Saving Seafood

State of Alaska files motion against feds over control of fishery management

September 6, 2023 — Gov. Mike Dunleavy made it clear at a press conference on Friday just how crucial a motion filed by the State of Alaska is for the future of fisheries conservation in Alaska.

Dunleavy, along with Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor and Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang, spoke to the press for about 15 minutes in Anchorage about the state’s motion to reject a lawsuit brought by the federal government over the state’s management of fisheries on the Kuskokwim River.

“What I want the people of Alaska to understand is we didn’t choose this fight, the feds forced it on us,” Dunleavy said. “The stakes obviously couldn’t be higher because this really has to do with management of our fisheries and potentially down the road game as well. [It] has to do with sovereignty over our waters.”

The state is arguing the federal government does not have the authority to manage the fishery on the Kuskokwim because the Kuskokwim River is not public land.

Read the full article at Web Center Fairbanks

EPA head says he’s ‘proud’ of decision to block Alaska mine and protect salmon-rich Bristol Bay

August 30, 2023 — The nation’s top environmental official said he fully supports his agency’s decision to block a proposed gold and copper mine in Alaska’s salmon-rich Bristol Bay, even as the state of Alaska has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn that action.

“Let me be clear, we are very proud of our decision to really evaluate the Pebble Mine project and do what is necessary to protect Bristol Bay,” Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday as he began a four-day tour of Alaska, starting in a Bristol Bay village.

The EPA in January vetoed the proposed Pebble Mine, citing concerns with possible impacts on the aquatic ecosystem in southwest Alaska that supports the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery. The region also has significant mineral resources.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

A salmon glut has sent prices plunging, and economists don’t know when they’ll recover

August 29, 2023 — Kodiak fisherman Mike Friccero has fished for salmon for over four decades. He said he was expecting a low price for Bristol Bay salmon this summer, but didn’t think rumors were true about how low it would drop.

“Our processor gave us a letter, a narrative before the season started, saying that pricing conditions weren’t great but that they were going to go after it with all the resources that they utilized last year as far as tendering and logistics and resources in general,” he said. “And they asked if we would do the same.”

It’s been a tough year for commercial salmon fishermen. Three years of huge returns in Bristol Bay created a surplus of sockeye in the market. Towards the end of the season, processors announced a base price of just 50 cents per pound – the lowest price in decades, when adjusted for inflation.

Fishermen can get bonuses for better quality, but Friccero said even with the boost, he was better off gearing up to fish for other species like halibut.

“If you’re catching 5,000 pounds and you’re thinking 80 cents, then your crew’s share might be $400,” he said. “Well that’s worth doing for folks, but once it drops into the lower figures, if you have crew that have talent, they’ve got other things they want to get over to.”

Friccero said he usually leaves shortly after the peak anyway, but he wasn’t the only one packing up before August.

Read the full article at KTOO

Are Alaska Fishing Communities and Fishermen Prepared for Climate Change?

August 28, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In 2019, commercial fisheries off Alaska produced 5.7 billion pounds of seafood worth $2.0 billion—more than the rest of the United States. It’s the largest private sector employer in Alaska, and employs more than over 31,000 fishermen. Commercial fishing provides critical employment opportunities for isolated coastal communities throughout the state. It also provides food security, cultural transmission, and social connectivity.

Gulf of Alaska communities and boroughs, which are highly dependent on fishing to support their local economies. However, social scientists found that 16 of these communities were relatively unprepared to tackle climate change. In general, local planning that included climate adaptation measures to support fishing and support businesses was very limited.

“We found that several communities had identified some mitigation measures to reduce localized greenhouse gasses or address risks related to climate-driven stressors—floods, drought, coastal erosion, avalanches, and landslides. Yet, only five community plans directly address climate change through action strategies,” said Marysia Szymkowiak, lead author and social scientist from the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. “Part of the problem is that federal and state support for community climate change planning is inconsistent. This leaves local communities with inadequate resources to fully execute comprehensive planning to address climate change impacts.”

ALASKA: Alaska Gov. Dunleavy names ad consultant, talk show host Porcaro to commercial fisheries agency

August 26, 2023 — Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has appointed a GOP advertising consultant and talk show host to a highly paid state government job: a position overseeing commercial fishing permits.

Dunleavy this month appointed Mike Porcaro as one of two commissioners overseeing the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission, or CFEC — an obscure, Juneau-based agency with some 20 employees.

The commission issues annual commercial fishing permits, grants and denies permit transfers in the event of illnesses and deaths and publishes fisheries reports and statistics.

Porcaro is a Dunleavy ally whose communications firm has worked for the governor’s campaigns, and who has hosted the governor as a guest on his talk radio show.

Porcaro will work remotely from his home in Anchorage, continue hosting his daily radio program from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and run his advertising agency outside work hours, he said.

Porcaro’s new job would pay $136,000 a year if he works full time, but he may work less than that and will only be compensated for the hours he reports having worked, said Glenn Haight, CFEC’s other commissioner.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News 

The scales of justice: Salmon fisheries in federal court, fighting to keep their lines in the water

August 21, 2023 — More than 90% of wild salmon are caught in Alaskan waters, where the fish travel from the coasts of California, the Pacific Northwest, and British Columbia. As the total number of fish have declined, limits of a catch have naturally decreased. The Wild Fish Conservancy, based in Washington, sued over technicalities in the Endangered Species Act. The salmon have been deeply compromised by dams and pollution, says third-generation Alaskan and journalist Julia O’Malley. Because the fish swimming up from the Lower 48 may be potentially endangered, Alaskan fisheries must come up with a mitigation plan. A judge was compelled by the Conservancy’s complaint of how to enact such a plan. Alaskan fisheries recently won a last minute reprieve in a lawsuit that would have kept lines out of the water this fishing season.

A pod of 73 endangered orcas in the region near Puget Sound feed on Chinook, also known as king salmon — the largest of the species, and whose populations are at historic lows. The orcas are in turn under threat of starvation,  not only because the salmon are less abundant, but because they are considerably smaller, dropping from a typical size of 60-100 pounds down to 30 pounds. As a result, the whales need to catch more of them to get the same amount of protein. Noise pollution and industrial runoff further compound the problem, interfering with the echolocation orcas use to locate salmon.

Alaska has a 100-year-old fishing tradition, according to O’Malley. For better or worse, communities around the state operate on an extraction economy, whether it’s oil, timber, or fishing.

Read the full story at KCRW

ALASKA: New quota system to start for trawl harvests of cod in Bering Sea and Aleutians

August 21, 2023 — Commercial fishermen netting Pacific cod from the Bering Sea and Aleutians region will be working under new individual limits starting next year designed to ease pressure on harvests that regulators concluded were too rushed, too dangerous and too prone to accidentally catch untargeted fish species.

The new system will require fishers who harvest cod by trawl – the net gear that scoops up fish swimming near the bottom of the ocean – to be part of designated cooperatives that will then have assigned quota shares. The fisheries service at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it has notified eligible participants and is asking for applications.

The cod-trawling program, to start next January, is the first new fishery quota system started since 2012 in federal waters off Alaska, according to NOAA Fisheries.

The Pacific cod harvest is the second-biggest commercial groundfish catch in the waters off Alaska, after pollock, according to NOAA Fisheries. The 2021 commercial harvest totaled 330.4 million pounds and was worth $86.5 million, according to NOAA Fisheries.

Read the full story at KTOO

Biden administration announces more than USD 300 million for salmon recovery and fish passage projects

August 18, 2023 — The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has announced nearly USD 300 million (EUR 276 million) for salmon recovery and fish passage improvement projects.

This week, NOAA Fisheries recommended USD 106 million (EUR 98 million) in funding for 16 salmon recovery projects along the West Coast and in Alaska through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF). At the same time, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has unveiled USD 196 million (EUR 180 million) in funding for to fix or remove 169 culvert barriers to improve fish passage.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

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