New Unlimited Salmon Steelhead news

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I somehow deleted the entire ole thread    



Trade wars! Boycotts! Elon Musk!
The global seafood industry was at the mercy of geopolitics once again this week.


Already, some Canadian seafood companies were mulling how they might shift some production south or alter product forms, while others were frantically looking for new markets. China is one obvious target, but East Coast Canadian seafood companies were already looking to diversify. Last week, for example, a Nova Scotia delegation that included Clearwater, Ocean Choice International and Cooke subsidiary True North visited Italy, France and the UK to open up new trade.

Salmon will be among the sectors facing the most challenges. The country is one of the most important suppliers of fresh farmed salmon to the United States. Over 63,868 metric tons of fresh farmed Atlantic salmon was shipped to the United States in 2023, worth $589.6 million (€560.1 million).


>>>Canada's salmon is shipped fresh year-round -- both great qualities. However, Canada's fish has plenty of competitors, and certainly retail and foodservice buyers will have a hard time swallowing a 25 percent increase in costs when they have other alternatives.

Salmon suppliers in Norway, the UK, the Faroes and Iceland aren't sure how to react. Is this a market opportunity, or are they simply next to feel the pain?


>>>The Trump Administration is disrupting domestic affairs as well. In the US federal government, fears were growing among the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries agency that Trump appointee Elon Musk could interfere with the very important work of managing the country's fisheries as part of his cost-cutting hunt. The morale was "super low" among NOAA staff, according to one fisheries scientist IntraFish spoke to, with many staff fearing layoffs or pondering the government buy-out plan launched by Trump and Musk.
There was a lot to discuss, to say the least. Listen to this week's podcast to hear more about what all of this means, and what may come next:

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Topanga Creek's steelhead trout faced localized extinction: 'We got to go get these fish'

Hundreds of endangered fish were evacuated from Topanga Creek after the devastating Palisades Fire ripped through the area.

The Southern California steelhead trout survived the flames underwater, but recent rains posed a new threat — localized extinction.

Wet weather flushed suffocating sediment, heavy materials and ash from burn-scarred Topanga Canyon into the creek. Officials worried that flows after a major storm would wipe out the fish population, which is estimated to be as low as 400.

Kyle Evans, environmental program manager with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told LAist that Topanga Creek is home to the last SoCal steelhead in the Santa Monica Mountains, the species' historic habitat where it is now considered critically endangered.



https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/topanga-creeks-steelhead-trout-faced-localized-extinction-we-got-to-go-get-these-fish

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WDFW Police train for winter steelhead season




The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police were busy last month preparing for winter steelhead season.

Every year anglers head to the iconic Olympic Peninsula and coastal rivers to chase the elusive steelhead. Officers who patrol coastal rivers received additional trainings on swiftwater rescue/patrol operations and human powered vessels (rafts, drift boats, etc.).

The officers practiced a wide range of rescue and self-rescue techniques when working around moving waters. The heavy rains have added logistical challenges as rising rivers forced officers to be adaptive in finding training locations.

WDFW Police routinely patrol rivers by human powered craft to ensure compliance with fisheries regulations, boater safety laws, and provide general public safety law enforcement.

https://www.thedailyworld.com/news/wdfw-police-train-for-winter-steelhead-season/

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Seafood firm offers bounty to catch 27,000 escaped salmon off Norway
Mowi to give fishers £36 per fish after loss from farm in what campaigners say is a 'disaster for wild salmon'

The global seafood company Mowi is offering a bounty to fishers who catch escaped salmon after an estimated 27,000 fish went missing from a farm off the Norwegian coast in what campaigners said was a "disaster for wild salmon".

The world's largest farmed salmon producer is offering a reward of 500 kroner (£36) per salmon caught after it said a quarter of its 105,000 salmon population escaped from a cage in Troms, north-west Norway.

The Norwegian directorate of fisheries said the escape was reported on Sunday by Mowi, which said it discovered damage to the outer ring of a pen during stormy weather at the Storvika V facility in Dyrøy municipality, Troms. The average weight of the escaped fish was 5.5kg (12.1lbs), they said.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/11/seafood-firm-bounty-escaped-salmon-norway

Norwegian authorities were on site on Monday inspecting the facility and issued an order to expand the company's efforts to recapture the fish.

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Topanga Creek's steelhead trout find a new home in Santa Barbara



Hundreds of endangered fish that were evacuated from Topanga Creek are swimming freely once again.
Why now: The Southern California steelhead trout were successfully relocated to a Santa Barbara County stream on Monday, according to Kyle Evans, environmental program manager with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The backstory: The fish survived the Palisades Fire, but they faced localized extinction late last month as rain was about to wash suffocating sediment, heavy materials and ash from burn-scarred Topanga Canyon into their habitat.

https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/topanga-creeks-steelhead-trout-find-a-new-home-in-santa-barbara

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Mass salmon deaths hit Scottish farms as government investigates

Hundreds of thousands of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) died on fish farms in Scotland in the final months of 2024. The mass mortality events took place as a parliamentary committee concluded an inquiry into the industry, saying it was "disappointed" by the lack of progress on environmental pollution and animal welfare issues.

Among the most striking incidents recorded by the Scottish Fish Health Inspectorate, 59,000 adult salmon died between September and October 2024 at a farm in Loch Torridon owned by Norwegian multinational Mowi that Mongabay visited in September. The main causes of death were gill disease and mechanical treatments to remove parasitic sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis). Due to this and previous incidents, in the 18-month production cycle ending in October, the farm, which can hold at least 2,500 metric tons of salmon at a time, declared a 30% loss of production.

Even more salmon died on other farms. Between September and November, 323,000 dead salmon were reported at the Invertote farm on the Isle of Skye, owned by local company Organic Sea Harvest. Many of these deaths, the company reported, were due to string of pearls jellyfish (Apolemia uvaria), whose poisonous tentacles can wound salmon's skin, eyes and gills.

This jellyfish is also responsible for several episodes at the Mowi farm on the Isle of Muck, where 272,000 salmon died between October and November, either as a direct result of injuries or due to the emergency transfer of fish to other sites.

"In the last couple of years, my company moved 1.8 million fish in about 10 days away from the jellyfish, because that is all you can do," Ben Hadfield, Mowi Scotland's chief operating officer, said during a hearing Dec. 4 before the Scottish Affairs Committee of the U.K.'s House of Commons.


https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/mass-salmon-deaths-hit-scottish-farms-as-government-investigates/

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AI to help fight invasive fish in Norway
The long-running war with humpback salmon in northern rivers is getting a high-tech upgrade.

Artificial intelligence will help fight the invasion of so-called pink (humpback) salmon in three rivers in the county of Finnmark in northern Norway this summer, NRK reports. Smart underwater systems are being developed to kill unwanted fish species.

The pink salmon returns to Norwegian rivers every two years to spawn. Originally from the Pacific, the fish is now considered invasive since it was introduced into rivers on the neighbouring Russian Kola Peninsula in the 1950s.

"We have declared a war on this invasive species," Norway's then Minister of Climate and Environment Espen Barth Eide told the Barents Observer in June 2023.

For example, while the pink salmon, or 'gorbusha', is a valuable resource in Russia, many Norwegian fishermen consider it a threat.

The fish return in huge numbers and die after spawning in the local rivers. As a result, thousands of rotting fish end up polluting the rivers, experts told the Barents Observer.

https://www.thebarentsobserver.com/news/ai-to-help-fight-invasive-fish-in-norway/424708

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Snow and suffering: Salmon River steelhead fishing isn't for the faint of heart

Winter is Shane Muckey's favorite time of year for one reason: Salmon River steelhead.

Muckey, 56, owns Altmar Outfitters lodge and fish cleaning station, a local landmark familiar to thousands of salmon anglers.

The Salmon River is a five-minute stroll from his front door, which is why he bought the place in 1993, and the reason why he'll probably never leave.

But there's no demand for room rentals or fish cleaning in the dead of winter. Salmon, and the angler hordes who chase them, won't return until September.

https://www.syracuse.com/outdoors/2025/02/snow-and-suffering-salmon-river-steelhead-fishing-isnt-for-the-faint-of-heart-video.html

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Center for Biological Diversity files lawsuit to protect spring-run Chinook salmon in Pacific Northwest
The center says the National Marine Fisheries Service has failed to make a timely decision on protecting the salmon under the Endangered Species Act.

The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and other conservation organizations filed a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on Tuesday for delaying decisions to protect spring-run Chinook salmon in Oregon, Washington and Northern California.

The Center, Native Fish Society and Umpqua Watersheds petitioned the NMFS in August 2022 to protect Oregon Coast Chinook salmon under the Endangered Species Act. In July 2023 CBD and Pacific Rivers petitioned to add Washington Coast spring-run Chinook salmon to the list.

NMFS was required to decide whether to protect the fish within one year after the petitions were filed. The Service found that federal protections "may be warranted" for the three salmon populations in 2023 but has made no further decisions.

"These iconic fish are at risk of disappearing from our coastal rivers forever if the Service doesn't act quickly," said Jeremiah Scanlan, a legal fellow at the Center for Biological Diversity. "Spring-run Chinook salmon badly need protections, but instead the agency has taken the lazy river approach and drifted past its own deadlines."

Chinook salmon, also known as "king salmon," are the largest of all Pacific salmon. Although the fish were once abundant throughout the river basins of the Pacific Northwest, Chinook salmon populations have declined to a fraction of their historical size.

"Umpqua Watersheds has been tracking this population for decades and has never seen the wild spring Chinook population even close to its designated viability number for survival," said Stanley Petrowski, a member of Umpqua Watersheds. "The science is clear. This unique ecologically significant species is going extinct."

CBD says spring-run fish are a variant of Chinook salmon, which return to rivers much earlier than the more abundant fall-run salmon. They return in the spring from the ocean to coastal freshwater rivers, staying for months in deep pools until they spawn in the fall.

Spring-run Chinook have unique habitat requirements for migration, spawning and juvenile rearing. Their suitable spawning habitat is in mainstem rivers and tributaries, and these early returning fish have a special need for streams high in watersheds that stay cool enough during the summer so they can survive.

"The watersheds of Washington developed with and continue to need spring-run Chinook," said Michael Morrison, chair of Pacific Rivers. "Protections for the imperiled spring-run Chinook will ensure healthy watersheds for present and future generations."

https://www.krem.com/article/life/animals/conservation-lawsuit-protect-chinook-salmon-pacific-northwest/293-4f12e743-f559-4c56-bad0-8e21e972982c

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Salmon is 'candy to Natives' in Pacific Northwest
https://www.koin.com/video/salmon-is-candy-to-natives-in-pacific-northwest/10472319

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'There was a real bottleneck': Bonneville Dam fish ladder gutted and renovated in time for salmon passage
$8 million project will benefit Pacific lamprey, whose numbers have been decimated



Work continues on a fish ladder redesign Tuesday at the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has spent the winter redesigning part of a fish ladder at the dam to make it easier for Pacific lamprey to move upstream. (Taylor Balkom/The Columbian)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is gutting and rebuilding a large section of Bonneville Dam's fish ladder to make it easier for Pacific lamprey to pass the dam as they return from the ocean to spawn.

The project comes as returns of the 450-million-year-old native fish species have shrunk to about 10 percent of historic numbers following construction of dams on the Columbia River, climate change and other challenges.

The eel-like fish must pass eight dams to access hundreds of miles of historic spawning grounds along the Snake River. On the mainstem Columbia River, they must traverse nine before they arrive at the unpassable Chief Joseph Dam.

Fish biologists with the Corps have estimated only about half of the lamprey that try to make it past each individual dam actually succeed.

https://www.columbian.com/news/2025/feb/20/there-was-a-real-bottleneck-bonneville-dam-fish-ladder-gutted-and-renovated-in-time-for-salmon-passage/

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Kenai River king salmon closures announced for third year

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) announced a series of closures and restrictions to protect king salmon fishing across Cook Inlet. Forecasts predict some of the lowest returns in nearly four decades.

ADF&G published a dozen announcements last Tuesday intending to protect the dwindling king salmon stocks in the region. They stated that both early and late runs in Kenai River king salmon are forecasted to return in historically low numbers, marking the second-worst return in the past 38 years. According to Peninsula Clarion, ADF&G has implemented closures on king salmon fishing in the Kenai River and multiple areas of Cook Inlet. Bait and gear restrictions were also announced for the Kasilof and Ninilchik Rivers. In addition, recreational fishing on the Anchor River and Deep Creek are closed.

Area management biologist Samantha Oslund said in a statement, "King salmon runs in Cook Inlet are anticipated to be especially poor in 2025. Major king salmon fisheries in this area of Cook Inlet have been closed in regulation since 2011."

https://www.nationalfisherman.com/kenai-river-king-salmon-closures-announced-for-third-year

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Snail Darters and Steelhead Trout: Conservation at Stanford



In the 1970s, the snail darter, an unassuming, two-inch-long fish, became one of the most controversial symbols of environmental protection in American history. Declared endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), it quickly became the centerpiece of a years-long legal and political battle that halted the construction of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Tellico Dam. The Tellico Dam fiasco raises a broader question: How often do well-intentioned environmental regulations fail to balance conservation with human needs?

Just as the Tellico Dam became a battleground over environmental priorities, Stanford now faces its own version of this dilemma with its management of Lake Lagunita. Once a cherished feature of campus life, the lake has remained dry since 2001, ostensibly to protect the steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in San Francisquito Creek.

First, it's worth learning more about the nefarious snail darter. For decades, environmentalists and bureaucrats rallied around the fish, arguing that its preservation justified the significant economic costs incurred by delays. As former Tennessee Senator Howard H. Baker Jr. put it, "This two-inch fish, which surely kept the lowest profile of all God's creatures until a few years ago, has been the bane of my existence." The saga only ended when Congress intervened with a rare exemption to the ESA in 1979, allowing construction to proceed.

https://stanfordreview.org/snail-darters-and-steelhead-trout-conservation-at-stanford/

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California governments, conservation groups reach agreement to restore salmon to Eel River

The government of the U.S. state of California, conservation groups, and local county governments have reached an agreement that will help restore salmon to the state's Eel River while ensuring water access for more than 600,000 Californians.

The agreement stems from Pacific Gas and Electric's (PG&E) 2019 decision to remove outdated hydroelectric dams on the Eel River. The Scott Dam and the Cape Horn Dam both impeded the upriver journey of salmon since the early 1900s, and their removal will open nearly 300 miles of the Eel River watershed for salmon spawning and rearing.

On 13 February, the California Department of Natural Resources, CDFW, the Round Valley Indian Tribes, county government leaders, and conservation groups California Trout and Trout Unlimited gathered to announce a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) outlining the deal.

While in place, the dams diverted water from the Eel River watershed to the Russian River watershed, providing water to residents in the California counties of Mendocino, Sonoma, and Marin. Under the new MOU, the Eel River will remain free flowing to allow salmon access to the watershed while the government will build a new facility to continue diverting water to the Russian River watershed.

https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/california-governments-conservation-groups-reach-agreement-to-restore-salmon-to-eel-river

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Subtropical salmon: How an enormous fish farm in Homestead hopes to change the seafood industry


Salmon farms normally occur in the fjords of Norway or Chile, not on the hot, humid flats next to the Everglades. But Atlantic Sapphire, a new type of on-land salmon farm, is betting on South Florida as the perfect spot for a cold-water fish farm.
When you drive into the Homestead property, which sits between tree farms and Everglades National Park, it looks more like a massive warehouse than an aquaculture facility. But inside the 9-acre white building, 3 million salmon swim through cold salty water.

https://stocks.apple.com/ADbZTT0KxT--0WQOZei0lXg