From the Editor

Bad news for crab fishermen in Oregon was delivered on Aug. 4. On that date, the state’s Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to extend, with no sunset date, restrictive crabbing measures that were originally supposed to expire after the current season. The rules restrict the number of crab traps in the water and how deep the traps can drop in the late-season months when humpback whales are more likely to swim there. The restrictions were first put into place due to the fact that humpbacks migrate off Oregon’s coast and they, along with other types of whales, can get caught in the vertical ropes connected to the heavy traps and drag them around for an extended period of time, in the process becoming injured, starved and exhausted, leaving them susceptible to drowning. The ODFW i...

The Maritime Publishing family of periodicals has gotten bigger. On June 12, the company announced the acquisition of The Log newspaper from Newport Beach-based Duncan McIntosh Co. Inc. For those who aren’t familiar, The Log is a biweekly publication based in Orange County, Calif. It been a boating and fishing essential for recreational anglers throughout Southern California since 1971. “The Log is an iconic publication,” Maritime Publishing owner Dave Abrams said in a statement announcing the acquisition. “I’ve been reading almost every issue since 1990, and I look forward to (acquiring) it. As a boater, it keeps me apprised of everything going on in the SoCal maritime community and provides a great resource for finding service providers, slips, equipment, etc. I’m really proud ...

In case you missed it, the Supreme Court on May 1 agreed to take up a dispute between the Biden administration and East Coast commercial fishing companies that could eventually have a huge impact on the U.S. commercial fishing industry as a whole. The court’s eventual judgment has the potential to overrule a nearly 40-year-old decision that gives deference to federal agencies. The case, Loper Bright Enterprises et al. v. Raimondo, is expected to be heard in the Supreme Court’s next term. The court is being asked to override the 1984 Chevron v. National Resources Defense Council ruling, in which the justices determined that courts should defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of statutes when laws are ambiguous. The case revolves around Atlantic herring fishermen who say the Nati...

We all know that IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fishing is bad for the commercial fishing industry. But a new editorial from the World Economic Forum, an international non-governmental and lobbying organization, serves as a strong reminder of the multiple reasons why. Among the reasons cited in the editorial are the physical danger to crew members, the threat to marine ecosystems and human rights abuses. The editorial, which can be found on the World Economic Forum’s website, begins with the harrowing tale of an IUU fisherman who said it had been normal for anglers to work 20 hours or more per day and that some people were driven to commit suicide or were killed trying to escape into the sea. “Illegal fishing is commonplace because no one is watching,” the fisherman, 52-yea...

The first-ever cancellation of Alaska’s Bering Sea snow crab harvest due to population declines was a shock to the state’s fishing industry last fall, but in the decades to come, the ocean conditions that triggered the snow crab crash and harvest closure are expected to become common. This is according to according to several scientists who gave presentations at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium that took place in late January. Mike Litzow, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist based in Kodiak, Alaska said that the conditions that triggered the crash can be expected about once every seven years. By the 2040s, those conditions can be expected to occur one out of every three years, he said. Litzow said that the cause of the snow crab disaster is something called “b...

Inside the February 2023 issue of Fishermen's News, you’ll find an excellent article on the status of the British Columbia fishing industry. In the article, reporter Norris Comer states that “A myriad of challenges face B.C. fisheries, with the threatened Pacific salmon stocks taking center stage.” But in addition to the article in this issue, there’s an article published by Canada’s National Observer, a news and analysis website. In the National Observer article, reporter Rochelle Baker declares that British Columbia’s commercial salmon fleet is “clearly in the midst of transformative change.” The federal government in Ottawa has shuttered about 60% of B.C.’s commercial fisheries since 2021, and in December, launched a buyback program to lure fish harvesters to exit the industry to pro...

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...

In mid-November, I had the privilege and pleasure of representing Fishermen’s News at one of the largest and longest running commercial fishing and commercial marine trade shows in existence, Pacific Marine Expo, which took place Nov. 17-19 in Seattle. Maritime Institute, the parent company of Maritime Publishing, which runs Fishermen’s News, operated Booth 220 at this year’s expo. A handful of Maritime Publishing representatives, including Publisher Dave Abrams, Advertising Manager Katie Higgins and yours truly, Managing Editor Mark Nero, were at the booth during various times over the course of the three days, as were other folks who help create content for the magazine, including Senior Designer Kathy Samuelson, Business Manager Sarah Spangler and Writer Norris Comer. Not only would ...