Saving Seafood

GOV. DUNLEAVY: Secretary Blinken, protect Alaska’s fisheries

March 18, 2021 — Dear Secretary of State Blinken,

In light of your imminent meeting with Chinese officials in Alaska, I write to impress upon you the international challenges faced by our commercial fishing industry.

Perhaps no group of Alaskans has been impacted more severely by the global economic collapse than our fishers and processors. Both coped admirably with the logistical challenges of running businesses that rely on the free movement of labor, but neither escaped the pain of demand shock that rippled outward from shuttered restaurants, reductions in consumer spending, and the partial collapse of many export markets.

However, not all of the industries’ woes can be traced back to the pandemic. Many are preexisting conditions stemming from hostile decisions made by China and Russia during the previous decade.

In July 2018, China’s government imposed retaliatory tariffs on Alaska seafood, decimating our market share in the world’s largest and fastest-growing seafood market. Today, these tariffs have reached an outrageous 30-40% on top of several extreme and unproven COVID-mitigation measures intended to slow the importation of Alaska seafood.

Read the full opinion piece at the Juneau Empire

ALASKA: Board of Fish bumps back meeting schedule citing cost concerns, public outcry

March 9, 2021 — Alaska’s Board of Fisheries has bumped its meeting cycle back a year after cost concerns and public outcry. Commercial fishing interests had raised concerns that a packed schedule wouldn’t give stakeholders a fair amount of time with the board.

Alaska’s Board of Fish is a seven-member board of citizens appointed by the governor. They make critical decisions about the whos, whats and whens of access to the state’s fisheries.

COVID-19 caused Board of Fish meetings to be postponed, including its regional meeting for Southeast. In January, the board voted to cram two years’ worth of meetings into the next meeting cycle. That would’ve effectively doubled the amount of meetings this year.

The vast majority of public and advisory committee comments received in recent months raised concerns about the doubled schedule.

On Monday, the Dunleavy administration also weighed in. Fish & Game commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang says his agency does not have the budget for twice the meeting load.

“Right now we do not have money to double up on in-person meetings next year,” Vincent-Lang said. “I can tell you it’s my intent not to rob Peter to pay Paul to double up on meetings. I’m not going to dig into the department budget at a half-million dollars to fund those meetings.”

Read the full story at KSTK

Army Corps accepts appeal from developer of proposed Pebble mine but rejects Alaska’s appeal

March 2, 2021 — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has accepted an appeal request from the developer of the proposed Pebble copper and gold mine in Southwest Alaska, keeping alive the company’s hopes that it could one day see the project developed after the Corps denied the project a key permit last year.

The Corps also rejected the state of Alaska’s request for an appeal, prompting a response from Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who said that the rejection sets a precedent that could put other projects on state land at risk.

“This is another example of the federal government imposing a flawed decision that blocks Alaska’s ability to responsibly develop its land and resources,” Dunleavy said in a statement issued Friday.

The Corps’ Alaska District in November, under then-President Donald Trump, denied a permit for the project, calling it “contrary to the public interest.”

Read the full story at Anchorage Daily News

Tribes, fishermen decry Alaska and B.C.’s decision not to extend transboundary monitoring

March 2, 2021 — A 22-page final report released on Thursday culminates two years of data collected from water, sediment and fish tissue in three transboundary watersheds that straddle the frontier. And now, Alaska and British Columbia governments say their work is done.

“Given the existence of other sampling programs planned by state, federal or provincial agencies throughout the transboundary region, there is no need to continue the joint program,” the state and province said in a joint-statement.

Congress appropriated more than $3 million for renewed stream monitoring at border stream gauges operated by the U.S. Geological Survey.

“With all the resources didn’t feel like it was necessary for multiple agencies to be collecting the same thing,” Terri Lomax, a program manager with the state Department of Conservation, told CoastAlaska.

She’s been part of the cross-border effort ever since Gov. Bill Walker signed a landmark agreement in 2015 with B.C. to set up joint water quality monitoring for a shared watershed that hosts a booming Canadian mining sector that drains into Southeast Alaska.

“We’ve developed a lot of partnerships and a lot of relationships over the last couple of years,” she said. “We didn’t have these relationships with British Columbia.”

Provincial officials say they agree that the program has run its course.

Read the full story at KRBD

ALASKA: Gov. Dunleavy taps real estate executive for fisheries commission

February 19, 2021 — The Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission is obscure to many Alaskans. But for those whose livelihoods are tied to fish, it’s a household name.

The agency was created in the 1970s after Alaska voters amended the state constitution to allow limits on the number of people allowed to fish — all for the sake of conservation. Fishermen had to show a history of their catch in a particular area to get rights to fish.

“The commission spent many, many years going through those applications, sorting through the permits,” said Juneau attorney and former lobbyist Vance Fate Putman, who former Gov. Bill Walker appointed to the two-person commission in 2017.

That work of documenting who did and didn’t get fishing rights took decades, but it’s finally done. Over the past few years, the commission has resolved all but one dispute: an excess of eligible permit holders for a single shrimp pot fishery in Southeast.

Read the full story at KTOO

Alaska’s US attorney is investigating something about Pebble, but the target is unclear

February 10, 2021 — The parent company of the proposed Pebble Mine said it’s cooperating with a federal grand jury investigation. The company said the case relates to conversations about the mine that were secretly recorded. But who is being investigated, and for what alleged crime, is not clear.

The company, British Columbia-based Northern Dynasty, issued a statement Friday that leaves a lot unanswered. It said the U.S. Attorney’s office in Alaska issued subpoenas to Pebble Limited Partnership and its former CEO, Tom Collier, requiring them to hand over certain documents.

The statement said the investigation appears related to “previously disclosed recordings of private conversations regarding the Pebble Project.”

That seems to describe the so-called Pebble Tapes, undercover recordings produced last year by an environmental group.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

ALASKA: Gov. Dunleavy Introduces Job Creating Infrastructure Bond

February 9, 2021 — The following was released by The Office of Governor Mike Dunleavy (R-AK):

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy today introduced a job-creating $356 million infrastructure proposal – the first statewide bond proposal in nearly 10 years. Senate Bill 74 is a key piece of the Dunleavy administration’s Path Forward and will benefit Alaskans statewide, improving transportation, education, recreation, and communications systems throughout the state. Upon passage by the Legislature, the general obligation bond will go to a vote of the people.

“This statewide bond package is essential to stabilizing our economy and putting Alaskans back to work following the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic,” said Governor Mike Dunleavy. “Not only will this proposal create jobs, it will improve critical infrastructure for all Alaskans. I look forward to working with the Legislature to take this to a vote of the people following the 2021 legislative session.”

The proposal totals $356,405,952 and leverages a federal match of $1,003,471,000. Projects of interest included in the general obligation bond include:

  • $8.5M to West Susitna Road Access project
  • $25M to School Major Maintenance Grant Fund
  • $18.9M to Fairbanks Youth Facility
  • $2.4M to Fairbanks Pioneer Home
  • $19.5M to Alaska Vocational Technical Center upgrades
  • $12M to Alaska Public Safety Communication Services System upgrades
  • $13.2M to Fairbanks to Seward Multi-Use Recreation Trail Construction
  • $20M to Statewide Firebreak Construction Program
  • $2.4M to Alaska Wildlife Troopers Marine Enforcement repair and replacement
  • $4.2M to Bethel Airport
  • $8.3M to Craig Harbor
  • $28.8M to Dalton Highway repairs and upgrades
  • $540K to Denali Highway Mile Point 24-25 (Milepost 22)
  • $5.6M to Ketchikan South Tongass Highway
  • $29.9M to Sterling Highway Miles 8-25 (Milepost 45-60) Sunrise to Skilak
  • $9.3M to Unalaska Harbor
  • $29.6M to University of Alaska infrastructure projects

For more information on the general obligation bond proposal, including a comprehensive list of project proposals, click here.

ALASKA: Bristol Bay leaders call to close the door on Pebble Mine

February 3, 2021 — With appeals flying in efforts to overturn the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ denial of the Pebble Mine permit in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, Bristol Bay’s Tribes and residents have released a call for permanent protections for the region.

On Jan. 8, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced the state’s intentions to appeal the decision. The Pebble Partnership followed with a Jan. 21 filing, requesting the Army Corps of Engineers to reverse its denial of the proposed mine’s Clean Water Act dredge and fill permit.

The appeals, say local leaders and fishery stakeholders, highlight the need for durable, long-term, lasting protections for the Bristol Bay region, as well as the need for an EPA veto of the proposed Pebble Mine itself.

“While science prevailed when the Army Corps rejected the proposed Pebble Mine’s Clean Water Act permit, this appeal shows that the Trump administration left the door open for the Pebble Partnership and Bristol Bay is far from safe,” said SalmonState Executive Director Tim Bristol. “The first step is for the Biden administration to reestablish the Clean Water Act Protections previously in place. The second step is for Congress to protect the waters of Bristol Bay in perpetuity, as called for in Bristol Bay Tribes’ and organizations’ Call to Protect Bristol Bay.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

OP-ED: Governor’s Pebble appeal ignores the law, science and voices of Alaskans

February 2, 2021 — While Alaskans are looking ahead to a bright future for Bristol Bay, Gov. Mike Dunleavy continues to look backward and is seeking to keep the proposed Pebble Mine project alive through dubious legal tactics. The latest example of this is the state’s appeal of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to deny a key Clean Water Act permit for the project. The appeal is wrong on the law. It is wrong on science. And it is wrong for Alaskans.

Let us start with the legal arguments. The applicable regulations specify that only the party denied a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit can file an administrative appeal of that decision. Corps of Engineers guidance on the appeal process is equally specific, the process “provides permit applicants with an opportunity to seek a timely and objective reconsideration of an adverse permit decision,” and “there is no third-party involvement in the appeal process itself.” This is black and white. Moreover, the Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP), the permit applicant, has already filed an appeal. At best, the state’s appeal is duplicative. At worst, it is an unlawful and wasteful action.

Second, the Corps’ permit denial is based on science and grounded in longstanding precedent. Pebble, even under the conservative 20-year mining plan that PLP itself acknowledges will expand considerably, would impact nearly 200 miles of streams and more than 4,500 acres of wetlands – with no plan to replace these significant losses. These streams and wetlands are part of the unique ecosystem that allows 50 million-plus sockeye salmon to return annually, supporting $1.5 billion in economic output and a millennia-old Alaska Native way of life. The Corps’ finding that the mine would cause significant damage to aquatic resources and is not in the public interest is wholly consistent with extensive scientific data and evidence.

Read the full opinion piece at the Anchorage Daily News

Pebble asks Army Corps to reconsider its mine plan in Southwest Alaska

January 25, 2021 — Pebble Limited Partnership has filed an appeal with the Army Corps of Engineers, asking the agency to reconsider its application to build an open-pit gold mine upstream from Bristol Bay.

In November, the Army Corps rejected the application, saying the mine would not comply with the Clean Water Act. The mine would be built on state land, but dredging and filling in federal waters and wetlands requires a permit from the Corps.

Pebble Chief Executive John Shively says the decision was rushed, coming just days after the company submitted its final document — a plan to compensate for damage to the area.

Read the full story at KTOO