California Considers Indefinite Delay of Dungeness Crab Fishing Due to Domoic Acid
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment recommended late Tuesday that the state delay the scheduled November 15 start to the Dungeness crab season over concerns the fishery has potentially harmful levels of domoic acid. The recommendation came hours after the state’s Department of Public Health warned consumers not to eat Dungeness or rock crab caught in California for possibly containing high levels of the biotoxin. A final decision is expected Thursday. Any delay to the Dungeness season could be a blow to the lucrative Thanksgiving crab market and possibly the winter holiday buying season.
About a quarter of the Bristol Bay’s estimated 46.5 million sockeye are expected run through the Nushagak District. Ten million reds are forecast for the district, with about 7.5 million sockeye expected to return to the Wood River, well beyond the escapement goal range. ADF&G says it is now planning ways to manage this unexpected surge in fish through the region. “It’s very difficult to catch all the Wood River fish we need to control the Wood River escapement, without catching too many Nushagak River fish," said Biologist Tim Sands.
In other news a House subcommittee for Natural Resources heard testimony against a plan to shift Gulf of Mexico red snapper management away from federal authorities and over to state officials. Lawmakers heard how the plan undermines the success of US fishery management under Magnuson and how it has the potential to disrupt the marketplace.
Meanwhile, John Sackton writes how the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute should remain a viable entity over the next several years as its rides out a 30 percent funding reduction from state budget cuts. ASMI is in a unique position since its does not depend solely on state funds. The Institute generates revenue through the state’s fish tax; the USDA’s overseas seafood marketing program; and through the general strength of the Alaska seafood brand. None of these revenue drivers are going anywhere writes Sackton, and neither should ASMI.
Finally, Chile and Peru confirmed that each of their anchovy fleets will get another crack at fishing this year. The announcements end weeks of doubt if either of the countries would get their boats on the water after surveys in Mid-October found very low biomass volumes. However, officials said the El Nino weather pattern produced inconsistent results so a second round of assessments was conducted, which showed the stocks to be in fine shape.
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