Fishermen’s News Online – Page 4

Alaska Hydropower Dam Helps Sustain Salmon Habitat

8Jan

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Alaska Hydropower Dam Helps Sustain Salmon Habitat

A hydropower dam now providing the bulk of electric power for a fisheries community on Alaska's Prince William Sound also serves to sustain spawning habitat for the fish that have made Cordova famous with seafood aficionados. The Power Creek hydroelectric plant, seven miles east of Cordova, with installed generating capacity of 6.0 megawatts, provides about 60 % of the power for Cordova from the Cordova Electric Cooperative. Humpback Creek hydropower plant, located seven miles north of Cordova with a generating capacity of 1.25 megawatts, provides about 10-15 %. A diesel generation facility just outside of the city provides the remaining percentage. The Power Creek dam is unique in that it is made of a giant inflatable rubber barrier that can be lowered to let the river return...

3 Fishery Resource Disasters Declared in California

8Jan

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3 Fishery Resource Disasters Declared in California

U.S. Commerce Department officials have determined that salmon fishery resource disasters occurred in three 2024 California fisheries, making them eligible for disaster assistance from NOAA Fisheries and the Small Business Administration. The decision came in a Dec. 31 announcement by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in response to requests from California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Squaxin Island Tribe fisheries and the 2023 Squaxin Island Tribe Puget Sound fall chum salmon fishery. At the time of the declaration, Raimondo was working with NOAA Fisheries to evaluate each fishery’s qualification for disaster aid, as a fishery resource disaster must meet specific requirements under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. For example, there must be economic...

Study Finds Increased Genetically Distinct Alaska Crab Populations

8Jan

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Study Finds Increased Genetically Distinct Alaska Crab Populations

New genetic research on Alaska red king crab indicates there are at least six, and possibly seven, genetically distinct populations, making the species more resilient to climate and ocean condition changes. The report released Jan. 2 by NOAA Fisheries identifies the genetically distinct populations being in Southeast Alaska, Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, Bristol Bay, Pribilof Islands, Norton Sound and the Chukchi Sea. Researchers found previously unrecognized differences between crab in the Gulf of Alaska and East Bering Sea regions, plus the Eastern Bering Sea region split into separate Bristol Bay and Pribilof Islands populations. They also found that the Aleutian Islands and Norton Sound/Chukchi Sea regions are unique. Data suggests that Norton Sound and Chukchi Sea po...

Norton Sound Commercial Red King Crab Harvest Set at 410,000 Pounds

8Jan

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Norton Sound Commercial Red King Crab Harvest Set at 410,000 Pounds

Norton Sound commercial harvesters have been allocated a guideline harvest level (GHL) of 410,000 pounds of red king crab for 2025, or 8.99% of the legal male biomass, to include 32,800 pounds for the winter commercial red king crab fishery. A Jan. 2 announcement by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game noted that an additional 30,750 pounds, or 7.5% of the commercial GHL, is allocated to the Community Development Quota (CDQ) fishery. During its December meeting in Anchorage, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted an overfishing level (OFL) of 628,000 pounds, with an acceptable biological catch of 440,000 pounds. The OFL and ABC include both retained and discarded crab. The legal male biomass (LMB) was estimated at 4.56 million pounds. As of Jan. 2, there wer...

ASMI Awarded $8.5M International Marketing Grant

8Jan

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ASMI Awarded $8.5M International Marketing Grant

A $8.5 million federal grant announced in mid-December is earmarked by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute to increase its international marketing efforts over the next five years. The funds come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service Regional Agricultural Program (RAPP). “We were pleasantly surprised,” ASMI Executive Director Jeremy Woodrow said. He announced receipt of the grant, which is specifically designed for marketing and trade efforts, on Dec. 19. Woodrow said the timing of the new federal funds is well-aligned with the Alaska seafood industry's needs to combat numerous global economic pressures. “While these funds will help ASMI grow our international efforts, they will also allow ASMI to direct additional state funds toward the...

NPFMC Plans Special Council Meeting in Anchorage

18Dec

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NPFMC Plans Special Council Meeting in Anchorage

Members of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council are planning a special council meeting in February at the Egan Center in downtown Anchorage to focus on two issues: a second review of a chum salmon bycatch analysis that the council last reviewed in April, and harvest specifications for Cook Inlet salmon. The council is scheduled to meet Feb. 6-12 to address Cook Inlet salmon harvest specifications and begin staff presentations on the chum salmon bycatch analysis on Feb. 7. The council noted that because this is a special issue meeting it won’t take up a full range of agency reports as it usually does, nor does it plan to take up staff tasking. Instead, the agenda items are to be resumed at the April council meeting, which is also scheduled to be held at Anchorage’s Egan Ce...

OBI, Ocean Beauty Seafoods Settle Class Action Wages Lawsuit

18Dec

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OBI, Ocean Beauty Seafoods Settle Class Action Wages Lawsuit

A federal district court in Washington state has ordered OBI Seafoods and Ocean Beauty Seafoods to pay $2.1 million to resolve a class action lawsuit for paying employees late and underpaying them during mandatory quarantines put into effect during the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. District Judge Marsha J. Pechman for the Western District of Washington signed the order on Dec. 5, ordering the two seafood processing companies to pay $2.1 million to class action members and $10,000 each to plaintiffs in the case, Marija and Dusan Paunovic, plus related settlement administration costs and attorney fees. OBI CEO John Hanrahan said in a statement obtained by the publication Seafood Source that his company “values its employees, pays competitive wages, and complies with all federal, state an...

Smoked Black Cod from Southeast Alaska Sells Out Fast as Holiday Gift

18Dec

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Smoked Black Cod from Southeast Alaska Sells Out Fast as Holiday Gift

A new line of canned smoked black cod tips at the Wildfish Cannery in Klawock, Alaska, is proving a hot holiday season item. Packaged for the holidays in blue boxes, they sold out quickly. In retail markets, the five-ounce cans sell for $39 apiece. “It’s a really special line too,” Wildfish Cannery director of facilities and operations Mathew Scaletta said. The company used a $6,000 grant from the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust in Sitka to refine its processing operations and work quickly to get the first run ready by December. Black cod tips are a delicacy usually purchased frozen and then grilled, but Scaletta wanted to break the mold by smoking and canning them. Their product sold out to wholesalers within just a few days. “In seafood processing, survival depends ...

Alaska King Crab Back In High Demand for Holidays at $74.95+ a Pound

18Dec

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Alaska King Crab Back In High Demand for Holidays at $74.95+ a Pound

Bristol Bay red king crab, back on the market for the first time in three years, is a hot seller for the holidays at prices all over the board for the holiday season. Dozens of boxes filled with orders of 5-to-10 pounds of frozen legs and claws were being readied for overnight shipment from 10th & M Seafoods in Anchorage on Dec. 16, most of them enroute to the continental United States. “For a lot of people it's a Christmas or New Year's tradition,” Tito Marquez of 10th and M Seafoods in Anchorage, said. And even with all those winter holiday orders to fill, Marquez said he expects to have enough left to fill Valentine’s Day orders. 10th & M's price is $74.95 a pound. Sockeye salmon fillets, another perennial favorite, were selling for $14.95 a pound. Anchorage seaf...

18Dec

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Five West Coast Salmon, Steelhead Species Remain Endangered

NOAA Fisheries biologists have determined after a five-year review of recovery processes that four salmon and steelhead species in Northern California and Southern Oregon remain threatened. The report, released Dec. 1, identifies the four species recently reviewed as Southern Oregon/Northern California coast coho salmon, California coastal Chinook salmon, Central California coast steelhead and California Central Valley steelhead. NOAA Fisheries Portland Office Branch Supervisor for Protected Resources Robert Markle said that while there’s a lot more work to do to recover these species, that this close look helps identify actions that can make the biggest difference for the fish. There are currently 28 species of Pacific salmon and steelhead trout listed under the Endangered Sp...