Saving Seafood

Bristol Bay processors hit fishermen with 50-cent price, protests coming

July 19, 2023 — Bristol Bay processors lowballed fishermen with ex-vessel prices of 50 cents on July 17, and the fleet wasn’t happy about it. 

As the season unfolded in early July the fleet began fishing on an “open ticket,” meaning that prices hadn’t yet been announced by major processors. When major processors came out with the announcement of a base price of 50 cents some members in the fleet proposed a friendly protest near Naknek. The protest has been staged for July 20, but the looming question is whether thousands of fishermen could band together with enough solidarity and force processors to nudge up the prices.

“There are too many variables out here,” says Harry Moore, a lifelong drift fisherman who was raised on the beach at Naknek. “The fish came in later this year and didn’t really hit until last week (July 10). “It was slow developing; so there are a lot of guys trying to make it up fishing the run on the back end. Then you’ve got guys who’ve got quite a few fish already, and their attitude is just to grind it out and put in a few more pounds.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Bristol Bay salmon run begins to slow, sockeye catch lower than predicted

July 16, 2023 — The peak of Bristol Bay’s sockeye salmon run has past, and indications are the total catch will be lower than predicted.

Across Alaska, 42.3 million salmon of all types had been landed as of 13 July, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. In Bristol Bay, ADF&G forecasted a run of 51 million sockeye in the Bristol Bay watershed in 2023, which would have made it one of the best years ever in the bay. But initial catch figures are coming up short of projections.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Bristol Bay tribe forms recycling program for fish nets, rain gear

July 10, 2023 — The Curyung Tribe and Net Your Problem, a recycling company based in Seattle, view old fishing nets as a resource. They are collecting mesh from nets to transport to a facility where processors will convert the material into new items. The Tribe’s environmental coordinator, Desi Bond, says this work keeps Dillingham beautiful and helps preserve the land.

“The biggest thing is how we can continue to teach our children about subsistence and how we can take care of our land. And this is one really important way,” Bond says.

Fishing nets take hundreds of years to break down and release microplastics as they do. Nicole Baker, who owns Net Your Problem, estimates nearly 100,000 pounds of fish net waste is thrown away in Bristol Bay each year.

“So that’s between Naknek, Dillingham and Togiak. And if you think about the landfills, they’re not going to be able to be filled up forever. They have a limited lifespan,” Baker says.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

ALASKA: Bristol Bay sockeye season plagued with uncertainty over pricing, supply glut

July 10, 2023 — Uncertainty continues to cloud the 2023 sockeye salmon season in Bristol Bay, Alaska, U.S.A., as the fishery heads toward what has historically been its peak period.

Fishing in one of the world’s most-productive sockeye salmon fishing grounds began on 1 June, but fishers are frustrated that processors have yet to disclose the price they intend to pay for this year’s catch.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: USDA to buy almost $120M of Alaska sockeye, Pacific groundfish, with nudge from congressional delegation

May 15, 2023 — Bristol Bay fishermen harvested a record-breaking 60 million sockeye last summer, flooding the market with a surplus of salmon.

Early this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture agreed to help with the glut by purchasing $119.5 million of canned and fileted Alaska sockeye and Pacific groundfish. It’s a win for the state’s marketing branch, which had some help from Alaska’s congressional delegation. But the purchase won’t totally clear out the storehouses and shelves.

“As far as, you know, fixing the problem of such a giant harvest from last year, it’s not going to fix anything,” said Bruce Schactler, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute’s global food aid director. “But it’s certainly going to help in a big way — in a really big way.”

Schactler said ASMI asked the USDA to buy Alaska seafood for their food assistance programs last fall, when they knew there would be surplus.

“It kind of got stalled, for whatever reason,” he said. “So we asked the three members of our congressional delegation to provide some encouragement to hurry this along. And that was clearly successful.”

Read the full article at KDLG

ALASKA: Army Corps to revisit parts of Pebble’s permit application, but opponents say mine can’t move forward

May 1, 2023 — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will reconsider certain aspects of the Pebble company’s permit application to build a large gold and copper mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay. The 81-page report comes just three months after the Environmental Protection Agency vetoed the mine in a separate process.

“It’s a bit surprising and a bit confusing,” said Dennis McLerran, who worked as the regional EPA administrator during the Obama administration.

The EPA in January determined that the mine would have “unacceptable adverse effects on salmon fishery areas.” Using its powers under the Clean Water Act, it essentially vetoed the mine plan, and any future plan that would have a similar impact on the same waterways. Many opponents of the project hailed that as the final blow.

McLerran said the EPA decision nullifies any permit the Army Corps could issue.

Read the full story at KYUK

ALASKA: Bristol Bay’s sockeye runs are expected to be strong, but nothing like last year’s

April 24, 2023 — Bristol Bay should see relatively strong sockeye runs this summer, though they’re not expected to be near last year’s record-breaking run and harvest.

Around 50 million sockeye are forecasted to return to the bay, according to the state’s forecast for the 2023 fishing season. The total escapement is projected to reach 13 million with around 37 million fish available to harvest.

That’s a good deal lower than last year, and it’s also lower than the average over the last 10 years. But looking a little further back, this summer’s run is still expected to be 40% above the bay’s long-term average.

The University of Washington produced its own forecast for Bristol Bay’s 2023 season.

The strength of the salmon returns varies across river systems, and the Nushagak District, on the west side of the bay, has seen some of the biggest sockeye runs and highest harvests in recent years.

“I think the reason why we’re getting these big runs in the Nushagak is because the warmer winters allow for a longer growing season,” said Tim Sands, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s management biologist for the area, at a recent presentation in Dillingham. “So there’s just that extra growing period where there’s more food for them to eat. And they get a little bit bigger. And as they’re bigger going out to the ocean. They’re more competitive and they survive at a little higher rate.”

In the 2023 commercial fishing outlook, the department also raised concerns about fishermen under-reporting of king salmon harvests and said tenders should expect to be boarded and checked for undocumented king salmon.

Here’s a rundown of this summer’s forecasts and regulations by district.

Read the full article at KTOO

ALASKA: Measuring up in Bristol Bay

March 19, 2023 — On Feb. 14 of this year the Alaska Wildlife Troopers  (AWT) office gave notice to participants in the Bristol Bay salmon fishery that in the coming 2023 season, drift gillnet boats will be measured to ensure they conform to the 32-foot limit.

In the letter, Col. Bernard Chastain wrote: “The Alaska Wildlife Troopers are aware of the increasing concern fishermen have regarding drift gillnet vessel lengths in the Bristol Bay Salmon Fishery. AWT has inspected multiple vessels post-season and have noted several areas of concern regarding overall length in the fleet.

“The Bristol Bay vessel specifications are described in 5AAC 06.341 (a provision in Alaska state regulations). The regulation limits drift gillnet vessels to 32 feet in overall length, with a few exceptions.”

The exceptions include anchor rollers that extend less than 8 inches from the bow, drop out baskets and outdrives, among other things that fall within strict definitions.

What concerns many fishermen, boatbuilders and Pacific West Refrigeration in particular, is the last bullet on the list of things that are not exempted.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Board of Fisheries votes on Bristol Bay king salmon management plan

March 14, 2023 — The Alaska Department of Fish & Game Board of Fisheries voted on a final version of the King Salmon Management Plan that will take effect in the Bristol Bay area.

The Board unanimously voted on a plan via an amended version of Proposal 11 written by the Nushagak Advisory Committee, which limits bag counts for king salmon when fishing.

“There were some proposals that were maybe less collaborative that would have had, I believe, unintended consequences on other user groups,” Bristol Bay set netter Jamie O’Connor said.

Read the full article at Alaska News Source