Issue: November 2024

Study: Harbor Seals Consume up to a Third of Steelhead  Migrating out of Nisqually River Delta

Study: Harbor Seals Consume up to a Third of Steelhead Migrating out of Nisqually River Delta

Unchecked predation may undermine recovery actions, researchers find. Harbor seals consume as many as a third of young steelhead smolts migrating out of the Nisqually River’s delta in southern Puget Sound, new research shows. The finding indicates that recovering populations of predators can derail salmon and steelhead recovery, especially when fish populations are small and struggling. Scientists said the results, published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, demonstrate the need to test new management actions to exclude seals from areas where salmon are most vulnerable. Although seals are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, some steps may help limit their impacts. “If we can identify areas with outsized predator impacts on salmon such as river deltas, managers...
The Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative: A New Hope for Salmon Restoration

The Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative: A New Hope for Salmon Restoration

“The development would remove part of the cost of waterborne shipping from the shipper and place it on the taxpayer, jeopardizing more than one-half of the Columbia River salmon production in exchange for 148 miles of subsidized barge route. This policy of water development, the department maintains, is not in the best interest of the over-all economy of the state. Salmon must be protected from the type of unilateral thinking that would harm one industry to benefit another. Loss of the Snake River fish production would be so serious that the department has consistently opposed the four phase lower dam program that would begin with Ice Harbor dam near Pasco.” From the state of Washington Department of Fisheries Annual Report for 1949, opposing development of four then proposed Snake River ...
Coast Guard Dewatering Pump Operations

Coast Guard Dewatering Pump Operations

By Jerry Dzugan, AMSEA In a flooding emergency, you can’t expect a rescue resource or good Samaritan to be waiting nearby. Vessel flooding and its often related instability are the most common source of fishing vessel losses. Consider the distance that a Coast Guard helicopter has to travel to deliver dewatering pumps. Plus, they don’t carry a pump on every routine flight due to weight constraints. It makes sense and is a good maritime practice to have your own dewatering pumps and bilge alarms. The quickest way to have a pump available is to have your own dewatering pump installed and maintained. Remember that an ordinary bilge pump is rated by the number of gallons it can pump in an hour. You want a pump that is rated for gallons per minute—a dewatering pump. The pump(s) should be ...
Fisheries Sustainability: Management Measures Aim to Ensure Success

Fisheries Sustainability: Management Measures Aim to Ensure Success

By Sara Hall Maintaining sustainable fisheries is in the best interest of all stakeholders—including commercial fishermen, environmentalists and fishery managers. But how that’s best done is up for debate. Over the years, various agencies and organizations have been taking measures to ensure that natural resources aren’t depleted and are maintained at a certain level, with some methods finding more success than others.  On June 3, President Biden’s administration announced its “National Strategy for a Sustainable Ocean Economy,” which focuses on opportunities for direct federal action, guiding U.S. ocean policies to “conserve healthy ecosystems, support resilient communities and advance sustainable economic development.” “Ocean policies and management should strive to ensure that int...
Turmoil In Seafood Economy Prompts  Collaboration Among Many Sectors

Turmoil In Seafood Economy Prompts Collaboration Among Many Sectors

By Margaret Bauman margie@maritimepublishing.com Seafood harvesters and processors facing challenging global marketing conditions are finding it necessary to alter their operations for long-term viability, according to Nicole Kimball, vice president of the Pacific Seafood Processors Association (PSPA). “It’s clearly evident from announcements of seasonal closures of some shoreside processing plants this year, and from multiple facilities up for sale, that seafood processors of all sizes are trying to adapt to very challenging market conditions both globally and domestically,” said Kimball, a seafood industry veteran and member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. “Both fishermen and processors have rising costs that make small margins even smaller, and processors are goin...
Education Program Enhances Marine Expo ‘24

Education Program Enhances Marine Expo ‘24

By Daniel Mintz The Pacific Marine Expo is one of the commercial fishing industry’s most well-known venues for exhibiting products and services. But even more can be learned through the event’s educational program. Held at the Lumen Field Event Center in Seattle, this year’s expo takes place Nov. 20-22 and includes educational sessions on topics ranging from vessel safety policy to federal loan access. Health Issues, Youth Recruitment The educational program kicks off Nov. 21 with a session that aims to “strategize realistic solutions” to fishermen’s health issues, according to the organizers. The session’s presenters include researchers and trainers from the Alaska Marine Safety Association, the state of Alaska, the Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety and Oregon State...
Personal Gear for Fishermen: Braving the Elements in Style

Personal Gear for Fishermen: Braving the Elements in Style

By Karen Robes Meeks karen@maritimepublishing.com To wrangle catch in conditions that can sometimes be harsh, unpredictable and unwieldy, West Coast commercial fishers often turn to specialized brands for personal gear that must work as hard as they do to get the job done. Whether it’s rain gear or footwear, many companies are developing new models of gear or improving upon current versions to keep commercial fishers warm, comfortable and dry. Here is a look at the new personal gear these companies are bringing to the market. XTRATUF XTRATUF, founded in the 1950s and a member of the Rocky Brands family since 2021, has been outfitting commercial fishermen and women in Alaska for more than six decades. The company’s best known for its Legacy Boot product, known as the “Alaskan S...
Coast Guard Cutter Healy Departs for Fall 2024 Arctic Deployment

Coast Guard Cutter Healy Departs for Fall 2024 Arctic Deployment

U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy departed Seattle on Oct. 1 on a months-long Arctic deployment that could eventually lead to federal policies affecting the commercial fishing industry. The cutter’s crew is supporting scientists conducting three science missions during the deployment, and other science of opportunity across a broad spectrum of disciplines will also be supported as time and weather allow, according to the Guard. The first mission supports the Arctic Port Access Route Study (PARS). During this mission, the cutter is performing bathymetric mapping in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. The Coast Guard has initiated an Arctic PARS, it said, to analyze current vessel patterns, predict future vessel needs and balance the needs of all waterway users by developing and recommending ves...
2 Medevac’d from SoCal Commercial Fishing Vessels in Unrelated Incidents

2 Medevac’d from SoCal Commercial Fishing Vessels in Unrelated Incidents

Two men were medically evacuated on the same day in the same area of Southern California in incidents that were separate and unrelated, according to the Coast Guard. On Sept. 25, a Coast Guard helicopter aircrew took a 32-year-old male off the commercial fishing vessel Legacy about a mile west of San Clemente Island. Coast Guard Sector San Diego Joint Harbor Operations Center watchstanders said they received notification from the Legacy at about 4:15 p.m. that a male crew member onboard was experiencing symptoms of a seizure and needed assistance. Watchstanders then coordinated the launch of an Air Station San Diego MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew to conduct a medevac around 5:10 p.m., according to the Coast Guard. The air crew arrived on-scene, hoisted the passenger and transferred hi...
Binniker Named Head of NOAA Law Enforcement Office

Binniker Named Head of NOAA Law Enforcement Office

U.S. Coast Guard veteran James Binniker on Sept. 23 took office as director of the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement, which is charged with protecting the nation’s protected marine resources, places and habitats and promoting sustainable fisheries management. Prior to joining the Office of Law Enforcement as assistant director in 2022, Binniker served in the Coast Guard for 26 years. His work ran the gamut of law enforcement, search and rescue, environmental pollution response and maritime security operations on multiple ships and shore-based commands. In his last assignment, as the chief of the Fisheries Enforcement Division in the Office of Maritime Law Enforcement Policy, he oversaw Coast Guard units conducting domestic fisheries enforcement, marine resource protection and counter-IUU ...