October 22, 2019 — Trawlers in the Bering Sea have hauled up some 2,500 metric tons of black cod in bycatch circa the end of last month, according to a NOAA fisheries report.
An Alaska Public Media report suggests that small-boat fishermen who have bought black cod (also known as sablefish) fishing rights are frustrated that there will be fewer fish to harvest after the accidental catch of the trawlers.
October 10, 2019 — Fish politics in Alaska usually get serious when there aren’t enough fish to go around. But a new fight is brewing over black cod because there are so many of them – possibly as a result of the ocean’s warming waters.
Record numbers of young black cod, also known as sablefish, are swimming off Alaska’s coast; scientists estimate that this group of fish, which had huge reproductive success in 2014, is twice the size of the next-largest on record, from 1977.
The small-boat fishermen who catch black cod, many of whom live in Southeast Alaska, are eagerly waiting for the young fish to grow larger and commercially valuable. But they’re getting frustrated seeing increasing numbers of black cod caught accidentally, as bycatch, by the Seattle-based trawlers that target lower-value species in the Bering Sea, like the pollock that go into McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwiches.
“This recruitment event is what we’re counting on to keep the fishery going for the next 10 or 15 years,” said Tad Fujioka, a Sitka fisherman who decided to buy black cod fishing rights a few years ago, in part because of the boom in their numbers. “We need to save these fish for years to come.”
October 3, 2019 — The following was released by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe:
The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe is pleased to announce a joint venture with Cooke Aquaculture Pacific.
The joint venture will initially work to rear sablefish (black cod) and sterile triploid, all-female rainbow trout. The venture will require reinstatement of the farm lease at Port Angeles, in exchange for significant investment by the venture in new infrastructure and local jobs in the area. The two partners will work together to rear these Northwest native species in Port Angeles Harbor.
“Our Council is committed to pursuing our self-reliance goal through diversified economic development and education, and we believe this partnership with Cooke Aquaculture Pacific will contribute to meeting that goal,” says Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe Chairman/CEO W. Ron Allen. “We, along with our sister tribes, are strong stewards of our environment. And we firmly believe we can implement net pen aquaculture consistent with our tribal heritage and cultural values. By working together, combining our history and experience fishing on the Olympic Peninsula with Cooke’s experience and expertise in aquaculture, we are confident that we can raise a sustainable supply of trout and sablefish and contribute to our local economy.”
This partnership with Cooke augments the well-established working relationship between the Tribe, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Manchester Research Laboratory and the University of Washington, who have worked together since 2015 on black cod aquaculture research.
The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe is the second largest employer in Clallam County, providing jobs for over 750 people in its Tribal government and businesses. In addition to the businesses that provide revenues for Tribal programs and services, the Tribe is an active partner in many community projects focusing on protection and restoration of natural resources and habitat, improving health and wellness for the Olympic Peninsula, public safety, and promoting quality education.
“The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe is known for being progressive and forward-thinking in its approach to resource management and economic development,” says Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke Aquaculture Pacific. “We look forward to working together to produce top quality seafood for consumers in Washington and across the US.” The partners are expecting to start up the operations in the fall of 2019.
For more information, visit https://jamestowntribe.org or www.cookeseafood.com.
November 19, 2018 — Over the past decade, many Washington-based seafood processors have been gutted. Increased regulations, labor wages and shipping costs have eroded margins and stifled growth, particularly for smaller, family-owned operations. However, one business along the Willapa Harbor in South Bend has defied industry trends over its 10-year existence, continuously improving and expanding while diversifying its product line.
“We’re celebrating our 10-year anniversary this month,” said Dean Antich, general manager South Bend Products, a subsidiary of Tacoma-based Northern Fish Products. “We just keep getting bigger and busier.”
Booming business
In 2015, Antich hired a sales manager, then added an assistant manager to help delegate the duties for the growing operation.
“I thought that would free my time up but we just got bigger and busier because now we can do more,” Antich said.
What largely started with processing wild salmon in South Bend now includes razor clams, albacore tuna, black cod, halibut and rockfish, depending on the season.
“Salmon is the biggest fishery by pounds,” Antich said. “Dungeness is the biggest fishery by sales.”
In January 2018 South Bend Products acquired a processing facility in Chinook, formerly owned by Bell Buoy Crab. The facility provided more access to the Dungeness crab fishery and curbed shipping costs.
November 5, 2018 — Challenging statewide salmon harvests have dominated headlines, with record-high sockeye production in Bristol Bay being the state’s primary saving grace. However, salmon are not the only fish in the sea keeping the state’s fisheries afloat, with many fishermen relying on groundfish, herring, and miscellaneous shellfish to make ends meet. Some fishermen use alternative fisheries as a way to balance their portfolios, while others focus entirely on a single target species ranging from Dungeness crab to sablefish. “In a typical year, Alaska’s most valuable fisheries [measured by value of harvest] include salmon, pollock, Pacific cod, crab, halibut, and black cod,” says Garrett Evridge, an economist with McDowell Group, an Alaska-based research firm.
In 2017, salmon was the most valuable fish group. Harvest of all five salmon species totaled more than $781 million in ex-vessel value, the amount paid to fishermen for their catch. However, Evridge notes that 2018 has been a disappointing year for many salmon fisheries, a statewide concern.
“Salmon across the state have come in weaker than forecast, particularly in the North Gulf of Alaska,” says Bert Lewis, the Central Region supervisor of the Division of Commercial Fisheries for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG). “In the region I work, we saw some of the lowest returns of sockeye salmon in recent history with the exception of Bristol Bay, where we had the biggest run on record.”
The sockeye salmon harvest is estimated to be 37 percent of the recent ten-year average, making it the smallest since 1975—all other smaller harvests date back to the 1800s.
The “blob”—a warm water anomaly that washed into the Gulf of Alaska in 2015—is thought to be the culprit. With most sockeye salmon spending three years in the ocean, those returning this year initially swam out into warmer waters, which researchers speculate disrupted the food webs that support the salmon, decreasing their survivorship and resulting in poor returns this year.
“That concept is supported by the record return we saw in Bristol Bay, with close to 65 million sockeye returning that, in 2015, came out into the Bering Sea, which did not have this warm-water anomaly,” Lewis says.
However, poor harvests weren’t limited to sockeye: Chinook, chum, and pink numbers all came in low.
“In the Southeast, total salmon harvest will be about 30 percent of the recent ten-year average, due primarily to poor pink salmon run, since pink salmon usually make up most of the harvest,” says Steve Heinl, a regional research biologist for ADFG in Southeast.
“Pink salmon harvest is 19 percent of the recent ten-year average and the smallest since 1976,” Heinl says. “Pink harvest will be less than half of the harvest in 2016 [18.4 million fish], which spurred a formal declaration of disaster.”
Levels are well below ADFG’s forecast of 23 million pink salmon, though only slightly below the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast of 10 million to 23 million.
As of late August, chum salmon harvest to date was 69 percent of the recent ten-year average; Chinook harvest was at 30 percent of recent ten-year average; and coho harvest was on track to be lowest in thirty years, says Heinl.
Though state numbers are low, harvest success varied dramatically among systems. In Southeast, there were excellent Sockeye runs at Chilkoot Lake and Redoubt Lake, which stood in stark contrast to poor runs in places such as Situk River, where the fishery was closed for most of the season.
Read the full story at Alaska Business
June 7, 2018 — Seafood is Alaska’s largest commodity, and China is the state’s largest trading partner. In 2017, the Alaska Office of International Trade reports Alaska exported about a billion dollars worth of seafood to China, a figure Governor Bill Walker would like to triple.
“Nothing happens quick,” said Walker. “But I think as a goal, as we grow our seafood market opportunity, that’s something we sit down with the seafood processor and say ‘How do we grow this opportunity for increased exports out of Alaska?’ ”
Although increasing seafood exports to $3 billion might seem ambitious, Jeff Welbourn, Sr. Dir of China Business for Trident Seafood Corp., says an evolving Chinese economy could make it possible.
“China has been a manufacturing, reprocessing sector,” said Welbourn. “We’re kind of excited because we see opportunity for higher value products coming into this market.”
Those higher value products include black cod, halibut and sockeye salmon. In the past, byproduct and headed and gutted fish sold to China included items like wild Alaskan pollock and pink salmon.
“All these products here for reprocessing to a consumer market has been the real prize,” said Welbourn. “And it could triple in size pretty easily.”
In recent years, Welbourn says the Chinese consumer has moved away from lesser products. Today, they’re demanding more transparency and higher quality– a value added, premium market, which the Alaska seafood industry is poised to serve.
January 10, 2018 — The Pacific halibut fishery may see a drop in stock over the next few years and the International Pacific Halibut Commission, which regulates the fishery, uses surveys in Kodiak waters to collect data.
The surveys also give local fishermen another job to tackle during the winter season, especially with the recent announcement of the 80 percent cut to Pacific cod quota in 2018.
Dock workers throw frozen fish through the hatch and into a large bin, and deckhands help transfer the headed and gutted bait into containers.
Longtime Kodiak fisherman Terry Haines and his son are deckhands on the trip. They set gear and bring in the fish so scientists on board can focus on the research.
“They can see how we harvest the resource and then we can see how they assess the stock and it’s kinda great to have that interaction between, I think, the harvester and the scientist,” Haines said.
It’s also a good way to make some extra cash.
“With the cod stock the way it is, this is a pretty good job right now this winter, and it’s not during the regular longline season when I would be doing regular halibut and black cod,” Haines said.
This particular research trip focuses on the halibut reproductive cycle.
Read the full story at KTOO Public Media
February 27, 2017 — Commercial longline fishing fleets in Alaska are awaiting word about whether the season for halibut and black cod will actually start on March 11th. That’s the date voted on for halibut fishing by the International Pacific Halibut Commission in January. Typically the National Marine Fisheries Service also opens long-line fishing for black cod on the same day. This year that’s all up in the air.
The reason for the uncertainty is an executive order from President Trump in January requiring for every one new regulation issued, at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination. Trump also issued a 60-day freeze on new and pending regulations until they had been reviewed by the head of an agency appointed by the president.
The start dates for the fishing seasons require the publishing of regulations in the Federal Register. As of late February those regulations had not yet been published. During a recent stop in Ketchikan, Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski said she’s trying to get to the bottom of what the president’s executive order means for Alaska fisheries.
“While I like the idea of eliminating some of the regulatory underbrush I think we recognize that in certain areas and this is exactly one of those we count on our agencies to be prompt and diligent in laying down these regs so that people can engage in their business and their livelihood,” Murkowski said. “We need to make that happen.” Murkowski said she didn’t yet know about whether the season would be able to start on March 11.
August 18, 2016 — The Dock-U-Mentaries Film Series continues with Of the Sea: Fishermen, Seafood & Sustainability a new documentary film by Mischa Hedges. In the film, we learn from California fishermen about the salmon, black cod, sea urchin, crab and squid fisheries, and the challenges they face.
Read the full story and watch the trailer at the New Bedford Standard-Times
SEAFOODNEWS.COM By Peggy Parker — October 19, 2015 — The fourth annual audit for Alaska Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) certification has been completed for sablefish (black cod), Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) announced this morning.
ASMI requested assessment of the sablefish fisheries to the FAO-based standard first in April 2010. Final certification was given in October 2011. Last May the Fishing Vessels Owners Association became the new client holding the certificate for this fishery.
The audit covers changes to the management regime, regulations and their implementation since the previous assessment, in September 2014. The report determines whether these changes and current practices remain consistent with the overall scorings of the fishery allocated during initial certification.
Within the report are descriptions of how the sablefish fishery conforms to 13 standards, called clauses from the RFM framework, that range from data collection to fishermen’s competence, to ecosystem impacts. In all cases, the fishery was rated “high”, the best mark given.
Details of meetings with managers, law enforcement, biologists, and fishermen and processors, are included in the report.
This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.