Author: Fishermens News Online

The Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf returned home to Alameda, California, on Oct. 3, after a three- month multi-mission patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean resulting in confiscation of 6,700 pounds of cocaine worth over $115 million. The crew also patrolled over 3,000 square nautical miles of Ecuadorian and international waters during a joint patrol with the Ecuadorian Navy to detect and deter illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the area of the Galapagos Islands. The Bertholf and the Ecuadorian naval vessel LAE Isla San Cristobal provided persistent presence and surveillance of fishing activity throughout the region during the week-long mission. Coast Guard officials said that following the two-month multi-mission Eastern Pacific patrol, Bertholf offloaded over 26,000 pounds ...

An economic report prepared for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute says that while the harvest volume was not significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic that the overall impact of the virus weakened the harvest value. Economists with the McDowell Group said that a roughly 50 percent drop in the Bristol Bay base sockeye price is a prominent example, along with lower halibut values. McDowell Group economists also said that anecdotally flatfish and Pacific cod harvest values have declined, while Pollock prices are stable. Key reasons for weaker harvest value, they said, include higher operating costs, less value-added production, reduced demand due to foodservice closures, and general market uncertainty. All sectors of the seafood industry have reported higher operating costs dir...

U.S. Coast Guard officials are taking steps to extend mariner credentials, medical certificates and course approvals due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. They are advising, however, that these measures may cause a backlog in processing of credentials and course approvals, especially near the end of the extension dates, and urge mariners and training providers to fulfill requirements and submit applications as early as possible to avoid a lapse in credential or training approval. Merchant mariner credentials and STCW (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) expiring between March 1 and Dec. 31 have been extended until the earlier of June 30, 2021 or one year after the initial expiration date of that credential. The expiration date for national medical certificates and STC...

Officials with the International Pacific Halibut Commission have completed their 2020 survey designed to collect standardized fishery-independent data for use in their annual Pacific halibut stock assessment. The data is used also to study various aspects of the Pacific halibut resource, including growth, distribution, biomass, age composition, sexual maturity and relative abundance of other species. A report released in late September by the IPHC said final offloads from this year’s Fishery-Independent Setline Survey (FISS) took place on Sept. 10. Approximately 70 percent of the standing stock biomass of Pacific halibut in the convention area were sampled, with that sampling producing the most data-rich setline-survey in the IPHC’s history. Despite planned gaps in coverage at the northe...

A new NOAA Fisheries study concludes that which way the wind blows is a critical factor in the survival rate of young Alaska Pollock in the Gulf of Alaska. NOAA Fisheries biologist Matt Wilson of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center says the study addresses a longstanding question regarding the impact of wind on the survival rate of juvenile Pollock in the Gulf. Research biologists found that depending on wind direction, water movement may keep juvenile fish in favorable nursey habitat or move them out. Fisheries scientists thought at the start of the study that an abundance of juvenile fish would produce a relatively strong adult year-class. Yet some years this did not transpire, so researchers took another look, and it turned out that wind is the culprit. Wilson said that the consequenc...

The fall meeting of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council got underway this week, with meetings of the council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee. The only final action on the agenda is over removing processing restrictions for squid and sculpins in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. Another major issue on the council’s agenda is a review of the Crab Plan Team report on Eastern Bering Sea snow crab, Bristol Bay red king crab, Eastern Bering Sea Tanner crab, Pribilof Islands red and blue king crab, St. Matthew blue king crab, Norton Sound red king crab, Aleutian islands golden king crab, Pribilof District golden king crab, and Western Aleutians red king crab. The council will review plan team reports for groundfish harvests in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska,...

Shellfish growers in Washington state hard hit economically by the COVID-19 pandemic will be offered grants of up to $5,000, thanks to the state’s departments of Commerce and Agriculture. Grant funds include $250,000 from the Working Washington Small Business Emergency grant program and $50,000 from WSDA’s Rural Rehab Program. Washington is the leading domestic producer of farmed oysters and clams, with a $300 million industry that supports some 3,000 jobs, many in rural communities struggling economically. State officials said local and global market demand for these shellfish has dropped dramatically since January, with some growers reporting an 80-90 percent drop in revenue. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said the state’s shellfish growers have been devastated by the global pandemic. The...

A Trump administration push to open millions of acres of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest to logging is winning praise from Alaska’s congressional delegation and Gov. Mike Dunleavy as an economic boost, and criticism from conservationists who say it would threaten salmon habitat. The U.S. Forest Service this past week published its final environmental impact statement, recommending elimination of the Roadless Rule in the Tongass, in Southeast Alaska’s rain forest. The 2001 Roadless Rule, established during the Clinton administration, banned logging and road construction within most of the nation’s national forests. Dunleavy and the state’s congressional delegation praised the decision. “This puts us on track for a Record of Decision and final rule by the end of the year, in turn opening ...

U.S. Department of Agriculture officials say they have earmarked $530 million for the Seafood Trade Relief Program, to help the domestic seafood industry and fishermen hit financially by retaliatory tariffs from foreign governments. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced the funding this week to support seafoods including Atka mackerel, crab (Dungeness, Chinook, snow and southern Tanner), flounder, geoduck, goosefish, herring, lobster Pacific Cod Pacific Ocean Perch, Pollock, sablefish, salmon, sole, squid, tuna and turbot. All U.S. commercial fisherman holding a valid federal or state license or permit to catch seafood who has participated in the harvest is eligible to apply, so long as they meet other criteria for the Seafood Trade Relief Program, which is outlined in a USDA prog...