Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Federal fisheries regulators still in early stages of wrestling with salmon bycatch

April 16, 2024 —  Federal fisheries regulators tasked with mediating conflicts over salmon bycatch in the groundfish fisheries between trawlers and commercial and subsistence salmon harvesters have updated their list of alternatives to be analyzed, but are a long way from resolving the problem.

In fact, it will likely be April of 2025, when the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) holds its spring meeting again in Anchorage, when final action will be voted on.

In advance of a lengthy, careful update of its initial set of alternatives, which always include status quo, the council heard testimony for three days and also received written reports from a cross section of the Alaska pollock trawl industry, commercial and subsistence salmon harvesters, economists, environmentalists and tribal entities on how to reach that “practicable solution” that federal regulations dictate be reached.

They heard from industry harvesters about efforts to avoid hot spots where salmon were spotted in the midst of the lucrative Alaska pollock fishery and researchers working to upgrade fishing gear to keep pollock going into their nets and salmon out. They heard from residents of Yukon River villages, whose families have relied on salmon for their economy, sustenance and culture for thousands of years, who haven’t been able to fish for depleted returning runs of salmon. They heard from economists and conservationists about changes in the global economy and warming climate conditions.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

ALASKA: Residents speak on chinook moratorium at Yukon River Panel

April 16, 2024 — The Yukon River Panel, a joint Alaska-Canada salmon advisory organization held a multi-day pre-season meeting last week in Anchorage. Panel members heard presentations and public comments on a range of salmon issues, including a recent Alaska Canada agreement to close chinook salmon fishing for 7 years.

Wednesday’s agenda (April 10) included presentations by biologists on 2024 salmon run forecasts. Deena Jallen with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said another weak return of Yukon River Chinook is anticipated.

“We have a forecast of 45,000 to 68,000 fish, with a median value of 56,000 fish, and as a reminder the 2023 drainage-wide run size for chinook salmon was 58,000 fish, and no escapement goals were met in Alaska or Canada, so we’re anticipating a very low run, similar to last year, or smaller,” Jallen said.

About 40 percent of Yukon River chinook are Canadian origin, and Jallen said the outlook for those stocks is similarly bleak.

“Nineteen thousand to 28,000 fish with median value of 23,000 fish,” she said. “And that’s below the border passage objective of 71,000 fish, and the projected border passage could be as low as 9- to 19,000 fish.”

Read the full article at KYUK

ALASKA: Alaska groups testify about declining salmon populations

April 15, 2024 — Tribes, fisheries, and individual fishing companies shared their concerns and ideas about the declining salmon population in an April 6 meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) has been gathering feedback to help shape a possible federally-backed bycatch rule for the future.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) reviewed the preliminary Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) for the proposed management measures to reduce chum salmon Prohibited Species Catch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery. A letter issued by the United States Department of Commerce to NPFMC states that NMFS advises the council to broaden the range of alternatives by including a lower overall chum salmon limit to provide additional contrast and ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act.

The Department of Commerce stated that the EIS process evaluates a wide range of alternatives, disclosing the advantages and disadvantages to help decision-makers and the public weigh the costs against the potential benefits.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

New Study Sheds Light on Alaska’s Largest, Most Mysterious Shark

April 15, 2024 — The Pacific sleeper shark is the largest shark in Alaska, and possibly the largest predatory fish in the ocean. It is also one of the most vulnerable of all managed fish stocks in Alaska waters.

“Yet we still know little about even its most basic biology,” said Beth Matta, research fisheries biologist at the NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

A new collaborative NOAA Fisheries study takes an important step toward better understanding and managing the Pacific sleeper shark. Researchers compiled knowledge from a wide variety of sources to provide important new insights into its biology and ecology. They identified and prioritized research needs to better assess and manage this species.

“We can’t manage what we don’t understand,” said Matta, who led the study. “We wanted to create a one-stop shop for information on Pacific sleeper sharks—a resource that others can use.”

Slow Growth and Low Production Lead to Vulnerability

The Pacific sleeper shark, named for its sluggish nature, lives throughout the Pacific Ocean. It has been found in shallow intertidal zones, and sighted by submersibles at depths beyond a mile underwater. It is encountered by humans most often as unwanted bycatch on commercial fishing vessels.

Like many other sharks, the Pacific sleeper shark likely grows slowly, matures late, and has a long lifespan and low productivity. These qualities make it highly susceptible to overfishing.

“Sustainable fishing rates for long-lived sharks are very low. For example, the spiny dogfish, a Pacific sleeper shark relative with a lifespan of 100 years, can tolerate harvest rates of only about 3 percent,” said study coauthor Cindy Tribuzio, NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center. “Pacific sleeper sharks potentially take that to extremes.”

In Alaska waters, the majority of Pacific sleeper shark mortality is due to fisheries bycatch. Observed declines in certain parts of its range, coupled with its low productivity, have led to conservation concerns. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council highlighted conservation concerns in its most recent stock assessment review.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Alaska sues EPA over Pebble copper and gold mine prohibitions

April 14, 2024 — Alaska sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday seeking to overturn an agency decision that it said effectively blocked development of one of the world’s largest copper and gold deposits.

The complaint filed in an Anchorage federal court challenges the EPA’s 2023 final determination that prohibited the discharge of mining waste from the so-called Pebble deposit into the state’s Bristol Bay.

Read the full article at Reuters

ALASKA: Processing capacity may slow early halibut, blackcod harvests

April 10, 2024 — Alaska’s halibut and blackcod seasons began on March 15 and will run until Nov. 15, but the processing capacity and low ex-vessel prices may affect the flow of fish from the docks to end markets. As of March 26, the halibut fleet had landed 592,173 pounds of this year’s 17,296,000-pound quota, with blackcod deliveries sitting at 1,520,542 pounds of a 60,794,049-pound quota.

With the Trident Seafoods plant for sale in Kodiak, and openings of other processing facilities scheduled for mid-March or even mid-May, early season fish caught in the breadbasket production areas of the Central Gulf (blackcod) or Areas 3A and 3B (halibut) were landed in Juneau and Seward.

The lack of plants accepting product in the central harvest areas may mean that more fishermen won’t go fishing until they open, which would slow the pace of the harvest early in the season.

The good news for halibut is that all of last year’s product has been liquidated, according to Bob Alverson, general manager of the Fishing Vessel Owners’ Association, in Seattle.

 “Inventories are all played out at the end of 2023, so it’s a good market forecast,” he says.

At the end of last year’s season, ex-vessel prices for halibut dropped to a range of $6 per pound to $6.75 at the docks in Bellingham and slumped to less than $5 per pound for deliveries to Seward.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

ALASKA: Silver Bay Seafoods to acquire Peter Pan Seafoods’ Alaska operations

April 10, 2024 — Silver Bay Seafoods and Peter Pan Seafoods announced on April 4 that the agreement for Silver Bay to acquire Peter Pan’s Valdez facility has been finalized, and Silver Bay plans to operate the Peter Pan facilities in Port Moller and Dillingham for the 2024 salmon season.

Shifting operations of the two facilities to Silver Bay is a component of a more extensive restructuring that is still being finalized. Silver Bay would acquire Peter Pan’s processing facilities and support sites in this restructuring after the 2024 salmon season. Peter Pan will continue conducting the remaining activities needed to close out 2023 operations, including sales and accounting functions. Both companies are committed to a seamless transition and minimal disruption to fishermen, communities, and employees.

The plants owned by Peter Pan in Dillingham, Port Moller, and King Cove produce high-quality sockeye salmon that is also made in the plants owned by Silver Bay in False Pass and Naknek. King Cove also produces a variety of other species. Combining Alaska operations would allow anglers to benefit from improved services and the fish to be processed closer to the point of catch, further enhancing the quality of the pack and the diversity in product forms.

Silver Bay Seafoods is an integrated processor of frozen shrimp, herring, whitefish, and squid products for domestic and export markets. It opened its doors in 2007 as a single salmon processing facility in Sitka. Since then, it has grown into one of the largest seafood companies in Alaska, operating nine domestic processing facilities throughout the state.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Annette Island Packing Company reopens its doors to the troll fleet

April 10, 2024 — Troll fishermen in southern Southeast Alaska have a new buyer for their king salmon. The Metlakatla Indian Community announced on April 4th that they had reopened the Annette Island Packing Company.

The Metlakatla processor operated for nearly a century until they stopped buying fish in 2018. Now, the 100% native-owned and operated plant is opening its doors again, though slowly. Metlakatla Mayor Albert Smith says it’s a big win for the community. Local fishermen will now be able to sell their catch in town, instead of bringing it all the way to Ketchikan.

“It’s something that we’ve been wanting to do for the last few years and we’re very excited to get the doors back open. We’re starting off slow with troll king salmon and our local halibut fishery. So we’ll be sending out fresh product. But it’s a good start,” Smith said.

Read the full article at KRBD

ALASKA: Russian objection to U.S. territorial claims off Alaska complicates maritime relationship

April 9, 2024 — New U.S. claims to seabed territory off Alaska have run into an obstacle: an objection from the Russian government.

The Russian government, which has staked territorial claims to most of the Arctic Ocean, is challenging the U.S. claims made in December to sovereignty over 520,400 square kilometers of extended outer continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean – an area bigger than California — and another 176,330 square kilometers in the Bering Sea.

The U.S. does not have the right to make such claims because it is not a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Russia’s delegation argued at a meeting in Jamaica last month of the International Seabed Commission.

“We categorically reject the selective approach of the United States of America to the use of international law, with an emphasis on its rights and a complete disregard for obligations,” the delegation’s statement said.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said the Russian objection is puzzling because the claims made in December by the U.S. State Department did not overlap any territory claimed by Russia.

The following was relased by the Alaska Public Media

Developing Alternative Fisheries Management Scenarios to Respond to Climate Change

April 8, 2024 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Seafood is a vitally important source of protein. Worldwide, more than 3 billion people rely on seafood as a significant part of their diets.

The amount that we can sustainably fish and farm is based on historical catches and trends that have been monitored for decades. We need to understand their breeding cycles and growth rates, along with cyclical patterns of ocean currents and climate—and the ecosystems they live in. This allows us to build models that inform sustainable management strategies for harvesting seafood. However, climate change continues to disrupt long-standing expectations, strategies, and the communities that depend on them.

Scientists at the NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center are collaborating with communities, managers, and other government and academic scientists in the Bering Sea region. They authored a new paper that develops climate-informed management scenarios for fisheries in the eastern Bering Sea.

“Several years ago, we recognized that climate change was going to affect our fisheries in Alaska. So, in 2015, we started a new initiative, the Alaska Climate Integrated Modeling Project, or ACLIM, with the goal of creating climate informed models to help us adapt to a warming planet,” remarks Anne Hollowed, lead author and retired center scientist.

ACLIM is a collaboration among more than 50 interdisciplinary experts that projects and evaluates climate impacts and effective responses for social and ecological systems in and around the Bering Sea. It is also part of NOAA’s Climate, Ecosystems, and Fisheries Initiative (CEFI) to build decision support systems for climate informed decision making in each region.

Kristin Holsman, co-author with the center and co-lead investigator on ACLIM, adds, “The climate change shifts and extreme events that have occurred over the past decade in the North Pacific and Bering Sea really underscore the need for climate innovation in fishery management. ACLIM lets us meaningfully connect cutting-edge science tools and information for fishing communities and resource managers to help prepare for and respond to climate change. The key in this is incorporating social and economic input in addition to biological and oceanographic information.”

The climate-related events that Holsman refers to are the 2015–2016 and 2018–2019 marine heat waves. They caused wide-scale declines in marine species such as snow crabs.

University of Washington scientist and co-author Andre Punt states, “The interdisciplinary nature of ACLIM is what makes it so valuable. Along with NOAA, we have representatives participating from our university, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, Native Alaskan communities, international organizations, among others—all dedicated to solving these important issues related to climate change.”