Saving Seafood

NOAA trawl surveys estimate more cod, pollock in Bering Sea

October 29, 2019 — The results from recent US government trawl surveys of the Bering Sea are in and they estimate the biomass of pollock and Pacific cod have risen relative to previous years.

Two vessels — Alaska Knight and Vesteraalen — completed summer surveys of the eastern and northern Bering Sea from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

The AFSC said in a presentation that the trawl surveys led scientists to estimate the pollock biomass at 5.46 million metric tons for the Eastern Bering Sea, a 75% year-on-year rise and 1.17m metric tons for the Northern Bering Sea, compared to the last major survey, which was performed in 2017.

For Pacific cod, the surveys led to an increased biomass estimate of 517,000t in the Eastern Bering Sea, a 2% y-o-y rise and an estimate of 368,000t for the Northern Bering Sea, up 30% from 2017.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Groundfish Forum forecasts only marginal lift in 2020 whitefish supply

October 17, 2019 — The supply of the big stocks of wild whitefish are set to remain stable for 2020, lifting by less than 1%, according to a forecast from the Groundfish Forum.

The forecast at the forum for the US supply of Alaska pollock for 2020 is 1.528 million metric tons, down from 1.552m in 2019. Undercurrent News previously reported the science on pollock points to possible cuts in the next couple of years.

For Russian pollock, the forum predicts a slight lift in supply for 2020, from 1.685m metric tons to 1.70m. Global pollock supply is set to be 3.44m metric tons, down marginally from 2019’s 3.45m.

For Atlantic cod, the total supply is forecast to rise very slightly, from 1.131m metric tons in 2019 to 1.132m. In June, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) advised the cod quota in the Barents Sea for 2020 be set at a level 2% higher than its advised level for 2019 of 674,678t. At 689,672t, its 2020 advice comes in at 5% lower than the total allowable catch for 2019 set by the Norwegians and Russians, of 725,000t.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

ALASKA: There’s a new fight over Bering Sea black cod. Warming water may be to blame.

October 10, 2019 — Fish politics in Alaska usually get serious when there aren’t enough fish to go around. But a new fight is brewing over black cod because there are so many of them – possibly as a result of the ocean’s warming waters.

Record numbers of young black cod, also known as sablefish, are swimming off Alaska’s coast; scientists estimate that this group of fish, which had huge reproductive success in 2014, is twice the size of the next-largest on record, from 1977.

The small-boat fishermen who catch black cod, many of whom live in Southeast Alaska, are eagerly waiting for the young fish to grow larger and commercially valuable. But they’re getting frustrated seeing increasing numbers of black cod caught accidentally, as bycatch, by the Seattle-based trawlers that target lower-value species in the Bering Sea, like the pollock that go into McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwiches.

“This recruitment event is what we’re counting on to keep the fishery going for the next 10 or 15 years,” said Tad Fujioka, a Sitka fisherman who decided to buy black cod fishing rights a few years ago, in part because of the boom in their numbers. “We need to save these fish for years to come.”

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

All Hands: Alaska determined to overcome tariff troubles

October 9, 2019 — The theme coming out of Alaska seafood’s annual meeting is — no surprise — tariffs.

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute opened its All Hands On Deck meeting today in Anchorage with annual updates from its program directors, followed by public meetings for species committees and the Responsible Fisheries Management program.

International Program Director Hannah Lindoff opened her update with a slide detailing the current state of U.S./China tariffs.

“This is the most up to date information,” said Lindoff. “But if anyone is on Twitter and something changes, please let me know.”

Although most products in Alaska’s portfolio are exempted from U.S. tariffs on Chinese exports — salmon, pollock and Pacific cod — competition in the global marketplace makes tariffs disadvantageous for any fisheries affected by additional duties.

For example, Alaska contributes 10 to 15 percent of the global supply of red king crab. Russia supplies about 70 percent. Alaska’s red king crab quota is down 12 percent for 2020. Golden king crab and snow crab quotas are up 13 and 23 percent, but the tanner/opilio fishery is shut down for the year.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

New Seafloor Maps Reveal Habitat Sculpted by Ancient Glaciers

September 24, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

New seafloor maps show for the first time the course of ancient ice masses. They show how they shaped essential habitat for the western Gulf of Alaska’s abundant fish, seabirds, and marine mammals.

Scientists wove together historical and modern data—from century-old hand-drawn charts to modern multibeam surveys. They created a highly detailed view of the seafloor and its geological features. The results will help scientists better understand the habitat requirements of many species and the oceanographic processes that influence their success.

The western Gulf of Alaska is both ecologically and economically important. Shelikof Strait, a major feature of the region, holds special importance as spawning ground for the Gulf’s biggest stock of walleye pollock. Together with other Alaska pollock stocks, they are the target of the world’s largest fishery. Shelikof Strait is also home to rare species like the mysterious Pacific sleeper shark. Within the Gulf of Alaska bottom trawl survey area, almost half of all sleeper shark occurrences are in Shelikof Strait.

Despite its importance, until now much of the western Gulf of Alaska had not been mapped in sufficient detail to describe the geological features of this vital habitat. To create and analyze new maps, NOAA Fisheries and U.S. Geological Survey scientists teamed up to bring together geographical and geological expertise.

Read the full release here

Nothing but Net: A Massachusetts Commercial Captain Starts a School for Fishermen

August 30, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Commercial fishermen usually learn their trade the hard way—on the job at sea. But a former Gloucester fishing captain thinks he has a better method: in the classroom.

Joe Sanfilippo, 47, spent 28 years working alongside his four older brothers on his family’s fleet of three 80-foot fishing boats based in the famous Massachusetts fishing town. He has experience swordfishing, longlining and dragging for cod, haddock and pollock. Now, he wants to teach others some of what he knows in a vocational training program he’s developed called Extreme Gloucester Fishing.

Sanfilippo offered his first class, on repairing torn nets, last spring, and hopes to expand the curriculum to a six-month full-time course that will train a new generation of seamen for the local fishing fleet.

He first had the idea for the training classes two decades ago, but the timing wasn’t right. “The lack of a pipeline for new, young crewmembers was not yet a serious problem,” Sanfilippo says. “But I had foreseen it because I was the youngest guy in my crew. They were all much older, some by 30 years.”

The curriculum for Extreme Gloucester Fishing includes 40 modules for eight subjects that take 830 hours of classroom work to complete. “I chose to teach net-mending first because it’s the thing you really need to know to get onto a commercial fishing vessel. You have to know that before they even give you a job.”

A few dozen people signed up for the first class. A graduate of that course recently got a job on a commercial fishing boat in Alaska. Some of the other students had spent just a short time on commercial boats when they registered. One is a young woman who has been fishing with her father on his lobster boat.

Not all of the students are new to fishing. Shawn Goulart has been working on local fishing boats for a quarter century, but he took the class to improve his skills. “Somehow I managed to make it for 25 years without ever learning how to mend nets,” he said. “It may have held me up a bit in my career, especially in the early years when almost everyone on the water knew how to do it.” Having the skill, he contends, makes him more valuable.

“The full six-month program encompasses every aspect of commercial fishing so you can get onto any boat anywhere in the world and perform the duties of a deckhand,” Sanfilippo says. “It ranges from vessel handling and safety, to gear, to all the terminology.” Sanfilippo also stresses the benefits of learning in a classroom, which is not how he was taught.

“A lot of these guys, myself included, were taught under extreme circumstances, on a pitching deck with a lot of wind and rain. It’s a hostile environment for learning. I want to break it down in a classroom and create some excitement so that people will actually enjoy going out there.”

Shrinking catches and increased government regulation have discouraged some people from getting into commercial fishing; Sanfilippo himself stopped fishing a few years ago because of what he saw as over-regulation. Those realities have also discouraged some professional captains from training new crew. “It’s been tough to recruit,” Sanfilippo says. The hard, sometimes dangerous work, lack of health insurance and retirement plans make it challenging to bring new people into the profession. For that reason, Sanfilippo’s course includes a segment on financial planning. Yet even with the obstackles, he hopes to capitalize on the popularity of shows like The Deadliest Catch, which have prompted more interest in commercial fishing.

Students pay $40 a class, but that’s not enough for Sanfilippo to cover his costs, even with a roster of volunteer guest instructors. “That’s okay because this isn’t about the money,” he says. “It’s about the heritage and the knowledge that shouldn’t be lost. I have 28 years of knowledge in my head that I want to share with people who can sustain the industry.” Sanfilippo is familiar with commercial fishing classes in Norway, Sweden and other countries, but thinks his course is one of the first of its kind in the United States. “Gloucester is the perfect place for it. We used to have the largest landings in the country.”

Michael De Koster, executive director of Gloucester Maritime, which operates a maritime museum and aquarium, has taught some of the classes for Extreme Gloucester Fishing. “We like to see the traditional skill sets passed on. The class is a wonderful contribution to the industry and an opportunity for students to get hired more quickly. I think Joe is going to put more people in the pipeline, and give these fishermen a leg up in the industry.”

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

US government completes big wild salmon buy, seeks more pollock

August 21, 2019 — The United States government continues to support Alaska’s wild fisheries with a USD 3.1 million (EUR 2.8 million) purchase of wild salmon and a bid for nearly 400,000 pounds of Alaska pollock.

The United States Department of Agriculture awarded its most recent wild salmon contract to Trident Seafoods, for federal child nutrition and other domestic food assistance programs.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Pollock scarce — and expensive — as Northeast groundfish prices fluctuate

July 25, 2019 — The Northeast groundfish fishery kicked off May 1. The federal shutdown last winter meant some management changes, like Framework 58 which changes catch limits on several stocks, faced delays.

Groundfish prices seem to be fluctuating. Bert Jongerden, general manager of the Portland Fish Exchange, a wholesale auction in Maine says fleets are  “mostly bringing in Gulf of Maine haddock, dabs, and white hake, it’s balanced among those.”

Gulf of Maine haddock appears steady, with average price for large around $2.78 per pound. Demand for dabs for restaurant markets is high, with $4.50-5.00 for large dabs.

Fleets are hauling high volumes of redfish, with low prices. Another low point is monkfish.

“Tails are very soft, sometimes less than $1 per pound on auction,” adds Jongerden. It is a pattern that has been seen a few years – likely a result of robust supply but cold European markets, which set the price.

“A lot of gillnetters are targeting monks to avoid cod, because there is a terrible cod problem. The fish are there,” said Jongerden. Average prices for cod were $3.24 to $3.81 per pound as of late June.

All eyes are on Atlantic pollock. “Gillnetters are just not seeing them, no large or mediums,” adds Jongerden. Pollock (aka Boston bluefish) is popular in NY markets.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Groups praise updated US government seafood guidance

July 9, 2019 — U.S. seafood groups are lauding an updated government guidance that encourages pregnant and breastfeeding women and children to eat more seafood.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is updating its 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, released in 2017, which recommends that Americans eat at least eight ounces of seafood per week, based on a 2,000-calorie diet. While FDA did not increase the amount of seafood adults should eat, it is emphasizing the nutritional benefits – particularly to pregnant and breastfeeding women as well as children – of eating at least eight ounces of seafood weekly.

The agency also aims to help consumers who should limit their exposure to mercury choose from the many types of fish that are lower in mercury – “including ones commonly found in grocery stores, such as salmon, shrimp, pollock, canned light tuna, tilapia, catfish and cod,” the FDA said in a press release.

However, “it is important to note that women who might become pregnant, or who are pregnant or breastfeeding – along with young children – should avoid the few types of commercial fish with the highest levels of mercury listed on the chart,” FDA said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Alaska Congress members ask to tap relief funds for seafood

June 20, 2019 — Alaska’s congressional delegation said the state’s fishermen and seafood processors should be included in a federal trade war relief package, a report said.

Lawmakers asked the Trump administration to give its seafood industry access to $15 billion earmarked for farmers, The Anchorage Daily News reported Wednesday.

“Unjustified retaliatory” tariffs are eroding Alaska seafood’s market share in China, U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young said in a June 11 letter.

“New market growth has stopped and Alaska seafood consumption has dropped,” the legislators wrote to Perdue.

China’s 25% tariff on Alaska salmon, pollock, cod and other fish implemented in July boosts the overall tariff to 32% on some fish species, they said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the San Francisco Chronicle