April 2, 2021 — NOAA Fisheries highlighted a new study that indicates warming waters in Alaska are increasing the likelihood of prey mismatch and starvation for Pacific cod larvae.
The study was a collaboration between NOAA Fisheries scientists and partners to assess how temperatures impacted first feeding Pacific cod larvae in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska through 1998-2019.
March 24, 2021 — Halibut prices for Alaska fishermen for 2021 started out significantly higher than last year, despite sluggish demand and transportation logjams in some regions.
The Pacific halibut fishery opened on March 6 and two weeks later only 80 deliveries were made, 46 at Southeast ports and 34 from the Central Gulf totaling 355,524 pounds. Most landings appeared to be small lots that were purchased on consignment.
The first fish typically fetches higher prices and then drops off as the season progresses. No Alaska ports reported paying under $5 per pound, whereas the 2020 price to Alaska fishermen averaged $4.
Early prices at Sitka and Juneau, where there is daily air service, were reported at $5.50-$5.75 a pound, up by $1 from last year, and deliveries at Petersburg paid out at $5.75 straight. No ferry service and high costs for airfreight bit into buying at nearly all Southeast ports, where major processors said they aren’t purchasing halibut until April or May.
March 19, 2021 — The eastern Pacific marine heatwave, which occurred from California to Alaska in 2014–2016, was the longest lasting heatwave globally over the past decade. A new study led by NOAA Fisheries scientists and partners looked at its effects. They found that the heatwave affected various components of the Gulf of Alaska marine food web from plankton to whales to humans. There have been various impacts, some positive and some negative. Some of these impacts persisted through 2019, when this study was completed.
“As of 2019, the Gulf of Alaska ecosystem had yet to recover from the effects of this major heatwave,” said Rob Suryan, from the Alaska Fisheries Science Center who is lead author on the study. “What also is remarkable is how rapidly conditions changed and that species from all trophic levels and age classes responded. The community composition, or proportion of species that make up the ecosystem, are distinct from what we observed prior to the heatwave.”
Since 2012, the percent of global ocean experiencing strong or severe heatwaves has increased from 30 percent to nearly 70 percent in 2016. There has also been an increase in documentation of disturbance to marine ecosystems, biodiversity, and ecosystem services associated with marine heatwaves.
In the Gulf of Alaska, the marine heatwave was particularly strong in the spatial extent, duration, and magnitude of ocean warming. It was also unique in that it extended down to the seafloor and affected a broad diversity of habitats. Its effects were seen in offshore oceanic to intertidal waters in glacial fjords.
Scientists looked at 187 biological data sets from different sampling programs in the Gulf of Alaska. They also examined long-term monitoring and synthesis efforts led by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council’s Gulf Watch Alaska and the Alaska Fisheries Science Center.
From these data, scientists determined how the biological community responded as a whole and which species exhibited negative, positive, or neutral responses. They also looked at whether species showed continued, multi-year response or signs of recovery for up to five years after the onset of the Pacific marine heatwave.
Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries
February 10, 2021 — Freezing February weather doesn’t keep Alaskans off the fishing grounds from Southeast to Norton Sound.
In the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, boats are pulling in pollock, cod, flounders and other groundfish.
More than 3 billion pounds of pollock will come out of the Bering Sea this year, and another 250 million pounds from the gulf.
Prince William Sound also has a winter pollock fishery that will produce nearly 5 million pounds.
Many Alaska crab fisheries are underway or soon to be.
January 29, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Each year, NOAA Fisheries scientists compile information from a variety of sources to produce and update annual indicators of ecosystem status in the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands. Data and information are provided by federal, state, academic, non-government organizations, private companies, and local community partners across Alaska. Collected data complement NOAA Fisheries’ own research.
However, in 2020 several key NOAA research surveys were cancelled. Collaboration, increased engagement by community and research partners, and creative thinking on the part of some NOAA scientists helped fill critical information gaps. As a result, the annual Ecosystem Status Reports still could be produced.
“Around 143 individuals contributed to the three Ecosystem Status Reports we produced this year,” said Elizabeth Sidden, editor of the Eastern Bering Sea Ecosystem Status Report and a scientist at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. “The success of this continuing effort to provide valuable ecosystem context to better understand factors contributing to fish stock fluctuations hinges on these partnerships. We couldn’t do this without the help of fellow researchers and local communities along with our staff contributions.”
One example of the kind of information provided by partners this year in all regions is seabird data. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (U.S. FWS) was unable to conduct field research due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Coastal community members, tribal governments, and state and university partners provided information on seabird dynamics for the Bering Sea region. U.S. FWS biologists then synthesized that data. In the Gulf of Alaska, they provided opportunistic observations that were incorporated into the Ecosystem Status Report along with other information from non-profits, The Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) and U.S. Geological Survey. Seabird biology and ecology are bellwethers of environmental change, which is one of the reasons they are important ecosystem indicators.
NOAA scientists also identified other sources of information to develop ecosystem indicators in 2020. For instance, they used satellite data to measure sea surface temperatures in the Bering Sea since they weren’t able to collect these data during annual research surveys. They also were able to process and analyze data collected from previous years of surveys.
January 27, 2021 — The Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod fishery has recovered its Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification following its suspenion due to declining stocks.
The recertification was announced on Friday, 22 January, by MRAG Americas, an independent organization that conducts annual audits to assess the state of fisheries.
January 26, 2021 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:
On January 22, 2021, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification of Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) region was reinstated, effective January 1, 2021, and announced by MRAG Americas, Inc., the independent certification body responsible for conducting the annual audits of the fishery.
From April 5, 2020 through December 31, 2020, the MSC certification for GOA Pacific cod had been suspended due to a decline in the stock. According to MRAG Americas, the suspension was “not due to overfishing or a lack of a responsible management response, rather, the depressed stocks of Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska below the B20% limit is climate driven and caused by the Gulf of Alaska marine heat wave.”
From 2017 through 2019, the GOA Pacific cod stock had declined due to the effects of an anomalous warm water event in 2014-2016. This marine heat wave, among other things, reduced food availability for cod and dramatically increased natural mortality. In response, federal and state fishery managers took swift and immediate action to severely restrict commercial fishing efforts — a responsible and precautionary management decision responding to ecosystem uncertainty. In 2018 and 2019, harvests were reduced by 80% to maintain the future viability of the fishery. In 2020, commercial fishing was closed in the federal GOA fishery and the small state fishery was further reduced.
“The decision to lift the suspension comes as a result of an expedited audit that was announced on December 22, 2020. The audit was based on new information on the stock status provided by NOAA Fisheries and decisions by the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council,” explains MRAG Americas in its announcement.
December 23, 2020 — Alaska coastal communities will get a bit of an economic boost in 2021 from increased catches of Pacific cod.
The stock, which crashed after a multiyear heat wave starting in 2014 wiped out several year classes, appears to be rebounding throughout the Gulf of Alaska.
No cod fishery occurred at all this year in federally managed waters (from 3 to 200 miles out) where the bulk of the harvest is taken, and a catch of under 6 million pounds was allowed in state managed waters (out to 3 miles).
For 2021, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council set the federal cod catch at just over 38 million pounds and nearly 11.7 million pounds for the state. While it’s a bump up, managers caution that the stock remains very low.
“The state waters GHLs (guideline harvest levels) have gone up about two and half times since last year. While it’s good, we are still at a very low level of abundance, so that should be kept in mind,” said Nat Nichols, area groundfish manager for the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game at Kodiak.
December 15, 2020 — Data is the lifeblood of science. It provides scientists with a way to prove, refine, or disprove our ideas about how the world works. Data from the University of Alaska Fairbanks is providing valuable information for oil spill response, public safety and economic development efforts in the 49th state.
UAF passed a remarkable milestone this month, when scientists from the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences completed a half-century of regular observations at a Gulf of Alaska oceanographic station. Station GAK-1 is located near Seward at the mouth of Resurrection Bay, and it has the longest set of sustained measurements of surface-to-seafloor temperature and salinity in all of Alaska’s coastal and offshore waters.
What does this mean for our state? GAK-1 is providing data to drive good decision-making and help us evaluate risks to Alaska’s marine ecosystem and economy as the ocean becomes warmer and more acidic due to climate change. This monitoring contributes to our understanding of melting glacier runoff in the ocean, variations in Alaska’s commercial fisheries, and the population status of marine mammals.
November 30, 2020 — Two Alaska fisheries are among the beneficiaries of new national grants to modernize data management systems to ensure sustainable fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands through electronic monitoring.
One grant for $185,104 went to the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association which matched those funds with another $213,500, for a total of $398,604.
The other, for $908,862, went to United Catcher Boats in Seattle, which added $1,385,854, for a total of $2,294,716.
ALFA will use its share to develop lower cost electronic monitoring hardware, test automated real-time feedback to vessels on image quality and support stakeholder engagement in fisheries management forums relevant to electronic monitoring in the Alaska fixed gear fishery. The project will also explore ways to improve image quality and cost effectiveness of electronic monitoring through the development of new electronic monitoring systems and deployment methods, ALFA officials said,
UBC will focus on scaling up existing efforts to evaluate the feasibility and cost efficiency of using electronic monitoring systems on Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska Pollock pelagic trawl catcher vessels to monitor compliance with retention regulations. The project will demonstrate the feasibility of electronic monitoring at scale and improve data quality, timeliness and cost-efficiency for salmon bycatch accounting and detecting and quantifying groundfish discards, according to UBC.