Fishermen’s News Online – Page 35

11Jan

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

Jan. 15 Opener Set for Oregon’s Commercial Dungeness Crab Fishery

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) officials say they expect the state’s Commercial Dungeness crab fishery season to open from Cape Falcon to Cape Arago on Jan. 15, having passed required tests for those crabs being ready to harvest. The season opener from Cape Falcon north to Washington state, in accordance with the Tri-State protocol, is scheduled to open Feb. 1. ODFW officials said this past week that meat fill now meets or exceeds criteria in all areas of Oregon, and biotoxins are below alert levels in all crab tested from Cape Arago north. Domoic acid testing of crab was to continue from Cape Arago south to the California border. Test results through Jan. 7 showed elevated levels of the biotoxin in that area. ODFW works closely with the crab industry, the Oregon Dungen...

Military Confirms Plans for Gulf of Alaska Joint Training Exercise

11Jan

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

Military Confirms Plans for Gulf of Alaska Joint Training Exercise

U.S. Navy officials have decided to proceed with training in May in the Gulf of Alaska as part of a joint training exercise involving other U.S. military forces, but have not yet confirmed actual dates of operation. Historically, the exercises have occurred every two years since the 1990s. The Gulf of Alaska study area has been revised for 2023 to include the Western Maneuver Area (WMA) as well as the Temporary Maritime Activities Area (TMAA), to enable Navy personnel and units to practice more realistic, complex training scenarios in a safer, more efficient manner that would better prepare them to respond to real-world incidents. The record of decision noted that the Navy recognized that the size and shape of the previous TMAA of 42,146 square nautical miles no longer provided suffici...

UW Study Shows Parasite Decline in Puget Sound

11Jan

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

UW Study Shows Parasite Decline in Puget Sound

A University of Washington fisheries scientist says her research shows that fish parasites in Puget Sound have been in decline over the last century. “We all have this sense that as climate change proceeds that what we get is increased parasite outbreaks; that we are messing with Earth and that Earth is messing (with us) right back,” Associate Professor Chelsea L. Wood of the UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences said in early January. Until the study was conducted, Wood said, there was little information on wildlife parasites other than the impact of parasites on humans. What they were shocked to learn, she said, is that parasite life cycles are like Rube Goldberg machines; the more complex they are, the more likely they are to fail. What Wood and her colleagues found was that p...

ODFW to Look Back at 2022, Forward to 2023 Salmon Season

11Jan

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

ODFW to Look Back at 2022, Forward to 2023 Salmon Season

The 2023 Ocean Salmon Industry Group meeting is scheduled to take place Feb. 27 in Newport, Ore., both in person and virtually, to review the 2022 seasons and take a look at 2023 salmon forecasts. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) officials said this meeting is also to begin development of Oregon preferred recreational and commercial ocean salmon season concepts via public input to take through the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) regulation-setting process. The meeting is open to commercial salmon troll fishers, ocean sport fishing anglers and charter operators, as well as others interested in participating in development of the 2023 ocean salmon seasons. ODFW staff are expected to provide background materials and presentations, then work with attendees to develop...

4Jan

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, From the Editor, News

From the Editor: Happy New Year

Hello and Happy New Year, This is just a reminder that starting with this edition, the Fishermen’s News Online newsletter is being sent out at 10:15 am each Wednesday rather than at 11 am. However, despite the change in time, each edition will still contain five stories that are of importance to the commercial fishing industry. In fact, as 2023 gets underway, I’d like to take a moment to renew our commitment to our readers, and let you know that you can continue to expect high quality content in the print edition of Fishermen’s News, as well as its online newsletter. And of course, the newsletter is still free and will remain so. As always, thanks for reading. If you have any questions or comments about the content in Fishermen’s News of Fishermen’s News Online, feel free to contact m...

Demise of Alaska’s Bering Sea Crab Fisheries Expected to Have Ripple Effect

4Jan

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

Demise of Alaska’s Bering Sea Crab Fisheries Expected to Have Ripple Effect

Analysis published by Seattle-based online nonprofit news website Crosscut predicts the collapse of crab fisheries in Alaska’s Bering Sea will have ripple effects in Washington state as well as Alaska. Since 2006, 57% of snow crab fleet vessels have been registered to Washington addresses. During the 2020-2021 season, 27 members of that 60-boat crab boat fleet were registered in the Seattle metropolitan area. That same year, Bering Sea snow crab generated $62.6 million in revenue across King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, plus $6.8 million elsewhere in Washington, according to a rebuilding plan drafted by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Also, according to the Seattle-based Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers (ABSC), compounded with several poor harvests, the canceled crabbing se...

NOAA Fisheries Announces Proposed Rule to Expand Seafood Import Monitoring

4Jan

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

NOAA Fisheries Announces Proposed Rule to Expand Seafood Import Monitoring

NOAA Fisheries has announced a proposed rule that would expand the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP), a risk-based program for targeted species of seafood imported into the United States. SIMP currently includes reporting and recordkeeping requirements for nearly half of all seafood imported, in order to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and misrepresented seafood from entering US commerce. SIMP would provide a screening and deterrent tool for IUU fish and fish products and misrepresented seafood products seeking entry into domestic markets. The rule proposes to expand the species currently subject to SIMP, including red snapper and tuna, to include all species in the snapper family and additional tunas, to minimize the risk of mislabeling and product sub...

EPA Revises Definition of ‘Waters of the United States’

4Jan

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

EPA Revises Definition of ‘Waters of the United States’

Officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army have announced establishment of a final rule on the definition of “waters of the United States (WOTUS).” The final rule restores essential water protections that were in place prior to 2015 under the Clean Water Act for traditional navigable waters, territorial seas and interstate waters, as well as upstream water resources that significantly impact those waters. The EPA said this action would strengthen fundamental protections for waters that are sources of drinking water, and also support agriculture, local economies and downstream communities. The EPA also stated that this final rule restores fundamental protections so that the national will be closer to achieving Congress’ goal in the Clea...

Fishing Coalition Hails Funding for Young Fishermen’s Development Act

4Jan

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

Fishing Coalition Hails Funding for Young Fishermen’s Development Act

A national coalition of community-based, small-boat commercial fishermen is hailing a congressional decision to include $1 million to fund the Young Fishermen’s Development Act (YFDA) in the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package for fiscal year 2023. Members of the Fishing Communities Coalition (FCC) worked with members of Congress for more than seven years to develop the YFDA, which is modeled after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Program. The YFDA is itself a workforce development program administered by NOAA’s Sea Grant program. The funds are expected to help fishermen of the future tackle increasing challenges facing commercial fishermen in the United States. With the nation’s commercial fisheries generating more than $200 billion in sales and su...

Update on Hatchery Fish Impact on Wild Salmon Due in 2023

4Jan

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

Update on Hatchery Fish Impact on Wild Salmon Due in 2023

Researchers with the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) in Vancouver, Canada, said they anticipate including the latest hatcheries related research in their upcoming 2023-2027 science plan, in hope the data would be used to improve management to support salmon stocks. “Scientists are focused on density dependent and carry capacity issues to understand how salmon growth and survival are affected by hatchery and wild salmon abundance and quantify the current limits to salmon production at each life stage,” NPAFC Executive Director Vladimir Radchenko said. “The ability of the Pacific Ocean to produce salmon is not constant, and for the most part, the limits are not known,” he explained. “A general concern is that competition among different salmon populations may lead to low...