Saving Seafood

NPFMC April Newsletter

April 19, 2017 — The following was released by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council:

Appointments

The Council appointed Davin Holen to the newly formed Bering Sea Ecosystem Plan Team. Holen is currently the Coastal Community Resilience Specialist at Alaska Sea Grant. Tyson Fick was appointed to the Pacific Northwest Crab Industry Advisory Committee (PNCIAC) as a non-voting member. Fick is based out of Juneau, and is currently the executive director of the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers. We welcome them both to their new roles.

C1 Scallop SAFE and Plan Team Report

The Council reviewed the 2017 SAFE report for Alaska weathervane scallops. The Council’s SSC set the ABC at 1.161 million pounds of shucked scallops, a level equivalent to 90% of the OFL, and consistent with the ABC control rule for scallops. While the ABC is specified federally for the entire stock, guideline harvest levels (GHLs) are established by ADF&G for the State’s scallop registration areas and districts. Constraining harvest to the GHLs is facilitated by State monitoring of fishery CPUE, and districts are closed to scallop harvest when catch rates fall below established minimum performance standards.

More than 85% of the total Alaska scallop harvest occurs in the Yakutat and Kodiak registration areas. Catch rates have been variable among those areas with increases occurring in Yakutat, but decreases in Kodiak. Declines have been strongest in the Shelikof District of Kodiak and the State lowered GHLs there by about 30% (105k lbs to 75k lbs) in the 2015/16 season. While overall declines have occurred in statewide scallop harvest over the past seven years, revenue has been stable. The stock status of Alaska weathervane scallops is not viewed as a conservation concern since scallops are distributed in many areas that have been closed to fishing to protect crab populations and in areas not defined as commercial beds. Staff contact is Jim Armstrong.

Read the full newsletter here

Climate change a character in Discovery’s ‘Deadliest Catch’

April 12, 2017 — Climate change is one of the main characters in the new season of “Deadliest Catch,” with the crab fishermen in one of Discovery’s most enduring and popular shows forced to deal with a sudden warming of the Bering Sea that chases their prey into deeper, more dangerous water.

That leads the adventure series into its own uncharted waters. The show’s 13th season debuts Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET.

“It’s a big risk for us to discuss climate change because so many people can think that it’s a political issue when really it isn’t, particularly in the context of the fishing fleet,” said R. Decker Watson, Jr., one of the show’s executive producers.

The waters off Alaska that provide the livelihood for the show’s real-life stars warmed by a dramatic 4 degrees in one year. The cold water-loving crab is depleted in the traditional fishing areas, so some of the boats strike out for new territory that is more dangerous because of fiercer storms and is further from rescue workers if something goes wrong, he said.

In fact, the new season documents one vessel lost at sea. It was not one of the crews regularly featured in the series, but all of the regulars knew who was involved, he said.

The developments offer an opportunity to educate an audience that might be less familiar about climate change. The median age of a “Deadliest Catch” viewer is 50 and the show skews 60 percent male which, judging by the results of the last election, might include its share of climate change skeptics. Yet Discovery isn’t interested in preaching; the series is more interested in documenting what is happening, not in explaining why.

There are no scientists aboard the fishing boats, and the show’s main purpose is to follow the lives of the crew, said Rich Ross, Discovery president.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

Crew of lost crabbing vessel declared legally dead in unusual court proceeding

March 22, 2017 — The six men lost when their crabbing boat sank on a cold morning in the Bering Sea last month were declared legally dead at an unusual court proceeding Monday, allowing heartbroken families to take a first step toward closure and settling their loved ones’ affairs.

The proceeding, known as a presumptive death hearing, is a kind of mini-trial held to determine whether a missing person can be declared dead. They are often held in the cases of people who have disappeared in such extreme terrain as to have exhausted the chances of survival or recovery.

The fishing vessel Destination sank 3 miles north of St. George Island on the morning of Feb. 11, just before starting the winter snow crab season. The bodies of the men aboard — captain Jeff Hathaway and crew members Kai Hamik, Darrik Seibold, Larry O’Grady, Raymond Vincler and Charles G. Jones — have not been found.

Without the recovery of a body, the families of the men can’t get the death certificates necessary to resolve a host of legal issues such as claiming survivors benefits or administering estates. That’s where the presumptive death hearing comes in.

Hearings like the one Monday are relatively rare in Alaska. Last year there were 20 statewide, according to the Alaska Court System.

Read the full story at Alaska Dispatch News 

ALASKA: Scientist Puzzled Over Declining King Salmon Runs

March 15, 2017 — The statewide study of king salmon decline has not yielded any definitive conclusions. The results of the three-year study of the incidental catch of Chinooks showing up in the state’s commercial salmon fisheries ended with no real information about kings headed into the Bering Sea.

Kyle Shedd is a fisheries geneticist with the Marine Conservation Laboratory at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. He says that the genetic study of incidental catch of kings showed that most of the fish caught were not Alaska king salmon, but ones headed south to British Columbia and even further south down the west coast of the U.S.

“The vast majority of Chinook salmon incidentally harvested in commercial fisheries, and also caught in the sport fisheries, were from southern stocks, so British Columbia and the West Coast of the United States. Very few of them were Alaska.”

Read the full story at KYUK

Reduced catch brings record prices for crab

March 10, 2017 — Alaska crabbers are hauling back pots from the Panhandle to the Bering Sea, and reduced catches are resulting in record prices for their efforts.

The year’s first red king crab fishery at Norton Sound has yielded 17,000 pounds so far of its nearly 40,000 pound winter quota for more than 50 local fishermen. The crab, which are taken through the ice near Nome, are paying out at a record $7.75 a pound. A summer opener will produce a combined catch of nearly half a million pounds for the region.

Red king crab from Bristol Bay also yielded the highest price ever for fishermen, averaging $10.89 per pound. That catch quota of eight million pounds was down 15 percent from the previous season.

The Bering Sea snow crab fleet has taken 80 percent of its 19 million pound quota, down by nearly half from last year. That’s pushed market prices through the roof, topping $8.30 a pound at wholesale in both the US and Japan, compared to over $5.50 per pound a year ago.

Alaska produces only about 10 percent of the world’s snow crab, with most of the pack by far coming from Eastern Canada, followed by Russia.  On the snow crab menu front – McDonald’s has begun testing a new snow crab sandwich in several San Francisco Bay locations. If it’s a hit, the sandwich could advance to nearly 250 outlets this year.

Read the full story at The Cordova Times

Northeast Pacific is the region producing most Marine Stewardship Council fish

December 23, 2016 — The Northeast Pacific fishing area annually produces a total of 2.6 million metric tons of certified seafood from Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) sustainable fishing standard, representing 83 per cent of the total catch of the area.

The MSC certified seafood from the area — covering Northern California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea waters — ranks first for the percentage and includes MSC certified salmon, albacore tuna, pink shrimp, hake, halibut, sablefish, Pacific cod, and Alaska pollock fisheries.

Another North American fishing area, the Northwest Atlantic — waters from North Carolina, the US mid-Atlantic, New England, and Eastern Canada — ranked seventh globally with 32 per cent (580,000 metric tons) of the total catch being MSC certified.

This area is home to MSC certified swordfish, spiny dogfish, sea scallop, lobster, Acadian redfish, haddock, pollock, Atlantic halibut, snow crab, Northern shrimp and Arctic surf clam fisheries.

The analysis and ranking was done as part of the recently published MSC Annual Report 2015-2016, which also reported that MSC certified fisheries caught more than 9.3 million metric tons of seafood in 2015-16, representing almost 10 per cent of the total global wild caught seafood by volume.

The global volume of MSC certified catch has increased by 6 per cent since 2014-15, while the MSC certified supply chain has climbed 16 per cent over the same period.

Between April 2015 and March 2016, the number of processors, restaurants and caterers with MSC Chain of Custody grew from 2,879 to 3,334 companies, operating in 37,121 sites across 82 countries. More than 20,000 products now carry the blue MSC label and can be traced back to fisheries which meet the MSC’s world-class standard for sustainable fishing.

Commenting on the results, Brian Perkins, MSC Regional Director – Americas, said, “When people purchase MSC certified seafood, their choice supports fishermen around the world who are working hard to meet the world’s most rigorous standard for environmental sustainability.”

“While we’re proud of the MSC certified fisheries here in North America, it takes a global effort to safeguard seafood supplies for the future,” pointed out Perkins.

For her part, Christina Burridge, Executive Director, B.C. Seafood Alliance and Chair, International Association of Sustainable Fisheries, stressed that fishermen on the Pacific Coast of the US and Canada are proud to be recognized by the MSC for their responsible stewardship of a renewable food resource for their countries and the world.

Read the full story at Fish & Information Services

Overall US seafood exports down slightly from last year

December 19th, 2016 — Updated numbers from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) indicated that the United States is exporting slightly less seafood this year than in 2015, while imports have seen a small bump.

A dismal Alaska pink salmon season may have contributed to the decline in overall exports. NMFS figures said pink salmon exports plummeted from 102,010 metric tons (MT) from January to October 2015 to 34,065 MT in the first 10 months of 2016. The poor season prompted Alaskan lawmakers to seek federal disaster relief funding for fisherman who depend on pink salmon runs.

In the same 10-month period, sockeye exports held almost steady from 2015 to 2016, hovering around 39,000 MT, while Atlantic salmon exports nearly doubled to 10,342 MT. Exports of chinook salmon caught in the U.S. also shot up from just 572 MT to 3,775 MT this year. However, the U.S. saw salmon roe exports nearly halved from 13,097 MT in 2015 to 7,330 MT this year.

The top flatfish export, yellowfin sole, retained robust numbers with nearly 59,000 metric tons shipped internationally, up about 4,000 MT from last year. The country’s largest yellowfin sole fishery is in Alaska’s Bering Sea.

With some species shuffling, tuna exports enjoyed an overall bump in 2016. While skipjack and yellowfin exports saw a year-on-year decrease, albacore exports were up nearly 40 percent to 14,242 MT in 2016 with total tuna exports at 16,654 MT.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Bering Sea groundfish looks strong as warming Gulf sees cuts

December 12, 2016 — Bering Sea fish stocks are booming but it’s a mixed bag for groundfish in the Gulf of Alaska.

Fishery managers will set 2017 catches this week (Dec.7-12) for pollock, cod and other fisheries that comprise Alaska’s largest fish hauls that are taken from three to 200 miles from shore.

More than 80 percent of Alaska’s seafood poundage come from those federally-managed waters, and by all accounts the Bering Sea fish stocks are in great shape.

“For the Bering Sea, just about every catch is up,” said Diana Stram, Bering Sea groundfish plan coordinator for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

There are 22 different species under the Council’s purview, along with non-targeted species like sharks, octopus and squid. For the nation’s largest food fishery — Bering Sea pollock — the stock is so robust, catches could safely double to nearly three million metric tons, or more than six billion pounds!

But the catch will remain nearer to this year’s harvest of half that, Stram said, due to a strict cap applied to all fish removals across the board.

“That means the sum of all the catches in the Bering Sea cannot exceed two million metric tons,” she explained.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

While Bering Sea groundfish booms, Gulf of Alaska struggles

December 5th, 2016 — Bering Sea fish stocks are booming, but it’s a mixed bag for groundfish in the Gulf of Alaska.

Fishery managers will set 2017 catches this week for  pollock, cod and other fisheries that make up Alaska’s largest fish hauls, which are taken from 3 to 200 miles offshore. More than 80 percent of Alaska’s seafood comes from those federally managed waters, and by all accounts the Bering fish stocks are in great shape.

“For the Bering Sea, just about every catch is up,” said Diana Stram, Bering groundfish plan coordinator for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Twenty-two species are under the council’s purview, along with such nontargeted species as sharks, octopus and squid. For the nation’s largest food fishery — Bering pollock — the stock is so robust that catches could safely double to nearly 6 billion pounds, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists who presented their data to the council last week.

But the allowable catch will remain close to this year’s harvest, Stram said, due to a strict cap applied to all fish removals.

“The sum of all the catches in the Bering Sea cannot exceed 2 million metric tons,” she explained.

With all stocks so healthy, catch-setting becomes a trade-off among the varying species, Stram said. The council also sets bycatch levels for the fisheries, another constraint.

Read the full story at Alaska Dispatch News 

How the privatization of our oceans is sinking fishermen

November 28th, 2016 — The town of St. George, off the Bering Sea near Alaska, was long home to some of the most robust pollock fishing in the country. But due to a fishing rights management scheme called “catch shares,” the town has no rights to fish its own waters and regularly watches their former industry literally pass them by.

“Every year, the industry takes about $2 billion in gains out of this fish resource on the Bering Sea,” St. George Mayor Pat Pletnikoff tells Lee van der Voo in “The Fish Market.” “Not one plug nickel sticks to St. George.”

Catch shares work by dividing our oceans just like any other physical property, creating theoretical property lines. Then the rights to fish different species in various sections are awarded to applicants — which could be individuals or companies — based on how much fish they catch over a certain period of time. These rights are given by eight fishery councils throughout the country, which also place restrictions on how much of any species can be fished.

While catch shares are credited with greater species management — the US government found in 2007 that of 230 species of fish, 92 were going quickly extinct due to overfishing — the catch-shares program has virtually privatized our oceans, destroying the livelihoods of many lifelong fishermen and other small businesses in the process.

Read the full story at The New York Post