Fisheries

Who brings your seafood to you? An interview with Thomas Foster-Kibbler and Heather Auld of Foster Fisheries

January 24, 2024

By Alison Lorenz, WSG Science Writer

Before Thomas Foster-Kibbler got into commercial fishing, he wanted to be an EMT on a firefighting crew. He was living in sunny Los Angeles County, training to help others. The problem? He was spending all his spare time and cash sport fishing on charter boats and spending, as he says, “too much money to go fishing all the time.”

That’s when something clicked. Foster-Kibbler decided to try a career in fishing commercially, and found ...

24
JAN

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Blue Futures: WSG funds collaborative research projects with the Makah Tribe

From the Summer 2023 Sea Star

By incorporating people, culture and Indigenous knowledge systems, these three projects model the use of interdisciplinary approaches to inform marine resource management

By Olivia Horwedel, WSG Science Communications Fellow

Deep blue ocean waters push against rocky shorelines and coastal forests. Eagles soar overhead. In the distance, whales surface, taking a moment to breathe as they navigate through the ocean’s waters. This incredibly unique landscape, situated at the Northwest tip of Washington state, is the ...

27
JUN

0

WSG helps partners handshake on ocean shipping lanes solution

March 29, 2023

The Columbia River Crab Fishermen’s Association presented an award to Jenna Keeton, Washington Sea Grant Fisheries Specialist, for her skillful approach to supporting stakeholder engagement

It started in another century when towboats ran over crab pots, tangling their propellers in buoys and lines.

Both towboat operators and crabbers knew an agreement was needed to keep their gear intact. For 50 years they maintained an orderly understanding in occupying their separate businesses in the greater, shared ocean space. Then Washington Sea ...

29
MAR

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From ecosystem to economy: Biologist turns deckhand in Bristol Bay

October 28, 2022

It was time to stop fishing for the day in Naknek, Bristol Bay. Just like every day of their summer season, the 32’ drift boat pulled into line to deliver their day’s catch of sockeye salmon to a tender – a bigger vessel that then brings the harvested fish to the processors on land.

In bright orange ...

28
OCT

0

Who Brings Your Seafood to You? An Interview with Steve Seymour of Drayton Harbor Oyster Company

September 27, 2022

Looking ahead to National Seafood Month in October, we are sharing this profile of a local seafood entrepreneur

By Olivia Horwedel, WSG Science Communications Fellow

Steve Seymour — a fisheries biologist-turned-oyster farmer — has always been passionate about the marine world. Prior to opening Drayton Harbor Oyster Company, Steve spent most of his career running salmon hatcheries for the Lummi Nation, working on fish enhancement projects throughout Washington State.

Throughout his career ...

27
SEP

0

Working Together to Monitor Dungeness Crab

From the Autumn 2022 Sea Star

The Pacific Northwest Crab Research Group connects fisheries management scientists and resource managers, facilitating collaboration and information sharing

By Samantha Larson, WSG Science Writer

“Male Dungeness, 173, 1-2!” After calling out the specs, Emily Buckner — the program coordinator for the Pacific Northwest Crab Research Group (PCRG) — swiftly tosses the wriggling crab overboard and then reaches back into the pot to pull out another. Today, Buckner’s job entails going out with a small team on ...

15
SEP

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Who Brings Your Seafood to You? An Interview with Mike Cornman of Westport Seafood

August 30, 2022

By Olivia Horwedel, WSG Science Communications Fellow

Mike Cornman, owner of Westport Seafood and Merino’s Seafood Market, was destined to work a career connected to the ocean. Cornman grew up in Westport, Washington — which at one point was known as the salmon capital of the world — and spent his summers working in his family’s fishing business that opened in 1985. While he left for several years to start his career ...

30
AUG

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Who Brings Your Seafood to You? An Interview with Robert Sudar, Independent Salmon Distributor

July 25, 2022

By Maddie Hansen, WSG Science Communications Fellow

“I love salmon, they’re beautiful creatures,” says Robert Sudar, who currently works as a salmon distributor in Seattle. He has been involved in the fishing industry in one way or another for the past 50 years.

Robert began as a crewmember on boats in the San Juan Islands when he was ...

25
JUL

0

Learn the Skills to Land a Job Fishing Salmon in Alaska

January 25, 2022

The new Purse Seine Vessel Crew Member Training Program will hold its first session in April 2022 — register online at www.gigharborboatshop.org

The Gig Harbor BoatShop and Washington Sea Grant are launching the Purse Seine Vessel Crew Member Training Program, or “Crew School,” designed to provide instruction on the fundamental skills needed to work on a commercial fishing vessel. Led by experienced captains and crew, the hands-on curriculum will be taught in the classroom, aboard commercial fishing vessels ...

25
JAN

0

Celebrating 50 Years of Brokering Lane Agreements Between Crabbers and Towboat Operators

November 8, 2021

Coastal Washington — This year marks the 50th anniversary of a little-known, but highly successful mariner’s agreement known as the “Crabber/Towboat Lane Agreement,” providing a positive example of what can be accomplished between disparate groups when both parties are committed to finding common ground.

In the 1970s, conflicts between ...

9
NOV

0

New Harmful Algal Bloom Research and Monitoring Initiative will Focus on Recently-Identified Culprits Behind Shellfish Mortality Events

October 27, 2021

With funding from the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, researchers from Washington Sea Grant, the Northwest Indian College and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will study shellfish-killing toxins

Over the last few decades, shellfish farms and natural shellfish populations in Washington State have suffered large losses due to blooms of harmful algae that are not traditionally monitored and whose toxic effects are poorly understood. Washington Sea Grant (WSG) researchers and collaborators recently documented the role ...

27
OCT

0

Jenna Keeton Joins WSG as New Fisheries Specialist

October 20, 2021

We are thrilled to welcome Jenna Keeton as the new fisheries specialist at Washington Sea Grant (WSG)!

Jenna works to address the needs of Washington’s fisheries-dependent communities through targeted outreach and collaborative research. At Washington Sea Grant, Jenna’s overarching motivation is to strengthen networks among sustainable commercial fisheries, the seafood industry and consumers. Specifically, she strives to ...

19
OCT

0

Save the Date! More Details to Follow

23
SEP

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California, Oregon and Washington Sea Grants Receive NOAA Funding to Address the Pandemic’s Impacts on the Seafood Industry

August 30, 2021

NOAA Sea Grant awarded California, Oregon and Washington Sea Grants $599,988 for a project to help address the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the West Coast seafood industry. The project seeks to enhance seafood availability along the U.S. West Coast by developing marketing resources and infrastructure and conducting associated trainings for West Coast seafood providers and handlers; improve seafood access by increasing public knowledge; increase utilization of (and support for) seafood through a public awareness campaign; ...

30
AUG

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From Our Dock to Your Table: Bellingham Dockside Market Connects Fishermen and Local Consumers

January 13, 2021

By Grace Freeman, WSG Science Communications Fellow

As Bellingham SeaFeast director Liz Purdy was gearing up for the 2020 festival scheduled for September, it quickly became clear that this year’s event would be different. Founded in 2016, SeaFeast is an annual seafood-focused event that brings together industry professionals, educational booths, food trucks, and live music for a weekend to celebrate the working harbor and fishing industry in Bellingham, Washington. When the pandemic made the usual large-scale gathering impossible, ...

13
JAN

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