March 11, 2024 — Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based Trident Seafoods is “entering the final stages” on sales of three of its seafood-processing facilities in Alaska.
In December 2023, Trident announced it was divesting from its plants in Kodiak, Ketchikan, Petersburg, and False Pass, as well as the South Naknek Diamond NN cannery facility and its support facilities in Chignik, as part of a comprehensive, strategic restructuring initiative.
March 2, 2024 — Tad Fujioka always had great problem-solving skills. After studying and working as an engineer, he left the field 14 years ago to become a troll fisherman based in Sitka, Alaska.
“If you’re good at solving problems in one environment, that translates directly to another environment,” he told ABC News, adding that there are other benefits to the job. “I love the freedom to follow my instincts, I don’t have to report to a boss, I love being out on the water in a beautiful country.”
Today he’s the chairman of the Seafood Producers Cooperative in Sitka, Alaska, and supports his family by troll fishing on his 31-foot boat, the Sakura. One of the most important types of fish he reels in is king salmon — the largest and most expensive species of salmon in the Pacific.
Read the full article at ABC News
February 29, 2024 — Alaska fishermen and industry representatives have been concerned with the cost of electronic monitoring. Senate Bill 209 put in place would allow the Board of Fisheries in AK to require electronic monitoring within state fisheries. Gov. Mike Dunleavy introduced the bills last month, making it possible to use electronic monitoring instead of mandatory observers aboard fishing vessels.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game would manage the program. According to KFSK, commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang told the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee that the bill is meant to create another tool for fisheries enforcement.
“I think the question comes down to right now, the only tool that the board has, when they’re concerned about a fishery, and the potential for some violation occurring in that fishery, is to put an observer on board. They don’t have any other options. I think adding this tool to the toolbox gives the board another option.” Vincent-Lang shared.
February 29, 2024 — With overstuffed markets and high-volume harvests ahead, Alaska’s Bristol Bay salmon industry may be nearing the bottom edge of financial solvency.
Bristol Bay fishermen and processors still haven’t recovered from the low prices of last year, leaving them to embrace a reality that harvest volumes can’t fix.
February 28, 2024 — U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski believes an effort by a Washington-state conservation group to put Alaska king salmon on the federal endangered-species list is misguided.
The Wild Fish Conservancy filed a petition with NOAA Fisheries in January, but Murkowski says the organization has missed the mark.
“They are attempting to utilize a very legitimate law, the Endangered Species Act, for what I would consider to be a very wrongheaded purpose,” Murkowski said by phone. “And that is to basically stop our wild fisheries.”
Murkowski says Alaska’s fisheries are under threat from several sources, including environmental pressure from climate change and warming oceans, and economic pressure from Russia’s oversupply of traditional seafood markets. And there’s also ongoing litigation by the Wild Fish Conservancy itself, which sued NOAA Fisheries in 2020 to shut down the commercial troll fishery for kings in Southeast Alaska.
That tactic has yet to succeed, so Murkowski is not surprised that the Wild Fish Conservancy is trying another.
February 28, 2024 — Marine aquaculture, or mariculture, provides economic opportunities for coastal communities in Alaska through the farming of shellfish and seaweed. NOAA Fisheries continues to support Alaska’s growing aquaculture industry through policy and permitting, providing access to capital, and research.
This new video highlights one of our newest aquaculture research collaborations. This research is being conducted by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s Kodiak Laboratory and Alaska Ocean Farms, an aquaculture company based in Kodiak. The project is spearheaded by NOAA’s Dr. Alix Laferriere and Alaska Ocean Farms manager Alf Pryor. It’s investigating whether seaweed farms provide habitat for native Alaskan marine species.
In early 2023, Dr. Laferriere launched a research project that would determine how a seaweed farm might provide habitat and shelter for local fish species. It compared the fish species present within Pryor’s farm to the fish species diversity in natural kelp beds. To do this, she is collecting fish and looking for environmental DNA found in the water. She has deployed a network of underwater cameras in the farmed kelp bed and in a nearby natural kelp bed. She’s tracking the number and species of fish that pass through both environments.
The video dives into the methods that Dr. Laferriere is using to track species diversity. It discusses the importance of the collaboration between the aquaculture industry and researchers to ask industry-driven questions about aquaculture. This is an essential tool for future aquaculture industry development in Alaska.
February 28, 2024 — The Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation (AFDF) honored the winners of the Alaska Symphony of Seafood at an event in Juneau, Alaska, U.S.A. on 21 February.
The annual event, which was first put on in 1994, highlights new, commercial-ready, value-added products made from Alaska seafood in a competition the AFDF said aims to promote new products and spark investments in product development.
February 27, 2024 — The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden will provide USD 1 million (EUR 920,000) to support climate resilience and food security in remote Alaskan communities and incorporate more indigenous knowledge into NOAA’s fisheries science initiatives.
“This opportunity will enable entities working to benefit indigenous knowledge holders, including tribes and Alaska Native community members to advance equity and environmental justice – including just treatment, equal opportunities and environmental benefits for all people and communities, and respect for tribal sovereignty,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said. “Through this effort we hope to support research projects that address community concerns while enabling NOAA Fisheries to meet its research mission through collaborative and co-produced research.”
February 26, 2024 — The following released by was NOAA Fisheries:
NOAA Fisheries continues to direct support towards Alaska’s growing aquaculture (also known as “mariculture”) industry. Marine aquaculture in Alaska contributes to economic opportunities for coastal communities through the farming of shellfish and seaweed. Research is increasingly showing the ecological benefits of aquatic farming.
To date, commercial aquaculture activities in Alaska have been relatively small-scale, and have primarily involved Pacific oysters, seaweed, and blue mussels. Finfish farming is illegal in Alaska state waters.
To document and celebrate the continued growth of the aquaculture industry, NOAA Fisheries has released its first State of Alaska Aquaculture Report. This project was conducted in partnership with economic development organizations such as the Alaska Mariculture Alliance and Southeast Conference, and government organizations:
The report summarizes the current state of the aquaculture industry in Alaska including:
The report includes an overview of oyster and seaweed production in the state and a regional breakdown of the industry across Alaska. It also includes perspectives on the current state of the Alaska aquaculture industry written by hatchery operators, farmers, and state officials. It contains information about aquaculture in Alaska, funding resources for those interested in getting involved, and information about NOAA’s plans to identify Aquaculture Opportunity Areas in Alaska.
The State of Alaska Aquaculture report is a first-of-its-kind overview of the aquaculture industry in Alaska, revealing the state’s opportunities and challenges to date. It also highlights the potential for future industry growth in Alaska, and how much work is underway to improve sustainable aquaculture production around the state. Learn more about NOAA’s involvement with aquaculture in Alaska
February 22, 2024 — Unlike their relatives in the Lower 48, the five types of Alaska salmon (king, chum, pink, sockeye and silver) are not officially endangered. However, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski told the Legislature in her annual address that kings are edging closer and the Yukon and Kuskokwim chum run declines are concerning. To keep our salmon off the endangered species list we must take action. Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) will provide important funding for Alaska’s wildlife action plan.
Under ice in lakes and creeks, salmon hatchlings will emerge soon. The egg sac the alevin emerges from will still be a bulge on the tiny fish’s belly and will nourish its growth in its first few weeks. Staying close to the rocky creek bottom, the hatchling grows into its fry phase as the ice melts. Plentiful plankton and larvae in the water provide the nutrients needed to grow rapidly. Submerged logs and rocks offer shelter from predators including fish, bald eagles and migratory birds. Pink and chum heed the primal signal to enter the ocean almost right away. Kings reside in freshwater for about a year before migrating. Sockeye and silver stay in freshwater longest, a couple years, before smolting and departing on their epic migration.