Saving Seafood

TYSON FICK: Alaska’s fishing boats are weathering an unprecedented storm

July 6, 2020 — No one reading this needs to be reminded that we are in uncharted waters as thousands of Alaska fishermen set out to sea for the salmon season. As a fisherman with two young boys, I felt a deep sense of both privilege and responsibility as I set my nets in the glacier-fed waters of Taku Inlet in late June.

Most fishing seasons the biggest questions are: Will the salmon come early or late? Will they be swimming deep or along the shoreline? This summer the questions are: Will Alaska’s independent fishermen financially survive the coronavirus? Will there be buyers willing to pay a decent price for their catch? Will fishermen get access to the personal protective equipment and testing that they need to avoid the spread of coronavirus? Will the long-fought Pebble mine be permitted while Bristol Bay’s fishing fleet is out risking their lives?

Realizing that spring in 2020 was like no other, here at SalmonState we felt it was important to reach out while hunkering down. We did that via SalmonState’s Spring Fishermen Survey. What we heard from the nearly 800 commercial fishermen who responded is while there are new concerns when it comes to their fishing operations, there are a couple of bedrock issues that continue to be priorities for those who make their living from the ocean.

Read the full opinion piece at the Anchorage Daily News

Ocean-Going Robots Poised to Enter Bering Sea to Start Unconventional Fisheries Survey

July 2, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Three saildrones left Alameda, California in May and have arrived at Unimak Pass in Alaska’s remote Aleutian Islands. The ocean drones have sailed nearly 2,700 miles at a walking pace, about 2.5 miles per hour (2 knots), which is just about the distance from Seattle to Miami. Once they navigate through the pass, the drones will enter the Bering Sea. This is where they will conduct a two month-long acoustic survey of walleye pollock. They are expected to reach their first survey station in about a week.

Several key standard manned-vessel surveys were cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The data the drones collect will help to fill in the gap for fisheries stock assessment scientists who monitor the changes in pollock populations to advise fisheries management. The sonar measurements made by the ocean drones will provide valuable insights on pollock abundance and distribution in 2020.

Stay tuned. We will share more when ocean drones reach their destination.

Read the full release here

Alaska Cooperative Hopes to Revive Commercial Salmon Fishing

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.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News

Alaska salmon: Bristol Bay opens with Pebble Mine decision pending

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.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Project to study pandemic impacts on Alaskan salmon season

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.

Read the full release here

ALASKA: Concerns linger over rising Bristol Bay seafood industry COVID-19 cases

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.

Read the full story at KTVA

ALASKA: Pandemic slows distribution of relief funds for 2018 Gulf of Alaska cod crash

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.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

12 of Alaska’s 35 new coronavirus cases are seafood workers in Dillingham

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.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Fear and fishing: Tiny Alaskan village tries to manage influx of commercial fishermen amid COVID-19

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.

Read the full story at ABC News