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NOAA Seeks Comment on Federal Management of Cook Inlet Fisheries

25Oct

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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...

Analysis Shows Pink Salmon’s ‘Incredible’ Sense of Direction

18Oct

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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...

NOAA Fisheries Releases Aquaculture Accomplishments Report

4Oct

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NOAA Fisheries Releases Aquaculture Accomplishments Report

NOAA Fisheries has released its Alaska 2023 Aquaculture Accomplishments Report, highlighting 14 projects that supported the Alaska aquaculture priorities of managing sustainably and efficiently, leading science for sustainability and educating and exchange of information. For 2023, NOAA’s Alaska Aquaculture Program prioritized 10 of 17 total national objectives listed in the 2023-2028 Aquaculture Strategic Plan. One highlight of the year is a project underway at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s (AFSC) Kodiak Lab, a collaboration with local kelp farmers to investigate how farmed seaweed compares to natural seaweed beds as a habitat for local marine animal species. Fishery ecologist Alix Laferriere is using video surveys, Standard Monitoring United for the Recruitment of Fi...

27Sep

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Alaska Board of Fisheries 2023-24 Meeting Date Proposals Now Available

Agendas for the latest 2023-2024 Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting cycling, with sessions in Homer, Kodiak and Anchorage, are now available online. The board accepted a total of 255 proposals from the public, local fish and game advisory committees, organizations and the Department of Fish and Game for review in these regulatory areas. Proposals may be downloaded off the board’s website individually, in sections, or for entire meetings. The website is http://boardoffisheries.adfg.alaska.gov. The Homer session from Nov 28 through Dec. 1, is to be held at the Land’s End Resort. The Kodiak finfish session is set for Jan. 9-12 at Kodiak Marketplace. From Feb. 23 through March 7, the state fisheries board is to meet on Upper Cook Inlet finfish issues at the Egan Convention Cente...

27Sep

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Ocean-Based Climate Policies Under Fire

Commercial fisheries entities, including the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (WPFMC) and Alaska’s Coastal Villages Region Fund are voicing new opposition to new marine sanctuaries, citing potential adverse impact to current commercial fisheries. Testimony presented to the WPFMC in Honolulu in mid-September contends that the conservation plan for the new sanctuary is already satisfied by existing fishing regulations, the publication Seafood Source reported. Rep. Paul Gosar, R- AZ, chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, said that the marine protected sanctuaries plan was done without due consideration to negative consequences for the economy, environment and thousands of working Americans. The Biden administrati...

New Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commissioner Named

20Sep

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New Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commissioner Named

Mike Porcaro, a radio talk show host and advertising consultant, has been appointed by Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy to serve on the state’s Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC), which oversees the state’s commercial fishing permits. The Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) is a two-member agency that’s independent from the state’s executive branch. Its mandate is to provide due process hearings and appeal processes for disputes related to limitations on fishery participation. The commission was established in the 1970s after Alaska voters approved a constitutional amendment to limit access to the state’s commercial fisheries — a right that had previously been guaranteed to all residents. Porcaro’s appointment occurred in August, but no formal announcement was made...

Commercial Salmon Catch in Alaska Tops 200M Fish

30Aug

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Commercial Salmon Catch in Alaska Tops 200M Fish

Alaska salmon harvests statewide have now exceeded 97% of the pre-season forecast, after a large jump in the harvest total, fueled by what was likely the peak week for pink salmon harvest. As of Monday, Aug. 28, the preliminary commercial salmon total for the 2023 season stood at 200.7 million fish. That number includes 133.2 million pink, 49.6 million sockeyes, 16.6 million chums, 1.2 million coho and 185,000 kings, according to calculations of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Following weeks of trailing the 2022 (2021 for pinks) benchmark, the 2023 harvest volume is now similar to the comparison year in estimated total volume, according to Simon Marks, a research analyst with McKinley Research Group in Juneau, who’s producing weekly in-season commercial salmon harvest up...

Alaska Wildlife Troopers Cite Harvesters for Discarding Commercially Caught Salmon

16Aug

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Alaska Wildlife Troopers Cite Harvesters for Discarding Commercially Caught Salmon

Alaska Wildlife Troopers say that as part of a summer enforcement program, they conducted boardings in the Alaska Peninsula and Unimak Island commercial salmon fishery known as Area M, and issued citations in nine incidents where commercially caught fish were discarded. The trooper report issued this past week said that collectively, troopers boarded over 100 commercial vessels, with some 300 commercial fishermen contacted and 21 citations issued. Of those 21 citations, nine were issued to captains and crew who were observed discarding commercially caught salmon from their vessels after the fish were brought on board. Alaska Department of Public Safety spokesperson Austin McDaniel said all nine individuals cited for dumping commercially caught fish must appear before a judge, and...

16Aug

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Salmonfest 2023: a Sold Out Success

Ask festivalgoers who show up by the thousands every year what attracts them to Salmonfest at Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula Fairgrounds, and they’ll say it’s the music. But the undercurrent is the promotion and conservation of healthy salmon habitat. “You can’t build an event around a cause,” festival producer Jim Stearns told Fishermen’s News. “People don’t (care) about the cause. It has to be all about the music first, but even opponents (of the cause) come because it is so cool, and then you get your message out.” That message -- about the importance of sustainable salmon habitat in the ocean and Alaska’s rivers and streams -- is provided each year at Salmonfest by a number of nonprofit conservation and other activist entities, plus speakers, including Native Alaskans, on four stag...

Pebble Permit Legal Battle Rises to U.S. Supreme Court

9Aug

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Pebble Permit Legal Battle Rises to U.S. Supreme Court

State of Alaska officials are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) veto of a Clean Water Act permit needed for construction of the Pebble copper, gold and molybdenum mine on property abutting the Bristol Bay sockeye salmon fishery. The “bill of complaint” filed by the state on July 26 argues that the EPA’s decision violates the state’s right to develop its natural resources for the maximum benefit of its people. “Bureaucrats in Washington D.C. are exercising unbridled and unlawful power to choke off any further discussion on this important decision affecting so many Alaskans,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy said. “It’s an indefensible and unprecedented power grab that the U.S. Supreme Court should find unlawful,” Alaska Attorney General Treg ...