Saving Seafood

Pacific Heat Wave Known As ‘The Blob’ Appears To Be In Retreat

March 16, 2018 — Ocean conditions off the Pacific Northwest seem to be returning to normal after a three-year spike in water temperature.

It’s promising long-term news for fishermen who are looking ahead in the short term to yet another year of low salmon returns.

A report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) outlined the latest ocean observations for the organization that sets salmon catch limits off the West Coast. The Pacific Fishery Management Council will set those limits in early April.

The extended marine heatwave of the past few years has been nicknamed “the Blob.”

“The high pressure system over the North Pacific basically got stalled out and stuck there. And so the ocean warmed up about 6 degrees Fahrenheit,” NOAA’s Toby Garfield said.

Then a strong El Niño came through that reinforced these conditions.

“There have been a number of these events, these marine heat waves, that have occurred in the North Pacific. But the one we had in ’13, ’14, ’15 was the by far the largest in the record going back 45 years,” Garfield said.

And the effect on sea life was serious. Whales, sea lions and seabirds starved because the warm water didn’t support tiny nutrition-rich plankton called copepods at the base of the food chain.

Within the past year, the El Niño effect has dissipated, and other longer-term climate cycles are shifting back toward a more average level.

Read the full story at OPB

 

Alaska: Cook Inlet salmon plan back in front of federal council in April

March 15, 2018 — The North Pacific Fishery Management Council will continue its discussion of who should manage Cook Inlet salmon fisheries, and how, at its April meeting in Anchorage.

The council is continuing court-ordered work to develop a federal fishery management plan, or FMP, for the salmon fisheries currently managed by the state in Cook Inlet, including creation of a new salmon management committee.

From October 2017 to this February, the council solicited proposals regarding the membership of the new committee and the work it might do. Those are expected to be made public around March 16, and the council will discuss them at its April meeting in Anchorage.

According to information provided by the council, the comment period generated 33 responses, 25 nominations or applications for participation on the new salmon committee. Those nominations won’t be considered right away, however.

The council is also expected to issue the formal call for salmon committee members at the April meeting, and a decision on membership won’t come until after that comment period.

The committee and other work to re-tool Cook Inlet salmon management all stems from a lawsuit brought by the United Cook Inlet Drift Association, or UCIDA, that challenged the council decision in 2011 to formally remove the Cook Inlet, Alaska Peninsula and Prince William Sound salmon fisheries from the federal management plan.

The council is now working to write a Cook Inlet management plan at the directive of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed a U.S. District Court of Alaska judge’s decision to dismiss UCIDA’s lawsuit in 2016.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

 

U.S. fisheries’ leader Oliver asserts ‘business-minded’ stance at Boston 2018

March 13, 2018 — BOSTON — The US’ top regulatory authority on fishing used his first appearance ever at a Seafood Expo North America (SENA) conference on Sunday to describe how he was reshaping the mission at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to create more of a pro-business environment.

Commercial fishermen largely applauded the Donald Trump administration’s selection of Chris Oliver to serve as NOAA’s assistant administrator of fisheries in June 2017. But Oliver, who was confirmed in his new role in July, has maintained a relatively low profile since, his office not responding to requests for interviews.

In November, he told Alaska fishermen at a public meeting that he supported regulatory flexibility. The month before he had demanded the retraction of an article suggesting US seafood exported to Japan includes a high number of illegal unreported and unregulated (IUU) fish.

On Sunday, in Boston, he made it clear that he was using his leadership role to both follow the administration’s charge to combat excessive regulation and also looking out for harvesters.

“I’m a firm believer in a science-based approach to fisheries,” Oliver said. “… For 40 years, the North Pacific [Management] Council has been using annual catch limits, and I firmly believe those are the cornerstone to sustainable management. But I also believe that there is room for flexibility and a greater role for common sense frankly in our approach to fisheries management. And I want to bring a more business-minded approach to that process.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

North Pacific Research Board Seeks Nominations for Fishing Industry Seat

March 8, 2018 — The following was released by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The North Pacific Research Board is accepting nominations and self-nominations for the FISHING INDUSTRY SEAT on the BOARD until Friday, April 6, 2018. For more information, please visit this link:

BOARD Fishing Industry Seat Nominations

Our mailing address is:

North Pacific Fishery Management Council

605 W 4th Ste 306

Anchorage, AK  99501

NPFMC: Council meets April 2-10, 2018 in Anchorage, Alaska

March 7, 2018 — The following was released by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The meetings are held at the Hilton Hotel, 500 W. 3rd Avenue, in Anchorage, Alaska. The Agenda and Schedule are available, as well as a list of documents for review posted to the agenda prior to the meeting. Other meeting information follows:

  • Submit and review comments at comments.npfmc.org
  • Public comment deadline is March 30, 2018 at 12 noon (AST)
  • Hilton Hotel offers discounted room rates HERE
  • Alaska Airlines offers Discount Code: ECMZ242
  • Hotel wifi / password:  Hilton_Conference / summertime
  • Listen Online while the Council is in session

Salmon FMP:

The Council will review comments received from stakeholders and will determine the scope of work for a Salmon Committee. A staff report will provide context about how stakeholder recommendations comport with the Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements for fishery management plans, and whether the FMP applies to state waters and the sport fishery in the EEZ. Although the Council has already received submissions for membership (which are being held on file), the Salmon Committee will not be appointed until the Council has formally issued a call for nominations, as is scheduled to occur at this meeting.

Halibut ABM:

The discussion paper on BSAI halibut abundance-based management is being prepared to help the Council refine alternatives with respect to elements of the control rule. The paper will provide: an overview of the current Council motion and suite of alternatives (the control rules aspects), a suggested restructuring of the Council’s suite of alternatives with details on their complexity, and an evaluation of these to help the Council narrow the control rule options to a more reasonable range of control rule types, stepping through each individually (as was done with indices) and then providing the Work Group’s rationale for what might be reasonable for analysis. The draft alternatives brought forward are focusing largely on linear control rules and their application in 2-3D look up table for purposes of setting a PSC limit that may be influenced by information from the trawl survey and/or the IPHC setline survey. Draft alternatives also will also explore setting PSC limits by gear type separately to one or both indices and consider formulations which address halibut stock status.

Learn more about the NPFMC here.

 

Alaska cod quotas light up a loophole

February 16, 2018 — The fallout of shifts in Alaska cod quotas has sparked another scramble among the region’s cod fishermen. Overall P-cod quota is down, but the Aleutian Islands saw a small uptick, which led more boats to target the area in the A-season this year. The allocations, however, have had some unintended consequences.

For some background, in the wild and harsh fishing environments of the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska, a 60-footer qualifies as a small boat. A fleet of these smaller pot-cod boats typically fishes inshore waters and relies on deliveries to the remote Bering Sea island of Adak to run their Aleutian operations.

The remoteness of the region, however, has historically made running a processing plant there logistically implausible without guarantees of landings. This led the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to set aside 5,000 tons of cod quota that must be processed in the remote Aleutian Island community of Adak rather than off-loaded to offshore factory processors, as the larger catcher vessels — sometimes referred to as the Amendment 80 fleet after the legislation that put them into operations — do in the offshore fishery.

“This harvest set-aside provides the opportunity for vessels, [Aleutian Islands] shoreplants, and the communities where AI shoreplants are [located]to receive benefits from a portion of the AI Pacific cod fishery,” according to the council.

Read the full story at National Fishermen

 

NPFMC Ecosystem Workshop

January 23, 2018 — The following was released by the North Pacific Management Council:

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is holding a one-day Ecosystem Research Workshop on Wednesday, February 7th in conjunction with the Council’s upcoming meeting (February 5-12, 2018 at the Renaissance Hotel, 515 Madison St., Seattle WA). The workshop agenda, schedule, and other materials will be available through the agenda on the Council’s website, npfmc.org.

This workshop is built into the official Council meeting week schedule, but is not part of the formally convened Council, Advisory Panel (AP), Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), and Ecosystem Committee (EC) sessions. The workshop does not overlap with other scheduled meeting sessions and all Council, SSC, AP, and EC members will be able to attend. The workshop will convene at 8:00 am in the Courtyard Ballroom and adjourn by 5:30 pm.

Learn more about the NPFMC by visiting their site here.

 

North Pacific Council Issues Alert to Gulf of Alaska Cod Fishermen

January 4, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — In big red letters, a one-page alert warns the Gulf of Alaska cod fleets:  “Attention Cod Fishermen! 80% Decrease in Catch Limit for 2018” before describing what the massive cut in landings will mean to all gear types in federal and state waters of the Gulf.

At its December 2017 meeting, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council approved a Gulf-wide catch limit for Pacific cod at 18,000 mt, or about 39.7 million pounds for the 2018 season that starts January 20. Last year’s quota for P-cod in the Gulf for both the federal and state waters was about 82,000 mt.

“Recognizing that cod fishermen in the Central and Western Gulf of Alaska need to quickly get this information to adjust their fishing plans for 2018, the Council is providing the following tables that compare the 2018 catch limits to the 2017 limits by area, fishery, and season,” reads the one-page flyer.

The biggest producers are trawl vessels in the Western Gulf, a fleet that landed 6,861 mt in the A season last year and 2,650 mt in the 2017 B season. Those totals will be 1,543 mt in the A season and 596 in the B season this year.

Central Gulf trawlers are suffering a similar fate: catch limits for the A season are 1,275 mt in 2018 compared to 6,933 mt last year. That fleet is allowed 1,233 mt for this year’s B season, compared to 6,708 mt last year.

The flyer covers jig, hook and line, and pot gear throughout the Gulf and includes the breakdown for state catch limits by area. The two most productive areas historically in state waters are the South Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak. Last year’s catch limit for the South Peninsula (jig and pot gear combined) was 10,887 mt and for Kodiak was 5,523 mt.  This year, it is 2,425 mt and 1,015 mt respectively.

The smallest fishery is the Central Gulf jig fleet, which got 331 mt last year. This year, the combined total for A and B season will be 61 mt.

The flyer can be found here.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

 

NEFMC: January 2018 Council Update

January 3, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

CONTRACTOR WANTED:  The New England Fishery Management Council is soliciting the services of an independent contractor to update a January 2015 discussion related to river herring and shad.  The document reviewed and summarized management and legal considerations associated with adding river herring and shad as stocks in the Atlantic herring fishery. The application deadline is January 15, 2018.  More information is available at Council Seeks Contractor to Update “Stocks in the Atlantic Herring Fishery” Discussion Document.

COUNCIL PROGRAM REVIEW:  The Council continues to encourage stakeholders to participate in the ongoing external review of how it conducts business.  The review is intended help the Council identify its strengths and weaknesses and flag potential areas for improvement.  Twelve port meetings and one webinar meeting were held in November and December to gather public input.  Two more port meetings are scheduled for:

  • Monday, January 8, Montauk, NY – Montauk Playhouse Community Center, 240 Edgemere Street, 5 p.m.
  • Tuesday, January 9, Cape May, NJ – Rutgers University, 1636 Delaware Ave., 5 p.m.

Three fishery managers and three scientists have been selected to serve on the independent review panel. They are:

  • Robert Beal, Executive Director, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
  • Robert Gill, former member and Chair, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; current member, Gulf Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee
  • Dan Hull, Chairman, North Pacific Fishery Management Council
  • Dr. Pamela Mace, Principal Adviser Fisheries Science, Ministry for Primary Industries, New Zealand
  • Dr. Bonnie McCay, Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor, Rutgers University
  • Dr. Kenny Rose, France-Merrick Professor in Sustainable Ecosystem Restoration, Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

The review panel will meet Tuesday, March 13 through Friday, March 16 to discuss Council operations and conduct its work. The meeting, which is open to the public, will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn, Boston Logan Airport.

Stakeholders still have time to take the online survey, which is available HERE.  More information can be found at Council Program Review.

JANUARY COUNCIL MEETING:  The New England Council will meet for two days in Portsmouth, NH from Tuesday, January 30 through Wednesday, January 31 at the Sheraton Harborside on Market Street.  The agenda is available at January 2018 Council meeting.

QUESTIONS:  Call or email Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.

 

Pollock and salmon projected for big year in 2018

December 28, 2017 — Next year is looking like another big one for pollock in the Bering Sea and sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay. But times are tough for cod fishermen, especially in the Gulf of Alaska.

At its December meeting in Anchorage, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council increased the already huge Bering Sea pollock quota to 1.345 million metric tons for 2018, up from 1.34 million mt in 2017. That’s good news for the pollock-dependent community of Unalaska for local revenues and jobs.

Pollock is the fish that annually makes the Aleutian Islands community the nation’s No. 1 port in volume. For the 20th year in a row, Unalaska/Dutch Harbor was the nation’s top fish port with 770 million pounds of seafood landings in 2016, primarily pollock, which accounted for nearly 90 percent of that total, according to a Nov. 1 report from the National Marine Fisheries Service.

In the Gulf of Alaska, the cod quota declined by 85 percent, from 64,442 metric tons in 2017 to 13,096 mt for 2018. That greatly impacts Kodiak, and King Cove and Sand Point in the Aleutians East Borough.

The Gulf pollock quota is also down significantly, from 208,595 metric tons, or mt, in 2017, to 166,228 mt in 2018.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce