News – Page 48 – Fishermens News

Interior Dept. Invites Public Comment on Proposed Offshore Oil, Gas Leasing

Interior Department officials are accepting public comment for 90 days after a proposed offshore oil and gas lease sale for Alaska’s Cook Inlet, and up to 10 lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico, are published in the Federal Register. All sales are set to take place between 2023 and 2028. The July 1 announcement from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland noted that a proposed plan is not a decision to issue specific leases or to authorize any drilling or development, but instead, is an opportunity for interested parties to weigh in on future offshore oil and gas leasing. “This is the second step in a three-step planning process to determine whether or how many offshore oil and gas lease sales to hold over the next five years,” Haaland said. The Biden administration has made clear its commitment ...

Scientific Report Urges Steps to Keep Salmon Habitat Safe from BC Mining Boom

A collaborative report by 23 science and policy experts published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances says the mining industry is falling short of ensuring the health of wild salmon rivers in Western North America and threatening the future of the wild salmon population. “The paper makes it clear that we need to improve risk assessments that take into account extreme climate events and cumulative effects, and that some places may be best as no-go zones for mining,” said Nikki Skuce, co-chair of the B.C. Mining Law Reform network and a co-author of the paper. Science Advances, a multidisciplinary scientific journal established in early 2015, is the first open-access journal published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The report reviews relevant aspec...

Coast Guard Cutter Munro Concludes 20,000-Nautical-Mile Deployment

The U.S. Coast Guard (USGS) cutter Munro returned to its homeport in Alameda, Calif. in mid-July after concluding a 128-day, 20,000-mile deployment to the South and North Pacific Ocean to counter illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) and strengthen maritime security in the region. The Munro crew supported Operation Blue Pacific and Operation North Pacific Guard during the patrol. Both missions promote international efforts to uphold principles of security, safety, sovereignty and economic prosperity in Oceania and the North Pacific through engagements to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific. Vice Adm. Andrew J. Tiongson, commander for the USGS Pacific Area, said the Munro’s deployment demonstrated the Coast Guard’s unique authority in support of combatting IUU fishing. “Thr...

$95M in Federal Funds to Boost Salmon Recovery, Restoration

NOAA Fisheries has announced $95 million in funding to boost the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) program, targeting salmon recovery efforts from California to Alaska. The grants include $34 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds for 19 new and continuing salmon recovery entities. Application approvals and fund obligations have yet to be finalized, but each project has been recommended for funding. Final decisions and notifications are expected to be made by Oct. 1. Funded programs and projects include three NOAA Fisheries species in the spotlight: Central California Coast coho salmon, Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon and Southern resident killer whales. The grants are to also aid in recovery of 28 salmon and steelhead species identified under the Endang...

Feds Acknowledge, Take No Action on Plan to Store Fish in Columbia River

White House officials have recognized that two new reports aimed at restoring salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia River meet federal and state clean energy goals, but say what is really needed is a long-term strategy to manage the river basin. The first report was written by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with input from the Nez Perce Tribe and the state of Oregon. Actions identified propose significant reductions in direct and indirect mortality from mainstem dams, including breaching one or more Lower Snake River dams. State and tribal fish managers were expected to review the report over a 30-day period. The second report was commissioned by the Energy Department’s Bonneville Power Administration and conducted by E3, a private consulting fi...

Wildfire Destroys Pebble Mine Prospect Supply Camp

Heatwole said the company, part of Northern Dynasty Minerals, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, was notified of the damage done by the Upper Talarik fire by the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center. PLP had been working with the group for a few weeks since fires were spotted in the area and there were signs they could spread toward the supply camp. Heatwole said it’s worth noting that the camp was not for a mine in Bristol Bay, but rather to support the company’s exploration drilling, maintenance, reclamation and environmental studies. “We are what the industry calls an advanced exploration project,” he said. Employees who work at the site are housed in the nearby communities of Iliamna and Newhalen and flown by helicopter to work daily. There were no employees present at the ...

Norton Sound Fishermen Harvest 308,623 Pounds of Red King Crab

Alaska’s only summer red king crab fishery concluded on July 24, with the entire guideline harvest of 308,623 pounds of the succulent crab delivered by Norton Sound small boat fishermen, with retail prices commanding up to $74.95 a pound. Biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said in mid-July that they expected that given the catch rate for the open access fishery which began on June 15, the quota would be achieved. Eight permit holders for the 2022 winter commercial fishery harvested 7,357 pounds of the 27,328-pound guideline harvest level for the winter fishery. According to ADF&G biologists, the average weight of the king crab caught in this fishery was about 2.8 pounds. The total Norton Sound red king crab guideline harvest level is 341,600 pounds, with 7.5...

Alaska Braces for Another Robust Salmon Harvest Season

With commercial fisheries underway and a forecast of a record sockeye salmon harvest of 74 million fish, harvesters had already delivered over three million salmon by mid-June as hundreds of fishermen and processor workers headed west to Bristol Bay to await the anticipated red salmon surge. Of the 3.3 million salmon listed in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s 2022 Preliminary Alaska Commercial Salmon Harvest blue sheet report more than 2.4 million of them were from the state’s western region, including 1.8 million sockeyes, 386,000 pink, 182,000 chum and about 1,000 each of Chinook and coho salmon, the bulk of them from the Alaska Peninsula. Kodiak area fisheries were also starting up, with some 218,000 salmon, including 169,000 sockeyes and 42,000 chum salmon delivered to proce...

Brochure Advises of Ocean Acidification’s Impact

A new brochure produced by the Alaska Ocean Acidification Network details the impact of ocean acidification on all life stages of red king crab. Lab studies have shown juveniles are in the most sensitive stage and that the overall response of the red king crab to ocean acidification will likely be determined by how well that group fares. The brochure, which is available at https://tinyurl.com/yus58kv8, notes that when king crab sensitivities are combined with predicted future acidification levels based on current carbon emissions, negative effects emerge in Bristol Bay red king crab in about 20-30 years. Still, scenarios including strong global emissions reductions show that conditions for crab remain favorable in Alaska longer into the future. Network officials also noted that resea...

GAPP Expected to Announce Funding Awards for Product Proposals by Mid-September

A major promoter of wild Alaska Pollock plans to announce by mid-September matching grants for its latest round of partnership funding in a competition to expand markets for wild Alaska Pollock products worldwide. All proposals are due to Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) by Aug. 12. “The global food sector is now, perhaps more than ever, ripe for disruptive innovation and break-through promotions,” GAPP Chief Executive Officer Craig Morris said. GAPP’s research has identified key growth areas for wild Alaska Pollock that are of particular interest in this round of funding. Specifically, the organization has said that it will give particular emphasis to programs that take place in “favorable” or “very favorable” conditions as identified by Wild Alaska Pollock 2040 research. GAP...