California's Commercial Fisheries: 1981-2012

Thomson, Cynthia J.

doi:10.7755/mfr.77.3.5

Cited by 5 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Many fishers, particularly small vessel fishermen, target a mix of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), Dungeness Crab, albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga), and groundfish (Sebastes spp. ), and may shift their effort disproportionately from one fishery to another when one or more of those resources are less available 31,57,66 . For example, salmon fishing opportunities off California have progressively declined over the past few decades (including a fishery closure in 2008 67 ), causing fishers to concentrate on other fishing opportunities, such as Dungeness crab fishing, that have been considerably more reliable 31,57 .…”

Section: Finding a Solution Requires Collaborationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The impacts of the MHW were wide ranging 9,10 , but notably caused a sustained bloom of toxic Pseudo-nitzschia diatoms that led to the persistence of domoic acid (a neurotoxin impacting marine wildlife; e.g., shellfish poisoning 10,[26][27][28] , record changes in biodiversity of pelagic species 29 , and an unprecedented delay in the opening of the commercial Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister) fishery in California (a fixed-gear trap fishery with vertical lines 6 ). The crab fishery, which in recent decades has been among the largest by both volume and value in California [30][31][32] , normally opens in November and continues through mid-July, with catches peaking shortly after the initial opening and tapering to low levels throughout spring and early summer. However, high toxin concentrations during the 2015- 16 fishing season led to the fishery opening being delayed until late March 2016.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Habitat compression and ecosystem shifts as potential links between marine heatwave and record whale entanglements

et al. 2020

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Climate change and increased variability and intensity of climate events, in combination with recovering protected species populations and highly capitalized fisheries, are posing new challenges for fisheries management. We examine socio-ecological features of the unprecedented 2014-2016 northeast Pacific marine heatwave to understand the potential causes for record numbers of whale entanglements in the central California Current crab fishery. We observed habitat compression of coastal upwelling, changes in availability of forage species (krill and anchovy), and shoreward distribution shift of foraging whales. We propose that these ecosystem changes, combined with recovering whale populations, contributed to the exacerbation of entanglements throughout the marine heatwave. In 2016, domoic acid contamination prompted an unprecedented delay in the opening of California's Dungeness crab fishery that inadvertently intensified the spatial overlap between whales and crab fishery gear. We present a retroactive assessment of entanglements to demonstrate that cooperation of fishers, resource managers, and scientists could mitigate future entanglement risk by developing climate-ready fisheries approaches, while supporting thriving fishing communities.

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Section: Finding a Solution Requires Collaborationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Habitat compression and ecosystem shifts as potential links between marine heatwave and record whale entanglements

et al. 2020

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“…To better understand regional trends, we divided ports along the California coast into five regions following Thomson (2015). We calculated the relative importance of landings and value for key fishery groups in each region based on the port of landing reported in fish tickets.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fisheries landings data also are used to examine changes in California fisheries through time, revealing substantial shifts in the relative importance of different species and locations (Thomson 2015; Miller et al. 2017).…”

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Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of California Commercial Fisheries from 2005 to 2019 and Potential Overlap with Offshore Wind Energy Development

et al. 2022

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As climate change accelerates and fisheries management continues to evolve, California's commercial fisheries are changing. To improve the understanding of recent California fisheries dynamics, we compiled and analyzed commercial landings receipts to characterize temporal and spatial variation in landing and value of key fisheries groups within the exclusive economic zone across the state from 2005 to 2019. We found that California fisheries continue a shift first observed in the 1980s from higher-biomass, lower-value species, such as coastal pelagic species and market squid, toward lower-biomass, higher-value species, such as Dungeness crab Cancer magister and groundfish. Over the 15year time series analyzed, total landings declined by nearly two-thirds but total value remained relatively stable, likely due to a focus on higher value species and rising prices. The northern half of the state has become much more economically valuable, accounting for over 50% of total value across the state in 2019. A case study analysis found groundfish to be the dominant fisheries in the two areas that have been identified as priorities for potential offshore wind development in central and northern California. Our results elucidate the most recent status and trends of California's commercial fisheries, over time, across space, and among different fisheries groups, providing valuable information for informing fisheries management and marine spatial planning.

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“…The Dungeness crab shery has long been considered a reliable and economically lucrative shery for US West Coast shing communities [32][33][34] . Populations of Dungeness crab uctuate markedly from year to year and are driven by density-dependent biological mechanisms as well as exogenous environmental perturbations 35 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revenue loss due to whale entanglement mitigation and fishery closures

Seary

Santora

Tommasi

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Whale entanglements with fishing gear, exacerbated by changing environmental conditions, pose significant risk to whale populations. Management tools used to reduce entanglement risk, for example temporary area restrictions on fishing, can have negative economic consequences for fishing communities. Balancing whale protection with sustaining productive fisheries is therefore a challenge experienced worldwide. In the California Current Ecosystem, ecosystem indicators have been used to understand the environmental dynamics that lead to increased whale entanglement risk in a lucrative crab fishery. However, an assessment of socio-economic risk for this fishery, as in many other regions, is missing. We estimate retrospectively the losses from ex-vessel revenue experienced by commercial Dungeness crab fishers in California during two seasons subject to whale entanglement mitigation measures. In the 2020 fishing season, our results suggest total revenues would have been $14.4 million higher in the Central Management Area of California in the absence of closures and other disturbances. In the 2019 fishing season, our results suggest ex-vessel revenues would have been $9.4 million higher in the Central Management Area and $0.3 million higher in the Northern Management Area. Our evaluation should motivate the development of strategies which maximize whale protection whilst promoting productive, sustainable and economically-viable fisheries.

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California's Commercial Fisheries: 1981-2012

Abstract: ABSTRACT-This paper discusses the diverse and dynamic nature of California's commercial fi sheries and the resource, environmental, economic, and regulatory factors that affected participation, landings, and ex-vessel revenues during 1981-2012. Fishery trends are a simplistic and some-

Cited by 5 publications

References 19 publications

Habitat compression and ecosystem shifts as potential links between marine heatwave and record whale entanglements

Habitat compression and ecosystem shifts as potential links between marine heatwave and record whale entanglements

Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of California Commercial Fisheries from 2005 to 2019 and Potential Overlap with Offshore Wind Energy Development

Revenue loss due to whale entanglement mitigation and fishery closures

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