Current Issue

29M Pink Salmon Harvest Forecast for Southeast Alaska

State fisheries biologists have good news for pink salmon harvesters in Southeast Alaska: a 2025 harvest forecast of 29 million humpies, with an ex-vessel value of $14.5 million. The prediction, [...]

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Proposes Critical Habitat for Longfin Smelt in Northern Calif.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Jan. 14 announced that it was designating 91,630 acres of critical habitat for the San Francisco Bay-Delta distinct population segment of the longfin [...]

Aquaculture Opportunity Areas: A Continued Threat to Fisheries

By Mike Conroy In the September 2022 edition of Fishermen’s News, we published an article outlining the process for designating “Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs)” created in federal waters off the [...]

New Vessel Construction

By Jerry Dzugan, AMSEA If you’re interested in building a new commercial fishing vessel measuring 50-180 feet, this would be a good time to look at the U.S. Coast Guard’s [...]

Bristol Bay Harvester Hawks Gillnetter at Pacific Marine Expo

Veteran Bristol Bay salmon harvester Leslie Stambaugh was on the move at the 2024 Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle, eager to talk with anyone willing to listen about the 32-foot [...]

Pacific Marine Expo Draws Eclectic Industry Group

By Margaret Bauman Pacific Marine Expo 2024 at Lumen Field Events Center Seattle in Seattle served up a plethora of offerings Nov. 20-22—health tips for seafood harvesters and updates on [...]

Alaska’s Commercial Fisheries: There’s Always a Harvest at Hand

By Margaret Bauman No matter the day, month or year, somewhere in Alaska a commercial fishery is likely happening, given an allowable biomass that’s confirmed under the watchful eyes of [...]

West Coast Fisheries Spring Seasons Preview

By Daniel Mintz Several key West Coast fisheries begin or pick up during spring months. Here’s a rundown on the areas, regulations and species included in spring fishing seasons.  Salmon [...]

Top Products Use Modern Technology to Find Fish Faster, More Accurately

By Sara Hall Modern technology can make a notable difference when it comes to quality fish-finding electronic devices in commercial fishing. Recent product releases highlight speed, wider and clearer views [...]

Coast Guard Cutter Returns to California Following 110-Day Arctic Deployment

The crew of Coast Guard cutter Stratton returned to its Alameda, Calif. homeport in November after completing a 110-day fishery operations-related patrol in the Arctic Ocean, Chukchi Sea and Bering [...]

Commercial Dungeness Crab Fishery Opens Jan. 5 in Central California

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is opening the commercial Dungeness crab fishery from the Sonoma/Mendocino county line to the U.S./Mexico border at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 5, [...]

Pacific Seafood Acquiring Trident Seafoods’ Kodiak Facilities

Pacific Seafood has acquired all of Trident Seafoods’ processing facilities in Kodiak, Alaska and plans to retain all employees at the facilities to ensure continuity and stability, the two processors [...]

Alaska King Crab In High Demand During Holiday Season at $74.95+ a Pound

Bristol Bay red king crab, back on the market for the first time in three years, is a hot seller for the holidays at prices all over the board for [...]

Aquaculture Has Important Role in Fisheries Restoration: NOAA Fisheries

Responsible seafood farming is one of the most environmentally sustainable ways to produce healthy food, according to NOAA Fisheries scientists who released the latest National Aquaculture Development Plan on Dec. [...]

NOAA Fisheries Plans to Enhance Seafood Import Monitoring

NOAA Fisheries on Nov. 14 introduced a new plan to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing while at the same time strengthening the sustainability of seafood, and globally addressing [...]

Study: Conservation Alone Can’t Ensure Sustainable Snow Crab Fishing Goals

A study released by Purdue University on the impacts of climate change on the global snow crab fishery concludes that given the uncertainties induced by climate change, conservation strategies alone [...]

From the Editor: A New Era

Hello and welcome to a new era for Fishermen’s News magazine.  If you missed the announcement that ran in this space last issue, here’s the news: beginning with this issue, [...]

PicoICE Made from Sea Water Introduced to Alaska Fisheries

By Margaret Bauman When the f/v Seabrooke begins fishing out of Akutan in the Aleutian Islands in January, plans are for the Circle Seafoods vessel to be equipped with the [...]

OBI, Ocean Beauty Seafoods Settle Class Action Wages Lawsuit

A federal district court in Washington state has ordered OBI Seafoods and Ocean Beauty Seafoods to pay $2.1 million to resolve a class action lawsuit for paying employees late and [...]

Seafood Industry Urges Biden to Halt Expansion of Marine Monuments

Several dozen seafood industry, related business entities and coastal communities are urging President Biden to halt proposals to create or expand any marine national monuments in the U.S. exclusive economic [...]

Research Team Designs Technology to Measure Carbon Dioxide in Oceans

New technology developed by University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers and their industry partners would enable an unmanned underwater vehicle to measure carbon dioxide in the ocean in order to help [...]

Economics of Harvesting Weigh Heavy on Alaska’s Fishing Industry

By Margaret Bauman The rising costs of harvesting seafood are weighing heavily on Alaska’s seafood industry, with employment down 8% in 2023, while the fisheries themselves overall have strong numbers [...]

NPFMC Plans Special Council Meeting in Anchorage

Members of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council are planning a special council meeting in February at the Egan Center in downtown Anchorage to focus on two issues: a second [...]

New Report Says SEAK SeaBank Contributed Billions to Area Economy

A report highlighting the value of Southeast Alaska’s terrestrial and marine environment, including its commercial fisheries, concludes that annual economic dividends from fisheries and tourism are valued at $1 billion [...]

Five West Coast Salmon, Steelhead Species Remain Endangered

NOAA Fisheries biologists have determined after a five-year review of recovery processes that four salmon and steelhead species in Northern California and Southern Oregon remain threatened. The report, released Dec. [...]

Studying Fish DNA in Water Samples Helps Researchers Estimate Multiple Species’ Biomass

A new study by NOAA Fisheries in partnership with the University of Alaska Fairbanks shows that it’s possible to estimate fish biomass at once for more than one species, using [...]

Maritime Institute Acquires Compass Courses

San Diego-based training provider Maritime Institute announced Nov. 4 that it’s acquiring Edmonds, Wash.-based Compass Courses. The acquisition closed Dec. 1, and training programs are now being held in Edmonds. [...]

ASMI Awarded $8.5M International Marketing Grant

A federal grant for $8.5 million has been awarded to the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute for the purpose of increasing its international marketing efforts over the next five years, ASMI [...]

Study Links Chinook Salmon Declines to Extreme Climate Conditions

A study of king salmon in Alaska, with the focus on the Yukon and Kuskokwim River watersheds, links their population declines to reduced body size and extreme climate conditions in [...]

Fisheries Entity Cites Southeast Alaska as Climate Change Resistant

Research by Oregon scientist Dominic A. DellaSala showing Southeast Alaska to be a climate stronghold in the midst of global warming is being hailed by an educational partner of the [...]

Larger Volumes of Salmon, Pollock in 2025 Have Potential for Revenue Increases

By Margaret Bauman 2024 failed to be a recovery year for the total ex-vessel value of Alaska’s seafood harvest, but the potential of greater harvests of salmon and pollock in [...]