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Alaska Fisheries Suffered $1.8B Loss in 2021-23: AFSC Report
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Alaska Fisheries Suffered $1.8B Loss in 2021-23: AFSC Report

NOAA Fisheries economists say Alaska’s fishing industry suffered a $1.8 billion loss in 2022 and 2023, and that the state’s commercial fisheries overall saw a 50% decline in profitability from 2021 through 2023. “The social and economic ramifications of Alaska’s losses have reverberated down the West Coast and across the country,” Robert Foy, director of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, said in a report released Oct. 9. The downturn resulted in the loss of over 38,000 jobs nationwide and a $4.3 billion loss in total domestic dollar value of all goods and services produced. Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington collectively showed a loss of $191 million in state and local tax revenues. The economic impact on fisheries in 2023 prompted the seafood industry to ask NOAA Fi...
Pacific Seafood Agrees to Acquire Trident’s Kodiak Facilities
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Pacific Seafood Agrees to Acquire Trident’s Kodiak Facilities

In a joint statement released Oct. 14, Trident Seafoods and Pacific Seafood said they anticipate Pacific Seafood acquiring Trident’s Kodiak, Alaska processing facilities next month. The two companies said they were completing the due diligence process and expected to finalize that transaction in November. Meanwhile, both companies have said they’re united in their commitment to provide job security and ensuring continuity of operations. Trident Seafoods CEO Joe Bundrant said it’s a bittersweet moment for him, but that he’s confident that Pacific Seafood is the right partner to serve Kodiak. Bundrant, who was born in Kodiak, said he felt a special connection to the community. Pacific Seafood CEO and President Frank Dulcich said his Clackamas, Oregon-based company is excited ...
NOAA Recommends Projects to Support Bycatch Reduction Research
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NOAA Recommends Projects to Support Bycatch Reduction Research

NOAA Fisheries has recommended 13 projects -- including six for the West Coast, Alaska and the Pacific Islands -- to support innovative bycatch reduction research through its Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program. NOAA Fisheries officials said that as of Sept. 30 that the application approval and obligation of funds were not finalized. Each application is currently listed as recommended and not a guarantee of funding. NOAA Fisheries provided detailed information for just some of the recommended projects, but for the West Coast, the recommendations include $245,743 for the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission and $193,391 for Sub Sea Sonics, a San Diego firm that provides low-cost solutions for underwater equipment recovery. The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission ...
Kodiak Setnet Fleet Saves Season by Linking Up With Silver Bay Seafoods
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Kodiak Setnet Fleet Saves Season by Linking Up With Silver Bay Seafoods

Veteran salmon setnetters in Kodiak, Alaska’s Alitak District have struck a deal with Silver Bay Seafoods after long-time buyer OBI dropped the Alitak setnet fleet from its roster, citing economic concerns. OBI’s decision to drop the setnetters had left them with no established means for gearing up remote fishing camps, fueling boats and selling their catch, wrote veteran harvester Hannah Heimbuch, who is a fisheries policy and communications consultant with Ocean Strategies, a public affairs firm specializing in seafood fisheries and marine resources. “After a spring of chaos, the fish ultimately pulled us through in Alitak this year,” Heimbuch wrote in Ocean Strategies’ latest fisheries policy report, released Oct. 1. “While salmon runs statewide were inconsistent in both re...
Bristol Bay Red King, Tanner, Snow Crab TACs Set For 2024-25
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Bristol Bay Red King, Tanner, Snow Crab TACs Set For 2024-25

Commercial fisheries for Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea tanner crab opened with increased quotas on Oct. 15, and the Bering Sea snow crab season reopened with a total allowable catch of 4.7 million pounds. "After these tough closure years, we're happy to see some of our vessels heading back to the crab grounds and communities participating in these fisheries again,” Jamie Goen, the executive director of Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, and a member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, said. “We’re feeling cautiously optimistic that the crab stock is starting to recover. But our work isn't done,” Goen said. “It's critical that we keep working for habitat protections, stock rebuilding and the overall tools that the crab resource and crab industry need to build resi...
Fisheries Certification Program Announces Global Expansion
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Fisheries Certification Program Announces Global Expansion

The Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) Certification program owned by the Certified Seafood Collaborative (CSC) has expanded its fishery standard to include fisheries worldwide, CSC officials said in an Oct. 8 statement. The global expansion, according to the CSC, will go further to provide choice in wild capture sustainable fishery certification. The collaborative has said that it’s committed to supporting global fisheries in enhancing transparency for their customers, and the RFM aims to provide accessibility without the burden of logo licensing fees. The goal is to ensure that everyone in the supply chain with chain of custody can showcase their commitment to sustainability and responsible practices without financial strain. “As our program grows, we remain dedicated...
Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Annual Crab Industry Meeting Scheduled for Oct. 11
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Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Annual Crab Industry Meeting Scheduled for Oct. 11

Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials have scheduled the annual meeting with the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands crab industry. It is to be held Oct. 11 in Dutch Harbor. The meeting, which is open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Alaska time (10 a.m. Pacific time). Topics to be reviewed include 2024-25 total allowable catch calculations for Bristol Bay red king crab, Bering Sea Tanner crab and Eastern Bering Sea snow crab. Participants can join via Zoom or in person with the ADF&G staff at the Unalaska Public Library Community Room or on the second floor of the Kodiak ADF&G building. The Zoom meeting link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8431240090?pwd=9g16kB8eDlcbS1oMKhuHMxauy4bJOY.1 The meeting ID is 843 1240 0590 and the passcode is 216588. ...
Canada Launches Mission to Detect, Deter IUU Fishing in North Pacific
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Canada Launches Mission to Detect, Deter IUU Fishing in North Pacific

The Canadian government has announced a new Canada-led multinational high seas mission to detect and deter illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the North Pacific Ocean. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) announced the mission Oct. 1 at the Port of Yokohama, Japan. IUU fishing in the North Pacific is considered a potential driver of Pacific salmon declines, according to DFO officials. Operation North Pacific Guard (OpNPG), led by DFO fisheries officers, is supported by the Canadian Coast Guard and includes high seas patrols, air surveillance and satellite monitoring.  The mission is also supported by the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The mission calls for fishery officers to patrol over 7,500 kilometers (4,660 miles)...
NOAA Fisheries’ 5-Year Plan Focuses on Boosting Seafood Economy
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NOAA Fisheries’ 5-Year Plan Focuses on Boosting Seafood Economy

NOAA Fisheries’ National Seafood Strategy Implementation Plan, announced in early September, outlines the agency’s focus on boosting the domestic seafood economy and enhance the resilience of the seafood sector in the face of climate change over the next five years. NOAA Fisheries officials acknowledged that while the domestic seafood industry enhances public health and nutrition, creates jobs, and helps build a climate resilient food strategy that’s facing many challenges, including putting the domestic supply of sustainable seafood at risk. “The Implementation Plan is where the rubber meets the road,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit said. “It outlines the specific actions to achieve the goals we laid out in the strategy to support our nation’s seafood sector a...
New Tool Pinpoints River System for Individual Chinook Salmon
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New Tool Pinpoints River System for Individual Chinook Salmon

A new tool developed by NOAA Fisheries scientists allows researchers to pinpoint the river system that individual Chinook salmon come from, thereby enabling more precise management and protection of threatened and endangered populations. “It's like giving every fish a unique genetic fingerprint,” Donald Van Doornik, a NOAA Fisheries biologist and lead author of a paper published July 8 in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management, explained. “We can use this fingerprint to figure out where that fish came from by comparing it to other fishes’ DNA,” he added. A Sept. 26 announcement by NOAA Fisheries noted that by identifying specific Chinook populations contributing to mixed-stock fisheries, they’ll be able to design more effective conservation and management strategie...