Tag: alaska

AFSC Study Looks at Range of eDNA in Marine Fisheries Management
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AFSC Study Looks at Range of eDNA in Marine Fisheries Management

New research by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) in Juneau examines the influence of distance and tides on distribution and concentration of environmental DNA from chum salmon in net pens in Southeast Alaska. It’s another piece of the puzzle as researchers work to understand the overall impact of changing climate conditions on fisheries in the ocean. This study, AFSC research geneticist Diana Baetscher said, addresses one of the critical knowledge gaps in applying eDNA to marine fisheries management. “The idea here is we are able to use eDNA to understand where the fish are,” she said. “What we did with the chum hatchery net pen in Juneau was an experiment to determine where we no longer detect this eDNA. It is just a piece of information floating around in the water...
Trident Seafoods Nearing Sales of Alaska Shoreside Plants
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Trident Seafoods Nearing Sales of Alaska Shoreside Plants

Trident Seafoods officials said March 8 that they’re in the final stages of closing deals on the sales of Alaska shoreside plants in Petersburg, Ketchikan and False Pass, with multiple parties interested in a fourth plant. Trident announced in December that it was seeking buyers for all four plants as part of a strategic restructuring initiative. Trident CEO Joe Bundrant said that his company has been intentional about finding buyers “who will take great care of the fleet and employees and who will integrate themselves into the communities.” As of March 13, the potential buyers for the plants have not been publicly identified. Trident Senior Vice President of Alaska Operations Jeff Welbourn acknowledged that it has been an unsettling time, but said Trident is moving as quic...
Wild Alaska Pollock Options Added to Another Major Sports Arena’s Menu
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Wild Alaska Pollock Options Added to Another Major Sports Arena’s Menu

Wild Alaska pollock dishes are now menu options of a second major sports venue, New York’s UBS Arena, home of the National Hockey League’s New York Islanders, in a partnership negotiated by the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP). The deal was announced on Feb. 14 by GAPP CEO Craig Morris, who said there’s a massive opportunity for seafood at sports and events venues, something GAPP has been invested in capitalizing on. “The Wild Alaska Pollock menu items at Climate Pledge Arena’s Fork & Fin marketplace (in Seattle) have been incredibly successful, and we have no doubt that wild Alaska pollock will perform just as well in New York at UBS Arena,” Morris said. The partnership, funded by GAPP and Trident Seafoods, is expected to continue for the next severa...
Alaska Seafood Processors Still Cutting Back, Despite Government Buys of Canned Salmon
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Alaska Seafood Processors Still Cutting Back, Despite Government Buys of Canned Salmon

Federal government solicitations for canned salmon bids are boosting spirits a bit in Alaska’s commercial fisheries industry, but the overall gloom that has driven the selloff of some processing facilities and announce cutbacks on 2024 fishing season processing prevails. Last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture purchased over $200 million in Alaska seafood and the current solicitation for canned pink and sockeye salmon helps clean up inventory of the sockeyes, Bruce Schactler, food aid program and development director for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, said Feb. 19. “It will pretty much put a big dent in inventory,” he remarked. Meanwhile three major processors – Trident Seafoods, OBI Seafoods and Peter Pan Seafoods – had announced plans for selling off some faci...
Alaska Board of Fisheries Plans Final Action on Hatchery Production Issue
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Alaska Board of Fisheries Plans Final Action on Hatchery Production Issue

Final action on a proposal to reduce hatchery production of pink salmon is scheduled to be heard at the next meeting of the Alaska Board of Fisheries, which is scheduled for Feb. 23-March 5. The board took testimony on Proposal 43 during its meeting in Homer, Alaska from Nov. 28 through Dec. 1, and received additional written testimony in advance of the Anchorage meeting, which is being held at the Egan Convention Center. According to Board of Fisheries Executive Director Art Nelson, Proposition 43 is slated for discussion by Group 6 of the board’s committee on March 2, with final action set for after further deliberations on March 3. Proposition 43, proposed by the Fairbanks Fish and Game Advisory Committee, calls for reduction of overall hatchery production of pink salmon to...
OBI Halts 2024 Salmon Processing at Larsen Bay Plant
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OBI Halts 2024 Salmon Processing at Larsen Bay Plant

OBI Seafoods has canceled plans to operate its plant at Larsen Bay on Kodiak Island for the 2024 salmon season, citing a poor pink salmon forecast from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, plus tough global market conditions for salmon products in general. That decision, announced Jan. 31 by OBI CEO John Hanrahan, marked yet another decision by major processors of wild Alaska seafood to deal with challenging economic conditions in global seafood markets. Salmon caught on Kodiak Island by the OBI Seafoods fleet will be processed at its facility in the town of Kodiak. Hanrahan said that capacity should not be an issue, with OBI’s Seward and Cordova facilities able to support Kodiak during the peak of the season in August. “The Kodiak town plant operates year-round and has the...
New Marketing Association Hawks the Taste of Sole
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New Marketing Association Hawks the Taste of Sole

Major producers of Alaska flatfish announced in late January that they’ve formed the Wild Alaska Sole Association (WASA), with the intent of convincing seafood lovers in domestic and international markets that for a delicious center of the plate protein “you gotta have sole.” “Our fish has significant advantages over inferior farmed whitefish options,” Jim Johnson of Glacier Fish Co. and North Star Fishing Co., LLC, and the newly installed president of WASA, said. “It’s an abundant and conservatively managed fishery that can provide consistent, high-quality supply,” he remarked. “Best of all, it offers all of the benefits the U.S. consumer is looking for – great taste, a unique eating experience, tremendous nutritional benefits and certified sustainability.” Seafood marketing ...
GAPP Working With Federal Government to Protect Alaska Pollock
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GAPP Working With Federal Government to Protect Alaska Pollock

Alaska pollock producers say they’re working with the federal government to assure all loopholes are closed before the Federal Register announcement is published that seals a ban on import of Russian seafood, including imports of Russia-caught seafood processed in China. Under an executive order issued by the White House on Dec. 22, no Russia-originated seafood is permitted for import into the U.S. after mid-February. The ban includes salmon, cod, crab and pollock, either harvested in Russian waters or by Russian vessels anywhere. The bulk of the world’s supply of pollock, a popular and succulent whitefish, is harvested in Russia and Alaska. Alaska pollock is mostly sold as once-frozen fillet blocks or surimi caught by U.S. trawlers and processed in the U.S., while Russian caught...
Alaska Board of Fisheries Meeting in Kodiak
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Alaska Board of Fisheries Meeting in Kodiak

New management proposals for salmon, sablefish and herring are on the table as the Alaska Board of Fisheries meetings at the Kodiak Marketplace in downtown Kodiak through Friday, Jan. 12. A total of 30 proposals, including over a dozen on salmon management around Kodiak, are on the table for the meeting, which began Tuesday, Jan. 9. A number of reports on the agenda range from a review of salmon escapement goals in the Kodiak Management area to the Kodiak management area commercial salmon fishery annual management report, plus a Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission report on permit holdings and estimates of gross earnings in Kodiak commercial salmon fisheries from 1975 through 2022. The meeting is open to the public, and a live video stream is set to be available at the ADF&a...
Fisheries Board Takes Up Proposal to Lower Salmon Production at Alaska Hatcheries
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Fisheries Board Takes Up Proposal to Lower Salmon Production at Alaska Hatcheries

Extensive public testimony is anticipated during the Alaska Board of Fisheries (ABF) meeting in Homer, which concludes Dec. 1, on a proposal to greatly reduce salmon production at Alaska hatcheries. Final action isn’t expected until 2024. Proposition 43 would amend the Cook Inlet Salmon Enhancement Allocation Plan to reduce hatchery production to 25% of the year 2000 production, as was promised in 2000. The proposition, introduced by the Fairbanks Fish and Game Advisory Committee, contends that there’s an over-production of hatchery pink salmon threatening wild Alaska salmon stocks. Art Nelson, executive director of the fisheries board, said the ABF would receive public testimony on Proposition 43 at Homer and may discuss it to some extent during committee work, but not vote o...