Author: Mark Edward Nero

California isn’t within the commercial fishing industry’s epicenter, but it is a notable component of the industry as a whole. And currently the state, particularly the northern half, is experiencing a challenge that is literally an existential threat: struggling salmon populations. Salmon once thrived in the rivers that run throughout the state, but due to the construction of dams, they’ve been blocked from reaching many of the cold mountain streams where they once spawned. Additionally, multiple droughts in the state over the years and climate change effects have not helped. In fact, during some periods of the state’s massive drought from 2020-22, the water flowing from dams became so warm that it was lethal for salmon eggs, thereby further diminishing the potential supply of a...

The future of commercial gillnet fishing and the catching of giant sea bass in California are now in doubt, following legislation proposed by a state Assembly member in February that would restrict certain types of fishing in state waters. Assembly Bill 2220 would do three things: completely ban commercial fishing for sea bass, eliminating current exceptions; ban the use of gill nets, also eliminating current exceptions, and mandate that commercial fishing vessels operating with a state permit carry an independent third-party observer onboard while operating within state fisheries. If passed and signed into law, the proposed legislation, which was drafted by Assemblyman Steve Bennett (D-Ventura), could have a sizable impact – financially and in other ways – on the state’s commercial ...

Supporters of the commercial fishing industry received some good news in late 2023 when the federal legislation known as H.R. 4618 –commonly called the Supporting Commercial Fishing in Port Infrastructure Projects Act – passed both the House and Senate as part of the Maritime Administration Reauthorization Act. The legislation, introduced in mid-July and sponsored by Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Ore., was approved in mid-December and is expected to be signed into law by President Biden in the coming days. It explicitly allows ports to apply for infrastructure grants to support commercial fishing, and in turn boost coastal communities’ jobs and economies. Hoyle has said she introduced the Act because current law didn’t make it explicitly clear whether ports can apply for Port Infrastructure D...