Issue: April 2023

Alaska Wildlife Troopers (AWT) are giving advance notice to Bristol Bay commercial salmon drift gillnet permit holders that their vessels will be measured during the 2023 season to be sure that they adhere to the 32-foot overall length rule. AWT noted in a Feb. 14 letter to permit holders that some adaptations in equipment have occurred in the past few years to promote quality and overall safety within the fleet, but that others had been made for operational performance. The regulation limits gillnet vessels to 32 feet in overall length with few exceptions. One exception is an anchor roller may extend no more than eight inches beyond the 32-foot overall length and may not be more than eight inches in width or height. The regulation defines “overall length” as the straight-line measureme...

A union that represents Canadian commercial fishing industry workers has filed a petition with the country’s House of Commons to end foreign ownership and interest in Canada’s professional fishing licenses and quotas. The British Columbia-based United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union said Feb. 22 that it had launched the parliamentary petition, which requests an immediate stop to any further foreign ownership or beneficial interest in Canadian licenses and quotas. The petition supports a recommendation made by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans’ 2019 Report on Sharing Risks and Benefits, which states in part that “based on the principle that fish in Canadian waters are a resource for Canadians (i.e. common property), no future sales of fishing quota and/or...

The Alaska Board of Fisheries in mid-March approved a Nushagak District king salmon stock of concern management plan to provide management tools and guidelines that aim for sustained yield of king salmon stocks large enough to meet sustainable escapement goals. The substitute language included in record copy (RC) 53, requested by board member Tom Carpenter of Cordova, allows for harvest opportunity by commercial, sport and subsistence users. The plan is expected to remain in effect until the king salmon escapement is within the escapement goal for three or more years. Veteran Bristol Bay harvester Fritz Johnson of Dillingham said his fear is that whatever’s impacting king salmon abundance around the state has spread to the Nushagak. “It’s encouraging to see the research plan outlined ...

Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) project manager David Turner has been appointed to the National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee to represent the viewpoints of naval architects and marine engineers, EBDG announced March 13. Turner, who has 20 years’ experience in naval architecture and vessel design, is responsible for the fishing vessel sector with Seattle-based EBDG and has managed and worked onboard vessels for projects ranging from concept design, vessel refurbishments, stability and weight calculations, to efficiency improvements, according to his employer. EBDG Principal John Waterhouse said the firm is extremely proud of Turner’s work in the fishing industry as well as of the recognition that being named to the committee brings. Elliott Bay Design Group is a full-serv...

A former Star-Kist tuna cannery that operated at the Port of Los Angeles from the 1950s through the 1970s should be demolished, the port’s Board of Harbor Commissioners has decided. On a 3-1 vote during its Feb. 9 meeting, the board decided to approve the demolition despite opposition from parties that wanted to preserve the building, which has served as a link to LA’s past as a significant tuna fishery. The former Star-Kist cannery facilities sit on a 14-acre site on the Terminal Island container terminal within the port. There are plans to develop the site as a chassis repair and maintenance depot. The demolition area would be covered with recycled concrete and asphalt until the area is ready for development, port officials have said. “The port has attempted to reuse these facilitie...

Wild Alaska sockeye salmon with ribbon kelp chimichurri by Peter Pan Seafoods claimed the grand prize in the 2023 Alaska Symphony of Seafoods, an annual competition to promote new products made with wild Alaska seafood. Peter Pan’s entry also claimed first place in retail competition. The recipe is the first time a major Alaska processing company has integrated Alaska kelp into a new product. Ocean Beauty Seafood’s Ocean Beauty Grill House Burger won the food service competition and Trident Seafoods’ Pure Catch Wild Alaska Omega-3 Triple Strength fish oil supplements took top honors in the “Beyond the Plate” competition.  Also honored in retail competition was Kelp Chili Crisp by Barnacle Foods, which received second place. Kelptastic Farms’ CBD Kelp Brownies and Thunder’s Catch Wild ...

Fisheries researchers in a collaborative federal, state and university study have concluded that at-sea competition is the main driver of the decline in sockeye salmon size, with an emphasis on the tradeoff between fish abundance and body size. The study notes that pink and sockeye salmon show high diet overlap, indicating that direct competition for food might be causing the negative link between sockeye size and pink salmon abundance. Recent high seas salmon research in the central and eastern Gulf of Alaska suggests little spatial overlap between sockeye and pink salmon in winter/spring months, but knowledge about their spatial overlap in other areas and seasons is incomplete, the researchers said. Study results published in February in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, an inde...