Saving Seafood

Alaska: Halibut faces headwinds as catches drop 10%

March 29, 2018 — Pacific halibut catches for 2018 won’t decline as severely as initially feared, but the fishery faces headwinds from several directions.

Federal fishery managers announced just a few days before the March 24 start of the halibut opener that commercial catches for Alaska will be down 10 percent for a total of 17.5 million pounds.

The industry was on tenterhooks awaiting the catch information, which typically is announced by the International Pacific Halibut Commission in late January. However, representatives from the U.S. and Canada could not agree on how to apportion the halibut catches in fishing regions that stretch from the west coast and British Columbia to the Bering Sea.

“The Canadians felt there was justification in the survey and commercial fishery data that, in concert with a long-held position that the IPHC’s apportionment scheme was not accurate, supported a higher catch limit. They were also opposed to the slow pace the U.S. has taken in reducing its bycatch of halibut in the Bering Sea,” said Peggy Parker of Seafoodnews.com.

The impasse put the decision in the laps of federal managers at NOAA Fisheries in Washington, D.C., who were pushed to the wire to get the halibut catch limits and regulations on the rule books in time for the fishery start.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

 

Alaska: Decline in Pacific halibut fishery not as severe as feared

March 26, 2018 — Pacific halibut catches for 2018 won’t decline as severely as initially feared, but the fishery faces headwinds from several directions.

Federal fishery managers announced just a few days before the March 24 start of the halibut opener that commercial catches for Alaska will be down 10 percent for a total of 17.5 million pounds.

The industry was on tenterhooks awaiting the catch information, which typically is announced by the International Pacific Halibut Commission in late January. However, representatives from the U.S. and Canada could not agree on how to apportion the halibut catches in fishing regions that stretch from the West Coast and British Columbia to the Bering Sea.

“The Canadians felt there was justification in the survey and commercial fishery data that, in concert with a long-held position that the IPHC’s apportionment scheme was not accurate, supported a higher catch limit. They were also opposed to the slow pace the U.S. has taken in reducing its bycatch of halibut in the Bering Sea,” said Peggy Parker of Seafoodnews.com.

The impasse put the decision in the laps of federal managers at NOAA Fisheries in Washington, D.C., who were pushed to the wire to get the halibut catch limits and regulations on the rule books in time for the fishery start.

Adding to the halibut drama are reports of hefty holdovers of fish in freezers, and competition again from Atlantic halibut from eastern Canada.

Prices for Alaska halibut are typically very high for the season’s first deliveries and then decrease after a few weeks. Last year they started out topping $7 per pound to fishermen at major ports. Prices remained in the $5-$6 range for the duration of the eight-month fishery, prompting a push-back from buyers who complained of “price fatigue” and switched their sourcing to less-expensive Atlantic fish.

How that scenario plays out this year remains to be seen, but the combination of fish inventories and availability from elsewhere will likely provide a downward push on Alaska halibut prices.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

 

Alaska Sablefish Fishery Completes 4th Alaska RFM Annual Audit

SEAFOODNEWS.COM  By Peggy Parker — October 19, 2015 — The fourth annual audit for Alaska Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) certification has been completed for sablefish (black cod), Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) announced this morning.

ASMI requested assessment of the sablefish fisheries to the FAO-based standard first in April 2010. Final certification was given in October 2011. Last May the Fishing Vessels Owners Association became the new client holding the certificate for this fishery.

The audit covers changes to the management regime, regulations and their implementation since the previous assessment, in September 2014. The report determines whether these changes and current practices remain consistent with the overall scorings of the fishery allocated during initial certification.

Within the report are descriptions of how the sablefish fishery conforms to 13 standards, called clauses from the RFM framework, that range from data collection to fishermen’s competence, to ecosystem impacts. In all cases, the fishery was rated “high”, the best mark given.

Details of meetings with managers, law enforcement, biologists, and fishermen and processors, are included in the report.

This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.

Public Comment Sought on EIS for New Gulf of Alaska Groundfish Bycatch Management Program

SEAFOODNEWS.COM By Peggy Parker — July 15, 2015 — In yesterday’s Federal Register, the National Marine Fisheries Service, in consultation with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, announced their intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on a new bycatch management program for trawl groundfish fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska.

The proposed action would create a new management program that would allocate allowable harvest to individuals, cooperatives, and other entities that participate in GOA trawl groundfish fisheries.

The program is intended to improve stock conservation by imposing accountability measures for taking target, incidental, and prohibited species catch, creating incentives to eliminate wasteful fishing practices, providing mechanisms for participants to control and reduce bycatch in the trawl groundfish fisheries, and to improve safety of life at sea and operational efficiencies.

The EIS will analyze the impacts to the human environment resulting from the proposed trawl bycatch management program.

NOAA Fisheries and the Council say an EIS may be required for this bycatch management program because some important aspects of the proposed action on species and their users may be uncertain or unknown. Thus, the agency and the Council are initiating scoping for an EIS in the event one is needed.

NOAA Fisheries and the Council want public comments to identify the issues of concern and help determine the appropriate range of management alternatives for the EIS. Comments should also focus on the environmental, social, and economic issues to be considered in the analysis.

NMFS will accept written comments through August 28, 2015.

You may submit comments electronically at www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2014-0150 [2].

Or send written comments to Glenn Merrill, Assistant Regional Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region NMFS, Attn: Ellen Sebastian. Mail comments to P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802–1668.

This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.

Bristol Bay Sockeye Run Either Late or Over-estimated: Stay Tuned

SEAFOODNEWS.COM By Peggy Parker — July 6, 2015 — All eyes are on Bristol Bay today as fishermen and processors look for a surge in sockeye landings marking the peak of the run today or at the latest, tomorrow. That peak did not come on the traditional day of July 4.

Cumulative landings as of yesterday totaled 8.5 million fish, short by more than half for this time in a six-week season with a forecast of 37.6 million reds.

That means the run is either late, will come in this week in a compressed fashion, or was significantly over estimated. Over the weekend some processors said the travel time from Port Moller, which is still showing a strong return, is longer than anticipated and the bulk of the run may be as much as 4-5 days late.

If so, today and tomorrow’s landings will be critical indicators.

The implications of a drastically reduced run will have impacts throughout the world’s salmon markets, as Bristol Bay is the largest supplier of wild salmon in the world.

Dr. Scott Raborn of the Bristol Bay Science and Research Institute studies the Port Moller test fishery, used as a precursor to Bristol Bay return sizes and timing.

“The migration this year has been very odd,” Raborn reports. “By now, the run will have to be (1) several days late to come in at the pre-season forecast and/or (2) be very compressed.

“The first possibility would mean our estimates of travel times [from Port Moller to each Bristol Bay river system] are 3-4 days longer than we thought, and/or there is considerable strength left at Port Moller. The second could occur if fish are milling outside the districts causing a pooling effect. The rate of compression would be determined by how long it takes to “drain the pool”, which would be anyone’s guess,” Raborn says.

“However, at this point we must consider the possibility of a smaller run,” he adds.

Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game ordered openings in the three largest districts for this morning and afternoon.

The first began at 2 a.m. for Egigik setnetters, an eight-hour opening followed by a second eight-hour opening from 3:15 – 11:15 p.m. Gillnetters began fishing at 6 a.m. today, closing at 10 a.m. and opening again from 3:30 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. today.

Total harvest in Egigik has been 2.8 million fish with escapement at 834,000 sockeye, just above the lower forecasted range. Forecasted total harvest for that river system is 10.64 million sockeyes with 1.4 million escapement.

The second district to fish today is Ugashik, a 10-hour period from 12:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Cumulative harvest is 930,000 fish in the Ugashik District with escapement at 250,000, just over 25% of expected escapement of 940,000. Forecasted harvest for Ugashik this year was 2.61 million sockeyes.

Finally, The Naknek-Kvichak District will open for a 4-hour period from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m.

Pre-season forecasts for the Naknek/Kvichak district was 18.03 million sockeyes with an escapement of 9.71 million. Cumulative totals as of July 4 are 1.94 million sockeye harvest and 1.28 million reds escapement.

ADF&G will make another announcement at noon Alaska time today regarding the Egegik and Ugashik districts, and a 3 p.m. announcement on the Naknek/Kvichak fishery.

This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.