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West coast salmon recovery

Not exactly salmon related but I have sure noticed that many of the grocery stores in my area are advertising Chinese caught fish. I was looking for some cod for fish tacos this week and was quite surprised that I had to check a couple places to find some Alaska caught cod. I can’t imagine a worse plan than buying Chinese caught or processed fish based on their history of skirting the rules, let alone sustainability.
 
Not exactly salmon related but I have sure noticed that many of the grocery stores in my area are advertising Chinese caught fish. I was looking for some cod for fish tacos this week and was quite surprised that I had to check a couple places to find some Alaska caught cod. I can’t imagine a worse plan than buying Chinese caught or processed fish based on their history of skirting the rules, let alone sustainability.
Probably poaching out of our waters
 
Probably poaching out of our waters
The really sad thing is that I wish we were debating trawling vs. sustainable pot fishing or long lining for cod. A lot of our fisheries have been sold to Asian markets for decades.(herring roe, sockeye roe, pink salmon). I am legitimately surprised to see North American food fish being honestly sourced back to the US from Asia. I’m starting in on a campaign to Safeway, Albertsons, Super 1 etc to let them know this is not cool, let alone sustainable.
 
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To Super1

I have been noticing an increase in the amount of Chinese sourced fish being sold at Super1. The history of Chinese sourced fish is both unethical as well as unsustainable. I appreciated seeing that you are at least sourcing American caught Alaskan cod as an alternative in the frozen section. I encourage you to look beyond the first cost of the product and source products that are American caught as well as caught with sustainable methods.
Thank you,

(edit—the Safeway/ Albertsons complaint line is extremely difficult to navigate. Let me know if you have any insight. It has to start somewhere!)
 
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Tell everybody you know, that will help a little. People don’t read much anymore but they are relatively interested in environmental issues.
 
A new problem for our salmon down here.

It’s interesting for sure! Who knows what altered their traditional food sources from only a decade or so ago? I am inherently against commercial fishing of baitfish and krill because it is wholly unnecessary. Its the aquatic version of trying to justify grazing of public lands during drought years. I think the equations are for more complex than we can comprehend or predict. Kind of like releasing hundreds of millions of pink salmon into Alaska and then seeing the shrimp fishery fail and finding Humpies eating shrimp.
 

Solving a pollution problem that is happening every day, on every roadway, from millions upon millions of motor vehicles, requires coordination across state and federal regulatory agencies, tribal governments, industry, research universities and institutions, and interest groups.

We established a forum for these groups to work together to expedite sharing research and new ideas. We are funding research at academic institutions to learn more about 6PPD replacement chemicals and their toxic impact on salmon and other aquatic species. We are also coordinating with tire and chemical manufacturers to better understand 6PPD so that we can make knowledgeable decisions on finding a chemical to replace 6PPD in tires.

Controlling the source of pollution is the most effective way to prevent 6PPD-quinone from entering the environment; however, it will take many years to develop tires that don’t contain 6PPD and never release 6PPD-quinone into the environment.

In the meantime, we will continue monitoring 6PPD-quinone in the environment and will provide guidance and funding to treat stormwater before it enters waterways. Our goal is to lessen the toxic effects of 6PPD-quinone until we can find a safer replacement. 


I guess I don't understand why this isn't considered a "taking" of an ESA listed species? I mean there is no way that Ecology chemists are going to be quicker to a solution than chemists for Goodyear. I'd fine them, with a progressive scale to "incentivize" them to find better alternatives. I mean this correlation was first announced in 2018 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.8b03287
 

Solving a pollution problem that is happening every day, on every roadway, from millions upon millions of motor vehicles, requires coordination across state and federal regulatory agencies, tribal governments, industry, research universities and institutions, and interest groups.

We established a forum for these groups to work together to expedite sharing research and new ideas. We are funding research at academic institutions to learn more about 6PPD replacement chemicals and their toxic impact on salmon and other aquatic species. We are also coordinating with tire and chemical manufacturers to better understand 6PPD so that we can make knowledgeable decisions on finding a chemical to replace 6PPD in tires.

Controlling the source of pollution is the most effective way to prevent 6PPD-quinone from entering the environment; however, it will take many years to develop tires that don’t contain 6PPD and never release 6PPD-quinone into the environment.

In the meantime, we will continue monitoring 6PPD-quinone in the environment and will provide guidance and funding to treat stormwater before it enters waterways. Our goal is to lessen the toxic effects of 6PPD-quinone until we can find a safer replacement. 


I guess I don't understand why this isn't considered a "taking" of an ESA listed species? I mean there is no way that Ecology chemists are going to be quicker to a solution than chemists for Goodyear. I'd fine them, with a progressive scale to "incentivize" them to find better alternatives. I mean this correlation was first announced in 2018 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.8b03287
Sweet, now I've got something else to follow up on.
 
This 4 part series is really in depth. There are no easy answers.

Everyone even remotely interested in salmon should be forced to read that series, I'm just now getting through it. It's great.

“The fundamental problem with chinook and coho is ocean survival,” Hilborn says. “You won’t solve that through stream restoration.”

Since the 1970s, industrial production of pink salmon has exploded, and today, hatcheries in the United States, Canada, Russia, and Japan pump about 1.3 billion pink salmon fry into the Pacific each year


I honestly can't even begin to quote all the worthy sections, just read it, then forward to someone else who may be interested and ask them to forward it. Maybe eventually some decision makers will read it.
 
This has some interesting bits from a lot longer historical view. It’s a little dry in places but interesting.
 
I remember when we moved from Alaska to Oregon in the mid 60s we thought the fishing was pretty dang good. Not so much anymore. I'm wondering if we'll ever see Coastal streams swell with salmon and steelhead again.
 
A start to save king salmon would be to stop killing them in the ocean by the 10s of thousands and dumping them overboard as by-catch. As you eluded to, we can have the best habitat and no fish in it... The trawl fishery in the Bering Sea kills more salmon dumps them overboard, than are harvested in Alaska by other means. Same goes for many other species. Its sickening... They dump nearly and equal value of fish over as they keep. All so we can eat those cheap McFish sandwiches.
I am late to the dance, forgive me.
If Bambistew is even partially correct then here is a great place to start. Regulators may not be on each fishing vessel, I understand this may not be realistic. However,
we can place electronic recording devices on the vessels. We could monitor locations as well as record electronic video of the catch. Every tape/electronic record would be reviewed prior to sale of the catch. If bycatch regulations are exceeded or electronics (malfunction/misplaced/etc) then catch is sold to cover costs of fuel, permits and wages only, ZERO MARGIN.

I use cameras and video daily to monitor projects in all types of weather. Not an issue. There are tv crews on numerous ships already, it can’t be too expensive to save the resource.
 
This has some interesting bits from a lot longer historical view. It’s a little dry in places but interesting.
This is an excellent presentation because it points out that the problem is bigger than fishing closures, hatcheries (opening or closing), or removing dams.

David
NM
 
I remember when we moved from Alaska to Oregon in the mid 60s we thought the fishing was pretty dang good. Not so much anymore. I'm wondering if we'll ever see Coastal streams swell with salmon and steelhead again.
We won't see it again. Too many things will have to change and people aren't willing to make those sacrifices.
 
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