Issue: January 2023

A collaborative effort is underway to save the genetically distinct spring Chinook salmon, a fish of critical importance to humans, Southern Resident killer whales and many species that rely on salmon in their life cycles. “Will policy catch up with science before it’s too late?,” asks Shane Anderson, the award-winning filmmaker from Swiftwater Films in Olympia, Wash., whose latest documentary, “The Lost Salmon,” chronicles the challenges of and potential recovery prospects for the iconic Chinook, and the new genetic discovery that could aid in their recovery. “As the first salmon to arrive home in spring, the spring run of Chinook have one of the most fascinating migrations in the animal kingdom,” the documentary states at one point. “They are a species of desire for an entire ecosyst...

Washington state officials have declined to renew expired leases for two remaining finfish net pens citing the damage done in the Cypress Island net pen collapse of 2017. The state’s Department of Natural Resources informed Cooke Aquaculture, based in Saint John, Canada, in mid-November that the agency would not renew the two aquaculture facilities leases in Rich Passage off Bainbridge Island and off Hope Island in Skagit Bay. Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz said that the catastrophic event sparked an effort to terminate finfish net pen operations due to lease violations. “Despite years of litigation—and a company that has fought us every step of the way—we are not able to deny lease renewals for the remaining net pen sites,” Franz said. The decision will return those waters ...

New regulations published in the Federal Register by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) require traceability of high-risk foods, including seafood, in the latest effort to halt seafood fraud and protect consumers. The final rule, a key component of the FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint, implements Section 204(d) of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). These new requirements will allow for faster identification and rapid removal of potentially contaminated food from the market, resulting in fewer foodborne illnesses and/or deaths, the agency said. At the core of the rule is a requirement that those who manufacture, process, pack or hold foods on the food traceability list maintain records containing key data elements associated with specific critical tracing even...

A preliminary commercial harvest summary recently issued by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game puts the value of 160.7 million salmon caught in 2022 at $720.4 million, compared to the 2021 harvest of 233.8 million salmon harvested. The 31% decrease in the total harvest is explained by the relatively low pink salmon run size in 2022, a consistent trend for even-numbered years over the last decade, ADF&G biologists said in their mid-November report. The 2022 total harvest of sockeyes accounted for 66% of the total value, at $473.8 million, and 47% of the harvest, at 74.8 million fish.  Chum salmon, numbering 14.9 million, contributed 15% of the overall value at $110.6 million. Coho salmon made up about 2% of the value at $15 million and 1% of the harvest at 1.6 million fish, whil...

Elected officials for Washington’s King County, the cities of Seattle and Tukwila and the Port of Seattle are collaborating to promote a new effort to recover healthy salmon stocks in Seattle’s Lower Duwamish River. The four government entities are hoping to find the right individual to serve as the Duwamish River Basin Steward, who would provide on-the-ground technical services to community members and other stakeholders to protect and restore habitats that assist in helping restore salmon stocks in the river. The effort is designed to include acquisition of open space, complete habitat restoration projects and direct engagement with communities. Basin stewards work with residents and technical staff to develop and implement priority habitat protection and restoration projects in cri...

Federal officials in late November proposed changes for participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), including improved access to canned fish, to reflect the latest dietary guidelines. These science-based revisions, recommended by the National Academies of Science, Engineers and Medicine (NASEM) and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans for 2020-2025, prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to post the proposed changes in the Federal Register.  Those guidelines recommend two eight-ounce servings of healthy seafood a week, starting at six months of age. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the proposed changes would strengthen WIC by ensuring that it provides foods that reflect the latest nutrition science to support heal...

A seafood processor stung by an autumn storm in 2020 that grounded and destroyed its processing barge will be back in Bristol Bay for the 2024 salmon fishery with a new vertically integrated vessel that’s expected to produce higher quality fillets to sell year-round in an environmentally superior facility. “We developed the Hannah to produce higher quality fish through a more efficient process that benefits both fishermen and customers,” Ben Blakey, an industry veteran and chief executive officer of Northline Seafoods, with offices in Bellingham, Wash. and Sitka, Alaska said. “This project is a continuation of Northline’s commitment to innovation and environmental sustainability in the fishing industry.” Blakey said he hopes this one-of-a-kind vertically integrated vessel inspires othe...

The Coast Guard cutter Stratton and crew returned to Alameda, Calif. on Nov. 23 following a 97-day, multi-mission deployment to the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea. In August, the cutter and crew departed Alameda to project U.S. sovereignty throughout Arctic waters, provide search-and rescue capabilities in the region and meet with Alaskan communities. Stratton repeatedly operated along the length of the U.S.-Russian maritime boundary line (MBL) from the Diomede Islands to well above the Arctic Circle, while they patrolled within the U.S. Arctic zone. Stratton also patrolled the U.S.-Canadian MBL in the Beaufort Sea, demonstrating a presence in the distant regions of the Arctic. On Sept. 26, the Stratton and Coast Guard cutter Kimball became the first national security cutters to jointly ...

Federal officials have approved a plan for demolition of four aging dams on the Klamath River at the foot of the Cascade Mountains in an effort to open up salmon habitat and restore the river by 2024. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) unanimous decision allows for the $500 million demolition project, which would return the river to a free-flowing state for the first time in over a century. Removal of the dam could begin as early as the summer of 2023. On Nov. 17, FERC unanimously approved a request from PacifiCorp to surrender licenses and decommission the Lower Klamath Project’s four hydroelectric dams on the Oregon and California border, ending decades of debate over the issue. Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden said in a joint statement that they viewed FERC’s...

After 17,000 nautical miles and 124 days at sea, the crew members of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy came back to its homeport in Seattle, the agency announced Nov. 11. The crew’s journey was considered a historic one as the 420-foot medium icebreaker traveled in high Arctic latitudes and reached the geographic North Pole Sept 30, “only the second time a U.S. surface vessel had reached 90 degrees north unaccompanied,” the USCG said.  The crew also provided law enforcement presence in the Arctic and the Gulf of Alaska. “It is more important than ever before to provide security and sovereign presence in the Arctic and expand oceanographic research to understand the impacts of environmental change,” said Healy’s commanding officer, Capt. Kenneth Boda. “The crew of Healy is proud to hav...