Current Issue

Net Your Problem Plans for New Warehouse in Newport, Oregon

Eight years into repurposing commercial fishing nets into multiple useable products, entrepreneur Nicole Baker’s newest goal is establishing a warehouse in Newport, Oregon, to meet new requirements for separate cleaning [...]

Washington Sea Grant Plans Commercial Fishing Skills and Drills Course

Washington Sea Grant officials are launching a new two-day Skills and Drills course for people who want hands-on experience performing tasks that may be required on a West Coast commercial [...]

Beyond Regulation: A Smarter Approach for Protecting Food Security

For generations, commercial fishing has been a way of life. It is how families have supported themselves, how coastal communities have been built, and how fresh sustainably harvested wild seafood [...]

USCG Helicopter Rescue Procedures

Fishermen have a complicated relationship with the U.S. Coast Guard. When we are at sea and the white Coast Guard boat with a red racing stripe approaches, we are wary. [...]

Marine Propulsion Technology News Roundup

The marine propulsion market is growing and evolving, with new and different low- and zero-emissions products for commercial fishing vessels entering the design and production phase. In recent times, companies [...]

Coast Guard Medevacs Man from Vessel Off Oahu

The Coast Guard medevac’d an ailing man from a fishing vessel 40 miles offshore of Oahu on Jan. 20. Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu watchstanders received notification at 4:30 p.m. [...]

First of 3 New Coast Guard Cutters Arrives at Kodiak, Alaska Homeport

The crew of U.S. Coast Guard cutter John Witherspoon arrived at its new homeport in Kodiak, Alaska on Jan. 28. The cutter, which is scheduled to be commissioned during a [...]

Commercial Harvesters Weigh in on PFDs, Rain Gear, Boots

Veteran Bristol Bay set netter Shannon Ford Ward still vividly recalls that day in the Naknek-Kvichak district of Bristol Bay 15 years ago when the boat she and husband Don [...]

CDFW, Fishing Industry Partnering to Diversify Salmon Hatchery Release Strategies

In a collaborative effort to increase the sustainability of the state’s salmon populations, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is partnering with ocean and inland fishing groups, as [...]

Aleuts, NMFS Reach Agreement on Joint Management of Federal Waters

An agreement has been reached between the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island (ACSPI) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for joint management of federal waters off the Pribilof [...]

Wild Alaska Pollock Season Faces Economic Competition from Russia

Harvests are underway in the lucrative wild Alaska pollock A season, with an overall 1.5 million metric ton total allowable catch (TAC) in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. [...]

Oregon Fish and Game Adopts Changes to Sea Urchin Fishing Regulations

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission declined to increase the number of commercial fishing permits for Oregon sea urchins during its Feb. 14 meeting, but did adopt changes to its [...]

Juvenile Salmon Face Competition for Food in Northwest Waters

Juvenile sablefish in increasing numbers off the coastal waters from Central Oregon north to northern Washington are competing with juvenile salmon for food, according to NOAA Fisheries research recently published [...]

From the Publisher: The End of an Era

Dear Readers, It is with much sadness that I must inform you that this will be the last edition of Fishermen’s News. Since acquiring the rights to the publication in [...]

New Study Finds Incidents of Fishery Observer Harassment in Alaska Maritime Workplaces Are Underreported

By NOAA Fisheries Scientists and law enforcement officers team up to lay a foundation for strengthening NOAA Fisheries’ efforts to improve observer safety on commercial fishing vessels and in seafood [...]

Deckhand Electronic Logbook Gains NMFS Approval

The Deckhand electronic logbook, software for digital data collection, has been officially approved by the Alaska Regional Office of the National Marine Fisheries Service for use in two fisheries, the [...]

ALFA Launches 2025 Crew Training Program

Crew training opportunities for the 2025 fishing season are being offered by the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) in an effort to match the needs of skippers with young people [...]

IPHC Cuts Coastwide Commercial Halibut Catch By 18%

In a somber and tense meeting of the International Pacific Halibut Commission in Vancouver, British Columbia, stakeholders faced with the lowest spawning biomass in 40 years opted to cut the [...]

Funding Frozen for Weir Project Critical to Alaska’s Copper River Salmon Fishery

A collaborative project to replace a weir critical to the Copper River salmon fishery in Alaska is in jeopardy after the Trump administration froze millions of dollars in funding, including [...]

Chinook Salmon an Increasingly Popular Food Choice of Salmon Sharks

Wild Chinook salmon, a perennial favorite of seafood aficionados at upscale restaurants, is also becoming increasingly popular with a hungry, hot-blooded predator found in ocean waters from the Central Bering [...]

Wild Fish Conservancy Threatens Lawsuit Over Chinook Salmon

The Washington state-based non-profit conservation organization Wild Fish Conservancy has notified NOAA Fisheries of its intent to sue for failure to meet deadlines under the Endangered Species Act related to [...]

ODFW Issues Fleet Advisory to Avoid Whale Entanglement

Oregon fisheries officials faced with another humpback whale entangled in multiple sets of commercial crab gear have issued a fleet advisory for the Dungeness crab fishery in all waters off [...]

Saint Paul Crab Harvest to be Processed at Unalaska

A processing agreement forged between the cities of Saint Paul and Unalaska, thanks to an annual exemption approved by National Marine Fisheries Service, will allow for processing of 1.5 million [...]

Strong Runs Forecast for Copper River Sockeye, PWS Pink Salmon

State fisheries biologists are predicting strong runs of sockeye salmon into the Copper River and wild pink and chum salmon into Prince William Sound for the upcoming 2025 commercial salmon [...]

Alaska Task Force Proposes Steps to Stabilize Seafood Industry

Eight legislators tasked with helping to lift the Alaska seafood industry out of a financial crisis have recommended 27 specific steps related to marketing, workforce development and more, including annual [...]