commercial fishing

On a rainy morning beneath a marquee sign that says Columbian Theater and FISHERPOETS, a group of casually dressed people in boots and raincoats poses for a group photo. The scene is framed by the heads and hands of photographers capturing the image.

PNW fishing community unleashes its creative side at FisherPoets Gathering

Bellamy Pailthorp

Commercial fishing workforce brings sea shanties, stories, poetry and more to Astoria, Oregon every year in late February.

State board of natural resources bans commercial net pen fish farming

Bellamy Pailthorp

The state board of natural resources has voted in favor of a resolution to formally adopt Washington’s ban on commercial net pen fish farming in state waters.

Seafarer Albert Docuyan, right, presses his passport and other documents to his head while Richard Zambales, left, and Reyner Dagalea, center, look on as the group has a call with the Philippine consulate general at a temporary rental house in Lacey, Wash., on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. They are among the two dozen Filipino crew members confined to tuna fishing vessels for months last year without U.S. visas in Westport, Wash. while waiting for backpay from their employer, McAdam's Fish, and recruitment agency Pescadores International.

Social Justice

No end in sight: Filipino fishermen still wait on abandonment case

Farah Eltohamy

One year after being allegedly stranded by their employer in a Westport, Wash., marina, six migrant workers still haven’t returned home to their families.

Social Justice

Sailors stuck in Washington state, and around the globe, highlight a surge in shipowner abandonment

The Associated Press

The United Nations over the last decade has logged an increasing number of crew members abandoned by shipowners around the world. That’s left sailors aboard months and sometimes years without pay.

The U.S Supreme Court is photographed on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, in Washington.

Environment

Supreme Court denies Alaska's bid to revive Pebble Mine proposal

The Associated Press

The Supreme Court has rejected Alaska’s bid to revive a proposed copper and gold mine in the state's Bristol Bay region that was blocked by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Two fishermen, one wearing an orange bib and another wearing a blue and yellow bib, staking nets on a boat.

Government

Commercial fishermen need more support for substance abuse and fatigue, lawmakers say

The Associated Press

A group of lawmakers want a federal program that protects the health and wellbeing of commercial fishermen to be expanded to include substance use disorder and worker fatigue.

FILE - Julann Spromberg, a research toxicologist with Ocean Associates Inc., working under contract with NOAA Fisheries, observes a salmon placed in a tank of clear water after it died from four hours of exposure to unfiltered highway runoff water on Oct. 20, 2014. The Environmental Protection Agency on Nov. 2, 2023, granted a petition submitted by Native American tribes in California and Washington state asking federal regulators to prohibit the use of the chemical 6PPD in tires due to its lethal effect on salmon, steelhead trout, and other wildlife.

Environment

Fishing groups sue 13 US tire makers over rubber preservative that's deadly to salmon

The Associated Press

The 13 largest U.S. tire manufacturers are facing a lawsuit from a pair of California commercial fishing organizations that could force the companies to stop using a chemical found in almost every tire because it kills migrating salmon. Native American tribes in California and Washington state recently petitioned the EPA to review the use of the chemical.

A pod of orcas swim past a row of waterfront houses with trees and the Olympic mountains behind them.

Environment

Alaska salmon season back on after court halts closure that sought to protect orcas

The Associated Press

A U.S. appeals court has halted a lower court ruling that would have shut down southeast Alaska’s Chinook salmon troll fishery for the summer to protect endangered orca whales that eat the fish.

Bob Maharry sits inside his fishing boat docked at Pier 45 in San Francisco, Monday, March 20, 2023. This would usually be a busy time of year for Maharry and his crew as salmon fishing season approaches. On April 7, the Pacific Fishery Management Council, the regulatory group that advises federal officials, will take action on what to do about the 2023 season for both commercial and recreational salmon fishing.

Environment

Much of West Coast faces ban to fish salmon amid low stocks

The Associated Press

Federal officials are expected to prohibit king salmon fishing this season along much of the West Coast, which many predict could stretch into 2024 season as the drought and other factors take their toll on the iconic Chinook fish.

Environment

EPA vetoes Pebble Mine looming over Bristol Bay salmon fishery

Bellamy Pailthorp

The Environmental Protection Agency made a rare move under the Clean Water Act that effectively vetoes the so-called Pebble Mine in Alaska. The proposed mine would take gold and copper from open pits near Bristol Bay. It's 1500 miles away, but its salmon fishery has made it hugely important to many people in the Puget Sound region.