Author: Fishermen's News

Alaska, Canadian Officials Sign Agreement Aimed at Yukon Chinook Salmon Recovery
3Apr By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Alaska, Canadian Officials Sign Agreement Aimed at Yukon Chinook Salmon Recovery

Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) officials said April 1, that they have signed an agreement with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) regarding recovery of Chinook salmon in the Yukon River drainage. The agreement is focused on rebuilding those stocks to a level that they can once again provide for subsistence, sport, commercial and personal use fishing opportunities. The agreement implements a suspension of directed Chinook salmon commercial, sport, domestic and personal use fisheries in the mainstem Yukon River and Canadian tributaries for one full life cycle, a total of seven years. “After hearing from people living along the river, it is time to look beyond single year management,” ADF&G Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang said. “This agreement looks to rebuild o...
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Market Forces Pull Alaska Seafood Processing Jobs Into a Downward Trajectory
3Apr By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Market Forces Pull Alaska Seafood Processing Jobs Into a Downward Trajectory

Global market forces, the low value of the Russian ruble, a trade war with China, large pink salmon harvests and high inflation have led to historically low prices paid to harvesters and processors across multiple seafood species harvested in Alaska. Now economists with the Alaska Department of Labor say much of what happens in Alaska’s upcoming fishing season depends on how many potential processing facility sales actually go through before the season begins. “Long term there should be recovery, but it is hard to say how long it will take, because so many of these factors are external to Alaska and out of our control,” said state labor economist Sam Tappen, who authored an update on seafood processing sales and closures in Alaska with fellow economist Dan Robinson in the April e...
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Calif. Closes Dungeness Crab Fisheries Early to Minimize Humpback Whale Entanglements
3Apr By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Calif. Closes Dungeness Crab Fisheries Early to Minimize Humpback Whale Entanglements

Aerial and vessel surveys showing that humpback whale numbers are rising as they return to forage off the California coast have prompted the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to close commercial and recreational Dungeness crab fisheries, effective April 8. CDFW, which made the announcement on March 28, said the closures will be effective in Fishing Zones 3, 4, 5 and 6, from the Sonoma/Mendocino County line to the U.S.-Mexico border, plus a 30-fathom depth constraint for commercial Dungeness crab fisheries in Zones 1 and 2, from the Sonoma/Mendocino County line to the Oregon border. Traps used by commercial fishers in Zones 1 and 2 will be prohibited in waters seaward of the 30-fathomn contour. A recreational crab trap prohibition is also being implemented in Zones...
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Judge’s Decision Hands Subsistence Management on Kuskokwim River to Feds
3Apr By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Judge’s Decision Hands Subsistence Management on Kuskokwim River to Feds

A federal court judge in Anchorage has ruled in favor of the Biden administration, giving the federal government authority to give rural residents priority to fish for salmon on the Kuskokwim River, where stocks have dwindled, while the state of Alaska wants the fishery open to all residents. In a decision handed down March 29, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason ruled that the state is enjoined from reinstating Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) actions in 2021 and 2022 on fishing on the Kuskokwim River within the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. Gleason said the federal government and intervenor-plaintiffs, the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, have shown irreparable harm to enforce rural subsistence priority to federally qualified subsistence ...
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Alaska Fishing Organizations Set Date for Annual Expo
3Apr By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Alaska Fishing Organizations Set Date for Annual Expo

Commercial longline fishermen in Southeast Alaska are planning a free day of educational workshops and training on April 24, aimed at boosting knowledge about harvesting seafood for new and veteran fishermen, as well as others interested in the fishing sector. The hybrid expo is presented annually by the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) and the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust (ASFT). The event is part of an effort by ALFA and ASFT to provide resources and educational opportunities for seafood harvesters, especially those just starting out in the industry. Attendees have the option of attending in person in Sitka or virtually via Zoom. Commercial and subsistence fishermen of all gear types will be able to participate in interactive classes on: Southeast Alaska ...
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Wash. Governor Nominates Conservationist for Seat on NPFMC
27Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Wash. Governor Nominates Conservationist for Seat on NPFMC

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on March 22 nominated Becca Robbins-Gisclair, senior director of Arctic Programs for the Ocean Conservancy, to one of two obligatory Washington state seats on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. The governor said Robbins-Gisclair was his first choice, noting her work with Alaska tribes and grassroots organizations to protect a region that is on the frontlines of global climate change. She also serves as a domestic advisor for the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission and the Bering Sea Fishery Advisory Body, and has worked for several Alaska organizations as a natural resources advisor. Robbins-Gisclair resides on Coast Salish lands in Bellingham, Wash. In his letter of recommendation to NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator for Fish...
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Proposal to Extend Marine National Monument Would Impact Western Pacific Fisheries
27Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Proposal to Extend Marine National Monument Would Impact Western Pacific Fisheries

Fishing community advisors attending the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Wespac) meeting in Honolulu expressed concern over U.S. plans to extend the Papahanamokuakea Marine National Monument and potentially the Pacific Remote Islands with sanctuary regulations. They told the Fishery Management Council last week that such a move would result in fishing area closures and destabilization of foreign seafood imports on market dynamics. “The tuna industry is the only industry we have, the government relies on the canneries,” Gene Pan, an American Samoa Advisory Panel member, said. “You are stopping us from fishing, but not the Chinese. Without the people, there is no Samoa.” “Without the StarKist cannery, we cannot continue to sustain our cultural heritage and k...
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NOAA Fisheries Requests $1.1B Budget for 2025
27Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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NOAA Fisheries Requests $1.1B Budget for 2025

NOAA Fisheries is seeking $1.1 billion to cover operations, research and facilities in 2025, down slightly from the $1.3 billion allocated to the agency by Congress for fiscal 2023, and roughly equal to the fiscal 2024 funds that Congress agreed to earlier in March. One of those budget priorities, the online publication SeafoodSource notes, is funding for Mitchell Act hatcheries in the Columbia River Basin, to help restore fish to that water body and protect biodiversity from offshore wind. The budget request notes that the additional funds are “part of the (Biden) administration’s commitment to prioritize the restoration of healthy and abundant wild salmon, steelhead, and other native fish populations to the Columbia River Basin, and honor the United States’ obligations to triba...
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Alaska Delegation Secures Funding for 1st Commercial Icebreaker in Decades
27Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Alaska Delegation Secures Funding for 1st Commercial Icebreaker in Decades

U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski (both R-Alaska) and Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) have secured federal funding for the purchase of a commercially available icebreaker ship, they announced March 21. The Fiscal Year 2024 Homeland Security Appropriations Act includes $125 million to purchase the icebreaker. The delegation has also secured commitments from the Coast Guard that the icebreaker will be homeported in Juneau, Alaska to afford the vessel greater access and reach into the Arctic. “The inclusion of funding for the first icebreaker in a generation is significant progress for our state and our country’s national security,” Sullivan said in a statement. “Our national security interests in the Arctic have never been more critical. We have a lot more work to do, but ...
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Pacific Salmon Commission Selects Projects for $9M in Funding
27Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Pacific Salmon Commission Selects Projects for $9M in Funding

The Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC) on March 25 announced funding support for a total of 83 projects totaling $9 million, including 40 projects receiving $5.36 million from its Northern Fund and 43 projects receiving $3.66 million from its Southern Fund. The projects selected for funding support work aligned with the Pacific Salmon Treaty for improved management, enhancement, and habitat restoration for Pacific salmon. The selection of projects receiving support includes work led by First Nations, non-profit organizations, researchers and U.S. and Canadian federal management agencies. The list includes $234,126 for Stikine River Chinook and coho coded wire tagging and Chinook mark recapture and $206,913 for Stikine River- Tahltan River Chinook Sonar and coho mark-recapture feasib...
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