PCFFA – Fishermens News

Beyond Regulation: A Smarter Approach for Protecting Food Security

For generations, commercial fishing has been a way of life. It is how families have supported themselves, how coastal communities have been built, and how fresh sustainably harvested wild seafood with a low carbon footprint has made its way to dinner tables. Commercial fishing has long proven its ability to adapt, because in fishing if you don’t adjust, you don’t survive. The ocean changes, fish and crab move, weather shifts and regulations tighten. Fishermen always work to find a way forward because that is what they do and it is what is needed to keep domestic seafood available and accessible to the public. Yet today, adapting to ocean conditions is no longer the biggest challenge. Navigating an endless cycle of new regulations, legal threats from some NGOs (non-governmental organizat...

Aquaculture Opportunity Areas: A Continued Threat to Fisheries

By Mike Conroy In the September 2022 edition of Fishermen’s News, we published an article outlining the process for designating “Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs)” created in federal waters off the United States in 2020. The prospect of a widespread taking of large areas of what is currently open ocean to devote them exclusively to industrial-scale aquaculture instead of fisheries is a threat that has not gone away. As a reminder, AOAs were mandated by the first Trump Administration in Section 7 of the May 7, 2020, Executive Order on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth (E.O. 13921). The second Trump administration is likely to push these designations much further. To date, two major areas (one off Southern California and another in the Gulf of Mexico) are ...

Holiday Best Wishes from PCFFA

By Lisa Damrosch As 2024 draws to a close, I’m feeling all of the holiday feels—joy, hope, faith and, because I work in fisheries, I feel a bit Grinch-y as well. Most of all though, I find myself filled with gratitude. It’s hard to believe I’m nearing my one-year mark as executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. This year has been a whirlwind of challenges, growth and learning. At its core, it’s been a year filled with appreciation for this community and the commercial fishing families who, despite the incredible obstacles we face, continue to support our coastal communities and work tirelessly to bring sustainable, local seafood to America’s tables. I know how fortunate I was to grow up in one of those families, a family that continues to fish now...

The Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative: A New Hope for Salmon Restoration

“The development would remove part of the cost of waterborne shipping from the shipper and place it on the taxpayer, jeopardizing more than one-half of the Columbia River salmon production in exchange for 148 miles of subsidized barge route. This policy of water development, the department maintains, is not in the best interest of the over-all economy of the state. Salmon must be protected from the type of unilateral thinking that would harm one industry to benefit another. Loss of the Snake River fish production would be so serious that the department has consistently opposed the four phase lower dam program that would begin with Ice Harbor dam near Pasco.” From the state of Washington Department of Fisheries Annual Report for 1949, opposing development of four then proposed Snake River ...

Facing the Challenges of Commercial Fishing: Why Your Local Port Association Needs You

Commercial fishing families have long been the quiet guardians of our seas, working tirelessly to ensure that tables are filled with wild, healthy and sustainable seafood. We weather both literal and figurative storms, adapting to environmental and regulatory changes while contributing to the economic and cultural fabric of coastal communities. Sacrifices and challenges on the ocean are simply part of the life of a commercial fisherman. We accept the unpredictable nature of the sea, long hours and tough conditions as part of the job. But today, the work of commercial fishing can’t be confined to the ocean alone. The issues facing the industry now stretch far beyond the water, threatening the livelihoods of commercial fishing families and the communities that rely on them. These are ba...

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...