Saving Seafood

‘Are we getting invaded?’ U.S. boats faced Russian aggression near Alaska

November 13, 2020 — The crew of the Bristol Leader was laying out its long cod-catching line well within U.S. fishing territory in the Bering Sea when a voice crackled over the VHF radio and began issuing commands: The ship was in danger, it said, and needed to move.

The warnings, coming in a mixture of Russian and accented English from a plane buzzing overhead, grew more specific and more urgent. There was a submarine nearby, the voice said. Missiles were being fired. Leave the area.

Other U.S. fishing vessels that were scattered over 100 miles of open sea were getting similar messages. Capt. Steve Elliott stood dumbfounded on the trawler Vesteraalen as three Russian warships came barreling through, barking orders of their own. On the ship Blue North, commands from a Russian plane led Capt. David Anderson to contact the U.S. Coast Guard, wondering how to protect his crew of 27.

“It was frightening, to say the least,” Anderson said. “The Coast Guard’s response was: Just do what they say.”

Read the full story at The Seattle Times

Late-season Arctic research cruise reveals warm ocean temperatures, active ecosystem

November 12, 2020 — Arctic researchers Jacqueline Grebmeier and Lee Cooper have been visiting the Bering and Chukchi seas off Alaska for nearly 30 years, collecting information about the biological diversity of the watery world under the sea ice to understand how marine ecosystems are responding to environmental changes. This year, a late-season research cruise in October revealed a surprise. At a time of year when an ice-breaking ship is usually required to get them to some of the data-gathering outposts, scientists found nothing but open water and an unusually active ecosystem.

“The water and air temperatures were warmer, and we had ecosystem activity that normally doesn’t occur late in the season,” said University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Research Professor Jacqueline Grebmeier, chief scientist on the research cruise and a national and international leader in Arctic research.

Grebmeier and Cooper were part of a small team of researchers from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Clark University that completed an unusual late-season Arctic research cruise due travel challenges presented by COVID-19 pandemic. They found an ecosystem—expected to be powering down to low-level winter activity with sea ice forming—to be still active, likely due to unseasonably warm ocean temperatures. Sea ice formation was still a number of weeks away.

“2020 turned out to be the second lowest minimum sea ice extent, meaning that sea ice retreated back closer to the North Pole,” Grebmeier said. “We had warming water up to 3 degrees Celsius higher than typical all the way through . That means you can’t cool it down that quickly to build ice.”

Read the full story at PHYS.org

Labor report: Alaska fishing jobs trickled down

November 11, 2020 — The number of boots on deck in Alaska has declined, and most fisheries have lost jobs over the past five years. Overall, Alaska’s harvesting sector ticked downward by 848 jobs from 2015 through 2019.

A snapshot of fish harvesting jobs is featured in the November edition of Alaska Economic Trends by the state Department of Labor. The findings show that after hitting a peak of 8,501 harvesters in 2015, fishing jobs then fell to around 8,000 for the next two years before dropping again in 2018 to about 7,600.

In 2019, average monthly fishing employment was 7,653 and the industry added just 33 fishing jobs all year, reflecting growth of about 0.4 percent.

Estimated gross earnings in 2019 totaled more than $1.7 billion, of which only about $660 million went to permit holders who were Alaska residents; the bulk went to fishermen who call Washington home. Alaska’s salmon fisheries, which represent the most workers on deck, added 93 harvesters in 2019 but remained below the five-year average of 4,472 jobs.

Crab harvesting followed a similar trend, gaining 26 jobs in 2019 but remaining below the fishery’s five-year average by 21 jobs. That drop is the largest in percent terms by species since 2015: a loss of nearly a quarter of that workforce.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

ALASKA: 2020 Salmon harvest in Southeast less than half of previous year’s

November 10, 2020 — Southeast Alaska’s salmon harvest was less than half of last year’s haul. That’s according to a preliminary report from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game released on Monday.

Commercial fishermen in Southeast harvested just over 14.3 million salmon across the five species this year — almost 5 million chum salmon, 8 million pinks and 1.1 million coho. For sockeye, the harvest was about 373,000 and 200,000 Chinook.

That’s a drop in harvest for every species except Chinook — also known as king salmon — which increased by a few thousand fish this year. In other words, Southeast’s total salmon harvest was 19 million fewer fish than last year.

The preliminary ex-vessel value of Southeast’s 2020 salmon fishery was just over $50 million dollars. That’s less than half of 2019’s estimated value, and the third consecutive year that Southeast’s value paid to fishermen has dropped.

Read the full story at KSTK

North Slope Borough, NOAA, University of Washington and Cooperative Institute for Climate Ocean and Ecosystem Studies Scientists Collaborate to Monitor Whales in 2020 in Northern Alaska

November 10, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In the Arctic, each year before daylight disappears and winter arrives, thousands of bowhead whales make their  fall migration across the Beaufort Sea off northern Alaska. The timing of the migration is something Alaska Indigenous communities and scientists can count on. However, 2019 was not a normal year.

What Happened in 2019?

The year 2019 was unusual in several ways. It was Alaska’s hottest year on record. Sea surface temperatures were significantly warmer than average. There also were salmon die-offs across the state as river temperatures, in some areas, hit 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

The timing of the bowhead whale migration was also different. By late October, the largely subsistence-based community of Utqiaġvik, Alaska, had seen few whales. Never in recent memory had whales come so late. NOAA researchers observed that both the edge of the sea ice and the bowhead whales were farther north than in previous years of surveying the area in Bureau of Ocean Energy Management-funded aerial studies.

“Whales are a vital part of our communities. Bowheads help us to feed our communities and are central to many of our cultural traditions. Hunting whales has been our way of life for thousands of years,” said North Slope Borough Mayor Harry K. Brower, Jr.

Read the full release here

NPFMC December meeting via webconference

November 10, 2020 — The following was released by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The NPFMC will hold meetings November 30 – December 12, 2020, via webconference. The eAgenda, Schedule and a list of documents for review are now available. Please note the SSC has a separate SSC eAgenda. More detailed information is available on our website.

You can submit and review comments for each issue through the Council and SSC eAgendas. The deadline for written comments is Friday, November 27 at 5 PM (Alaska time). If you have questions, please email npfmc.admin@noaa.gov.

Expos and All Hands: Fisheries events go live online

November 9, 2020 — The coronavirus has derailed face-to-face fish gatherings and forced them to online venues, and there’s a fishing industry dream of a lineup for this month. One perk of going virtual is that more people can tune in to all kinds of meetings, discussions and workshops, no matter where they call home.

Get the latest updates on nearly every Alaska fish in the sea at the popular All Hands on Deck virtual meetings set for Nov. 10-13 by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. Each day will focus on marketing strategies and challenges for the fish and shellfish ASMI promotes in the U.S. and around the world.

“ASMI’s mission is to increase the economic value and awareness of the Alaska seafood resource and that’s a really big lift,” said Ashley Heimbigner, ASMI communications director. “And we couldn’t do it without the input and guidance and ‘on the ground’ information we get from all of our industry partners and stakeholders.”

The All Hands lineup features the latest industry economic indicators presented by the McDowell Group, including covid impacts around the world, trade disputes, and a roundtable forum with experts from the global seafood supply chain.

Every fish and shellfish species gets its own session, Heimbigner said.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

LEIGH HABEGGER: Alaska fisheries and restaurants need immediate relief

November 5, 2020 — Alaska is often referred to as the “seafood powerhouse,” and rightfully so. With more than 50% of our country’s seafood landed here, options for seafood are plentiful — whether you’re looking for a buttery halibut fillet to go with a glass of chardonnay or a cod sandwich and cold beer. But our fishermen and our restaurant partners are struggling because of COVID-19.

In addition to supplying Americans and the world with some of the freshest, most sustainable seafood, the state’s seafood industry created $5.6 billion in total annual economic activity for Alaska in 2018. Fishing is a huge economic driver for the state. But, between March 1 and April 16 of this year, more than half of restaurants in Alaska closed temporarily and more than 80% of restaurant employees were laid off or furloughed. We saw halibut prices cut in half practically overnight.

Nationwide, independent restaurants have lost more jobs than any other industry, affecting 11 million employees within the industry and more than 5 million workers they support in the supply chain. Alaska is no different: Leisure and hospitality have accounted for 38% of all jobs lost in our state during the pandemic. This pandemic directly endangers the 31,800 Alaskans working restaurant and food service jobs, and the countless farmers, fishermmen and other livelihoods that depend on restaurants’ supply chains.

Read the full opinion piece at the Anchorage Daily News

Despite shutdowns, Oregon Dungeness crab fleet fares well

November 5, 2020 — Oregon crabbers had landed 20.07 million pounds of Dungeness as of August. Ex-vessel price negotiations and meat fill issues delayed the opening of the season until 31 December. And like other fisheries, the arrival of COVID-19 put the stops on product flow to preferred markets.

As for the resource, the good times continue to roll for the crabbers. Based on average ex-vessel prices of USD 3.64 (EUR 3.12) per pound this year’s revenues crunch out to USD 73.06 million (EUR 62.67 million). According to data from PacFIN, the Oregon fleet averaged USD 3.58 (EUR 3.02) per pound for revenues of USD 66.7 million (EUR 57.21 million) in the 2019 season.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Some ups but mostly downs for Alaska salmon permit values

November 4, 2020 — After a salmon season that successfully fished its way through a pandemic and upturned markets, the value of Alaska salmon permits is ticking up in two regions while toppling in others.

Permit values are derived by the state Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission based on the average value of four permit sales.

One of the uppers is the bellwether fishery at Bristol Bay where driftnet permits are showing good gains after a strong fishing season, despite a disappointing base sockeye price of $.70 a pound, down by nearly half from last year.

“Probably the lowest asking price out there right now is $170,000,” said Doug Bowen of Alaska Boats and Permits in Homer. “Of course, the next big news here for the Bay would be the forecasts for next year which are not out yet, and they could certainly have an influence on what people are willing to pay for those permits. But they have come up considerably from the low of $150,000 before the season.”

Alaskan Quota and Permits in Petersburg lists one Bristol Bay permit at $195,000, while Dock Street Brokers has new drift listings at between $170,000 and $180,000.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News