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Alaska Fishing Organizations Set Date for Annual Expo

3Apr

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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 ...

Wash. Governor Nominates Conservationist for Seat on NPFMC

27Mar

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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...

Proposal to Extend Marine National Monument Would Impact Western Pacific Fisheries

27Mar

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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...

27Mar

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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...

Alaska Delegation Secures Funding for 1st Commercial Icebreaker in Decades

27Mar

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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 ...

Pacific Salmon Commission Selects Projects for $9M in Funding

27Mar

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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...

OBI Shutters Alitak, Kodiak Island Plant

20Mar

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OBI Shutters Alitak, Kodiak Island Plant

Salmon harvesters at Alitak, located in Lazy Bay on the southern tip of Alaska’s Kodiak Island, are reeling after an announcement from OBI Seafoods that its Alitak facilities would not be buying fish from setnetters or even providing normal services for setnetters during the 2024 season. The operational costs have become uneconomical due to lower harvests, high tender costs and the cost of providing ice and other services, OBI COO Brian O’Leary announced March 11. OBI would be open to purchasing Alitak setnet fish only if the fish are taken to Kodiak, O’Leary said. Maintenance and retail services at the former Lazy Bay cannery at are being halted, the company stated, adding that OBI’s Alitak facility will also not be open for services including ice, laundry, boat labor, garbag...

Pebble, State of Alaska, Back in Court Regarding Mine Defense

20Mar

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Pebble, State of Alaska, Back in Court Regarding Mine Defense

A Canadian mining company intent on building a copper, gold and molybdenum mine abutting the Bristol Bay watershed has renewed litigation, seeking to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency veto of permits for the Pebble Mine. The lawsuit filed in federal district court in Alaska on Friday, March 15, came on the heels of the state of Alaska’s lawsuit filed March 14 in the U.S. federal claims court asking for more than $700 billion in damages for state lands that Alaska contends were confiscated. Ron Thiessen, president and CEO of Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (NDM) in Vancouver, British Columbia, said his company’s priority is to advance the district federal court complaint because overturning the illegal veto removes a major impediment from getting the permit to build the ...

Wespac Science Advisors Endorse Hawaii, Guam Bottomfish Stock Assessments

20Mar

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Wespac Science Advisors Endorse Hawaii, Guam Bottomfish Stock Assessments

Science advisors to the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Wespac) have endorsed two bottomfish stock assessments for the main Hawaiian Islands and Guam as the best scientific information available. The council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) accepted the stock assessments on March 14. The assessments found that main Hawaiian Islands deep-seven stock is not overfished and not experiencing overfishing and that Guam stock likely is not overfished and likely not experiencing overfishing relative to reference points. The SSC endorsed the 2023 benchmark stock assessment and recommended that the council initiate the process for setting an updated acceptable biological catch and specifying annual catch limits. The council noted that significant improvem...

AFSC Study Looks at Range of eDNA in Marine Fisheries Management

20Mar

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AFSC Study Looks at Range of eDNA in Marine Fisheries Management

New research by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) in Juneau examines the influence of distance and tides on distribution and concentration of environmental DNA from chum salmon in net pens in Southeast Alaska. It’s another piece of the puzzle as researchers work to understand the overall impact of changing climate conditions on fisheries in the ocean. This study, AFSC research geneticist Diana Baetscher said, addresses one of the critical knowledge gaps in applying eDNA to marine fisheries management. “The idea here is we are able to use eDNA to understand where the fish are,” she said. “What we did with the chum hatchery net pen in Juneau was an experiment to determine where we no longer detect this eDNA. It is just a piece of information floating around in the water...