Fishermen’s News Online – Page 48

Alaska Salmon Harvest Swells to 68.8 Million Fish

13Jul

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Alaska Salmon Harvest Swells to 68.8 Million Fish

Commercial harvests of salmon in Alaska jumped from 37.6 million to 68.8 million fish in a week’s time, with the catch in Bristol Bay alone swelling from 26.7 million to 46.8 million fish. Processors were keeping up with deliveries from fishing tenders in a very robust harvest. Fisheries economist Sam Friedman, who produces the in-season commercial salmon updates for McKinley Research Group on behalf of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, said the week that ended July 9 would likely be the peak salmon harvest of the summer. The Bristol Bay sockeye harvest continues to propel statewide harvest totals, with 21 million reds caught last week alone up 36% from the peak week in 2021. Early data on fish size from Bristol Bay show that sockeyes have averaged about 4.9 pounds per fish...

13Jul

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NOAA Boosts July Chinook Salmon Quota from Humbug Mountain to California Border

NOAA Fisheries has boosted the allowable catch for July for the commercial troll Chinook salmon season from Humbug Mountain to the Oregon/California border, which opened on July 1, from 400 to 687 fish. The decision was made in early July in consultation with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC), the Salmon Technical Team of the PFMC, and fishery representatives. NOAA officials said the quota was increased by 287 kings on an impact neutral basis after rolling the 410 Chinooks remaining from the June quota of 800 Chinook to July. No other changes to the season structure were announced, allowing the fishery to continue with a landing week ...

Harvest Mounts for Alaska’s Norton Sound King Crab Summer Fishery

13Jul

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Harvest Mounts for Alaska’s Norton Sound King Crab Summer Fishery

Harvests are mounting for Norton Sound king crab summary fishery, with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game forecasting that entire guidelines harvest level of 308,623 pounds expected to be harvested this week. The Norton Sound king crab summer open access commercial fishery began on June 15. Eight permit holders for the 2022 winter commercial fishery harvested 7,357 pounds of the 27,328-pound guideline harvest level for the winter fishery. According to ADF&G biologists the average weight of the king crab caught in this fishery is about 2.8 pounds. The total Norton Sound red king crab guideline harvest level is 341,600 pounds, with 7.5% of that total reserved for the community development quota fishery. As of July 8, a total of 169,000 pounds of red king crab had been caugh...

Tax Credit Program Extended for Seafood Processors

13Jul

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Tax Credit Program Extended for Seafood Processors

Legislation signed into law in early July extends the sunset date for an Alaska tax credit program for seafood processors that bring value-added product to market. The legislation sponsored by state Senator Gary Stevens (R-Kodiak) continues the tax credit for salmon and herring value-added products until Jan. 1, 2027, and also allows tax credits for products from other Alaska fish species. The program has been credited as a major reason for the boost in the commercial value of Alaska seafood since its inception as the Alaska Salmon Product Development Tax Credit in 2003. Data compiled by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute and the Pacific Seafood Processors Association concludes that $114.4 million in new revenue has been generated from the previous tax credit program. Stev...

6Jul

By Mark Edward NeroNo Comments

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From the Editor: Onboard AI

Could artificial intelligence soon play a substantial role when it comes to counting catch and bycatch onboard commercial fishing vessels? Well, it might not be right around the corner, but it’s something that appears to be on the horizon. A startup co-founded by three people -- two former University of British Columbia students and one from Dalhousie University -- is working on a monitoring system that uses video and artificial intelligence to better calculate catch and bycatch for commercial fishing boats. The startup, called OnDeck Fisheries AI, is the brainchild of former UBC students Alexander Dungate and Sepand Dyanatkar, along with ex-Dalhousie student Matthew Leighton. Alexander holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science + Biology from the University of British Colu...

Alaska’s Commercial Salmon Catch Swells to Nearly 38M Fish

6Jul

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Alaska’s Commercial Salmon Catch Swells to Nearly 38M Fish

A surge of salmon returning to Bristol Bay has boosted the harvest of the famed sockeye salmon fishery to nearly 27 million fish and the statewide preliminary catch estimate to nearly 38 million salmon, including 33.6 million sockeyes. The overall catch through Tuesday, July 5, stood at over 30% ahead of the year-to-date 2021 (2020 for pinks) harvest, driven by the large, early sockeye harvest in Bristol Bay, noted Sam Friedman of McKinley Research Group in Anchorage, which produces in-season commercial salmon harvest reports on behalf of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. For the period ended July 2, nearly 18 million sockeye salmon were caught in Alaska, including over 16 million in Bristol Bay. This is larger than last year’s peak of 17 million fish, and there is still an...

6Jul

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NMFS Extends Pacific Halibut Bycatch Retention in Oregon, Washington, California

The National Marine Fisheries Service, aka NOAA Fisheries, has agreed in consultation with the states of Oregon, Washington and California has agreed to new rules for retention of Pacific halibut incidental harvests in the commercial troll salmon season in those states. Under current regulations, retention of Pacific halibut bycatch continues past June 30. However all participants retaining those halibut must have applied for and received an incidental troll salmon halibut permit from the International Pacific Halibut Commission. Currently vessels are limited to one Pacific halibut for every two Chinook salmon, plus one Pacific halibut in possession, up to a maximum of 35 Pacific halibut per trip. All Chinook salmon must be landed with the Pacific halibut. Oregon Department of...

Scientific Report Urges Steps to Keep Salmon Habitat Safe From BC Mining Boom

6Jul

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Scientific Report Urges Steps to Keep Salmon Habitat Safe From BC Mining Boom

A collaborative report by 23 science and policy experts published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances says the mining industry is falling short of ensuring the health of wild salmon rivers in Western North America and British Columbia and threatening the future of wild salmon population. “The paper makes it clear that we need to improve risk assessments that take into account extreme climate events and cumulative effects, and that some places may be best as no-go zones for mining,” said Nikki Skuce, a co-author of the paper who serves as co-chair of the BC Mining Law Reform network. Science Advances, a multidisciplinary open-access scientific journal established in early 2015, is the first open-access journal published by the American Association for the Advancement of ...

6Jul

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WDFW Celebrates Commercial Dungeness Crab Fishery’s Electronic Monitoring Project

Biologists with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife say the coastal commercial Dungeness crab fishery is the state’s most economically significant commercial fishery, with an average annual ex-vessel value of about $46.5 million. The fishery is managed by WDFW along with four coastal treaty tribes and Harvest Management Plans between each tribe and WDFW are negotiated annually, in accordance with federal adjudication of fishing rights. Agreements often include temporary area-based measures, such as closures and/or pot limits, to achieve harvest sharing parity. Fishing location data for the non-tribal fleet, including data used to track harvest sharing throughout the season is currently collected using paper vessel logbooks and buyers’ fish receiving tickets. Robert ...

ASMI Partners with Cruise Industry to Promote Alaska Seafood

6Jul

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ASMI Partners with Cruise Industry to Promote Alaska Seafood

Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute is partnering with Holland America Line to promote the company’s exclusive use of Alaska seafood on its six ships bringing visitors to the 49th state. ASMI spokeswoman Ashley Heimbigner said the partnership would include stories from harvesters and processors of Alaska seafood as well as chefs. Future programming initiatives are to include recipe development in concert with Holland America Line’s “Culinary Council,” in-destination video content, onboard Alaska seafood trivia and recipes from council Chef Ethan Stowell. ASMI and Holland America inaugurated their partnership on July 5, with Stowell joining Alaska commercial harvesters and local leaders in Juneau to demonstrate the depth and breadth of Alaska’s seafood bounty, including five specie...