June 22, 2018 — As a candidate, the president promised to drain the swamp and champion the forgotten man. For a group of Louisiana fisherman, their livelihoods and actual swamp are in crisis. Vaughn Hillyard reports.
Years later, Alaska receives $56 million for salmon fishery disaster
June 22, 2018 — Almost two years after Gov. Bill Walker requested federal funding to counterbalance a devastating blow to Alaska salmon, the government answered, to the tune of over $56 million in disaster relief money.
As to who will actually be on the receiving end of that money, however, is not yet known.
That disaster was the 2016 Southest Alaska Pink Salmon Fishery, which came under average of more than 4 million salmon, racking up losses of an estimated threshold of 35 to 80 percent.
Back in 2016, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said that due to the salmon tanking and a 36 percent loss in total revenue, it allowed the National Marine Fisheries Service to consider disaster relief funding.
The full amount, $56,361,332 in disaster funding, will go to the affected fishermen and stakeholders. The money is taken from a $200 million pool in the budget nine fisheries disasters declared across the country and neighboring areas partially as a result of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.
The last time Alaska got money for such disasters was back in 2014, when it took $20.8 million damaged by low Chinook salmon runs in the Yukon and other areas during 2012.
There still remains the question of who among those affected by the fishing disaster will actually get a share in the $56 million, and just how big that share will be.
Wednesday, Alaska’s delegation celebrated the news of that relief payout in a news release, saying, “These dollars are vital to Alaskans and their families who were hit hard by the 2016 pink salmon fishery disaster.”
MASSACHUSETTS: GOP Senate candidate Geoff Diehl outlines plan to help fishermen
June 22, 2018 — Geoff Diehl made his second visit to New Bedford this week to speak with fishermen.
The state representative and candidate running for U.S. Senate against Elizabeth Warren spoke to about five people within the fishing industry at Pier 3 on Thursday. It came just days after he attended a fishing roundtable discussion at the Whaling Museum, which discussed the groundfishing ban affecting the industry.
This second trip of the week was to unveil a set of guidelines he plans to follow to help fishermen if elected.
They involved repealing the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument Status, keeping Carlos Rafael’s fishing licenses in New Bedford and reducing the regulatory burden.
Diehl suggested establishing a NOAA headquarters in New Bedford to better facilitate discussions between the agency and fishermen in the nation’s most valuable seaport.
“They should at least have a satellite if not maybe move their main offices here,” Diehl said. “I think that would make a lot of sense to have them interact with the actual fishermen.”
Massachusetts wants added review for Vineyard Wind project
June 22, 2018 — With the largest purchase of offshore wind resources in the country on their doorstep, state officials say they want more information to provide proper environmental oversight.
Last Friday a certificate was issued for Vineyard Wind’s April 30 draft environmental impact report, but because the company has now moved ahead to negotiate an 800-megawatt contract with three electric utilities companies, a more comprehensive report is needed, according to Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton.
Massachusetts has an “interest in and obligation to provide a rigorous, robust and transparent environmental review process for the largest single procurement of offshore wind by any state in the nation,” Beaton wrote in the certificate.
The company, an equal partnership of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables, plans what is expected to be a $2 billion construction project to install 50 to 100 wind turbines in federal leased waters 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, with three energy export cables to make landfall on Cape Cod.
The sale of offshore wind power from the wind farm to the electric utilities on the mainland is part of a larger initiative by state leaders to reach a capacity of 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind energy by 2027.
As part of the typical review under the state’s environmental policy act, a draft and then a final environmental impact report are explanations by an owner of its project and alternatives to fully adhere to state and local environmental regulations. The state certificates issued on the reports, in turn, are guidance, describing what the company intends and what still needs to be addressed, strengthened or emphasized to ultimately avoid, minimize or mitigate damage to the environment.
In declaring the Vineyard Wind’s 1,380-page draft environmental impact report “inadequate,” Beaton said in Friday’s certificate that he is taking into account the company’s May 23 selection as the offshore wind competitor to move forward with contract negotiations with the utilities. Given the evolving circumstances, Beaton said he is asking for a supplemental draft environmental impact report from Vineyard Wind.
MASSACHUSETTS: Senate Candidate Geoff Diehl unveils plan to help fleet
June 21, 2018 — Geoff Diehl, the Republican challenger to incumbent U. S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, would retain Carlos Rafael’s forfeited groundfish permits in New Bedford and would push to repeal the creation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Marine Monument, according to his plan to help the fishing industry.
Diehl, a state representative from Whitman, is set to release the plan, “A Good Diehl for Fishing,” at campaign stops Thursday in New Bedford, Scituate and Gloucester. The Gloucester event is set for 4 p.m. at the Fishermen’s Monument on Stacy Boulevard.
The Diehl fishing plan also calls for reducing the regulatory burden on commercial fishermen and finding “a balance between the necessary protections to ensure ocean preservation, and continuing to support the growth of a healthy marine industry across the state.”
His plan opposes mandated at-sea monitoring of the Northeast groundfish fleet, calling them “onboard watch dogs,” as well as an “egregious example of government overreach and a crippling cost to the fishermen.”
Diehl said transferring Rafael’s groundfish permits to “ready licenses” in New Bedford rather than dispersing them to other fishing concerns throughout the Northeast multispecies groundfish fishery “is critical for maintaining the livelihood of those individuals and for ensuring the survival of the fishing industry now and in the future.”
ALASKA: Coastal Villages study renews fight over CDQ quota allocations
June 21, 2018 — A new study reaffirms that large and long-standing inequities still exist in a federal program aimed at improving the economic situation in Western Alaska.
Coastal Villages Region Fund commissioned the report conducted by the Seattle-based research firm Community Attributes Inc., which concludes the fisheries allocations in the Community Development Quota Program prevent the groups representing the poorest regions in Western Alaska from fully achieving their mission.
Coastal Villages is the CDQ group for 20 villages on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, which is one of the most economically depressed regions not only of Alaska, but the country as well.
The Western Alaska CDQ Economic Needs Report notes that Coastal Villages serves 35 percent of the population meant to benefit from the program, yet has access to just 24 percent of the pollock, about 18 percent of the crab and 17 percent of the Pacific cod quota dedicated to the CDQ Program.
Those fisheries quotas are allocated amongst the six CDQ groups that cover residents within 50 miles of the Bering Sea coast in an area starting north of Nome on the Seward Peninsula south and west through Bristol Bay and out the Aleutian chain.
ALASKA: Copper River crash will cost commercial fishermen millions
June 21, 2o18 — Copper River sockeye fishermen are facing historic low returns this year, prompting some commercial fisherman to target other species elsewhere in Prince William Sound, and leaving others waiting onshore in what is usually a profitable fishery to the tune of $15 million or more in ex-vessel value.
Through mid-June, the commercial Copper River District drift gillnet fishery had landed just less than 26,000 sockeye salmon and a little more than 7,000 kings during three mid-May fishing periods. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game had expected a harvest this summer of nearly 1 million sockeye in the district, and about 13,000 kings. As the harvest stands now, it’s the second-lowest in the past 50 years.
The Copper River fish typically fetch a premium price as the first of the season, and this year was no exception, with prices as high as $75 per pound for kings at the Pike’s Place market in Seattle after the May 17 season-opening period.
But the district hasn’t re-opened after the first three periods because the sockeye returns are so poor, so the final value is likely to be far lower than the $20 million-plus the fishery often nets.
ADFG Area Management Biologist Jeremy Botz said it would take a significant improvement for the fishery to re-open.
ALASKA: Julianne Curry Joins Icicle Seafood as Public Affairs Manager
June 21, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Icicle Seafood announced yesterday that Julianne Curry, a fourth-generation Alaska fisherman and advocate for the Alaska seafood industry, has been named the company’s Public Affairs Manager. She began at the post on Monday.
“Julianne was born and raised in Petersburg, Alaska, where Icicle also has deep roots,” said John Woodruff, Chief Operating Officer at Icicle Seafoods. “As a long-term resident of the area and a third generation Icicle fisherman, she is in tune with the state’s fishing sector and with Icicle Seafoods and its impressive history in the region. We are confident that Julianne will do a tremendous job and will quickly help advance the company.”
Based in Petersburg, Curry will focus on regulatory and policy matters, government and community relations and will work collaboratively with her Alaska seafood colleagues on strategic planning efforts to positively impact the sector.
Kris Norosz, also of Petersburg, held the position for Icicle until her retirement last year.
Curry was the Executive Director and lobbyist for United Fishermen of Alaska and served as the Executive Director of the Petersburg Vessel Owners Association. Most recently she consulted on a variety of fisheries related issues at both the state and federal level. She is the Chair of the Communications Committee at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) and is a member of its Salmon Committee. She has been a member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Advisory Panel, a board member of United Fishermen of Alaska (UFA) and the National Seafood Marketing Coalition (NSMC) while also participating on the Halibut Coalition Steering Committee. In addition, she is a regular attendee at various management and regulatory meetings such as the Board of Fisheries, International Pacific Halibut Commission
Curry is the Chair of the Communications Committee at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) and is a member of its Salmon Committee. She has been a member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Advisory Panel, a board member of United Fishermen of Alaska (UFA) and the National Seafood Marketing Coalition (NSMC) while also participating on the Halibut Coalition Steering Committee. In addition, she is a regular attendee at various management and regulatory meetings such as the Board of Fisheries, International Pacific Halibut Commission and the State Legislature.
Icicle Seafoods began when Robert Thorstenson Sr. formed a group of fishermen to buy out the Pacific American plant in Petersburg in 1965, renaming it Petersburg Fisheries which eventually became Icicle Seafoods. The company is one of the largest and most diversified seafood firms in North America, with facilities throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.
Since acquiring Icicle Seafoods in 2016, Cooke Seafood USA, Inc. has expanded the company on many levels, including investing in processing facilities and supporting Alaska communities through its ‘buy local’ policy.
This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.
ALASKA: Ballot measure opponents get financial boost
June 20, 2018 — Some of Alaska’s biggest mines are putting more money into their fight against a pro-fisheries ballot initiative scheduled for this fall’s general election.
According to a report released Thursday by the Alaska Public Offices Commission, the parent companies of Pogo Mine, Fort Knox Mine, Kensington Gold Mine and the proposed Donlin Creek Mine each contributed $400,000 to Stand for Alaska this week.
A pro-construction group also contributed $5,000 to Stand for Alaska.
Stand for Alaska is the independent expenditure group created to oppose Ballot Measure One, which would impose tough new restrictions on development that affects the state’s lakes, streams and rivers.
To date, Stand for Alaska has received more than $5 million in contributions.
The group supporting the measure, Yes for Salmon, also filed a contributions report with APOC this week. That report shows a $3,700 contribution from the Portland, Oregon-based Wild Salmon Center and a $5,958 donation from the Sitka Conservation Society. Both donations appear to be in-kind contributions of staff time, rather than cash up front.
To date, Yes for Salmon has received just under $728,000 in contributions.
Ballot Measure One is under consideration by the Alaska Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments April 26 about its constitutionality. The justices, who have not yet released their decision, are deliberating whether the ballot measure is so stringent that it effectively allocates the state’s waters for fish. Constitutional limits prohibit ballot measures that make appropriations of money or resources.
Carryover frozen halibut brews competition in Alaska
June 20, 2018 — As the fleet fished on a halibut quota of 16.63 million pounds, dockside offers ranged from $4.25 to $5.50 per pound for fish 20 pounds and under to 40 pounds and up. That’s down significantly from the 2017 spread of $6.40 to $6.90 per pound when the fleet fished on a quota of 18.3 million pounds.
This year’s pricing trend flies in the face of market dynamics of years past, when diminished supplies translated to higher prices all the way through the distribution chain.
Whether the volume of supplies and price point have reached the equilibrium of what consumers will pay for a slice of halibut on their plates remains to be seen. In the meantime, Bob Alverson, manager of the Fishing Vessel Owners’ Association in Seattle, noted that processors have reported carryover inventories of frozen Pacific halibut from 2017 are competing with volumes of fresh Atlantic halibut funneling into markets along the East Coast.
The fall in ex-vessel prices for blackcod tells a slightly different story. The 2018 quota has been set at 25.8 million pounds, up from the 22.58 million pounds of 2017. Alverson noted that strong year classes of fish spawned in 2014 and 2015 have begun recruiting into the fishery — good news in the health of the resource.
However, the extra quantities of the 2- to 3-pound fish coming across the docks has precipitated decreased pricing in export markets to Japan and throughout Asia.
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