News – Page 2 – Fishermens News

Land Management Bureau Invests $3.25M in Alaska Salmon Habitat Restoration

18Sep

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Land Management Bureau Invests $3.25M in Alaska Salmon Habitat Restoration

A federal grant of $3.25 million announced on Sept. 16 is expected to be used improve the ecosystem health and Pacific salmon resiliency in the Yukon, Kuskokwim and Norton Sound regions of Alaska, according to the Bureau of Land Management. Project work under the new agreement was estimated to begin in early September 2024 and continue through the end of summer 2029, the BLM said. The funds implement, through a partner award, part of the $36 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding dedicated to the Interior Department’s ‘Gravel to Gravel’ initiative. The project work, implemented in partnership with the Salcha-Delta Soil and Water Conservation District under the Good Neighbor Authority, includes efforts to restore areas impacted by historic land uses. The Good Neighbor...

Wespac Committee Advances Bottomfish Rebuilding Plan

18Sep

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Wespac Committee Advances Bottomfish Rebuilding Plan

Members of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee have advanced a Guam bottomfish rebuilding plan, with a focus on balancing sustainable fishing opportunities with stock recovery goals. The Council announced in Honolulu on Sept.13 the committee’s recommendation that sets the annual catch limit (ACL) of 34,500 pounds, allowing for fishing to continue while ensuring the stock is rebuilt by 2031. The Scientific and Statistical Committee met in Honolulu during the second week of September. The Guam bottomfish fishery was declared overfished in 2019, which mandated the council to rebuild the Guam bottomfish stock in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the primary law governing marine f...

Three Alaskans Receive Bristol Bay Corp.’s ‘Fish First’ Awards

18Sep

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Three Alaskans Receive Bristol Bay Corp.’s ‘Fish First’ Awards

The Indigenous-owned, Anchorage-based Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) honored three Alaskans recently during the seventh Bristol Bay Wild Salmon celebration in Washington, D.C. The Fish First honors announced Sept. 16 were for those who support and champion Bristol Bay and its wild salmon. This year’s honors went to Tim Troll, Triston Chaney and the late Mary Olympic. Troll is the executive director of the Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust, which he helped create in 1999 to preserve places of cultural and biological importance in the Bristol Bay region. Chaney is a flyfishing guide from Dillingham who has fished commercially with his family to help pay his way through college. Olympic, who died in 2015, was a respected Aleut/Yup'ik elder from Igiugig, whose life represente...

Fisheries Researchers Cite Errors in Scientific Publications

18Sep

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Fisheries Researchers Cite Errors in Scientific Publications

An article written by six prominent fisheries researchers and published in the October issue of online magazine Marine Policy, contends that scientific publications often influence evolving policies and inform the public, but that they at times contain errors. “The prevalence of papers conveying unjustified messages and with potential to influence public perceptions and policies is concerning,” the six researchers from Argentina, Australia, NOAA Fisheries, Africa and the University of Washington, stated in the article. Their paper focuses on marine examples that have led to exaggeration of negative impacts on ecosystems particularly from fisheries, but that these criticisms and recommendations also apply more generally. Examples are given include papers on high profile topics ...

Wespac Releases Report on Status of Western Pacific Region Fisheries

18Sep

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Wespac Releases Report on Status of Western Pacific Region Fisheries

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Wespac) on Sept. 11 released its 2023 Western Pacific Region Status of the Fisheries report, which highlights some of the changes in U.S. Pacific Island fisheries from 2021 through 2023. Bottomfishing in some parts of Hawaii was slow due to poor conditions potentially associated with the Kona weather pattern, according to the report, but fishers noted good recruitment with larger opakapaka around Oahu and abundant ehu and gindai fish around Kauai. University of Hawaii data showed a decrease in active commercial harvesters and trips, but landings of Deep 7 bottomfish species were up by over 8,000 pounds from the previous year to just over 197,000 pounds. American Samoa’s bottomfish fishery had a total estimated catch of 4...

11Sep

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New NOAA Models Predict Red King Crab Bycatch Locations

New models developed by NOAA Fisheries scientists are predicting red king crab bycatch occurrence and abundance in Bristol Bay flatfish trawl fisheries. The models have found a general northward shift in occurrence and abundance of different ages of male and female red king crab in Bristol Bay, NOAA Fisheries said Sept. 5. These models, which demonstrate it is possible to predict where and when bycatch occurs, are an important first step toward building predictive tools for fishing fleets and fisheries managers to reduce bycatch, said Emily Ryznar, lead author and fisheries biologist at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, or AFSC. The study contributes timely insight regarding distribution and drivers of Bristol Bay red king crab bycatch,” Kodiak Laboratory Director and AFSC ...

NPFMC Opens Comment Period for October Meeting in Anchorage

11Sep

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NPFMC Opens Comment Period for October Meeting in Anchorage

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has opened the public comment period for items on its agenda for the council’s next meeting, scheduled for Sept. 30 through Oct. 8 at the Egan Center in Anchorage. All comments submitted are to be reviewed and then visible online after the deadline closes. The council and its advisory panel will also take in-person and remote oral testimony during their meetings, which will also be broadcast on Zoom. Anyone intending to give oral testimony remotely must be connected to the meeting, either through zoom on their device or using a designated call-in phone number provided by the council in its meeting notice. Major issues listed on the agenda range from Bering Sea/Aleutian Island crab specifications for Bristol Bay red king crab Tanner ...

11Sep

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SE Alaska Commercial Red, Blue King Crab Fishery Closed for 2024-25

Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists have decided to close the Southeast Alaska commercial red king crab and blue king crab fishery for the 2024-2025 season. The fishery has been closed due to low stock numbers since 2017. ADF&G announced Sept. 9 that the 2024 stock assessment survey estimated 117,103 pounds of legal male red king crab were available for harvest, compared to the minimum threshold of 200,000 pounds required to open the commercial fishery. The Southeast Alaska Red King Crab Management Plan calls for the department to manage the red king crab fishery in accordance with the Alaska Board of Fisheries Policy on King and Tanner Crab Resource Management. The Southeast red king crab regional biomass estimates for the coming season are 1.63 million pounds o...

Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council Convenes in Honolulu

11Sep

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Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council Convenes in Honolulu

Members of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee are scheduled to convene in Honolulu Sept. 11-13 to address issues impacting fisheries management in the Pacific Islands. The seven agenda items include the Guam bottomfish rebuilding plan and the Guam bottomfish data for future assessments. The committee may provide recommendations on modifications to the bottomfish rebuilding plan and review projections to rebuild the stock by 2031, in alignment with the Mariana Archipelago Fishery Ecosystem Plan. The SSC is also expected to consider the Western Pacific Stock Assessment Review report on Guam bottomfish data and discuss how this data may be used in future stock assessments, including single-species and multi-model assessm...

11Sep

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Former Microsoft Executive Named COO of Trident Seafoods

Former Microsoft executive Mike Quinn, a member of Trident Seafoods’ board of directors, has been appointed as the company’s new chief operating officer, effective Oct. 1, the company announced Sept. 5. Trident also announced the appointments of Jeff Welbourn as president of Trident USA, and Kenji Nasu as president of Trident Alaska. The addition of Quinn as COO and the appointment of Welbourn and Nasu to new leadership roles within the company are the next steps in Trident’s long-term vision to modernize operations and refocus its global commercial strategy, according to Trident CEO Joe Bundrant. “These are the right leaders and the right changes that will position Trident for future growth, enabling us to continue our mission of responsibly sharing wild Alaska Seafood with t...