Tag Archives: Monterey Bay
For local commercial fishermen, their work is also a passion and a relationship to Monterey Bay.
Neil Gugliemo comes from a long line of fishermen. His great grandfather, his grandfather, his father and his uncles were all fishermen. Gugliemo started his fishing career near Los Angeles in San Pedro, fishing for halibut, crab, swordfish and lobster. Now he looks for sardines, mackerel and squid. “Monterey is a beautiful place to fish,” he says. Leaving in the evenings on weeknights, the 80-and-a-half year-old – he insists on noting the half – heads out to drop his net and collect fish. “It is getting harder and harder. The price of fuel, insurance, the regulations and price of fish is affecting the way I can survive,” he explains. “The price of sardines hasn’t gone up. Five years ago it was around $1,000 for a ton, today it is about $1,017. >click to read< 09:06
Choppy Weather and Fishing Limits gets California salmon season off to slow, expensive start
Commercial fishing boats may only fish south from Pigeon Point on the San Mateo coast, instead of in the typical area open all the way to Mendocino County this time of year. Strict limits on this year’s salmon season were set by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council in consideration of what’s expected to be a smaller population of adult king, or chinook, salmon in the ocean this year. The geographic limitations and conditions are keeping local fishing boats in Monterey Bay for now, but some of the fish are making their way to the Bay Area. Sarah Bates came down to Monterey Bay from San Francisco with a crew member on her boat, F/V Bounty. “Everybody is in the bay because it’s the only place to hide from the afternoon wind,” The limited season means they don’t have much of a choice, Bates said. “We feel pressure to fish in bad weather where there’s so few days,” she said. “We’re pretty much going to go fishing no matter what.” photos, >click to read< 21:09
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
Squid fishing season is off to a good start in Monterey Bay after a dismal 2019.
The 2020-2021 commercial squid fishing season started on April 1 and dozens of boats can be seen dotting the horizon of Monterey Bay as the squid return, this year in better numbers. “This has actually been one of the best Aprils we’ve had since 2010,” says Pete Guglielmo, a buyer and processor with Southern Cal Seafood, Inc. “Usually when the squid show up this early in the season, it’s proved to be a very good fishing season for the industry.” The squid are also larger than they’ve been in the last several years, and in high demand. >click to read< 09:04
Squid are back in abundance in Monterey Bay
The squid fishery is among the most lucrative and productive in the state, frequently valued in the double-digit millions. According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, landings from California market squid (Doryteuthis opalescens) were over 34,000 short tons in the 2018-2019 season, generating more than $33 million in revenue. But according to Diane Pleschner-Steele, the executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association, these charming and elusive animals can be difficult to pin down. The statement has proven true in the last couple of years. Spawning squid are targeted because they die shortly after they reproduce, and so fishing season — though technically open all year round — coincides with the spawning season. The catch is historically best in Southern California in fall and Central California in spring-summer. >click to read< 10:35
Monterey Bay fishermen looking forward to salmon season
There’s a frenzied pace to life in Monterey Bay’s fishing ports this week. Today, May 1, fishermen and women in Santa Cruz, Moss Landing and Monterey began to harvest the iconic California king salmon — sustainable, nutritious and the economic backbone of local working waterfronts during summer months. Wild king salmon and summer barbeques are as steeped in California culture as fresh, in-season Dungeness crab for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, While a few winters of healthy rainfall and strong management plans have been a boon to California salmon populations running to the Sacramento River, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have wreaked havoc on local seafood supply chains. We fishermen and women can catch the fish, but the question is: Who will buy them? >click to read< 08:11
Sides battle over Monterey Bay’s anchovy population
A fishing industry group says it has new findings supporting its contention that there is a healthy population of anchovies, which is counter to a nonprofit’s lawsuit challenging how the number of anchovies are determined. Meanwhile, Monterey fishermen say there are tons of the little guys in the local fishery. Gino Pennisi and Neil Guglielmo have been fishing out of Monterey for years, in Guglielmo’s case, since 1956. Both say anchovies are plentiful. But the nonprofit group Oceana,,, >click to read< 13:07
Monterey Bay fishermen working round the clock to pull in plentiful squid
In Monterey Harbor, a collection of at least eleven boats have been fishing for squid not far from shore since April 1, their lights visible off the coast at night. When the fishing is good, said Joe Russo, second captain and deckhand on the fishing vessel King Philip, it’s not uncommon for them to spend 24 hours a day netting tens of thousands of pounds of slippery squid with each return to shore. They continue through the spring, summer, and into early fall, if they don’t exceed the quota set by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. >click to read<08:47
Monterey Bay squid season a bust
If Monterey had a signature restaurant dish, cioppino and fried calamari would battle it out for the top spot. But the common ingredient in each is squid, those prehistoric looking cephalopods (scientific name loligo) that school in the cool, nutrient-rich waters of Monterey Bay. Then “the boy” arrived. Once El Niño showed up things started to look different in the bay,” said Sal Tringali, president of Monterey Fish Company, who oversees a five-boat fleet that provides local restaurants with most of their fresh seafood, including squid. “There’s no squid,” said Tringali. “No anchovies either. We’ve seen this before during El Niño.” Read the story here 10:37
Monterey Bay anchovy numbers in decline, groups say
Geoff Shester, the California program manager for the conservation group Oceana, said, “The problem is we know anchovy goes way up and way down. What was a sustainable level of fishing back then, might be wiping out the population now.” “I’ve been fishing anchovies since 1959, and I don’t see any problem with the anchovies for the whales,” said fisherman Neil Guglielmo of Monterey. “Perhaps this is the time of year the whales move or El Nino, but the fact that we’re scaring whales or catching their food source is ridiculous.” Read the rest here 18:40
Monterey Italians recalled in new book
Monterey Peninsula resident Mike Ventimiglia’s ancestors fished, worked the canneries, operated and owned fishing boats as a well as a cannery on Cannery Row in Monterey. This collection of vintage photos was brought together from various sources including personal family collections, local library archives and from personal albums of the members of the Amici Club, an organization of individuals of Sicilian Italian descent. Read the rest here 19:00
Gary Griggs, Our Ocean Backyard: Calamari: Still No. 1 after all these years
Dungeness crab and calamari fishermen were happy campers this past year with full nets and pots typically coming back on board vessels. In recent years, these two have been at the top of the state’s commercial fisheries. Calamari, or market squid, has been fished in Monterey Bay for more than 150 years, originally by Chinese immigrants and later by Italians. Their short life span, their reproduction style, and the huge numbers of eggs laid by each female, has made this an historically sustainable fishery. Read the rest here 11:07
Squid season booming off Monterey Bay – video
This year’s squid season kicked off two months ago and it looks like the healthiest squid are off the Central Coast. For the past few years, fishermen say they have had good years for squid fishing in California. But what’s unusual this year is the good quality squid population is right here off the Monterey Bay. Read more here 10:53
Mixed start in Monterey Bay for commercial salmon season opener
Santa Cruz >> Martin Towne said he considered himself lucky when he landed 18 salmon on the first day of commercial salmon season Thursday. Towne docked at the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor shortly after 4 p.m. and quickly sold his haul. He was part the fleet of commercial fishermen that took to the water for the first day. Read more here 09:40
Sport crab fishers have slow start on Monterey Bay – Commercial crabbers gearing up for Nov 15 start
“Crab populations are doing well across the state,” said Pete Kalvass, a senior environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We look at what has happened historically.” Last season’s commercial catch was the highest on record since 1915, when it was 1.1 million pounds, Kalvass said. Based on the two previous seasons that had good catches, the department estimates this year will be similar. more@montereyherald 12:03
sonofabi,,,a Monterey Bay Aquarium article that never mention’s over fishing! Monterey Bay affected by climate change – State study points to fish declines, ocean acidification
From rising sea levels and ocean acidity to declining populations of chinook salmon and sea lion pups, global warming is here, it said in a 258-page report, “Indicators of Climate Change in California.” more@montereyherald
