Saving Seafood

Alaska salmon catches continue to grow

July 5, 2019 — Alaska salmon numbers keep rising as the US enters its Independence Day holiday, July 4.

Forecasters with Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game are looking for indications of a plateau or beginning of a decrease in catches in the test fishery, 150 miles seaward of Bristol Bay, or in the catch or escapement (C + E = total run) in the bay itself, and are seeing none.

What they are seeing is increasing numbers of fish being caught furthest offshore in the Port Moller Test Fishery (PMTF), those linked to the run in the Nushagak district and other westside districts.

Since the last PMTF Interpretation on test fishery catches since June 29, two more days of catches much higher in stations 14-22 than previously seen and outweighing those caught in nearer-shore stations 2-12. The highest daily catch index on July 1 was station 16 with 166. However, that index only edged out the June 29 index at station 8 of 161 which may indicate that the run to the Egegik district continues to build.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Alaskan Gold Mine Gets Boost as Trump’s EPA Intervenes on Permit

July 3, 2019 — The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday moved to ensure it has a role negotiating the terms of any permit for the massive Pebble Mine planned near Alaska’s Bristol Bay, a move that may bolster the permit’s chances of approval.

The EPA’s action comes as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers evaluates how the proposed gold, copper and molybdenum mine would affect the region’s water, land and thriving salmon fishery. In comments filed with the Army Corps, the EPA invoked a provision in a federal clean-water law that would allow top officials from both agencies to work out disagreements over a potential mine permit.

The EPA last week decided to resume consideration of proposed water pollution restrictions that threatened the project since the Obama administration outlined the restrictions in 2014.

The EPA’s continued involvement could be welcomed by supporters of the mine, developer Pebble LP and its parent company, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.

However, the EPA stressed that its action should not be viewed as a decision on the project or what to do about those five-year-old proposed restrictions. Regional EPA officials are coordinating with the Army Corps “to ensure that the EPA can continue to work with the Corps to address concerns raised during the permitting process,” the agency said in letters and formal comments made public Tuesday.

Read the full story at Bloomberg

Federal aquaculture push faces uphill battle in Alaska

July 2, 2019 — With a hard push being made by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to up aquaculture production in the United States in order to reduce the country’s seafood trade deficit, many are wondering where Alaska fits into that plan.

While certain types of aquaculture such as shellfish farming are permitted in Alaska, finfish farming is banned under Alaskan statute 16.40.210, which was passed by the state legislature in 1990.

Before that door closed, in 1985, there was a legislative push to authorize aquaculture in the state, which remains, to-date, the closest the state has ever come to legalizing salmon farming.

Richard Harris was, at that time, a member of a group of individuals in a loosely-structured association cooperating to promote mariculture, The group included Sealaska Corporation, the Washington Fish and Oyster Company, and Ocean Beauty Seafoods. Their efforts resulted in the first proposed complete legislation to permit fish farming in Alaska.

Reflecting on his own efforts 30 years ago, Harris said that was likely the best opportunity the state had to permit finfish aquaculture, but said in those early days of commercial aquaculture, the Alaskan public had a “large number of concerns” with salmon farming.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ALASKA: Bristol Bay’s Salmon Flood is Rising — the Greatest Migration on Earth?

July 2, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — As sockeye salmon surge past the Port Moller Test Fishery nets and catch tallies in the Bay rise as escapment numbers in the river systems accelerate even faster (after all, that is what the biologists manage for), the vast size of Bristol Bay’s salmon run is hard to grasp.

The six-week fishery, which reaches a fever pitch for about ten days, is arguably the greatest migration on earth. Because it is invisible until the last few days, it is rarely recognized. Great migrations might bring to mind vast herds of wildebeast crossing the Serengeti in Africa; those number a mere 1.5 million.

Then there’s what many now call the largest mammal migration — fruit bats from the Congo to neighboring Zambia over 90 days each fall. The size? Only 10 million.

This year’s forecasted total run of 40.18 million sockeyes is expected to net a harvest of 26.1 million salmon.

It’s difficult to find, by any measure, a likeness in the natural world of the journey Bristol Bay salmon make from one of the Bay’s five river systems to the ocean, across the Bering Sea and North Pacific Ocean in a vast loop that brings them back to the Bay to reproduce and die.

It is the reproduction part that fisheries managers focus on. Indeed, state law requires them to manage for escapement to maintain sustainability for each species and timing in each salmon river, every year.

Escapement in the Wood and Nushagak rivers of Bristol Bay is tracking well with forecasts made by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game pre-season. As of yesterday, June 30, Wood River escapement was 603,000 sockeye out of a forecasted escapement of 980,000, putting it at the 61 percent mark. In the Nushagak a cumulative escapment of 243,000 sockeye have been counted, 32 percent of the 770,000 expected.

That is good news, but even better news is when compared to last year’s escapement on that date, escapement on the Nushagak this year is higher. And remember that last year the Nushagak District salmon run broke all historic records. On July 1, 2018, ADF&G broke the news that harvest in the Nushagak reached 1.77 million sockeye, a new record. Their escapment at that time was 183,440 sockeye out of a predicted 770,000 salmon (same as this year.)

The Wood River escapement last year at this time was 1.2 million out of a prediction of 1.53 million or 78 percent acheived. The Wood River is part of the Nushagak District, and last year was a huge contributor to the record-breaking district totals.

Historically, Bristol Bay’s peak is coming at the end of this week. The latest analysis from the Port Moller Test Fishery notes “The substantial uptick in the daily index today [June 29, 2019] indicates the run will continue to build at least through July 4, and possibly beyond.

“We will need to know what the remainder of the test fishing indices look like to see how big the run may be beyond July 4 (we only predict the catch plus escapment that is between Port Moller and the inshore districts). The daily C+E will likely bounce around our current projection but should total around 8 million fish for the period June 29-July 4.”

The Port Moller team also notes that there is no indication that the run is early.

“If the run is on time, the index should begin to fall tomorrow [Sunday, June 30] and continue to do so. Sustained catch indices over the next several days would indicate a later run that is larger than the pre-season forecast.”

Egegik and Nushagak Districts have dominated the test fishery at Port Moller so far, underscoring that the run has not reach its peak at Port Moller, about 5-6 days of swim time for a salmon to the Bay.

Harvest totals in the Nushagak District, as of yesterday, were 4.1 million sockeye out of a pre-season catch forecast of 7.97 million.

On the east side of the Bay, the Egegik to date harvest of 2.1 million compares to the pre-season forecast of 7.04 million.

Bristol Bay’s total catch is 6.8 million sockeye, already more than any other area in the state. Total sockeye catches are 9.6 million fish, with 1.4 million coming from the PWS/Copper River, 1.2 million from the South Peninsula.

Total salmon landings of all species in Alaska are at 22.84 million, with chums making up 3.6 million and pinks, to date, at 9.6 million.

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

ALASKA: Unsound mine: Pebble commentary closes today

July 2, 2019 — Over the last 13 years that I’ve been watching and covering the ebbs and flows of Pebble Mine in Southwest Alaska, I’ve followed the data trail, news stories about tailings ponds failures at similar mines, and the Pebble Corp.’s struggle to put together a plan and maintain financial backing.

My first take was that Alaskans understand the value of the full range of resource extraction — from finite fossil fuels and minerals to sustainable fisheries and wildlife hunting. They are pretty good at striking a balance since learning some hard lessons after the Exxon Valdez disaster and decades of lawsuits that followed, leaving fishermen and entire communities on the hard and Exxon comparatively unscathed.

Most Alaskans appreciate that their state is truly — and potentially perpetually — rich with a renewable bounty that should not be sacrificed for a short-term gain that is served with a side of toxic ponding. When it comes to fisheries, Alaska’s reach is expansive. People come from all over the Lower 48 and the world to fish Bristol Bay every summer — and millions of salmon lovers around the globe reap the benefits of that harvest.

After today, the fate of this fishery will be in the hands of the federal government. If you haven’t submitted public comment on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ draft environmental impact statement, now is your last chance. If you’re not sure what to write, consider using Quality Comment to help.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NPFMC October Meeting Information/Call for Nominations

July 1, 2019 — The following was released by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The October Council meeting will be in Homer, AK at the Land’s End Hotel, September 30th to October 9th.  For planning purposes, we are releasing a preliminary agenda and schedule which will be finalized in early September.  Please be aware the Advisory Panel will start on TUESDAY OCTOBER 1, and the Council will begin on THURSDAY OCTOBER 3.  Because of logistics, changes may occur with the scheduling of agenda items.  Please call (907) 271-2809 if you have questions.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
The Council is seeking nominations for membership for two taskforces to work on two Action Modules, or projects, that implement the Council’s Bering Sea Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP). The two initiated Action Modules are the following:

  • Climate Change Action Module: Evaluate short- and long-term effects of climate change on fish, fisheries, and the Bering Sea ecosystem, and develop management considerations.
  • LK/TK/Subsistence Action Module: Develop protocols for using local knowledge (LK) and traditional knowledge (TK) in management, and understanding impacts of Council decisions on subsistence use.

More information on the nominations HERE.

ALASKA: Pebble Mine opposition: Wrong mine for the wrong place

June 26, 2019 — Six rallies around the state this week have one purpose — spurring Alaska’s U.S. senators and representative to stop Pebble Mine permitting.

The U.S. House of Representative passed an amendment last week that would suspend funding for permitting for the Proposed Pebble Mine project near Bristol Bay, and a rally held outside Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s Juneau office Tuesday is part of a statewide push to get the Senate to do the same.

“We need to send a message to the Trump administration, and we need to send them back to the drawing board,” said Lindsey Bloom, representative for Commercial Fisherman For Bristol Bay.

Bloom said those who oppose Pebble Mine are particularly hoping to prompt action from Murkowski, who previously wrote to the Corps of Engineers requesting an extension for public comment period on the project’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

Read the full story at the Juneau Empire

ALASKA: Bristol Bay opens as public comments close

June 26, 2019 — Fishermen in Alaska’s Bristol Bay kicked off the region’s commercial salmon season this week. Most of the fleet and other stakeholders, however, have been focused on their long-term prospects in the bay since the February release of the Army Corps’ draft environmental impact statement on the proposed Pebble Mine.

“Our industry in Bristol Bay is in the fight of our lives against relentless attempts by the Pebble Limited Partnership fueled by a ‘dig baby dig’ attitude from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to develop the world’s largest and most dangerous open pit mine at the headwaters of our fishery,” said Alaskan Alexus Kwachka of the F/V No Point on opening day in Naknek. “At this point, Bristol Bay fishermen and Alaskans, who still overwhelmingly oppose Pebble, are looking to Sen. Lisa Murkowski to deliver on her longtime promise of ensuring a permitting process that protects the interests of Alaskans and does not trade one resource for another.”

Murkowkski has continued to deflect direct action against the proposed mine.

“As I have said in the past,” the Alaska senator wrote in response to fishermen’s requests for her intervention, “we must have confidence that Bristol Bay’s world-class fisheries are protected, and I expect the Corps’ process to remain fair, rigorous and transparent as Alaskans provide their views.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

‘Derelict vessel’ law snags Alaska fishermen

June 26, 2019 — A well-intended new Alaska law has gone awry from a botched rollout that has turned thousands of Alaskan fishing vessel, tender, barge and sport fish operators into lawbreakers.

Since the start of 2019, all vessels over 24 feet are required to be registered with the state at a Department of Motor Vehicles office. Previously, vessels that were documented with the Coast Guard were not required to also register with the state. The state registration costs $24 and is good for three years.

“You need to get down to the DMV whether you’re documented or not,” explained Frances Leach, executive director of United Fishermen of Alaska.  “If you’re documented you have to register, and if you’re not documented, you have to register and get a title.”

The new rule stems from Senate Bill 92, the Derelict Vessels Act introduced last year by Sen. Peter Micciche (R-Soldotna) and passed by the Legislature. It is intended to help harbormasters and others track down owners of abandoned vessels.

But virtually no mariners know about the new registration requirement.

“We found out about it from a DMV personnel in Haines who told one of our gillnetters, and he told me. And we both called the troopers and they didn’t know anything about it,” said fisherman Max Worhatch of Petersburg. “Later they got back to us and said it was indeed the law.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Rep. DeFazio Applauds Fisheries Decision to Use Electronic Monitoring

June 25, 2019 — Congressman Peter DeFazio is applauding a decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service to allow ground vessels in the Pacific Northwest to monitor their catch restrictions electronically instead of using expensive on-board human observers.

DeFazio said he has been pushing for years to get rid of “onerous restrictions on our coastal fishing industry”. He said lifting what he called “an outdated rule” will finally level the playing field between Pacific Northwest and Alaska fisherman and many of the nation’s other fishers, who are “not subject to the same archaic rules”.

Read the full story at KQEN