July 2, 2020 — Alaska Congressman Don Young and Florida Representative Debbie Mucarsel-Powell introduced the bipartisan Shovel-Ready Restoration Grants for Coastlines and Fisheries Act of 2020 today in the U.S. House.
The legislation authorizes $3 billion for resilience projects to help bring back jobs lost by COVID-19 and strengthen infrastructure of coastal communities.
June 30, 2020 — A group of Alaska fishermen have formed an organization they hope will help revitalize commercial salmon fishing in Kuskokwim Bay.
The Independent Fishermen of Quinhagak Cooperative will approve fish harvesters for work with the regional buyer, KYUK-AM reported Saturday.
The cooperative board has so far approved 70 anglers to participate and limited the cooperative’s eligibility to harvesters living in the villages of Quinhagak, Goodnews Bay, Platinum, and Eek.
The buyer, E&E Foods, will turn away anglers who have not been approved by the group, the cooperative said in a statement.
June 30, 2020 — The biggest red salmon run in the world is building at Bristol Bay.
Up to 50 million fish could surge into its eight river systems in coming weeks, on par with past seasons. When it’s all done, the fishery will provide nearly half the global supply of wild sockeye salmon.
But this summer is different.
Beyond the restrictions and fears and economic chaos caused by covid-19, fishermen are waiting to learn if the development of a massive gold and copper mine that’s been hanging over their heads for two decades will get a greenlight from the federal government. The news is expected to come at the height of the summer season.
In mid-July, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to unveil its federal record of decision on the permit application by Northern Dynasty of Vancouver, Canada, to build the Pebble Mine at the sprawling mosaic of headwaters that provide the spawning and rearing grounds for the region’s salmon.
June 29, 2020 — The following was released by Penn State:
Bristol Bay, Alaska is home to the world’s largest commercial sockeye salmon fishery, attracting thousands of fishermen, crews, and seasonal workers and tripling the region’s population. Running from early June to late July, the short salmon season is facing a new challenge this year, the coronavirus pandemic.
Penn State is part of a research team conducting surveys with fishery participants and residents to better understand the costs and benefits of varied mitigation policies and is developing pandemic preparedness scenarios. This collaborative project is being funded by a $200,000 National Science Foundation RAPID Response grant.
The concern for this year’s fishing season stems from the 13,000 commercial fishers, crew, and fish processor workers who are descending upon the Bristol Bay region. The largest hospital in the region only has 16 beds and two ventilators and, as of May 2020, was not prepared for an outbreak of coronavirus.
Because the overall economic value of the fishing season is estimated to be around $1.5 billion dollars and the region is dependent on the fishing industry, canceling the season is not economically feasible.
June 29, 2020 — The number of positive COVID-19 cases in the seafood industry is on the rise. On Friday, the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reported five more cases in the Bristol Bay and Lake and Peninsula Boroughs. On Thursday the state reported nine additional cases in the same area.
Mary Swain, executive director of the Camai Community Heath Center in Naknek, said they’ve seen 29 positive cases since June 11. She said most of them are seafood plant workers and two are fisherman.
Local officials have said they’ve seen some seafood workers not wearing masks at some public gatherings. While others in town said they haven’t seen issues with workers.
“You have a lot of fisherman who are taking this seriously and being respectful. And then you have a lot of fisherman who don’t necessarily believe or understand the threat that COVID poses for a community like rural Alaska,” said Kendra Gottschalk, Naknek Native Village Council’s administrative assistant.
June 24, 2020 — Upheavals stemming from the coronavirus pandemic have slowed the process of getting relief payments into the hands of fishermen and communities hurt by the 2018 Gulf of Alaska cod crash.
In late February, the secretary of commerce cut loose $24.4 million for affected stakeholders. Then in late March, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang proposed a written timeline for developing a distribution plan and also called for input from communities and fishing groups.
A draft of the initial plan was intended to compile stakeholder comments in April, be revised in May, and go out for a second round of public input in June and July. But that timeframe was derailed a bit by COVID-19.
Now, the state is “aiming” to get the draft distribution plan out for the first round of stakeholder and public comments by the end of June, according to Rick Green, assistant to the Fish and Game commissioner.
June 24, 2020 — A dozen of Alaska’s new cases of COVID-19 reported Tuesday by state health officials are out-of-state seafood workers in Dillingham, a small fishing town with limited health care capacity where locals had been wary of outsiders bringing in the virus.
The 12 workers are among 19 new cases in nonresidents, according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services COVID-19 dashboard. That’s the highest daily nonresident count since the pandemic began in March.
The state’s active-case count also hit new high of 264, as reported Tuesday. That number reflects residents who test positive and aren’t yet considered recovered.
The state reported one new resident sick enough to be hospitalized Tuesday, for a total since March of 63.
Along with the nonresident cases, the state reported another 16 new cases in Alaska residents, most of them in Anchorage, with other individual cases scattered from Nome and Bethel to Mat-Su, Homer and Fairbanks.
June 24, 2020 — “It’s just how the earth is supposed to be,” says third-generation commercial fishing boat captain Katherine Carscallen. She’s talking about her homeland, Bristol Bay, Alaska. Every June and July, more than half of the world’s supply of sockeye salmon are pulled from these waters.
It sounds excessive, but it’s not; in a highly regulated practice, thousands of fish are left to return home and spawn, allowing the industry to support the region for generations.
The yearly salmon fishery brings in an estimated $200 million in direct revenue to the community of Bristol Bay, says Norm Van Vactor, president and CEO of Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation.
“Overall, it’s a multi-billion dollar fishery,” he says of the thousands of fisherman who come from all over the world to fish for salmon. On average, 10,000 fishermen come each year — but oftentimes that number is upwards of 15,000. In addition, 6,000 fish processing workers also descend on the tiny community.
June 24, 2020 — Crippled ferry service, COVID-19, and flailing Japanese markets have hurt the Alaska halibut and black cod seasons.
Alaska’s halibut fleet fished on allocations of 16.08 million pounds, but deliveries as of early May stood at just 1.46 million pounds, with the brunt of them coming out of harvest area 3A. The season opened on 14 March and will run until 15 November, with supply volumes to market lagging in the early season thanks to crippled state ferry service and the COVID-19 virus.
Read the full story from National Fisherman at Seafood Source
June 24, 2020 — A recent social media campaign by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) yielded an impressive 55 million impressions on the leading Chinese social media platform Weibo.
The campaign was part of a social media promotion this winter by ASMI, where 50 Weibo influencers posted about Alaska seafood and fans of the posts were entered to a lucky draw for Alaskan seafood prizes.