Issue: November 2024

The Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) Certification program owned by the Certified Seafood Collaborative (CSC) has expanded its fishery standard to include fisheries worldwide, CSC officials said in an Oct. 8 statement. The global expansion, according to the CSC, will go further to provide choice in wild capture sustainable fishery certification. The collaborative has said that it is committed to supporting global fisheries in enhancing transparency for their customers, and the RFM aims to provide accessibility without the burden of logo licensing fees. The goal is to ensure that everyone in the supply chain with chain of custody can showcase their commitment to sustainability and responsible practices without financial strain. “As our program grows, we remain dedicated to prior...

By Margaret Bauman margie@maritimepublishing.com An unprecedented bycatch of some 2,000 Chinook salmon prompted NOAA Fisheries to shut down the whitefish fishery in the Central Gulf of Alaska on Sept. 25, leaving some 50,000 tons of pollock in the water and presenting the makings of economic disaster for Kodiak. Salmon are a prohibited species catch in the whitefish trawl fishery. Two trawlers that caught the bycatch in their nets immediately stopped fishing when they realized the bycatch and alerted the other 17 boats in the fleet to avoid the area, so based on available information, those vessels were compliant with federal regulations, NOAA Fisheries officials said. NOAA Fisheries was continuing to evaluate the data as it became finalized by the observer program to determine if a...

By Margaret Bauman margie@maritimepublishing.com Commercial fisheries for Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea tanner crab opened with increased quotas on Oct. 15, and the Bering Sea snow crab season reopened with a total allowable catch of 4.7 million pounds. “After these tough closure years, we’re happy to see some of our vessels heading back to the crab grounds and communities participating in these fisheries again,” Jamie Goen, the executive director of Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, and a member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, said. “We’re feeling cautiously optimistic that the crab stock is starting to recover. But our work isn’t done,” Goen said. “It’s critical that we keep working for habitat protections, stock rebuilding and the overall tools that the crab re...

A $4.5 million grant announced Sept. 23 by the Interior Department is earmarked for co-stewardship and salmon restoration in Alaska’s Yukon, Kuskokwim and Norton Sound regions. The funds are part of Phase 4 of the Biden administration’s “Gravel to Gravel Initiative,” recognizing salmon as among traditional foods vital to dozens of Tribes that have lived in the regions for thousands of years, sustained by subsistence and also commercial fisheries. Due to climate change, as well as other factors, there’s been a severe decline in salmon returns to these areas, justifying a need for immediate and lasting action by the federal government, the department’s announcement said. The Interior Department, in coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management, is pa...

A new tool developed by NOAA Fisheries scientists allows researchers to pinpoint the river system that individual Chinook salmon come from, thereby enabling more precise management and protection of threatened and endangered populations. “It’s like giving every fish a unique genetic fingerprint,” Donald Van Doornik, a NOAA Fisheries biologist and lead author of a paper published on July 8 in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management, explained. “We can use this fingerprint to figure out where that fish came from by comparing it to other fish’s DNA,” he added. A Sept. 26 announcement by NOAA Fisheries noted that by identifying specific Chinook populations contributing to mixed-stock fisheries, they’ll be able to design more effective conservation and management strategies. “G...

Scientists at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) are substantially increasing their research into the amount of energy-rich fat in fish, thanks to a new streamlined method that allows them to more than quadruple the number of fish sampled each day. Study results, announced Sept. 24, looked at all five species of Pacific salmon, Pacific herring, cod, pollock and capelin. The results produced data that matched what traditional methods produced, validating the sulfo-phospho-vanilllin (SPV) assay method and certified a novel way to measure lipids in Alaska marine fish.   The SPV assay has for some time been studied as a rapid alternative to traditional methods for lipid analysis. Lipids, or fat, have long been regarded by scientists as the most important energy reserve for animals ...

A global non-governmental initiative committed to openness and accountability in international fisheries decision making has challenged the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) to uphold United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement obligations. The organization Accountability.Fish issued a statement on Sept. 7 expressing concerns over an alleged lack of transparency within the WCPFC, which governs the majority of the world’s tuna supply.   The WCPFC Secretariat said in a Sept. 20 response to the allegations that while challenges remain, the evidence suggests that the commission is largely meeting its conservation goals, benefiting both the environment and the communities reliant on these vital resources. “WCPFC has been transparent about its stock assessments and managemen...

NOAA Fisheries’ National Seafood Strategy Implementation Plan, announced in early September, outlines the agency’s focus on boosting the domestic seafood economy and enhancing the resilience of the seafood sector in the face of climate change over the next five years. NOAA Fisheries officials acknowledged that while the domestic seafood industry enhances public health and nutrition, creates jobs, and helps build a climate resilient food strategy that’s facing many challenges, including putting the domestic supply of sustainable seafood at risk. “The Implementation Plan is where the rubber meets the road,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit said. “It outlines the specific actions to achieve the goals we laid out in the strategy to support our nation’s seafood sector and t...

Members of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Wespac) participating in the 154th annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society called for greater balance in conservation and fisheries management in marine national monuments.  Council members and advisers raised concerns during the meeting, in Honolulu on Sept. 15-19, about expanding closed areas in U.S. Pacific waters. They contend that Pacific Islanders are being forced to meet a national goal to protect 30% of U.S. lands and waters at great cost to their economies. During a session titled “Large Blue-Water Marine Protected Areas: Benefits and Costs,” a member of the council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee challenged an October 2022 paper claiming that the 2016 expansion of Papahanaumokuakea Marine Nati...

Two groups that represent commercial fishers in Central California are suing to block a coastal development permit that would allow the company Atlas Wind to conduct surveys related to offshore wind development in state waters. On Sept. 6, the Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization and the Port San Luis Commercial Fisherman Association, both of which represent commercial fishers in San Luis Obispo County, filed a petition to block a coastal development permit that would allow Atlas Wind to conduct surveys in state waters. Atlas Wind is owned by Equinor, a Norwegian state-owned multinational energy company. The petition alleges that the California Coastal Commission violated state regulations by ignoring the concerns of the fishers during the hearing when the permit was approved...