California Wetfish Producers Association

California's fishing industry was built largely on ‘wetfish', so called because historically these fish were canned ‘wet from the sea', with minimal preprocessing. Sardines, mackerel, anchovy and market squid (now called coastal pelagic species) have contributed the lion's share of California's commercial seafood harvest since the turn of the 20th century.The enterprise of immigrant fishermen founded California's wetfish industry, building up the ports of Monterey and San Pedro, San Diego and San Francisco. Today's wetfish industry is a traditional industry with a contemporary outlook: streamlined and efficient, but still peopled by fourth and fifth-generation fishing families. Today the sons and daughters continue the enterprise begun by their fathers and grandfathers 100 years ago.Transformed from its storied beginning, California's wetfish industry remains an essential part of the state's fishing culture, as well as a key contributor to our fishing economy, producing more than 80 percent of the volume and 40 percent of dockside value of all commercial fishery landings statewide.Coastal pelagic species are also among the Golden State's most important seafood exports. In a state that imports more than 86 percent of its seafood, the wetfish complex contributes close to 80 percent of all seafood exports, helping to offset the seafood trade imbalance.This industry has invested in cooperative research since the beginning of the California Cooperative Fishery Investigations (CalCOFI) in the 1940s, when wetfish fishermen assessed their harvest to help fund the research partnership developed among the California Department of Fish and Game, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC).Wetfish industry leadership established the nonprofit California Wetfish Producers Association (CWPA) in 2004, including fishermen and processors who produce most of the harvest statewide. CWPA's mission promotes education, communication, and cooperative research to ensure sustainable fisheries.Today CWPA's research program continues the CalCOFI tradition, collaborating with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Southwest Fishery Science Center to expand knowledge of coastal pelagic species.Read the full story here.

California's squid industry is booming

For years, the squid business in Morro Bay has been light weight, but this year, it's heavy. Tons and tons of Market Squid are brought into the harbor every morning.The abundance is because it's spawning season. At this time of the year, Market Squid travel in massive schools to spawn and die.The squid industry was volatile for a few years because the state did not want them to be over-fished, so regulations were put in place. Today, there is a limit on how many one boat can catch, and under new regulations, they cannot be fished on the weekends."This boat went out last night. They can get 40 tons in a couple hours," said Giovanni DeGarimore.The Ocean Angel threw nets just off the coast from Pismo Beach."They use these big nets. So they circle it and then they close it up at the bottom and scoop it all up," he explained.Once they've scooped tons and tons of squid, the boat heads back to Morro Bay to unload."We are unloading for Del Mar Seafoods. They are one of the larger producers of calamari in California," said DeGarimore.For Giovanni DeGarimore. the process is like a harvest. The tanks on the boat are connected to a suction tube that moves the squid onto a conveyer belt. The squid are then dumped into bins and iced.Watch the story and read the article here.

Anchovies are moving out of the can and into the mainstream as chefs and grocers embrace them

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Canadian Press] - August 16, 2013 - Maligned and misunderstood, anchovies have long been those stinky little fish that sneak into Caesar salad or top some adventurous person's pizza.``My father would eat them out of a can,'' says New Orleans restaurateur and TV chef John Besh. ``If Dad was going hunting, he'd grab a can of smoked oysters or anchovies and crackers and that would be his lunch.''But today, chefs like Besh have moved anchovies to the top of the food chain, showcasing them as elegant bar snacks, sophisticated bruschetta or the foundation for pasta dishes and stews.``They make friends and enemies quickly,'' says Seamus Mullen, chef-owner of Tertulia in New York City. ``A bad anchovy is not a good thing. It's a question of making sure you get the right ones.''Getting the ``right'' anchovies has become much easier in recent years. The mushy, salty tinned anchovies eaten by Besh's father are still out there. But more and more, the shelves of gourmet stores and upscale supermarkets offer high-quality anchovies preserved in olive oil, pickled in vinegar or sometimes even fresh.More menus feature items such as ``boquerones,'' white anchovies, often dressed with vinegar. Fresh anchovies might be cooked over a wood fire or dressed with breadcrumbs and garlic. Sometimes, anchovies go undercover.Besh uses them as what he calls ``nature's MSG,'' melting them into beef daube and lamb stew to intensify the savory flavours.Nick Stefanelli, executive chef at Bibiana Osteria-Enoteca in Washington, D.C., uses them to make an ancient Roman fish sauce called garum.``One of the most classic pasta dishes is spaghetti with fish sauce, garlic and chilies,'' says Stefanelli, who includes the dish on his tasting menus. ``The product itself really takes it where it needs to be... It's so simple and beautiful.''Anchovies have been a staple of Italian, Spanish and Provencal French cooking for centuries. French and Italian country stews use them to provide umami, a sense of meatiness and depth. They are made into marinades and tapenades, tossed into pasta and mixed with garlic, breadcrumbs and parsley to stuff vegetables, such as peppers and eggplant. In Spain, they are among the finest tapas.Read the full article here.

Study finds eating salmon weekly can cut rheumatoid arthritis risk in half

Eating fish such as salmon at least once a week could halve the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, a new study has claimed.The findings stem from a study of more than 32,000 Swedish women and offer another reason to follow the established dietary advice of regularly consuming fish for good health.Researchers said the benefits of fishy diet are because it is rich in omega-3, which is said to protect both the heart and the brain.A research team at Sweden's Karolinska Institute analysed the dietary habits of 32,000 women, all of whom were born between 1914 and 1948 and were followed from 2003 to 2010.Participants provided information on their diet, height, weight, parenthood status and educational achievements, as well as recording the frequency and amounts of various foods they ate, including several types of oily and lean fish.A total of 205 women were diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis during the follow-up period and the researchers discovered that a high dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids - which are found in fish such as salmon and fresh tuna - was associated with a reduced risk of the autoimmune disease.Read the full story here.

New grant to “fill gap” in sardine stock assessment

New aerial surveys of sardines off Southern California will address fishermen’s concerns that sardine abundance estimates are effectively “missing California fish.”Collaborative Fisheries Research West has awarded a $16,000 grant to a California sardine industry group to help pay for two spotter-pilot surveys. The first survey is being flown this summer and the second will occur in the spring of 2014.The project’s leaders hope to use digitally enhanced photos of fish schools taken during the flights to develop a scientifically rigorous method for calculating sardine abundances. If this can be done, they will ask the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which manages the Pacific sardine fishery with NOAA Fisheries, to consider including California aerial survey data into its future stock assessments, from which harvesting limits are set.Read the full article here.

Environmental cost of conservation victories

In recent years, Marine Protected Areas (MPA), where fishing is severely restricted or not allowed, have become the Holy Grail of marine conservation for both nongovernmental organizations and governments. In the United States, the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the NW Hawaiian Islands became the first large-scale reserve closed to fishing in 2006 (1). This reserve is 90% the size of California and was followed by the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, about half the size of California, in 2009 (2). In total, the United States has established MPAs 19-times the size of California or roughly the area of the Continental United States.The United States is not alone. The South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands Marine Protected Area in British sub-Antarctic waters is roughly 2.5-times the area of California, and most recently Australia has declared its economic zone in the Coral Sea a no-take area of 3.1 million square kilometers, an area eight times the size of California. All of these areas are heralded as great conservation victories and the Convention on Biodiversity has set a target of 10% of the ocean protected by 2020.Are these indeed victories? Not necessarily. I suggest it is likely that the world’s environment is actually worse off once such victories are evaluated globally.Read the full article here.

New Posters Highlight Local CA Seafood

Many of us may be pretty clueless about what fishermen catch off our coast, the gear they use, or the species that are farmed.To help educate the public, California Sea Grant has created four regional posters that highlight local, commercially caught and farmed marine seafood.The posters are available free for download and printing at Discover California Fisheries.

Read the full story here.

Mantis Shrimp Facts

In this True Facts animal segment we take a look at amazing Mantis Shrimp Facts as we discover and learn about this unique sea creature. I had no idea that the Mantis Shrimp is a prehistoric fossil of the living clown but it makes perfect sense once it’s explained. I also wasn’t aware how deadly and ferocious a Mantis Shrimp can be when it comes to protecting it’s underwater turf and surviving in the ocean.http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=F5FEj9U-CJMView original post here.