February 2023 – Page 3 – Fishermens News

Pacific Fishermen Shipyard’s Dixon Honored for Support of North Pacific Fishing Industry

John Douglas “Doug” Dixon, the general manager of Pacific Fishermen Shipyard in Seattle, has been honored by the Norwegian Commercial Club for his life-long contributions to the North Pacific fishing industry with the King Neptune award. The King Neptune Award honors individuals and organizations whose long-term and breakthrough contributions have furthered the economic growth, well-being and recognition of the North Pacific fishing industry. The latest presentation came during the Seattle-based club’s 70th annual Fishermen’s Night in December. Dixon now joins the ranks of industry leaders who have received the honor, including Trident Seafoods’ Chuck Bundrant, Kaare Ness and Bart Eaton, MARCO’s Peter Schmidt, Sam LeClercq, Wally Pereyra, and U.S. senators Ted Stevens, Patty Murray an...

NOAA Backs $16M+ in Fish Passage Funds, Including in Alaska, Washington, Oregon

NOAA Fisheries has recommended spending more than $16 million for 13 tribal priority fish passage projects in seven states, including Alaska, California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. In Alaska, the allocations include $1.59 million to the Chickaloon Native Village, $425,920 to Sealaska Corp., and up to $2.9 million to The Eyak Corp. to remove fish passage barriers and for stream-crossing barriers. In California, the Round Valley Indian Tribes are allocated $1.3 million to engage in dam removal at the Potter Valley Project on the Eel River. Idaho’s Shoshone-Bannock Tribes on the Fort Hall Reservation are receiving over $1 million to restore fish passage and habitat connectivity in the Yankee Fork watershed. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon are to re...

Fishery Disaster Determinations Issued for Alaska, Washington

Fishery disaster determinations were approved by the U.S. Commerce Department in mid-December, with $300 million in disaster assistance for fishing families impacted by canceled crab and salmon harvests to be included in the final version of the FY 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. The eight fisheries approved include Alaska’s multi-million-dollar Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea snow crab fisheries. Cancellation of the 2022-2023 Bering Sea snow crab, the 2022-2023 Bristol Bay red king crab, and the 2021-2022 Bristol Bay red king crab harvest resulted in an estimated $287.7 million loss to participants in those fisheries. Confirmation of the disaster relief funds came from U.S. Senators Patty Murray, D-Wash., a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Mari...

Hawaii Research Center Paying Commercial Fishermen to Collect Derelict Nets

Hawai’i Pacific University’s Center for Marine Debris Research has launched a project to remove derelict fishing gear from the ocean. A bounty will be paid to eligible commercial fishers to remove derelict fishing gear at-sea before it strikes Hawai’i ‘s coral reefs. Fishers registered in the bounty project will be paid between $1 to $3 per dry pound for derelict fishing gear found at sea and brought back to Oahu. Hawai'i Pacific is partnering with the Hawai’i Longline Association and Hawai’i’s Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Aquatic Resources on the project. The goal is to remove 100 metric tons (220,462 pounds) of derelict fishing gear from the Pacific Ocean over two years. The program is partially supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administratio...

2023 Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon Forecasts Anticipate Lower Harvest

Forecasts from the University of Washington Alaska Salmon Program (UW-ASP) and Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) foresee a 2023 Bristol Bay sockeye salmon harvest of 35 million to 38 million, compared to the 2022 harvest of 60 million fish. Forecasts differ due to the modeling used by researchers at the two entities. The UW-ASP preseason forecast, based on historical catch and escapement data collected by ADF&G, plus additional stock, plus 38 individual stocks by age class forecasts, is lower than the recent 10-year average of 57 million fish and 4% higher than the recent 20-year average of observed runs of 48 million sockeyes to Bristol Bay. In recent years, the UW-ASP program has increasingly relied on Dynamic Linear Models (DLM) to generate forecasts based on their...

Oregon, California Coastal Chinook Salmon Move Closer to Endangered Species Protection

In response to a petition by the Native Fish Society, Center for Biological Diversity and Umpqua Watersheds, the National Marine Fisheries Service in mid-January determined that the Oregon Coast and southern Oregon/Northern California Coast Chinook salmon may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act. Historical records indicate that spring Chinook were once present in almost all watersheds of the Oregon and Northern California coastal range. Their combined former ranges include 11 river systems between Tillamook Bay and the Klamath River: the Tillamook, Nestucca, Siletz, Alsea, Siuslaw, North Umpqua, South Umpqua, Coos, Coquille, Rogue and Smith. The Coos and Siuslaw populations, as well as a former population in the Salmon River, have disappeared. “Spring Chinook numbers have...

Toxic Toilet Paper Found in Endangered Orca Whales: UBC Study

University of British Columbia researchers say a chemical used to produce toilet paper, as well as so-called ‘forever chemicals’ have been found in the carcasses of stranded endangered orca whales offshore of the Canadian province. Study results, released in December 2022 in an online publication of the American Chemical Society, show that chemical pollutants are prevalent in killer whales. A chemical often found in toilet paper was the one of the most prevalent in the samples studied, accounting for 46% of the total pollutants identified. The research was a collaborative effort of the UBC Institute for the Ocean and Fisheries, British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Food, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, with researchers analyzing tissue samples from six Southern Resident killer wh...

Update on Hatchery Fish Impact on Wild Salmon Due in 2023

Researchers with the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) in Vancouver, B.C. Canada, said they anticipate including the latest hatcheries-related research in their upcoming 2023-27 science plan, in hopes that the data will be used to improve management to support salmon stocks. “Scientists are focused on density dependent and carry-capacity issues to understand how salmon growth and survival are affected by hatchery and wild salmon abundance, and quantify the current limits to salmon production at each life stage,” the commission’s Executive Director Vladimir Radchenko said. “The ability of the Pacific Ocean to produce salmon is not constant, and for the most part, the limits are not known,” he explained. “A general concern is that competition among different salmon populat...

Seafood Industry Veteran Rogness to Join GAPP

Officials with the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) say they anticipate industry veteran Ronald Rogness becoming the organization’s director for industry relations, partnerships and fishery analysis on Feb. 27. Rogness previously served as a consultant to the organization on economic and fishery matters. Once on board, he’s expected to focus attention on seafood collaborations and committees and securing additional funding to advance GAPP’s mission to boost demand for wild Alaska pollock through grants and other opportunities, officials said. Rogness began his career nearly 30 years ago as a commercial harvester in Washington and later in Alaska. Thereafter Rogness served as staff economist for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, in purchasing at Long ...

IMO Adopts Whale Protections, Extended West Coast Vessel Lanes

Beginning this summer, large commercial vessels along the California coast will begin lining up for entry into the docks farther west and away from the continental shelf in an effort to protect endangered whales, NOAA announced Jan. 5. The International Maritime Organization recently adopted a proposal by the U.S. to expand the area that ships should avoid to allow more protected space for endangered blue, fin and humpback whales. The proposal is expected to go into effect after the spring. The 13-nautical-mile vessel traffic lane extension means that ships would line up for port entry farther west. It also means that the area vessels need to avoid grows by over 2,000 square nautical miles for a total area of avoidance of about 4,476 square nautical miles off Point Conception and Point A...