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ALASKA: Bristol Bay’s Salmon Flood is Rising — the Greatest Migration on Earth?

July 2, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — As sockeye salmon surge past the Port Moller Test Fishery nets and catch tallies in the Bay rise as escapment numbers in the river systems accelerate even faster (after all, that is what the biologists manage for), the vast size of Bristol Bay’s salmon run is hard to grasp.

The six-week fishery, which reaches a fever pitch for about ten days, is arguably the greatest migration on earth. Because it is invisible until the last few days, it is rarely recognized. Great migrations might bring to mind vast herds of wildebeast crossing the Serengeti in Africa; those number a mere 1.5 million.

Then there’s what many now call the largest mammal migration — fruit bats from the Congo to neighboring Zambia over 90 days each fall. The size? Only 10 million.

This year’s forecasted total run of 40.18 million sockeyes is expected to net a harvest of 26.1 million salmon.

It’s difficult to find, by any measure, a likeness in the natural world of the journey Bristol Bay salmon make from one of the Bay’s five river systems to the ocean, across the Bering Sea and North Pacific Ocean in a vast loop that brings them back to the Bay to reproduce and die.

It is the reproduction part that fisheries managers focus on. Indeed, state law requires them to manage for escapement to maintain sustainability for each species and timing in each salmon river, every year.

Escapement in the Wood and Nushagak rivers of Bristol Bay is tracking well with forecasts made by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game pre-season. As of yesterday, June 30, Wood River escapement was 603,000 sockeye out of a forecasted escapement of 980,000, putting it at the 61 percent mark. In the Nushagak a cumulative escapment of 243,000 sockeye have been counted, 32 percent of the 770,000 expected.

That is good news, but even better news is when compared to last year’s escapement on that date, escapement on the Nushagak this year is higher. And remember that last year the Nushagak District salmon run broke all historic records. On July 1, 2018, ADF&G broke the news that harvest in the Nushagak reached 1.77 million sockeye, a new record. Their escapment at that time was 183,440 sockeye out of a predicted 770,000 salmon (same as this year.)

The Wood River escapement last year at this time was 1.2 million out of a prediction of 1.53 million or 78 percent acheived. The Wood River is part of the Nushagak District, and last year was a huge contributor to the record-breaking district totals.

Historically, Bristol Bay’s peak is coming at the end of this week. The latest analysis from the Port Moller Test Fishery notes “The substantial uptick in the daily index today [June 29, 2019] indicates the run will continue to build at least through July 4, and possibly beyond.

“We will need to know what the remainder of the test fishing indices look like to see how big the run may be beyond July 4 (we only predict the catch plus escapment that is between Port Moller and the inshore districts). The daily C+E will likely bounce around our current projection but should total around 8 million fish for the period June 29-July 4.”

The Port Moller team also notes that there is no indication that the run is early.

“If the run is on time, the index should begin to fall tomorrow [Sunday, June 30] and continue to do so. Sustained catch indices over the next several days would indicate a later run that is larger than the pre-season forecast.”

Egegik and Nushagak Districts have dominated the test fishery at Port Moller so far, underscoring that the run has not reach its peak at Port Moller, about 5-6 days of swim time for a salmon to the Bay.

Harvest totals in the Nushagak District, as of yesterday, were 4.1 million sockeye out of a pre-season catch forecast of 7.97 million.

On the east side of the Bay, the Egegik to date harvest of 2.1 million compares to the pre-season forecast of 7.04 million.

Bristol Bay’s total catch is 6.8 million sockeye, already more than any other area in the state. Total sockeye catches are 9.6 million fish, with 1.4 million coming from the PWS/Copper River, 1.2 million from the South Peninsula.

Total salmon landings of all species in Alaska are at 22.84 million, with chums making up 3.6 million and pinks, to date, at 9.6 million.

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

ALASKA: Unsound mine: Pebble commentary closes today

July 2, 2019 — Over the last 13 years that I’ve been watching and covering the ebbs and flows of Pebble Mine in Southwest Alaska, I’ve followed the data trail, news stories about tailings ponds failures at similar mines, and the Pebble Corp.’s struggle to put together a plan and maintain financial backing.

My first take was that Alaskans understand the value of the full range of resource extraction — from finite fossil fuels and minerals to sustainable fisheries and wildlife hunting. They are pretty good at striking a balance since learning some hard lessons after the Exxon Valdez disaster and decades of lawsuits that followed, leaving fishermen and entire communities on the hard and Exxon comparatively unscathed.

Most Alaskans appreciate that their state is truly — and potentially perpetually — rich with a renewable bounty that should not be sacrificed for a short-term gain that is served with a side of toxic ponding. When it comes to fisheries, Alaska’s reach is expansive. People come from all over the Lower 48 and the world to fish Bristol Bay every summer — and millions of salmon lovers around the globe reap the benefits of that harvest.

After today, the fate of this fishery will be in the hands of the federal government. If you haven’t submitted public comment on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ draft environmental impact statement, now is your last chance. If you’re not sure what to write, consider using Quality Comment to help.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Efforts to preserve 6 endangered Maine working waterfront sites receive $1 million boost

July 1, 2019 — The Boothbay Region Maritime Foundation is among six working waterfront projects to share more than $1 million in funds from Land for Maine’s Future to support working waterfront access.

Through the Working Waterfront Access Protection Program, $1.14 million has been set aside to purchase development rights through a legally binding agreement between the state and working waterfront owners, in order to ensure the properties remain available to support commercial fishing or aquaculture, according to a release from the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

The $301,500 “preliminary allocation” to the Boothbay Region Maritime Foundation will help fund demolition and reconstruction of Carter’s Wharf on Atlantic Avenue in Boothbay Harbor, home to 30 lobster fishing boats and a lobster buying station run by Luke’s Lobster.

The wharf could potentially serve an additional 10 to 15 boats, as well as aquaculture operations and allow crab and tuna to be landed, according to the release.

In November, just as Maine Preservation announced that the Boothbay Harbor working waterfront was one of its most endangered historic places in the state, the nonprofit Boothbay Region Maritime Foundation announced it had a purchase and sale agreement to buy the Sea Pier, a commercial lobster buying business.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

MASSACHUSETTS: Fishermen, Climate Activists Clash Over Wind Farm Cable

July 1, 2019 — Commercial fishermen and climate activists packed the Ted B. Morgan meeting room last Wednesday, sparring with each other during a marathon, five-hour public hearing before the Edgartown conservation commission over two proposed undersea cables that would connect the nation’s first industrial-scale offshore wind-farm to the mainland.

Although the cables have been approved by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, among other regulatory bodies, the portions of the cables in Edgartown waters are also subject to review by the town conservation commission under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act. The two, 220 kilovolt cables will run approximately one mile from Chappaquiddick’s eastern shore, connecting the proposed 80-turbine Vineyard Wind project to an electrical generating station in Barnstable.

Vineyard Wind, the New Bedford-based subsidiary of a Danish renewable energy company, bought two offshore wind lease areas from the federal government in 2015 and 2018. During an extensive permitting process over the past two years, wind farm developers have promised that impacts from the undersea cables will have a minor to negligible effect on marine life and seafloor habitats. The project has received substantial support from environmental activists on the Island, who believe that offshore wind is the most effective way for communities in the American northeast to combat climate change.

But at the hearing on Thursday, about a dozen commercial fishermen spoke out passionately against the project, arguing that renewable energy projects shouldn’t be pursued at the potential expense of some of the world’s most fertile fishing grounds.

“I’m an advocate for renewable energy and sustainable fisheries. I just think this project is going to have way more of an impact than they are saying it is,” said John Osmers, an Island commercial fisherman. “Who knows what we’re going to disturb and what species of marine life we’re going to damage with this project? I’d like to for there to be renewable energy, I just don’t think this is the way.”

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

MAINE: Atlantic salmon returns to Penobscot River now highest since 2011

June 27, 2019 — After a record-setting 107-fish day earlier this month, solid Atlantic salmon returns have continued at Milford Dam, according to marine resources scientist Jason Valliere of the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

In a regular email report that he filed on Tuesday, Valliere said the total number of salmon counted at Milford had reached 597.

“Looks like we are having the best salmon year since 2011,” Valliere reported, referring to a year when salmon were still being counted at the Veazie Dam farther downstream. That dam has been removed, and since 2014 the first upstream barrier to sea-run fish has been in Milford.

This year’s total is actually a bit higher than it sounds, as another 18 salmon have been captured at the Orono fish lift, bringing the total count this year to 615.

That total is dwarfed by the 2011 count for the same date — 2,362. But it is the highest recorded since, and may bode well for this year’s run. The total salmon returns by June 25 over the past several years: 2018: 432, 2017: 520, 2016: 351, 2015: 470, 2014: 74, 2013: 311, 2012: 549.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

NEW YORK: The Push Is On For More Wind Farms Off the South Fork

June 27, 2019 — Three wind energy development companies have asked the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to make the federally controlled sea floor off the South Fork available for wind farm leases.

The BOEM is currently considering whether to create new lease areas for wind farm development on the sea floor in several large sectors off the shores of Long Island and New Jersey available to would-be wind farm developers.

Last year, the agency put out a “call” to developers for nominations of possible new wind farm locations—effectively asking development companies to point to areas where they would be interested in putting wind farms. The call areas are regions of sea floor where conditions are suitable for the placement of turbines—bounded by depth contours, shipping lanes and legal boundaries that cleaved the space into four sectors.

One of the four sectors that BOEM is considering lies directly south of the entire South Fork. Called “Fairways North” in BOEM documents, the sector starts about 18 miles south of the South Fork and extends out to more than 30 miles from shore in some portions. It stretches from approximately south of Moriches Inlet east to approximately south of Montauk Point.

Read the full story at the Sag Harbor Express

ALASKA: Pebble Mine opposition: Wrong mine for the wrong place

June 26, 2019 — Six rallies around the state this week have one purpose — spurring Alaska’s U.S. senators and representative to stop Pebble Mine permitting.

The U.S. House of Representative passed an amendment last week that would suspend funding for permitting for the Proposed Pebble Mine project near Bristol Bay, and a rally held outside Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s Juneau office Tuesday is part of a statewide push to get the Senate to do the same.

“We need to send a message to the Trump administration, and we need to send them back to the drawing board,” said Lindsey Bloom, representative for Commercial Fisherman For Bristol Bay.

Bloom said those who oppose Pebble Mine are particularly hoping to prompt action from Murkowski, who previously wrote to the Corps of Engineers requesting an extension for public comment period on the project’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

Read the full story at the Juneau Empire

NORTH CAROLINA: Wind power ban dropped from wind power legislation

June 26, 2019 — A freeze on new wind turbines the Senate approved for wide swaths of the state is gone from a new proposal on regulating wind turbines.

House and Senate negotiators removed the moratorium the Senate approved in Senate bill 377 and added an addition to the state permitting process by requiring the state to ask for more information from military commanders.

Companies that want to erect wind turbines must already seek local, state and federal approval.

The bill approved by a House committee Tuesday was described as a compromise between the House and Senate. It is a drastic change from the ban on wind turbines Sen. Harry Brown, a Jacksonville Republican, first proposed. Brown has said wind farms pose a threat to military bases because they can interfere with flight training. Wind farms could weaken future campaigns to keep bases in the state when federal committees evaluate military installations for closure or consolidation, he argued.

Read the full story at The Charlotte Observer

Gov. Edwards requests Federal Disaster Declaration for Louisiana fishermen

June 26, 2019 — In a letter written to United States Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross by Governor John Bel Edwards, the governor requested a federal fisheries disaster declaration for Louisiana from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“The extreme duration of high Mississippi River levels since December 2018 has necessitated unprecedented efforts by the U.S. Corps of Engineers to mitigate the threat of levee failures in Louisiana. Such efforts have included the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway twice this year; first in late February and again in early May,” the letter – that was dated June 13, 2019 – reads. “That structure continues to pass large volumes of river water into Lake Pontchartrain which subsequently flows east into Lake Borgne and Mississippi Sound. The extreme influx of freshwater has greatly reduced salinity levels in our coastal waters and disrupted estuarine productivity.”

In the request, Edwards referenced information gathered by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), the organization that manages and protects Louisiana’s natural resources.

An above average oyster mortality rate in oyster reefs in St. Bernard Parish; a statewide 30 percent decline in shrimp landings (brown and white shrimp combined) for the month of March and 61 percent for the month of April, when compared to the five-year average; and a 40 percent statewide drop in landings of speckled trout, when compared to the five-year-average, were some of the LDWF findings Edwards referenced in the letter.

Read the full story at The Houma Times

ALASKA: Bristol Bay opens as public comments close

June 26, 2019 — Fishermen in Alaska’s Bristol Bay kicked off the region’s commercial salmon season this week. Most of the fleet and other stakeholders, however, have been focused on their long-term prospects in the bay since the February release of the Army Corps’ draft environmental impact statement on the proposed Pebble Mine.

“Our industry in Bristol Bay is in the fight of our lives against relentless attempts by the Pebble Limited Partnership fueled by a ‘dig baby dig’ attitude from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to develop the world’s largest and most dangerous open pit mine at the headwaters of our fishery,” said Alaskan Alexus Kwachka of the F/V No Point on opening day in Naknek. “At this point, Bristol Bay fishermen and Alaskans, who still overwhelmingly oppose Pebble, are looking to Sen. Lisa Murkowski to deliver on her longtime promise of ensuring a permitting process that protects the interests of Alaskans and does not trade one resource for another.”

Murkowkski has continued to deflect direct action against the proposed mine.

“As I have said in the past,” the Alaska senator wrote in response to fishermen’s requests for her intervention, “we must have confidence that Bristol Bay’s world-class fisheries are protected, and I expect the Corps’ process to remain fair, rigorous and transparent as Alaskans provide their views.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman