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ComFish Alaska 2023 Takes On Climate Change, Legal Challenges to State’s Fisheries
22Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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ComFish Alaska 2023 Takes On Climate Change, Legal Challenges to State’s Fisheries

Participants in ComFish Alaska 2023, undeterred by a spring snowstorm that halted jet traffic in and out of Kodiak for a day, tackled climate challenges to fisheries, including plastics pollution and prospective economic and environmental benefits of the mushrooming kelp mariculture efforts. The state’s biggest and longest-running commercial fisheries trade show, which began in a borrowed Alaska National Guard wall tent in 1980, incorporated into its March 16-18 program in Kodiak a mix of presenters ranging from harvesters, fisheries managers, federal and state legislators to historians and experts in marine debris and kelp mariculture. The event also featured 46 trade show booths offering fishing marine supplies, vessel permits and sales, expertise in satellite technology, health care...
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Sunflower Sea Star Proposed for Listing Under ESA
22Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Sunflower Sea Star Proposed for Listing Under ESA

NOAA Fisheries officials on March 15 proposed listing the sunflower sea star, once common along the Pacific coast of North America, as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), due to its sharp decline and the threat of a lethal pathogen. More than 90% of sunflower sea stars were killed from 2013 to 2017 by Sea Star Wasting Syndrome, in what was considered the largest marine wildlife disease outbreak on record.  Sea stars that contract the syndrome become lethargic, develop lesions, lose their arms and within days disintegrate into gooey masses. Sunflower sea stars are voracious predators who consume a wide variety of benthic species and can influence ecosystem structure by virtue of their predatory habits. They prey on sea urchins, which consume kelp and other marine vegetati...
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CVRF’s Tsukada Nominated to Alaska Seat on NPFMC
22Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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CVRF’s Tsukada Nominated to Alaska Seat on NPFMC

Ryuichi ‘Rudy’ Tsukada, chief operating officer for the Coastal Villages Region Fund (CVRF), one of six Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program groups, has been nominated to fill the obligatory state of Alaska seat on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC). Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy nominated Tsukada on March 15 in a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, under provisions of Section 302 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). In second place for the Alaska seat on the federal council, the governor nominated Samuel Rabung, director of the Alaska Division of Commercial Fisheries. The third person Dunleavy listed for consideration was Tom Taube, deputy director of the Alaska Division of Sport Fisheries. Dunleavy cited Tsukad...
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PFMC Offers Alternatives for 2023 West Coast Ocean Salmon Fisheries
15Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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PFMC Offers Alternatives for 2023 West Coast Ocean Salmon Fisheries

The Pacific Fishery Management Council last week adopted three alternatives for 2023 ocean salmon fisheries off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California, all in advance of its plan to make a final decision on salmon seasons during its April 1-7 meeting. Detailed information about season starting dates, areas open and catch limits for the three alternatives are on online at the council’s website: www.pcouncil.org. The council noted that forecasts for West Coast Chinook and coho stocks in 2023 are a mixed bag, with some low and high points when compared to 2022 stocks. Federal requirements to conserve Canada’s Fraser River coho, lower Columbia River natural tule Chinook, Klamath River fall Chinook and Sacramento River fall Chinook are the main constraints for this year’s ocean sal...
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2023 Commercial Ocean Troll Salmon Fishery Cancelled
15Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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2023 Commercial Ocean Troll Salmon Fishery Cancelled

Commercial ocean troll salmon fishery seasons that were scheduled to open between March 15 and May 15 in all areas from Cape Falcon to the Oregon-California border have been cancelled for 2023, officials with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) announced March 9. They said the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), in consultation with the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) and the states of Oregon and California, met to take the action on scheduled commercial troll Chinook salmon openings off Oregon. It was noted that multiple stocks of California Chinook salmon are at extremely low abundance and are projected to potentially fall below target spawning escapements.  Officials with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) said that for ocean salmon seasons f...
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PFMC Urges Rescinding Oregon Offshore Wind Energy Call Areas
15Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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PFMC Urges Rescinding Oregon Offshore Wind Energy Call Areas

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) on March 9 joined commercial fisheries entities in recommending that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) rescind the current Oregon call areas designated for floating offshore wind energy management and restart the siting process. In reconsidering the issue, the PFMC urged BOEM to use a spatial mapping tool focused on identifying deconflicted areas suitable for wind energy development. A copy of the council’s recommendation was also sent to Oregon Gov. Tina Kotel. Seven council advisory groups have provided statements voicing concerns about the current process, with several calling for BOEM to rescind the current call areas. “The Council's action sends a strong signal to BOEM that fisheries leaders do not want to risk losing our ...
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National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee Gains New Member
15Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee Gains New Member

Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) project manager David Turner has been appointed to the National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee to represent the viewpoints of naval architects and marine engineers, EBDG announced March 13. Turner, who has 20 years’ experience in naval architecture and vessel design, is responsible for the fishing vessel sector with Seattle-based EBDG and has managed and worked onboard vessels for projects ranging from concept design, vessel refurbishments, stability and weight calculations, to efficiency improvements, according to his employer. EBDG Principal John Waterhouse said the firm is extremely proud of Turner’s work in the fishing industry as well as of the recognition that being named to the committee brings. Elliott Bay Design Group is a full-se...
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NPFMC Posts Online April Meeting eAgenda, Schedule, Documents for Review
8Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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NPFMC Posts Online April Meeting eAgenda, Schedule, Documents for Review

Final action on an amended fishery management plan for Cook Inlet salmon is on the agenda when the North Pacific Fishery Management Council meets at the Hilton Hotel in Anchorage April 6-11. Final action is also scheduled for Greenland turbot in longline pots. The U.S. Navy is scheduled to present an oral report on Northern Edge exercises for May 2023. Other reports on the agenda are to be from the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the North Pacific Fisheries Commission. Other issues range from a review of the Scientific and Statistical Committee’s rapid environmental change workshop to a review of updated research on the Norton Sound red king crab research. A Zoom link at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/...
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Congressional Group Urges USDA to Purchase Seafood Products
8Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Congressional Group Urges USDA to Purchase Seafood Products

Four U.S. senators and six U.S. House of Representatives members from Washington, Oregon and California have asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue purchases of West Coast seafood products for the economic benefit of the industry and coastal communities. Pacific Northwest and West Coast seafood products are currently being produced in large volumes, easily accessible and easily transportable for immediate distribution to food assistance program, they told Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack in a letter, noting economic challenges the seafood industry has been facing, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the war in Ukraine. The purchases are being made under Section 32 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1935, which authorizes USDA to support prices of commodities in surplu...
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ComFish 2023 Comes to Kodiak, Alaska March 16-18
8Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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ComFish 2023 Comes to Kodiak, Alaska March 16-18

ComFish Alaska, billed as the state’s premier commercial fisheries trade show, opens for its 44th year in Kodiak on March 16, with forums ranging from federal and state fisheries issues to bycatch harvests, vessel safety, marine debris and the future of kelp mariculture in the state. Forty-five vendors, ranging from gear vendors to government agencies and non-profit entities will make up this year’s trade show at Kodiak High School, where three days of forums are also slated. The presentations are set to open with a federal legislative update from Alaska’s congressional delegation, followed by a review of Gulf of Alaska bycatch-related recommendations proposed by the Alaska Bycatch Review Task Force. A forum on marine ecosystem partnerships is planned to include highlights of the Skip...
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