Saving Seafood

Reduced catch brings record prices for crab

March 10, 2017 — Alaska crabbers are hauling back pots from the Panhandle to the Bering Sea, and reduced catches are resulting in record prices for their efforts.

The year’s first red king crab fishery at Norton Sound has yielded 17,000 pounds so far of its nearly 40,000 pound winter quota for more than 50 local fishermen. The crab, which are taken through the ice near Nome, are paying out at a record $7.75 a pound. A summer opener will produce a combined catch of nearly half a million pounds for the region.

Red king crab from Bristol Bay also yielded the highest price ever for fishermen, averaging $10.89 per pound. That catch quota of eight million pounds was down 15 percent from the previous season.

The Bering Sea snow crab fleet has taken 80 percent of its 19 million pound quota, down by nearly half from last year. That’s pushed market prices through the roof, topping $8.30 a pound at wholesale in both the US and Japan, compared to over $5.50 per pound a year ago.

Alaska produces only about 10 percent of the world’s snow crab, with most of the pack by far coming from Eastern Canada, followed by Russia.  On the snow crab menu front – McDonald’s has begun testing a new snow crab sandwich in several San Francisco Bay locations. If it’s a hit, the sandwich could advance to nearly 250 outlets this year.

Read the full story at The Cordova Times

ALASKA: Path forward after Kodiak sockeye genetic study unclear

March 9, 2017 — A revelation that a large portion of sockeye harvested by Kodiak commercial seine fishermen originate in Cook Inlet may change the way the fisheries are managed, but no one’s quite sure how yet.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game recently completed a multi-year study taking genetic samples from sockeye harvested in the Kodiak Management Area seine fishery, about 70 miles southwest of Homer in the Gulf of Alaska. The study, which spanned the years between 2014 and 2016, found that a significant percentage of the sockeye harvested in that fishery were of Cook Inlet origin in two years, up to 37 percent in one year.

Cook Inlet fishermen have long theorized that Kodiak fishermen catch some Cook Inlet fish, but the study has provided hard data, at least for those years. The data, first presented at the Kodiak Board of Fisheries meeting in January, is the first time a mixed-stock analysis was conducted on Kodiak sockeye fisheries and was originally requested by the board as part of a longtime project to study stock composition in the Kodiak Management Area to further develop the management plans.

Read the full story at the Peninsula Clarion

NSF announces new long-term ecological research sites off Alaska, New England coasts

March 9, 2017 — National Science Foundation (NSF) grants will support two new Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites. Scientists will conduct research along the Northeast U.S. continental shelf and in the northern Gulf of Alaska, regions known for productive fisheries and abundant marine resources.

The new LTER sites were each awarded $5.6 million over five years, adding to 25 existing LTER sites in ecosystems including the open ocean, coral reefs, deserts and grasslands. The complex food webs in these regions are affected by human activities, short-term environmental variability and long-term ecosystem changes.

“The new LTER sites will bring new locations, technologies and scientists to the challenge of understanding our coastal oceans,” says Rick Murray, director of NSF’s Division of Ocean Sciences. “The sites are in areas where there’s much recreational and commercial fishing, and both sites are in the midst of significant environmental changes.”

Read the full story at EurakAlert

NPFMC April 2017 Agenda

March 7, 2017 — The following was released by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Council will begin meeting the week of April 3, 2017 at the Hilton Hotel in Anchorage, AK.

The AGENDA and SCHEDULE are now available. Documents will be posted through links on the Agenda. The deadline for public comments is 5:00 pm (AST) Tuesday, March 28, 2017.

Submit comments to npfmc.comments@noaa.gov.

As crab prices soar across Alaska, McDonald’s tests new snow crab sandwich

March 6, 2017 — Crabbers are hauling back pots from the Alaska Panhandle to the Bering Sea, and reduced catches are resulting in record prices.

The year’s first red king crab fishery at Norton Sound has yielded 17,000 pounds so far of its nearly 40,000 pound winter quota for more than 50 local fishermen. The crab, taken through the ice near Nome, are paying a record $7.75 a pound. A summer opener will produce a combined catch of nearly half a million pounds for the region.

Red king crab from Bristol Bay also yielded the highest price ever for fishermen, averaging $10.89 per pound. That catch quota of 8 million pounds is down 15 percent from last season.

The Bering Sea snow crab fleet has taken 80 percent of its 19 million pound quota, about half of last year’s. That’s pushed market prices through the roof, topping $8.30 a pound at wholesale in both the U.S. and Japan, up 50 percent from last year.

Alaska produces only about 10 percent of the world’s snow crab, with most of the supply coming from eastern Canada, followed by Russia.

Read the full story at Alaska Dispatch News

ALASKA: State appeals to U.S. Supreme Court to overturn salmon decision

March 1, 2017 — In the midst of the Upper Cook Inlet Board of Fisheries meeting, the battle for state management of Cook Inlet salmon fisheries continues.

The State of Alaska has filed with the U.S. Supreme Court to review a recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeal decision that would require some of Alaska’s salmon fisheries to conform to federal management.

The state says this is the wrong move.

“This is an area where the federal government recognizes the State’s expertise and agrees that the State is better equipped to manage the fishery, even in federal waters,” said Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth in a press release Feb. 27. “We hope the U.S. Supreme Court will review this important issue and reverse the Ninth Circuit’s decision.”

Last September, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 2011 decision by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to remove several Alaska salmon fisheries from the federal management plan.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

Alaska’s mysteriously shrinking Kenai king salmon

February 28, 2017 — I attended a book signing at a Ninilchik book club meeting in early January of this year and met a bubbly lady by the name of Shirley, who, it turned out, is the stepdaughter of Les Anderson.  You may remember that Anderson, fishing with friend Bud Lofstedt, caught the largest king salmon ever taken on rod and reel in North America.

The great fish was caught in the Kenai River on May 17, 1985. The behemoth weighed a whopping 97 pounds 4 ounces after laying in the bottom of Les’ boat and then later his pickup truck for several hours. Reports indicate that the fish was beached around 7 a.m. but not weighed until 2 p.m. Many believe the fish would have topped 100 pounds had it been weighed immediately. We’ll never know.

As Shirley and I bantered back and forth, she shared with me that she still has cans of Les’ big king tucked away on the shelves of her pantry.

“Really!” I reacted with amazement.

She had my attention. Coincidentally, I had just finished reading several scientific papers written by fisheries scientists who used protein electrophoresis and mitochondrial DNA to separate the first run of Kenai River kings from second-run fish — or perhaps more accurately, tributary spawners from mainstem spawners.

My mind immediately began to race, thinking back on the last 32 years of Cook Inlet salmon fisheries management on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers. I wondered what that DNA in those cans might reveal if we could analyze it. With today’s technology and the king salmon DNA baseline data now available for many streams in the Kenai watershed, we could tell a lot about that fish if we just had a small tissue sample.

Turns out, once the flesh has been cooked, it renders it useless for DNA analysis. In addition, Les had the fish mounted, and all the tissue, head, entrails, and fins were disposed of long ago.

Still, it piqued my interest and got me thinking about the years since Les caught his great fish and how we moved from the king salmon abundance and size on the Kenai in 1985 to the low abundance and smaller kings seen in the 21st century.

Read the full story at Alaska Dispatch News

ALASKA: OVER HALF OF WINTER COMMERCIAL RED KING CRAB GHL HARVESTED

February 28, 2017 — The following has been released by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Commercial Fisheries: 

Approximately 17,000 pounds (43%) remain of the winter red king crab open access commercial guideline harvest. Based on current catch rates, the open access guideline harvest level (GHL) should be entirely caught by sometime in early March. The red king crab GHL for the Norton Sound winter through the ice commercial fishery is 39,744 pounds.

Following the conclusion of the open access winter commercial fishery, the department will open a commercial fishery by emergency order (EO) to harvest the CDQ allocation of the 2017 GHL of 496,800 pounds of red king crab. By regulation, the CDQ is allocated 7.5% of the allowable commercial harvest. In 2017, this equates to 37,260 additional pounds that could be harvested this winter. The winter CDQ season will close when the CDQ allocation is harvested. However, it could also close earlier at the discretion of CDQ management by NSEDC, by EO by ADF&G, or as required by regulation on April 30. Any CDQ quota not taken during the winter can be taken during the summer red king crab commercial fishery.

Commercial fishing for CDQ crab is open to all residents 18 years or older of NSEDC’s fifteen member communities who qualify to obtain a CDQ gear permit card and who sign the 2017 NSEDC Norton Sound Red King Crab Fisherman’s Agreement and NSEDC Residency Verification forms. Interested fishermen should contact NSEDC at 443–2477 if they have questions about the process of becoming eligible to fish for CDQ red king crab.

To date, 55 commercial permit holders have registered with the department for the open access fishery. Permit holders are reminded that they need to register at the ADF&G office in Nome before crabbing. Crabbers fishing both open access and CDQ fisheries do not need to obtain separate pot tags for the CDQ fishery; however, they DO need to register with ADF&G for BOTH fisheries. Village residents can call the ADF&G office to register. Catcher-sellers must also register with the department before selling crab and must turn in any fish tickets every week to ADF&G.

Each permit holder is allowed to fish a total of 20 pots. If any pots are lost, permit holders can get replacement tags by filling out an affidavit at the Nome ADF&G office and reporting the lost tag numbers. No replacement tags will be issued without this information.

Permit holders must be present any time commercial pot gear is being operated, and can only be assisted by licensed crew members. Crewmembers cannot deploy or operate gear on their own. For further information please contact the Nome office at 907-443-5167 or 1-800-560-2271. Good Luck, Good Crabbing and Be Safe Out There!

Read the full release here

Professor receives award to study global oceans

February 27, 2017 — A University of Alaska Fairbanks assistant professor will study tiny animals and particles across the world’s oceans after receiving an award from the National Science Foundation.

Andrew McDonnell, with the UAF College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, received a five-year, 750,000 Faculty Early Career Development Award. The NSF program is designed to support teacher-scholars who effectively integrate research and education. McDonnell’s project will also aim to educate Alaskans about ocean sciences and what it means to be an oceanographer.

McDonnell will use underwater cameras to measure the sizes, concentrations and types of particles and zooplankton in ocean water. This research has implications for how carbon is transported to and stored in different parts of the ocean.

McDonnell has used underwater cameras since graduate school but has focused on particular regions. This project will allow him to apply what he has learned to oceans around the world and compare different regions.

“Looking at what is happening from a global perspective will help us better investigate the role of these particles and plankton in the global carbon cycle,” McDonnell said.

McDonnell will create a museum exhibit for the Alaska Sea Life Center focused on the important microscopic world of particles and plankton that are not always seen by aquaria curators and visitors alike. The exhibit will also include information about what ocean scientists do and how they collect samples and data at sea. It will display different sampling technology, as well as videos and photos that illustrate how oceanographers work, especially in the oceans around Alaska.

Read the full story at Alaska Business Monthly

Alaska Longline fleet awaits word on fishing season start

February 27, 2017 — Commercial longline fishing fleets in Alaska are awaiting word about whether the season for halibut and black cod will actually start on March 11th. That’s the date voted on for halibut fishing by the International Pacific Halibut Commission in January. Typically the National Marine Fisheries Service also opens long-line fishing for black cod on the same day. This year that’s all up in the air.

The reason for the uncertainty is an executive order from President Trump in January requiring for every one new regulation issued, at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination. Trump also issued a 60-day freeze on new and pending regulations until they had been reviewed by the head of an agency appointed by the president.

The start dates for the fishing seasons require the publishing of regulations in the Federal Register. As of late February those regulations had not yet been published. During a recent stop in Ketchikan, Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski said she’s trying to get to the bottom of what the president’s executive order means for Alaska fisheries.

“While I like the idea of eliminating some of the regulatory underbrush I think we recognize that in certain areas and this is exactly one of those we count on our agencies to be prompt and diligent in laying down these regs so that people can engage in their business and their livelihood,” Murkowski said. “We need to make that happen.” Murkowski said she didn’t yet know about whether the season would be able to start on March 11.

Read the full story at KFSK Community Radio