatch
A U.S. District court judge is expected to issue a decision this spring on a lawsuit filed by the Groundfish Forum challenging a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) decision setting abundance-based limits on halibut bycatch in the Amendment 80 Bering Sea trawl fishery. The Groundfish Forum, based in Seattle, filed its complaint with the U.S. District Court in Anchorage on Dec. 19, challenging the new halibut bycatch rules that were first adopted by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and subsequently approved by NMFS. On Feb. 29, the Halibut Defense Alliance intervened on the side of NMFS over concerns about the number of halibut taken as bycatch by Amendment 80 vessels in the Bering Sea, saying the limits on halibut bycatch would ensure more equitable access to halibut fisheries. The alliance is a broad coalition of commercial harvesters, charter operators, processors and community organizations representing halibut-dependent communities in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. more, >>click to read<< 19:52
Oregon congressional members ask feds for more comment time on offshore wind energy sites
Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle, all Democrats, said residents need more time according to input they’ve received. In a letter on Tuesday, they asked the agency’s director, Elizabeth Klein, to extend the comment period to give Oregonians who would be affected by the offshore sites a chance to fully engage in the process. “Tribes, the fishing community and others throughout Oregon’s coastal communities are currently working to develop comments that will 
inform the environmental assessment for the wind energy areas, including impacts to the ocean ecosystem, environment, fisheries, viewsheds and other important resources,” they said. The sites are part of the Biden administration’s plan to build up 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind energy capacity by 2035, with a total of 30 gigawatts deployed by 2030. more, >>click to read<< 12:01
Fisherman tried to kill co-worker, suspect’s dad attempted to cover it up: Astoria police
A man accused of trying to kill his co-worker on a fishing boat was arrested Monday, four days after Astoria officials began searching for the suspect. Newport man Dylan Campana, 28, was charged with second-degree attempted murder, first and second-degree assault, and unlawful use of a weapon. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges may be coming, according to police. Officials say they began investigating the attempted murder of 23-year-old Tristan Dockins on Thursday, March 7. Dockins and Campana worked together on the F/V Tommy John. links, more, >>click to read<< 13:11
Pacific Fishing magazine stops publication
Pacific Fishing, a Seattle publication serving the North Pacific commercial fishing industry from Alaska to Hawaii for more than 40 years, has stopped publication, it was announced Sunday by editor Wesley Loy. “The owner and publisher of Pacific Fishing magazine is retiring. We are actively pursuing a new owner to carry on the publication,” the magazine announced, according to Loy’s Deckboss.com blog. He said the magazine’s last issue was in December. The daily Fish Wrap news service also will be suspended, Loy said. more, >>click to read<< 10:33
‘Simply catastrophic’: California salmon season to be restricted or shut down — again
California’s fishing industry is bracing for another bad year as federal managers Monday announced plans to heavily restrict or prohibit salmon fishing again, after cancelling the entire season last year. The Pacific Fishery Management Council today released a series of options that are under consideration, all of which either ban commercial and recreational salmon fishing in the ocean off California or shorten the season and set strict catch limits. California’s commercial fleet and recreational anglers still await federal disaster aid for last year’s losses. Tommy “TF” Graham also will keep working on land. A commercial fisherman based in Bodega Bay, he got a Class A driver’s license so he could drive a truck and stay afloat through the closures. Now, when he’s not crab fishing, Graham wakes up at 3 a.m. to drive frozen and farmed salmon and other fish from around the world into San Francisco. “A guy has got to get up and put his boots on and go to work every day,” Graham said. Still, he said, “I used to be a provider, now I’m a consumer. It feels like shit, to tell you the truth.” more, >>click to read<< 21:24
Keeping an Industry Afloat – Thomas Goulding’s Cork Mill
Plastic floats have taken over the market since the 1950s, but before then fishing floats were almost exclusively made of cork or wood. The wooden ones were known as “cedar corks” and the only commercial supplier of them on the West Coast was Thomas Goulding who produced them in his Cork Mill at the Acme Cannery on Sea Island. The Acme Cannery was built in 1899, part of the boom in cannery construction during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to take advantage of the seemingly unlimited supply of salmon available in the Fraser River. In 1902 it was absorbed into the British Columbia Packers amalgamation. In 1918 it closed, but the buildings, net racks and moorage were maintained for the community of fishermen, mostly Japanese, who lived around it. In a small building on the west side of the cannery Mr. Goulding set up the cork mill. The building and all the equipment for the mill, the saws, the lathes, the reamer, the stringer and the tar vat were all hand-built by him with help from his Japanese Neighbours. Photos, maps, more, >>click to read<< 13:38
The Complete Guide to Dungeness Crab, where to source, how to break it down, and what utensils you’ll need
Dungeness are cold-water crabs, 7 to 9 inches in width, and 1 1/2 to 2 pounds in weight, found off the coasts of Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, with the San Francisco Bay Area being a singular hotbed for Dungeness lovers, writes F&W assistant food editor Andee Gosnell. They’re prized for their flaky, sweet, juicy meat. Historically, Dungeness crab season started at the beginning of November and lasted through June. In recent years, environmental stressors and the conservation policies to address them have led to a delayed start and early end to the season. The 2023 season is expected to start in mid-December. If you can’t find Dungeness crab, substitute lump crabmeat. Video, photos, more, >>click to read<< 09:44
Construction Worker/Commercial Fisherman David Earl Finifrock Jr. of Washington State, has passed away
Earl Finifrock Jr., born May 1,1966 in Ogden, Utah to father, David Finifrock Sr., currently of Tracyton, Washington and mother Cynthia Finifrock currently of Gig Harbor, Washington, passed away from a massive heart attack on Friday, February 16, 2024, at a construction site he was working on in Key Center, Washington. David was also a successful commercial fisherman, spending most summers for the past several years on his 50′ trawler, the “Sea Queen”, in the waters near Wrangell, Alaska, fishing for salmon. Most people who knew David would describe him as a good and honest friend, nephew, and cousin, a great craftsman, a wonderful son to his parents, and generally “one of the best guys you would ever want to know”. more, >>click to read<< 20:39
‘We cannot fish in a wind farm’: Local fishermen file lawsuit over offshore wind project
Many people in Morro Bay have mixed feelings about a planned offshore wind project. Now, a lawsuit has been filed. The Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization and the Port San Luis Commercial Fisherman’s Association claim some rules and regulations related to the project have not been followed. The Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization was incorporated in 1972 and has around 100 members. “We’ve been here for a while and we’ve got an incredibly good reputation in all of those years, and we are very proud of it,” said Jeremiah O’Brien, Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization Vice President. more, >>click to read<< 06:52
Whale not seen in 200 years spotted in New England waters, scientists say
A gray whale that hasn’t been seen in 200 years has been spotted off the coast of Massachusetts, according to officials with the New England Aquarium. Aquarium scientists said the whale was seen on March 1 while they were flying over the ocean 30 miles south of Nantucket. Orla O’Brien is the associate research scientist in the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium. She said seeing the whale was completely unexpected. “I didn’t want to say out loud what it was, because it seemed crazy,” she said. more, >>click to read<< 13:10
Retired Commercial Fisherman James Richard “Jim” Frederick of Anacortes, Washington, has passed away
On Feb 25, 2024 Jim passed away peacefully at home with his wife Dorothy and son Jim Jr. at his side. He was born in 1933 in Michigan to become a lifelong fisherman. He and Dorothy married in 1953, when he was at Fr. Bragg in the 82nd Airborne Div. After his honorable discharge, with wife and son in tow, he left for Washington in 1960 in search of bigger fish, to which he dedicated his life and almost only topic of conversation. He retired from commercial fishing at age 78 (his call sign was affectionately known as “Grumpy”) and turned his attention to sport fishing and added another layer to his preferred topic of conversation. He will be sorely missed in this household. more, >>click to read<< 09:34
‘It’s really scary’: The existential crisis of a Bay Area crabber
On a cloudy January evening, just as the sun lowered in the sky creating a sliver of orange along the horizon, John Mellor pulled his boat into the dock at Fisherman’s Wharf. Mellor’s 40-foot boat has been out at sea for more than 30 hours. There is a sense of excitement and anticipation as two crew members lift a cover, unveiling thousands of crabs in a container. Bucket by bucket, clawing crustaceans are weighed on a giant scale. The haul is a good one, and the success of each outing has become more crucial since the Dungeness crab season is half as long as it used to be. He waited through several anxious months of delays for the season to start. Mellor, 60, grew up in Oakland and began fishing as a teen. He is one of a few hundred commercial Dungeness crabbers in the state who have reluctantly adapted to shorter crabbing seasons. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 16:44
Santa Barbara Commercial Lobster Fisherman Convicted for Abandoning Traps
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has announced the successful prosecution and conviction of a Santa Barbara commercial lobster fisherman on a multitude of commercial lobster fishing violations. Christopher Miller, 67, of Los Alamos, was recently convicted in Santa Barbara Superior Court. Miller pled guilty to falsifying commercial fishing records, harvesting lobster out of season, then abandoning at least 156 commercial lobster traps around Santa Cruz Island and the Santa Barbara Harbor. It was Miller’s third commercial lobster poaching conviction since 2014. After closure of the 2021-22 commercial lobster season, and after being ordered to remove his lobster traps by CDFW wildlife officers, Miller failed to retrieve any of his traps from state waters. more, >>click to read<< 09:48
