Fishermens News

From the Editor: California’s Salmon Struggles

10Apr

By Mark Edward NeroNo Comments

From the Editor: California’s Salmon Struggles

California isn’t within the commercial fishing industry’s epicenter, but it is a notable component of the industry as a whole. And currently the state, particularly the northern half, is experiencing a challenge that is literally an existential threat: struggling salmon populations. Salmon once thrived in the rivers that run throughout the state, but due to the construction of dams, they’ve been blocked from reaching many of the cold mountain streams where they once spawned. Additionally, multiple droughts in the state over the years and climate change effects have not helped. In fact, during some periods of the state’s massive drought from 2020-22, the water flowing from dams became so warm that it was lethal for salmon eggs, thereby further diminishing the potential supply of a...

10Apr

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

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Silver Bay, Peter Pan Reach Agreement on Valdez Facilities

Silver Bay Seafoods has acquired Peter Pan Seafoods’ Valdez, Alaska, processing facilities and also plans to operate Peter Pan’s facilities in Port Moller and Dillingham for the 2024 salmon season, the two processors said in an April 4 joint announcement. Shifting operations of these facilities to Silver Bay Seafoods is a component of a larger restructuring effort, which is still being finalized, the two seafood giants said. The larger restricting plan would have Silver Bay acquiring Peter Pan’s’ processing facilities and support sites after the 2024 salmon season. Peter Pan would remain active in conducting the remaining activities needed to close out 2023 operations, including sales and accounting functions. The two companies said that they’re committed to a seamless tra...

10Apr

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Alaska Legislature Boosts Available Injury Payouts from Fishermen’s Fund

Alaska legislators have boosted from $10,000 to $15,000 the maximum payout allowed for crew injuries and disablement via the state’s Fishermen’s Fund. The fund, which predates statehood, is administered by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. It’s considered an emergency fund payer of last resort. The $5,000 upgrade to the fund was contained in Senate Bill 92, which was approved by legislators on April 4. Clay Bezenek, a commercial salmon and herring gillnetter in Ketchikan, who serves on the board, said that demands on the fund are fewer than they used to be because commercial boat owners are more likely these days to carry medical insurance to cover crew members. He also said the board supports any legislation that modernizes the fund, recalling the d...

IPHC Invites Queries From Potential Management Strategy Advisory Board Members

10Apr

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IPHC Invites Queries From Potential Management Strategy Advisory Board Members

The International Pacific Halibut Commission is inviting inquiries to fill eight vacancies on its Management Strategy Advisory Board (MSAB). The MSAB currently meets at least once annually, in May, for two to four days, with an additional one -to- three -day meeting in October, if needed. Board members serve without compensation from the halibut commission, but travel expenses to board meetings and associated per diem are fully paid for non-government members. The primary role of the MSAB is to advise the commission on the management strategy evaluation (MSE) process. The MSE is a stakeholder-informed, scientifically driven process that supports development of a revised IPHC harvest strategy policy. Primary objectives of the advisory board include recommending clear measurable...

Seafood Solutions Alliance Calls for Emphasis on Humane Working Conditions

10Apr

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Seafood Solutions Alliance Calls for Emphasis on Humane Working Conditions

A global entity of non-government organizations, seafood businesses and others representing over 150 organizations in 30 countries is calling for more environmentally responsible global seafood production, with safeguards in place to ensure social responsibility. The Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions on April 8 that it would release new guidelines on April 11 urging supermarkets, restaurants and other businesses to accelerate efforts to eradicate human and labor rights abuses from their supply chains. The alliance, founded in 2008, represents top retailers, including Costco, Kroger, Target and Aldi, which have sustainable seafood partnerships with non-profits within the alliance. The announcement comes in the wake of new investigations that show forced labor issues i...

NPFMC Approves Revisions of Salmon Bycatch Proposals for Another Staff Analysis

10Apr

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NPFMC Approves Revisions of Salmon Bycatch Proposals for Another Staff Analysis

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) on April 8 approved a lengthy revised list of alternatives for staff to analyze as part of a process where final action is still a year away. As council member Andy Mezirow noted during the meeting, the analyzed document is expected to come back before the council in the fall and final action is expected in April 2025. “This is not an action we are taking that will change anything,” said Mezirow, a charter vessel operator from Homer whose last council meeting before leaving office is set for June in Kodiak. “When the Board of Fisheries meets, they make a decision, but here it takes more time. “How can we do a better job of communicating that?” Mezirow asked fellow council members. “Is there a better way of communicating we ...

Alaska, Canadian Officials Sign Agreement Aimed at Yukon Chinook Salmon Recovery

3Apr

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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...

Market Forces Pull Alaska Seafood Processing Jobs Into a Downward Trajectory

3Apr

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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...

Calif. Closes Dungeness Crab Fisheries Early to Minimize Humpback Whale Entanglements

3Apr

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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...

Judge’s Decision Hands Subsistence Management on Kuskokwim River to Feds

3Apr

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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 ...