After a successful opening weekend exceeded the season limit, California’s salmon spot-fishing days in July and August have been canceled.
fishing industry
Posted inRecreation & Sports
California salmon season canceled for third year in a row, but will open for limited recreational dates
For the third year in a row, California’s commercial salmon fishing season has been canceled due to critically low fish stocks, dealing another major blow to the state’s struggling fishing industry. While commercial boats remain docked, limited recreational salmon fishing will be allowed statewide on select dates this summer and fall.
Posted inFood & Drink
H&H Fresh Fish Co. plans second seafood market on Santa Cruz’s Westside
Nearly 20 years after establishing a seafood market in the Santa Cruz Harbor, H&H Fresh Fish Co. is planning to open a second location in Santa Cruz’s Westside neighborhood this summer. Co-owner Hans Haveman said the decision to open the satellite location was motivated by concerns about how the Murray Street Bridge construction project will affect H&H’s original market in the harbor.
Posted inFood & Drink
From crisis to comeback: How a tiny nonprofit is working to save Monterey Bay’s fishing industry
It’s an era of few wins for Monterey Bay’s fishing industry, but the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust, a nonprofit that supports local fishers and sustainability in the bay, is enjoying some success and looking ahead. With partners like Second Harvest Food Bank, the trust’s community seafood program has tripled the amount of locally caught fish provided to needy families in the past two years. This year, it’s working with data scientists and economists to see how it can replace industry infrastructure lost over the past two decades, and grow it for the future – all while prioritizing the health of Monterey Bay.
Posted inLatest News
Ask Lookout: What’s the status of humpback whales in Monterey Bay and Dungeness crab fishing gear entanglements?
Humpback whale populations have increased, but a change in migration patterns has them staying in Monterey Bay during the traditional winter season of crab fishing. With more entanglements and a lawsuit in 2016, the state has delayed crab fishing season every year since and fishers are hoping for a solution.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
A ‘perfect storm’ of environmental and political issues is driving Santa Cruz fishers out of the water
Santa Cruz County’s fishing industry is in crisis. For generations, local fishers have relied on catching Dungeness crab in the fall and winter and Chinook salmon in the spring and summer. But over the past nine years, a “perfect storm” of environmental challenges, promised disaster relief that has failed to surface and few viable solutions for the future is forcing boats out of the water.
Posted inFood & Drink
Low stock numbers usher in a ‘devastating’ Dungeness crab season
After a late start to the Dungeness crab season, fishers along the West Coast, including Santa Cruz County, are reporting extremely low stock numbers. It’s not clear why there are so few full-sized crabs, and it could be just a “down year,” according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The low numbers are leading some Santa Cruz fishers to move on to other fisheries early, while others are capitalizing on the high price, which has doubled from previous years.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
Harbor businesses, Santa Cruz fishers still reeling from storm surge that caused $26 million in damages
Port authorities continue to clean up debris and marine equipment after a storm surge ripped through the Santa Cruz Harbor on Dec. 23, causing an estimated $26 million in damages. Area businesses have suffered financial losses from emergency closures, and as the Dungeness crab season prepares to open, local fishers will have to navigate a harbor mouth compromised with sediment pushed in by the storm.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
Dungeness crab season will open in Central California on Jan. 5
After three postponements, the Dungeness crab fishing season will open throughout Central and Southern California, including Santa Cruz County, on Jan. 5. Santa Cruz fisher Tim Obert predicts that the price for consumers will be high this year, due to a low volume of crabs.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘No way, not possible’: California has a plan for new water rules. Will it save salmon from extinction?
Growers and cities support the Newsom administration proposal, saying it strikes a balance for uses of Delta water. But environmentalists say the “healthy rivers” rules would actually harm California’s iconic salmon.
