Tag Archives: North Coast
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
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
Huffman Announces Over $8 Million Headed to North Coast for Port Infrastructure
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) shared the news that The U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration awarded $8,016,566.00 in funds to two projects off the North Coast of California through the department’s Port Infrastructure Development Program (PDIP). The awards will provide funds for port maintenance and improvements in Eureka and Crescent City. Rep. Huffman helped secure these funds for his district through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the FY2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act. >click to read< 18:04
Northern NSW floods trigger mass fish kill with hundreds of thousands lining riverbanks, beaches
Fishermen have lost homes to the floods, nets and traps have been swept away, and now their livelihood is washing up dead on riverbanks and beaches along the New South Wales North Coast. Day by day the industry is counting the cost, financial and emotional, as the flooding disaster turns into an ecological one. “We’ve got juvenile fish, we’ve got big fish, we’ve got all the major species. So we’ve got sea mullet, bream, flathead, whiting, and then all the small fish, we’ve got toadfish, all sorts of things,” The majority of suppliers to the Ballina Fishermen’s Co-operative rely on the river, whether they fish out of it or at sea. >click to read< 13:30
Terra-Gen Critics Said We Should Wait for Offshore Wind, But Will That Project Spark an Even Nastier Debate?
Last month, under intense public pressure, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors rejected the $300 million Humboldt Wind Energy Project, bringing a dramatic end to the most polarizing countywide policy debate this community has seen in years.,, But if anyone thought we could sidestep controversy by moving wind energy proposals from land to sea, well, think again. In conversations with the Outpost, local and regional stakeholders expressed serious concerns about a range of issues, including conflicts with the fishing industry, impacts to birds and marine life and more. FIGHT! >click to read< 10:42
Commercial sockeye fishery faces closure on North Coast
If the Department of Fisheries and Oceans were using a Magic 8 Ball to determine the future of sockeye salmon fishery in the Skeena the answer would be — Outlook Not So Good. Early forecasts for sockeye salmon are poor and there is a possibility there won’t be a commercial fishery for the year. “We’re facing a really challenging year,” said Colin Masson, DFO’s area director for the North Coast. The forecasts are based on the sockeye that went to sea in 2014 and 2015, as well as the number of sockeye jacks, the premature fish who return a year early. Both indicators suggest the outlook is not good. For DFO to plan commercial fisheries, the total return of sockeye has to be greater than 1.05 million. continue reading the story here 10:50
Large swells delays North Coast crab hauls in season opener
Rough waters put a damper on the opening of the North Coast’s commercial Dungeness crab season Thursday, but Friday is expected to provide a window for some crab hauls to hit local ports. Wild Planet Foods Eureka processing plant manager Jeff Huffman said no crabs were unloaded at his facility as of Thursday afternoon. “The weather was so bad we didn’t have any of our boats fishing,” Huffman said Thursday. “Tomorrow we should have most everybody out. Everyone should get some gear in the water.” Stepping out of a meeting on Thursday afternoon, Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association Vice President Ken Bates said nobody had reported in any hauls. “The ocean is really crummy again,” Bates said, referencing Monday’s and Tuesday’s high swells. “The swells are pretty big. It’s not 24 feet like it was, but it’s still pretty big.” Read the rest here 10:52
BC Fisheries Workers Demand Rule Changes From Federal Government
Representatives of BC shoreworkers and commercial license holders are in Ottawa today, demanding changes to federal legislation in order to save fish processing jobs on the North Coast. They want Ottawa to require local processing and individual licence ownership — which has become a huge issue in the wake of last November’s announcement by Canfisco that it was shutting down its Prince Rupert cannery – resulting in hundreds of job losses. Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen says there’s a lot riding on the meeting. He says coastal communities are being devastated by federal policies which allow North Coast fish to be processed in China and Alaska — and which permit nearly 80 per cent of commercial licences to be bought up by large corporations. Read the press release here 18:32
Following a 6 month delay, Dungeness crab catch plummets on North Coast
While the first few days of Humboldt County’s six-month-late Dungeness crab season had some good hauls, the catch has dropped to the point that some crabbers are already packing away their gear, according to local industry sources. “I’ve never seen it go down this fast,” Wild Planet Foods Eureka plant manager Jeff Huffman said Tuesday, “though we’ve never had a season start this late. Usually we’re locking the doors at this point.” But some crabbers are faring better than others since the North Coast commercial Dungeness crab season opened on May 12. Jubal Hall of the “My Lady” crabbing vessel said he will continue crabbing as long as they can, and described the catch so far as “decent, but not great.” Read the story here 08:21
Finally! North Coast crab haul begins in long-delayed commercial opener
Hundreds of crab tumbled into large plastic loading containers on the raised docks of Pacific Choice Seafoods in Eureka early Thursday morning as the crew of the crab vessel Calypso hauled in what may have been the first local commercial catch of the long-delayed season opener. David Helliwell of Eureka, who has been crab fishing for 45 years, said he has never had to wait this long to cast out his pots. “It’s been difficult,” the 71-year-old fisherman said as he helped load some of his 350 crab pots onto his 74-year-old vessel Corregidor. “It’s been difficult for everybody. … This whole season is beyond anyone’s experience.” Read the rest here 08:20
Don’t under-estimate the importance of crab season
The North Coast is undeniably crab country. Our traditionally cold coastal waters have been perfect for producing some of our nation’s healthiest crab harvests. This harvest, a time-honored tradition since the mid 1800s here in Northern California, represents a change of season.,, So, when North Coast crab tested with high levels of a naturally occurring toxin, fishermen, industry leaders and public officials all came together, as partners, to call for a delayed opening to the crab season to ensure the public’s safety. Read the article here 17:10
