Saving Seafood

Southeast troll fishermen help study a warming ocean: ‘Fishermen are natural scientists’

June 29, 2023 — Eric Jordan’s life on the ocean began more than 70 years ago, when his parents started taking him out on the family’s troller. At 73, Jordan still fishes regularly. But he says a lot has changed in the waters of Southeast Alaska.

“I was out there, the last two weekends at the Derby weigh station, seeing things that are truly dystopian. The lack of birds, the lack of fish,” Jordan said. “Those of us who are out there on the water, we are seeing the changes. And I’ll tell you it’s pretty spooky.”

Jordan started his own operation in 1978, trolling for coho and chinook salmon across Southeast Alaska and catching hundreds of fish a day. But today, the marine environment seems less abundant. Most species of Southeast salmon have had record low harvests in recent years, and the devastation from “the Blob” — a Pacific heat wave that caused massive die-offs of marine species — lingers.

Scientists expect a future with warmer oceans and more marine heat waves. But there’s a lack of data to explain how climate change is shaping Southeast fisheries. Now, two new citizen science projects from Alaska Sea Grant and the Alaska Trollers Association will help longtime troll fishermen like Jordan take the lead to gather data about how the waters they depend on are changing.

Read the full article at KTOO

ALASKA: With prices low, many fishermen are skipping Southeast’s Dungeness crab season

June 27, 2023 — The Southeast Alaska Dungeness crab fishery opened on June 15. But roughly a quarter of the fleet in Petersburg is skipping the season. That’s partly because many of them are expecting low prices.

Two days before crabbing started, Petersburg fisherman Paul Menish was in the cabin of his boat, the Hi Nikki, speculating on crab prices.

“Sounds like prices aren’t going to be as low as we were quoted three weeks ago,” said Menish. “Now, it’s just rumors, but that the prices will be for Dungeness, will be in north at two dollars. Which isn’t a good price but better than three weeks ago.”

It turns out Menish was right.

When he sold his first load to OBI Seafoods in Petersburg, he said he got $2.10 a pound. That’s 50 cents lower than the starting price last summer.

Kevin Timm is the fleet manager at OBI Seafoods in Petersburg. He said the problem is that there’s still a lot of Dungeness crab left over from last year. He said it’s expensive and customers just aren’t buying it.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

ALASKA: Crab pots ‘absolutely stuffed’ as Bering Sea Dungeness fishery breaks records

June 27, 2023 — While many Bering Sea crab populations are in freefall, Dungeness crab is breaking records in regions that hardly used to see them.

The North Peninsula District in the eastern Bering Sea opened as a commercial Dungeness fishery in the early ‘90s. In those early days, it was common for just one or two boats to fish there — many seasons, there were none.

The numbers increased modestly over the ensuing decades — but that growth has recently become exponential.

“The pots that we’re seeing coming out of this fishery are absolutely stuffed with crab,” said Ethan Nichols, who works for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “Like, you don’t even know how many crabs can fit in a pot.”

Nichols is Fish and Game’s assistant area manager for groundfish and shellfish in Dutch Harbor. He said the fishery boomed last year and became the largest Dungeness crab fishery in Alaska — bringing in 35% of the state’s total Dungeness landings.

Read the full article at KTOO

Murkowski, Sullivan introduce bill to create “Wild USA Seafood” label for domestic-caught seafood

June 27, 2023 — Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both Republican U.S. senators from Alaska, have introduced a bill to establish a “Wild USA Seafood” label for all seafood caught in U.S. waters.

The senators said the bill, the “Wild USA Seafood Act of 2023,” will help the U.S. domestic seafood industry promote its wild-caught seafood – including fish, crustaceans, and aquatic plants harvested in U.S. waters.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: ‘Alaska’s secret wild salmon prices hurt everybody,’ fisheries journalist says

June 27, 2023 — An opinion piece entitled “Alaska’s secret wild salmon prices hurt everybody,” written by a prominent fisheries journalist, is calling into question the transparency of how much Alaskan salmon fishermen get paid for their catch.

John Fiorillo is the executive editor of Intrafish, a global news bureau covering seafood, commercial fisheries and aquaculture industries worldwide. He argues that the secretive nature of price setting in Alaska salmon fisheries strains the relationship between fishermen and processors, and puts everyone on precarious financial footing — and it’s high time for a change.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

ALASKA: Alaska Gov. Dunleavy again vetoes research project on salmon bycatch

June 26, 2023 — Among the projects Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed from the state budget on Monday was salmon research to help determine the causes of the chinook and chum crisis in Western Alaska.

Dunleavy vetoed $513,000 for research on the origins of salmon caught by accident in the Bering Sea pollock fishery, as well as the origin of salmon intercepted by fishermen off the Alaska Peninsula in what’s known as “Area M.” Dunleavy vetoed the project last year, too.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

ALASKA: Dunleavy again vetoes research project on salmon bycatch

June 23, 2023 — Among the projects Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed from the state budget on Monday was salmon research to help determine the causes of the chinook and chum crisis in western Alaska.

Dunleavy vetoed $513,000 for research on the origins of salmon caught by accident in the Bering Sea pollock fishery, as well as the origin of salmon intercepted by fishermen off the Alaska Peninsula in what’s known as “Area M.” Dunleavy vetoed the project last year, too.

“You never know what’s going to come of these budgets. But this is quite a disappointment, again,” said Karen Gillis, program director of the Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association. The association was to receive the money and pass it on to a partnership of federal and university scientists.

Read the full article at KYUK

Alaska lawmakers want to expand US ban on Russian seafood imports

June 23, 2023 — Alaska’s congressional delegation has introduced legislation to close loopholes in U.S. rules banning Russian seafood imports.

The U.S. ban on Russian seafood was part of a slew of sanctions and prohibitions announced by U.S. President Joe Biden in a March 2022 executive order designed to impose economic punishments on Russia for its ongoing invasion and occupation of Ukraine.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

‘We can go fishing’: Appeals court says Southeast Alaska troll fishery can open this summer

June 22, 2023 — A federal appeals panel issued a last-second ruling Wednesday that will allow this summer’s Southeast Alaska troll chinook salmon fishery to open as scheduled July 1 — reversing a lower court ruling that would have kept the $85 million industry off the water.

“It’s a major victory,” Alaska Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang said in a brief phone interview Wednesday. “We can go fishing.”

Read the full article at KTOO

Appeals court allows Southeast Alaska king salmon fishery to open 1 July

June 22, 2023 — The king salmon troll fishery in Southeast Alaska will be allowed to open in just over a week after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit paused a district court ruling that threatened to keep the fishery closed this summer and winter.

“This has been an extremely challenging time for all of us,” Alaska Trollers Association (ATA) Executive Director Amy Daugherty said. “But thankfully, with the state’s help and the tribes recent declarations and our delegation, we have alerted the court to the disastrous consequences of a summer in [Southeast Alaska] without trolling.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource