Saving Seafood

ALASKA: As Pebble closes in on federal permit, supporters and critics disagree on impacts

July 28, 2020 — The Pebble Limited Partnership is now one step away from receiving a federal permit for the proposed Pebble Mine, a deeply controversial development that would tap large copper and gold deposits at the headwaters of Bristol Bay.

Pebble CEO Tom Collier says the finished environmental impact statement shows the mine can be built without harming the environment.

“The final EIS is the first time that a federal agency has engaged in a rigorous review of the specific plan that we intend to use to build this project,” Collier said. “After doing that, in the draft and preliminary final, they concluded that the project won’t damage the fishery.”

The report says construction of the mine will impact up to 200 miles of streams and 4,000 acres of wetlands.

Lisa Reimers is a board member of Iliamna Natives Limited. She supports Pebble’s development and says the environmental impact statement provides enough safeguards to protect the environment around the project. Reimers says this affects her on a personal level as well.

Read the full story at KTOO

ALASKA: Bristol Bay setnetters get their hands dirty (and sometimes lose a finger) to put salmon on your dinner table

July 27, 2020 — Most Alaskans know that commercial fishing is very important to the economy of our state. A small number of folks understand the ins and outs of a commercial gillnet operation. Fewer still understand what a setnet fishery is.

When one speaks of the gillnet fishery, the picture that comes to mind is one of a picturesque vessel with a long line of glistening white floats strung out behind. That is a semi-accurate depiction.

The setnet fishery bears little resemblance to that picture.

Setnetting is hard, dirty work — at least in Bristol Bay. If you are wearing name-brand raingear, few would recognize it because it would be covered in mud.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Trump administration signals controversial mine can move ahead, reversing Obama-era position

July 27, 2020 — A controversial gold and copper mine proposed in Alaska was given a major push forward Friday as the Trump administration issued a final report concluding the Pebble Mine project would not cause long-term harm to one of the world’s largest remaining salmon runs.

The new report, by the Army Corps of Engineers, is a sharp reversal to the Obama administration Environmental Protection Agency’s conclusions of the project, which essentially blocked progress on the mine because of environmental concerns by citing the potential for permanent damage to the pristine Bristol Bay watershed.

The Pebble Mine project has been a lightning rod for controversy for some two decades and has been widely assailed by numerous interest groups in Alaska and the lower states, and also faced opposition from many Alaskans.

The new report by the Army Corps is a major triumph for the project developers, illustrating the Trump administration’s opposite approach to the project from the Obama administration and echoing other large environmental reversals it has ordered on other findings from the previous administration.

Perhaps the new report’s most striking finding is that the colossal mine and its development “would not be expected to have a measurable effect on fish numbers and result in long-term changes to the health of the commercial fisheries in Bristol Bay.”

Read the full story at CNN

Senator Cantwell Slams Trump Administration Analysis of Pebble Mine That Could Put Bristol Bay at Risk of Irreparable Harm

July 27, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA):

Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, slammed an environmental analysis released by the Trump administration that could pave the way for approval of the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska:

“Mining and fish spawning habitat don’t mix. Mining pollution not only kills fish, but it can permanently destroy their habitat. Building a mine on top of an estuary kills salmon and the jobs that depend on them. That’s why this decision is shameful. We have seen analysis after analysis—including from the Trump administration’s own EPA—showing the Pebble Mine will irreparably harm Bristol Bay and over 50 million salmon that return to the watershed every year. But the administration has chosen to push forward and help special interests at the expense of Pacific Northwest fishermen, Alaska Native communities, shipbuilders, suppliers, sportsmen, restaurants, and so many others. Whatever the administration may say, this fight is not over.”

Senator Cantwell has long fought to protect the Bristol Bay watershed and its important environmental and economic place in the Pacific Northwest. In January of 2014, she called on the Obama administration to protect Bristol Bay from mining after a report showed the proposed mine would threaten salmon runs and damage the commercial fishing industry. In July of 2014, Cantwell praised proposed science-based protections for the Bristol Bay watershed. In October of 2017, Cantwell and other members of the Washington state congressional delegation urged President Trump to listen to Washington fishermen and businesses before removing protections from Bristol Bay. In May 2018, Cantwell called on the Trump administration to hold public meetings in Washington state on the proposal and increase transparency for the permitting process. And in July 2019, Cantwell slammed the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw protections for Bristol Bay.

ALASKA: Controversial Pebble Mine gets approval from US Army Corps of Engineers

July 24, 2020 — The controversial Pebble Mine, proposed for a location near the headwaters that feed the Bristol Bay, Alaska, sockeye fishery, has received its final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

SalmonState, an advocate for salmon fisheries in Alaska, has called the new impact statement a “rubber stamp” that is largely the same as the initial draft of the EIS. Opposition to the Pebble Mine from fishermen, environmentalists, and tribal representatives has been ongoing for more than a decade, and was renewed in 2017 when mining conglomerate Pebble Limited Partnership applied for a permit for an open pit copper, gold, and molybdenum mine.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Sockeye ex-vessel prices in Bristol Bay, Alaska drop nearly 50 percent

July 24, 2020 — Major processors in Bristol Bay, Alaska, began posting base prices at USD 0.70 (EUR 0.60) per pound, just over half of last season’s price of USD 1.35 (EUR 1.16). Bristol Bay’s KDLG radio station reported that Peter Pan Seafoods, Trident Seafoods, Red Salmon/North Pacific Seafoods, and OBI Seafoods had all announced their price, with processing giant Silver Bay Seafoods yet to post.

Once one of the major processors in Bristol Bay announces the base price, the others typically follow suit. If a processor announces a lower price than a competitor, they risk angering their fleet and losing boats to other companies.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Gold vs. Salmon: An Alaska Mine Project Just Got a Boost

July 24, 2020 — From the air it looks like just another tract of Alaska’s endless, roadless tundra, pockmarked with lakes and ponds, with a scattering of some of the state’s craggy mountains.

But this swath of land, home to foraging bears and spawning salmon about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage, has been a battleground for years.

The fight is over what lies just below the surface: one of the richest deposits of copper, gold and other valuable metals in the world. It sets two of the state’s most important industries, mining and fishing, against each other.

A mining company plans to dig a pit, more than a mile square and a third of a mile deep, over two decades to obtain the metals, estimated to be worth at least $300 billion.

Supporters say the project, known as the Pebble Mine, would be an economic boost for a remote region that has missed out on the North Slope oil boom and other resource-extraction development in the state over the past half century. It would employ nearly 1,000 people, and the Canada-based company, Northern Dynasty Minerals, would pay for infrastructure improvements in some Native Alaskan villages and provide cash dividends totaling at least $3 million to people in the area.

Read the full story at The New York Times

ALASKA: Bristol Bay Catch 31M Sockeye, Total Run Over 47M, Escapement Reached in Most Major Rivers

July 20, 2020 — As of two days ago, Bristol Bay landings of sockeye salmon have reached 30.7 million sockeye, with a total run clocking at 47.37 million sockeye. The run appears to be about a week later than historic timing indicates (with a peak during the week of July 4) and slightly more than pre-season estimates of 49 million sockeye, based on in-season Port Moller Test Fishery data.

The Bristol Bay salmon season is managed first by escapement, which looks good in all the major rivers. The highest producing system so far is Naknek-Kvichak with 11.13 million sockeye caught to date. The forecast for that three-river system is 12.34 million. Escapement there has been 9.43 million, nearly 3 million more than the pre-season forecast of 6.67 million.

Read the full story at Seafood News

ALASKA: After decades, a decision nears on the Pebble mine

July 16, 2020 — The proposed Pebble mine near Bristol Bay is nearing a landmark decision that could set the stage for the project’s approval, decades after developers first started considering the project.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said a final environmental impact statement is scheduled to be released a week from Friday.

The document, a review of the mine’s potential impacts on nearby land and rivers, could mean a final decision in late August for the federal agency to permit the controversial project.

The Corps will hold a call with reporters on Monday to “set expectations for the release of the (final environmental impact statement) on July 24,” said John Budnik, a spokesman with the Corps.

“This will mark one of the most significant milestones for the Pebble Project,” said Tom Collier, chief executive of Pebble Limited Partnership, in a prepared statement.

The developer released the statement on Wednesday highlighting the Corps’ timeline.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

ALASKA: Bristol Bay sockeye running strong as markets remain murky

July 14, 2020 — After a slow start to the season, Bristol Bay, Alaska – home to the world’s largest sockeye run –is seeing fish hit hard and fast, with a string of historically strong days spiking catch numbers and overloading processors.

The run lagged several days behind schedule, with slow fishing across all four major districts into July dragging down statewide salmon numbers. The season has also had a rocky start as preparations for the season were impacted by COVID-19, in some instances leading to calls for the season to be closed entirely in the first months of the pandemic’s arrival in the United States.

Read the full story at Seafood Source