Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Alaska lawmakers approve task force to consider responses to seafood industry ‘implosion’

May 14, 2024 — A special legislative panel is to make recommendations about state policies to rescue Alaska’s seafood industry, a major pillar of the economy that is mired in crisis, under a bill that won final passage over the weekend.

The measure, Senate Concurrent Resolution 10, would establish an eight-member seafood industry task force, with four state senators and four state House members and with the Senate president as chair.

The House passed it nearly unanimously on Saturday. The Senate, which originally passed it on April 19, on Sunday gave unanimous approval to changes made in the House.

The task force, to present recommendations to the Legislature by Jan. 21, 2025, is charged with finding some kind of response to the “unprecedented economic implosion of our industry,” Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, one of the sponsors, said in floor comments on April 19.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

ALASKA: Local meetings this week to familiarize fishers with new Cook Inlet EEZ regs

May 14, 2024 — A series of meetings hosted by the National Marine Fisheries Service intended to familiarize fishers with new commercial fishing regulations in the Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone will be held in Kenai and Homer this week.

In Kenai, the informational meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 15, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Quality Inn.

In Homer, the informational meeting will be held Thursday, May 16, also from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at Best Western Bidarka Inn.

Read the full article at the Peninsula Clarion

ALASKA: Southeast Alaska not ready for a hatchery-only king fishery, study finds

May 13, 2024 — Should Southeast Alaska have a hatchery-only king salmon sports fishery? Researchers recently tried to answer that question as a possible solution to a declining number of wild kings.

Chinook or king salmon are the largest and most valuable salmon species. They’re sought-after by sport, commercial, and subsistence fishermen alike. But in recent decades, their harvest has become more restricted as populations plummet. A recent study considered if a new Southeast fishery could help – one that allows sport fishermen to keep only hatchery king salmon and release wild ones.

“And an important question there is could this actually be done within the current management context? And is this something that is desirable for folks in Alaska?” asked Anne Beaudreau, who led the study, which took about a year.

Beaudreau is an associate professor with the University of Washington’s School of Marine and Environmental Affairs. The study was initiated and funded by the Alaska delegation of the Pacific Salmon Commission. Members asked the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to explore the possibility of a hatchery-based sports fishery, and the state then contracted with the university.

As part of the study, Beaudreau helped run several public meetings throughout Southeast. Dozens of people participated.

“We heard a lot of concern brought up at these meetings,” she said.

Read the full article at CoastAlaska

ALASKA: Insight into the future of Alaska’s seafood industry

May 8, 2024 — The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) commissioned the McKinley Research Group to compose a research report on Alaska’s seafood industry. The report was titled The Economic Value of Alaska’s Seafood Industry. This report is the latest in the series commissioned by ASMI.

The total economic value of the Alaska seafood industry in 2021 and 2022 was a staggering $6 billion, a figure that underscores the industry’s substantial contribution to the state’s economy. This is a significant increase from the $5.6 billion recorded in 2019, the last full year before the COVID-19 pandemic. The report, as highlighted by Alaska Public Media, provides a stark warning about the industry’s economic future, making it a crucial read for all industry stakeholders.

The report stated that “a price collapse in 2023 bodes ill for the industry.”  The dollar and employment totals didn’t use the 2023 data. However, the report included specific information about one of the leading fisheries affected- sockeye salmon.

The prices paid to commercial fishermen were, on average, less than half of what they were paid in 2022. This ex-vessel price, on average, was 65 cents, the lowest nominal price since 2004. The report stated, “among the lowest prices on record when adjusted for inflation.”

The report stated the reasons for the collapse, claiming that because of inflation, consumer demand plummeted in the United States. A strong dollar and weak yen made Alaska’s seafood prices less competitive in Japan, a crucial market for the state’s seafood. The report also shared that a significant amount of 2022 harvested fish was left in inventory, which made wholesalers and retailers less inclined to buy fish in 2023. The global supply of critical species such as pink salmon and pollock increased dramatically, notably from Russia but also in AK.

Based on the data from 2021 and 2022, the state supplied 60% of U.S.-produced seafood. If AK were ranked as an independent nation, it would rank as No. 9 as a global supplier of wild seafood. However, AK provided only 1.8% of the global supply during those years. Wild salmon and crab are considered premium products from the state but only accounted for 9% of the world salmon market and 9% of the world crab market. According to the report, farmed and wild Russian salmon dominate the market. King crab from Russia and snow crab from Canada dominate the world crab market. The closure of Alaskan crab affected the global market.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Loved ones gather for reading of 264 names on Fishermen’s Memorial and the Blessing of the Fleet

May 6, 2024 — Brett Van Alen was a commercial seiner and troller in Southeast Alaska, as well as a fisher for squid and sardines in California, who died last December aboard a boat at the age of 38, according to his father Ben. On Saturday members of Brett’s extended family gathered at the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial for an annual ceremony where his name was announced as one of the six that will be engraved into the memorial wall this summer.

The reading of the 264 names on the wall, including those being engraved this year, to honor people lost at sea and others involved in the fishing industry occurred following the 34th annual Blessing of the Fleet at the downtown wharf.

Ben Van Alen says he’s a deckhand on a commercial troller as well as a government fisheries biologist, and while no other members of the family are commercial fishers “I think I did a little bit” influence on his son becoming one.

“We’ve always been active around the water and then fishing locally, and he just took it up,” he said.

Read the full story at the Juneau Empire

US federal government takes over Cook Inlet salmon management from Alaskan state oversight

May 3, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries will take over management of commercial and recreational salmon fishing in the Cook Inlet from the U.S. state of Alaska in June, the agency announced this week.

The action follows more than a decade of legal maneuvering, beginning with the United Cook Inlet Drift Association (UCIDA) suing NOAA Fisheries for not developing a management plan for the Cook Inlet exclusive economic zone.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Peltola pushes bill to permanently block Pebble mine in Alaska

May 2, 2024 — Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska on Wednesday introduced legislation to permanently block mining in her home state’s pristine Bristol Bay, one of the world’s premier salmon fisheries.

Peltola’s “Bristol Bay Protection Act” would codify EPA’s veto last year of the proposed Pebble mine under the Clean Water Act in the Bristol Bay region of southwest Alaska. EPA at the time said its decision was based on decades of research showing discharges tied to the mine would have adverse effects on salmon fishery areas within the Bristol Bay watershed.

“I came to DC to stand up for fish — to make fishing and the livelihoods of our fishing communities the national issue it deserves to be,” the congresswoman said, adding that entire communities rely on Bristol Bay’s watershed for subsistence, which is deeply interwoven into their social and cultural practices.

Read the full story at E&E News

NOAA issues final ruling on Cook Inlet federal fishing waters

May 2, 2024 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a final ruling on a disputed commercial salmon fishing area in Cook Inlet.

The Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone, or EEZ, starts three miles off shore and is where drift gillnet fishermen catch the majority of fish. In 2020, commercial fishermen sued over management of the fishery. Courts and fishermen went back and forth, and a year ago, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council was tasked with choosing a new management plan. In an unprecedented move, the council took no action, which turned the decision over to NOAA Fisheries.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

ALASKA: Alaska lawmakers, residents ask feds to limit how much salmon industrial trawlers catch

May 1, 2024 — U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, Alaskan Natives and family-owned fisheries are looking for a sea change in the fishing rights battle between local fishermen and industrial trawling fishing operations after a federal council recently denied a tribe-approved reduction in chum salmon catches.

In Western Alaska, local communities are experiencing a marked decrease in salmon populations. The reasons for the decline remain a subject of intense debate between industry executives, conservation experts and subsistence communities. Many residents point to the Seattle-based trawler fleets operating in the Bering Sea, which, while fishing for pollock, inadvertently capture large numbers of chum salmon as bycatch.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which oversees the regulations for fish caught in federal waters, recommended an annual bycatch total of 100,000 − well above the 22,000 limit the advisory council sought in a motion April 8. The pollock industry already has a hard cap restricting its take of Chinook salmon

Read the full article at USA Today

Feds pinch Southeast Alaska skippers for illegally transporting crab

May 1, 2024 — Three men are charged in federal court for illegally transporting Alaska crab to sell in Washington. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Alaska says Kyle Potter and Justin Welch caught crab in Southeast Alaska this spring and moved them to Seattle at the direction of Potter’s dad, Corey.

The federal indictment says Corey Potter owns the two fishing vessels involved, which were run by his son, Kyle, and Welch. One of the boats is the 97-foot Arctic Dawn, which has been docked in Petersburg this spring but is registered to a Kodiak residence.

The two captains participated in the Southeast Tanner and golden king crab fisheries in February and March, harvesting over 7,000 pounds. Corey Potter allegedly directed the two captains to transport the crab to Seattle to fetch a higher price. By the time they arrived, a lot of the king crab was already dead and about 4,000 pounds of Tanner had to be thrown out because of bitter crab syndrome. Bitter crab is a common parasite and is sorted out at Alaska ports when fishermen sell their catch. It causes the crab to taste bad but isn’t harmful.

Read the full article at KTOO