September 2021 – Page 3 – Fishermens News

Oceana Sues NMFS Over Sardine Rebuilding Plan

A lawsuit filed on behalf of the environmental protection and restoration entity Oceana against National Marine Fisheries Service contends that a current Pacific sardine rebuilding plan is not working, nor does it take into account the importance of a healthy sardine population to other species. The lawsuit, filed by non-profit public interest organization Earthjustice on behalf of Oceana, notes that Pacific sardine numbers have dropped by over 98% since 2006, and according to a 2020 federal assessment the current population is only 28,276 metric tons. Historically when that population was healthy, its abundance measured in millions of metric tons, the lawsuit contends. Ruth Howell, speaking for NMFS in California, said the agency had no comment at this time. Sardines are an essential f...

Bristol Bay Sockeyes Served Up as Baby Food Entrees

Bristol Bay sockeyes are being offered to a new group of young diners these days, as salmon fillets, salmon bisque and salmon strips, in a new partnership aimed at spreading the word about the nutritional and cultural importance of Southwest Alaska’s red gold. The Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association, Bristol Bay Native Corp., and Bambino’s Baby Food in Anchorage are partnering to promote Bambino’s salmon entrees for infants ages four months and to toddlers, with these organic frozen meals, which have already attracted online customers throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and China. In fact, 85% of Bambino’s products are sold outside of Alaska, said Zoi Maroudas, president and founder of Bambino’s. “Salmon is a fundamental part of our cultures and o...

Dividing Up the Pacific: USCG Looking at Modifying Vessel Navigation Lanes

The U.S. Coast Guard is looking at potential maritime navigation lane modifications that could have deep and lasting effects for the West Coast commercial fishing industry. On June 29, the U.S. Coast Guard published a notification and request for comments for a new port access route study (PARS) from Washington state to California. The USCG has said that it wants to reconcile the need for safe access routes with “other reasonable waterway uses, such as construction and operation of renewable energy facilities and other uses of the Pacific Ocean in the study area.” There have been other access route studies within the Pacific, but this is the first PARS for the entire U.S. Pacific Coast “designed to analyze all vessel traffic proceeding to and from all the ports and transiting through th...

SE Alaska Sustainability Strategy Ending Old Growth Logging Draws Kudos, Fire

By Margaret Bauman A new federal Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy that will end old growth logging in Tongass National Forest by reinstating the Roadless Rule is elating fishermen and drawing fire from the timber industry. “The Southeast Alaska ecosystem, which holds as its heart and lungs the Tongass National Forest, can be thought of one marvelous SeaBank, rich in natural capital, paying generous annual dividends, and with assets that support local jobs and a sustainable economy,” said Linda Behnken, a veteran commercial harvester and president of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association in Sitka. “The Tongass provides 95% of the 53 million salmon annually harvested by Southeast Alaska’s commercial salmon fisheries, which are the cornerstone of our sustainable local economy...

Book Review: Lynda V. Mapes’ Orca: Shared Waters, Shared Home

In the beginning, there was a baby that lived just half an hour, and a grieving mother named Tahlequah who carried her for 17 days and over 1,000 miles through the Salish Sea, an inland marine ecosystem on the northeast edge of the Pacific Ocean. The poignant 2018 journey of Tahlequah, a healthy young female orca, and her dead calf, as told by Seattle Times writer Lynda V. Mapes, attracted worldwide attention, bringing many to tears. “I am convinced she never actually gave up on the calf,” wrote Mapes. “It was badly decomposed by the seventeenth day, and I think it finally just fell apart.” And so began Mapes’ further search into the lives of the southern resident orcas and the perils they have faced—from being the object of target practice to being sold for waterfront aquarium entert...