Columns – Page 4 – Fishermens News

The ‘30×30 Campaign’ — What and Why?

As the just released—and very alarming—2023 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report verifies, there is an across-the-board and strong scientific agreement, now supported by hard data from several independent sources, that the world as a whole is right on the precipice of another Great Extinction Event, triggered by climate change. The current widespread decline in biodiversity is powered by insatiable human population growth and development that is devastating the natural environment. That, coupled with nearly 200 years of world industrialization that has already thrust fossil-fuel generated carbon dioxide as well as atmospheric methane (which is 21 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide) up to levels well beyond the poi...

“Well, That Was Fun.”

“Well, that was fun,” said nobody, ever. Oh wait, what?You weren’t there? Let me explain. First off, I’m the Super Glamorous Fishwife of the Old Man of the Sea and I feel the need to share our world of commercial fishing. I formerly wrote for another fishing magazine, but then they decided to embrace ocean wind energy. That didn’t sit too well for me, so I basically stopped writing for them. So basically, we have some catching up to do. (Let this be a lesson: do not tick a fishwife off, especially one with a big mouth, ‘er I meant pen, or keyboard.). Now where was I? Oh, that’s right. Dungeness crab season in California. First, we had a season start delay which is turning into the new not-fun normal, and then California Fish & Wildlife threw a new one onto the fire—50% gear ...

Preventing Onboard Overdose Fatalities

Watching friends, family, or crew members struggle with addiction is devastating. It is tempting to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that addiction won’t impact our family, friends or crew, but denial doesn’t change the odds. Over the last few decades, deaths due to overdoses have continued to rise. There are three distinct waves of opioid use, defined as Rx opioids in the 1990s, heroin in 2010 and synthetic opioids in 2013. We are still experiencing the effects of the synthetic opioid wave. Unfortunately, synthetic opioid use has proven to be the deadliest to date, killing 8.5 times as many people as in 1999. As firmly as we believe that we will never have to deal with an overdose on our vessel, the truth is that each year, as addiction rates continue to rise, you are at an incr...

PCFFA Principles Regarding Marine Protected Areas

Introductory Note: There is no scientific doubt that the world as a whole is facing serious biodiversity loss, as well as a potential extinction crisis, both being driven by rapid climate change, and that serious biodiversity protection and habitat conservation mandates are needed, based on sensible, science-driven solutions. But unfortunately, some groups are still championing ever more ocean marine protected areas (MPAs) as “the solution” to ocean ecosystem problems that are all too often also resulting in major fisheries declines. For some groups this has become a form of “magical thinking,” rather than only one of many management tools to be deployed with forethought and guided by good science. Marine protected areas (MPAs) especially are back in the limelight with the recent public...

Let’s Fight For Salmon, Not Over Them

The reality is that salmon-dependent fishing families are the ultimate victims of widespread salmon declines, not their cause. At the time of this writing in late January, prospects for 2023’s California, Oregon and Washington ocean commercial, recreational and Tribal salmon seasons are bleak. Ocean salmon abundance projections are so low that broad closures may be a “weak stock management” necessity, simply to keep already severely diminished Coho and Chinook stocks from extinction. The West Coast fishing industry is actually at the tail end of decades of salmon abundance declines. The onrushing threats of climate change bringing more droughts will only exacerbate these problems. The two questions salmon-dependent communities need to ask now are “Why is this happening?” and also “What...

Fishing as a Contact Sport

Anyone who has spent time on a boat knows that bumps and bruises are inevitable. You can be standing there minding your own business and the boat gets jostled by a wave. Next thing you know, you’re banging up against sharp, pointy things or unyielding wood or metal. That’s just a part of being at sea. However, serious injuries can happen when a crew member comes into contact with the vessel, fishing gear, or equipment. Common injury hazards include getting hit or struck by a moving object, entangling with fishing lines, or caught in a running equipment such as a winch or seafood processing equipment. The working environment on a fishing vessel is never static, not even on the dock. For instance, a crew member can bump into a vessel structure (e.g., door frame, stairway railing) or fis...

An Energy Revolution in the Commercial Fishing Fleet?

With diesel prices soaring and the world abuzz about climate change, there has never been a better time for fishermen to contemplate our fuel use. Diesel fuel is a necessary part of today’s fishing businesses, but let’s face it. If we could get by with less of it—or find a long-term substitute that was cheaper, cleaner and just as reliable —then wouldn’t we want to? Fishermen in places as far-flung as Maine, Massachusetts, Washington and Alaska think so, and they are stepping up to do something about it. And they’re using bottom-up approaches that are tailor-made for their operations, looking to prevent or in some cases outrun burdensome, inflexible top-down mandates. In Sitka, the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) is supporting the installation of a hybrid electric engine ...

Slips, Trips & Falls: Don’t Fall for It

Humans can be amazing. Most of us can stand upright on two feet, walk and move around easily, even gracefully sometimes. It gets harder to walk and do your work when you are out on a rain-soaked dock or moving vessel. There may be gear or equipment to navigate around. There may be steps or ladders to get from one level to another or from the dock to the vessel. There may be something on the working surface that makes it slippery—rain, ice, saltwater, hydraulic fluid, fish or bait. Not to mention that when you are working on deck, there is fishing gear, tools and equipment in motion and coordination of movement with other fishermen, their gear or activities. There’s also the weather and sea conditions. By reviewing the reported injury information for Oregon and Washington commercial fis...

Great Balls of Fishy Fire Light

Some fish are attracted to light. We all know that. We’ve known that since people have been waving fire torches from wooden dugout canoes. It’s quite evident today, and it can be seen in all of those brightly lit up fishing vessels at night. Sure, those lights help keep the deckhands safe, but you can tell that many of those lights are specifically designed and aimed at bringing fish up closer to the surface. So, why not produce some special underwater lights for the seabed fishing industry? Well, a few companies have tried to do just that by selling lights for crab pots and lobster traps. Some of those products have provided mixed results due mostly to the quality of the products made. However, one company has managed to shed some light on the subject in a most positive way as far as ...

What To Do With All Those Oil Rigs?

Widespread, industrial-scale oil and gas development of the U. S. Pacific Outer Continental Shelf (POCS) has been a constant threat to West Coast fisheries since the 1890s when the first wave primitive offshore oil wells were originally drilled into shallow coastal waters. The great oil spill off Santa Barbara in 1969, which dumped more than three million barrels of crude oil into the ocean, made it clear, however, that if anything goes wrong with offshore oil development, impacts on regional fisheries could be catastrophic. Thankfully, and as a direct result of perseverance, coastwide political organizing and luck, our commercial fishing industry, working with our state legislatures and key members of Congress, has—mostly—held this effort at bay since West-Coast wide oil and gas develop...