Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Mandate restricts movement of fishing vessel crews

April 28, 2020 — With May just around the corner, Kodiak Island is gearing up for salmon fishing season, and captains and their crew from off-island will soon join local fishery participants.

However, a recent health mandate released by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, which requires boat captains to implement new protective measures aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus, will restrict where crew members can go.

Mandate 17, which went into effect Saturday, affects independent commercial fishing vessels, defining them as “all catcher and tender vessels that have not agreed to operate under a fleet-wide plan submitted by a company, association, or entity that represents a fleet of vessels.”

The new mandate adds screening and quarantine requirements for crew, and also limits their movement.

“I’m glad to see that the governor is focused on the protocols for the independent fishing vessels,” said Duncan Fields, the chairman of the Kodiak Salmon Work Group and a member of the Kodiak Economic Task Force. “I appreciate that the administration worked with the United Fishermen of Alaska Matt Alward to vet their plan and to receive input.”

Read the full story at the Kodiak Daily Mirror

Halibut Fishermen Face Flattened Market, Firesale Prices

March 24, 2020 — The Pacific halibut fishery opened on March 14 amid little fanfare and flattened markets.

The first fish of the eight month season typically attracts the highest prices and is rushed fresh to high-end buyers, especially during the Lenten season. But that’s not the case in this time of coronavirus chaos, when air traffic is stalled and seafood of all kinds is getting backlogged in global freezers.

Read the full story at Seafood News

ALASKA: Battered by a marine heatwave, Kodiak’s cod fishermen may not be fishing in the Gulf for much longer

November 22, 2019 — Sixty-year-old Frank Miles has fished for cod around Kodiak since he was a teenager.

“Started out at the age of 15, in an open skiff, back when salt cod was a staple,” he says. “I think I’ve missed one cod season in 44 years.”

Miles eventually graduated from an open skiff to a 58-foot pot and longline vessel called the Sumner Strait. He’s been around long enough to see fisheries cycle in and out, from the decline of king crab in the 80’s to the rise of groundfish like pollock, sablefish and of course, cod.

“If you look back just 10 years ago,” he says. “I mean, goodness, we used to fish eight months out of the year on just cod — me, personally.”

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

Anchorage talk will dive into ocean acidification’s impact on Alaska marine life

October 16, 2019 — Hundreds of fishery stakeholders and scientists will gather in Anchorage next week as the state Board of Fisheries begins its annual meeting cycle with a two-day work session.

The seven-member board sets the rules for the state’s subsistence, commercial, sport and personal use fisheries. It meets four to six times each year in various communities on a three-year rotation; this year the focus is on Kodiak and Cook Inlet.

The fish board and the public also will learn the latest on how a changing climate and off-kilter ocean chemistry are affecting some of Alaska’s most popular seafood items at an Oct. 23 talk and Q&A on ocean acidification in Alaska.

They may also be surprised to learn that only two studies have looked at salmon response to ocean acidification, and both were conducted outside Alaska.

Most of the research to date has focused specifically on crab and fish stocks, said Bob Foy, director of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center at the NOAA Auke Bay lab in Juneau who will lead the Anchorage presentation.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

2018 Alaska Fisheries Science Center Year in Review

March 1, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

More fish come through the Alaska fishing port of Dutch Harbor than anywhere else in the Nation. In fact, Dutch Harbor and Kodiak, Alaska, are the top two U.S. fishing ports in landed volume. These same two ports rank No. 2 and No. 3 in U.S. economic value.

We collect biological, ecological, and environmental data during long-term, standardized research surveys, from fishing catches, and through other research activities. In the laboratory and in the field we study what fish and crabs eat, where they live, and how fast they grow. We input these data into sophisticated computer models to generate estimates of fish abundance (number of fish in the population), determine the potential impacts of environmental change, and recommend sustainable fishing limits. We also collect socio-economic data on fisheries and coastal communities, and other ecosystem data. Resource managers use this information to develop sound management measures ensuring healthy fisheries over the long term with ecological, economic, and socio-cultural benefits for the nation.

Our primary responsibility is to provide scientific data, analyses, and expert technical advice to marine resource managers (i.e., the NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Regional Office, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the State of Alaska, the International Pacific Halibut Commission, and the Pacific Salmon Commission), Alaska tribal governments, public stakeholders, and U.S. representatives participating in international fishery and marine mammal negotiations. The work of monitoring and assessing fish, crab, and marine mammal populations, fisheries, and marine ecosystems is mandated by legislation, which includes the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the U.S Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act.

Read the full release here

ALASKA: Harvesting the haul

January 4, 2018 — After a steep drop in 2016, seafood harvesting employment rebounded in 2017, growing 8.3 percent and hitting a record of 8,509 average monthly jobs in the state of Alaska.

The employment growth was widespread, covering most species and regions, which was a departure from previous years when certain fisheries’ or regions’ growth tended to offset losses elsewhere.

The 8.3 percent growth for seafood harvesting in 2017 was the largest in percent terms among Alaska industries. Health care, which has been marked by strong job growth for decades and has been one of the few industries to grow throughout the state recession, grew by just 2.3 percent.

Summer and fall brought impressive growth in harvesting jobs after a weak start to the year. Most of the year’s growth came during the summer. July has always been the seafood harvesting peak, and in 2017 it went up by another 634 jobs, bringing the July total to 24,459.

The biggest jumps came on the edges of the summer, however. June, September, and October each gained more than 1,000 jobs from 2016’s levels. June’s employment grew the most, up 1,877 jobs from June 2016.

The year’s few losses came in the early months. January, February and March levels were all down from the year before. Those months are more important for crab fisheries than other species, which is why crab harvesting was one of the few fisheries that lost jobs in 2017.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Diving deep into Alaska fisheries with gubernatorial candidate Mark Begich

October 31, 2018 — “With fisheries, it’s almost the forgotten resource of our state as an economic driver. It’s almost like they are an afterthought. We have to realign that,” said Mark Begich, Democratic candidate for Alaska governor, in an interview during his trip to Kodiak last week.

Begich came to Kodiak despite the cancellation of the Oct. 22 fisheries debate caused by a no-show by his Republican opponent, Mike Dunleavy, who has not responded to requests to share his ideas and vision for one of Alaska’s oldest industries.

Begich spoke easily and at length on a wide range of fishing industry topics.

He called state funding for fisheries research and stock assessments a top priority.

“We are never going to be able to manage our fisheries resource the proper way without it. And I think there are opportunities through federal, state as well as foundation money that I believe is out there to help us do this,” he said.

Begich said he is a strong supporter of Alaska’s hatchery program.

“I know there is some conversation going on about hatchery fish impacts in the ocean … but there is no real science around that and the hatcheries have been very successful for us as a state,” he said.

In terms of selecting an Alaska Department of Fish and Game commissioner, Begich said good management skills and the ability to bring people together are critical.

“People are frustrated. They feel like their voice isn’t heard. We need commissioners who are willing to step up to the plate and recognize that it’s their job to bring people together, solve problems and move forward,” Begich said. “Obviously, I would want him or her to be knowledgeable about fisheries. We need someone who understands the controversies that are out there, the uniqueness of our resource, and how to balance it with making sure we do things for the long term and not for the moment.”

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

 

ALASKA: Mike Dunleavy skips Kodiak fishing forum

October 26th, 2018 — Rack up another empty seat on the Alaska debate stage for Mike Dunleavy.

The Republican candidate for Alaska governor bailed out of Kodiak’s traditional fisheries debate — after saying he’d show up.

“We plan on being there,” Dunleavy said on public radio’s statewide Talk of Alaska call-in show on Aug.31. But from then on, there was silence from the Dunleavy campaign as Kodiak organizers struggled to plan the Oct. 22 event that is broadcast live statewide on radio and television.

Days before the event, after weeks of unreturned phone calls and emails, organizers finally learned that Dunleavy would not be attending.

“Mike is unfortunately not going to be able to attend the debate as he will be visiting with Alaskans in Barrow. We wish you the best with you (sic) event,” wrote Gina Ritacco, deputy director of scheduling and events, in an Oct. 16 email to the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce.

The conflicting trip to Barrow was posted on the Dunleavy event calendar that same day.

“Certainly, it makes us in Kodiak feel like even though the fishing industry is so important to Alaska, it may not be that important to him,” said Frank Schiro, executive director of the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce which has hosted the debate since 1991.

Shiro added that he was not surprised.

“People had predicted from the beginning that it might not be to his advantage to come here. I think he believes he doesn’t need to pay attention to people down here and will walk into office anyway,” he said,

“We gave him two months to schedule it,” Schiro added. “The other two candidates for governor responded immediately and Dunleavy’s lag time made our planning extremely difficult.”

Since late March Dunleavy’s calendar shows that he has participated in a debate on rural issues in Naknek in early June and visited Juneau and Ketchikan. Besides that to date he had not visited any coastal communities beyond the Kenai Peninsula. Dunleavy also has not responded to requests for interviews by any media in coastal towns.

The seafood industry is Alaska’s largest private employer and second only to oil in the tax revenues it puts into state coffers. Seafood also is Alaska’s top export by far. Dunleavy has missed an opportunity to share his views and vision for Alaska’s oldest industry to a statewide audience.

Read the full story at Alaska Journal of Commerce

Alaska razor clam harvest expected to dip

October 11, 2018 — Cook Inlet clammers dug on a quota of more than 350,000 pounds as the season got underway in May. The diggers arrive at Polly Creek in spring, put up semi-permanent camps and hit the low tides each morning in search of razor clams, which are lugged back up the beach, where the sands are solid enough to land small airplanes. The planes ferry them from the west side of the inlet to a processing plant at Nikiski, which is north of Kenai on the Kenai Peninsula.

Clam meat recovery runs 40 to 50 percent. In 2016, the clammers dug 284,800 pounds of razors, and the harvest fell to 177,147 pounds in the 2017 season. Preliminary harvest data for 2018 suggests the harvest will wind up around 175,940 pounds, down sharply from the 380,912 pounds that diggers dug just five years ago.

The decline in production could be tied to a couple of factors, according to Pat Shields, a regional management biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Soldotna.

“There are fewer diggers working for the company now,” said Shields. “They used to average around 20 to 22 diggers per year, and now they’re down to something like 14 to 15.”

Most of the product winds up in retail markets along the West Coast. Diggers are paid 90 cents a pound for food-grade clams and 60 cents for those with broken shells, which are used for bait.

According to Shields, 2018 revenues tallied up to $175,624 for food-grade clams and $2,344 for bait.

Meanwhile, Alaska’s fleet of just two scallop dredgers worked on a statewide guideline harvest level of 265,000 pounds (shucked meat) The majority of the 145,000-pound GHL for the 2018-19 season has been set for harvest areas near Yakutat, with another 85,000 pounds available for harvest areas surrounding Kodiak. The Cook Inlet harvest area has been closed in an effort to conserve dwindling biomass.

Read the full story at National Fisherman