Alaska/Pacific Coast
VIDEO: Gulf of Alaska Cod Fishery Closed for 2020; Dungeness Crab Season to Open; and More Urner Barry by Amanda Buckle - December 13, 2019 Join SeafoodNews Weekly Video co-hosts Lorin Castiglione and Amanda Buckle as they talk about the latest news surrounding the Alaska cod fishery; the sentencing of Seven Seas Fish Co.; and the opening of the Dungeness crab season in California. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1159259/VIDEO-Gulf-of-Alaska-Cod-Fishery-Closed-for-2020-Dungeness-Crab-Season-to-Open-and-More Bristol Bay Red King Crab Harvest Shows Average Weight of 7.1 Pounds Fishermen's News - December 11, 2019 The 2019 Bristol Bay red king crab fishery has wrapped up with quota of 3,797,000 pounds with an average catch per unit effort (CPUE) of 15.6 crab in a pot and 7.1 pounds, the highest average weight per crab dating back to 1973. http://fnonlinenews.blogspot.com/2019/12/bristol-bay-red-king-crab-harvest-shows.html The Pacific Council News Reporting on the November 2019 Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting held in Costa Mesa, California. Groundfish News, Council Asks NMFS to Delay Electronic Monitoring Regulations Until 2022, Seven Groundfish Exempted Fishing Permits Recommended, Council Receives Update on Groundfish Gear Switching, Sablefish Area Management https://mailchi.mp/noaa/pacific-council-news-spring-433333?e=8c33a9b552 Environment/Science What's Behind the Decline of the West Coast's Herring? Scientists believe global warming may explain why populations have collapsed. That suggests looming troubles for marine species that rely on the tiny fish. East Bay Express by Alastair Bland - December 10, 2019 Tens of millions of silvery sardine-sized fish pour into San Francisco Bay each winter to lay and fertilize their eggs. The water turns milky gray as the males release their sperm, and other animals gather to feast — pelicans, gulls, cormorants, seals, sea lions, sturgeon and more. Fishermen pursue the small fish, too; some use gear as trivial as baited hooks floated under bobbers, while others use boats and set gillnets that catch many tons at a time. https://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/whats-behind-the-decline-of-the-west-coasts-herring/Content?oid=28151512 Endangered Winter-run Chinook Salmon Increase with Millions of Offspring Headed to Sea Conservation hatchery helps species weather difficult drought years. NOAA Fisheries - December 6, 2019 Biologists have estimated that almost 3.8 million juvenile winter-run Chinook salmon headed down the Sacramento River toward the ocean this year. This is the most offspring in a decade for the highly endangered population. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/endangered-winter-run-chinook-salmon-increase-millions-offspring-headed-sea Federal Register Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Seabird Bycatch Avoidance Measures A Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 12/11/2019 This rule requires commercial groundfish bottom longline vessels 26 feet (7.9 meters (m)) length overall and longer managed under the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan to use streamer lines while setting gear or to set gear between civil dusk and civil dawn (night set) when fishing in Federal waters north of 36° North latitude. The action is necessary to fulfill terms and conditions of a 2017 United States Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Opinion to minimize incidental take of Endangered Species Act-listed short-tailed albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) by vessels in the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/12/11/2019-26523/magnuson-stevens-act-provisions-fisheries-off-west-coast-states-pacific-coast-groundfish-fishery FYI’s Rockfish Cards Aid Outreach Go Fish, Anyone? Alaska Department of Fish and Game by Riley Woodford - December 2019 The newest guide to Alaska rockfish has an unusual format: a deck of standard, poker-size playing cards. The ten of spades features the rougheye rockfish - which can live to be more than 200 years old. The two of hearts offers a short lesson on barotrauma. One of the jokers is a rockfish playing a Gibson Flying-V electric guitar, with the emphasis on rock. https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=937 Sablefish Management and Trawl Allocation Attainment Committee to Meet in Portland, OR January 22-23, 2020 Pacific Fishery Management Council - December 12, 2019 The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council: The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s ad hoc Sablefish Management and Trawl Allocation Attainment Committee (SaMTAAC) will hold a two-day meeting that is open to the public. The meeting will begin Wednesday, January 22, 2020 at 8 a.m. Pacific Standard Time and recess when business for the day is completed. It will continue at 8 a.m. Thursday, January 23, adjourning when business for the day is completed. https://www.savingseafood.org/news/council-actions/sablefish-management-and-trawl-allocation-attainment-committee-to-meet-in-portland-or-january-22-23-2020/
Ann Owens Pacific Seafood Processors Association Office Manager 1900 W Emerson Place Suite 205, Seattle, WA 98119 Phone: 206.281.1667 E-mail: admin@pspafish.net; Website: www.pspafish.net Our office days/hours are Monday-Friday 8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. *Inclusion of a news article, report, or other document in this email does not imply PSPA support or endorsement of the information or opinion expressed in the document.