Fishermen’s News Online

Study: Coastal Fisheries Show Resilience to Marine Heatwaves
Fishermen's News Online, News

Study: Coastal Fisheries Show Resilience to Marine Heatwaves

New research published in the journal Nature finds that despite the devastating impact marine heatwaves may have on marine ecosystems, in general heatwaves have not had lasting effects on ocean waters that are home to many of the world’s most robust fisheries. The study by a team of researchers funded through FISHGLOB, an international consortium of scientists who collect, curate, share and use date from scientific bottom trawl surveys, looked at how fish biomass and community composition were affected in the year following a marine heatwave. Researchers discovered that in general, marine heatwaves don’t have a major impact on regional fish communities. “This is the year of marine heatwaves, which now cover nearly half of the world’s oceans,” said Malin Pinsky, a co-author and as...
UW-FRI Preliminary Forecast Predicts 2024 Run of 38.9 M Bristol Bay Sockeyes
Fishermen's News Online, News

UW-FRI Preliminary Forecast Predicts 2024 Run of 38.9 M Bristol Bay Sockeyes

The University of Washington’s Fisheries Research Institute (UW-FRI) on Aug. 18 issued a preliminary preseason 2024 forecast run of 38.9 million Bristol Bay sockeye salmon, with a harvest of 26.4 million fish. The forecasted run would be 32% below the 2013-2022 10-year average, with the fish weighing an average of 5.5 pounds, according to the forecast. The UW-FRI report is based on 2023 daily in-season data from Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports. The preliminary preseason forecast suggests that 63% of the total 2024 Bristol Bay run will be 2-ocean sockeye and 37% 3-ocean sockeye. The standard UW-FRI Preseason Forecast, slated for release in November, is to include abundance estimates by age class for all nine rivers in Bristol Bay, plus anticipated 2024 harvest in num...
WPRFMC Reveals Agenda for Sept. 18-20 Meeting in Honolulu
Fishermen's News Online, News

WPRFMC Reveals Agenda for Sept. 18-20 Meeting in Honolulu

Officials with the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC) have scheduled final action on the 2023 US Territorial Bigeye Tuna Catch Limit and allocation specification for their Sept. 18-20 meeting in Honolulu. Bigeye tuna comprises a Pacific-wide population that is internationally managed and assessed as separate stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) and Eastern Pacific Ocean by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, respectively. The most recent stock assessment conducted in 2023 for the WCPO indicate the bigeye tuna stock is not subject to overfishing, nor overfished. The council is expected to consider taking final action on the specification of the 2023 U.S. territoria...
Battery-Electric Fishing Vessel to Be Tested in Alaska
Fishermen's News Online, News

Battery-Electric Fishing Vessel to Be Tested in Alaska

Harvesters with the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) are collaborating with the federal Energy Department’s Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project to test the future of energy-efficient low emissions fishing vessels powered by battery-electric motors. Plans are, this fall, for a 46-foot commercial fishing boat, the I Gotta, to cruise into the waters of Sitka, cut its diesel engine and turn on a low-and zero-emissions propulsion system, becoming one of the first low-emissions fishing vessels ever deployed in Alaska. Officials with the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo. announced Aug. 22 that when using a unique parallel hybrid battery-diesel system, the boat can travel at full speed using its diesel engine, the...
NOAA Report Cites IUU, Forced Labor, Shark Catch Issues
Fishermen's News Online, News

NOAA Report Cites IUU, Forced Labor, Shark Catch Issues

NOAA’s 2023 Report to Congress on Improving International Fisheries Management identifies seven nations and entities engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), including incidents involving force labor and targeted or incidental shark catches. The report, released Aug. 31, said the U.S. will work with identified parties to address IUU issues and forced labor activities and support effective management of protected species and shark catch. “IUU fishing and other unsustainable fishing practices undermine U.S. and global efforts to sustainably manage fisheries and conserve marine resources,” Janet Coit, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries, said. “Combating these practices is a top priority of the United States, and we’ll work with each identified nation and ent...
Coast Guard Cutter Healy Embarks on Arctic Ocean Mission
Fishermen's News Online, News

Coast Guard Cutter Healy Embarks on Arctic Ocean Mission

The Coast Guard cutter Healy and a team of researchers have embarked on a months-long missing to gain insight on how warmer water from the Atlantic Ocean is being introduced into the Arctic at the shelf water level, deep basin interior and upper ocean. The mission was announced by the Coast Guard on Aug. 26. According to the announcement, researchers from the National Science Foundation and International Arctic Research Center will service the Nansen and Amundsen Basins Observational System (NABOS), in hope of developing an understanding of water circulation in the region and will sample the water column in areas normally inaccessible due to pack ice. Research findings would be of interest to the Crab Plan Team of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which has ongoing...
Commercial Salmon Catch in Alaska Tops 200M Fish
Fishermen's News Online, News

Commercial Salmon Catch in Alaska Tops 200M Fish

Alaska salmon harvests statewide have now exceeded 97% of the pre-season forecast, after a large jump in the harvest total, fueled by what was likely the peak week for pink salmon harvest. As of Monday, Aug. 28, the preliminary commercial salmon total for the 2023 season stood at 200.7 million fish. That number includes 133.2 million pink, 49.6 million sockeyes, 16.6 million chums, 1.2 million coho and 185,000 kings, according to calculations of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Following weeks of trailing the 2022 (2021 for pinks) benchmark, the 2023 harvest volume is now similar to the comparison year in estimated total volume, according to Simon Marks, a research analyst with McKinley Research Group in Juneau, who’s producing weekly in-season commercial salmon harvest up...
NOAA: Climate Change Will Likely Send West Coast Fish Farther Offshore
Fishermen's News Online, News

NOAA: Climate Change Will Likely Send West Coast Fish Farther Offshore

Scientists at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center say their research shows that shifting ocean conditions associated with climate change will likely send high-value sablefish into deeper waters off the West Coast. This means vessels may have to travel farther and fish deeper in order to keep catching fish. The new report, which provides a glimpse of what West Coast fisheries will look like with climate change, notes that fishing crews must always balance the value of different commercial species against the distances involved in catching them, but that climate change could alter that equation in new ways. Researchers studied how four species of West Coast groundfish commonly caught together may respond to climate change. They include sablefish, Dover sole, shortspine tho...
$196M in Grants to Fix Culvert Barriers Inhibiting Fish Passage Announced
Fishermen's News Online, News

$196M in Grants to Fix Culvert Barriers Inhibiting Fish Passage Announced

The Federal Highway Administration has announced grants totaling $196 million for tribal, state and local governments to fix or remove 169 culvert barriers nationwide – including ones in Alaska, Oregon and Washington – to improve fish passage. The Biden-Harris administration said this past week that outdated culverts and other infrastructure may cause roads to flood and severely restrict or block fish passage. Such blockage, the announcement said, is key to the health of fish runs and important to commercial and recreational fishing and the health of tribal communities. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said that through the investment, the government would repair or remove hundreds of culverts nationwide protect jobs and mitigate flooding risk. $19.3 million is earmarke...
Hearing on Oregon Water Quality Permit Set for Aug. 30
Fishermen's News Online, News

Hearing on Oregon Water Quality Permit Set for Aug. 30

Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has scheduled a public hearing for 6 p.m. today, Aug. 30, on a proposed National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for Da Yang Seafood, which processes seafood at its facilities at the Port of Astoria. The facility discharges processing waste into the Columbia River. The West Coast Seafood Processors Association (WCSPA) in Astoria contends that the newly issued draft permit would set precedent for the entire seafood processing industry in Oregon. A recent commentary by WCSPA executive director Lori Steele argues that the new wastewater discharge permits are overly complicated, technically infeasible and fail to consider the seafood processing industry’s unique traits and changing seasons. The commentary also all...