Article Category: News

Trident Seafoods’ Joe Bundrant, omega-3 researcher Joseph Hibbeln and executive chef Kelly Armetta are being honored by the Seafood Nutrition Partnership (SNP) for their support of the partnership’s mission to raise public awareness about the essential benefits of eating seafood. SNP said in an Aug. 2 announcement that all three honorees are passionate about improving the lives of Americans through nutrition and have demonstrated an exceptional impact. They are to be formally honored at an SNP gala on Sept 21. Bundrant will receive the Seafood Industry Visionary Award for collaborations that focus on the public health benefits of the partnership’s mission of increasing seafood consumption for the health of all Americans. He was a founding investor in SNP nearly a decade ago, and his effo...

Federal legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate would blacklist vessels engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing from entering U.S. ports and waters. The Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvest (FISH) Act would bolster U.S. Coast Guard enforcement capabilities and advance international and bilateral negotiations to reach enforceable agreements and treaties, according to Senators Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., who introduced the bill on Aug. 25. The FISH Act would direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish a blacklist of foreign vessels and owners who have engaged in IUU fishing, direct the Coast Guard to boost its at-sea inspection of foreign vessels suspected of IUU fishing, and coordinate with regional fishe...

The commercial fishing vessel Aleutian Isle sank off the San Juan Islands in Washington state on Aug. 13. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, all five crewmembers were rescued by a Good Samaritan as the vessel sank. The vessel was reported by the USCG to have about 2,600 gallons of diesel fuel onboard, as well as 100 gallons of hydraulic fluid and lubricant oil. After the vessel sank, responders observed a sheen spanning about three miles, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Response and Restoration. OR&R providing trajectory assistance for the spilled oil, as well as facilitating Endangered Species Act consultation with NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service for Southern Resident killer whales that are at risk in the area. Days after the ...

Ten-year-old Henri Dochtermann, son of veteran Bristol Bay harvester Shawn Dochtermann, of Kodiak, Alaska, celebrates a good catch of wild sockeye salmon in the Egegik District of the Bay during the height of the run. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Blue Sheet calculated the preliminary Bristol Bay harvest through mid-August at nearly 60 million sockeyes, including over 16 million red salmon from the Egegik District. 

Environmental Protection Agency officials, citing toxic contaminants in the Columbia River Basin as a serious risk to the region’s economic health, said that the EPA plans to invest $79 million over five years for protection and restoration of the river. EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said that up to $6.9 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Clean Water Act grants would be awarded during 2022 alone to reduce toxics in fish and water and address climate impacts in communities throughout the area. “The Columbia River Basin is a vital economic engine and an irreplaceable environmental asset, providing a broad range of benefits from agriculture to recreation to electricity, but toxic contaminants in the basin pose a serious risk,” Regan said in an Aug. 10 announcement. The E...

Celebrity Chef Antonia Lofaso, an online cuisine influencer, will deliver the keynote address Oct. 17 at the fourth annual Wild Alaska Pollock annual meeting in Seattle. She is expected to detail ways to move the fish onto upscale restaurant menus during her address. “It’s no secret that Wild Alaska Pollock has often struggled to penetrate menus at higher-end restaurants across the United States,” Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) Chief Executive Officer Craig Morris said. “I’m eager for her to share candid thoughts on how wild Alaska Pollock can ‘break through’ in this channel and the opportunities for our fish in the future both for the home cook and the professional chef.” Lofaso also promotes wild Alaska Pollock in a GAPP campaign launched on social media in Ju...

A report prepared for Congress by the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommends that National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) work with regional fishery management councils to identify and prioritize opportunities to enhance climate resilience of federal fisheries. The report to congressional committees, released Aug. 18, found that many fisheries managers are leading initiatives that could advance the use of climate information in operations, such as addressing distributional shifts in species. Initiatives include the creation of a special task force to identify actions and tools to better incorporate climate information in fisheries management. Several fisheries managers from the eight regional councils told GAO that they were not aware of climate-related fisheries mana...

An annual study now underway regarding consumers’ perspectives about wild Alaska Pollock includes questions this year about the impact of rising food prices, as well as questions specific to surimi seafood. Study conclusions are to be presented at the annual meeting of the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) at the Westin Seattle hotel on Oct. 17. The study by the international public relations firm Ketchum is recognized in the industry as the annual barometer of the industry’s efforts to improve the image of wild Alaska Pollock from an anonymous white fish to a household name. “These results are not only GAPP’s ‘report card’ but the compass that guides our industry’s marketing and promotional efforts in the future,” GAPP Chief Executive Officer Craig Morris said. “...

A commercial fishing captain in Tillamook, Ore., has lost commercial fishing privileges for the next five years after what Oregon state police describe as repeated halibut poaching. The state police Fish and Wildlife Division brought charges against Charles “Joe” Evens for violating terms of his commercial license by keeping fish he caught instead of selling and documenting the catch with a fish dealer. Evens was suspended from obtaining commercial or recreational fishing licenses for five years, ordered to complete 80 hours of community service and also fined $400 for the violations, which he admitted to in June. The license suspension falls within parameters of the Violator Compact, a reciprocal agreement among most states. The compact dictates that if someone loses their hunting or f...

New research compiled by NOAA Fisheries supports equipping beginning fishermen facing start-up challenges with tools that have been successful in helping young farmers. The study, led by Marysia Szymkowiak of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, notes the similarities between the farming and fishing professions, both of which ensure food security, provide jobs and support the well-being of rural communities. “The parallels are really stark,” said Szymkowiak. “Given that, we can really learn a lot from how these issues are being addressed in farming.” For both new fishermen and farmers there are formidable challenges to entry and success, as they are each highly risky businesses, subject to weather, variable harvests, uncertain markets, climate change and high start-up costs, plus make u...