Fishermen’s News Online

Officials with the Unified Command in Costa Mesa, California, are continuing a massive cleanup of a coastal oil spill offshore in Orange and San Diego counties, while battling high winds and elevated swell heights on coastal waters. In an update on the cleanup posted on Tuesday, Oct. 12, the United Command said it has seen an increase of tar balls along the coasts of both counties. The Unified Command deployed five shoreline assessment teams yesterday to survey the Orange County beaches and three cleanup teams were sent to work on the coastline of San Diego County. Boat decontamination sites have been established, with four boats decontaminated on Monday, Oct. 11 and two more were to be decontaminated yesterday. The public is being asked not to handle any tar balls or oil b...

Research results published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences show that the number of Chinook salmon in the Salish Sea in summer months are four to six times more abundant for southern resident killer whales than northern resident killer whales. The research, published on Tuesday, Oct. 12, debunks a popular belief that there are fewer Chinook salmon during the summer in Canadian waters for southern resident killer whales compared to an abundance of fish for northern resident killer whales. “People have been talking about a prey shortage as if it’s a fact, but this is the first study to quantify and compare the amount of their preferred prey, Chinook salmon, available to southern and northern resident killer whales,” said lead author Mei Sato, who was a rese...

A trade association representing the majority of independent commercial harvesters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay red king and Bering Sea snow crab plans to appeal to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council during staff tasking later this week to take action to help crab stocks rebound. Faced with closure of the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery for the season, and before they knew that the snow crab total allowable catch would be cut by nearly 90%, Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers sent a letter to NPFMC chairman Simon Kinneen urging short term emergency action to expand the Red King Crab Savings Area closure to bottom trawling to protect female Bristol Bay red king crab. The two fisheries represent a potential combined economic loss of over $200 million. ABSC wants the savings area e...

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife officials say the state’s Fish and Wildlife Commission is expected to adopt regulations on Friday, Oct. 15 implementing the Oregon Dungeness Crab Fishery Management Plan. That plan describes the status of Dungeness crab and the department’s management of the bay and ocean commercial crab fisheries, and the bays and ocean recreational crab fishery. The conservation plan considered by the commission in September is limited to the ocean commercial sector and mitigation of entanglements of protected marine species. ODFW officials note that Oregon’s Dungeness crab fishery forms the economic backbone of commercial fishing activity along the Oregon coast, including tourism, recreational crabbing and the seafood industry. They said that the FMP prov...

A Washington state resident has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to aiming a laser pointer at the Coast Guard aircrew as they were on final approach to Air Station Port Angeles on Sept. 26, 2016. Thirty-five-year-old Randall Muck of the Port Angeles area was sentenced to 90 days home confinement with electronic monitoring, one year of probation and a $1,000 fine. The Coast Guard report said that Muck illuminated an MH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter crew with a green laser light while the aircrew was on final approach to the air station. The four members of the aircrew reported no injuries. Muck was identified by the Coast Guard Investigative Service as the person using the laser following incriminating statements he made at work. His live-in girlfriend witnessed the a...

A Unified Command established to respond to a massive oil spill off the coast of California is continuing its work, with commercial divers contracted to identify the source of an oil pipeline leak that has caused at least 126,000 gallons of oil to spill into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Orange County. The spill disaster has prompted closure of area fisheries, closed major surfing teaches and left numerous fish and birds coated in oil. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency for Orange County. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has closed fishing for finfish and shellfish from Huntington Beach to two miles north of San Clemente Municipal Pier, including shorelines and offshore areas, bays and harbors and to eight miles offshore. Updat...

An international boarding team of maritime inspectors from Canada, South Korea and the United States Coast Guard cutter Bertholf uncovered 450 shark fins and 32 potential conservation and management violations during recent annual efforts of Operation North Pacific Guard. The event is a coordinated effort with cooperating Pacific Rim nations working to counter illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. From the beginning of September through Oct. 5, the partners, operating aboard the Bertholf, boarded 15 fishing vessels registered to fish within the Western and Centra; Pacific Fisheries Commission and North Pacific Fisheries Commission convention areas, the Coast Guard said. Potential violations ranged from use of prohibited gear and failure to maintain records of catch to impr...

Trident Seafoods and APICDA Joint Ventures, a subsidiary of the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association, have announced the resolution of differences over a lawsuit stemming from Trident’s purchase of majority interest in APICDA’s seafood plant at False Pass in April, 2018. In a joint statement issued on Monday, Oct. 4, Trident and APICDA said they had resolved their primary differences and now look forward to working to strengthen a longstanding relationship and finding new ways to work together. No details were provided involving settlement of the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on April 18, 2020. Trident CEO Joe Bundrant said that his company has long valued its partnership with APICDA, that they hav...

Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers are proposing quick action by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council when the federal fisheries managers begin their virtual October meeting today, Oct. 6. The trade association, which represents most of the independent crab harvesters of king, snow and Tanner crab, is asking for limited, short-term emergency action to expand the red king crab savings area closure to bottom trawling to protect female Bristol Bay red king crab. Combined with closure of the directed fishery, this requested action is expected to provide immediate conservation benefits to the stock and reduce the potential of a continued closure of the directed crab fishery next year, said Jamie Goen, executive director of Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers. Commercial Bering Sea crab harv...

Canned salmon is seeing an upsurge in demand, thanks to increased consumption of seafood for its health benefits, according to a new report by the industry intelligence and market research firm Fact.MR. The report notes that canned salmon is a great source of essential nutrients such as protein, as well as vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acids. Canned salmon has a unique flavor with a less fishy taste compared to other varieties of fish, the report states. It can be offered in various forms such as smoked, sauteed grilled, steamed and poached, making it a natural for breakfast meals and salads. Consumption of highly nutritional seafood like salmon also helps to prevent various chronic diseases like heart disease, reduces the risk of stroke, cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, as...