February 16, 2024 — Three major seafood processors in Alaska have announced plans to sell off their plants or temporarily close for the upcoming fishing seasons. Trident, Peter Pan Seafood Company and most recently OBI Seafoods – just last month – have all cited turbulent market conditions for their decisions.
Kirsten Dobroth is the Alaska reporter for Undercurrent News, which is a commercial fishing and seafood industry trade magazine. She’s been following this market downturn.
February 15, 2024 — Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski introduced the Working Waterfront Act, legislation that includes more than a dozen provisions aimed at boosting the workforce, energy and shoreside infrastructure, food security, and economies of coastal communities in Alaska and across the country. The bill will also support efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change on coastal communities and strengthen federal conservation research projects.
Murkowski began accepting feedback from Alaskan people to help draft the Working Waterfront legislation.
“The blue economy continues to be a growing and thriving industry full of opportunity for coastal communities in Alaska- and that’s why I’m focused on bolstering the workforce and strengthening shoreside and coastal infrastructure through the Working Waterfronts Act. I want to thank the many Alaskans who engaged with my team and me to craft this legislation. You shared thoughts and ideas with me, and we have a strong product,” shared Murkowski in a February press release.
February 13, 2024 — Several tribal governments in Alaska, as well as the Center for Biological Diversity, plan to sue NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stop the government from conducting an experimental bottom-trawl study in the northern Bering Sea.
“In light of the rapid and dramatic environmental and human-caused changes that are threatening our iconic marine environments in Alaska, we expect our federal government to act responsibly and follow their own regulations and guidance to protect these vulnerable areas,” Tribal Council President for the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island John Wayne Melovidov said. “This proposed study is a crowbar into the northern Bering Sea for commercial exploitation.”
February 13, 2024 — Three tribal governments and an environmental organization on Thursday served notice to federal agencies that they are planning a lawsuit to block a fishing experiment along the seafloor in the northern Bering Sea.
The practice of bottom trawling — sweeping a net to catch fish on or near the seabed — is currently prohibited in the Northern Bering Sea, which is abbreviated in legal documents as NBS. But the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service is planning to deploy some commercial trawling gear in selected spots over the coming summers to see what impacts, if any, result to the habitat and the marine life dependent on it.
The research project is called the Northern Bering Sea Effects of Trawling Study, or NBET. It is focused on specific areas north and south of St. Lawrence Island and would potentially simulate effects of commercial harvests.
The plaintiffs planning to sue — tribal governments in Savoonga, Shishmaref and St. Paul, along with the Center for Biological Diversity — said in their notice that the research itself will wreak damage on the ecosystem near the seafloor in what is known as benthic waters while setting up the region for more damage in the future. They also said the agencies have not properly consulted with Native tribes and communities.
February 13, 2024 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is planning to purchase 15.2 million pounds of Alaska pollock, along with 173,000 cases of canned salmon.
The USDA is asking suppliers to bid on 7.6 million pounds of frozen pollock fish sticks and 7.6 million pounds of frozen pollock fillets. Bids are due by 22 February.
February 10, 2024 — Three tribal governments and an environmental organization on Thursday served notice to federal agencies that they are planning a lawsuit to block a fishing experiment along the seafloor in the northern Bering Sea.
The practice of bottom trawling — sweeping a net to catch fish on or near the seabed — is currently prohibited in the Northern Bering Sea, which is abbreviated in legal documents as NBS. But the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service is planning to deploy some commercial trawling gear in selected spots over the coming summers to see what impacts, if any, result to the habitat and the marine life dependent on it.
The research project is called the Northern Bering Sea Effects of Trawling Study, or NBET. It is focused on specific areas north and south of St. Lawrence Island and would potentially simulate effects of commercial harvests.
February 8, 2024 — A study of Southcentral Alaska bodies of water found microplastics in 100% of locations tested, including sites on the Kenai Peninsula, according to a report released last month.
The Alaska Environment Research and Policy Center released the report on Jan. 25. AERPC State Director Dyani Chapman and University of Alaska Southeast Sea Grant Fellow Joi Gross, who conducted the study, found microplastics in 100% of their samples taken from all 39 Southcentral Alaska water bodies tested between June and September 2023.
“Alaska has international renown for its pristine environment and is relatively geographically isolated from other watersheds, so it’s especially disappointing to find microplastics in every sample we took,” Gross was quoted as saying in a Jan. 25 press release.
What are microplastics?
Microplastics are defined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Ocean Service as extremely small pieces of plastic debris measuring less than 5 millimeters in length that come from a variety of sources, including from larger plastic debris that degrades into smaller and smaller pieces.
According to Chapman and Gross’s report, a “large share” of the plastic debris present in the environment consists of pieces measuring less than 5 mm, or 0.2 inches.
The problem with plastic pollution is that it doesn’t simply break down or biodegrade like other types of waste that are animal- or plant-based.
“Neither bacteria nor fungi have much success breaking (plastics) down into their basic components,” the report states. “Over time, friction and heat will break the plastic into smaller and smaller pieces, but they’ll still be plastic and unable to nourish new life for a very long time.”
Microplastics have been found not only in the environment, but also in human and animal bodies, thus threatening both wildlife and public health. Toxic chemicals present in and attracted by plastics in the environment can bioaccumulate through the food chain, the report states. Microplastics mistaken as food by wildlife can lead to internal lacerations and digestive problems including starvation, according to the release. When microplastics are ingested by humans, they can cause cancer, endocrine disruption and reproductive disorders.
February 6, 2024 — The state-water cod fishery for pot gear boats of 58 feet or less in the Dutch Harbor Subdistrict opened Thursday, Feb. 1 at noon. Those harvesters have a limit of 60 pots per vessel and a guideline harvest level of a little more than 44 million pounds.
That’s the largest harvest level the fishery has ever seen. Last year’s was the second biggest at just over 38 million pounds.
State fisheries managers said they expect about 20 to 25 boats to register for the fishery. The Dutch Harbor Subdistrict is the largest state managed Pacific cod fishery in Alaska and was founded in 2014.
February 5, 2024 — State fisheries officials are forecasting a strong run of nearly 2 million sockeye salmon into the Copper River in 2024, plus an average run of 47,000 Chinook salmon.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) forecast of Jan. 18 predicts a sockeye run of 1,965,000 fish, compared to the 10-year average of 1,740,000 fish, with a forecast range of 1,572,000 to 2,358,000 fish, or 13% above average.
For Chinook salmon, the forecast is for a run of 34,000 to 66,000 kings, or 2% below the 10-year average of 48,000 fish.
For the Gulkana hatchery, a weak run of 36,000 salmon is forecasts with a range of 29,000 to 44,000 fish, or 69% below the 10-year average of 117,000 salmon.
Forecasts are all strong, however, for Coghill Lake sockeyes, and pink and chum salmon in Prince William Sound.
February 3, 2024 — Even though the forecast for this year’s salmon production in Alaska is down from last year the harvest, especially sockeye coming out of Bristol Bay, will be headed for markets still flooded with last year’s product.
Overall, values for all species of Alaska salmon are down. The 2023 statewide commercial harvest tallied up to 230.2 million fish, for a 43 percent increase in production over the 167 million fish of 2022. But revenues for 2023 ($398.6 million) came in at roughly half of the $720 million that was generated in 2022.
That inversion of volume over value promises to perplex the industry going into this year’s season.
“I’m hearing that these are some of the worst market conditions in 20 years, 30 years, or even more,” says Greg Smith, communications director with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, in Juneau. “It’s not just one species; it’s many species, and it’s not just Alaska seafood. It’s domestic seafood, and seafood globally.”
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game prediction for Bristol Bay’s 2024 total sockeye run has been set at 39 million. Given the confidence levels in the modeling, the industry can expect a range of 24 million on the low side of the prediction – and more than 53 million fish in the most optimistic scenario.
Historical records since 2001 show that on the average the department has underestimated runs by 15 percent. Subtract the escapement to the bay’s nine major river systems, and fishermen can expect to harvest in the neighborhood of 25 million sockeyes.
Among the major production districts, run projections for the Naknek-Kvichak have been pegged at 15 million, with the fabled Nushagak set at around 12 million sockeyes and potential harvests at Egegik and Ugashik districts estimated at around 5 million each.
That’s a lot of fish, and though the onslaught of the run lies months away, questions loom of whether there will be a fleet to catch them and enough processing capacity to put them up.