Saving Seafood

Proposed US tariffs on EU seafood products nearing end of consultation period

July 28, 2020 — A bevy of seafood products from the European Union could be the target of new tariffs by the United States, stemming from a dispute over European subsidies for Airbus.

Starting in October, several mainly premium goods from the E.U. – such as Scotch whisky, cashmere, cheeses, and others – have carried a 25 percent tariff, with salmon and other seafood products barely avoiding a tariff in the trade spat. The tariffs stem from U.S. criticisms of what it calls over-subsidization of Airbus by European governments, with the World Trade Organization (WTO) allowing the U.S. to take USD 7.5 billion (EUR 6.3 billion) in retaliatory tariffs, BBC news reported.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ALASKA: Bristol Bay setnetters get their hands dirty (and sometimes lose a finger) to put salmon on your dinner table

July 27, 2020 — Most Alaskans know that commercial fishing is very important to the economy of our state. A small number of folks understand the ins and outs of a commercial gillnet operation. Fewer still understand what a setnet fishery is.

When one speaks of the gillnet fishery, the picture that comes to mind is one of a picturesque vessel with a long line of glistening white floats strung out behind. That is a semi-accurate depiction.

The setnet fishery bears little resemblance to that picture.

Setnetting is hard, dirty work — at least in Bristol Bay. If you are wearing name-brand raingear, few would recognize it because it would be covered in mud.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Trump administration signals controversial mine can move ahead, reversing Obama-era position

July 27, 2020 — A controversial gold and copper mine proposed in Alaska was given a major push forward Friday as the Trump administration issued a final report concluding the Pebble Mine project would not cause long-term harm to one of the world’s largest remaining salmon runs.

The new report, by the Army Corps of Engineers, is a sharp reversal to the Obama administration Environmental Protection Agency’s conclusions of the project, which essentially blocked progress on the mine because of environmental concerns by citing the potential for permanent damage to the pristine Bristol Bay watershed.

The Pebble Mine project has been a lightning rod for controversy for some two decades and has been widely assailed by numerous interest groups in Alaska and the lower states, and also faced opposition from many Alaskans.

The new report by the Army Corps is a major triumph for the project developers, illustrating the Trump administration’s opposite approach to the project from the Obama administration and echoing other large environmental reversals it has ordered on other findings from the previous administration.

Perhaps the new report’s most striking finding is that the colossal mine and its development “would not be expected to have a measurable effect on fish numbers and result in long-term changes to the health of the commercial fisheries in Bristol Bay.”

Read the full story at CNN

Senator Cantwell Slams Trump Administration Analysis of Pebble Mine That Could Put Bristol Bay at Risk of Irreparable Harm

July 27, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA):

Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, slammed an environmental analysis released by the Trump administration that could pave the way for approval of the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska:

“Mining and fish spawning habitat don’t mix. Mining pollution not only kills fish, but it can permanently destroy their habitat. Building a mine on top of an estuary kills salmon and the jobs that depend on them. That’s why this decision is shameful. We have seen analysis after analysis—including from the Trump administration’s own EPA—showing the Pebble Mine will irreparably harm Bristol Bay and over 50 million salmon that return to the watershed every year. But the administration has chosen to push forward and help special interests at the expense of Pacific Northwest fishermen, Alaska Native communities, shipbuilders, suppliers, sportsmen, restaurants, and so many others. Whatever the administration may say, this fight is not over.”

Senator Cantwell has long fought to protect the Bristol Bay watershed and its important environmental and economic place in the Pacific Northwest. In January of 2014, she called on the Obama administration to protect Bristol Bay from mining after a report showed the proposed mine would threaten salmon runs and damage the commercial fishing industry. In July of 2014, Cantwell praised proposed science-based protections for the Bristol Bay watershed. In October of 2017, Cantwell and other members of the Washington state congressional delegation urged President Trump to listen to Washington fishermen and businesses before removing protections from Bristol Bay. In May 2018, Cantwell called on the Trump administration to hold public meetings in Washington state on the proposal and increase transparency for the permitting process. And in July 2019, Cantwell slammed the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw protections for Bristol Bay.

Nearly $13 Million in NOAA Funding Recommended for Coastal and Marine Habitat Restoration Projects

July 24, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

To support our nation’s coastal and marine species, the NOAA Restoration Center is recommending nearly $13 million in funding for 31 new and continuing habitat restoration projects through our Community-based Restoration Program. These projects will restore habitat and ecosystems in 15 states and territories across the nation and build lasting benefits for communities and the environment.

The projects will support oysters, corals, and several fish species by reopening rivers to fish passage, reconnecting rivers to their floodplains, and reducing coastal runoff. They will also aid in the recovery of four NOAA Species in the Spotlight—white abalone, Central California Coast coho salmon, Atlantic salmon, and the Southern Resident killer whale.

In addition to supporting coastal and marine species, habitat restoration benefits the coastal communities that rely on those habitats for clean drinking water, flood and storm protection, and industries like boating, fishing, and tourism

The NOAA Restoration Center, housed within the Office of Habitat Conservation, supports habitat restoration projects across the country where our nation’s fisheries and protected resources need it most. We provide technical and financial assistance to partners across the country to develop high-quality habitat restoration projects. Since 1996, our Community-based Restoration Program has partnered with more than 2,900 organizations to take on more than 2,180 projects. These efforts have restored more than 92,000 acres of habitat and opened up 4,126 miles of streams and rivers to fish migration.

In Fiscal Year 2020, we are recommending $4.7 million in funding for 16 new restoration projects, and $8.2 million in additional funding for 15 ongoing restoration projects. Recipients and their partners come from all sectors, including nonprofits; federal, state, and local agencies; tribes; private sector businesses; and academia.

Read the full release here

ALASKA: Controversial Pebble Mine gets approval from US Army Corps of Engineers

July 24, 2020 — The controversial Pebble Mine, proposed for a location near the headwaters that feed the Bristol Bay, Alaska, sockeye fishery, has received its final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

SalmonState, an advocate for salmon fisheries in Alaska, has called the new impact statement a “rubber stamp” that is largely the same as the initial draft of the EIS. Opposition to the Pebble Mine from fishermen, environmentalists, and tribal representatives has been ongoing for more than a decade, and was renewed in 2017 when mining conglomerate Pebble Limited Partnership applied for a permit for an open pit copper, gold, and molybdenum mine.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Sockeye ex-vessel prices in Bristol Bay, Alaska drop nearly 50 percent

July 24, 2020 — Major processors in Bristol Bay, Alaska, began posting base prices at USD 0.70 (EUR 0.60) per pound, just over half of last season’s price of USD 1.35 (EUR 1.16). Bristol Bay’s KDLG radio station reported that Peter Pan Seafoods, Trident Seafoods, Red Salmon/North Pacific Seafoods, and OBI Seafoods had all announced their price, with processing giant Silver Bay Seafoods yet to post.

Once one of the major processors in Bristol Bay announces the base price, the others typically follow suit. If a processor announces a lower price than a competitor, they risk angering their fleet and losing boats to other companies.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Gold vs. Salmon: An Alaska Mine Project Just Got a Boost

July 24, 2020 — From the air it looks like just another tract of Alaska’s endless, roadless tundra, pockmarked with lakes and ponds, with a scattering of some of the state’s craggy mountains.

But this swath of land, home to foraging bears and spawning salmon about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage, has been a battleground for years.

The fight is over what lies just below the surface: one of the richest deposits of copper, gold and other valuable metals in the world. It sets two of the state’s most important industries, mining and fishing, against each other.

A mining company plans to dig a pit, more than a mile square and a third of a mile deep, over two decades to obtain the metals, estimated to be worth at least $300 billion.

Supporters say the project, known as the Pebble Mine, would be an economic boost for a remote region that has missed out on the North Slope oil boom and other resource-extraction development in the state over the past half century. It would employ nearly 1,000 people, and the Canada-based company, Northern Dynasty Minerals, would pay for infrastructure improvements in some Native Alaskan villages and provide cash dividends totaling at least $3 million to people in the area.

Read the full story at The New York Times

Seafood, Alaska’s top export, is omitted from federal trade data

July 22, 2020 — Most Alaskans are surprised to learn that seafood is by far Alaska’s top export, the source of the state’s largest manufacturing base and its No. 1 private employer.

More surprising is that those facts are not included in the official trade sheet for Alaska provided by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

The information on the USTR website, for example, incorrectly claims that petroleum and coal were Alaska’s top exports in 2018. But seafood has been state’s top export by far for decades.

“Seafood comprises over half of Alaska’s annual export value, averaging $3.3 billion annually over the past decade, averaging $5.6 billion from 20170-2018,” reports the Alaska Resource Development Council on its fisheries page.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Beavers Could Be A Key Species For Endangered Salmon Recovery In Oregon

July 21, 2020 — Recent guidance from the federal government is, for the first time, promoting the importance of beavers in the recovery of endangered salmon and steelhead in Oregon rivers.

A recently released biological opinion is encouraging landowners to use non-lethal means of dealing with beavers on private property.

“We know that they can provide important benefits that help support recovery of these fish that a lot of people are working toward,” says Michael Milstein, a spokesperson with the National Marine Fisheries Service. “But at the same time, it’s clear that they can cause conflict.”

The study advocates for private landowners to prioritize management tools like fencing when beavers dam culverts. It also asks that beavers be relocated rather than killed, and it sets an average limit of 13 removals of beaver sites per year across the state.

The biological opinion was prompted by a 2017 legal threat from environmental groups including the Center for Biological Diversity and Western Environmental Law Center over the killing of beavers and their role in creating fish habitat.

Read the full story at KLCC