Saving Seafood

Economic storm hits Alaska’s fishing industry 2023 salmon harvest dips, prices dive

August 16, 2023 — As the fishing calendar in Alaska rolled over to August, the statewide harvest for all five species in all areas and all districts stood at 99.3 million fish. Overall, ex-vessel prices dropped to almost half of what brick-and-mortar processors had been willing to pay in 2022.

Of those fish, the sockeye harvest came out ahead of pinks (40 million), with a preliminary harvest just short of 47 million, but late-season pink seine fisheries in Southeast, Kodiak, Prince William Sound, and the Alaska Peninsula could surpass sockeye numbers as some runs peak in mid to late August. As expected, the chinook harvest was weak at 160,000 fish, while chums added up to 11.8 million. The coho harvest, meanwhile, stood at 466,000.

As the fishing calendar in Alaska rolled over to August, the statewide harvest for all five species in all areas and all districts stood at 99.3 million fish. Overall, ex-vessel prices dropped to almost half of what brick-and-mortar processors had been willing to pay in 2022.

Of those fish, the sockeye harvest came out ahead of pinks (40 million), with a preliminary harvest just short of 47 million, but late-season pink seine fisheries in Southeast, Kodiak, Prince William Sound, and the Alaska Peninsula could surpass sockeye numbers as some runs peak in mid to late August. As expected, the chinook harvest was weak at 160,000 fish, while chums added up to 11.8 million. The coho harvest, meanwhile, stood at 466,000.

Fishing began in early July on “open ticket,” meaning a price had not been settled with processors when the onslaught of sockeyes arrived. Fishermen set their nets in hopes that the initial price would be closer to the average base price of $1.15 per pound they received last year. With news of the 50 cents, some fishermen staged a protest in Naknek on July 20, while others folded up their operations and left for home.

“It was such a big shock,” says Danielle Larsgaard, a setnetter who fishes the Nushagak each summer. “Everyone kept asking, ‘When are they going to announce a price?’” 

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

 

Off Alaska coast, research crew peers down, down, down to map deep and remote ocean

August 15, 2023 — For the team aboard the Okeanos Explorer off the coast of Alaska, exploring the mounds and craters of the sea floor along the Aleutian Islands is a chance to surface new knowledge about life in some of the world’s deepest and most remote waters.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel is on a five-month mission aboard a reconfigured former Navy vessel run by civilians and members of the NOAA Corps. The ship, with a 48-member crew, is outfitted with technology and tools to peer deep into the ocean to gather data to share with onshore researchers in real time. The hope is that this data will then be used to drive future research.

“It’s so exciting to go down there and see that it’s actually teeming with life,” said expedition coordinator Shannon Hoy. “You would never know that unless we were able to go down there and explore.”

Read the full article at the Associated Press

ALASKA: Salmonfest’s environmental message shines through during music festival

August 15, 2023 — Ninilchik’s annual Salmonfest transformed the small Kenai Peninsula town into a packed music hub this weekend, with big-name artists from around the country. Behind the stages, however, is the festival’s enduring message about Alaska salmon, and omnipresent anti-Pebble Mine activism.

Thousands of people attended Salmonfest this weekend to see performances like Old Crow Medicine Show, Sierra Ferrel and Sam Nelson of the pop rock outfit X Ambassadors.

But at the opposite corner of the Kenai Peninsula Fairgrounds in Ninilchik is an area known as the “causeway.” Here, dozens of fishing and environmental-related nonprofits line the pathway, from the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council, to the Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association and Juneau-based SalmonState. U.S. Congresswoman Mary Peltola, who built her platform on a pro-fish position, has a booth here too.

Founded in 2011, the music festival has always been a venue for salmon activism. Thomas Tilden was at Salmonfest with United Tribes of Bristol Bay, a 15-tribe consortium that advocates for clean water and against Pebble Mine.

“I believe we have a really sound claim as to why they shouldn’t open the Pebble Mine in the spawning grounds of not only the Nushagak River, but also the Kvichak River,” he said.

Read the full article at KYUK

Citing market volatility and Russia’s war in Ukraine, Trident plans to halt salmon buying early

August 9, 2023 — Trident Seafoods, the country’s largest vertically integrated seafood company, announced a number of measures over the weekend that bode poorly for the Alaska salmon market, including an early end to its salmon buying season across much of the state.

In a letter over the weekend to fishermen who sell their catch to Trident, the company outlined the issues prompting low prices and a halt to most salmon purchases at month’s end.

“The current state of the salmon markets is volatile, and future indicators are even more concerning,” reads the letter, signed by Trident CEO Joe Bundrant and senior vice president for Alaska operations Jeff Welbourn. “We know this is not an easy time and we understand and empathize with our fishing community. Given how quickly things are changing we are committed to being as transparent as possible so you can make timely and informed decisions.”

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

ALASKA: Reward quadrupled after more than 20 endangered sea lions illegally killed near Cordova

August 8, 2023 — More than 20 endangered sea lions have been found dead in the Copper River Delta this summer, many with gunshot wounds. The National Marine Fisheries Service has now quadrupled the reward for information on the illegal killings to $20,000.

Sadie Wright, a biologist with the agency, said the dead animals were found during surveys of the area east of Cordova. This year, she said, it’s an unusually high number.

“We’ve done this for a number of years,” Wright said. “And this year we’ve found a big spike in the number of dead sea lions on the islands there.”

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

ALASKA: Alaskan city looks to join tribes’ Bering Sea groundfish lawsuit

August 8, 2023 — The city of Bethel, Alaska, U.S.A., wants to join a federal lawsuit against NOAA Fisheries led by two major tribal organizations.

In April, the Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP) and Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC), which together represent around 100 Alaskan tribes, filed a lawsuit challenging NOAA Fisheries’ management of industrial trawl fisheries in the Bering Sea. The tribes, along with the nonprofit environmental law group Earthjustice, claim that the amount of salmon bycatch allowed in the pollock trawl fishery is reducing the king salmon and chum salmon populations, leading to restrictions on subsistence fishing in the Yukon and Kuskokwim regions.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Bristol Bay fishermen protest low base price, lack of transparency

August 7, 2023 — By 9 am, over one hundred boats are anchored in the Naknek River entrance, some after a night of fishing the Naknek-Kvichak. Ivan Basargin of the fishing vessel Top Notch is one of them. He’s here to join the demonstration against this year’s low price. Basargin has fished in Bristol Bay since the late 1980s and builds fishing boats in the offseason. Standing in the wheelhouse of a boat he built, he says this year’s low-price hits hard.

“I’m going to pay my workers. I’m going to pay my bills. As far as living expenses, I haven’t decided yet. This 50 cents that I get, when I get home, it’s going to be a wash. I’m not going to have any money in the bank saved,” he said.

Organizers of the protest are calling on processors to reconsider and improve the base price this season from 50 cents per pound, less than half of last year’s price.

Without change, many fishermen say it’s unsustainable for the industry, and some say they will go home in debt. Basargin says he’s out on the water today because he fears accepting this year’s low base price will set a precedent.

“If they know we can fish for 50 cents, we’re going to get paid 30 cents next year,” he said. “That will happen if we don’t do anything. Like today – this is a peaceful protest. We’re not trying to block people or anything. We’re just trying to show the world that we’re hurting, and we need some help.”

Basargin says processors are claiming they are struggling financially too but he hasn’t seen evidence of this struggle.

“After a record fish catch last year, processors are complaining they are losing a lot of money. I see processors expanding. I see them buying other companies out,” he said. “If you look at the scenario, it kind of seems like they are putting a burden on us. They’re adding up their profits and expanding operations.”

Read the full article at the Bristol Bay Times

ARCTIC Act limits offshore aquaculture

August 1, 2o23 — On July 18 Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, introduced the Improving Agriculture, Research, Cultivation, Timber, and Indigenous Commodities (ARCTIC) Act, which, among other things, seeks to protect Alaska’s fishing industry by limiting open-ocean aquaculture.

Back in May 2020, then-President Donald Trump issued an executive order that gave the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration authority to approve fish farming in the open ocean. Murkowski’s ARCTIC Act will, if enacted, prohibit the arbitrary authorization of fish pens in the federal waters.

According to a summary released by Murkowski’s office, the ARCTIC Act aims to strengthen those communities, food security, and the seafood economy. Specifically, it supports domestic seafood production by increasing seafood processing in coastal communities.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Fish plentiful, but fishermen scarce for Southeast Alaska’s first summer king opening

August 1, 2023 — The numbers are in for the first opening in the summer troll fishery for king salmon in Southeast Alaska.

The 12-day season saw more chinook landed than expected, despite fewer boats being on the water.

Southeast trollers brought in about 85,000 king salmon from July 1 to July 12, around 8,000 fish over the target for the first opener of the season.

At first, it might look like enthusiasm played a role, as it was only on June 21 that the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay that allowed the fishery to occur at all.

Read the full article at KCAW

Alaska pollock sector welcomes MSC eco-label push from McDonald’s China

July 30, 2023 — McDonald’s China recently announced that it will now include the blue Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) eco-label on its Filet-o-Fish sandwiches, Double Fish burgers, and Kids Fish Fillet burgers, served in more than 5,000 restaurants nationwide.

The initiative, according to Gu Lei, chief impact officer of McDonald’s China, “will continue to help protect the vitality of the ocean.” Gu described McDonald’s China as “actively building a sustainable supply chain to reduce damage to the environment through its seafood procurement.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource