News – Page 66 – Fishermens News

NPFMC Votes to Reduce Trawlers’ Halibut Bycatch

Federal fisheries managers have approved a regulatory package which could reduce the future incidental halibut catch from trawlers fishing in the Bering Sea by up to 35%, a move that could result in a multimillion-dollar loss to Washington-based flatfish fishermen. The decision of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council on abundance-based management of halibut in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands came on an 8-3 vote after several days of passionate testimony in support and opposition. The council’s decision – made during the Dec. 13 virtual meeting – would have a devastating effect on the federal flatfish fishery off Alaska with no significant improvements to the halibut fishery, according to Chris Woodley, executive director of the Groundfish Forum, a trade association that rep...

NMFS Issues Final Rule on Ocean Salmon Fisheries Off Washington, Oregon, California

The National Marine Fisheries Service has issued a final rule establishing fishery management measures for the 2022 ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, Oregon and California and the 2023 salmon seasons opening earlier than May 16, 2023. Measures in the final rule vary by fishery and by area and establish fishing areas, seasons, quotas, legal gear, recreational fishing days and catch limits, possession and landing restrictions, and minimum lengths for salmon taken in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone off Washington, Oregon and California. The management measures are intended to prevent overfishing and to apportion the ocean harvest equitably among treaty Indians, non-Indian commercial, and recreational fisheries. They’re also intended to allow a portion of salmon runs to escape the oc...

Navy Responds to Plea Against Gulf of Alaska War Games in Spring 2023

Joint military exercises in the Gulf of Alaska in 2023, which take place every other spring on the eve of the Copper River commercial salmon fishery, are already drawing fire from entities concerned about adverse impact on the area’s fishery and environment. While the actual scheduling of the Northern Edge war games will be determined by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, opponents of holding the exercises in May are asking Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Northwest to avoid holding the event in May 2023. The Copper River District has been experiencing below average harvests for several years and when it opens for 12 hours on May 16, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is expected to take a conservative management approach for the start of the season. In years past, harves...

Mariculture Enhancement Bill Passes Alaska Legislature

Mariculture enhancement legislation has passed both houses of the Alaska Legislature, lifting the hopes of shellfish researchers for a future in which hatchery production of juvenile king crab would boost stocks to a sustainable commercial level. House Bill 41, sponsored by Rep. Dan Ortiz, I-Ketchikan, creates a regulatory framework with which the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) can manage shellfish enhancement projects and outlines criteria for the issuance of permits. It sets out stringent safety standards to ensure sustainability and health of existing natural stocks. ADF&G Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang must also make a determination of substantial public benefit before the project can proceed. HB 41 also allows the ADF&G to set the application fee for a she...

Coast Guard Cutter Cuttyhunk Decommissioned

One of the U.S. Coast Guard’s remaining 110-foot Island-class patrol vessels, the cutter Cuttyhunk, was decommissioned May 5 in a ceremony at Air Station Port Angeles in Washington. Cuttyhunk, one of 37 remaining such Island-class patrol boats in service, was the 22nd of 49 of the vessels built. A fleet of 154-foot Sentinel-class cutters will replace the Island-class vessels, according to the USCG. The Cuttyhunk was commissioned in 1988 to support various USCG operations, including search and rescue, drug and fisheries enforcement and maritime homeland security. During its 34-year tenure, the vessel’s crew has accomplished more than 1,000 operations ranging from responding to searches and rescues in the Pacific Northwest to helping in various submarine escorts. Commanding Officer and ...

Norton Sound King Crab Summer Access Fishery Opens June 15

A summer open access commercial fishery for Norton Sound king crab opened in mid-June in Nome, Alaska, but a major purchaser, Nome-based Norton Sound Seafood Products—a subsidiary of Norton Sound Economic Development Corp.—said it may not begin buying until early July. Until there are buyers, crab permit holders were on their own to be director-marketers or catch-sellers of their harvest. Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials announced May 23 that the fishery would open on June 15. At that time, no buyer had registered for the harvest. During the 2022 winter commercial fishery, eight permit holders harvested 7,357 pounds of red king crab. The guideline harvest level (GHL) for the winter commercial fishery was 27,328 pounds. A total Norton Sound red king crab GHL for the winter ...

Oceana Expedition Documents Seafloor Habitats

An expedition from the nonprofit ocean conservation organization Oceana this spring used remotely-operated vehicles and other tools for eight days to document the seafloor and ocean life in several locations and depths around Kodiak Island. Their goal was to observe, photograph and record seafloor habitats and associated marine life, to protect important seafloor areas in the Gulf of Alaska from bottom trawling, where huge nets are dragged for miles along the seafloor. The expedition was related to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Essential Fish Habitat review process, which is currently underway. Under the review, conservation measures for ocean habitat in Alaska are considered once every five years. Oceana is campaigning to establish new protections for Gulf of Alaska...

Wild Alaska Pollock Mural Unveiled at Seattle’s Pier 91

A colorful 100-foot mural celebrating wild Alaska Pollock now adorns an entire side of a building on Seattle’s Pier 91, the global headquarters of the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers and home to Glacier Fish Company, a harvester and processor of the succulent whitefish. The mural, entitled “Heritage” by the artist Kyler Martz, utilizes the rich colors seen on cans of seafood from the Pacific Northwest’s seafood industry, hinting at the past, a link that supports the strong wild Alaska Pollock industry in place today, GAPP CEO Craig Morris explained. The mural is a fitting tribute, Morris said, to the men and women who work in the wild Alaska Pollock fishery every day and who bring the versatile, nutritious and sustainable fish to global consumers. Martz, a well-known a...

King Cove Fishing Community Awaits Decision on Road to Cold Bay

Residents of King Cove on the Alaska Peninsula are still waiting for a decision by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on whether she will approve a land exchange and completion of a gravel road leading to the all-weather airport at Cold Bay. King Cove, with fewer than 1,000 permanent residents, is the home of a major Peter Pan Seafood processing facility that operates all but about two weeks of the year, processing a variety of seafood. Residents have been trying for years to have a road between King Cove and Cold Bay built that would allow for ground transportation in stormy weather to so people with medical emergencies can reach the providers they need. The route for completion of the road goes through a small area of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, an area several conservation en...

Congress Approves American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act

Legislation to create an industry-led committee to assist in administration of fisheries marketing and research and development grants has now passed both houses of Congress and is headed to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. Approval of S.497, the American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act, came late last week in the U.S. House. The measure, sponsored by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, earlier passed the Senate. Among the co-sponsors were senators Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. Sullivan hailed passage of the bill, saying that once signed into law “our fishermen will again have a seat at the table to offer appropriate input and oversight of the Saltonstall-Kennedy grant process” while maintaining “Alaska’s status as the superpower of seafood.” The Saltonst...