News

The new run forecasts and harvest projections for 2012 Alaska salmon fisheries predict a decrease in overall commercial salmon catches in 2012 due to the projected decrease in pink salmon harvests. The report says the 2012 total commercial salmon catch projection of 132.1 million fish is expected to include 120,000 king salmon in areas outside southeast Alaska, 38.4 million sockeye salmon, 4.3 million coho salmon, 70.2 million pink salmon and 19.1 million chum salmon. The projected pink salmon harvest is about 40 percent lower than the harvest of 116 million pinks last year.The projected sockeye salmon harvest is about 4 percent lower than last year’s catch, while the projected chum salmon harvest is some 12 percent higher than in 2011.Last year the Alaska all-species salmon harvest tota...

The challenge of massive amounts of ice on the waters notwithstanding, more than 30 million pounds of the 88,894,000 allowable harvest of snow crab was delivered through Feb. 21, and more should be coming in soon if weather forecasts are true.According to Heather Fitch, area management biologist for shellfish at the Dutch Harbor office of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the forecast is for the ice that has been blocking a number of deliveries at St Paul will be north of the island within a week. The presence of massive amounts of ice at St Paul earlier in February made it impossible for some boats to make any deliveries to St. Paul.Trident Seafoods hired a tugboat to help break up the ice at St. Paul.Meanwhile in Juneau, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, program...

The Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association plans to invest millions of dollars into turning its processing facilities at False Pass and Atka into year round operations.The community development quota group’s chief executive officer, Larry Cotter, made the announcement Feb. 17 during the annual Anchorage summit of the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference.Cotter said that at False Pass APICDA had faced a struggle with Bering Pacific Seafoods, losing some $1 million a year, and at one point shut down its operations. Now APICDA plans to invest $8 million this year, plus an additional $2 million over the next two years, to expand Bering Pacific Seafoods facilities at False Pass, including the purchase of lots from the local Alaska Native corporation to build housing. Plant ...

Legislation to re-establish a coastal management program in Alaska is back before the state House in Juneau., with eight House members, from both parties, co-sponsoring the legislation offered by Majority Leader Alan Austerman, R- Kodiak.Meanwhile it appears that an initiative to establish a coastal management program for Alaska will qualify for a place on this year’s general election ballot.Should legislators pass substantially similar legislation, the ballot measure could be pre-empted. Co-sponsors of the legislation to date include Representatives Paul Seaton, R-Homer, Peggy Wilson, R-Wrangell, Bob Herron, D-Bethel, Bryce Edgmon, D-Dilingham, Reggie Joule, D-Kotzebue, and Beth Kertulla, D-Juneau.The old Coastal Management Program ended last summer after the Legislature could not come to...

February 2012An updated report on growing sea otter impacts on commercial fisheries in Southeast Alaska says the overall value loss to sea cucumber, geoduck, red sea urchin and Dungeness crab fisheries since 1995 totaled $28.3 million.State fisheries biologists and a private research firm estimate that the sea cucumber fishery lost 3.2 million pounds with an estimated ex-vessel value of $5.3 million and wholesale value of $8.95 million from 1996 through 2011.The geoduck fishery lost 530,500 pounds with an estimated ex-vessel value of $3.2 million and estimated wholesale value of $4.2 million from 2005-2011, and the red sea urchin fishery lost 3.1 million pounds worth an estimated $1 million ex-vessel and nearly $4 million wholesale, from 1995 through 2005. The Dungeness crab fishery meanwh...

A researcher with the University of Alaska’s Seafood Science and Technology facilities at Kodiak says great progress is being made in utilization of Alaska fish processing byproducts, and that there is profit to be made too.Peter Bechtel, who is also affiliated with the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service at Kodiak, addressed the subject this week before the 63rd annual meeting of Pacific Fisheries Technologists at Anchorage. Bechtel said current fish byproduct uses include human supplements, ingredients for human food, ingredients for human food, industrial use, pet food, aquaculture, pig and chicken feed, and fertilizers and fuels.Once the fillets are taken, the remaining fish skins, frames and heads all have specific uses, ranging from gelatin as a binding agent...

Top honors in the 2012 Alaska Symphony of Seafood went to a fish processor on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula whose winning entry of Alaska salmon bacon was born of a desire to help a grandchild suffering from food allergies.Fred West of Tustumena Smokehouse in Soldotna was overcome with emotion when he learned on Feb. 11 that Kylee’s Alaska salmon bacon placed first in the smoke fish competition, and also earned him the grand prize. West said he developed the product because Kylee suffered an allergic reaction to beef, chicken and pork containing growth hormones and steroids. His product is made of all natural ingredients, no preservatives, is gluten free and contains no MSG or nitrates.Other first place winners include Sweet Potato Crunch Alaska Pollock Sticks by American Pride Seafoods in the ...

The Copper River/Prince William Sound Marketing Association has officially launched its new “Salmon Locator” for the Internet site Facebook just prior to the International Boston Seafood Show, which takes place March 11-13. The trade launch will be followed by a consumer launch announcing the start of the 2012 season. The object is to direct fans to retailers and restaurants that carry king, sockeye and coho salmon during their respective seasons.Retailers carrying Copper River salmon this season can take advantage of the free promotion by adding their locations to the app at www.findcopperriver.org, or they or can contact jessyka@copperrivermarketing.org directly to be included in the app.By logging on to www.findcopperriver.org shoppers can find salmon by simply inputting their city, add...

Alaskan Leader Fisheries LLC is hailing a large new freezer-longliner due for delivery in April 2013 as one of the largest, most eco-friendly commercial fishing vessels in the nation.Alaskan Leader Fisheries and J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp. of Tacoma, Wash. announced the contract on Feb. 14..The Fishing Vessel Northern Leader will be a 184-foot by 42-foot by nearly 19-foot freezer-longliner designed for service in longline fisheries of the North Pacific, Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.Its crews will target Alaska cod, sablefish and other groundfish species, with a capacity of more than 38,000 cubic feet of refrigerated fish hold and estimated capacity of 1.8 million pounds of frozen seafood.Alaskan Leader Fisheries is one of the largest Alaskan longline companies with four freezer-lon...

Fishermen’s News Alaska BureauPeople around the world can now get an eagle’s-eye view, without leaving home, of the entire Southeast Alaska coastline from Dixon Entrance to Yakutat, thanks to completion of a project known as the ShoreZone Partnership.The project involved mapping some 19,000 miles of coastal habitat; a milestone equivalent to surveying the entire Pacific coastline of Washington, Oregon and California, twice, officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Jan. 11.NOAA and other members of the ShoreZone Partnership were to do a presentation on the recently completed seven-year project January 19 at the 2012 Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage.The habitat mapping effort followed ShoreZone protocols that have been applied throughout British Col...