Issue: August 2024

Tribes from Washington state and Southeast Alaska that have ancestral homelands along salmon-rich transboundary rivers are asking the British Columbia government to consult with them on potential adverse impacts on rivers and fisheries by mining operations. Officials with the Lummi Nation and Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC) said June 13 that they were notified by the BC Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) that they would have a limited voice regarding port expansion of the BC Roberts Bank Terminal. Roberts Bank is home to a twin-terminal port facility on the mainland coastline of the Strait of Georgia in Delta, B.C. It is known as the outer harbor of Canada’s busiest port, the Port of Vancouver. The tribes contend that the project would have an adverse i...

A final report detailing research needs for Alaska salmon recommends applied research on seven matters related to salmon productivity, from climate warming and extreme events to predators and freshwater habitat changes. and marine harvest. The report was released July 12 by NOAA Fisheries. Under climate and extreme events, for example, the task force recommended research to understand and quantify the effects of natural environmental variability and warming climate on Alaska salmon distribution and abundance. Under marine harvest, it recommends research to better understand the frequency of occurrence and mortality rate of direct and discards attributed to unobserved fishing mortality, including illegal, unreported and unregulated harvest. An Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim working group formed...

Guidelines for sustainable aquaculture have been introduced by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, which notes the importance of sustainability practices, what with aquaculture being the fastest-growing food production sector globally. The new guidelines, announced July 15 by NOAA Fisheries, aim to develop global aquaculture best practices to ensure aquaculture growth is sustainable. Rapid growth of this sector of aquaculture has exposed challenges for environmental, social and economic sustainability for an aquaculture sector aimed at contributing to the fight against global hunger and bolstering resilience to climate change, NOAA Fisheries officials said. The Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture (GSA) are designed to support members and other stakeholders in imple...

Matthew Ramsey of Hawaii has been reappointed and Francisco Perez of Guam appointed to seats on the Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced June 27. Ramsey, a lifelong recreational fishermen who has served as a director for Conservation International’s Hawaii program, previously worked for NOAA Fisheries as a fisheries extension agent. Perez, who’s retiring from the Guam National Guard in September, is a longtime fish harvester and small business owner who uses ridge-to-reef concepts in his management practices on property he farms on Guam’s eastern coast.  Both appointments are for three-year terms. The Western Pacific council includes members from American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Counc...

A new federal fisheries study released June 20 shows that substantial numbers of pollock travel seasonally between the two U.S. and Russian exclusive economic zones (EEZ). The study, conducted from July 2019 to August 2020, used specially designed moorings, equipped with sonar on the seafloor, to acoustically monitor pollock abundance and movement between the two EEZs. They documented pollock moving southeast over the maritime boundary in winter as the sea ice formed, but largely absent in late spring when ocean temperatures were near freezing and sea ice was still present, biologists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. When moorings were deployed in summer 2019, the area was unusually warm but conditions were cooler in summer 2020, according to NOAA. Over t...

Willamette salmon and steelhead retain threatened status under Endangered Species Act. Upper Willamette River Steelhead and Chinook salmon in Oregon should remain listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, NOAA Fisheries has concluded in its five-year review of the status of the species. NOAA Fisheries reviews the status of species listed under the Endangered Species Act at least every five years. Many communities, tribes and conservation organizations have restored habitat along the Willamette and its tributaries. Chinook salmon and steelhead still lack safe downstream passage past dams that limit access to the high-elevation habitat that once fostered their wild populations. Only further action can halt their continuing decline, which could be compounded by climate chan...