Fishermens News

ASMI, Holland America Partner on Seafood Education

15May

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ASMI, Holland America Partner on Seafood Education

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) has formed a partnership with Holland America Line to educate the cruise line’s employees on the species, benefits and responsible fishing practices of the Alaska fishing industry. Through the partnership, which was announced May 7, ASMI is offering the cruise line’s dining and galley staff a short online digital course on Alaska seafood species, health benefits, fishing methods and the state’s overall sustainability practices. The “Seafood U” training for Holland America Line’s culinary teams began earlier this year in advance of the cruise line’s 2024 Alaska season. Some 2,500 shipboard team members working on six ships are to undergo the training, according to ASMI. “With this new step, Holland America Line has committed to not ...

California Commercial Fishermen Sue to Halt Wind Farming Ocean Survey

15May

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California Commercial Fishermen Sue to Halt Wind Farming Ocean Survey

California’s San Luis Obispo Superior Court is expected to issue a decision today, May 15, regarding whether to halt approval of permits for ocean site surveys for offshore wind development. Litigation to stop approval of permits for site surveys was filed Feb. 29 by the Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization (MBCFO) and Port San Luis Commercial Fishermen’s Association (PSLCFA). Defendants include the California Coastal Commission, the State Lands Commission, three offshore wind development firms and the environmental consulting company CSA Ocean Sciences. The wind development firms are seeking the permits in order to provide power for several million customers in California. CSA Ocean Sciences, based in Stuart, Florida, said May 15 that it had no comment prior to the c...

Alaska Legislature Approves Task Force to Help Commercial Fishing Industry

15May

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Alaska Legislature Approves Task Force to Help Commercial Fishing Industry

Alaska legislators on May 12 approved the creation of a task force to make policy recommendations to help the state’s struggling commercial fishing industry. It is to be modeled after another legislative task force created over 20 years ago to help the salmon industry at a time when harvesters were facing the impact of low prices and competition from farmed fish. The resolution by the House Special Committee on Fisheries, and sponsored by the Alaska Senate Finance Committee, acknowledges the economic distress for harvesters in danger of being without markets and the number of seafood processing facilities for sale, closing or planning to shut down for a portion, or all of, the 2024 fishing season. The task force is to be composed of eight members, with the state senate preside...

CDFW Plans Assessment of Marine Life Entanglement Risk for Dungeness Crab

15May

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CDFW Plans Assessment of Marine Life Entanglement Risk for Dungeness Crab

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has announced plans for an assessment of marine life entanglement risk for commercial Dungeness crab on or around Friday, May 17, using the Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program (RAMP). CDFW officials said May 13 that regulations adopted by the California Fish and Game Commission provide their director with authority to also apply management actions to the recreational crab fishery to minimize entanglement rick informed by RAMP. The California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group is scheduled to meet May 16 to review available data and CDFWs preliminary assessment. The director is then to consider all data made available to CDFW prior to determining the appropriate management action to minimize entanglement risk. CDFW said a...

Construction of New Coast Guard Icebreakers Faces Major Setback

15May

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Construction of New Coast Guard Icebreakers Faces Major Setback

Lack of experience in building icebreaking ships, as well as the overall cost of the program were cited by a congressional subcommittee chairman last week as key factors in delay of construction of the vessels to replace a nearly 50-year-old heavy icebreaker. “The demand for Coast Guard services is increasing and will continue to increase in the future,” Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez, R-Florida, chair of the House Homeland security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security, said. Gimenez noted in opening remarks at the May 7 subcommittee meeting that the Coast Guard has not commissioned an icebreaker of any kind since 2006. He cited concerns over the Coast Guard’s failure to accurately estimate the cost of its shipbuilding programs. Testimony given during the hearing state...

NOAA to Remove Derelict Fishing Gear From Midway Islands Shores

8May

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NOAA to Remove Derelict Fishing Gear From Midway Islands Shores

Officials with the NOAA Marine Debris Program say that the program’s expected to soon complete a mission to Midway Atoll, also known as Kuaihelani, to clean up derelict fishing gear and other debris from the shoreline. The plan, announced May 2, is supported through a five-year grant to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), using $5.8 million in funds provided by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This 1,350-mile stretch of small, uninhabited atolls, reefs and shoals is home to unique wildlife and incredible historical sites. The atoll is also known as Kuaihelani, which means “the backbone of heaven,” and describes a mythical floating island in the sky, possibly originating from the large lagoons that reflect the sky. Despite their significance and remot...

FISHES Act Introduced to Cut Red Tape In Delivery of Disaster Funds

8May

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FISHES Act Introduced to Cut Red Tape In Delivery of Disaster Funds

Legislation backed by 16 members of Congress aims to expedite delivery of disaster relief following fisheries disaster declarations by cutting red tape currently complicating the approval process by federal agencies. The Fishery Improvement to Streamline Untimely Regulatory Hurdles post Emergency Situation (FISHES) Act was introduced May 2 by Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both R-Alaska, and Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, both R-Florida. Representatives Mary Peltola, D-Alaska and Byron Donalds, R-Florida, introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives last year. Co-sponsors among the 12 representatives in the House include James Moylan, R-Guam, and Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, R-America Samoa. The legislation seeks to improve the federal regu...

8May

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Alaska’s Copper River Wild Salmon Fishery Opens May 16: ADF&G

Alaska’s celebrated Copper River wild salmon fishery opens on Thursday, May 16 for a 12-hour commercial drift gillnet fishing period, while waters within the expanded Chinook salmon inside closure area closed for that same period. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced the opener May 1, noting that subsistence harvest will also be allowed in the Copper River District during commercial fishing periods, until the season ends. ADF&G biologists said their Miles Lake sonar camp was scheduled to open May 7, but that the banks of the river are still covered with shore ice in the vicinity of the sonar sites. Commercial fishing in the Bering River District also are scheduled to open May 16 for a 12-hour commercial drift gillnet fishing period. The next announcement fro...

Record Low Fish Stocks Subject to Overfishing

8May

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Record Low Fish Stocks Subject to Overfishing

A record low number of fish stocks were subject to overfishing in 2023, according to the annual Status of Stocks report that assesses the 506 stocks and stock complexes managed by NOAA Fisheries, which was released May 2. U.S. fisheries data confirmed that 94% of stocks in 2023 were not subject to overfishing and 82% were not overfished, a 1% improvement over 2022 data of 93% and 81% respectively. Ongoing positive trends continued with the number of stocks on the overfishing list decreasing by three stocks, reaching an all-time low of 21 stocks, and the number of stocks on the overfished list decreasing by one stock, to 47. Since 2000, NOAA Fisheries has rebuilt 50 stocks. NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said that by ending overfishing and rebuilding stocks, the agency is s...

Former Pacific Fishermen Shipyard Manager Doug Dixon Dies

8May

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Former Pacific Fishermen Shipyard Manager Doug Dixon Dies

Longtime maritime industry figure Douglas Dixon, who was the former general manager and director of Pacific Fishermen Shipyard in Seattle, has died. Dixon died last week after a short battle with cancer, his friend Bill Forslund told Fishermen’s News May 4. “Unfortunately my friend Doug headed to the hospital in late March with an unknown malady and was quickly diagnosed with cancer that had spread pretty much all over his body,” Forslund said. Another friend, Nathaniel Howe, said that during his lifetime, Dixon was an “unrelenting advocate for the marine trades, both in Pacific Fishermen Shipyard and in youth outreach and workforce development.” “He was instrumental in the Ballard Maritime Academy program at Ballard High School and certainly in the Youth Maritime Training ...