Saving Seafood

Value of Bristol Bay salmon rises, even as the fish shrink

July 31, 2018 — 2018 has been a year for the Bristol Bay record books as total sockeye run surpassed 61 million on Thursday, putting it just a half-million fish behind the largest run of 61.7 million in 1980.

Bert Lewis oversees commercial fisheries in Bristol Bay, Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. He’s impressed at the strength of the Nushagak district’s run and even at Bristol Bay’s east-side districts, which came in “late but solidly.”

“That stands out really statewide where sockeye runs have not been strong. I know that westward Kodiak area is meeting their goals, but with very little fishing opportunity. Cook Inlet right now is under restrictions,” Lewis said. “King salmon statewide are of concern with low returns, but meeting goals solidly in Bristol Bay.”

King salmon escapement was strong enough that nearly 100 anglers filled the Nushagak River this June for a new king derby, even as poor returns canceled a handful of derbies in southeast Alaska.

Lewis said the prevailing theory for Bristol Bay’s bounty is “the blob” — an unusually warm water mass that filled the northern Gulf of Alaska as this year’s returning fish migrated out to sea a few years back. It disrupted food webs that support the forage base that juvenile salmon feed on in waters across southeast Alaska and the north Gulf.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

 

Alaska’s Pebble Mine Project Review Proceeds Over Governor Walker’s Doubts

July 30, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS, JUNEAU, Alaska — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proceeding with an environmental review of a proposed copper and gold mine located near a major salmon fishery in Alaska, despite a request from the state’s governor that the review be halted.

Gov. Bill Walker, in a letter co-signed by Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott last month, said the company behind the proposed Pebble Mine had yet to show that the project is feasible or realistic. They argued that, at a minimum, a preliminary economic assessment should be conducted to help inform the corps’ work.

But Shane McCoy, the corps’ program manager for the Pebble review, told reporters Thursday that an economic analysis is not required for the corps to do its work.

There are limited situations in which a review would be halted, including cases in which an applicant itself asks to stop, or if an applicant fails to provide the corps requested information, McCoy said. Walker’s request was not one that the corps could grant under its rules, he said.

The Pebble Limited Partnership, which wants to develop the Pebble Mine, has given no indication that it wants to suspend the process, McCoy said.

The corps’ position was explained to Walker directly by the commander of the Alaska district, Col. Michael Brooks, he said. Austin Baird, a spokesman for Walker, confirmed that Brooks and Walker spoke and Brooks indicated that he “would not honor the governor’s request.”

Tom Collier, CEO of the Pebble partnership, last month said the company believes it can “successfully and responsibly” operate the mine. “This is what the Corps will evaluate and we can either meet this expectation or we cannot,” he said in a statement.

Collier called Walker’s request to suspend the review a stall tactic.

The Pebble project is located in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region. Bristol Bay produces about half of the world’s sockeye salmon.

Debate over the project has been politically charged, with critics contending it is the wrong place for a mine and supporters urging the project be vetted through the permitting and review process.

In a statement earlier this year, Walker, an independent, said the Bristol Bay region “has sustained generations and must continue to do so in perpetuity.”

Baird said Thursday that Walker “continues to believe that the Bristol Bay watershed is unique” and that the proposed mine “must be held to an extraordinarily high standard.”

Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who chairs the Senate energy committee, has said she expects “a fair, rigorous and transparent process” that will help Alaskans understand “the impacts and risks, as well as the potential benefits associated with this project.”

The Pebble partnership is owned by Canada-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., which has been looking for a partner since Anglo American PLC announced it was pulling out in 2013.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. was courted as a potential investor but backed away from the project in May.

The corps has no opinion on the financial status of the Pebble partnership, McCoy said.

This story is by the Associated Press and published by Seafood News. The full story is published here with permission.

 

ALASKA: Kenai River dipnetting to close early due to low sockeye returns

July 27, 2018 –The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is closing the Kenai River personal use dipnet fishery starting 12:01 a.m. on Monday, July 30, citing less-than-expected returns.

The fishery would normally have ended on July 31.

ADF&G says the closure is necessary to meet the sustainable escapement goal of 700,000 to 1.2 million late-run sockeye salmon in the Kenai River–a goal officials say “may not be met without a reduction in harvest of this stock.”

The order says that additional restrictions on commercial and sport fisheries are also being implemented.

Read the full story at KTUU

ALASKA: Bristol Bay harvest hits 39 million, but statewide take down by a third

July 27, 2018 –Alaska’s salmon fisheries continue to lag alarmingly in several regions, with overall catches down by a third from the same time last year.

The single exception is at the unconquerable Bristol Bay, where a catch of 39 million sockeye so far has single-handedly pushed Alaska’s total salmon harvest towards a lackluster 60 million fish.

It’s too soon to press the panic button and there is lots of fishing left to go, but fears are growing that Alaska’s 2018 salmon season will be a bust for most fishermen. Worse, it comes on the heels of a cod crash and tanking halibut markets (and catches).

State salmon managers predicted that Alaska’s salmon harvest this year would be down by 34 percent to 149 million fish; due to an expected decline of pinks.

But with the exception of Bristol Bay, nobody expected fishing to be this bad.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

With Strong Run and a Big Increase in Boat Prices, Bristol Bay Harvesters Get Big Payday This Year

July 27, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS –KDLG has been surveying processors in the Bay to get this year’s sockeye salmon prices, and the result shows a big jump in the overall value of the fishery this year.

Both Trident and Ocean Beauty have confirmed base prices of $1.25 per lb., and prices go up for fish that has higher quality handling such as being chilled, floated, and bled. These fish get $1.40 per lb.

Copper River is paying a premium for chilled, bled, and separated sockeye, from $1.30 to $1.70 reports KDLG.

Meanwhile, Icicle, Togiak, and Peter Pan have not released base prices.

Last year’s base price in the Bay was $1.00, for a harvest of 38.8 million fish. This year, harvests reached 38.2 million, higher than the preseason forecast, and these numbers still may be adjusted.

The upshot is the sockeye fishery is likely worth about 25% more than last year, and as Bristol Bay is such an important part of overall Alaska salmon value, this run will go a long way towards making up some of the shortfall in other areas in terms of overall value.

But that is small consolation to those communities where the sockeye run failed or came in way below expectations, such as Chignik, and along the Copper River.

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

Alaska: Salmon ballot measure proponents fight back after legislative hearing

July 26, 2018 — Proponents of the pro-fisheries Ballot Measure 1 are fighting back after a Friday legislative hearing that saw state officials discuss the costs and consequences of the proposal.

“It was just a way for industry and for a state government that doesn’t approve of this initiative to kind of torpedo it,” sponsor Mike Wood said by phone about the hearing. “That kind of bums me out.”

Wood, who was filleting salmon strips, spoke three days after the Alaska Senate State Affairs Committee held a four-hour meeting discussing the measure. During the presentation, state officials said Ballot Measure 1 would cost millions of dollars, lengthen the permitting process for some construction projects, and make larger projects impossible.

The measure would “make it nearly impossible to permit the Alaska LNG project,” Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Andy Mack told the Senate State Affairs Committee, referring to the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline.

“That is total bull—-,” Wood said.

Asked whether he thought the presentations were overly pessimistic, he said, “absolutely, without a doubt.”

Lindsey Bloom, a Juneau-based commercial fisherwoman and state policy director for SalmonState (a group supporting the intiative), said by email that Alaska’s seafood industry, particularly the salmon industry, is a multibillion-dollar per-year industry worthy of protection and preservation.

Read the full story at the Juneau Empire

 

Inside Alaska’s battles over land, sea and life

July 26, 2018 –There is a gold rush underway in Alaska.

A rush to tap the black gold of oil beneath the pristine coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the north.

A rush to blast free the yellow gold, silver and copper hidden in the hills above Bristol Bay in the south.

But while the great Klondike Gold Rush of 1896 was touched off by a few lucky prospectors and the glint of creek-bed precious metal, this one began on election night, 2016.

Donald Trump set out to deregulate the environment on a scale unseen in generations, much to the delight of oil, gas and mining companies eager to tap Alaska’s natural wealth.

But as he appointed climate change deniers and anti-EPA warriors to his Cabinet, his win also brought dismay to fishermen and wildlife guides, conservationists and native tribes who believe that the true wealth of the Last Frontier is unspoiled wilderness and unrivaled biodiversity.

This tension pits neighbor against neighbor, tribe against tribe, Republican against Republican in a battle over the future. And like any great debate or heavyweight bout, this fight has a clock.

Both sides are counting the days until election night 2020.

Read the full story at KSFO

Alaska salmon catch down by a third in most regions

July 25, 2018 — Alaska’s salmon fisheries continue to lag alarmingly in several regions, with overall catches down by a third from the same time last year.

The single exception is at the unconquerable Bristol Bay, where a 37 million sockeye catch so far has single-handedly pushed Alaska’s total salmon harvest towards a lackluster 60 million fish.

It’s too soon to press the panic button and there is lots of fishing left to go, but fears are growing that Alaska’s 2018 salmon season will be a bust for most fishermen. Worse, it comes on the heels of a cod crash and tanking halibut markets (and catches).

State salmon managers predicted that Alaska’s salmon harvest this year would be down by 34 percent to 149 million fish; due to an expected shortfall of pinks. But with the exception of Bristol Bay, nobody expected fishing to be this bad.

Catches of sockeye, the big money fish, are off by millions at places like  Copper River, Chignik and Kodiak, which has had the weakest sockeye harvest in nearly 40 years.

The weekly update by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute said that coho and Chinook catches remain slow, and while it is still way early in the season, the “bread and butter” pink harvests are off by 65 percent from the strong run of two years ago.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

ALASKA: The Big Thaw: Fishermen in Kodiak cope with record low cod numbers

July 25, 2018 — A hint of optimism creeps into Darius Kasprzak’s voice as he pilots his boat, the Marona, out of the harbor in Kodiak on a calm day in early May.

“We’re in the morning, we’re at the start of the flood tide,” Kasprzak said. “This is where you want to be.”

On the screen of Kasprzak’s echo sounder he sees a dense cluster of dots on the ocean bottom.

“Let’s drop on it,” Kasprzak said. “That looks pretty darn good.”

Kasprzak kills the engine, leaps onto the deck and lowers one of his fishing lines into the water.

And then… nothing.

For years, Alaska fishermen like Kasprzak have worried that climate change would threaten their livelihoods. Now, it has. The cod population in the Gulf of Alaska is at its lowest level on record. The culprit is a warm water mass called “the blob“ that churned in the Pacific Ocean between 2013 and 2017.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

Alaska crabbers gearing up for fall Bering Sea fisheries

July 20, 2018 — Boats are already signing up to participate in fall Bering Sea crab fisheries that begin October 1. Meanwhile, many crabbers are still awaiting word on what their pay outs are for last season.

Prior to the crab fisheries changing from “come one, come all” to a catch share form of management in 2005 prices were set before boats headed out, said Jake Jacobsen, director of the Inter-Cooperative Exchange which negotiates prices for most of the fleet.

“Since then the price is based on the historical division of revenues and there is a formula that is applied to sales. It takes a long time for sales to be completed to the point where we know or can predict what the final wholesale prices will be, and then we can apply the formula to it,” he explained.

Prices to fishermen were down a bit from last year but historically very high, Jacobsen said. For snow crab and bairdi Tanners, which typically are hauled up after the start of each year, prices were just settled and won’t be made public for another week.

“Most of the snow crab and bairdi prices were over $4 a pound, so that’s very good,” he hinted.

According to processor data, last season’s average snow crab price was $4.07 a pound; Tanner crab averaged $3.33. For golden king crab, fishermen averaged $5.51 per pound.

Read the full story at National Fisherman