On Thursday, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife pushed out crabbing season to mid-December in the wake of a dozen whale entanglements.Between May and October 2024, four humpback whales were entangled in California Dungeness crab fishing gear and eight were entangled in unidentified gear, prompting CDFW to delay the season, as it begins during a whale migratory period.The decision did not surprise the state’s commercial crab fishers or environmental groups lobbying for stricter protections for migrating whales.“I think what people would appreciate, what fishermen would appreciate mostly is for the Fish and Wildlife Department to just tell us well in advance what it is, if I’m supposed to be hurrying up now getting ready for December 15,” Mike Cunningham, a Eureka fisherman and crabber said.Given the delays that have happened with regularity over the past several years, Cunningham floated the idea that the season could just start on Jan. 1 after the threat of entangling or striking whales is reduced.Keep Reading
In September, a couple of rusty old trains, parked at the Balloon Track in Eureka for over two decades, were dismantled into heaps of scrap metal. On Monday, the company that owns the trains was fined for spilling diesel fuel and engine oil from the beasts during the operation.The notice of violation, issued by Humboldt County Environmental Health on Monday, said DEH staff responded to a report on Sept. 13 of hazardous materials released at the site.“Some of the diesel fuel and engine oil within the locomotives had been contained in four 55-gallon drums, but significant amounts of fluids remained within the locomotives during dismantling. Dieselmotive staff neglected to sufficiently remove these fluids or provide adequate containment to prevent releases directly to the ground,” the NOV said.Keep Reading
On Thursday, Humboldt County Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District Development Director Rob Holmlund told the directors that right now, he’s pursuing several grants to fully fund the project and meeting with local stakeholders, such as Samoa residents and the area’s tribes.The offshore wind terminal project — which received $427 million from the federal government in January— could have massive reverberations in the local economy, but at the moment, it’s still seeking a litany of grants and stakeholder input. The grants — including a California Energy Commission Waterfront Facility Improvement Program Grant — the board is pursuing could help provide additional assessments of the potential impacts to the harbor, something several public commenters supported.Humboldt Waterkeeper Director Jen Kalt told the board about the Golden mussel, an invasive species native to China and Southeast Asia that was discovered last week for the first time in the Port of Stockton. If the bivalves catch a ride in the ballast water on ships that make it into Humboldt Bay, it could devastate the local oyster seed industry“The whole West Coast is reliant on the oyster seed coming from Humboldt Bay and … all it would take is one vessel with an oyster disease to destroy this industry that’s been thrilled for all these years,” Kalt said.Responding to Kalt’s concerns, Commissioner Greg Dale noted that the greatest current threat to fisheries is climate change. The wind farm is part of California’s goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2045, a goal they’re not likely to reach unless farms off the coast of California are built.Keep Reading
Pacific Seafood, the processing and distribution giant based in Clackamas, Ore., has halted all processing activity at its Eureka plant, dramatically scaling back its operations there and laying off an undisclosed number of local employees.In an emailed statement, the company’s director of communications, Lacy Ogan, said the Eureka facility at 1 Commercial Street is still operating “but in the limited capacity of unloading oysters, crab, and groundfish as well as icing vessels” — i.e., providing flake ice for drag boats, salmon fishermen and other vessels that keep fresh catch onboard.The seafood getting unloaded here in Eureka is now being shipped north for processing at Pacific Seafood plants in Oregon, Ogan said. The 83-year-old company has nearly 40 locations across the country — from Kodiak, Alaska, to Miami, Fla. — and employs somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,500 people nationwide.Local fisherman Mike Cunningham, who has been selling his catch to Pacific Seafood for 35 years, said the company has removed much of its processing equipment and shipped it north to plants in Oregon, where it anticipates more abundant crabbing.Keep Reading
King tides show us what sea level rise is going to mean for our coastline. If you are interested in taking photos of super-high tides around the county in November and December, the California Coastal Commission would be delighted if you would share your work with them in the name of citizen science.King tides are typically at least one to two feet above the average high tide. For comparison, ocean levels in California are projected to rise as much as 1.2 feet by 2050 and up to 6.6 feet by the end of the century.King Tides are caused when the sun, moon and Earth are aligned, creating a stronger than normal gravitational pull. When these astronomical conditions are coupled with storm surges, the potential for property and other types of damage dramatically increases.Keep Reading
