Tag: alfa

Fall Hybrid Fishermen’s EXPO Offers Free Workshops, Training in Sitka
1Nov By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Fall Hybrid Fishermen’s EXPO Offers Free Workshops, Training in Sitka

Workshops and training on topics ranging from updates on fuel efficiency and hybrid engine projects to Alaska marine safety are on tap for the Fall Hybrid Fishermen’s EXPO in Sitka on Nov. 15. The free event, taking place at Sitka’s Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association’s conference room, is sponsored by the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) and the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust (ASFT), with additional funds from the City and Borough of Sitka, the Edgerton Foundation and the OneUSDA Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy initiative. Attendees are invited to participate in various sessions, including the possible start-up of a Regional Seafood Development Association in Southeast Alaska, Nobeltec TIMEZERO updates to cartography and bathy and Natio...
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Federal Fisheries Council Action on Bycatch Prompts Critical Rebuttal
18Oct By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Federal Fisheries Council Action on Bycatch Prompts Critical Rebuttal

A group of commercial, sport and subsistence fishing entities are taking issue with a decision by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) to postpone setting limits on chum salmon bycatch and reducing seafloor damage caused by midwater trawl gear. Their concerns were summarized in a statement issued Oct. 12 by the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA), SalmonState, DeepStrike Sportfishing and the Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association. During its October meeting in Anchorage from Oct. 2-10, the council approved analysis of additional management measures to minimize chum salmon bycatch. The council acknowledged that about  99% of the chum salmon encountered as bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery are encountered ...
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Energy Dept. Awards ALFA $700,000 for Energy Transition
4Oct By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Energy Dept. Awards ALFA $700,000 for Energy Transition

A $700,000 Department of Energy (DOE) award announced on Oct. 3 is expected to allow the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) in Sitka to move forward with its long-term plan of energy transition in the small boat fishing and mariculture industries. The ALFA BETA (Boat Energy Transition Accelerator) project aligns with ALFA’s mission to address climate change and decarbonize the seafood industry. “With generous support from DOE, ALFA is poised to play a leading role in revolutionizing energy usage within the small boat commercial fishing sector,” ALFA Executive Director Linda Behnken said. “This project will allow us to pilot test hybrid and full electric propulsion in small boat fishing and mariculture operations,” she continued. “We will build on our work with the ...
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Battery-Electric Fishing Vessel to Be Tested in Alaska
6Sep By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Battery-Electric Fishing Vessel to Be Tested in Alaska

Harvesters with the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) are collaborating with the federal Energy Department’s Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project to test the future of energy-efficient low emissions fishing vessels powered by battery-electric motors. Plans are, this fall, for a 46-foot commercial fishing boat, the I Gotta, to cruise into the waters of Sitka, cut its diesel engine and turn on a low-and zero-emissions propulsion system, becoming one of the first low-emissions fishing vessels ever deployed in Alaska. Officials with the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo. announced Aug. 22 that when using a unique parallel hybrid battery-diesel system, the boat can travel at full speed using its diesel engine, the...
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Subsistence Fishermen Share Catch with Yukon, Chignik Families
26Jul By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
Fishermen's News Online, From the Fleet

Subsistence Fishermen Share Catch with Yukon, Chignik Families

Subsistence salmon gathered by Dillingham, Alaska area residents in advance of the Bristol Bay commercial salmon fishery are sharing over 5,000 pounds of their catch with families along the Yukon River and Chignik area that are unable to fish in 2023 because of low run returns. Plans are for Grant Aviation to fly the whole, cleaned and frozen fish in August to Alakanuk, Pitkas Point, Saint Mary’s, Chignik Lagoon and Chignik Bay. Some fish will also be used by the Yukon River Drainage Fishermen’s Association Educational Exchange program where several youth will travel to communities on the Yukon and share their experiences with salmon. The salmon donation project is a collaborative effort of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association’s (ALFA) Seafood Distribution Network, plus No...
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Proposed Aquaculture Legislation Prompts Concerns For Health of Wild Fish
21Jun By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Proposed Aquaculture Legislation Prompts Concerns For Health of Wild Fish

Bipartisan legislation reintroduced in the U.S. Senate to establish national standards for offshore aquaculture is drawing criticism from a group of fishermen, coastal communities and others concerned about potential adverse impact on factory fish farms on wild fish. The Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act, reintroduced on June 7 by Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), would designate the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as the lead federal agency for marine aquaculture and direct NOAA to establish a permitting system for offshore aquaculture for farms in federal waters. AQUAA would also direct NOAA to lead a research and development grant program to spur innovation in the aquaculture industry. ...
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Early Bird Seafood Shares Program Feeds Buyers, Benefits Communities
5Apr By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Early Bird Seafood Shares Program Feeds Buyers, Benefits Communities

A seafood program delivering monthly shares to buyers throughout Alaska and the Seattle area is off and running for the 14th year, with profits going directly to affiliated programs benefitting fishery conservation, community health and resilience efforts. This year, Alaskans Own is again offering customers the option of choosing their shares in a variety package, salmon or white fish, all of which feature hook-and-line caught wild Alaska seafood harvested by Southeast Alaska’s troll and longline fishermen. To date, the program, created by the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA), has helped deliver more than 650,000 donated seafood meals to more than 100,000 families, according to ALFA. It also has given longline fishermen some certainty that they have a market before headin...
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Bristol Bay Sockeyes Delivered to Communities Where Fishing Was Banned
12Oct By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Bristol Bay Sockeyes Delivered to Communities Where Fishing Was Banned

A collaborative effort of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) and Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust (ASFT) has brought thousands of pounds of sockeye salmon to communities in the Chignik and Yukon River regions of Alaska banned from fishing because of low salmon runs. “It was really important to us that we expand our salmon distributions to the Yukon where they are facing a true food security crisis due in part to climate change’s impacts on our marine ecosystem and the health of our wild salmon runs,” said Linda Behnken, a veteran commercial harvester who’s the executive director of ALFA and president of the ASFT board. “We recognize that this summer’s salmon donations are a band-aid at best and that we ultimately need to address the underlying causes of these de...
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ALFA Wins Seafood Industry Climate Awards Grant
28Sep By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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ALFA Wins Seafood Industry Climate Awards Grant

The Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) in Sitka, Alaska, has received a $40,000 grant for a pilot project that would convert the Alaska fishing fleet to hybrid diesel/electric in order to help lower the carbon footprint within the seafood industry. The project, supported by the Energy Transitions Initiative Project Partnership, has ALFA working with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Kemp Energetics to transfer technologies proven through other forms of transportation to small scale commercial fishing boats. The Seafood Industry Climate Award (SICA) from Acme Smoked Fish Foundation in Brooklyn, N.Y., will be used to purchase equipment for ALFA’s hybridization/decarbonization project, ALFA Executive Director Linda Behnken said. Together with TD Bank of Anc...
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