July 1, 2021 — The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) will receive USD 3 million (EUR 2.5 million) in CARES Act funding to help cover additional costs precipitated by COVID-19, money that should help the organization rework pandemic-era marketing strategies.
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy recently announced the allocation to ASMI, Alaska’s largest marketing association for seafood.
June 29, 2021 — The Alaska House of Representatives voted Monday to allow the budget bill to go into effect on Thursday, July 1, averting what would have been the state’s first-ever government shutdown.
The vote was 28-10.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy said he’s reviewing the budget for any line items he may veto, and then he’ll prepare the budget for implementation.
House Speaker Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, said Monday’s vote will likely come as a relief to many, including the state workers who would’ve gotten laid off under a shutdown.
“We’ve got a lot of Alaskans that are probably jumping for joy about now, thinking that their paychecks are going to continue on coming,” she said.
June 28, 2021 — The nation’s maritime economy grew at pace that nearly doubled the growth of the entire U.S. GDP in 2019.
GDP stands for gross domestic product and reflects the total market value of all finished goods and services in a specific time frame. It is used to estimate the size of an economy and its growth rate – a sort of comprehensive scorecard of a country’s economic health.
A first-ever report released this month by the U.S. Department of Commerce showed that the so-called “blue economy” grew by 4.2% and generated nearly $400 billion to the GDP.
Along with the oceans, the report includes the Great Lakes and looks at the contributions from shoreside businesses. Those businesses generated almost $666 billion in sales in 2019 and supported 2.4 million jobs.
Commercial fishing, including aquaculture, contributed $27 billion making it the sixth-largest segment of the blue economy.
The top marine economic activity in 2019 was tourism and recreation, including coastal trips and travel, and offshore boating and fishing. That accounted for 35.3% of gross output totaling $235 billion.
June 15, 2021 — Alaskans who are engaged in or interested in mariculture are invited to become founding members in a group that will advance the growing industry across the state.
The newly formed Alaska Mariculture Alliance (AMA) is a private, nonprofit successor to a five-year task force formed in 2016 by Gov. Bill Walker and re-authorized in 2018 by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. The task force will sunset on June 30.
“One of the priority recommendations was to create a long-term entity that would coordinate and support development of a robust and sustainable mariculture industry to produce shellfish and aquatic plants for the long-term benefit of Alaska’s economy, environment and communities,” said Julie Decker, executive director of the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, which administrated the task force and will do so for the AMA.
Decker clarified that Alaska mariculture encompasses farming of shellfish and aquatic plants and also includes enhancement and restoration projects.
There are 76 active aquatic farm and nursery permits in Alaska that when combined with 35 pending new applications, comprise 1,631 acres, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Some growers also are interested in sea cucumbers, geoduck clams and abalone.
June 8, 2021 — The Alaska Mariculture Task Force has announced the formation of a new private nonprofit organization to help bolster and centralize the state’s growing mariculture industry. The membership-based nonprofit – called the Alaska Mariculture Alliance (AMA) – will launch this summer with a mission to “develop and support a robust and sustainable mariculture industry, producing shellfish and aquatic plants for the long-term benefit of Alaska’s economy, environment and communities,” according to a press release from the Alaska Fisheries Development Fund (AFDF), which has helped shepherd the task force through its foundation and early efforts to boost Alaska’s mariculture efforts.
The AMA is designed to take over the work that the Alaska Mariculture Task Force has been doing since 2016, when it was formally created then-governor Bill Walker. The task force was reauthorized in 2018 by current Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, but will be replaced by the AMA on 30 June, 2021.
June 8, 2021 — The following was released by the Alaska Mariculture Task Force:
The Alaska Mariculture Task Force (Task Force) is inviting all those engaged in mariculture in Alaska to join the newly-formed Alaska Mariculture Alliance (AMA). The AMA is a private non-profit organization to be initiated in June 2021 with a mission to “develop and support a robust and sustainable mariculture industry, producing shellfish and aquatic plants for the long-term benefit of Alaska’s economy, environment and communities.”
The AMA is the successor organization to the Task Force and will help shape and coordinate the bourgeoning mariculture industry in Alaska. The Task Force, formed in 2016 by Governor Walker and re-authorized in 2018 with support by Governor Dunleavy, will sunset June 30, 2021. Work completed by the Task Force was guided by the Alaska Mariculture Development Plan (brief version here) and the Five-Year Action Plan. The Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation (AFDF) facilitated the administrative role for the Task Force, and will continue to do so for the AMA.
“On behalf of the Task Force, we want to invite all those who are involved in or want to develop mariculture to consider being a Founding Member of the AMA, and to help shape the future of mariculture in Alaska,” Heather McCarty, Chair, Task Force. The application for Founding Membership should be returned by June 23, 2021. The Task Force will meet June 25 to accept applications for AMA membership and stand up the new organization.
May 18, 2021 — Alaska’s lone seafood marketing arm gets zero budget from the state and to date has received no pandemic funds.
The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute is hoping to get a breather from the more than $1 billion coming to Alaska in the latest round of federal relief dollars under the American Rescue Plan (ARP).
The influx also provides $518 million of nondiscretionary funds to Alaska and $220 million for public health and safety, workforce development, education, transportation and emergency management.
ASMI put in a $20 million request two months ago, but Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy made no mention of it in mid-April when he released his proposals for the ARP money nor anything since.
Dunleavy did include $150 million for Alaska Tourism Revitalization, citing the need for “industry relief to promote tourism and adapt services for potential loss of cruise ship season.”
May 4, 2021 — The budget for Alaska’s Commercial Fisheries Division won’t be cut for the upcoming fiscal year, assuming the current numbers make it through the Legislature.
“The governor’s proposed budget is at about $72.8 million, which is a slight increase from the FY21 approved budget. And most of that increase is due to our personnel services, cost of living increases and things like that that are funded by the administration generally. And also from some additional federal funds for training and things like that. So we’re looking pretty good compared to past years,” said Sam Rabung, director of the Commercial Fisheries Division, the largest within the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which employs just over 640 full-time, part-time and seasonal workers.
“We’re really relieved because we’ve been cut pretty close to the bone and any additional significant cuts would impact fisheries directly. We wouldn’t be able to do some of the assessment projects required for management and we would have to either close or severely restrict fisheries. And I think everybody understands that,” he said, adding that another bonus will be the reopening of the ADF&G office at Wrangell.
Rabung credited the Dunleavy administration for taking the time to dig into the details that clearly show Alaska’s fisheries “pay their own way.”
April 30, 2021 — Oil and gas leasing isn’t allowed in Kachemak Bay. The state blocked development there after an oil rig got stuck and leaked oil into the bay in 1976.
But legislation proposed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy would allow the state to sell subsurface gas-only leases in part of Kachemak Bay, so oil and gas companies could drill into undersea reservoirs from miles away.
More broadly, the bill would permit subsurface leasing and drilling where surface drilling is currently prohibited. And the bill’s opponents say that would unravel state restrictions meant to protect wildlife.
Haley Paine, deputy director of the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas, told the House Fisheries Committee the point of the legislation is to capture royalties for the state.
April 1, 2021 — Alaska’s Governor Mike Dunleavy has received 11 requests for fisheries disaster declarations, said Doug Vincent-Lange, Alaska’s Commissioner of Fish and Game, in an update at the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce’s ComFish Expo.
Noting the good news of over half of Alaska’s population now vaccinated, and shots now available for anyone over 16, Vincent-Lange said, “I don’t see why you wouldn’t all be able to fish this year.”