State and Local Archives - Page 3 of 450

ALASKA: With salmon ballot measure’s defeat, Pebble celebrates

November 8, 2018 — By a significant margin, Alaska voters defeated Ballot Measure 1, commonly known as the Stand for Salmon initiative.

The controversial measure was aimed at increasing protections for Alaska’s most iconic fish. It would have significantly toughened the environmental permitting process for large developments impacting salmon habitat.

The outcome was celebrated by a key figure pressing ahead on another controversial issue: the CEO of the Pebble Limited Partnership.

Pebble CEO Tom Collier said even though his company’s mine proposal wasn’t always at the forefront of the debate, the salmon habitat initiative was, in some ways, all about Pebble.

“It was clear that this initiative was aimed at trying to stop Pebble and to stop any other major significant resource development project in Alaska,” Collier said in an interview Wednesday.

Pebble’s push to develop a copper mine in the Bristol Bay region faces fierce resistance from groups who say it endangers the salmon fishery there, and many of those same groups supported Ballot Measure 1. But Pebble kept a relatively low profile leading up to the election. Although it contributed money to Stand for Alaska – Vote No on 1, the campaign against the initiative, it didn’t play much of a role in the opposition’s messaging.

But Collier said had Ballot Measure 1 passed, it would have posed hurdles for Pebble, both in getting permits and in seeking a new financial partner (the company lost a potential major investor earlier this year.) Collier said with the initiative’s defeat, he’s more confident about the Pebble’s prospects.

Read the full story at KTOO

Alaska rejects salmon habitat protection measure, elects Mike Dunleavy governor

November 8, 2018 — In a midterm election which will likely have a significant impact on Alaska’s lucrative seafood industry, U.S. Representative Don Young was re-elected, State Senator Mike Dunleavy will become Alaska’s governor, and Ballot Measure 1, which sought to ensconce greater protections for salmon habitat, was defeated.

Young, the longest serving member of Congress (he has served since 1973), handily defeated his opponent, Alyse Galvin, who ran as an independent, to secure his 24th term in the House of Representatives. Young is the lead sponsor of a bill amending the Manguson-Stevens Act, which passed the House in July and is currently pending in the Senate. Young’s amendment would eliminate restrictions placed on regional fishery management councils and would give the councils more control over no-fishing timeframes in order to rebuild stocks.

Ballot Measure 1, which would have enacted stricter regulations for oil and gas development in salmon habitats and added regulations for restoring salmon streams if they are disturbed by development, was also defeated by a large margin. The measure drew criticism from Republicans, including U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, who said it would interfere with business and development in the state.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Alaska salmon permit values remain mostly stagnant

November 7, 2018 — Values for Alaska salmon permits have remained stagnant all year, except for two regions, and costs for halibut quota shares have plummeted.

For salmon permits, an off-kilter fishery that came in 30 percent below an already grim harvest forecast kept a downward press on permit values. The preseason projection called for a salmon catch of 147 million this year; the total take was closer to 114 million.

“All of these salmon fisheries in the Gulf, both gillnet and seine permits, had a lousy year. And we see that in the lackluster permit market,” said Doug Bowen of marine brokerage Alaska Boats and Permits in Homer.

Farther west, Bristol Bay — with its back-to-back record breakers — is an exception and permit prices there reflect increased buying interest. A scan of multiple broker listings show Bristol Bay drift gillnet permits at $165,000 compared to the $145,000 range before the fishing season.

Salmon fishermen at Bristol Bay pocketed a record $280 million at the docks, not including postseason bonuses, on a catch of 35 million sockeyes.

Read the full story at Anchorage Daily News

Ballot measure meant to boost salmon protections loses decisively in Alaska

November 7, 2018 — A ballot measure designed to boost protections for salmon and other fish failed by a large margin Tuesday night amid an onslaught of heavy opposition spending by powerful oil and mining interests.

With 98 percent of precincts reporting by 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, Ballot Measure 1 received 145,997 votes against, and 83,479 votes in favor, a 64-to-36 margin.

Supporters conceded defeat early in the night.

“We had an uphill battle the entire way,” said Stephanie Quinn-Davidson, a measure sponsor and former state fisheries biologist, noting the overwhelming spending by the opposition. “But this effort was unprecedented and we will continue to move this forward.”

Commonly called Stand for Salmon, the controversial measure generated more than $12 million in spending. At least $10.2 million of that was spent by industry-led opposition group Stand for Alaska — Vote No on One.

Opponents had contended the measure would create project delays and costs, halting some development.

Read the full story at Anchorage Daily News

Massachusetts governor urges authorities to reconsider future wind farm locations

November 7, 2018 — Charlie Baker, governor of Massachusetts, US, has urged the federal government to avoid high-priority fishing areas when assigning leases for future wind farms, according to an article originally reported in the New Bedford Standard-Times and sent to Undercurrent News by NGO Saving Seafood.

According to the article, governor Baker wrote to Ryan Zinke, secretary of the interior on Nov. 1, requesting that areas such as the New York Bight, south of Long Island, be exempted from future wind farm leases on the grounds that development could disrupt a multi-million dollar fishery.

“Some of the areas under consideration for leasing represent very productive and high-value grounds for fishermen from Massachusetts and other states,” Baker wrote in the letter.

The areas being evaluated by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for a future wind farm are believed to have generated $344 million for the region’s fishing sector from 2012 to 2016, according to statistics from the National Marine Fisheries Service.

According to the article, fishermen and officials from New Bedford, MA, met with BOEM in September, when they expressed their concerns at the new developments. According to one, 40-50% of the scalloping grounds fished by local scallopers would be within the proposed developmental areas.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

MASSACHUSETTS: Story of shoreside New Bedford business finally told locally and in Library of Congress

November 7, 2018 — No place on earth understands the fishing industry like New Bedford. So it’s no surprise the Library of Congress is using the voice of the city to share the history of fishing and its importance in the United States.

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center used a fellowship from the Library of Congress to relay specifically the stories of shoreside businesses through the voices and images of those in the industry.

The final product sits on display in the museum. It first opened on Oct. 11. Faces of the fishing industry hang on the walls. An iPad provides a genuine interactive experience where visitors can hear the voices of those whose pictures fill the exhibit. Users can select which individual they want to hear.

The exhibit ends Feb. 4 but will live forever in the Library of Congress as part of its permanent collection.

“They were really excited,” New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center Executive Director Laura Orleans said. “They were really pleased with what we sent to them. I think they’re very excited we already have an exhibit up.”

The exhibit on display consists of 58 interviews conducted over a year and completed last July. Phil Melo, a manager a Bergie’s Seafood, snapped photos for the portraits for the exhibit while also participating as one of the interviewees.

“It’s just not the fishermen. I know people drive through the city. They just see the boats and that’s all they think about,” Melo said. “They don’t realize how many tractor trailers come through the city with fuel for the fishing industry. The groceries that are delivered to the boats, the bookkeeping that’s done. The welding shops. There’s a ton.”

The exhibit features occupations across the waterfront from processors to electric engineers to welders to benefit providers.

In capturing the faces of the interviewees, Melo also tried to capture a portrait that provided a look not only at the industry but the personalities behind it.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute to request state funding boost

November 6, 2018 — Legislative and governor candidates have vowed across the state to further cut Alaska’s budget, but many state departments drafting their budget requests for the coming fiscal year are going in a different direction.

On Friday, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute became the latest state-supported agency to warn that budget cuts have reached their limit and in some places have gone too far.

In an unusual statement, the public-private partnership said it will be requesting $3.75 million more from the state in the coming year.

“There’s only so much you can do to squeeze down on the role and responsibilities of state government, and as far as others, there’s some departments looking at increments … I guess mostly in programs that will pay long-term benefits,” said Mike Navarre, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Commerce, which controls ASMI’s budget.

An “increment,” in the jargon of the state, is a budget increase.

“We used to invest in seafood marketing. We’re looking to do it again,” Navarre said.

Read the full story at the Juneau Empire

MASSACHUSETTS: Losing lobster lines

November 6, 2018 — Scientists from the New England Aquarium will spend much of next year testing ropeless lobster gear as part of the escalating effort to mitigate entanglements with right whales and other marine species.

The research project, funded with a $226,616 grant recently received from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will involve co-operative research with active lobstermen, possibly including some from the state’s most lucrative lobster port in Gloucester, according to one of the aquarium’s chief scientists.

“We want to get good technology in the hands of fishermen so they can evaluate its potential,” said Tim Werner, the aquarium’s senior scientist and director of its Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction. “They need to be able to use it and find out what it needs to be functional.”

Werner said researchers already have begun to develop various types of ropeless traps, using different technologies to achieve the same goal of drastically reducing or eliminating entanglements of leatherback sea turtles and whales in the forest of vertical lines stretching from fishing gear on the ocean floor to the ocean’s surface.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Alaska’s Seafood Industry Faces the Blob

November 5, 2018 — Challenging statewide salmon harvests have dominated headlines, with record-high sockeye production in Bristol Bay being the state’s primary saving grace. However, salmon are not the only fish in the sea keeping the state’s fisheries afloat, with many fishermen relying on groundfish, herring, and miscellaneous shellfish to make ends meet. Some fishermen use alternative fisheries as a way to balance their portfolios, while others focus entirely on a single target species ranging from Dungeness crab to sablefish. “In a typical year, Alaska’s most valuable fisheries [measured by value of harvest] include salmon, pollock, Pacific cod, crab, halibut, and black cod,” says Garrett Evridge, an economist with McDowell Group, an Alaska-based research firm.

In 2017, salmon was the most valuable fish group. Harvest of all five salmon species totaled more than $781 million in ex-vessel value, the amount paid to fishermen for their catch. However, Evridge notes that 2018 has been a disappointing year for many salmon fisheries, a statewide concern.

“Salmon across the state have come in weaker than forecast, particularly in the North Gulf of Alaska,” says Bert Lewis, the Central Region supervisor of the Division of Commercial Fisheries for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG). “In the region I work, we saw some of the lowest returns of sockeye salmon in recent history with the exception of Bristol Bay, where we had the biggest run on record.”

The sockeye salmon harvest is estimated to be 37 percent of the recent ten-year average, making it the smallest since 1975—all other smaller harvests date back to the 1800s.

The “blob”—a warm water anomaly that washed into the Gulf of Alaska in 2015—is thought to be the culprit. With most sockeye salmon spending three years in the ocean, those returning this year initially swam out into warmer waters, which researchers speculate disrupted the food webs that support the salmon, decreasing their survivorship and resulting in poor returns this year.

“That concept is supported by the record return we saw in Bristol Bay, with close to 65 million sockeye returning that, in 2015, came out into the Bering Sea, which did not have this warm-water anomaly,” Lewis says.

However, poor harvests weren’t limited to sockeye: Chinook, chum, and pink numbers all came in low.

“In the Southeast, total salmon harvest will be about 30 percent of the recent ten-year average, due primarily to poor pink salmon run, since pink salmon usually make up most of the harvest,” says Steve Heinl, a regional research biologist for ADFG in Southeast.

“Pink salmon harvest is 19 percent of the recent ten-year average and the smallest since 1976,” Heinl says. “Pink harvest will be less than half of the harvest in 2016 [18.4 million fish], which spurred a formal declaration of disaster.”

Levels are well below ADFG’s forecast of 23 million pink salmon, though only slightly below the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast of 10 million to 23 million.

As of late August, chum salmon harvest to date was 69 percent of the recent ten-year average; Chinook harvest was at 30 percent of recent ten-year average; and coho harvest was on track to be lowest in thirty years, says Heinl.

Though state numbers are low, harvest success varied dramatically among systems. In Southeast, there were excellent Sockeye runs at Chilkoot Lake and Redoubt Lake, which stood in stark contrast to poor runs in places such as Situk River, where the fishery was closed for most of the season.

Read the full story at Alaska Business

North Carolina facing a federal fishery resources disaster, governor says

November 5, 2018 — North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has called on the U.S. Department of Commerce for additional resources and funding to help mitigate the damages weathered by the state’s fisheries in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence.

Cooper urged the Department of Commerce to declare a federal fishery resources disaster for North Carolina in a letter sent to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Such a declaration would provide aid and long-term relief to families relying on North Carolina’s recreational and commercial fisheries, according to Cooper.

“This was the storm of a lifetime for many coastal communities. The damaging economic impact to the state’s fisheries was, and continues to be, significant. While state appropriations will begin to afford some limited initial relief, much more is needed,” Cooper wrote in the letter.

North Carolina’s coastal communities are reliant on marine fisheries, Cooper said, in terms of both the local economy and employment. In 2017, commercial fishing was responsible for more than USD 96 million (EUR 84 million) in revenue and supported hundreds of jobs, according to findings from the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries.

These economy-fueling marine fisheries were left “devastated” by “Hurricane Florence’s historic rainfall, brutal winds, and powerful storm surge,” Cooper said. Fishing grounds were compromised, and boats and gear were damaged and destroyed as a result of the storm, he added. Additionally, shellfish harvests have been suspended in affected areas, “[costing] fishermen critical income.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source