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From the Editor: California Worker Classification
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From the Editor: California Worker Classification

Some important news for professional fishermen and women in California occurred in September: the state’s governor signed a bill that provides anglers a two-year exemption from the state’s so-called ABC test, which is used to determine whether workers are employees or independent contractors. Under the ABC test, a person being paid to provide labor or services is considered an employee rather than an independent contractor unless the hiring entity can prove that the person is an independent contractor. A worker is considered an employee and not an independent contractor unless the employer satisfies all three of the following conditions: The worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for...
EM Program Regulations to be Implemented for Groundfish Trawl Catch Share Program
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EM Program Regulations to be Implemented for Groundfish Trawl Catch Share Program

NOAA Fisheries has announced that effective Nov. 2, a new rule will implement electronic monitoring (EM) program regulations for vessels using groundfish bottom trawl and non-whiting midwater trawl gear in the Pacific Coast Groundfish Trawl Catch Share Program. This move is expected to allow vessels using bottom trawl and non-whiting midwater trawl gear to use EM in place of human observers to meet their requirements for 100% at-sea catch monitoring. The final rule is intended to boost operational flexibility and reduce monitoring costs for vessels in this groundfish trawl fishery. It also revises some language in existing regulations for EM vessels and EM service providers to clarify and streamline EM program requirements. The Pacific Coast Groundfish Management Plan (FMP) sp...
Crab Rebuilding Issues on NPFMC’s Oct. 9-10 Agenda
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Crab Rebuilding Issues on NPFMC’s Oct. 9-10 Agenda

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is set to hear reports on shellfish stocks and adopt acceptable biological catch limits and overfishing limits during its Oct. 6-11 meeting in Anchorage. King crab and snow crab are among the major issues up for discussion, with final action still months off, as Bering Sea crabbers face a second year of multi-million-dollar loses due to the demise of Bristol Bay red king crab as well as snow crab. The October meeting will be held virtually and in person at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Anchorage. The Zoom link is https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81451130091 and the meeting ID is 814 5113 0091. The council is also slated to take final action on Pacific cod small boat access, to provide greater stability for participants with smaller than 60-...
Deadline Extended for Habitat Restoration, Resilience Grants
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Deadline Extended for Habitat Restoration, Resilience Grants

NOAA Fisheries has extended the deadline for underserved communities in fiscal year 2022 to apply for $10 million in funds for habitat restoration and resilience awards made available under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The deadline for proposals is now Oct. 14. The deadline was extended on Monday, Oct. 3 to accommodate challenges being faced by potential applicants severely impacted by recent typhoons and hurricanes. The funds are intended to provide capacity for these communities to participate more fully in developing future transformational habitat projects. NOAA officials said such engagement the goal is to ensure that communities are integral in the visioning and decision-making for coastal habitat restoration projects affecting their communities, and that benefits ...
Swordfish Caught With Harpoons, Deep-Set Buoy Gear Make Aquarium’s ‘Green List’
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Swordfish Caught With Harpoons, Deep-Set Buoy Gear Make Aquarium’s ‘Green List’

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program has added West Coast swordfish caught with harpoons and deep-set buy gear to its new “green list” of well managed seafood. Aquarium officials in Monterey, California, put out the “green list” of recommendations for businesses and consumers based on ways seafood is caught that cause little harm to habitats or other wildlife. The environmental entity Oceana applauded use of the harpoons and deep-set buoy gear over the huge mesh drift gillnets used in recent decades, saying that those mile-long nets deployed at dusk and left to hang 200 feet below the ocean’s surface for up to 12 hours entangle large open ocean travelers like whales, dolphins, sharks and sea turtles, with more than half of what is caught thrown overboard, often dead or...
Seafood Summit Energizes Local, Regional Seafood Entities
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Seafood Summit Energizes Local, Regional Seafood Entities

A local seafood summit designed to strengthen community-based seafood systems at the local, regional and national levels has concluded in Alaska, energizing a group of small boat harvesters, researchers, marketers and others to continue building on community-based seafood systems. “Meeting salmon people for the first time in my life was overwhelming,” said Jason Jarvis, president of the board of the North American Marine Alliance, whose focus is building a movement toward healthy fisheries and fishing communities. “The connections we’ve made here collectively are powerful. Where do we go from here?” he asked. “What do we do now?” Jarvis was among 170 participants from across the United States and Canada who gathered at the Alyeska Hotel in Girdwood, in Southcentral Alaska for ...
Sunken Fishing Vessel No Longer Environmental Threat: USCG
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Sunken Fishing Vessel No Longer Environmental Threat: USCG

A commercial fishing vessel that sank in mid-August near Sunset Point off Washington’s San Juan Island, was recovered, defueled and on a salvage barge as of Sept. 21, and no longer posed a significant threat to the environment, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Plans were to transit the Aleutian Isle to a mainland facility for further investigation into the cause of the sinking. The federal on-scene coordinator representative, U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Kira Moody, said that the unique environment of the San Juan Islands and location of the vessel made for a complicated and technical response. The 58-foot fishing vessel sank Aug. 13 near Sunset Point off San Juan Island with an estimated 2,500 gallons of diesel on board and 100 gallons of motor oil and other oils. It was recovered from o...
ALFA Wins Seafood Industry Climate Awards Grant
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ALFA Wins Seafood Industry Climate Awards Grant

The Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) in Sitka, Alaska, has received a $40,000 grant for a pilot project that would convert the Alaska fishing fleet to hybrid diesel/electric in order to help lower the carbon footprint within the seafood industry. The project, supported by the Energy Transitions Initiative Project Partnership, has ALFA working with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Kemp Energetics to transfer technologies proven through other forms of transportation to small scale commercial fishing boats. The Seafood Industry Climate Award (SICA) from Acme Smoked Fish Foundation in Brooklyn, N.Y., will be used to purchase equipment for ALFA’s hybridization/decarbonization project, ALFA Executive Director Linda Behnken said. Together with TD Bank of Anc...
Rallying Cry Issued for National Seafood Month
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Rallying Cry Issued for National Seafood Month

The Seafood Nutrition Partnership (SNP), National Seafood Council Task Force and Seafood4Health Action Coalition have launched a pilot program, Celebrate Seafood, in advance of the upcoming October National Seafood Month. The collaborative effort calls for reinforcing the increasing interest of consumers in eating seafood and its health benefits, based on retail sales throughout 2020 and 2021. In a message posted Tuesday, Sept. 27, they cited the opportunity for the seafood community to work together around a common message that seafood is good for public health and the health of the planet. SNP offered links to resources for the industry, including Celebrate Seafood Toolkit and Logos/Graphics, plus way to earn prizes, from free seafood to a one-on-one cooking class with celebrit...
Comment Sought on Salmon Disaster Spend Plan
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Comment Sought on Salmon Disaster Spend Plan

The State of Alaska, in consultation with stakeholders and NOAA Fisheries, is seeking public comment through Oct. 6 on the initial $131.8 million spend plan for the 2020-2021 statewide Salmon Disaster Initial Draft Spend Plan. The money is intended to assist fishery participants harmed by the disaster, to improve fishery information used to assess and forecast future fishery performance and to develop management approaches that mitigate the impacts of future fishery disasters that cannot be prevented. Allocation amounts include: 2019 Norton Sound Red King Crab: $1,433,137; 2020 Norton Sound, Yukon River, Kuskokwim River, Chignik, and Southeast Alaska salmon; and 2021 Yukon River salmon: $55,928,849; 2018 and 2020 Copper River and Prince William Sound salmon: $34,326,26...