October 30, 2020 — Two new secretly recorded videos of Northern Dynasty Minerals CEO Ronald Thiessen discussing the financial aspects of the Pebble Mine project have been revealed by the Environmental Investigation Agency, a Washington D.C.-based advocacy group.
In September, the EIA posted a series of videos it surreptitiously recorded of conversations with Thiessen and Pebble Limited Partnership CEO Tom Collier, which led to Collier’s resignation on 23 September.
October 30, 2020 — A labeling mistake has led the FDA to order the recall of more than two tons of packaged halibut filets produced by a subsidiary of Sealaska, the Juneau-based Alaska Native regional corporation.
The agency initiated the recall on October 23 after it was discovered that the breaded filets — advertised as gluten free — contain wheat and milk but did not reveal the presence of the potential allergens. No illnesses have been reported.
The fish was supplied and packaged by Orca Bay Foods. Since 2017 the Seattle area-based processor has been wholly owned by Sealaska, whose Alaska Native shareholders live in Southeast Alaska and the greater Pacific Northwest.
October 29, 2020 — Oil drilling in the Arctic and the Pebble gold mine in Alaska aren’t actually on the ballot — but they might as well be.
The controversial projects are hanging in the balance of the presidential election, with Joe Biden’s vow to scuttle them. And dozens of other oil, gas and mining ventures planned across the U.S. face heightened risk of rejection or longer permitting times as the Democratic nominee focuses on promoting cleaner alternatives.
The threat extends even to some projects that already have federal permits. Lawsuits challenging government approvals create an opening for settlement agreements that result in more analysis and possibly canceled authorizations, said Height Securities LLC analyst Josh Price.
Conversely, Trump’s re-election would pose uncertainty affecting some renewable energy developers that would fare better under Biden, including companies seeking to build multibillion-dollar wind farms off the U.S. coasts.
There’s a “sliding scale of risk,” said Christi Tezak, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners. “Where you arrive on that scale is going to be increasingly influenced by the carbon intensity of the activities you’re engaged in.
October 28, 2020 — Many Alaska fishermen are likely to be involved in regulatory meetings next spring instead of being out on the water. And Alaska legislators will be distracted by hearings for hundreds of unconfirmed appointments as they tackle contentious budgets and other pressing issues.
New dates have been set for state Board of Fisheries meetings that were bumped from later this year due to coronavirus concerns. During the same time, along with four unconfirmed seats on the fish board, the Alaska Legislature also will be tasked with considering nominees for 137 state boards and commissions named by Gov. Dunleavy during the 2020 session. State lawmakers were unable to do the usual in-depth vetting of appointees when the virus forced them to adjourn early.
The upcoming round of fish board meetings focuses on management of subsistence, commercial, sport and personal use fisheries at Prince William Sound, Southeast and Yakutat, as well as statewide shellfish issues and hatcheries.
October 28, 2020 — Federal fisheries managers aiming to limit incidental halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea are moving forward with alternative options to resolve allowable bycatch based on abundance of the species.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council noted in a revised purpose and need statement approved during its October meeting that the Amendment 80 sector, in the Bering Sea, a fleet of trawl catcher-processors targeting rock sole, yellowfin sole and flathead sole, is accountable for the bulk of the annual halibut prohibited species catch in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands groundfish fisheries. The meeting was virtual, due to safety concerns prompted by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
While the Amendment 80 fleet has reduced halibut mortality in recent years, the continuing decline in the halibut stock requires consideration of additional measures for bycatch management, the council said.
When halibut abundance in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands declines, prohibited species catch by these trawl catcher-processors can result in a larger proportion of total halibut removals, particularly in International Pacific Halibut Commission Area 4CDE, which includes the Pribilof Islands. To that end, the council intends to establish an abundance-based halibut prohibited species catch management program in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands for the Amendment 80 sector that meets requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management Act, particularly to minimize halibut prohibited species catch to the extent practicable under National Standard 9 and to achieve optimum yield in the area groundfish fisheries on a continuing basis under National Standard 1.
October 27, 2020 — For years now, President Donald J. Trump has been standing up to China and other nations, sending the clear message that the United States will no longer tolerate unfair trade practices. While trade damage from unfair retaliation has impacted a host of U.S. commodities, including American seafood, President Trump is taking action on trade policy to open new markets so that American agriculture can compete globally.
High tariffs disrupt normal market patterns, affect prices and export volumes, and raise costs by forcing commodities to find new markets. Additionally, there is evidence that American goods shipped overseas are being slowed from reaching market by unusually strict or cumbersome entry procedures, which can affect the quality and marketability of perishable products. This can boost marketing costs and discount our prices, and adversely affect all those in the Alaska seafood industry.
We always suspected that American agriculture and the world-class seafood industry would likely be among the hardest hit sectors, because our producers are extremely productive and are excellent competitors in the world marketplace. Indeed, of the total tariffs imposed on the United States, a disproportionate amount was targeted directly at our fishermen. In keeping with President Trump’s promise, this administration will not stand by while our hard-working men and women of the seafood industry are treated unfairly by countries acting in bad faith.
October 23, 2020 — Lightweight collapsible pots prevent whales from pirating pricey black cod from longline hooks and give a break to small boats.
“Getting whaled” is so pervasive that fishery managers allowed black cod, aka sablefish, fishermen to switch from baited lines to rigid pots in the Bering Sea in 2008 and in the Gulf of Alaska starting in 2017. (Interestingly, killer whales rob the hooks in the Bering Sea, while sperm whales are the culprits in the Gulf.)
“The whale predation has just been so horrible,” said Frank Miles of Kodiak, owner of 58-foot and 78-foot fishing boats. “The last couple years I tried to do it with hooks, and it just got to the point to where we left tens of thousands of pounds of black cod unharvested because we were going backwards feeding the whales. You can spread your strings 10 miles apart, and you might get one or two skates up and they find you. And then they pretty much strip you blind.”
Analyses from federal surveys in 2013 showed that when killer whales were present during annual sablefish stock surveys, the whales removed 54% to 72% from the hooks.
October 23, 2020 — The U.S. Coast Guard has vowed to ramp up notifications of Russian military exercises in the northern Bering Sea after U.S.-flagged fishing fleets were driven off fishing grounds there the end of August.
At-Sea Processors Association (APA) Executive Director Stephanie Madsen said U.S. boats were fishing for pollock in the Bering Sea’s U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) when they were startled by the nearby activities of Russian warships, submarines, and aircraft.
October 23, 2020 — Health care was the issue that pushed Dr. Al Gross to challenge Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, who is running for a second term. But fisheries has been the hot-button issue as this senate race draws to a close.
Gross, from Juneau, has fished his whole life. His mother was the first executive director of the United Fishermen of Alaska.
Sullivan has the backing of the United Fishermen of Alaska in this race, though that declaration came in June, before much of the political fallout that has put Gross within striking distance of the seat. Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers endorsed Sullivan on Oct. 7. Gross is endorsed by the United Tribes of Bristol Bay, which has been an outspoken and vehement critic of the proposed Pebble Mine.
An Oct. 10 debate between the candidates hosted by the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce and ComFish via Zoom saw Pebble Mine rear its head in the first 10 minutes.
October 23, 2020 — Alaska’s Supreme Court is weighing the legality of a raw fish tax that’s pumped at least $25 million into coastal communities over the past five years. But a lawsuit filed by a Washington state catcher/processor could change that.
Since the 1990s the state has taxed seafood caught by factory trawlers and floating processors through the Fisheries Resource Landing Tax.
Even though the fish is caught outside the 3-mile line in what’s considered federal waters, it’s often brought to Alaska fishing ports before loaded on cargo vessels and shipped overseas.
But seafood company Fisherman’s Finest has challenged the state’s tax in court, arguing it violates a pair of provisions of the U.S. Constitution that restricts coastal states from imposing tariffs or duties on goods brought in and out of a state.
Attorney Jim Torgerson told the Alaska Supreme Court on Wednesday that the U.S. Supreme Court wrote in 1996, “it has never upheld a state tax assessed directly on goods in import or export transit.”