Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Pandemic slows distribution of relief funds for 2018 Gulf of Alaska cod crash

June 24, 2020 — Upheavals stemming from the coronavirus pandemic have slowed the process of getting relief payments into the hands of fishermen and communities hurt by the 2018 Gulf of Alaska cod crash.

In late February, the secretary of commerce cut loose $24.4 million for affected stakeholders. Then in late March, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang proposed a written timeline for developing a distribution plan and also called for input from communities and fishing groups.

A draft of the initial plan was intended to compile stakeholder comments in April, be revised in May, and go out for a second round of public input in June and July. But that timeframe was derailed a bit by COVID-19.

Now, the state is “aiming” to get the draft distribution plan out for the first round of stakeholder and public comments by the end of June, according to Rick Green, assistant to the Fish and Game commissioner.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Ocean Beauty Seafoods and Icicle Seafoods Announce Merger

May 29, 2020 — The following was released by Ocean Beauty Seafoods and Icicle Seafoods:

Two of Alaska’s oldest and largest seafood companies, Ocean Beauty Seafoods LLC and Icicle Seafoods, Inc., announced today that they are merging their wild salmon and Gulf of Alaska groundfish operations. The new company will be named OBI Seafoods LLC.

“The Alaska salmon business is experiencing significant market and resource fluctuations. In order to flourish in this rapidly changing environment, we need to develop flexible and efficient business models and form innovative partnerships,” said Mark Palmer, President and CEO of Ocean Beauty Seafoods, who will serve as CEO of the newly merged company. “The merger will enable more focus on selling seafood products in the global marketplace by leveraging both strong sales teams. Increased sales will bring additional investment to support growth and jobs,” he added.

The agreement will allow the new partnership to make strategic investments to enhance its ability to compete in the world seafood market. Initial plans include modernizing processing facilities and combining marketing and value-added product expertise. The changes are designed to grow the value of the Alaska seafood resource in a way that benefits the company’s customers, employees, and fisherman partners.

Included in the merger are all five Icicle shoreside plants and all five Ocean Beauty shoreside plants in Alaska. Ocean Beauty Seafoods’ smoked salmon and distribution operations will remain under its current ownership and will operate under the name OBS Smoked & Distribution, LLC. The Ocean Beauty and Icicle Seafoods Gulf of Alaska groundfish operations and all salmon operations will operate under the newly formed OBI. Icicle Seafoods’ processing operations on the P/V Gordon Jensen and the permanently moored craft Northern Victor in Dutch Harbor are not included in the merger. These plants will continue to operate in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Western Gulf of Alaska groundfish fisheries, and will operate under Icicle Seafoods, Inc.

“The two companies’ cultures will blend well,” Palmer said. “We will be combining two very talented workforces that are highly motivated to compete successfully in today’s challenging market. This merger also presents the best opportunity for the new company to optimize our branded value-added seafood and make strategic long-term investments.”

John Woodruff, Chief Operating Officer of Icicle Seafoods, will become Executive Vice President of Alaska Operations for the new company. A respected Alaska fishing industry leader, he has built deep relationships across the state.

According to Mr. Woodruff, “Partnerships can provide employees with additional career growth opportunities in a wider variety of positions and locations.  As a unified team, we are confident we can make improvements to benefit employees, fishermen, customers and vendors. To be more competitive globally, operational efficiencies in processing must be realized, along with continuing strong fleet relationships and placing an added focus on sales, marketing and distribution.”

Founded in 1910, Ocean Beauty Seafoods LLC is owned by the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation and a group of individual owners with experience in the seafood industry. Founded in 1965, Icicle Seafoods, Inc. has been owned by the Cooke family since 2016. Upon close of the merger transaction, Icicle Seafoods, Inc. and Ocean Beauty Seafoods Inc. will each own a 50% stake in the new company. The merger will take effect on June 1, 2020, in line with the 2020 wild Alaska salmon season.

ALASKA: Call for comments on cod disaster funds and coronavirus impacts

April 8, 2020 — The state of Alaska wants input on plans to distribute nearly $24.5 million in federal disaster relief funds for stakeholders and communities hurt by the 2018 Gulf of Alaska cod crash.

Better make it quick – the deadline to comment is Friday, April 10.

Cod is Alaska’s second-largest groundfish harvest (after pollock), but the Gulf stock dropped by 80% in 2018 following a three-year heat wave that disrupted food webs, fish metabolism and egg survival on the ocean floor. It combined to push down cod catches to just 28.8 million pounds, compared to nearly 142 million pounds the previous year.

The catch in 2019 was cut again to just over 27 million pounds; for 2020, the Gulf of Alaska was closed to cod fishing from 3 to 200 miles offshore.

Federal data show the number of boats targeting Gulf cod has dwindled to just 64, down from 275 six years ago.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

NOAA Fisheries Part of International Team to Study Salmon in Gulf of Alaska Under Continuing Warm Conditions

March 13, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries scientists are part of an international team that set sail on April 11. They are studying the impacts of continued warm ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Alaska on Pacific salmon survival.  It has been estimated that one-third of all Pacific salmon spend the winter in the Gulf of Alaska. While reduced in size compared to previous years, the current marine heatwave affecting the Gulf remains one of the top five largest heatwaves on record in the North Pacific in the last 40 years.

“Salmon affect more people culturally, economically, and recreationally than any other fish in the world,” said Doug Mecum, Deputy Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region. “This International Year of the Salmon expedition in the Gulf of Alaska expands international salmon research on the high seas to build understanding of how a changing climate may influence salmon ocean habitats, distributions, and productivity.”

Scientists suspect young salmon that can find sufficient food and experience enhanced early marine growth are those that best survive their first winter at sea. The survival of these fish largely determines the size of subsequent adult salmon populations. So, scientists think that environmental conditions have the greatest influence on salmon survival during their first year at sea.

“We know that ocean and climate conditions play a major role in regulating salmon abundances,” said Wess Strasburger, who will serve as chief scientist on the first leg of the survey. “But we don’t have a good understanding of the mechanisms regulating salmon abundances in the ocean.”

Read the full release here

ALASKA: RFM Certification for Gulf of Alaska Cod Remains, While MSC Certification is Suspended

March 11, 2020 — For the next 33 days, Alaska processors who sell Pacific cod from the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) under the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification program will be switching from packaging and promotions that use the MSC logo to those that don’t.

But the state’s other certification program, Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM), will not be suspended on April 5, 2020. Pacific cod from the GOA, no longer certified as sustainable by MSC, continues to be labeled sustainable under RFM without interruption.

Read the full story at Seafood News

DNA tests show commercial halibut catch 90% female, influencing catch limits being set this week

February 6, 2020 — For the first time in its 96 year history, the International Pacific Halibut Commission will be setting catch limits for halibut this week with the knowledge that the commercial fleet’s catch has been around 90 percent female, a notably higher proportion than previously thought.

“The Commission has long known that the directed commercial Pacific halibut fishery catches mostly female, but we’ve had indications over time that perhaps the fishery is able to capture even more females than we see on a set line survey relative to males,” said Ian Stewart, a quantitative scientist for IPHC.

Stewart works to develop the stock assessment for Pacific halibut, which IPHC commissioners use to set catch limits for the U.S. and Canada. Knowing what percentage of the catch is female is an important factor that could influence how the stock is managed and thus, what restrictions and limitations are put on fishermen. New data from the IPHC shows that the sex ratio of the commercial catch ranged from 81 percent female in some regions of the Gulf of Alaska to 97 percent female in some regions in the Bering Sea.

“For conservation purposes we track female spawning biomass. And in order to understand that we need to know not only how many females are out there, but how many we’re catching in a given year,” Stewart said.

Biologists with IPHC use setline surveys fishing the same gear in the same places with the same bait year after year to estimate trends in the population and collection biological information including size, age and sex.

Read the full story at KTUU

North Pacific Council to Hear From Alaska Charter Operators on Halibut Catch Limits

January 30, 2020 — This week the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council (NPFMC) will hear from eminent scientists about prioritized research in Alaska that is underfunded, ways to change data reporting that maintains “best science available” standards, how to best fund the all-important observer program in areas not yet 100% covered, how to balance bycatch with directed halibut fishing, and what will done about the sablefish overage from last year, among other agenda items.

The solidly-packed agenda is not unusual, but among those weighty issues, the one that has illicited the most comments from industry — 62 compared to 5 for the next most commented-on topic — was the halibut catch limit for Gulf of Alaska (Area 3A) charter operators.

Read the full story at Seafood News

State will open small Alaska cod fishery

January 10, 2020 — A small cod fishery will occur in Gulf of Alaska state waters (out to three miles) for 2020, putting to rest speculation that no cod would be coming out of the Gulf next year.

A catch quota of about 5.6 million pounds, down from 10.2 million pounds, will be split among five regions: Prince William Sound, Cook Inlet, Kodiak, Chignik, and the South Alaska Peninsula, with limitations on gear and staggered openers.

Read the full story from National Fisherman at Seafood Source

Marine Stewardship Council’s Certifier MRAG Americas Calls for Audit on Gulf of Alaska Cod

January 9, 2020 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Marine Stewardship Council’s certifying agency for Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod, MRAG Americas of Florida, announced an expedited audit for the GOA Pcod based on the new stock assessment that resulted in the fishery’s 2020 closure last month.

“New information on stock status provided by NOAA Fisheries and decisions of the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council in December of 2019” is the basis for a desk-based audit covering Principle 1 (stock status) only, the MSC announcement reads.

Read the full story at Seafood News

ALASKA: Trident’s Sand Point plant closed for the winter due to low cod stocks

December 23, 2019 — The precipitous drop in Gulf of Alaska cod recently closed the federal fishery for the upcoming season. Its effects are also being felt by processors who rely on the fish for their winter workload. The Trident Seafoods plant in Sand Point closed last month for the winter, leaving a gaping hole in the city’s budget, and sowing uncertainty about the future.

The city of Sand Point was founded on cod. Settled less than 150 years ago, it’s had a processing plant in some form for nearly a century. This year is the first that the plant, now owned by Trident Seafoods, won’t be processing cod — and that’s because of climate change.

“It’s no fault of the plant at Sand Point, however, there’s not enough fish to process. So for the first time in my life, it’s closed,” Paul Gronholdt, an Aleutians East Borough assembly member testified at the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council meeting earlier this month. “That’s going to be pretty devastating to Sand Point and it’ll hurt the other communities in our region too.”

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media