April 28, 2009 Disclaimer: Inclusion of a news article, report, or other document in this email does not imply MCA support or endorsement of the information or opinion expressed in the document.
NOAA Eases Monitoring Requirements For Dinglebar Fishermen (4/20)
NOAA Fisheries Opens Comments on Proposal Limiting Charter Halibut Boats (4/21)
Halibut Charters Could See 'Limited Entry' (4/23)
Final Report –“Integrating Social Science into NOAA Planning, Evaluation and Decision Making: A Review of Implementation to Date and Recommendations for Improving Effectiveness” (4/16)
NOAA. Notice of a public comment period for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) application from the Best Use Cooperative (BUC).
Marine Mammal Consortium Annual Report 2007-2009
Comment period opened on charter halibut permits (KCAW Audio) (4/21)
National System for Marine Protected Areas Launched by U.S. Departments of Commerce and Interior (4/22)
Obama Administration to Work with Murkowski on Denali Commission and Fisheries Science Funding (4/23)
Opinion. Does state protect fishery rights of all? (4/23)
Yukon River king harvest slashed (4/28)
Seattle-based Trident Seafood agrees to pay fines (4/30)
Two activists in running for top NMFS post (4/24)
MAR-GUN. Coast Guard awaits tide to refloat boat (4/30)
Dedication to Fisheries (4/29)
STATE
Obituary – Dave Woodruff (4/29)
Opinion. Save the Copper River fishery. Promote farm fish for the Lower 48?
Opinion. Protecting fishery and Sound
Gov. Palin prepares for out-of-session Alaska appointments (4/21)
Pew Environment Group Calls for a Crackdown on Unapproved Drug Use by Salmon Farms (4/23)
Set gillnet fleet joins marketing association (4/23)
FEDERAL
NOAA Eases Monitoring Requirements For Dinglebar Fishermen (4/20). NOAA Fisheries in Alaska has eased vessel monitoring requirements—and costs—for boats fishing for lingcod with dinglebar gear in the Gulf of Alaska.
"The eight to twelve fishermen who catch lingcod with dinglebar gear each year in the Gulf fish at fairly shallow depths away from corals," said Doug Mecum, Acting Administrator for the Alaska Region of NOAA Fisheries. "We are dropping our current requirement that these few boats carry vessel monitoring systems."
Previously, dinglebar fishermen participating in the State of Alaska-managed fishery for lingcod in the Gulf were required to carry a vessel monitoring system to track vessels and enforce the prohibition against fishing in habitat areas of particular concern, specifically coral habitat protection areas in the Fairweather Grounds and near Cape Ommaney. More
NOAA Fisheries Opens Comments on Proposal Limiting Charter Halibut Boats (4/21). OAA Fisheries has opened comment on a proposed program designed to limit the number of charter boats in the guided sport halibut fishery in Southeast Alaska and the central Gulf of Alaska.
“The guided sport charter halibut sector has been growing steadily in recent years,” said Acting Regional Administrator Doug Mecum. “The proposed limited access program is intended to stabilize the guided charter sector while maintaining access to the halibut charter fishery for small rural coastal communities."
Under the proposed program,
++permits would be issued to qualifying individuals or businesses that documented fishing trips during a qualifying year (2004 or 2005) and a recent participation year (probably 2007 or 2008) in their logbooks;
++halibut guide business operators would be required to hold a permit for each boat they use to provide their charter clients with halibut fishing trips;
++charter halibut permit holders would be subject to limits on the number of permits they could hold and on the number of charter boat anglers who could catch and retain halibut on their charter boats; More
Halibut Charters Could See 'Limited Entry' (4/23). Next summer could be the first tourist season with a limited fleet of charter vessels.
After nearly two decades of discussing it, federal fishery managers this week published a draft of the limited entry program for Southeast and Southcentral halibut charters.
Charter captains and commercial fishermen in these two areas have fought for years over halibut, and the fight's far from over. When the National Marine Fisheries Service, or NMFS, issues a one-halibut bag limit again this year, expect more war. But limited entry, also known as a moratorium on new charter vessels, is a development that has support on both sides.
"I've been encouraging the (North Pacific Fishery Management) Council to pass it, and hoping for it," said Rick Bierman, spokesman for the Juneau Charter Boat Operators Association. "I'm pleased."
"It's a necessary step, and I think it's in the charter fishery's best interest to get it in place," said Jev Shelton, a spokesman for the Halibut Coalition of commercial fishermen. More
Final Report –“Integrating Social Science into NOAA Planning, Evaluation and Decision Making: A Review of Implementation to Date and
Recommendations for Improving Effectiveness” (4/16). Cover LetterReport
NOAA. Notice of a public comment period for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) application from the Best Use Cooperative (BUC). Comments by May 8
Marine Mammal Consortium Annual Report 2007-2009. The Consortium has published over 160 papers since university based researchers came together to delve into the mysterious decline of Steller sea lions and other species in Alaska. The 2007-2009 Annual Report summarizes some of our latest findings and points to the complexity of the mysteries still to be resolved. More
Comment period opened on charter halibut permits (KCAW Audio) (4/21). The Secretary of Commerce is taking public comment on a proposed rule that would establish a limited-entry system for the guided sport halibut fleet in Southeast and Southcentral Alaska. The rule was published today (Tue 4-21-09) in the Federal Register. If approved by the Secretary, it will create a permit system for halibut charter boats similar to limited entry permits already in place for Alaska’ commercial fisheries.
National System for Marine Protected Areas Launched by U.S. Departments of Commerce and Interior (4/22). In an effort to conserve critical natural and cultural marine resources, the U.S. Departments of Interior and Commerce are partnering with federal, state and territorial agencies to form a National System of Marine Protected Areas (MPA).
“This new national system provides a mechanism for all levels of government to work together to leverage resources, coordinate regional planning, and manage marine protected areas as a system,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “We will continue to work with federal, state, tribal and local governments and stakeholders to share best practices for effectively achieving common marine conservation goals.”
Two hundred and twenty-five (225) existing MPAs managed by various agencies will initially enter the system, which aims to enhance protection of marine resources, build partnerships to address issues affecting MPAs, and improve public access to scientific information and decision-making about marine resources. The national system does not bring state, territorial or local sites under federal authority, nor does it restrict or change the management of any MPA. More
Obama Administration to Work with Murkowski on Denali Commission and Fisheries Science Funding (4/23). WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today got a commitment from Secretary of Commerce Gary F. Locke that the Obama administration would work with her on Fiscal Year 2010 funding for the Denali Commission and fisheries science and research in Alaska.
The commitment came during Locke’s testimony at a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee, of which Murkowski is a member.
The Obama administration released a partial Fiscal Year 2010 budget earlier this year that included few specific federal spending requests. There were no details on funding levels for fisheries research or the Denali Commission in that document. More budget details will be released later this year, and Murkowski used her questioning of Locke to remind him of how important these programs are to Alaska. More
Opinion. Does state protect fishery rights of all? (4/23). By Nicholas Tucker. Editor’s note: This is an open letter addressed to Gov. Sarah Palin. Please understand that this letter is both a fact-finding request and expectation of solid, honest answers. I would like it noted that we, in the 12 Northwest Arctic villages, 42 Interior villages, and the 57 Yukon-Kuskokwim villages deserve a straightforward explanation to Alaska’s motions and actions during the last North Pacific Fishery Management Council meetings held in Anchorage.
First and foremost, our Fish and Game commissioner is appointed as our “executive officer who is responsible for protection, management, conservation and restoration of our Alaska’s fish and game resources.” He is our esteemed representative at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Would you please explain if he duly performed his duties to the utmost at their meeting to fully represent and protect our villages’ chinook salmon in full compliance with the Constitution of the state of Alaska, Article 8, and the Sustainable Salmon Fisheries Policy as adopted by the Alaska State Board of Fisheries and Alaska Department of Fish and Game? As Alaska citizen-users, were we given every consideration as provided for by our constitution and this policy?
From what I can gather, studies and reports clearly and distinctly reveal a bycatch of our chinook salmon in the Bering Sea-Aleutian Islands pollock fisheries. Why, then, would our state have chosen to be the first to make a motion to cap the bycatch at 68,000 of our western, northwestern and Yukon-bound chinook salmon? The commissioner is more than knowledgeable about our 15-year plus rebuilding and restoration efforts on the entire Yukon River drainage — in all instances with great sacrifices. More
Yukon River king harvest slashed (4/28). FAIRBANKS — Anticipating another poor run of king salmon in the Yukon River, state and federal fisheries managers announced there will likely be no commercial fishing for kings on the river this summer and subsistence fishing will be substantially reduced in order to get more fish to Canadian spawning grounds.
The plan, announced Friday, calls for no fishing on the first “pulse” of king salmon to hit the river and a 50 percent reduction in subsistence fishing time for kings after that until biologists are able to determine the strength of the run.
The first pulse of kings historically hits the Yukon in early June and makes up about 25 percent of the entire run, though it has been considerably smaller the past two years, said Steve Hayes, who manages the Yukon River chinook run for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Biologists will monitor the run using test fisheries near the mouth of the river to determine when the first pulse of fish hits the river.
Once that happens, subsistence fishing will be closed to protect the fish as they move up the river. Once the fish pass through an area, or district, the state will allow subsistence in THAT district for only 50 percent of the time that traditionally has been allowed. More
Seattle-based Trident Seafood agrees to pay fines (4/30). ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Trident Seafoods Corp. has agreed to pay over $112,000 for failing to properly report hazardous chemicals.
Trident Seafoods failed to properly report the storage of ammonia at four facilities as required by federal law. In particular, the Seattle-based company failed to file forms with emergency local responders in Alaska and Washington.
The Environmental Protection Agency says the company has agreed to pay more than $61,000 in fines in a settlement. Trident also has agreed to provide more than $51,000 in emergency response equipment to Kodiak and Akutan.
Federal officials say the violations occurred at facilities in Kodiak, Petersburg, Akutan and Seattle. Link
Two activists in running for top NMFS post (4/24). Candidates from the eastern and western epicenters of American fishing — a politically effective scientist at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, and a longtime Alaska commercial fisherman and senatorial aide — are apparent finalists to head the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The Massachusetts candidate is Brian Rothschild, 73, a professor of marine science who came to prominence during a campaign that disproved NMFS science findings in the 1990s and helped resurrect the scallop fishery based in New Bedford.
The other finalist, according to a report Tuesday in the industry Internet publication Seafood.com News, is Arne Fuglvog, 45, a fifth-generation Alaska fisherman and fishery official now on the staff of Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.
Seafood.com News considers Rothschild and Fuglvog to be "two good candidates both with excellent fishing backgrounds."
Rothschild interviewed yesterday with Jane Lubchenco, President Obama's appointment to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that governs oceans and fishing.
He declined to discuss or even confirm the interview, but told the Times that "I have let it be known that I'd be available for the that position."
He also said that "I have heard that (Fuglvog) is a candidate, and that he was a fisherman from Alaska and a member of the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council."
Contacted in Washington, Fuglvog declined comment. More
MAR-GUN. Coast Guard awaits tide to refloat boat (4/30). Recovery personnel worked on the grounded fishing vessel Mar-Gun last week, hoping to refloat it. The Seattle-based, 112-foot highliner went aground on Staraya Beach off St. George Island in the Bering Sea after taking on water in the early morning hours of March 5. Weather conditions of rain, snow, freezing spray and 50-plus miles-an-hour winds have made it difficult to refloat the vessel, said Sara Francis, Coast Guard spokeswoman. Response crews were able to remove the majority of fuel and oil on board — 19,000 gallons diesel and 660 gallons of lube oil.
There were no injuries to the five crew members, who donned survival suits and were picked up by a Coast Guard helicopter and brought to St. Paul.
On April 22, recovery crew prepared the vessel to be pulled from the beach and towed to port, hopefully Dutch Harbor, if there are no leaks or major damage.
“We just got out of a unified command meeting about that today,” Francis said from her office in Anchorage. “We had good weather today and we’re setting anchors to winch it off the beach.
The anchors weigh 8,000 to 10,000 pounds each. One was set on April 22, another scheduled for April 23 and the third was to be brought out by Magone Marine’s vessel Redeemer. More
Dedication to Fisheries (4/29). The University of Alaska dedicated its Lena Point Fisheries Building in Juneau Tuesday, following a long, difficult process of getting money and approval for the building.
Under warm and sunny skies, with a backdrop of the season's remaining snow, Gov. Sarah Palin and a host of academic and research dignitaries were united in their support for the fishing industry and the research that supports it.
When the building was in its conceptual stage 14 years ago, Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation Executive Director Mike Burns was on the University of Alaska Board of Regents.
Tuesday, Burns was at the dedication where Palin called the state's sustainable fisheries and ocean resources a "living Permanent Fund" for Alaska.
Commercial fisheries in Alaska provide $6 billion in economic value annually, and 50,000 jobs, she said. More
Obituary – Dave Woodruff (4/29). Former Juneau resident and longtime Kodiak resident David Michael Woodruff died peacefully April 6, 2009, surrounded by his family. He was 67.
He was born July 22, 1941, in Culver City, Calif. His family moved to Juneau when he was three years old, and he eventually graduated from Juneau-Douglas High School in 1961.
As a young man, he worked in the southeast Alaska fishing, logging, and construction industries. Shortly after high school graduation while working for the Shortfold and Gronhold herring reduction plant in Washington Bay, he married the former Judith Hendricks, and they spent the following three years working as a maintenance engineer and winter watchman and raising their children, Michael and Jeanne.
In the summer of 1965, David became the year-round maintenance man and caretaker for Vita Foods herring reduction plant in Big Port Walter. He and his family left Southeast Alaska when Vita Foods transferred him to Dutch Harbor, where he served as head foreman and maintenance engineer. More
STATE
Opinion. Save the Copper River fishery. Promote farm fish for the Lower 48? Cordova fisherman Herb Jensen’s lawsuit seeking to abolish personal-use fishing throughout Alaska (as well as subject all state fisheries to federal oversight) epitomizes the disconnect commercial fishermen of the Copper River have with the realities of whose fish they are fishing. Those fish belong to Alaskans — all Alaskans, not just a small group of fishermen from one town. Don’t just take my word for it. Read your state constitution, because it states the same. And there is no better use or purpose for those fish than feeding Alaskans.
Jensen said Alaskans should not have the opportunity to feed their children with fish from the state’s rivers because we are taking money away from his pockets. Personally grossing more than $400,000 on fish during one season (according to his own statements to the New York Times), he doesn’t think the thousands of Alaskans who dip net to feed their families are as important as funding his winter trips to Hawaii, which he writes about in the Cordova Times. More
Opinion. Protecting fishery and Sound. By Herb Jensen. One of the great things about our form of government — the government that I served in Vietnam and was wounded in the line of duty for — is that an individual has the right to go before a judge and seek redress for harm inflicted by individuals, the government, or an agent of the government.
I am asking the judge to define the rules applicable to salmon management in Alaska. It is as simple as that. If Alaska is following the rules, then I have no injury and no recourse. If Alaska is not following the rules, why should Alaska get a free pass? I have a huge economic investment in the Prince William Sound fisheries. I am a fourth-generation Alaskan, and I earn my living fishing the waters of Prince William Sound. I fought for a healthy aquaculture association, I fought for the Sound after the oil spill. And now I’m fighting to protect the Sound and our way of life in Cordova. I’m simply exercising my right to have a judge determine what rules apply and who can apply them.
Of course, everyone has an opinion. I respect that. I went to war and fought for you to have that right. I only ask that when you exercise your right that I fought for, that you avoid making personal attacks on me or my family as individuals. Disagree with me on the issue, that is fine, but there is no reason to tear me down in an effort to support your opposing viewpoint. Link
Gov. Palin prepares for out-of-session Alaska appointments (4/21). JUNEAU — Lawmakers last week turned down two of Gov. Sarah Palin’s appointees to state services, offering her an opportunity to pick new people as attorney general and for the controversial Board of Fisheries.
Those appointments will serve until the Legislature holds a fresh round of confirmation hearings after reconvening in January. ~~~~
Fish board politics
The Legislature also could have approved the appointment of Brent Johnson to serve a three-year term expiring June 30 on the Board of Fisheries, commonly referred to as the Fish Board. He would have replaced Bonnie Williams of Fairbanks.
Sen. Joe Thomas, D-Fairbanks, spoke out against Johnson and the perceived lack of Interior representation that would have resulted.
While some people see the appointment as an issue of regional representation, Coghill said it comes down to a balance between river fishery and “blue water” fishery interests.
“What more or less should happen is a balance between commercial fish and sports fish,” he said. “But in the Interior we have commercial fisheries that are on the river. That’s true in the Kenai River as well .... that’s the only reason regional issues fall into it. Some people would think the Kenai is the only river in Alaska.” More
Infection Delays Coho Hatchery (KCAW Audio) (4/21). A naturally-occurring bacterial infection has delayed the opening of a new coho hatchery in Sitka.
Cordovan’s claim questions personal-use fishery (4/22). Herb Jensen of Cordova filed a lawsuit in federal court at the end of last year that claims the state is not in compliance with the provisions of the federal Magnuson-Stevens Act and seeks to alter Alaska’s personal-use fisheries.
The lawsuit states that Jensen, who receives most of his income from salmon purse seining in Prince William Sound, has been hurt by actions taken by the former secretary of Commerce, the National Marine Fisheries Service, North Pacific Fisheries Management Council and the state. The suit’s first claim says the state “discriminates against non-residents and burdens interstate commerce” through personal-use salmon fisheries.
“The 2006 Copper River personal-use harvest was 103,859 sockeye salmon, or 593,035 lbs., which would have been worth $1.115 million to the commercial drift gillnet fleet, or $2,257 per active permit holder,” the suit says.
Jensen’s suit asks the court to, among other things, rule that Alaska’s personal-use fishing regulations for salmon are pre-empted by federal law.
Not everyone in Cordova is supportive of the lawsuit. More
State releases salmon outlook for Bristol Bay (4/23). The Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Commercial Fisheries recently released its “Bristol Bay 2009 Outlook for Commercial Salmon Fishing.” The document is a guide for fishermen, processors and the public for general information about the upcoming salmon season.
There are no regulatory changes from 2009 season. Following are regional highlights:
++Baywide: The forecasted Bristol Bay sockeye salmon run for 2009 is about 33.8 million fish. Approximately 24 million fish potentially available for commercial harvest.
Commercial salmon season in Bristol Bay opens June 1 by regulation.
++Naknek/Kvichak district: An inshore run of about 12.1 million sockeye salmon is expected for the Naknek/Kvichak district in 2009. Based on forecast, projected harvest is about 7 million sockeye; 2.5 million from the Kvichak river, 1 million from the Alagnak River and 3.5 million from the Naknek River. More
Kodiak vies for research vessel (4/29). To promote Kodiak as the homeport for a new research vessel, the City Council will write to University of Alaska officials touting the potential for synergy with other activity here.
In a joint work session Tuesday, Borough Assembly members threw their support behind the effort to lure the university’s planned Alaska Regional Research Vessel to Kodiak. Seward also wants to provide a home berth for the ARRV, which will be more than 200 feet long. Neither city has an appropriate dock available now.
“I don’t care what Seward’s doing,” assembly member Pat Branson said. “I think Kodiak needs to focus on getting this vessel here.”
In an earlier letter to the assembly, Murat Balaban, director of the UAF research facility on Near Island, named an estimate of $9 million for constructing the necessary facilities.
However, City Manager Linda Freed noted the figure was “not accurate or even recent,” because it was based on costs from eight years ago, and space in St. Herman Harbor is now committed for the large boat lift. The city staff is in the process of budgeting for a facilities evaluation aimed at finding a place for the ARRV. Freed named the transient float as a possibility. More
Troubling trend: Kodiak's disappearing kings (4/27). For years, Kodiak Island's 25-mile-long Karluk River offered some of the finest king salmon fishing in North America.
Just ask Les Robbins.
"There ain't nothing like the Karluk," said the 60-year-old Long Beach, Calif., angler who fished the river six consecutive years before fishing was restricted last year. "You could catch as many fish as you wanted. You could easily hook into 20, 25, 30 kings a day, and I'd hook into kings that would take 40 minutes to land.
"It's in a class by itself."
No more. Months before the first angler shows up, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has clamped restrictions on the Karluk and Ayakulik, two premier Kodiak rivers battered by weak king salmon returns. More
Homer News SeaWatch. Palin's pick for fish board rejected (4/29). One of the final actions of this year's state Legislature was to reject Gov. Sarah Palin's appointment of Clam Gulch setnetter Brent Johnson to the Board of Fisheries after a coordinated assault by sport fishing interests.
Half- and full-page ads in papers across the state and mass mailings by sport fishing groups such as the Kenai River Sportfishing Association (KRSA) criticizing the choice, as well as intensive lobbying efforts in Juneau, undoubtedly helped sway some legislators, which shot down Johnson's appointment by 42 to 16.
Johnson, a life-long Alaskan, has a long history of public service, including serving on the Kenai-Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee, Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association, Kenai Peninsula Fisherman's Association, Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commission and Kenai Peninsula and Kasilof Regional Historical Societies. More
MARKETING
Pew Environment Group Calls for a Crackdown on Unapproved Drug Use by Salmon Farms (4/23). Citing widespread evidence of unapproved drug use on salmon farms, the Pew Environment Group today pressed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expand testing on farmed salmon imports from Canada, Norway and the United Kingdom (Scotland and Ireland).
In a letter delivered to the acting commissioner of the FDA, Pew warned of the potential environmental threats related to the discharge of these banned drugs into the marine environment and the potential human health risks associated with some of these chemicals in food production.
The Pew letter also challenges the exception for Maine salmon farming companies to use emamectin benzoate, currently allowed under an Investigational New Animal Drug permit from the FDA.
These pesticide and antibiotic residues are of concern due to their potential harm to human health and the environment. For example, the pesticide emamectin benzoate, which is used to treat sea lice, is "very toxic to aquatic organisms" and "may cause long-term adverse effects in the environment," according to the manufacturer’s safety data. The non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in farmed fish destined for human consumption also raises concerns about the possibility of antibiotic resistant bacterial infections in humans. More
Set gillnet fleet joins marketing association (4/23). A proposal to charge a 1 percent seafood development tax of the Prince William Sound set gillnet salmon fleet was passed by members with 75 percent in favor. The Sound’s set gillnet salmon fleet fishers are now members of the Copper River/Prince William Sound Marketing Association.
Copper River/Prince William Sound Marketing Association executive director Beth Poole welcomed 29 new members to their ranks.
The set gillnet salmon fleet are joining Sound gillnetters, who began assessing a tax in 2005, to fund the marketing association’s programs to promote quality improvements and brand enhancement for the regional salmon fishery.
Thea Thomas, president of the marketing association, was pleased with the outcome of the election.
“Several of our current projects are focused in the western Sound, where setnetters fish, so it’s a perfect time for them to join in and take advantage of the ice barge we’ll be running this summer and our new branding effort for Prince William Sound sockeye.” More
Marine Conservation Alliance
431 N Franklin St Ste 305
Juneau, AK 99801-1186
