Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Kodiak fishermen sit out opener as dispute over crab prices continues

January 17, 2023 — Fishermen should have been setting their gear on Sunday morning for the opening of Kodiak’s biggest Tanner crab fishery since 1986. But the boat harbor was almost full – dozens of vessels were stacked high with empty crab pots. At the coffee shop downtown right near the docks, fishermen lined up for free coffee instead.

Frank Miles owns the fishing vessel Sumner Strait – it’s a 58-foot limit seiner – and has fished commercially for nearly 50 years. His first Tanner season around Kodiak was in the early 80s, when he chopped bait for a local boat.

“I’ve parlayed it into a very good livelihood,” he said. “I’ve raised three kids in this town on the back of fishing income, and it’s been a beautiful thing.”

Miles normally fishes pot cod and longlines for halibut and black cod. He also tenders salmon. He sat out the beginning of this cod season so he could go out for Tanners instead. He didn’t think prices would be quite as high as last year’s record of more than $8 per pound.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

ALASKA: Kodiak fishermen stand down to protest low tanner crab prices

January 17, 2023 — Kodiak’s biggest tanner crab fishery in nearly 40 years is set to open on Sunday, but the fleet is standing down. Fishermen say they won’t go fishing for the prices offered by local canneries. It’s the latest wrinkle on a winter fishing season already impacted by closures and strikes.

Processors in Kodiak offered $2.50 per pound for tanners when negotiations started earlier this month. Kevin Abena is the secretary and treasurer for the Kodiak Crab Alliance Cooperative, which represents about 120 permit holders in the fishery. He said since then, all of Kodiak’s canneries haven’t budged from their initial price.

“We haven’t been given anything to consider. $2.50 isn’t the number that we’ll consider,” Abena said.

Last year, fishermen were paid a record of more than $8 per pound. The tanner crab fishery was closed in 2021, but back in 2020, prices still were more than $4.

Read the full article at KTOO

ALASKA: At Kodiak fisheries debate, Gara and Walker find common ground while Dunleavy is a no-show

October 7, 2022 — At a forum on fishery issues held in the seaport town of Kodiak, two of the leading gubernatorial contenders spent time focusing on a man who was not there: incumbent Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

After about an hour of in-depth discussions of fishery issues that included climate change and its effects in the oceans, the role of hatchery fish in the ecosystem and economy, the infrastructure and workforce development needs of the fishing industry and state fiscal policies, former state Rep. Les Gara and former Gov. Bill Walker turned their fire directly on Dunleavy.

The Republican incumbent, who failed to attend, has shirked too many debates, showing a lack of regard for Alaska voters, they argued.

“You have to wonder about somebody who won’t share their ideas with you. You have to wonder about somebody who won’t come to listen with you,” Gara, a Democrat, said in his closing remarks. “If he doesn’t have the courtesy to show up at over 90% of the debates, then he’s got ideas that he doesn’t want to share with people.”

“I am running for governor because Alaska needs someone that will show up…someone who will represent not just their political donors but the entire state,” Walker, an independent, said in his summary remarks. “You can tell how hard someone will work as governor based on how hard they work to become governor. And this governor has not.”

In contrast to their disdain for Dunleavy, Gara and Walker expressed support for each other at the fishery forum, as they have done elsewhere. They urged voters to mark both their names in Alaska’s new ranked-choice system.

The Kodiak Chamber of Commerce has been hosting fishery forums for the past 30 years, and in the past the events were seen as musts for serious candidates seeking statewide office. They are considered the only election forums focused specifically on fisheries.

But in 2018, Dunleavy declined to go, and that year’s gubernatorial fishery forum wound up canceled.

Read the full article at the Petersburg Pilot

ALASKA: Walker and Gara again question Dunleavy’s absence at Kodiak fisheries debate

October 5, 2022 — Two candidates running for Alaska governor blasted Republican incumbent Gov. Mike Dunleavy for missing a longstanding Kodiak debate focused on commercial fishing.

Democratic former state lawmaker Les Gara and independent former Gov. Bill Walker both agreed with each other more often than they disagreed as they shared a Kodiak stage Monday evening, facing a series of questions about the industry. Both said they would hire a dedicated fisheries adviser in the governor’s office if elected; both criticized the current governor’s administration for what they said was inaction on bycatch.

Gara and Walker drew distinctions between themselves and the sitting governor not on stage, criticizing his decision late last year to create a new task force to address issues relating to bycatch — incidental harvest of fish like salmon and halibut by commercial operators that cannot be processed or sold.

“All too often, a task force is used to avoid making a decision,” Walker said. “Every time you turn around, there’s another task force. I want a do-force.”

Both candidates have consistently criticized the governor for declining invitations to debates and forums as the November election draws near. And both have encouraged voters to rank the other candidate second.

“You have to wonder about somebody who won’t share their ideas with you. You have to wonder about somebody who doesn’t come to listen to you,” Gara said Monday. “I’m not ranking Gov. Dunleavy. If he doesn’t have the courtesy to show up to over 90% of the debates, then he’s got ideas he doesn’t want to share with people.”

Dunleavy traveled to Nome on Monday “to check on the recovery/rebuilding process” after the remnants of Typhoon Merbok last month caused widespread damage in communities along more than 1,000 miles of the Western Alaska coast. Asked about the specific goals of the trip to Nome, Dunleavy spokesman Jeff Turner said he had no timeline or itinerary for the trip.

Even before the storm struck, the Kodiak debate was not one of the five Dunleavy had confirmed he would join in an August announcement from his campaign, when Dunleavy said that the selected debates represent “as many interests as possible.” Dunleavy later canceled his participation in one of the five forums he had committed to, in order to respond to the storm fallout in Western Alaska.

“We picked five events out of easily more than a dozen invitations because for a full-time governor it is simply not possible to accept every invitation, and I think the justifications for that is certainly borne out yesterday because the governor was traveling and is still traveling today to Western Alaska to check on the recovery progress,” Dunleavy campaign spokesperson Andrew Jensen said Tuesday. “Certainly no disrespect is intended for the fishing community.”

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News