Without fishermen, region’s harbors and bistros would be poorer

Fishing is really at the leading edge of the tourism culture. Just ask Ventura Harbor and Morro Bay, which have been trying to rebuild their tourism cred in part by reinvigorating their commercial fishing appeals and playing up their local seafood.

One of the oldest occupations on the Central Coast is fishing. Unfortunately, after years of regulation designed to manage the regions fisheries, it’s the fishermen themselves who are an endangered species.

That’s unfortunate for a couple of reasons. First, fishing is really at the leading edge of the tourism culture. Just ask Ventura Harbor and Morro Bay, which have been trying to rebuild their tourism cred in part by reinvigorating their commercial fishing appeals and playing up their local seafood.

Second, we are just at the dawn of a new era for the marketing of locally caught fish. Programs such as Community Seafood in Santa Barbara and a UC Santa Barbara spinoff called Salty Girl Seafood are dramatically closing the gaps between fishermen, consumers and restaurants.

Better information is the key to resolving problems such as seafood mislabeling, a pet issue for State Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima, who claims that some 40 percent of California seafood served at Bay Area restaurants is not what the menu says it is.

I recently toured the Santa Barbara Harbor with U.S. Rep. Lois Capps, a Santa Barbara Democrat, and a number of veteran commercial anglers. Most are very small business owners with just an employee or two, and they are afraid that the rules and regulations for fishing have gotten so restrictive that it’s hard to turn a profit.

Longtime fisherman Chris Voss talks about fishing in terms that Warren Buffett might appreciate. “It’s really about portfolio management,” Voss said, adding that he holds permits to take lobster off the Channel Islands in the winter and then has permits for salmon fishing in Alaska in the summer months. He was about ready to make the big move up north when I caught up with him.

For all of its high costs and restrictions, Santa Barbara remains a key center for commercial fishing along the California coast. That’s partly because the city has maintained public hoists that allow fisherman to bring their catch ashore, as well as separate berths for commercial vessels.

Justin West at Restaurant Julienne is one of the pioneers in the farm-to-table movement. He was along on the tour to learn more about the seasonality of the fishing business because he tweaks his menu each day based on what’s arriving at the dock. Instead of relying on a few seafood staples, the Julienne offerings are highly variable, based on what’s going on at the harbor that day. “We don’t give our diner’s a lot of choice,” he said.

Likewise, Community Seafood is delivering its products direct to consumers who sign up for deliveries on designated days — and agree to take whatever the catch is that day. That means, among other things, teaching consumers that anchovies are for more than caesar salad and pizza.

The local sourcing of seafood has a lot of advantages for fishermen, restaurants and consumers. For fishermen, the ability to sell directly to an end user means higher prices and higher profit margins. “It’s a little more work,” said Voss, to prepare smaller portions or to sell in smaller lots, but it’s clearly worth it.

Also, the chance to develop a relationship with a chef or restaurant owner means a better understanding of market demand and customer needs. And developing relationships between suppliers and customers can create a more sustainable economy in the long run.

Interestingly, both Voss and West are fighting the same competitive battle. Voss has seen the number of individual or small-group boat owners dwindle as larger operations have consolidated fleets and built market share. West has seen a number of local restaurants come under corporate ownership, which then means common provisioning and less farm-to-table sourcing.

Fishermen don’t have the luxury of tearing out their raspberry patches and planting blueberries if market tastes change. They have to take what the sea gives them, which is why getting their catches quickly into the hands of informed customers really matters.

Contact Henry Dubroff at hdubroff@pacbiztimes.com.
Read the original article here.

Lowly squid tops king salmon as Monterey’s top cash fishery

More than 6 percent of California’s seafood haul comes from the Monterey area, a region with a deep history of commercial fishing. Last year, catches of the humble squid generated about twice as much cash as the kingly chinook salmon.

We’ve crunched the numbers to rank the top 10 commercial fisheries in the coastal fringes of Silicon Valley, which you can peruse below.

Bryce Druzin
Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal

View the original article here.

Glucosamine, made from shellfish shells, may have exciting new health benefits

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Daily Mail] By John Nash – April 22, 2014

Could the elixir of youth in fact be a potion made from the shells of crab, lobster and shrimp?
Last week, in the highly respected journal Nature Communications, scientists reported how the food supplement glucosamine, often made from shellfish, can make mice live nearly 10 per cent longer. That would add an average eight years to human lifespans, taking the average UK life expectancy to 89.

The researcher, Dr Michael Ristow, a biochemist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, gave the supplement to ageing mice in addition to their usual diet and compared them with similar mice not given the supplement.

He believes the benefits are down to glucosamine making the body think it’s on a low-carb, highprotein diet. It does this by creating amino acids that the body mistakes for proteins.

In response, our bodies start burning more protein. This can keep weight down and, as a result, may also fend off problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

Glucosamine supplements, available in health food shops, are already a popular remedy for arthritis, with annual sales estimated at £41.6 million, according to recent figures.

This is because glucosamine is thought to help the body produce synovial fluid, which lubricates joints and helps cartilage to repair itself. If cartilage isn’t repaired, bones in joints are more likely to rub against each other, causing arthritis — inflammation and pain in the joint.

The body itself produces glucosamine but the amount starts to dwindle after the age of 45.

However, the jury is out on whether glucosamine supplements really help ease arthritis.

While supplement manufacturers are keen to claim it is proven by lab tests, a 2010 review of ten trials published in the British Medical Journal found that glucosamine was not useful in reducing osteoarthritis joint pain.

The evidence for glucosamine promoting longevity may in fact be more promising.

It appears to protect against several common causes of death, according to a 2012 study by The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in the U.S.

The large-scale study, involving more than 77,000 people over an eight-year period, found those taking glucosamine for their joints had nearly a fifth lower risk of premature death. Furthermore, they had a 13 per cent reduced risk of dying from cancer and a 41 per cent reduced risk of dying from respiratory disease, reported the European Journal of Epidemiology.

Scientists have suggested that glucosamine may have an anti-inflammatory effect similar to that of aspirin but without the long-term adverse side-effects such as stomach bleeding.

There may, however, be another explanation. Glucosamine has been found to boost a process in the human body called autophagy, according to a 2013 report in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism.

Autophagy is a system in which cells get rid of their toxic waste. If this process fails, the cell dies, explains Katja Simon, a researcher in immunology at the University of Oxford Nuffield Department of Medicine, who is exploring this process in human studies. ‘In the ageing process it has been shown that autophagy levels fall. It may be that things such as wrinkles, hearing loss and cancer are actually due to these falling autophagy levels and accumulation of toxic wastes in the cells.’

This may help to explain why glucosamine used in a cream appears to have an anti-ageing effect on the skin.

A series of studies presented to the American Academy of Dermatology in 2006 suggested it may reverse the ageing effect of sunburn on skin cells.

Tests from Harvard Medical School found that a cream made with the chemical reduced liver spots and freckles in those with sunburn-related damage.

Other studies presented at the conference showed that glucosamine in skin cream may stimulate production of hyaluronic acid, believed to help keep skin hydrated, and collagen, which can make skin appear youthfully plump.

But these are early days. As Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology and a consultant rheumatologist at King’s College London, says: ‘Glucosamine is an interesting molecule that could affect us subtly in many ways. If even a modest effect on ageing were proven, it would be a major advance. However, humans are not the same as worms or rodents and studies will need careful replication before we get overexcited.’

It should also be acknowledged the substance has potential side-effects. People taking the bloodthinning drug warfarin should be cautious, as glucosamine may make the drug too potent.

And those who are allergic to shellfish should also be wary, although the allergenic part of shellfish is usually the flesh and not the shell, and some glucosamine supplements are based on alternative sources, such as plant fungus.

Nevertheless, we may now be nearer the day when a lobster can help us to look less crabby.

Ken Coons
Copyright © 2014 Seafoodnews.com
Source: Seafood.com News

Swim to Sea? These Salmon Are Catching a Lift

Salmon were put into the hold of the trawler Merva W this month for a trip to San Francisco Bay. Credit Jim Wilson/The New York Times

RIO VISTA, Calif. — As the Merva W puttered down the Sacramento River, it looked like any other dowdy fishing vessel headed toward the Golden Gate Bridge. But no other boat had as surprising a cargo or as unusual a mission: The Merva W was giving 100,000 young salmon a lift to the Pacific in the hope of keeping them alive…

Read the entire story here. [NYTimes.com]

Fish Oil May Help the Heart Beat Mental Stress

Fish oil may help the heart beat mental stress, says a recent study, “Fish Oil and Neurovascular Reactivity to Mental Stress in Humans.” It appears online in the May 2013 edition of the American Journal of Physiology – Regulatory, Integrative, and Comparative Physiology, published by the American Physiological Society.

The omega 3 fatty acids in fish oil have long been thought to protect against cardiovascular disease… Read the entire story here. [examiner.com]

One Fish Two Fish: Monitoring MPAs Educator Guide

“The California Wetfish Producers Association partners with both state and federal scientists to advance the knowledge of ocean cycles and their influence on coastal pelagic resources.  California marine resources now benefit from the best fishery management in the world, thanks to strict regulations and the collaboration of scientists, management agencies and fishermen.”

Read the original article — kqed.org

One Fish Two Fish: Monitoring Marine Protected Areas Educator Guide

Forming Partnerships – Spotlight: US West Coast Fisheries

This video highlights a couple west coast fisheries and their positive efforts to fish responsibly. A gillnet fishery, faced with closure in the mid 90’s, redesigned the “pinger” to ward off marine mammals from being caught (now mandatory gear); An entrepreneur fisherman who has created a direct from boat fish market, attracting thousands of visitors from all over southern California and opening new income avenues not only for himself but for the harbor and the area. There are interviews with scientists who discuss the sustainable fishing issues as well as issues of buying imported fish vs. buying US caught fish. Written, produced, directed, edited, narrated by John Dutton. http://johnduttonmedia.com

El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion

issued by
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER/NCEP
and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society
10 April 2014

ENSO Alert System Status: El NiñoWatch

Synopsis: While ENSO-neutral is favored for Northern Hemisphere spring, the chances of El Niño increase during the remainder of the year, exceeding 50% by summer.

ENSO-neutral continued during March 2014, but with above-average sea surface temperatures (SST) developing over much of the eastern tropical Pacific as well as near the International Date Line (Fig. 1).

The weekly SSTs were below average in the Niño1+2 region, near average but rising in Niño3 and Niño3.4 regions, and above average in the Niño4 region (Fig. 2).

A significant downwelling oceanic Kelvin wave that was initiated in January greatly increased the oceanic heat content to the largest March value in the historical record back to 1979 (Fig. 3) and produced large positive subsurface temperature anomalies across the central and eastern Pacific (Fig. 4).

Also during March, low-level westerly wind anomalies were observed over the central equatorial Pacific. Convection was suppressed over western Indonesia, and enhanced over the central equatorial Pacific (Fig. 5). Although these atmospheric and oceanic conditions collectively reflect ENSO-neutral, they also reflect a clear evolution toward an El Niño state.

The model predictions of ENSO for this summer and beyond are indicating an increased likelihood of El Niño this year compared with last month. Most of the models indicate that ENSO-neutral (Niño-3.4 index between -0.5oC and 0.5oC) will persist through much of the remainder of the Northern Hemisphere spring 2014 (Fig. 6), with many models predicting the development of El Niño sometime during the summer or fall.

Despite this greater model consensus, there remains considerable uncertainty as to when El Niño will develop and how strong it may become. This uncertainty is amplified by the inherently lower forecast skill of the models for forecasts made in the spring. While ENSO-neutral is favored for Northern Hemisphere spring, the chances of El Niño increase during the remainder of the year, and exceed 50% by the summer (click CPC/IRI consensus forecast for the chance of each outcome).

This discussion is a consolidated effort of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NOAA’s National Weather Service, and their funded institutions. Oceanic and atmospheric conditions are updated weekly on the Climate Prediction Center web site (El Niño/La Niña Current Conditions and Expert Discussions). Forecasts for the evolution of El Niño/La Niña are updated monthly in the Forecast Forum section of CPC’s Climate Diagnostics Bulletin. The next ENSO Diagnostics Discussion is scheduled for 8 May 2014. To receive an e-mail notification when the monthly ENSO Diagnostic Discussions are released, please send an e-mail message to: ncep.list.enso-update@noaa.gov.

Climate Prediction Center
National Centers for Environmental Prediction
NOAA/National Weather Service
College Park, MD 20740

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.html

Giant squid escapes icy tomb

The giant squid has been thawed and preserved for public display at the Queensland Museum for the first time. (ABC Multiplatform:Lucinda Kent)

 
A giant squid that was found frozen in a block of ice has been thawed and meticulously preserved by scientists for display in the Deep Oceans exhibition.

See more photos at the 612 ABC Brisbane Facebook page.

Mollusc expert Darryl Potter says the squid on display may seem large at around seven metres long, but the species can grow all the way up to 13 metres in length including their ‘club tentacles’ used for killing prey.

Giant squid live in some of the deepest parts of the ocean and were thought to be mythological creatures until around 100 years ago, but the first sighting of a live giant squid in the ocean was in September 2004.

“They were spotted by mariners in early days and that lead to the tales of monsters from the deep,” Mr Potter said.

“That of course led to all your science fiction movies with grossly distorted facts about the size of these things and what they ate.”

Mr Potter says the giant squid on display in the Deep Oceans exhibition, is known as Cal, short for calamari, is one of the best preserved specimens in the world.

Breaking the ice

Cal the squid had previously been on display at Underwater World on the Sunshine Coast, where it was kept frozen in the block of ice it was found in, which kept the creature intact before museum scientists used professional preservation techniques.

“We brought it back to the museum here and it took about three days of chipping through the ice very carefully because you didn’t want to damage any of the appendages,” he said.

“Not only just chipping through it but there’s a lot of ice that was inside it that had to thaw, it sat around for about a week completely thawing.”

Museum workers had to don protective ‘spacesuits’ while they applied chemicals that keep the animal’s skin, tentacles, and head permanently fixed.

The squid has been kept in the museum laboratories for the past 5 years and can be seen for the first time out of the ice at the Deep Oceans exhibit at the Queensland Museum from 28 March to 6 October 2014.

Exotic Opah in San Diego Harbor

Brandon Buono poses with 91-pound opah that was found swimming in front of Fisherman’s Landing; photo by Doug Kern

The opah is a solitary denizen of deep water and caught very rarely by anglers fishing far offshore for other species.

So folks at Fisherman’s Landing Tackle in San Diego were understandably surprised this week to discover that a 91-pound opah had swum right up to the dock area, where it was promptly gaffed by a landing employee.

That would mean the exotic opah either swam into and through much of San Diego Harbor to reach the landing, or the colorful fish was somehow delivered alive—say, in the ballast of a ship or the hold of a commercial fishing boat.

Exotic opah after its capture at Fisherman’s Landing; photo by Doug Kern

Either way, it was a bizarre event, one that led landing co-owner Doug Kern to write on Facebook: “CRAZIEST DAY EVER AT FISHERMAN’S LANDING!”

Kern, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune, also posted this statement: “I never would have believed it if I wasn’t there to see it. The fish was swimming around in circles and then just beached itself. Brandon [Buono, a landing employee] got a gaff and pulled it up on the sand.”

Opah are large and colorful fish that roam tropical and temperate seas and are delicious as table fare. They’re caught mostly by long-lining commercial fishermen targeting tuna and other pelagic fish. However, they’re caught very sporadically by anglers on San Diego’s long-range sportfishing fleet, which targets tuna and wahoo in Mexican waters.

One of the Facebook comments reads, “That was the El Nino messenger,” in reference to a warm-water event that appears to be developing in the eastern Pacific and could result in sending exotic species of fish far north of their typical range.

Those fish might include opah, yellowfin tuna, or mahi-mahi. But don’t count on any of those fish swimming ashore.