Tag Archives: Harrison Ibach
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
Crab season to begin Saturday but price talks could delay start
Crabbers are still negotiating with fish processors over the price per pound of crab, and by the first week of January, they might have a deal, said Harrison Ibach, president of the Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association. He added that he could not speculate on what the price would be, but that it would likely not be as high as last season’s $4.75 per pound. “It’s a very soft seafood market at the moment. I guess you could say it’s probably due to economic conditions, the cost of living is extremely high,” Ibach said. “There’s not been a lot of consumption of domestic seafood or seafood in general.” >click to read< 11:26
North Coast Fisherman Fear for the Future of Commercial Fisheries as Offshore Wind Efforts Advance
As plans to bring offshore wind to the North Coast move steadily ahead, commercial fishermen are urging federal and state regulatory agencies to pump the brakes. “I want to make one thing clear: Fishermen are not opposing [renewable] projects up here, we’re opposing the loss of thousands of miles of fishing grounds,” If the offshore wind development moves forward as planned, many local fishermen, particularly the trawl and ground fishing fleets, would lose access to grounds they’ve fished for decades. >click to read< 11:29
North Coast Fishermen Hopeful for a Good Dungeness Crab Season
For the first time in years, the North Coast Commercial Crab Season will open on December 1st. In 2020, issues with domoic acid levels, migrating whales and price negotiations delayed the start of the season to early January 2021. But the stars have seemingly aligned with whale migration, price negotiations and “pretty much zero traces of domoic acid”, according to Harrison Ibach, the president of the Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association,, All good news for local fishermen who are hopeful that the recent lulls of the industry will continue to rebound. “Last year was probably the worst year in many decades,” said Ibach, who is also the Captain of F/V Oceana. >click to read< 09:06
Commercial Dungeness Crab fleet ordered to end operations June 1 for whale endangerment concerns
An order to end the current crabbing season six weeks early in Northern California will deliver another blow to crab fishermen in Humboldt County after seeing record low landings this season, fishermen said. “The price on crab is very high right now. There might not be the most participation (out of the season) but there are still a lot of people who rely on springtime crabbing at a very high price,” he said. “It is quite unfortunate and sad that it is going to be closed earlier than normal.” California Department of Fish and Wildlife director Charlton Bonham ordered the state’s commercial dungeness crab fishing fleet to end its activities at noon on June 1, approximately six weeks earlier than the normal July 15 end for Northern California crab fishermen. All crab lines must be cleared by the end time set. >click to read< 08:33
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
Coronavirus: Humboldt Bay crab fishing season ‘devastated’
“We could use one word: it’s devastating,” said Harrison Ibach, president of the Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association. “Everything has come to a screaming halt. And it’s not just the crab industry, it’s the entire seafood industry.”,, Recent crabbing seasons have ended in hardship, including a state settlement in 2019 that prematurely closed crab fisheries over a series of whale entanglements off the California coast (one of them near Eureka). Before this year’s season even started, crabbers like Scott Creps of Eureka were worried about whether it would go the distance. >click to read< 10:37
Fisherman, conservationists want more research before developing wind farms
Before Humboldt County begins investing in offshore wind energy, local conservationists and fishermen say more research needs to be done to assess the projects’ local impacts. Harrison Ibach, president of the Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association, said much of California’s waters are already closed to commercial fishing and the installation of wind turbines is going to further reduce the number of areas where fishermen can operate. “We can’t afford to lose any more grounds,” Ibach said. >click to read<07:49
Stakeholders Voice Concerns and Cautious Optimism About Offshore Wind Energy at McGuire-Hosted Hearing – click here to read<
‘We Were Blindsided:’ Crab Fishing Closure Could Mean Millions in Losses
At the April 9 Humboldt County Board of Supervisors meeting, the security check-in station resembled a metropolitan airport with a long line of people stretched out the courthouse doors and halfway down the stairs to Fifth Street. All seats in the chamber were filled, the space between the chairs and the wall was filled with people standing, and others waited outside the door for a chance to speak. The source of the commotion was a sudden and unexpected closure of the Dungeness crab fishery. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife had ordered all crab fishermen throughout the state to remove their gear from the ocean by April 15. >click to read<14:40
‘Life-Threatening’ Emergency on Humboldt Bay as Harbor Entrance Silts Up; Commercial Shipping Closed Down
The entrance to Humboldt Bay Harbor is dangerously shallow at the moment — so shallow that commercial ships are unable to traverse the channel leading to local docks. Commercial fishermen, whose boats don’t draft as much, are still able to get in and out of the bay, but a shallow channel means dangerous conditions, with waves breaking against their craft. It’s so bad right now that if the channel silts in much further, Humboldt County’s fuel supply, most of which comes in by barge, could be at risk. That was the message delivered at an emergency meeting,,, >click to read<20:46
Facing the Wind – A fisherman’s take on offshore wind
Local fishermen are on the verge of forever losing local fishing grounds to wind power as California trades one renewable resource (seafood) for another (electricity). The state of California and its citizens are on the front line of the efforts to convert our energy use from the burning of fossil fuels (oil and gas) to renewable sources of power — solar and wind. The latest move toward this conversion is for the sale of offshore ocean leases to wind power companies for the development of “at sea” wind farms with the ocean area off of Eureka and Trinidad as the prime first sites. >click to read<08:55
