Saving Seafood

These collapsible pots are helping Alaska fishermen keep whales from pirating pricey black cod

October 23, 2020 — Lightweight collapsible pots prevent whales from pirating pricey black cod from longline hooks and give a break to small boats.

“Getting whaled” is so pervasive that fishery managers allowed black cod, aka sablefish, fishermen to switch from baited lines to rigid pots in the Bering Sea in 2008 and in the Gulf of Alaska starting in 2017. (Interestingly, killer whales rob the hooks in the Bering Sea, while sperm whales are the culprits in the Gulf.)

“The whale predation has just been so horrible,” said Frank Miles of Kodiak, owner of 58-foot and 78-foot fishing boats. “The last couple years I tried to do it with hooks, and it just got to the point to where we left tens of thousands of pounds of black cod unharvested because we were going backwards feeding the whales. You can spread your strings 10 miles apart, and you might get one or two skates up and they find you. And then they pretty much strip you blind.”

Analyses from federal surveys in 2013 showed that when killer whales were present during annual sablefish stock surveys, the whales removed 54% to 72% from the hooks.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

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