News – Page 46 – Fishermens News

U.S. Coast Guard, Royal Canadian Navy Hold Joint Training Near Dutch Harbor

Crews aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball and Royal Canadian Navy military vessel Harry DeWolf conducted a joint exercise in late September off the coast of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, in the latest of the Coast Guard’s international joint exercise efforts. Crews representing both nations exchanged radio communications on Sept. 23, after both crews saluted in formation rendering honors from their respective ship’s port railings. Coast Guard officials said the joint exercise offered a significant opportunity for crews to demonstrate international operability and reaffirms a longstanding relationship between the U.S. and Canada. The alliance between the two Arctic nations continues to contribute to maritime security in the increasingly critical region, they said. Capt. Thomas D’Arcy, com...

NFWF Providing Grants to Help Restore Water Flow in Salmon Streams

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has announced $3.9 million in grants for conservation partnerships, including several projects to improve instream flows in an anadromous salmonid stream in California, and three in Washington state. The projects, which were announced on Sept. 21, are expected to benefit stream reaches where insufficient flows are identified by a state or federal agency as a key limiting factor for fish survival. A project to restore streamflow for coho and steelhead in California’s Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District would provide technical assistance and engineering to landowners along salmonid-bearing streams to improve instream flows, promote groundwater recharge and enhance instream habitat, with special emphasis on watershed devastated by recent catas...

Salmon Donations to Yukon River Villages Spread Pretty Thin

Donations of thousands of pounds of chum salmon are coming to Alaska’s Yukon River villages, but the big gap left when record low fish runs resulted in a ban on all commercial and subsistence fishing remains a challenge. Overall donations from commercial processors and the state of Alaska through the third week of September were about 94,000 pounds, according to processors and the office of Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy. That amounts to about five to 10 fish per household, probably closer to five, said Jack Schultheis, general manager of Kwik’Pak Fisheries in Emmonak. Most Yukon River household puts up 50 to 150 chums a year and maybe 20 to 25 kings, depending on family size, he said. Yukon River residents fish commercially and for subsistence, but there were not enough fish for the harvest ...

Alaska Symphony of Seafood Expands Competition

Expansion features are on tap for the 2021-22 Alaska Symphony of Seafood event, with salmon and whitefish product categories, in addition to retail, food service and beyond the plate. The annual competition, which began in 1994, was on hiatus in 2020 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic but is coming back in person under current health and safety guidelines, said Julie Decker, executive director of the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation. Product entries may be entered in all qualified categories and are eligible for multiple awards. The deadline for entries is Oct. 4. Special awards for this year’s competition include the grand prize, Seattle People’s Choice, Juneau People’s Choice and the new Bristol Bay Choice, sponsored by the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Associ...

North Pacific Fixed Gear Sablefish Fishery Recertified by Marine Stewardship Council

The Marine Stewardship Council has recertified the North Pacific fixed gear sablefish fishery as sustainable and for the first time and has extended the rigorous certification to the Northern Southeast Inside’s sablefish fishery, as well. “This recertification rightly acknowledges the hard work of Alaska fixed gear fishermen and fishery managers to maintain healthy fisheries in balance with marine ecosystems,” said Bob Alverson, director of the Fishing Vessel Owners Association. “MSC certification requires continued improvement in best fishing and management practices and our sablefish fisheries met all identified criteria.” The client for MSC halibut and sablefish is “Eat on the Wild Side,” a nonprofit of the FVOC and Deep Sea Fishermen’s Union. MSC first certified the North Pacific f...

Investigation Urged into Toxic Chemical Impacts on Coho Salmon

Fourteen members of Congress are calling for an investigation into effects of 6PPD-quinone, a highly toxic degradation product from tires and recycled rubber on endangered salmon, aquatic species and watersheds nationwide. The House of Representatives members told the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that the chemical may be contributing to widespread salmon mortality and would have profound implications for salmon recovery efforts. “Given the dismal trajectory of West Coast salmon populations, your agencies should be working with great urgency to gain a better understanding of this threat and to take any necessary actions to address it,” they said in an Aug. 19 letter. It was signed by California Representatives Jared Huffman, cha...

GAO Urged to Review Delay of Coast Guard Vessel Deliveries

A U.S. House committee looking into significant delivery delays of offshore patrol and polar security cutters to the U.S. Coast Guard has asked the Government Accountability Office to review the situation, as well as related budgetary issues. Given the significant budgetary commitment from Congress, the Department of Homeland Security and the Coast Guard have made for the Offshore Patrol Cutters program to date, continued oversight is necessary to ensure that the program does not continue to experience cost growth or additional schedule delays, according to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Committee chair Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-OR, and ranking member Rep. Sam Graves, R-MO, told GAO Comptroller General Gene Dodaro that the Offshore Patrol Cutter fleet, the larges...

U.S./Canadian Coast Guards Collaborate on Search-and-Rescue Training

U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard crews came together near Resolute Bay in Nunavut, Canada, in early September for a search and rescue exercise to ensure future readiness to assist both nations in rescue operations and to protect marine resources. “Training alongside our Canadian partners while underway in the Arctic during a historic circumnavigation of North America is a great example of enhancing our interoperability and mission capabilities,” said U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz, as the Coast Guard cutter Healy transited the Northwest Passage, in support of oceanographic research critically important in this Arctic region. “Seeing the members of the Canadian Coast Guard work hand in hand with their counterparts from the Healy has been inspiring,” said Canadian Coast Guard...

Balsiger to Retire from NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region

Veteran NOAA regional administrator Jim Balsiger says there was a time when he had no plans to ever hold a fish in his hands for research. He had, in fact, set out for a career in forestry, but for a turn of events that found him doing modeling for a salmon management project in Bristol Bay on the way to getting a doctorate in quantitative ecology and natural resources management from the University of Washington. That led ultimately to a 46-and-a-half year career with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where for the last 21 years Balsiger has served as regional administrator for the Alaska Region of NOAA Fisheries. “What a wonderful, unexpected career I’ve had,” he said during an interview after announcing his plans to retire at the end of November. Balsiger bega...

Peter Pan Seafoods Implements COVID Vaccine Mandate

Peter Pan Seafoods has begun requiring employees to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus for the protection of themselves and communities in which they work. “Our team often works in close quarters and in remote communities with limited access to health care resources, Rodger May, president and chief growth officer, explained as the seafood processing company implemented the requirement on Sept. 1. “This is the best way I know to keep them and the communities we work in as healthy as possible.” The COVID-19 policy has gone into effect in tiers, according to the company, with the first tier including employees at corporate headquarters in Bellevue, Wash., the Seattle warehouse and processing and support facilities at Valdez, Port Moller, Dillingham Sand Point and Naknek. All but...