Saving Seafood

Applications for aquatic farming in Alaska drop due to pandemic, and kelp is favored over shellfish

June 2, 2021 — Alaska interest in growing kelp continues to outpace that of shellfish, based on applications filed during the annual window that runs from January through April.

The number of 2021 applicants for aquatic farming dropped to just seven, reversing a steady upward trend that reached 16 last year, likely due to a “wait and see” approach stemming from the pandemic.

“We had people whose personal situations changed because of COVID. They became home-schooling parents, things like that, where they can no longer dedicate the time they thought they were going to have out on a farm site,” said Michell Morris, permit coordinator at the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game. The agency partners with the Dept. of Natural Resources, which leases the lands where aquatic farming takes place.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Community Steps Up to Continue Yukon River Salmon Research During Pandemic

May 20, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

On the Yukon River, Chinook salmon are woven into the fabric of life and culture. They are a resource that indigenous people have harvested for more than 1,000 years. But over the last 20 years or more, the Chinook populations have declined dramatically. Fewer Chinook are returning to the river each year, and those that do are smaller and younger than they have been in the past. This has created hardship for the people who rely on this resource. It is nurturing a strong desire to understand and contribute to solutions to address the dwindling returns.

Ragnar Alstrom, Executive Director of Yukon Delta Fisheries Development Association, explains it this way: “We want to be a part of figuring out why our Chinook aren’t returning. Instead of standing by and waiting for someone else to figure it out, we want to be engaged in the science.”

So began a special partnership between NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and local fishermen from the villages of Emmonak and Alakanuk. Starting in 2014, the Yukon Delta Fisheries Development Association (YDFDA) worked with scientists to identify nine permanent sampling stations on the three main lower Yukon distributaries. Each summer, local fishermen and NOAA Fisheries biologists work together. They set and retrieve salmon sampling nets, identify and count the catch, and measure water temperature and depth. They send salmon samples to the NOAA Fisheries Auke Bay Laboratories where their diet and body condition are analyzed.

Read the full release here

Alaska’s Commercial Fisheries Division appears to be escaping budget cuts

May 4, 2021 — The budget for Alaska’s Commercial Fisheries Division won’t be cut for the upcoming fiscal year, assuming the current numbers make it through the Legislature.

“The governor’s proposed budget is at about $72.8 million, which is a slight increase from the FY21 approved budget. And most of that increase is due to our personnel services, cost of living increases and things like that that are funded by the administration generally. And also from some additional federal funds for training and things like that. So we’re looking pretty good compared to past years,” said Sam Rabung, director of the Commercial Fisheries Division, the largest within the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which employs just over 640 full-time, part-time and seasonal workers.

“We’re really relieved because we’ve been cut pretty close to the bone and any additional significant cuts would impact fisheries directly. We wouldn’t be able to do some of the assessment projects required for management and we would have to either close or severely restrict fisheries. And I think everybody understands that,” he said, adding that another bonus will be the reopening of the ADF&G office at Wrangell.

Rabung credited the Dunleavy administration for taking the time to dig into the details that clearly show Alaska’s fisheries “pay their own way.”

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Juneau judge denies Sitka Tribe’s motion on constitutional grounds

April 23, 2021 — The commercial and subsistence herring seasons in Sitka have drawn to a close. But the legal case between Sitka Tribe of Alaska and the state continues, with a Juneau Superior Court judge recently denying Sitka Tribe’s motion for summary judgement on constitutional grounds.

Last fall, the Sitka Tribe of Alaska won two victories against the state in the fight over its management of the Sitka Sound Sac Roe Herring Fishery. And in January the legal team representing STA made its third case, arguing that the state had not met its constitutional duties in its operation of the fishery. Juneau Superior Court Judge Daniel Schally denied STA’s claim in a ruling issued last month.

Read the full decision here

During oral argument in January, attorneys representing STA argued that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is required under certain clauses of the Alaska State Constitution to use the “best available information” when making management decisions about the fishery. They argued that the state had not used the “best available information” during the 2018-2019 season when it failed to provide a subsistence harvest data report and a scientific study reviewing the state’s model to the Board of Fish.

After the hearing, it took Judge Schally nearly eight weeks to issue a ruling. In his 13 page decision, Schally wrote that the state’s constitution does not require the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to use the “best available information.”

Read the full story at KCAW

Snow crab and other premium crab saw huge retail growth in 2020

April 20, 2021 — “Insatiable” is the word being used to describe the demand for snow crab as the world’s largest fishery got underway on April 5 in eastern Canada. And while more snow crab will be available this year, buyers expect a tight supply.

Global seafood supplier Tradex said snow crab and other “premium crab” saw huge growth at retail in 2020 and demand is even higher this year.

Seafoods like crab and lobster are now perceived as being affordable to buy and cook at home compared to the cost in restaurants. Tradex spokesperson Tasha Cadence said that shift has spawned a new pandemic-inspired word by market experts.

“It’s ‘premiumization,’ or customers recognizing a higher value for a product and paying a higher price,” she said, referring to comments by industry veteran Les Hodges in his April Crab Update.

The combined Canadian catch for snow crab through September, most of which is sold to the U.S., tops 157 million pounds, 11 million pounds higher than 2020. The Canadian crab makes up 62% of the U.S. market share, according to Urner-Barry which has provided information for the food industry since 1858.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Alaska’s Herring Seasons Winding Down in Sitka, Ketchikan, and Kodiak, Togiak Ahead

April 14, 2021 — Herring sac roe harvests have begun winding down in Southeast Alaska and Kodiak, leaving the remaining fishery in Togiak for what used to be an early shot in the arm for seiners before salmon season started. While herring returns have increased in recent years, the market has fallen in size and value.

This year in Sitka, the herring sac roe fishery began March 27 and closed April 9 at 6 p.m. Preliminary estimates from processors put the total harvest at approximately 16,000 tons of herring. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game continue to conduct surveys as part of their stock assessment research. On April 12, the the cumulative estimate of observed herring spawn in Sitka Sound was 83.2 nautical miles.

Read the full story at Seafood News

ALASKA: Commercial herring fishery winding down

April 12, 2021 — The Sitka Sound Sac Roe Herring Fishery is winding down, and state biologists expect to close the fishery soon.

In an interview on Thursday (4-8-21), Area Management Biologist Aaron Dupuis said the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is shifting out of “active management” mode.

“We’re still going out there. We’re flying, we’re monitoring the commercial fishery. We’re not leaving it alone to do its thing,” he said. “So we’re definitely on top of this, but it’s for sure winding down. I’d expect it to go another day or two tops.”

Dupuis said the bulk of the fishing fleet has left Sitka. Fewer than three processors and three permit-holders are still participating, but due to confidentiality rules, Dupuis could not disclose the exact number. As of April 6, the commercial fishing fleet had harvested around 15,700 tons of herring.

Read the full story at KCAW

ALASKA: Commercial fishery hauls slow down as major spawning begins in Sitka Sound

April 8, 2021 — The Sitka Sound Sac Roe Herring fishery remained open for the 11th day in a row Tuesday (4-6-21)

Seiners hauled in around 900 tons of herring during Monday’s opening, according to a press release from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Estimates are not yet available for today’s/Tuesday’s opener. To date, the commercial fleet has harvested around 14,700-tons of herring, cumulatively.

Read the full story at KTOO