April 2024 – Page 2 – Fishermens News

USCG Launches New Merchant Mariner Credential Format

On March 1, the U.S. Coast Guard began issuing merchant mariner credentials in a new format that replaces the red passport-style book with related endorsement labels, according to the National Maritime Center. “The complexity and degraded reliability of the custom printers used to print the (credential) books necessitated a change to the credential printing process,” according to USCG, adding that the new credentials are going to be “printed on readily available commercial desktop laser jet printers and will vastly improve print services and availability.” The new format is expected to be on 8.5-inch by 11-inch “waterproof and tear-resistant synthetic paper” and feature micro-printing, foiling, intricate patterns and other security measures. Mariners won’t receive separate endorsement ...

Pet Food Salmon Chips Win Alaska Symphony of Seafoods Grand Prize

Polkadog Alaskan Salmon Chips, handcrafted in Boston, took the grand prize at the 2024 Alaska Symphony of Seafood, along with honors for best packaging and first place in the event’s “Beyond the Plate” competition. Other top honors in the annual Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation (AFDF) event, announced on Feb. 21 in Juneau, included first, second and third place winners in retail, foodservice and the “Around the Plate” and “Beyond the Plate” categories, plus awards for salmon choice, whitefish choice, best packaging, best grab-n-go, Bristol Bay Choice and the Seattle and Juneau People’s Choice, with participants in those areas voting for their favorites. Echo Falls Smoked Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Nuggets by Ocean Beauty Seafoods took first prize in retail competition, with sec...

What’s New at NIOSH: A Look at Current Research on Fishing Safety

By Devin Lucas, Samantha Case and Richie Evoy – National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Introduction Commercial fishing is a dangerous job with many challenges and competing priorities. With limited time and resources, managing the various hazards to vessel and crew can be demanding. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has been helping fishermen identify and solve safety problems for over 30 years. This article gives a brief overview of current NIOSH research efforts aimed at helping the fishing industry protect its workforce and vessels from harm. Testing the Integrity of Immersion Suits to Determine Service Life Immersion suits with leaking seams can allow cold water to enter, diminishing the buoyancy and thermal protection needed in an ...

USCG Sector Puget Sound Launches Effort to Curb Vessel Traffic’s Impact on Whales

The U.S. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound is engaging in a four-year pilot program that is expected to help minimize the vessel traffic impact on endangered whales in the Salish Sea, the agency announced Feb. 21. Hosted in the Puget Sound Vessel Traffic Service (VTS), the program allows for the Coast Guard to get whale sighting reports from mariners and give close to real-time information on whale locations to mariners through a whale report alert system, according to the Guard. The Coast Guard said that it plans to work closely with international, federal, tribal and state entities as well as nongovernmental organizations. “The new cetacean desk aligns with our regional goals to help endangered whales and ships share the waters of the Salish Sea,” Rachel Aronson, a program director wit...

Executive Order Expands Coast Guard’s Authority to Address Maritime Cyber Threats On Feb. 21, President Biden signed an executive order amending regulations relating to the safeguarding of U.S. vessels, harbors, ports and waterfront facilities, updating the Code of Federal Regulations to explicitly address cyber threats. “This executive order ensures Coast Guard authorities are aligned with emerging cybersecurity threats, and reflects the commitment of the Biden administration, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard to safeguard maritime critical infrastructure,” Coast Guard Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy Rear Admiral Wayne Arguin said. Section 70051 of title 46, United States Code, commonly referred to as the Magnuson Act, authorizes the President to i...

Calif. Lobster Fisherman Convicted of Poaching for 3rd Time

A California lobster fisherman has been convicted of a multitude of commercial lobster fishing violations, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) said March 5. It was the third commercial lobster poaching conviction for Christopher Miller, 67, of Los Alamos, since 2014. According to CDFW, Miller has pled guilty in Santa Barbara Superior Court to falsifying commercial fishing records, harvesting lobster out of season, and abandoning at least 156 commercial lobster traps around Santa Cruz Island and the Santa Barbara Harbor. After closure of the 2021-22 commercial lobster season and being ordered to remove his lobster traps by CDFW wildlife officers, Miller failed to retrieve any of his traps, posing a significant and detrimental hazard to the state’s marine resources, off...

Top Donors Honored During Seafood Expo for 50M Servings to Food Banks

Two major processors of wild Alaska seafood have been honored as top donors to SeaShare for donations of millions of servings to food banks and other feeding programs since the nonprofit was founded 30 years ago to engage the seafood industry in fighting hunger in America. In awards presented at Seafood Expo North America in Boston on March 10, SeaShare saluted Trident Seafoods for donations of more than 30 million servings of seafood to the nation’s food banks and OBI Seafoods for its contribution of 20 million servings. “It’s staggering to think that one in five Americans don’t know where their next meal will come from,” Trident Seafoods CEO Joe Bundrant said. “Through our work with SeaShare, we’re proud to have donated more than 30 million servings of nutritious, wild Alaska seafood...

The California Salmon Plan

The “California Salmon Strategy for a Hotter, Drier Future” was released by California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Jan. 30. It lists six goals and 71 actions intended to build healthier, stronger salmon populations throughout the state in the face of climate change-induced drought and heat. Some of those actions are ongoing or in the pipeline. Many are aspirational. The strategy’s planning horizon is the next three years of Newsom’s term as governor and so it amounts to a salmon “to do” list for his administration, involving multiple agencies. It’s ambitious, but much needed. And in the face of likely climate change impacts, it’s also a forward-looking planning process that other states should emulate. First of all, we thank Gov. Newsom for having a salmon recovery strategy at all, and for...

Coalition Defends Limits on Trawler Halibut Bycatch

A dispute over the amount of halibut allowed as incidental catch by trawlers targeting groundfish in the Bering Sea has prompted the newly-formed Halibut Defense Alliance to intervene in litigation on behalf of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, NOAA Fisheries). The coalition includes commercial fishermen, charter operators, processors and community organizations that represent halibut-dependent communities across Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, who support the NMFS decision to allow more bycatch when halibut abundance is high and less bycatch when abundance is low. As of early March, the Justice Department was preparing the entire administrative record, with all related documents, to deliver to the federal judge in Anchorage. After that, both sides in the case were to brin...

Miso Marinated Sablefish

Miso marinated sablefish from Alaskan Leader Seafoods, at $11.99 a pound, is one of more than two dozen varieties of frozen seafood stocked by the new Costco Business Center warehouse in Anchorage, with a focus on restaurants, hotels, offices and convenience stores. Also among the frozen seafood offerings is Alaskan Leader’s Bristol Bay sockeye salmon fillets. The fillets are at a sell price of $8.99 a pound, a dollar less than the refreshed fillets of Alaska sockeye salmon sold in the refrigerated section of two other Costco stores in Anchorage. Photos by Margaret Bauman.