PCFFA – Fishermens News

The Chevron Deference Ruling: What It Means for Commercial Fisheries

In a recent landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the long-standing doctrine of “Chevron Deference,” a legal principle that had guided how courts interact with federal agency regulations for decades. This major shift in legal precedent is sending ripples across various sectors, including the commercial fishing industry. As we navigate the implications of this decision, it’s important to understand the essence of Chevron Deference, how its removal might impact fisheries and what the future may hold. What Was Chevron Deference? Chevron Deference was established by the Supreme Court in 1984 through the case of Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. The doctrine held that when Congress passes a law with ambiguous terms, courts should generally defer t...

The Truth About Fishermen and Ocean Conservation

When many people think of conservationists, they rarely picture commercial fishermen. But the truth is, we’ve been leading conservation efforts since before conservation was a thing. We always have been deeply invested in the health and sustainability of our marine ecosystems. We might not throw around the latest buzzwords and most of our knowledge doesn’t come from reading reports or crunching data. But make no mistake, we are paying attention—and are deeply concerned about the future of our industry and of our planet. A Deep Connection with Nature For many generations, commercial fishermen have spent countless hours at sea in every condition imaginable, doing what very few can truly comprehend. It’s impossible to live this life without feeling a profound connection to the ocean and ev...

Bridging the Divide: Why Commercial Fishing and Agriculture Must Partner for a Sustainable Future

In a world where sustainable food production is more critical than ever, we must reframe how we view U.S. food sources. For too long, commercial fishing and agriculture have been seen as disparate industries, yet both are crucial pillars of our domestic food system and cornerstones of our American heritage. Generations ago, farmers and fishermen worked together to feed our communities. This connection has weakened over time as policies have sometimes pitted us against each other. Over the years, PCFFA has been involved in some of these conflicts, particularly over water rights in Northern and Central California. However, times are changing, and as PCFFA evolves, it’s time to shift our strategies and to focus on climate-resilient domestic food production and seek opportunities to collab...

Developing Salmon-Friendly Forestry

There is a quiet—but long overdue—revolution going on in the way Oregon regulates its state- and privately owned forestland commercial logging practices. And the state’s depressed salmon runs will greatly benefit from those changes. Salmon spawn and rear best in natural forest environments, where old-growth streamside shade trees and unpolluted cold-water springs create all the right conditions for salmon eggs to hatch. The young salmon then can find abundant insect and in-river food sources to help them grow fast as they prepare for their strenuous migration to the sea as smolts. But all too often, those once widespread (and particularly old-growth) forests that salmon need for spawning and rearing have been clear-cut, once-pristine mountain streams polluted, and legacy logging roads (p...

The California Salmon Plan

The “California Salmon Strategy for a Hotter, Drier Future” was released by California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Jan. 30. It lists six goals and 71 actions intended to build healthier, stronger salmon populations throughout the state in the face of climate change-induced drought and heat. Some of those actions are ongoing or in the pipeline. Many are aspirational. The strategy’s planning horizon is the next three years of Newsom’s term as governor and so it amounts to a salmon “to do” list for his administration, involving multiple agencies. It’s ambitious, but much needed. And in the face of likely climate change impacts, it’s also a forward-looking planning process that other states should emulate. First of all, we thank Gov. Newsom for having a salmon recovery strategy at all, and for...

An Introduction to the PCFFA’s New Executive Director

Growing up, I believed that most anything could be repaired with a needle of Dungeness crab pot wire and a roll of electrical tape. Both of these things lived in the junk drawer of my childhood home and in an accessible location everywhere I have lived since. Looking back, I realize that it was not the tools that held that power to make broken things work again, but the commercial fisherman with his resourceful, problem-solving mind and calloused, cracked hands wielding tools that got the job done. That commercial fisherman was my dad, and at times my grandfather, both of whom regularly entertained me and shared life lessons while weaving crab pots, splicing rope or tying salmon leaders. I was never interested in working on the boat; that was my brother’s passion (and still is). Still...

Hope for Future Fisheries During Tough Times

These last few years have been terribly hard for West Coast commercial fisheries, without a doubt. Two of the once most profitable West Coast fisheries—salmon and Dungeness crab—are both now severely restricted. The 2023 salmon season was totally closed in California and much of Oregon, and another record-breaking salmon season closure is looming for at least California in 2024. These are back-to-back fisheries disasters. Yet in the midst of all these assaults on our fisheries, there is still cause for some optimism. Many of these threats to fisheries are being met head-on by our industry with some successes, which means hope for improved fisheries in upcoming years. This article highlights those efforts and successes. Salmon Habitat Restoration Klamath Dam Removals Scheduled for 20...

NOAA’s National Seafood Strategy

Oddly, until now there had never been an overarching U.S. national seafood strategy to guide federal policies that affect our seafood industry. To NOAA’s credit, this changed in August 2023 with the publication of the first-ever NOAA Fisheries National Seafood Strategy. This article takes a closer look at the strategy, what it means and how it might best be implemented. Goals and quotes below are from the document itself. Goal 1: Maintain or Increase Sustainable U.S. Wild Capture Production “Fisheries Science. Provide the natural and social science necessary for fisheries management to adapt under changing ecosystem dynamics.” Sustainable fisheries management must always be based on the best available science. Science-based fisheries management is also required by law (Magnuson-Steven...

Paying for Offshore Wind Fishery Impacts

With the onrush of new offshore wind (OSW) projects planned all over the U.S. West Coast (most recently with new designated areas offshore in Oregon), and both state and national policies pushing these projects hard, the real fear in the commercial fishing industry is that the protection needs of many valuable ocean fisheries will simply be ignored. OSW projects are, unfortunately, going to be sited where the ocean winds are strongest and most reliable. These are often the areas of greatest fish abundance, because they are the areas with strongest cold-water upwellings. Strong ocean winds create and power these same upwellings, which provide vital nutrients to support multiple fish species in those key fisheries areas. Threats to Fisheries We have written before about the potential har...

Toxic Tires: Getting 6PPD Out

The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and the fishing folks we represent have never been timid about taking on hard tasks, especially when it comes to protecting our fisheries. PCFFA was formed in 1976 for the specific purpose of protecting—and where necessary, restoring—sustainable commercial fishing as a way of life, including using the combined strength of the many local fishermen’s organizations that make up the PCFFA to take on all the hard tasks involved. Since salmon has long been a major West Coast ocean fishery (in spite of recent collapses) our mission also means working hard to protect and restore damaged salmon habitat wherever salmon occur, all the way up to the tops of coastal watersheds. PCFFA’s sister organization, the Institute for Fisheries Resources...