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Bering Sea crabbers are again facing the possibility of a delayed fishery as Congressional Republicans threaten to shut down the government, this time over federal funding of Planned Parenthood. A shutdown two years ago stalled the crab opener by two days, costing the fleet more than $5 million in food, fuel and other fees as the boats stood idly by for a week or more awaiting an outcome. “It was a huge mess last time,” said Mark Gleason, executive director of the trade group, Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers. “We have a very tight time frame – whe...
Catches for Alaska’s premier crab fisheries in the Bering Sea could take a dip this year based on results from the annual summer surveys. The annual report by NOAA Fisheries called “The Eastern Bering Sea Continental Shelf Bottom Trawl Survey: Results from Commercial Crab Species” (long dubbed the ‘crab map’) shows tables reflecting big drops over the past year in abundance of legal sized males for both snow crab and red king crab at Bristol Bay. (Only legal males are allowed to be retained for sale.) But there is a bright side -- both stoc...
Fish deaths, drought in California, tropical creatures appearing in cold waters – those freakish happenings and more are being blamed on a giant splotch of warm water that for two years has been pushing against coastlines on the West Coast, Canada and into Alaska. “They call it the Blob because of its original circular shape on the sea surface,” explained Dr. Carol Janzen, an oceanographer and Operations Director at the Alaska Ocean Observing System in Anchorage. “However, this feature is not static, it’s constantly reshaping itself in circul...
Of an estimated 58 million pink salmon harvest for 2015, so far seiners have netted less than half that, some 26 million by the end of last week. "We are not even coming close (to projections)," explained Dan Gray, Alaska Department of Fish and Game management coordinator for Southeast fisheries in Sitka. He estimated that the season will end with a harvest of 30 to 35 million pinks, and recent weekly catch trends indicate that the season is past its peak. "It's dying fast," an industry expert... Full story
Alaska’s salmon season so far has been characterized by ups and downs, and it will be a stretch for the total catch to make the forecasted 221 million fish. “It just depends on how these late returning pink salmon at Prince William Sound performs, and whether or not pinks pick up at Southeast. It’s possible, but we would still have to harvest around 30 million more salmon,” mused Forrest Bowers, Deputy Director of the state’s Commercial Fisheries Division. One of the biggest fish stories of the season, of course, was the surprising double ru...
The Alaska Board of Fisheries last week released its 2015-2016 Proposal Book for review. Some 215 proposals were accepted for review during the board’s regulatory meetings. Regulations potentially to be affected include Pacific cod and finfish in the Alaska Peninsula, Chignik and Bering Sea-Aleutian Island areas; Bristol Bay finfish; Arctic, Yukon and Kuskokwim finfish; and statewide finfish. Proposals may be downloaded off the board’s website in sections, as well as for full meetings, at www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=f...
Shock and dismay were heard from Bristol Bay fishermen when they finally got word last week that major buyers would pay 50 cents a pound for their sockeye salmon. That’s a throwback to the dock prices paid from 2002 through 2004, and compares to $1.20 advanced last year ($1.33 on average after price adjustments). A late surge of reds produced catches of nearly 13 million in its final week, bringing the total by July 23 to 34.5 million fish. The fish were still trickling in, and state managers, who called the season an ‘anomaly,’ said the final...
Kodiak volunteers were scrambling with front end loaders and dump trucks to ready 200,000 pounds of super sacks for the first pick up of a massive marine debris removal project that begins in Alaska this week. The month long cleanup, which is backed by a who’s who of state and federal agencies, non-profits and private businesses, will deploy a 300 foot barge and helicopters to remove thousands of tons of marine debris from some of the world’s harshest and most remote coastlines. “This is a really big deal for Alaska. We have one of the world...
“Upcycling” seafood byproducts is the business model for Tidal Vision, a Juneau-based company of five entrepreneurs who are making waves with their line of aquatic leather and performance textiles. The start-up is making wallets, belts and other products from sheets of salmon skins using an all-natural, proprietary tanning formula from vegetable oils and other eco-friendly ingredients. “We can produce the same quality and durability products with no formaldehyde, no chrome based tanning chemicals or EPA regulated chemicals to dispose of. And we...
As Alaska’s salmon season heads into high gear, a few bright spots are surfacing in an otherwise bleak global sales market. Sales and prices for all salmon (especially sockeye) have been in a slump all year. And amidst an overall glut of wild and farmed fish, Alaska is poised for another huge salmon haul, with the largest run of sockeye salmon in 20 years predicted along with a mega-pack of pinks. Meanwhile, the single toughest thing stacked against Alaska’s sales to traditional overseas customers is the strong US dollar. “Overall, the dolla...
Alaska trawl bycatch halibut To the Editor: Our North Pacific Fisheries Management Council just met in Sitka, Alaska. Trawl bycatch (non-targeted species) of juvenile halibut in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands was on the agenda. Around 130 people gave public comment on this topic in addition to 3 inches of paper letters in a spiral binder compiling written public comments. The overwhelming majority urging the council for a 50 percent reduction in halibut waste. A reduction of roughly 20 percent allowable trawl bycatch of halibut was...
Salmon fisheries are opening up this month from one end of Alaska to the other. Total catches so far of mostly sockeye, were under one million fish, but will add up fast from here on. A total haul for all Alaska salmon this season is pegged at 221 million fish. A highlight so far is a 40 percent increase in troll action at Southeast regions, where nearly 300 fishermen are targeting king salmon. That’s likely due to a boosted price averaging $7.54 a pound, up $1.88 from last year. Speaking of high prices – Alaska halibut fishermen are fet...
How much are fishermen affected by long term health problems like hearing loss, lack of sleep and high blood pressure? A pilot study aims to find out and researchers are using the 500-plus members of the Copper River salmon driftnet fleet as test subjects. “The Copper River fishing season lasts five months and most of the fleet is very digitally connected so it seemed a great fit,” said Torie Baker, a Sea Grant Marine Advisory Agent in Cordova. Baker is the point person for the project being done by the School of Public Health at the Uni...
Each year more than one third of all the salmon caught in Alaska begin their lives in a hatchery. There are 31 hatchery facilities in Alaska: 15 privately owned, 11 state owned, two federal research facilities, one tribal hatchery at Metlakatla, and 2 state owned sport fish hatcheries. Alaska’s hatchery program is very different from fish farming, where salmon are crammed tightly into net pens until they’re ready for market. All salmon born in Alaska’s hatcheries come from wild brood stock, and are released as fingerlings to the sea. When...
Of all the global fish news sites, London-based Undercur-rent News has risen to the top when it comes to scoops on sales of Alaska seafood companies. The latest - Icicle Seafood owners Paine and Partners of San Francisco are having a tough go selling their wild salmon assets in the face of a tight market and another big wild harvest on the horizon. Icicle produces fresh, frozen and canned salmon at plants in Petersburg, Seward, Egegik/Bristol Bay, Larsen Bay/Kodiak Island; and near Dillingham. “Final bids are in and news on if Icicle will be b...
Caribou instead of corn dogs…salmon instead of Trout Treasures… seal meat in place of spaghetti – all could soon be available to more Alaskans if traction continues on a new bipartisan bill before the Alaska legislature. The bill - HB 179 - allows schools, senior centers, hospitals, child care centers and other facilities to accept and serve fish, game, plants and eggs that are donated by subsistence and sport users. Currently, well-meaning state laws intended to prevent the commercial sale of wild game make the practice illegal if a progr...
A nearly $12 million cut in state funds is on tap for the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game if state policy makers have their way. That was one early outcome of legislative House finance subcommittee meetings last week, as they wrapped up the first step in a budget process that will see cuts in agencies and programs almost across the board. According to Juneau Resources Weekly, the ADF&G budget reductions cut across all divisions with sport fishing facing the most personnel losses at 12 seasonal jobs. The Division of Habitat could lose $400,000;...
Right after the yearly halibut catch limits are announced each January, brokers usually are busy with buying and selling and transferring shares of the catch. But it’s been slow going so far, even with slight harvest increases in nearly all Alaska fishing areas for the first time in nearly a decade. The buyers are there – it’s the sellers that are scarce. “There’s less of a rush this year, but there are less quota shares available,” said Olivia Olsen at Alaskan Quota and Permits at Petersburg. “We’ve had some good sales in Southeast (2C),...
The Petersburg offices of Alaska Longline Company will be moved to Seattle by April 1. The three employees at the office have opted not to take their equivalent positions at the Seattle offices, ending their time with the company that’s been based out of Petersburg since the mid-80s. Larry Cotter—CEO of APICDA, of which Alaska Longline is a subsidiary—said that juggling two offices along with high health insurance costs are the driving forces behind the consolidation of offices in Seattle. “It’s increasingly difficult to maintain two offices,... Full story
Lovers choose lobster as the top Valentine's Day dish to share with that special someone. Crab legs and shrimp also get the nod as 'romantic meals' on Feb. 14 - one of the busiest dining out days for U.S. restaurants. In a national survey by Harris Interactive, chefs called lobster an "exotic delicacy that results in an intimate moment because it is hand-held and shareable." In fact, respondents called all shellfish 'a catalyst for connection like no other food.' The links between seafood and...
Alaska seafood marketers are ramping up promotions and bankrolling a global $1 million media blitz to counteract a tough sockeye salmon market. Sockeyes are by far the most valuable salmon catch, often worth two-thirds of the value of Alaska’s entire salmon fishery, but last summer’s unexpected surge of reds left lots of inventory in freezers, and record US imports of competing farmed salmon from Chile and Norway combined with the prospect of another big run at Bristol Bay make for a sockeye sales squeeze. Alaska’s approach will be patte...
Alaska seafood marketers are facing some strong headwinds heading into 2015, notably, for sockeye salmon and crab. Snow crab is Alaska’s largest crab fishery, underway now in the Bering Sea. The fleet has a slightly increased 61 million pound catch quota; boats also are tapping on a hefty bairdi Tanner crab catch, the larger cousin of snow crab. A 25% increase in snow crab, the unexpected 15 million pound Tanner fishery, a weak Japanese yen, plus several million pounds of Russian snow crab from a new fishery in the Barents Sea, (not to mention...
Alaska still has its share of naysayers who will quibble about the seafood industry’s importance to our great state. They dismiss the fact that fishing was Alaska’s first industry and was fish that spawned the push to statehood. “The canned salmon plants started in the 1870s and by the early 20th century, canned salmon was the largest industry and generated 80% of the territorial tax revenues. It had a position in the state economy that oil enjoys today,” said fisheries historian Bob King. The fisheries that Alaska inherited from the federal...
Salmon will always be the heart of Alaska’s fisheries, and that’s why most people think of summer as the fishing season. But that’s not the case. The heart of winter is when Alaska’s largest fisheries get underway each year. On January first, hundreds of boats with hook and line gear or pots begin plying the waters of the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska for Pacific cod, rockfish and other groundfish. Then on January 20th trawlers take to the seas to target Alaska pollock, the world’s largest food fishery with annual harvests topping three bil...
On Dec. 18 Wrangell’s advisory committee to Alaska Department of Fish and Game held the last and lengthiest of its public meetings to discuss Board of Fisheries proposals for the 2014-15 meeting cycle. This 12-person committee let the public review and discuss new finfish management proposals, providing their recommendations to the state board of Fisheries. Consulting them on management policies were Troy Thynes and Patrick Fowler from Petersburg’s ADFG office. Among the policies the committee supported, it voted ten to two in favor of cre...
