Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Dunleavy administration announces formation of bycatch task force

November 22, 2021 — Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office recently announced that it’s setting up a task force to tackle the thorny issue of trawler bycatch.

Bycatch is what fishermen catch unintentionally — fish they aren’t targeting that get caught up in their nets, anyway. Federal bycatch data shows trawl fisheries in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska this year have caught tens of thousands of chinook salmon, millions of pounds of halibut and hundreds of thousands of crabs.

Meanwhile staple species like chinook salmon, red king crab and halibut have been on the decline, forcing subsistence, sport and commercial fishermen to pack up nets or reduce harvest.

“We’ve had a reduction in or closure of the crab fisheries in the Bering Sea. The [North Pacific Fishery Management] Council is discussing how to deal with halibut bycatch, and I think there’s a lot of perception that there are bycatch issues associated with what’s happened with salmon in Western Alaska systems,” said Alaska Fish & Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang.

Read the full story at KTOO

 

Alaska governor nominates Pebble Mine opponent to state Board of Fisheries

September 8, 2021 — It took freedom of information requests, weeks of queries to administrators and more than three months past a legal deadline for Gov. Mike Dunleavy to finally release his choice for a Board of Fisheries seat.

Dunleavy announced last Friday his appointment of Indy Walton of Soldotna to fill the vacant seat on the seven-member Board that directs management of subsistence, personal use, sport and commercial fisheries in state waters out to three miles. The vacancy came 115 days after the Alaska Legislature on May 11 rejected his choice of Abe Williams, a regional affairs director for the Pebble Mine.

Alaska law states that the governor must submit a new name to the Legislature within 30 days for confirmation, but Dunleavy moves to his own legal drummer and 15 candidates remained under wraps from the public although all applied for the BOF seat in June.

In a statement, the governor said Walton has 37 years of commercial salmon fishing experience at both Kodiak and Bristol Bay. He is a partner at Last Cast Lodge in Igiugik and has worked as a financial adviser with Edward Jones Investments for 19 years.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

Alaska legislators scrutinize Dunleavy’s proposed $2,350 PFD

August 25, 2021 — State legislators are raising questions about whether the state can afford $2,350 permanent fund dividends this year, as pitched by Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

Dunleavy added proposed legislation on Thursday to the special session agenda that would pay for $2,350 PFDs, as well as other programs. If that hadn’t happened, there was a chance Alaskans wouldn’t receive a dividend at all for the first time in 40 years.

State budget director Neil Steininger said Dunleavy still wants the Legislature to pass the constitutional amendments he’s proposed that would enshrine the PFD in the state constitution and lower the state’s spending limit.

“This appropriation bill isn’t … the agenda in and of itself,” he said. “This appropriation bill is there to support the discussions and the decisions that need to be made on those bigger policy issues.”

Steininger testified on the measure, House Bill 3003, to the House Finance Committee on Friday.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

Alaska salmon landings up 61%, while Yukon River villages see poorest chum return on record

August 9, 2021 — Alaska’s salmon landings have passed the season’s midpoint, and by Aug. 7 the statewide catch had topped 116 million fish. State managers are calling for a projected total 2021 harvest of 190 million salmon, a 61% increase over 2020.

Most of the salmon being caught now are pinks, with Prince William Sound topping 35 million humpies, well over the projection of 25 million.

Pink salmon catches at Kodiak remained sluggish at just over 3 million so far out of a forecast calling for over 22 million.

Southeast was seeing a slight uptick, with pink catches nearing 14 million out of a projected 28 million.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

ALASKA: Kuskokwim Fishermen Appeal To Gov. Dunleavy To Investigate Commercial Bycatch Impact On Subsistence

August 3, 2021 — Kuskokwim River fishermen want information on how commercial bycatch could be affecting Kuskokwim subsistence salmon runs, and they’re asking Gov. Dunleavy for help.

The Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Working Group is a group of local subsistence fishermen who advise state fishery managers. On July 28, the group unanimously voted to send a letter to the governor asking him to direct the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to provide the group information on how chum and king salmon bycatch in state commercial fisheries along the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands could be affecting Kuskokwim salmon returns. This is the area commonly referred to as Management Area M.

It also asks for information on chum and king salmon bycatch in the federally-managed Bering Sea pollock trawl fishery.

Read the full story at KYUK

Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute to receive millions in CARES Act funding

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.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Alaska House votes to avert government shutdown

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.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

US maritime economy grew at a pace double the entire national GDP in 2019

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.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Shellfish and seaweed mariculture is focus of new Alaska industry alliance

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.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Alaska Mariculture Task Force transitioning to nonprofit organization

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.

Read the full story at Seafood Source