From the Editor – Fishermens News

From the Editor – Borealization

The first-ever cancellation of Alaska’s Bering Sea snow crab harvest due to population declines was a shock to the state’s fishing industry last fall, but in the decades to come, the ocean conditions that triggered the snow crab crash and harvest closure are expected to become common. This is according to according to several scientists who gave presentations at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium that took place in late January. Mike Litzow, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist based in Kodiak, Alaska said that the conditions that triggered the crash can be expected about once every seven years. By the 2040s, those conditions can be expected to occur one out of every three years, he said. Litzow said that the cause of the snow crab disaster is something called...

From the Editor: BC Fisheries in Flux

Inside this issue, you’ll find an excellent article on the status of the British Columbia fishing industry. In the article, reporter Norris Comer states that “A myriad of challenges face B.C. fisheries, with the threatened Pacific salmon stocks taking center stage.” But in addition to the article in this issue, there’s an article published by Canada’s National Observer, a news and analysis website. In the National Observer article, reporter Rochelle Baker declares that British Columbia’s commercial salmon fleet is “clearly in the midst of transformative change.” The federal government in Ottawa has shuttered about 60% of B.C.’s commercial fisheries since 2021, and in December, launched a buyback program to lure fish harvesters to exit the industry to protect plummeting salmon stocks. ...

From the Editor: Pacific Marine Expo ‘22

In mid-November, I had the privilege and pleasure of representing Fishermen’s News at one of the largest and longest-running commercial fishing and commercial marine trade shows in existence, Pacific Marine Expo, which took place Nov. 17-19 in Seattle. Maritime Institute, the parent company of Maritime Publishing, which produces Fishermen’s News, operated Booth 220 at this year’s expo. A handful of Maritime Publishing representatives, including Publisher Dave Abrams, Advertising Manager Katie Higgins and yours truly, Managing Editor Mark Nero, were at the booth during various times over the course of the three days, as were other folks who help create content for the magazine, including Senior Designer Kathy Samuelson, Business Manager Sarah Spangler, and Writer Norris Comer. Not only...

Pacific Coast Partnership

The governors of three U.S. Pacific Coast states and British Columbia’s premier gathered in San Francisco recently to sign an agreement that looks like it could result in additional environmental initiatives being launched across the West Coast’s maritime industry. The initiatives could include offshore wind power, something that’s been controversial and not popular so far within the commercial fishing industry. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and British Columbia Premier John Horgan signed the Pacific Coast Collaborative Statement of Cooperation on Oct. 6. The Statement of Cooperation (SOC) promotes collaboration between the four regional governments on accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy, investing in climate infrastru...

California Worker Classification

Some important news for professional fishermen and women in California occurred in September: the state’s governor signed a bill that provides anglers a two-year exemption from the state’s so-called ABC test, which is used to determine whether workers are employees or independent contractors. Under the ABC test, a person being paid to provide labor or services is considered an employee rather than an independent contractor unless the hiring entity can prove that the person is an independent contractor. A worker is considered an employee and not an independent contractor unless the employer satisfies all three of the following conditions: The worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for...

From the Editor: Tackling Illegal Fishing

In the June issue of Fishermen’s News, we ran a lengthy feature article on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and how, for multiple reasons, such fishing is a leading global maritime security threat. Well, as a follow up to that report, I’m happy to report this news: the United States is strengthening its commitment to combating IUU fishing. In late June, at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Portugal, the U.S. made a series of announcements that elevates the country’s commitment to combat IUU fishing and the labor abuses associated with it. In conjunction with the announcements, President Biden signed memorandum addressing IUU fishing and related harmful fishing practices. Among the measures that the Biden administration spells out in the memorandum are that the ...

From the Editor: Onboard AI

Could artificial intelligence soon play a substantial role when it comes to counting catch and bycatch onboard commercial fishing vessels? Well, it might not be right around the corner, but it’s something that appears to be on the horizon. A startup co-founded by three people—two former University of British Columbia students and one from Dalhousie University—is working on a monitoring system that uses video and artificial intelligence to better calculate catch and bycatch for commercial fishing boats. The startup, called OnDeck Fisheries AI, is the brainchild of former UBC students Alexander Dungate and Sepand Dyanatkar, along with ex-Dalhousie student Matthew Leighton. Alexander holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science + Biology from the University of British Columbia, while Dy...

From the Editor Cook Inlet Fishing

A decision that was finalized by federal regulators a couple of months ago is likely to have very negative ramifications for anglers in Cook Inlet, and in my opinion, should be rescinded before it goes into effect during the upcoming salmon season. In November, a rule was finalized by NOAA Fisheries that prohibits commercial salmon fishing in the federal waters of Cook Inlet during the 2022 salmon season. The area, which is three nautical miles to 200 nautical miles off Alaska, is referred to as the Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The State of Alaska would continue to manage Cook Inlet salmon fishery sectors within state waters, from the shoreline to three nautical miles out. The measure will be in place for the 2022 Cook Inlet EEZ commercial salmon fishery. It affects the Coo...

From the Editor: ‘A Scallop Disco’

According to a recent article in the British newspaper The Guardian, a new and unorthodox fishing technique is not only effective when it comes to catching scallops, but could also help preserve fragile seafloors. And it involves use of disco-like LED lights to attract fish. The article, which was published May 18, says the discovery occurred when marine scientist Dr. Rob Enever and his team at Fishtek Marine, a southwest England-based fisheries consultancy, designed small underwater lights to help protect fish stocks by replacing the need to use fish to bait crab and lobster pots. “The lights were supposed to attract crabs into the pots. But quite unexpectedly, scallops, which can have up to 200 eyes, were more attracted to the LED lights, the article states. “It’s like a scallop ...

Banning Russian Seafood Imports

In case you missed it, on March 11, the Biden Administration imposed a federal ban on U.S. imports of Russian seafood in response to Russia’s invasion of neighboring country Ukraine. While the President’s action is to be applauded, it should not have taken a literal war for it to have been executed, in my opinion. In fact, it was something that the seafood industry has said was years overdue, because after all, Russia has banned imports of U.S. seafood since 2014. And the reason that came about was that in early 2014, while much of the world was focused on the winter Olympics at the time, Russia invaded and annexed Crimea, a peninsula that had been part of Ukraine. Following the annexation, the U.S. placed economic sanctions on Russia, and Russia retaliated by banning imports of America...