Fishermen’s News Online

Gulf of Alaska seafood harvesters have lots of ideas about how to make themselves and their fisheries more resilient as climate continues to change, and NOAA Fisheries research scientist Marysia Szymkowiak is working with them to prioritize and mobilize plans for the rapidly emerging future. These ideas cut across science and communication, fisheries management, national and local policies and broader sociocultural issues, says Szymkowiak, who has spent a decade conducting research on the human dimensions of Alaska fisheries. “The folks I have talked to across the Gulf have put ideas forward like reducing carbon emissions from diesel engines through hybrid models, building networks between scientists and fishermen for exchanging knowledge, expediting policymaking within fisheries...

An updated economic report on Alaska’s seafood industry says preliminary 2021 data reflects a partial rebound, in the wake of a 2020 season when the industry suffered from widespread impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic and biological issues in several key fisheries. Information included in the 2022 update of “The Economic Value of Alaska’s Seafood Industry” report, which was released Jan. 11 by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, notes that unlike previous years, the economic impacts were calculated solely on 2019 data as opposed to averaging two years of data. “While the report includes some 2020 data, averaging 2019 data with the pandemic-disrupted 2020 season would not produce an accurate picture of the seafood industry’s economic impact in Alaska,” said Jim Calvin, vi...

A new management framework for anchovy that was adopted in November by the Pacific Fishery Management Council goes into effect this month, requiring a regular review of the size of the anchovy population and adjusting catch levels as needed based on annual abundance surveys and other information. The independent non-profit Pew Charitable Trusts hails that change as a more responsive, holistic management approach, which will benefit more than 50 species of marine wildlife, from albacore tuna and Chinook salmon to least terns and humpback whales. The Pew report notes that fishery managers had for years used fixed catch limits, no matter how much the anchovy population or ocean health declines. For more than two decades, management of California’s anchovy population was based on inf...

Peter Pan Seafood has decided to pull out of Seafood Expo North America in Boston in March out of concern for the rapid rise of COVID-19 cases nationwide. “With COVID-19 cases rising, we agreed that it is irresponsible to attend the seafood show in Boston this year,” chief growth officer Rodger May said on Tuesday, Jan. 11. “This is not an easy decision and it’s one we’ll lose money on – having already made meaningful investments to be at this year’s event, while rolling out our new look and brand. For us it boils down to what we’ve been saying all along – nothing is more important than the health and safety of our team, our partners and our loved ones.” While attending Seafood Expo North America would be good for business, it is not worth putting employees’ partners or loved ones at...

A federal grand jury has indicted three companies involved in a large oil leak that disrupted the Southern California fishing industry for weeks. The Justice Department has identified the companies as Amplify Energy Corp., Beta Operating Co. LLC -- a wholly owned subsidiary of Amplify doing business as Beta Offshore -- and San Pedro Bay Pipeline Co., another wholly owned subsidiary of Amplify. All were accused in the December indictment of illegally discharging oil during a pipeline break in early October by acting negligently in at least six ways, including failing to properly respond to eight separate leak alarms over the span of more than 13 hours and improperly restarting the pipeline that had been shut down following the leak alarms. The pipeline, which was used to transf...

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, which manages federal fisheries operating in waters offshore of Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam and elsewhere, has recommended replacing blue-dyed fish bait and strategic offal discharge with tori lines as a seabird conservation measure. The regulatory change, which was approved Nov. 30, is based on a fishing-industry-led collaborative project with Hawaii longline vessels conducting field experiments over the past three years to compare seabird interaction rates with baited hooks. Tori lines consist of a line with streamers and a buoy or extra fishing line attached at the end to create drag. The line is towed from a high point near the stern of the vessel over the area where the baited hooks are deployed. “The Hawaii Longli...

The first round of CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act relief checks have begun arriving to people engaged in Alaska fisheries, and according to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, applications for round two relief checks will be available for Washington state and Alaska in late January. Meanwhile in California, where round one fisheries relief checks were distributed in November 2020, the commission plans distribution of round two checks in the first quarter of 2022. California alone has over 11,500 potentially eligible funding applicants, according to state data. For Hawaii, where round one fisheries relief checks were mailed out on Christmas Eve 2020, applications for round two are under review. In Oregon, state fisheries officials are still ...

An Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting in Ketchikan focused on Southeast Alaska finfish and shellfish has been postponed from Jan. 4-15 to a still-to-be-announced future date and location, due to the surge of new omicron variant cases in the COVID-19 pandemic. Alaska Commissioner of Fish and Game Doug Vincent-Lang made the announcement on New Year’s Day, citing the record-breaking rise of COVID-19 cases nationwide and the sharp rise of those cases in Southeast Alaska. The number of new cases nationwide exceeded 486,000 individuals on Dec. 30, nearly double the previous high sustained in January 2021. Vincent-Lang said that key ADF&G staff were among those who had come down with the virus and would be unable to participate. He also cited transportation concerns hampering air tra...

Unified Command officials say that affected shoreline segments of Orange and San Diego counties impacted by a Southern California oil spill have been returned to their original condition. The spill response has now entered a transition period, with the Unified Command monitoring tar ball and oiling incidents along with associated sampling results to determine the source of the oil. The multi-agency response to the oil spill began on Oct. 2, 2021. Once the Unified Command determines that the transition period should end, the response will officially conclude, the officials said. Meanwhile, cleanup crews are prepared to respond to further oiling and shoreline monitoring is to continue, with the public asked to report any sizeable sightings of oil or oily debris to the National Resp...