State and Local

March 13, 2014 — Despite a pool of more than $75 million in federal appropriations for fisheries disaster relief from Hurricane Sandy and other storm damage, New Jersey, at $1.5 million, has received a pittance compared with other regions, according to state legislators and anglers associations.

Marine industry losses in both commercial and recreational fishing because of Sandy have been estimated at $121 million in New Jersey and $77 million in New York, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The two states have been told to split $3 million allocated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service for the recovery, officials told the Inquirer. NOAA has not indicated how funding disbursements were determined.

But one of the six places NOAA is distributing money for declared disasters in 2012 and 2013, Alaska — removed by 4,600 miles from where Sandy made landfall in Brigantine, N.J., on Oct. 29, 2012 — will receive $21 million of the funds for issues with its salmon fisheries. States in New England directly affected by Sandy — Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island — will receive the largest share, $33 million, for depleted fish stocks.

Read the full story here

March 12, 2014 — A new report shows that Bristol Bay produced 31-percent of the world’s commercially caught sockeye salmon last year. That’s down significantly from previous years. The new “Sockeye Market Analysis” report was prepared by the McDowell Group for the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association.

The report shows that global sockeye production declined 17-percent last year down to 290-million pounds. Bristol Bay made up 31-percent of that total, which is down from the 45-percent from 2010 to 2012. The McDowell group notes that prior to 2013, Alaska typically accounted for 70-percent or more of the global sockeye production. Last year Bristol Bay produced 92-million pounds of sockeye. The new report shows that sockeye accounted for just 5-percent of the global salmon production last year. That includes wild and farmed salmon.

The McDowell Group acknowledges that it’s very difficult to discern exactly where Bristol Bay sockeye are sold but they believe that the U.S. domestic market remains the largest market for sockeye products from Alaska. Back in 2012, 44-percent of Alaska’s sockeye went into the domestic market. The 2012 data shows that Japan and the United Kingdom were the 2nd and 3rd largest markets for Alaska’s sockeye products. The market analysis shows that Seattle and Portland had the most sockeye sales per capita. Other cities in the top 10 include Denver, Kansas City, and the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area. Back in 2012, 49-percent of the first wholesale value of Bristol Bay’s sockeye was in the H&G and fillet product forms. Canned salmon accounted for 42-percent of the value. Roe accounted for 6-percent of the value, followed by fresh and smoked products, which each made up 1-percent of the value.

Read the full story and listen to the audio at NPR affiliate KDLG 

 

March 12, 2014 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

Due to the forecast for potentially hazardous weather conditions, the lobster industry meetings hosted by Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at the York Village Fire Department at 10:00 AM and the Scarborough High School Cafeteria at 5:00 PM have been postponed and will be re-scheduled for a future date. Notification of the re-scheduled meetings will be issued and posted on the Department of Marine Resources website.
 
For a schedule of upcoming meetings, visit http://www.maine.gov/dmr/news/2014/lobstermeetings.htm

 

CHATHAM, Mass. — March 12, 2014 — Commercial striped bass fishermen will have to make do with a lot less this year as state fishing regulations for the summer season cut in half the number of days they can go fishing and the number of fish they can catch each day. State fishery officials at public hearings said the move was needed to try to extend the season, improve fish prices paid to fishermen, and try to spread the catches to more ports.

In 1995, the striped bass season lasted 57 days before the annual quota was caught and fishing stopped. For the past two summers, its closed after just 16 days. That's due in part to a large aggregation of striped bass that has been gathering close to shore off Chatham in July, making it easy to catch as much as 60 percent of the quota in a short span of time.

While fishermen understood the need, and showed up by the hundreds at public hearings, many were disappointed by last week's vote by the Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission, saying it cut deep into the profitability of the dedicated commercial striped bass fishermen.

"Our guys were fairly displeased by the 15-fish bag limit," said Darren Saletta, the executive director of the Massachusetts Commercial Striped Bass Association. At a public hearing in Plymouth a month ago, many commercial fishermen accepted the reduction in fishing days but argued for a daily limit close to the 30 fish allowed last year.

Saletta said the 15-fish limit, which would now be the total amount of fish allowed for the boat regardless of how many commercial fishermen with permits were onboard, meant that many would have to go fishing solo. For those who have to travel from an Upper or off-Cape port, the profits would likely go into fuel with just 15 fish.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

 

March 11, 2014 — Kodiak fish processor North Pacific Seafoods pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to illegally dumping ammonia into the Kodiak city sewer, while the processor’s chief engineer faces charges of his own.

District Court Judge Ralph Beistline imposed $205,000 in criminal penalties, $55,000 of which should go to the city for “hazardous waste response training” and equipment for sewer and fire department employees, according to an Alaska U.S. Attorney's Office press release.

Kodiak is located near the northeastern tip of Kodiak Island. Life on the island, the largest in Alaska and the second largest in the U.S., revolves largely around maritime activities including commercial fisheries and fish processing plants as well as a large U.S. Coast Guard base.

North Pacific Seafoods is a Seattle-based company and a subsidiary of Japanese corporation Marubeni. It owns five seafood processing plants in Alaska.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Steward, the illegal disposal happened in late November 2011. Employees at Alaska Pacific Seafoods “dumped approximately 40 pounds of ammonia waste from its refrigeration system” into the sewer. Sewage plant employees noticed an odor wafting through their facility and requested the city’s fire department help locate the source of the pungent smell.

“The chief engineer for the Alaska Pacific Seafoods facility at first denied discharging the ammonia when asked about” the odor, according to the release. But the sewer employees traced the ammonia back to the fish processing plant.

According to a plea agreement, the employees donned protective gear and accessed multiple locations along a sewer line to trace the source, a manhole in a public street near the fish processing plant.

Read the full story at the Alaska Dispatch

March 10, 2014 — A report commissioned by the city Fisheries Commission shows that, as of a month ago, 210 commercial fishing vessels berth at docks and wharves in Gloucester’s Inner Harbor and 38 percent of those utilize publicly-owned facilities.

But that’s not all it shows. The report, compiled by the Urban Harbor Institute at UMass-Boston, also offers a glimpse of how quickly things can change as the city and the region experience the throes of the ongoing commercial fishing crisis.

The first draft of the report was completed last spring. Between then and late February, when the Fisheries Commission received the final report, the roll of vessels docking at the 77 waterfront properties in the city’s Designated Port Area declined by at least 12-15 boats.

Also during that period, the 56-berth Jodrey Fish Pier went from having a waiting list of eight vessels to an availability of five slips, according to the report’s findings.

MassDevelopment, which operates the Jodrey State Fish Pier, disputed those numbers. Spokeswoman Kelsey Abbruzzese said the State Fish Pier still has a waiting list of 11 vessels despite two open berths each able to accommodate 100-foot vessels.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times 

March 10, 2014 — The seafood industry is one of the pillars of the Alaska economy. Lawmakers and staffers in Juneau heard a detailed presentation about the industry last month as a way of informing the upcoming decisions on legislation that could impact the industry. KDLG’s Mike Mason has the story.

Listen to the story at KDLG

 

BRISTOL BAY, Alaska (PRWEB) — March 11, 2014 — The following was released by the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association:

For the first time, Bristol Bay sockeye salmon will be featured at Seafood Expo North America (formerly the International Boston Seafood Show), taking place March 16th – 18th in Boston, MA.

North America’s largest seafood exposition, this three-day trade show attracts over 19,000 seafood buyers and suppliers from around the world. During the Expo, the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association (BBRSDA) will be hosting Booth #2518 on the show floor and participating in a panel discussion about sustainable seafood brands at 12pm on Sunday, March 16th. The BBRSDA will also be throwing a Bristol Bay reception at the New England Aquarium for fishery stakeholders and supporters.

At its booth, the BBRSDA will be premiering its new consumer-facing website loaded with resources to help retailers and restaurants launch their own Bristol Bay promotions. The BBRSDA will also be handing out recipes and information about the fishery. Staff and Bristol Bay fishermen will be on hand to answer questions and provide additional information.

With the support of several local partners, including John Nagle Co, Chefs Collaborative, New England Aquarium, Red’s Best, and The Fish House, the BBRSDA will be hosting a special reception at the New England Aquarium’s Harbor View Café starting at 6pm on Sunday, March 16th. The reception, a celebration of Bristol Bay’s salmon fishery, will feature specially-prepared Bristol Bay sockeye appetizers along with an update from Bristol Bay representatives about the national campaign to protect Bristol Bay from proposed large-scale mining. Members of the media are invited to attend.

“We’re excited to be heading to Boston to share the Bristol Bay fishery, our fishermen and salmon with the world” said Executive Director, Bob Waldrop. “Bristol Bay sockeye accounts for nearly half of the world’s sockeye production and we certainly believe that this is a product that people want to know more about.”

The Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association (BBRSDA) represents the 1,850 commercial salmon driftnet fishermen who harvest the world’s greatest seafood – Bristol Bay sockeye salmon. Find them at bristolbaysockeye.org and bbrsda.com.

Read the release at PR Web

March 11, 2014 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

In order to allow Maine’s smelt fishery to recover from a decline in abundance in the southern half of the coast, the Maine Department of Marine Resources has announced the closure of the state’s spring smelt fishery from Stonington to the New Hampshire border, beginning March 14.

“This closure will impact those who dip smelts in our coastal tributaries for recreational purposes,” said Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher. “Smelt are particularly vulnerable at this time as they move into these areas to spawn. What few smelt camps that remain on the Kennebec and its tributaries will be exempt from this closure.”

Implemented through emergency rulemaking, the closure will last 90 days, which covers the spring spawning runs. “Based on our on-going surveys of the fishery, we will decide on management actions for next year,” said Keliher.

Recent Department surveys have shown that smelt populations are declining in many portions of Maine. “Between 2005 and 2009, DMR and the Maine Marine Patrol documented a majority of the smelt spawning sites in Maine,” said DMR Resource Specialist Claire Enterline. “Comparing the strength of runs to data collected by DMR and the US Fish and Wildlife Service in the early 1970’s and 1980’s, we found that more than 50 percent of the runs which had previously supported spawning smelts no longer did, or had severely reduced or limited spawning.”

The surveys also revealed that the majority of the decline in spawning activity is taking place in the southern half of the coast. Of the surveyed sites that historically supported smelt runs, only 38 percent of the sites south of Penobscot Bay were documented to currently support spawning runs, while 61 percent of sites downeast still support runs. “This is why the decision was made to close only the southern portion of the coast,” said Keliher.

More recent data confirms the earlier survey. “Data collected during annual spawning and creel surveys have also shown that the size of fish has declined when compared to historical records of upper Casco Bay and Kennebec River populations,” said Enterline.

“Because of these documented population declines and evidence of biologically stressed populations, I felt it was necessary to close this fishery in the southern half of the coast to help sustain and restore this species,” said Keliher.

In 2004, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration listed the rainbow smelt as a federal Species of Concern. The rainbow smelt is a small fish that lives in estuaries and offshore waters, and spawns in shallow freshwater streams each spring. Its numbers have dropped dramatically during the last fifteen to twenty years for reasons that are not well understood. While the state supports a small commercial smelt fishery, the majority of smelt are caught by recreational harvesters. Many animals including seals, striped bass, codfish, great blue herons, and others eat smelt.

One of the major threats to smelt recovery identified by DMR research is a loss of spawning habitat and access to spawning habitat. “Roads and stream crossings that prevent small fish like smelt from moving upstream make it impossible for them to reach their spawning grounds,” said Enterline.

“Although small in size, this fish has played a big role in Maine’s coastal ecosystem and economy, which is why we’re taking this step to ensure its recovery” said Keliher.