Saving Seafood

Alaska herring stocks on the rise, but fleet is not finding the right-sized fish

February 16, 2021 — Just two seiners and one gillnetter participated in the 2020 herring season in Togiak, Alaska. With a guideline harvest of 38,749 metric tons (MT), it is believed those that participated did well, though exact harvest data will remain confidential due to rules allowing the participants not to report catch data with fewer than five vessels partaking in the harvest.

Elsewhere in Alaska, the Sitka sac roe fishery struck out last year after managers and the industry decided the fishery should remain closed for its second year in a row. The predominance of herring recruiting into the fishery have been three-year-olds. With weights of about 90 grams per fish, buyers aren’t interested in the tiny egg skeins for salted roe markets in Japan.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US West Coast salmon fishermen recorded lackluster 2020 seasons

February 12, 2021 — Last year went down as one of the most lackluster seasons in history for salmon fishermen on the U.S. West Coast.

Regional fishermen landed 6.33 million pounds of kings, silvers, and chums in 2020, down by almost half of the 11.05 million pounds the three West Coast states landed in 2019, according to data from PacFIN, and a fraction of the 56.16 million pounds in the record-setting year of 2013.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Alaska fisheries: pollock and crab rule the winter

February 10, 2021 — Freezing February weather doesn’t keep Alaskans off the fishing grounds from Southeast to Norton Sound.

In the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, boats are pulling in pollock, cod, flounders and other groundfish.

More than 3 billion pounds of pollock will come out of the Bering Sea this year, and another 250 million pounds from the gulf.

Prince William Sound also has a winter pollock fishery that will produce nearly 5 million pounds.

Many Alaska crab fisheries are underway or soon to be.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

One Alaska king salmon is worth the same as two barrels of oil right now

February 10, 2021 — Seafood sales “are on fire” in America’s supermarkets and one king salmon from Southeast Alaska is worth the same as two barrels of oil.

That’s $116.16 for a troll-caught chinook salmon averaging 11 pounds at the docks vs. $115.48 for 2 barrels of oil at $57.74 per barrel on Feb. 3.

As more COVID-conscious customers opted in 2020 for seafood’s proven health benefits, salmon powered sales at fresh seafood counters. Frozen and “on the shelf” seafoods also set sales records, and online ordering tripled to top $1 billion.

Those are some takeaways from a National Fisheries Institute Global Marketing Conference hosted online by SeafoodSource News.

Here is a sampler of what experts called “eye-popping” 2020 retail sales reflecting America’s trend to eat more fish:

IRI, a world leader in market data, said overall sales at in-store fresh seafood counters jumped 28% to $871 million, led by salmon with a 19% increase to $2.2 billion.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

ALASKA: Single Positive Case of COVID Found as OBI Conducts Preseason Testing at Petersburg Plant

February 10, 2021 — Petersburg, AK — Yesterday, after testing all incoming employees for the crab season, OBI Seafoods confirmed one positive case of COVID. The company hired a completely local workforce of Petersburg residents for the 2021 tanner and golden king crab fishery, which begins February 17.

The employee who tested positive is asymptomatic and was immediately isolated. Contact tracing was done to identify others for additional testing and quarantine.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Alaska’s US attorney is investigating something about Pebble, but the target is unclear

February 10, 2021 — The parent company of the proposed Pebble Mine said it’s cooperating with a federal grand jury investigation. The company said the case relates to conversations about the mine that were secretly recorded. But who is being investigated, and for what alleged crime, is not clear.

The company, British Columbia-based Northern Dynasty, issued a statement Friday that leaves a lot unanswered. It said the U.S. Attorney’s office in Alaska issued subpoenas to Pebble Limited Partnership and its former CEO, Tom Collier, requiring them to hand over certain documents.

The statement said the investigation appears related to “previously disclosed recordings of private conversations regarding the Pebble Project.”

That seems to describe the so-called Pebble Tapes, undercover recordings produced last year by an environmental group.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

ALASKA: Gov. Dunleavy Introduces Job Creating Infrastructure Bond

February 9, 2021 — The following was released by The Office of Governor Mike Dunleavy (R-AK):

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy today introduced a job-creating $356 million infrastructure proposal – the first statewide bond proposal in nearly 10 years. Senate Bill 74 is a key piece of the Dunleavy administration’s Path Forward and will benefit Alaskans statewide, improving transportation, education, recreation, and communications systems throughout the state. Upon passage by the Legislature, the general obligation bond will go to a vote of the people.

“This statewide bond package is essential to stabilizing our economy and putting Alaskans back to work following the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic,” said Governor Mike Dunleavy. “Not only will this proposal create jobs, it will improve critical infrastructure for all Alaskans. I look forward to working with the Legislature to take this to a vote of the people following the 2021 legislative session.”

The proposal totals $356,405,952 and leverages a federal match of $1,003,471,000. Projects of interest included in the general obligation bond include:

  • $8.5M to West Susitna Road Access project
  • $25M to School Major Maintenance Grant Fund
  • $18.9M to Fairbanks Youth Facility
  • $2.4M to Fairbanks Pioneer Home
  • $19.5M to Alaska Vocational Technical Center upgrades
  • $12M to Alaska Public Safety Communication Services System upgrades
  • $13.2M to Fairbanks to Seward Multi-Use Recreation Trail Construction
  • $20M to Statewide Firebreak Construction Program
  • $2.4M to Alaska Wildlife Troopers Marine Enforcement repair and replacement
  • $4.2M to Bethel Airport
  • $8.3M to Craig Harbor
  • $28.8M to Dalton Highway repairs and upgrades
  • $540K to Denali Highway Mile Point 24-25 (Milepost 22)
  • $5.6M to Ketchikan South Tongass Highway
  • $29.9M to Sterling Highway Miles 8-25 (Milepost 45-60) Sunrise to Skilak
  • $9.3M to Unalaska Harbor
  • $29.6M to University of Alaska infrastructure projects

For more information on the general obligation bond proposal, including a comprehensive list of project proposals, click here.

Department of Justice serves subpoenas to Pebble mine developer and former chief executive

February 8, 2021 — The U.S. Department of Justice has issued a grand jury subpoena to the developer of the controversial proposed Pebble mine and the company’s former chief executive as part of an investigation involving already-disclosed private conversations about the project, according to a statement from the project’s parent company.

The Pebble Limited Partnership and its former CEO, Tom Collier, have each been served with a subpoena issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska, according to an online statement from Northern Dynasty Minerals, Pebble’s parent company on Friday.

The company and Collier must “produce documents in connection with a grand jury investigation apparently involving previously disclosed recordings of private conversations regarding the Pebble Project,” the statement said.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Sockeye salmon retail prices at record winter highs, but uncertainty looms

February 5, 2021 — Retail prices for sockeye salmon have been at historical highs for the past three months, largely driven by a 25 percent drop in global supply in 2020.

For Q1 up through 27 January, wild sockeye salmon fillets averaged USD 12.07 (EU 10.05), the highest quarterly average since 2012, according to figures cited by the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association (BBRSDA).

Read the full story at Seafood Source

New Coast Guard Cutter Named For Heroic Sailor Buried In Unalaska

February 5, 2021 — Near the base of Mount Newhall in Unalaska, among several weathered Russian Orthodox crosses, a tall stone marks the grave of seaman Charles Moulthrope.

Moulthrope was buried in Unalaska in 1896, at the age of 23, after he died during service in nearby waters. But 125 years later, his name lives on, as a recently commissioned U.S. Coast Guard cutter now carries the name Charles Moulthrope.

This will be the first modern Coast Guard cutter named for an enlisted member of the Revenue Cutter Service. The ship is meant to bring recognition to the sacrifices made by Moulthrope and other sailors who served in this precursor of the U.S. Coast Guard, according to Senior Chief Petty Officer Sara Muir.

“The first ten revenue cutters were ten oceangoing cutters,” Muir said. “We’re talking about wooden vessels with sails that were built at the behest of the United States Congress in the early 1790s, largely to crack down on smuggling.”

Moulthrope is recognized for heroically saving his crewmates, while they were serving off the Oregon coast.

Read the full story at KUCB