August 2021 – Fishermens News

Pacific Fishermen Shipyard Turns 75 – A Tale of Three Anniversaries

Just north of Seattle, on Ballard’s Salmon Bay east of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, sits an icon that seems to have popped right out of another era. Pacific Fishermen Shipyard, or “PacFish” as it’s known to those who do business here, is part commercial enterprise, part museum, and part a study in Norwegian determination, but in a word, it’s a success. In 2021, the yard celebrates its 75th anniversary while it’s legendary general manager, Doug Dixon, logs his 20th year on the job. And by a perfect triangulating circumstance, it’s also the 150th anniversary of Norwegian shipbuilding in the area. PacFish finds itself in the middle of a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood that’s losing its industrial character, so its focus on environmental stewardship is central to its survival. They...

Offshore Wind Power: California Fishing Industry Voices Its Concerns

By Karen Robes Meeks When the Biden Administration announced in May that it would open California’s northern and central coasts to offshore wind projects for the first time, government officials touted the move as part of a larger effort to generate jobs through the creation of 30 gigawatts of domestic offshore wind by 2030. The announcement included comments from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who called the potential for building renewable energy through offshore wind “a game changer” for reaching the state’s own goals in addressing climate change while boosting the economy. “This historic announcement, which could provide clean power for up to 1.6 million homes over the next decade, represents the innovative approach we need for a clean energy economy that protects the coasts, ...

Construction Expected to Begin This Winter on Alaska Cargo & Cold Storage Project

Construction is set to begin this winter on the first phase of the $200 million Alaska Cargo and Cold Storage project, complete with at least 190,000 square feet of climate-controlled cargo and cold storage capacity. The facility at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is a joint venture of industrialist Chad Brownstein and McKinley Capital Management, LLC in Anchorage, led by Rob Gillam. Ultimately, it is expected to have 32.5 million cubic feet of warehouse space, with technologies ranging from climate control zones to a ground source heat exchange and an oxygen reduction fire suppression system. “We are currently in discussion with potential tenants whose input will influence specific size and features of the facility,” said Joe Jacobson, vice president of private equit...

$3M CARES Share Will Keep ASMI Programs Fluid

Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) has received a $3 million distribution of pandemic relief funds, ensuring that the public-private partnership between the State of Alaska and Alaska’s seafood industry can continue its robust worldwide marketing effort. “Without that money we would have had to cut back in definite areas through the coming fiscal year,” said Jack Schultheis, board chairman of ASMI and general manager of Kwik-Pac Fisheries, a subsidiary of the Yukon Delta Fisheries Development Association. Schultheis said that the governor’s office had told ASMI back in February or March that it would receive a distribution from federal CARES Act funds allocating to the states to help it deal with the tremendous financial costs of the global coronavirus pandemic, but it wasn’t unti...

New Members Appointed to Regional Fishery Management Councils

Commerce Department officials on June 28 announced the appointments of new and returning members to the nation’s regional fishery management councils, including 11 to the Pacific, North Pacific and Western Pacific councils. The Pacific Council includes members from California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, plus one tribal seat. The North Pacific Council includes members from Alaska and Washington state. The Western Pacific Council includes members from American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The newly appointed and reappointed members include: Pacific Council: obligatory seats for new member Corey Ridings of California, and reappointments of Christa Scensson of Oregon and Joseph Oatman of the Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho, plus reappointment to at-l...

NPFMC Plans Return to In-Person Meetings

Members of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council are planning to transition back to in-person meetings beginning in October. Both the council’s October and December meetings are scheduled to be held at the Anchorage Hilton Hotel. Final action on the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Pacific Cod catcher vessel trawl cooperative program is on the agenda for the October meeting. The draft schedule for both meetings is online at www.npfmc.org. During the staff tasking section of the council’s virtual meeting which concluded in mid-June, the council decided that all plan team and committee meetings would be held virtually through September, and that the advisory panel and the scientific and statistics committee would also meet virtually for the October meeting. Council members said they su...

Coast Guard Cutter Stratton Returns from 100-Day Alaska Deployment

With its mission accomplished after a 105-day deployment to Alaska, as well as biannual shipboard training off the coast of San Diego, the Coast Guard Cutter Stratton returned in early June to its homeport of Alameda, California. During the deployment the crew of the Stratton, along with an MH-65 helicopter aircrew from Air Station Kodiak, patrolled the Bering Sea up to the ice edge of the Arctic, where they conducted two search and rescue missions in the Bering Sea. With support from the ship’s unmanned aircraft system, the crew also safeguarded Alaska’s multi-billion-dollar fishing industry with 15 fisheries law enforcement boardings, to ensure compliance with maritime laws. Their mission also protected the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone by patrolling the maritime boundary line to preven...

Coast Guard Cutter Healy Holds Change of Command Ceremony

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Peter W. Gautier, acting commander, U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area and Defense Forces West, salutes Capt. Kenneth J. Boda during the Coast Guard Cutter Healy change of command ceremony aboard the cutter moored at Base Seattle, June 25. Boda relieved Capt. Mary Ellen J. Durley as Healy’s commanding officer during the ceremony.

Applications for Saltonstall-Kennedy Grants Being Accepted Through Aug. 16

NOAA Fisheries officials are accepting pre-proposals through Aug. 16 for this year’s Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program, which funds projects to address the needs of fishing communities and increase opportunities to keep working waterfronts viable. The deadline for new pre-proposals was announced on June 28. The competition through the National Marine Fisheries Service awards grants in marine fishery projects ranging from a minimum $25,000 to a maximum of $300,000. The program, when signed into law in 1954, established a fund to provide grants and cooperative agreements for fisheries research and development projects addressing any aspect of U.S. fisheries, including but not limited to harvesting, processing and marketing. Agriculture-focused projects in particular are encouraged to app...

Marine Economy Growing Faster Than Overall U.S. Economy: Report

Data compiled by the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) indicate that the marine economy is growing at a faster pace than the overall U.S. economy. According to the first official Marine Economy Satellite Account statistics released in June, the marine economy accounted for 1.9%, or $397 billion of the current-dollar national gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019, a faster pace than the 2.2% growth for the overall national economy, the report states. Real gross output, compensation and employment also grew faster overall in the marine economy than the overall economy for that year. The statistics are updated to include refinements in methodology and presentation that the BEA incorporated after receiving public comment on the prototype statistics released in June 2020. The Marine E...