Saving Seafood

Alaska-based Coast Guard cutter detains Chinese-flagged vessel for suspected illegal fishing

June 25, 2018 — An Alaska-based U.S. Coast Guard cutter on Saturday detained a Chinese-flagged vessel on suspicion of illegal fishing using driftnets, the Coast Guard said in a news release Friday. Custody of the 164-foot fishing vessel, Run Da, has since been transferred to the Chinese government.

After a U.S. Coast Guard aircraft spotted the vessel last week, the crew on the 282-foot cutter Alex Haley responded. Both U.S. Coast Guard and Chinese Coast Guard members aboard the Alex Haley — which has its home port in Kodiak — boarded Run Da, where they found 80 tons of chum salmon and one ton of squid.

The Alex Haley and its 105 crew members are on a North Pacific multinational fisheries enforcement patrol. The crew detained the fishing vessel in international waters about 860 miles east of Hokkaido, Japan, for suspected illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing activity, the Coast Guard said.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

SEN. DAN SULLIVAN: Progress is coming for Southeast Alaska

June 25, 2018 — Whenever I return to Southeast Alaska, I’m always filled with a renewed sense of optimism and awe for our state. Our beautiful landscapes draw tourists from across the world. Our waterways help make our state the “super power” of seafood and the home of the largest Coast Guard presence in the Pacific. Indeed, it’s largely because of the importance of our fisheries and the Coast Guard that I pushed to be the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and the Coast Guard. In this committee, we are making progress on important issues that greatly impact Southeast.

First, throughout Alaska, and particularly in Southeast, our oceans are our lifeblood. It’s imperative that they remain sustainable. That’s why I authored the Save Our Seas (SOS) Act with Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, which unanimously passed the Senate.

Over the course of decades, marine debris, particularly plastics, deposited in the ocean half a world away finds its way to our coastal communities and ecosystems. This is especially detrimental to our state, with its 47,300 miles of shoreline and bountiful fisheries.

Our bill provides the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with funds for ocean debris cleanup, and allows the NOAA Administrator to declare severe marine events which authorizes additional funds for states, like Alaska, for cleanup and response efforts. Importantly, the SOS bill also focuses on the international component of the marine-debris crisis by directing the State Department to work with countries that are the source of such pollution. Our bill has helped spur international awareness of this problem. We’re hopeful it will pass the House soon and become law.

Read the full opinion piece at the Juneau Empire

ALASKA: Copper River harvest includes salmon passing through

June 25, 2018 — A visitor to the seafood department of a major Anchorage retail shop stared with surprise at the neatly wrapped fillet marked as fresh Copper River sockeye salmon.

Was it really a Copper River sockeye?

Seafood suppliers for the store can trace the fish back to where it was caught, but where that fish is really from, what river it was born in, is a more complex question.

If sockeye salmon are anything like Chinook salmon, not all fish caught in the Copper River District originated from natal streams within the Copper River; it’s likely that some fish are just passing through on their way to natal streams elsewhere and were nabbed in the harvest.

“We know from work done with Chinook salmon, that while most of the fish captured in the Copper River district originate from the Copper River, a smaller fraction originates from all over the place,” said Chris Habicht, lab director and principal geneticist at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Anchorage.  “These non-local fish are coming back to their natal streams, but their migratory paths take them through the district.”

“Just because a Chinook salmon originated from a non-Copper River drainage does not preclude it from being legitimately captured in the Copper River District,” he said.

Read the full story at The Cordoba Times

Feds allocate $200M in disaster relief funds for Gulf, Alaska and West Coast fisheries

June 22, 2018 — Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the allocation of $200 million in fishery disaster relief funds appropriated by Congress on Wednesday to assist fishermen affected by hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria in 2017 and disasters that devastated the West Coast and Alaska fishermen from 2014 to 2017.

“Last year, American fishing communities across the Gulf and Caribbean were devastated by some of the most destructive hurricanes in recent memory, while Pacific fisheries have suffered from years of hardship,” said Ross, according to a NOAA press release. “This Administration stands shoulder to shoulder with these communities as they prove their strength and resilience in the face of adversity.”

The government has allocated $25.8 million in disaster assistance to those affected by the 2015-2016 closure of California’s commercial Dungeness and rock crab fisheries and another $3.9 million to the Yurok Tribe stemming from the collapse of the fall Chinook fishery in 2016.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Years later, Alaska receives $56 million for salmon fishery disaster

June 22, 2018 — Almost two years after Gov. Bill Walker requested federal funding to counterbalance a devastating blow to Alaska salmon, the government answered, to the tune of over $56 million in disaster relief money.

As to who will actually be on the receiving end of that money, however, is not yet known.

That disaster was the 2016 Southest Alaska Pink Salmon Fishery, which came under average of more than 4 million salmon, racking up losses of an estimated threshold of 35 to 80 percent.

Back in 2016, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said that due to the salmon tanking and a 36 percent loss in total revenue, it allowed the National Marine Fisheries Service to consider disaster relief funding.

The full amount, $56,361,332 in disaster funding, will go to the affected fishermen and stakeholders. The money is taken from a $200 million pool in the budget nine fisheries disasters declared across the country and neighboring areas partially as a result of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.

The last time Alaska got money for such disasters was back in 2014, when it took $20.8 million damaged by low Chinook salmon runs in the Yukon and other areas during 2012.

There still remains the question of who among those affected by the fishing disaster will actually get a share in the $56 million, and just how big that share will be.

Wednesday, Alaska’s delegation celebrated the news of that relief payout in a news release, saying, “These dollars are vital to Alaskans and their families who were hit hard by the 2016 pink salmon fishery disaster.”

Read the full story at KTUU

ALASKA: Coastal Villages study renews fight over CDQ quota allocations

June 21, 2018 — A new study reaffirms that large and long-standing inequities still exist in a federal program aimed at improving the economic situation in Western Alaska.

Coastal Villages Region Fund commissioned the report conducted by the Seattle-based research firm Community Attributes Inc., which concludes the fisheries allocations in the Community Development Quota Program prevent the groups representing the poorest regions in Western Alaska from fully achieving their mission.

Coastal Villages is the CDQ group for 20 villages on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, which is one of the most economically depressed regions not only of Alaska, but the country as well.

The Western Alaska CDQ Economic Needs Report notes that Coastal Villages serves 35 percent of the population meant to benefit from the program, yet has access to just 24 percent of the pollock, about 18 percent of the crab and 17 percent of the Pacific cod quota dedicated to the CDQ Program.

Those fisheries quotas are allocated amongst the six CDQ groups that cover residents within 50 miles of the Bering Sea coast in an area starting north of Nome on the Seward Peninsula south and west through Bristol Bay and out the Aleutian chain.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

Alaska Fisherman May Have Higher Rates of Hearing Loss, New Research Shows

June 21, 2018 — Alaska salmon fishermen have a significantly higher rate of health problems than the general population, according to a new study conducted by the University of Washington School of Public Health in partnership with Alaska Sea Grant, the Sea Grant program affiliated with the University of Alaska Fairbanks published on its website. The health issues include noise-induced hearing loss, upper extremity disorders, and fatigue possibly associated with sleep apnea.

The study began in early 2015 when Torie Baker, Alaska Sea Grant marine advisory agent in Cordova, and members of Cordova District Fishermen United invited 600 salmon gillnet permit holders to answer health questions before and during the fishing season. Dr Debra Cherry, a physician and injury prevention and treatment researcher with the University of Washington Department of Epidemiology, led the effort.

The research is one of the first of its kind in the United States, according to the study’s authors. The peer-reviewed study was published April 2018 in the Journal of Agromedicine.

Evidence of noise-induced hearing loss in the study is striking. About 80% of physical exam participants had hearing loss, compared to the 15% norm for Americans. In addition to engine noise while fishing, most fishermen reported exposure to noise during off-season activities, such as snowmachining, hunting, and construction jobs.

Read the full story at The Hearing Review

ALASKA: Copper River crash will cost commercial fishermen millions

June 21, 2o18 — Copper River sockeye fishermen are facing historic low returns this year, prompting some commercial fisherman to target other species elsewhere in Prince William Sound, and leaving others waiting onshore in what is usually a profitable fishery to the tune of $15 million or more in ex-vessel value.

Through mid-June, the commercial Copper River District drift gillnet fishery had landed just less than 26,000 sockeye salmon and a little more than 7,000 kings during three mid-May fishing periods. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game had expected a harvest this summer of nearly 1 million sockeye in the district, and about 13,000 kings. As the harvest stands now, it’s the second-lowest in the past 50 years.

The Copper River fish typically fetch a premium price as the first of the season, and this year was no exception, with prices as high as $75 per pound for kings at the Pike’s Place market in Seattle after the May 17 season-opening period.

But the district hasn’t re-opened after the first three periods because the sockeye returns are so poor, so the final value is likely to be far lower than the $20 million-plus the fishery often nets.

ADFG Area Management Biologist Jeremy Botz said it would take a significant improvement for the fishery to re-open.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

ALASKA: Julianne Curry Joins Icicle Seafood as Public Affairs Manager

June 21, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Icicle Seafood announced yesterday that Julianne Curry, a fourth-generation Alaska fisherman and advocate for the Alaska seafood industry, has been named the company’s Public Affairs Manager. She began at the post on Monday.

“Julianne was born and raised in Petersburg, Alaska, where Icicle also has deep roots,” said John Woodruff, Chief Operating Officer at Icicle Seafoods. “As a long-term resident of the area and a third generation Icicle fisherman, she is in tune with the state’s fishing sector and with Icicle Seafoods and its impressive history in the region. We are confident that Julianne will do a tremendous job and will quickly help advance the company.”

Based in Petersburg, Curry will focus on regulatory and policy matters, government and community relations and will work collaboratively with her Alaska seafood colleagues on strategic planning efforts to positively impact the sector.

Kris Norosz, also of Petersburg, held the position for Icicle until her retirement last year.

Curry was the Executive Director and lobbyist for United Fishermen of Alaska and served as the Executive Director of the Petersburg Vessel Owners Association. Most recently she consulted on a variety of fisheries related issues at both the state and federal level. She is the Chair of the Communications Committee at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) and is a member of its Salmon Committee. She has been a member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Advisory Panel, a board member of United Fishermen of Alaska (UFA) and the National Seafood Marketing Coalition (NSMC) while also participating on the Halibut Coalition Steering Committee. In addition, she is a regular attendee at various management and regulatory meetings such as the Board of Fisheries, International Pacific Halibut Commission

Curry is the Chair of the Communications Committee at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) and is a member of its Salmon Committee. She has been a member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Advisory Panel, a board member of United Fishermen of Alaska (UFA) and the National Seafood Marketing Coalition (NSMC) while also participating on the Halibut Coalition Steering Committee. In addition, she is a regular attendee at various management and regulatory meetings such as the Board of Fisheries, International Pacific Halibut Commission and the State Legislature.

Icicle Seafoods began when Robert Thorstenson Sr. formed a group of fishermen to buy out the Pacific American plant in Petersburg in 1965, renaming it Petersburg Fisheries which eventually became Icicle Seafoods. The company is one of the largest and most diversified seafood firms in North America, with facilities throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.

Since acquiring Icicle Seafoods in 2016, Cooke Seafood USA, Inc. has expanded the company on many levels, including investing in processing facilities and supporting Alaska communities through its ‘buy local’ policy.

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

ALASKA: Ballot measure opponents get financial boost

June 20, 2018 — Some of Alaska’s biggest mines are putting more money into their fight against a pro-fisheries ballot initiative scheduled for this fall’s general election.

According to a report released Thursday by the Alaska Public Offices Commission, the parent companies of Pogo Mine, Fort Knox Mine, Kensington Gold Mine and the proposed Donlin Creek Mine each contributed $400,000 to Stand for Alaska this week.

A pro-construction group also contributed $5,000 to Stand for Alaska.

Stand for Alaska is the independent expenditure group created to oppose Ballot Measure One, which would impose tough new restrictions on development that affects the state’s lakes, streams and rivers.

To date, Stand for Alaska has received more than $5 million in contributions.

The group supporting the measure, Yes for Salmon, also filed a contributions report with APOC this week. That report shows a $3,700 contribution from the Portland, Oregon-based Wild Salmon Center and a $5,958 donation from the Sitka Conservation Society. Both donations appear to be in-kind contributions of staff time, rather than cash up front.

To date, Yes for Salmon has received just under $728,000 in contributions.

Ballot Measure One is under consideration by the Alaska Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments April 26 about its constitutionality. The justices, who have not yet released their decision, are deliberating whether the ballot measure is so stringent that it effectively allocates the state’s waters for fish. Constitutional limits prohibit ballot measures that make appropriations of money or resources.

Read the full story at the Peninsula Clarion