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Trident Seafoods Fishing Vessel Catches Fire at Tacoma Dock
12Apr By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Trident Seafoods Fishing Vessel Catches Fire at Tacoma Dock

A fire that happened aboard Trident Seafoods’ f/v Kodiak Enterprise in Tacoma, Wash. is under investigation, as the Tacoma Fire Department continues its efforts to extinguish the entire blaze. U.S. Coast Guard officials said Monday, April 10 that they were using a cool spray for the fire onboard and that the waterway to that area of the Port of Tacoma remained closed. The Coast Guard also said that no injuries have been reported to crew of the Kodiak Enterprise or to those battling the blaze, which was located toward the bow of the 278-foot catcher processor vessel and was moving throughout the ship. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The incident began at about 3 a.m. April 8, when a security guard reported smoke about the fishing vessel, which had recently returned from ...
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USCG Cutter Polar Star Home After Operation Deep Freeze
12Apr By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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USCG Cutter Polar Star Home After Operation Deep Freeze

The Coast Guard cutter Polar Star and its crew are back in Seattle following a 144-day deployment to Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze 2023. This was the Polar Star’s 26th voyage to Antarctica for Operation Deep Freeze, which is an annual joint military service mission to resupply the United States Antarctic stations, in support of the National Science Foundation, the lead agency for the U.S. Antarctic Program. This year marks the 63rd iteration of the annual operation. The Polar Star is a 399-foot heavy polar icebreaker commissioned in 1976. It weighs 13,500 tons and is 84-feett wide with a 34-foot draft. The vessel has six diesel and three gas turbine engines able to produce up to 75,000 horsepower. The cutter left Seattle for Antarctica on Nov. 12, a journey of over 2...
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Sitka Sound Herring Harvesters Deliver First 10,900 Tons of 30,000 Ton Allowable Harvest
12Apr By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Sitka Sound Herring Harvesters Deliver First 10,900 Tons of 30,000 Ton Allowable Harvest

Harvesters working the Sitka Sound commercial herring fishery have so far brought in about 10,900 tons of herring, just a little over the 30,000-ton catch set for the season by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). That preliminary harvest total was announced on Saturday, April 8, the latest date of a recorded harvest in the herring fishery in Southeast Alaska, with a note that1,600 tons of that total were harvested during the fishery that occurred on April 7. No herring were harvested on April 9 amid scattered showers with 20 knot southeast winds and skies cloudy, and the same weather pattern continued on April 10. ADF&G biologists said that herring mortality associated with test sets was likely minimal and there was no evidence that the small number of fish taken h...
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ADF&G Sets 2023 Annual Harvest Allocation for Chinook Troll Fishery
5Apr By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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ADF&G Sets 2023 Annual Harvest Allocation for Chinook Troll Fishery

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) on March 30 set the 2023 all-gear allowable harvest limit for Southeast Alaska/Yakutat (SEAK) under Chinook salmon management provisions of the 2019-2028 Pacific Salmon Treaty Agreement at 201,900 treaty Chinook salmon. The 2% reduction from last year’s allocation is to serve as a buffer against exceeding the all-gear limit and payback provisions within the treaty. The resulting 2023 troll harvest allocation for this year will be 149,100 Chinooks, which is 44,100 fish less that the preseason limit that was available in 2022. ADF&G also said annual catch limits for the SEAK Chinook fishery would be established using measures of Chinook abundance, using the catch per unit effort from the winter power troll fishery in District 113 dur...
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Early Bird Seafood Shares Program Feeds Buyers, Benefits Communities
5Apr By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Early Bird Seafood Shares Program Feeds Buyers, Benefits Communities

A seafood program delivering monthly shares to buyers throughout Alaska and the Seattle area is off and running for the 14th year, with profits going directly to affiliated programs benefitting fishery conservation, community health and resilience efforts. This year, Alaskans Own is again offering customers the option of choosing their shares in a variety package, salmon or white fish, all of which feature hook-and-line caught wild Alaska seafood harvested by Southeast Alaska’s troll and longline fishermen. To date, the program, created by the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA), has helped deliver more than 650,000 donated seafood meals to more than 100,000 families, according to ALFA. It also has given longline fishermen some certainty that they have a market before headin...
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Sections of California Dungeness Crab Fishery to Close on April 15
5Apr By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Sections of California Dungeness Crab Fishery to Close on April 15

California fisheries officials plan to close four zones of the state’s commercial Dungeness crab fishery from the Sonoma-Mendocino county line to the U.S.-Mexico border at noon on April 15 to protect humpback whales. The closure, announced March 30 by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), impacts Zones 3, 4, 5, and 6. Zones 1 through 6 also remain under a fleet advisory for both the commercial and recreational Dungeness crab fisheries. CDFW officials said the recreational fishery remained open to crab traps north of Point Arguerllo, Santa Barbara County, but might be subject to a future trap restriction when humpback whales return to forage in the spring and summer.  CDFW also reminded anglers to be prepared to quickly remove fishing gear from remaining open areas if ...
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Inbreeding a Factor in Decline of Endangered Orcas, NOAA Study Finds
5Apr By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Inbreeding a Factor in Decline of Endangered Orcas, NOAA Study Finds

Fisheries scientists, using a combination of modern genomics and field observations, have determined that the small population and isolation of endangered Southern Resident killer whales in the Pacific Northwest has led to inbreeding – a contributing factor to their demise. The study by researchers at NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle was published in mid-March in the online journal Nature Ecology and Evolution. It adds new data to the question of why this group of 73 orcas is declining, and whether the major factor in the problem is solely the lack of a sufficient amount of Chinook salmon. The researchers also attempted to find out if several other factors have contributed. The Washington state-based environmental group Wild Fish Conservancy is suing in fe...
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Study: Marine Heatwave Impacted Rockfish, Not Always for the Worse
5Apr By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Study: Marine Heatwave Impacted Rockfish, Not Always for the Worse

An Oregon State University (OSU) study that tracked juvenile black rockfish in nearshore waters from 2013 to 2019 has concluded that the young fish fared better than feared in a marine heatwave between 2014 and 2016. “The study is important for gauging the conditions and making management plans that will affect the species’ survival as the ocean experiences increasing variability because of climate change,” Will Fennie, the study’s lead author and former OSU doctoral student now with NOAA Fisheries, said. Fennie worked with OSU College of Science researchers Su Sponaugle and Kirsten Grorud-Colvert on the study, which was published March 30 in the journal Scientific Reports. “Oceanographic conditions dictate water temperature, which influences larval dispersal and food availability -- ...
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Study Shows Changes in Yukon River Discharge May Be Impacting Salmon
29Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Study Shows Changes in Yukon River Discharge May Be Impacting Salmon

Scientists studying new information on changes in river discharge from winter ice melt and temperature in the Yukon River in Alaska say it may be influencing the timing and duration of juvenile chum, Chinook and coho salmon migrations. They are trying to determine whether, as salmon migrations change, due to shifting environmental conditions, whether it leads to a mismatch with the availability of prey. Katharine Miller, a fish biologist and lead author of the study, which was released on March 20, said the work is important in helping communities better understand what is behind recent declines in salmon abundance and how climate-induced environmental changes may alter migration patterns in future years. The long-term decline of Chinook salmon along the Yukon River since the early 19...
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USDA Purchases Nearly $4.5 M in Canned Alaska Pink Salmon for Domestic Food Assistance
29Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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USDA Purchases Nearly $4.5 M in Canned Alaska Pink Salmon for Domestic Food Assistance

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has purchased $4,491,524 worth of canned Alaska pink salmon from OBI Seafoods, Silver Bay Seafoods LLC and Trident Seafoods Corp. for distribution to child nutrition and other related domestic food assistance programs for fiscal year 2023. The purchase, announced March 16, was the result of offers received in response to a March 2 USDA solicitation. Deliveries are to be made from April 16 through Aug. 30. Purchases from OBI at Kodiak totaling $758,692, are destined for food assistance programs in Louisiana, New York and Texas. Purchases from Silver Bay Seafoods in Sitka, totaling $3,548,911, are to be delivered in California, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, New York and Texas. Purchases from Trident Seafoods’ Cordova plant, totaling $183,9...
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