Fishermen’s News Online

Coast Guard entities from six nations, led by the U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area, gathered virtually for three days in mid-September for their annual forum summit, to discuss topics including the need for coordinated responses to challenges in the North Pacific Also under discussion was the Japan Coast Guard’s best practices and lessons learned in support of the Tokyo Olympics. The North Pacific Coast Guard Forum, formed in 2000, comprise the coast guard and maritime law enforcement agencies of Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States. Its main focus includes combating illegal trafficking, combined operations, emergency response, fisheries enforcement, information exchange and maritime security. A non-binding memorandum of cooperation signed by all participat...

U.S. Department of Agriculture officials say they plan to accept public requests for applications soon regarding two new grant programs for stakeholders that have yet to receive federal financial assistance to deal with the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Seafood Processors Pandemic Response and Safety Block Grant program, with $50 million available in funding, focuses on seafood processing facilities, including processing vessels, and other engaged in the shellfish and aquaculture industries. The Pandemic Response and Safety Grant program is focused on the small businesses engaged in certain commodities, including meat, with $650 million in available grants. USDA will allocate block grant funding to states and territories based on a formula to provide relief for costs...

Kloosterboer International Forwarding LLC and Alaska Reefer Management LLC are seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop U.S. Customs and Border Protection from what they say threatens their ability to supply Alaska seafood to consumers. The two companies filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, Alaska after receiving notices of penalty to companies that harvest, process, store and transport Alaska seafood products to the eastern U.S. via the port of Bayside, New Brunswick, in alleged violation of the Jones Act. The plaintiffs say this was a shock to the industry because the route targeted by U.S. Customs has been in place for some 20 years and relies on a long-established statutory exception to general Jones Act requirements. The route has a...

Cooperative agreements reached by NOAA nationwide, including Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska and the Pacific Islands, will support expansion and modernization of climate, coastal and ocean observing capabilities in those states over the next five years. The $41 million effort is a competitive process funded by U.S. IOOS (Integrated Ocean Observing System), with NOAA’s National Ocean Service, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National Weather Service, NOAA Fisheries, Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, U.S. Geological Survey and the Environmental Protection Agency. The network is customized to meet regional needs that help NOAA understand and forecast changes in the ocean and climate, prepare for and respond to coastal disasters, and balance needs of resource us...

Efforts to protect fishery habitat in Alaska’s Bristol Bay are underway in Washington D.C., led by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan, who has declared the spawning grounds of the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon fishery a national treasure. The EPA is seeking to reinitiate the process of making a Clean Water Act Section 404(c) determination to protect certain waters in Bristol Bay. Such a determination, if finalized, would protect over the long term waters essential to commercial subsistence and recreational fisheries, with other activities that support Alaska Natives and communities in the state. “What’s at stake is preventing pollution that would disproportionately impact Alaska Natives and protecting a sustainable future for the most productive salm...

NOAA Fisheries has allocated nearly $2 million for bycatch reduction engineering program projects in fiscal 2021, including $403,692 for the West Coast, $99,700 for Alaska, and $410,578 for the Pacific Islands. One Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission grant of $157,897 will be used for testing modified circle hooks to reduce yelloweye rockfish bycatch in the West Coast directed Pacific halibut longline fishery. The project will modify hooks on which Pacific halibut are caught to see whether such hooks can decrease the catch of yelloweye rockfish while still being equally effective in catching halibut. Another $245,797 grant to the PSMFC is allocated for artificial illumination of trawl gear components to reduce Pacific halibut bycatch in West Coast and Alaska bottom trawl fishe...

Kim Damon-Randall, who has extensive experience in the conservation, recovery and management of protected species, has been named as the new director of NOAA’s Office of Protected Resources, succeeding Donna Wieting, who retired in March. Damon-Randall, who assumed her new post on Aug. 29, most recently served as deputy regional administrator of NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Office. She has also led the Endangered Species Branch and served as assistant regional administrator for protected resources. Before joining NOAA in 2001, Damon-Randall worked on marine conservation and outreach at the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium and J.L. Scott Marine Education Center. She has a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in marine affairs, both from the University of Rhode Island. Sa...

A historic salmon cannery on the shores of South Naknek in Bristol Bay, Alaska, which operated almost continuously from 1895 to 2015, is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Diamond NN Cannery, established on the shores of South Naknek by the Alaska Packers Association, and now owned by Trident Seafoods, began as a saltery in 1890. In 1895, the facility was converted into a cannery which went on to operate for over 100 years, said Bob King, former dean of Alaska’s fisheries writers, who now lives in Juneau. Most of some other 60 canneries spread over the region for decades fell way short of that record of service. “They fell apart, runs changed, the technology changes, they didn’t need as any canneries, but this is one of the earliest starting, longest runni...

Veteran NOAA regional administrator Jim Balsiger says there was a time when he had no plans to ever hold a fish in his hands for research. He had, in fact, set out for a career in forestry, but for a turn of events that found him doing modeling for a salmon management project in Bristol Bay on the way to getting a doctorate in quantitative ecology and natural resources management from the University of Washington. That led ultimately to a 44-year career with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where for the last 21 years Balsiger has served as regional administrator for the Alaska Region of NOAA Fisheries. “What a wonderful, unexpected career I’ve had,” he said during an interview after announcing his plans to retire at the end of November. Balsiger began his c...

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council is urging the public to offer comments on how best to achieve conservation of at least 30% of the nation’s lands and waters by 2030. The announcement comes in the wake of the release in May by NOAA and federal partners of the Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful report, a roadmap for a decade-long, inclusive, voluntary and locally-led conservation effort. The goal is to restore 30% of the nation’s lands and waters by 2030 for the sake of the economy, and everyone’s health and well-being in the next nine years. The first listening session was held on Thursday, Aug. 26, and the next one is set for Monday, Sept. 13 from noon to 3 p.m. Pacific time. The public may dial in at (800) 857-5743, and use the Passcode 727-5932 or...