Tag: alaska

Alaska Board of Fisheries Plans Final Action on Hatchery Production Issue
14Feb By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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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...
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OBI Halts 2024 Salmon Processing at Larsen Bay Plant
7Feb By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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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...
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New Marketing Association Hawks the Taste of Sole
7Feb By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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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 ...
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GAPP Working With Federal Government to Protect Alaska Pollock
17Jan By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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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...
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Alaska Board of Fisheries Meeting in Kodiak
10Jan By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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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...
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Fisheries Board Takes Up Proposal to Lower Salmon Production at Alaska Hatcheries
29Nov By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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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...
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Bristol Bay Entities Challenge State of Alaska Pebble Mine Lawsuit
15Nov By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Bristol Bay Entities Challenge State of Alaska Pebble Mine Lawsuit

Two Bristol Bay region entities have filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court to counter Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Act veto of the proposed Pebble mine in Southwest Alaska. “EPA finalized Clean Water Act protections in Bristol Bay with the strong support of the people of our region and across Alaska,” said Russell Nelson, board chair of the Bristol Bay Native Corp. (BBNC), which has offices in Dillingham and Anchorage. The EPA’s work in Bristol Bay, Nelson said, “is grounded in solid science and an important regulatory obligation to protect the invaluable salmon resource that has sustained our people since time immemorial.” He also said in a Nov. 9 statement issued by BBNC and United Tribes of Bristol...
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GAPP Explores New Pollock Markets in Southeast Asia
1Nov By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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GAPP Explores New Pollock Markets in Southeast Asia

Attracting new customers in Malaysia is the focus of the latest sales effort of the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP), based on market research that has identified the southeast Asia country of as a favorable market for wild Alaska pollock. Conclusions of a recent market research study on current and potential future markets conducted for GAPP by McKinley Research Group in Anchorage, Alaska showed that Malaysians embrace wild Alaska pollock in both its fillet and surimi forms, with wild Alaska pollock and other whitefish being cooked at home as a center-of-the-plate entrée, with the head on and bones in, fried or cooked in sauce. During Chinese New Year each February, fish is served with the head and tail on, signifying the start of and an end to the year. Su...
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NOAA Seeks Comment on Federal Management of Cook Inlet Fisheries
25Oct By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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NOAA Seeks Comment on Federal Management of Cook Inlet Fisheries

NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comment on a proposed rule to implement federal management of commercial and recreational salmon fishing in Alaska’s Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone. NOAA published the proposed rule in the Federal Register on Thursday, Oct. 19. Previously, salmon management in the federal waters was deferred to the state of Alaska and fishing occurred without respect for the EEZ boundary. Amendment 16 and the proposed rule would result in separate federal management of salmon fishing in the Cook Inlet EEZ, with the state continuing to manage all salmon fishing within state waters. Federal management would implement new requirements for commercial drift gillnet vessels that are fishing in the Cook Inlet EEZ, which would occur from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays and T...
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Analysis Shows Pink Salmon’s ‘Incredible’ Sense of Direction
18Oct By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Analysis Shows Pink Salmon’s ‘Incredible’ Sense of Direction

Results of University of Alaska Fairbanks’ DNA analysis of a massive database on pink salmon shows a remarkable ability of the fish to spawn at nearly the same spot within streams that their parents did. The project, which reviewed genetic data from over 30,000 pink salmon, taps into an ongoing study in Alaska’s Prince William Sound that has collected DNA samples from pink salmon carcasses since 2011. The Alaska Hatchery Research Program (AHRP) samples pink salmon in 30 streams, including five where researchers try to get samples from every salmon returning to spawn. The AHRP is a collaboration of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), nonprofit hatcheries, the fishing industry and academia, largely focused on the impact of hatchery fish on wild salmon populations. T...
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