Tag: alfa

Proposed Aquaculture Legislation Prompts Concerns For Health of Wild Fish
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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. ...
Early Bird Seafood Shares Program Feeds Buyers, Benefits Communities
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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...
Bristol Bay Sockeyes Delivered to Communities Where Fishing Was Banned
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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...
ALFA Wins Seafood Industry Climate Awards Grant
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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...