[env-trinity] [SPAM?] CBB: West Coast Fishery Disaster 2015-2017, Warm Water Impacts

Mon Oct 1 14:36:01 PDT 2018

Columbia Basin Bulletin

Commerce Department Declares West Coast Fishery Disaster, 2015-17; Warm
Water Impacts 
Posted on Friday, September 28, 2018 (PST) 

In declaring a fishery disaster, the U.S. Department of Commerce determined
that west coast commercial salmon fisheries suffered during the warm ocean
conditions of 2015 to 2017 off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and
California, in addition to the commercial sardine fishery off California.

Commerce announced the disaster this week, Sept. 25.

"The Department of Commerce and NOAA stand ready to assist fishing towns and
cities along the West Coast as they recover," said Secretary of Commerce
Wilbur Ross. "After years of hardship, the Department looks forward to
providing economic relief that will allow the fisheries and the communities
they help support to rebound."

Between July 2016 and March 2018, multiple tribes and governors from
Washington, Oregon, and California requested fishery disaster
determinations, a Commerce news release said (
<https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/media-release/us-secretary-commerce-declares
-commercial-fishery-disasters-west-coast-salmon-and>
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/media-release/us-secretary-commerce-declares-
commercial-fishery-disasters-west-coast-salmon-and).

The Secretary, working with NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service,
evaluated each request based on the available data and found that all but
one (the California red sea urchin fishery) met the requirements for a
fishery disaster determination, Commerce said.

The determinations for West Coast salmon and sardines now make these
fisheries eligible for NOAA's fishery disaster assistance and the 2018
Consolidated Appropriations Act provided $20 million in disaster assistance.
The Department of Commerce is determining the appropriate allocations of
these funds to eligible fisheries.

Unusually warm ocean temperatures, referred to as "the Blob," encompassed
much of the West Coast beginning about 2014, combining with an especially
strong El Nino pattern in 2015. The warm conditions have now waned, although
some after-effects remain, according to a status report by the Southwest
Fisheries Science Center and Northwest Fisheries Science Center in March
2018 (see CBB, March 16, 2018, "Ocean Conditions Returning To Normal
(Cooler), Salmon Returns Will Remain Depressed A Few Years,"
<http://www.cbbulletin.com/440365.aspx>
http://www.cbbulletin.com/440365.aspx)

Those residual effects are:

-- Feeding conditions have improved for California sea lions and seabirds
that experienced mass die-offs caused by shifts in their prey during the
Blob.

-- Plankton species, the foundation of the marine food web, have shifted
back slightly toward fat-rich, cool-water species that improve the growth
and survival of salmon and other fish.

-- Recent research surveys have found fewer juvenile salmon, and
consequently adult salmon returns will likely remain depressed for a few
years until successive generations benefit from improving ocean conditions.

-- Reports of whale entanglements in fishing gear have remained very high
for the fourth straight year, as whales followed prey to inshore areas and
ran into fishing gear such as pots and traps.

-- Severe low-oxygen conditions in the ocean water spanned the Oregon Coast
from July to September 2017, causing die-offs of crabs and other species.

The U.S commercial fishing and seafood industry (including imports)
generated $144 billion in sales in 2015, a 6 percent decline from the
previous year, and supported 1.2 million jobs, a 15 percent decline from
2014, although this is still above the 5 year average, according to a 2017
NOAA Fisheries report. Factors such as the "warm blob," marine toxins, and
El Nino affected the Pacific marine environment in 2015, and West Coast
fishermen saw lower landings and revenue for several key commercial species.
(See CBB, May 12, 2017, "NOAA Fisheries Issues Reports On Fisheries
Economics, Status Of U.S. Fisheries,"
<http://www.cbbulletin.com/438893.aspx>
http://www.cbbulletin.com/438893.aspx.)

Even as the effects of the Blob and El Nino dissipate, the central and
southern parts of the West Coast face low snow pack and potential drought in
2018 that could put salmon at continued risk as they migrate back up rivers
to spawn, according to NOAA.

The 2015 Fisheries Economics of the United States is at
<https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/economics/publications/feus/fisheries_economic
s_2015/index>
https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/economics/publications/feus/fisheries_economics
_2015/index and the 2016 Status of U.S. Fisheries report is at
<http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/sfa/fisheries_eco/status_of_fisheries/status_
updates.html>
http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/sfa/fisheries_eco/status_of_fisheries/status_u
pdates.html

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