Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Pink salmon collapse in Homer spurs call for disaster relief

October 30, 2024 — The City of Homer recently sent a formal request to Alaska’s Governor, urging the state to declare a fishery disaster for the pink salmon season. The city council’s request highlights the far-reaching economic impacts of the poor 2023 harvest, which has left commercial fishermen and their families struggling to recover from the financial shortfall. With many relying on pink salmon as a significant portion of their livelihood, Homer joins other Alaskan communities in calling for state and federal disaster relief to offset losses.

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), pink salmon, also known as “humpies,” are a critical part of the state’s commercial fishing industry. They are valued not only for their economic role but also for their ecological importance. These fish typically follow a two-year life cycle, returning to Alaskan rivers in odd-numbered years. However, variability in ocean conditions, freshwater survival, and rising temperatures have introduced uncertainty in population forecasts. In 2023, runs across the Gulf of Alaska underperformed, with fewer fish returning than predicted, leaving fishermen in financial jeopardy.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

ALASKA: Alaska fishing industry sees nearly 7,000 job cuts

October 25, 2024 — The Alaska fishing industry, long regarded as an economic engine and cultural cornerstone, is grappling with steep financial losses and structural challenges. A recent Alaska Seafood Snapshot economic report by NOAA Fisheries underscores the scale of the crisis, showing that the state’s seafood sector has been hit with nearly 7,000 lost jobs, shrinking profitability, and a $1.8 billion decline in revenues between 2022 and 2023.

The report is based on ex-vessel landings, processed products, and wholesale revenue data through 2022, alongside statistical projections for 2023. Analysts also spoke with fishermen, processors, and community members to better capture the social impacts of the downturn. While this report focuses on the commercial fishing sector, NOAA noted that future studies may explore the broader effects on recreational and subsistence fisheries.

As Robert Foy, director of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center stated in a press release, “The social and economic ramifications of Alaska’s losses have reverberated down the West Coast and across the country.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Red king crab harvest looking ‘very good’ so far for Bristol Bay fleet

October 24, 2024 — The Bering Sea’s biggest and most lucrative crab fisheries opened last week, and so far, fishing is looking good.

“Fishing has been very good for the [Bristol Bay red king crab] fleet this season and the crab delivered so far has been of high quality — new shell, large size, good meat-fill,” said Alaska Department of Fish and Game Area Management Biologist Ethan Nichols.

As of Wednesday afternoon, about 29% of the total allowable catch (TAC), for the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery had been harvested, according to Nichols. He said so far, reports from captains and from observer catch reports show signs of productive fishing.

Nichols said 14 vessels had landed about 680,000 pounds of king crab. The average weight is 6.84 pounds, and the catch rate is 35 legal males per pot. Both of those numbers are up slightly from last year.

The state set the harvest level at about 2.3 million pounds earlier this month, just 7% more than last year’s cap. The fishery was shut down for the two years prior, due to low abundance.

Former Unalaska mayor and fisheries advisor Frank Kelty said recent surveys show that king crab stocks are looking better this year, but the fishery still has room to grow.

“This fishery is still in a depressed state,” Kelty said. “But you know, we saw improvement in some of the mature males and the six-and-a-half legal size crab, but still not a big surge in the juveniles and pre-recruits moving into the fishery yet.”

Read the full article at KYUK

ALASKA: Alaska lost almost 7,000 fishing-related jobs over 2022-2023

October 23, 2024 — The fishing industry in Alaska has been hit hard in recent years, but a recent economic report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries agency (NOAA Fisheries), shows that Alaska has lost almost 7,000 jobs in the fishing industry.

The report comes after concerned seafood industry members saw a downturn in profit in 2023 and requested NOAA Fisheries to conduct an independent analysis.

NOAA Fisheries said they compiled data from fishing boats, processors, and international trade databases for both state and federal fisheries in Alaska.

The report estimates the Alaska seafood industry suffered a $1.8 billion loss between 2022 and 2023, and the industry saw a 50% decline in profitability between 2021 and 2023.

Read the full article at Alaska News Service

ALASKA: Pacific Seafood to acquire Trident Seafoods’ Kodiak facilities

October 22, 2024 — Trident Seafoods and Pacific Seafood have jointly announced an agreement in principle for Pacific Seafood to acquire Trident’s processing facilities at Kodiak.

The two seafood processing firms said on Oct. 14 that they are currently completing their due diligence efforts and expect to finalize the transaction in November.

They said that both parties are committed to providing job security and ensuring continuity of the Kodiak operations.

“Our top priority is to reassure employees and the fleet that this is a handoff, not a shutdown,” said Joe Bundrant, CEO of Trident. “We are committed to a smooth transition with Pacific Seafood, so they are well prepared to operate for the 2025 A season.”

Frank Dulcich, CEO and president of Pacific Seafood, said his company is excited about this opportunity to expand their Kodiak operations and leverage its diverse national and international distribution channels to provide even more opportunities for Kodiak team members and the fleet.

Dulcich said Pacific Seafood plans to retain all employees of the Kodiak facility as part of the deal.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

ALASKA: NOAA economists report plunging revenues for Alaska commercial fisheries

October 18, 2024 — The federal government published an “economic snapshot” in October that said Alaska’s commercial fishing industry in 2023 was about half as profitable as it was in 2021. Last year in particular marked one of the worst years for commercial fishermen in modern history.

Alaska Public Media’s Ava White talked with KMXT’s Brian Venua, who’s kept a close eye on commercial fishing, to break down the report.

This script has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Ava White: So Brian, it’s not a secret that there has been a major crash in fisheries in the last few years. What’s new about this report in particular?

Brain Venua: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration economists estimated that industry-wide profits have plunged in the last few years. As a whole, commercial fisheries in Alaska were estimated to be worth $1.8 billion dollars less in 2023 than in 2022.

That’s split between wholesale values being down by about a quarter year over year – about $1.2 billion dollars. Vessel revenues were also down by over $600 million, according to the report.

NOAA is the government agency that manages a lot of Alaska’s fisheries. According to data linked in the report, people in the industry asked NOAA for a sort of independent snapshot.

I think the big thing is that it helps put numbers to things that a lot of people already know – that commercial fishing has had a really tough time.

Read the full article at Alaska Pubic Media

ALASKA: Alaska commercial seafood industry lost USD 1.8 billion from 2022 to 2023

October 18, 2024 — The Alaska commercial seafood sector’s profitability declined 50 percent from 2022 to 2023, with the industry suffering a USD 1.8 billion (EUR 1.7 billion) loss in the period according to an economic snapshot produced by NOAA Fisheries.

“Commercial fisheries have flourished in Alaska for generations, shaping social structures, cultural identity, and robust local economies. Beyond the economic impacts, the decline of fisheries in the region threatens a way of life, sense of place, community, and identity,” Alaska Fisheries Science Center Economist and lead author of the economic snapshot Steve Kasperski said.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: NOAA Snapshot Charts Alaska Seafood Industry Losses, Points to Reasons

October 17, 2024 — The health of Alaska’s seafood industry is not, at this moment, particularly good. A new economic snapshot reported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries agency (NOAA Fisheries) details a downturn over the past two years. It estimates the Alaska seafood industry suffered a $1.8 billion loss between 2022 and 2023, and the industry saw a 50 percent decline in profitability between 2021 and 2023.

“The Alaska seafood industry is a major contributor to the US seafood sector,” says Robert Foy, director of NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center. “The social and economic ramifications of Alaska’s losses have reverberated down the West Coast and across the country.”

Higher Costs, Changing Habits, Greater Competition, and Climate Change

Industry changes have resulted in more than 38,000 job losses nationwide and a $4.3 billion loss in total US output, representing the total dollar value of all goods and services produced. The most affected states—Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California—saw a combined loss of $191 million in state and local tax revenues.

Seafood is the top private sector employer in Alaska. For many Alaska coastal communities, fisheries are the primary contributor to their local economy, helping to shape their social structures and cultural identities.

Read the full article at Alaska Business

ALASKA: Alaska’s “Imploding” Fishing Industry Has Shed 38,000 Jobs

October 16, 2024 — Falling revenue and rising costs have hit Alaska’s fishing industry hard, according to a new study by NOAA Fisheries. In an economic review requested by fishermen and processors, NOAA found that profitability dropped by half from 2021-23, and wholesale prices dropped by a quarter in 2022-23. This left the Alaskan seafood industry with a total direct loss of $1.8 billion in 2022-3 and the loss of about 38,000 jobs.

“For many Alaskans the decline of their seafood industry affects their pocketbooks, presents food security concerns, and impacts their way of life, sense of place, community, and identity,” NOAA noted. “In the face of evolving climate-driven impacts to ecosystems and fisheries in the region, these recent market disruptions undermine the capacity of all segments of the seafood industry and associated fishing communities to be resilient and survive in fisheries.”

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

ALASKA: Bering Sea snow crab fishing to resume, but at an ultra-low level to encourage repopulation

October 16, 2024 — After a two-year hiatus forced by low stocks, the Bering Sea snow crab harvest is back on.

The decision to reopen the harvest, announced on Oct. 4 by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, is based on signs of recovery in the crab populations. The official harvest opening was Tuesday.

Signs of recovery are modest, and so is the allowable catch. The harvest is limited to 4.72 million pounds, a level that is a far cry from the 45-million-pound quota used in the 2020-21 season and similarly large quotas in earlier years.

This season’s total allowable catch is the smallest in the history of the fishery, said Mark Stichert, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Kodiak-based management coordinator for groundfish and shellfish harvests.

The department sets catch limits based on information gleaned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service.

As Stichert describes it, the department’s decision to allow a “small, conservative fishery” for snow crab was the product of a careful balancing act.

Read the full article at the Alaska Beacon