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Charter operators sue over one-halibut limit (KFSK Audio) (5/27)
NOAA Opens Public Comment On Potential Arctic Fishing Plan (5/26)
Federal Agency Opens Comment On Arctic Fisheries Plan (5/27)
NPFMC. Items For June Meeting
Canada. Meeting Wednesday on mitigation for West Coast troll fishery (5/26)
UNEP. Large Marine Ecosystem Report (Include Bering and GOA)
USCG. Navigational aids targeted by vandals, thieves (5/28)
STATE
Westman Marine puts finishing touches on Alaska seiner (5/14)
CDQ group opens fish processing plant in Platinum (5/22)
Funds sought to restore habitat for Pribilof king crab fishery (5/22)
Homer boat fuel prices ‘exorbitant’ (5/27)
Homer's own 'shipping news'. Wooden treasure sails the seas of Alaska (5/27)
Homer news SeaWatch. Humans to replace sonar for fish count (5/27)
Howard Delo. Inside look at fisheries meetings (5/25)
Recycling old fishing nets for energy (5/23)
Fish commissioner heads to Western Alaska (5/28)
NSF announces funding for Alaska Region Research Vessel (5/27)
MARKETING
Compass Group Announces Results of Landmark Policy to Purchase Sustainable Seafood (5/14) [Pollock, Pacific cod, wild Alaska Salmon]
Model of U.S. Alaska Pollock Fishing Vessel on Display at Smithsonian. C/P Alaska Ocean Model Donated by At-sea Processors Association to The National Museum of American History (5/22)
Bristol Bay regional Seafood Development Assn. Your 1% at Work - 2009 Project Reports now available (5/28)
Pacific Andes proposes rights issue (5/22)
Eat oily fish to keep brain healthy (5/27)
MISC
Ranking fails all Canadian supermarkets on supporting sustainable seafood (5/22)
FEDERAL
Southeast Alaska charter operators will challenge one fish limit (5/15). Halibut charter fleet owners in Southeast Alaska affiliated with the Charter Halibut Task Force have voted unanimously to support a lawsuit to challenge a recent federal decision that imposes a one-fish a day limit, a ruling that begins June 5.
Earl Comstock, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney for the task force, cautioned in a memo to the group following the vote that everyone needs to understand that the courts give great deference to the government in any court challenge.
But, he added, the group has strong substantive and procedural arguments to raise, and has a strong chance to win the case.
"The only down side is if we lose, it arguably sets the precedent that the guideline harvest level was a fair and equitable allocation, but since that is the position that National Marine Fisheries Service and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council already have taken, we really don't lose anything," he said.
Kathy Hansen, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Fishermen's Alliance in Juneau, was more optimistic that the rule as laid down by NMFS would hold this time. More
Charter Lawsuit Ignores Halibut Conservation Concerns (5/23). Learning Friday that charter boat operators will sue in an attempt to overturn the new one halibut per day rule, the Juneau-based Halibut Coalition's position was one of disappointment. In a new rule announced on May 6, 2009, NOAA's Fisheries Service reduced the number of halibut that charter vessel anglers in southeast Alaska can keep each day from two to one to protect the halibut stock.
Commenting on the charter boat operators' efforts to overturn the new one halibut per day rule, Halibut Coalition representatives said the rule is both fair and necessary to protect halibut stocks. "The Council [NPFMC] has been working on charter halibut management plans since 1993," said Halibut Coalition Chair Linda Behnken. "The process has been both extensive and open, with public comment taken in more than 30 meetings and thousands of pages of analysis completed. It is disheartening that charter boat operators have chosen to sue, rather than reduce their catch to meet conservation goals."
A news release form the Halibut Coalition stated, "the halibut resource in Area 2C has suffered a significant decline in the past decade, with a 58 percent drop in exploitable biomass. The Southeast longline fleet has accepted a 54 percent reduction in the commercial quota over the past 4 years. While the cuts have created economic hardship for many commercial longliners, they acknowledge the smaller quota is necessary to ensure the long-term health of the fishery. The commercial fleet has never surpassed its quota since the IFQ system was implemented in1995." More
Commercial Fleet Intervenes In Halibut Lawsuit (5/27). JUNEAU - A group representing commercial fishermen is jumping into a lawsuit over how many halibut can be caught by sport anglers on charter boats.
The Halibut Coalition says a new federal rule limiting anglers to one fish is fair and necessary to protect halibut stocks.
Charter operators have sued to overturn the rule. They say sport fishermen won’t hire them if anglers are permitted just one halibut apiece.
The National Marine Fisheries Service says charter operators have exceeded their harvest quote for several years.
Commercial fishermen say they have accepted a 54 percent reduction in the commercial quota over the last four years and the charter fleet must share in the conservation burden.
The new rule is scheduled to take effect June 5. Link
Charter operators sue over one-halibut limit (KFSK Audio) (5/27). U, ALASKA (2009-05-27) Six Southeast charter fishing businesses are suing to block new halibut catch restrictions. A top fisheries official says the lawsuit could lead to a reduction in the number of halibut that can be caught in Southeast waters.
NOAA Opens Public Comment On Potential Arctic Fishing Plan (5/26). NOAA's Fisheries Service announced today that they will open public comment on a proposed framework to manage fishing in the Arctic waters of the United States in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas.
"Historically, there have been no commercial fisheries in our Arctic seas," said Doug Mecum, acting administrator of the Alaska region of NOAA’s Fisheries Service. "But with Arctic sea ice receding, more human activities may likely begin there, including increased interest in commercial fishing."
"The new management plan sets up a framework for possible development of Arctic fisheries in the next decades,” he added. “It would ensure that we proceed carefully and do not allow commercial fishing to expand northward before we know what level of fishing the Arctic can sustain." More Comments due July 27, 2009
Federal Agency Opens Comment On Arctic Fisheries Plan (5/27). ANCHORAGE - A federal agency says it will open a public comment period on a proposal to prohibit commercial fishing in Arctic waters in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted the plan in February. That plan is now open for public review but still needs final approval of the Secretary of Commerce.
The plan has been hailed by environmentalists and industry representatives alike, who say summertime melting of sea ice has increased interest in commercial fishing in the Arctic.
The plan would prohibit industrial fishing in nearly 200,000 square miles of U.S. waters in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas until researchers can gather sufficient information on fish and the Arctic marine environment. It identifies Arctic cod, saffron cod and snow crab as species that likely would be targeted by commercial fishermen.
"This is a precautionary approach that has the United States saying to the world we are very concerned about what is going on in the Arctic," Jim Ayers, vice president of Oceana, said Tuesday. More
Canada. Meeting Wednesday on mitigation for West Coast troll fishery (5/26). Local fisheries advocacy groups will be lobbying the Canadian government in a meeting Wednesday to use $30 million from the American government to directly mitigate the 30 per cent reduction in Chinook salmon catch imposed on them starting this spring.
Kathy Scarfo, a spokesperson for the Area G Trollers Association covering the West Coast, has said the $30 million in mitigation money is not enough to cover the impact of the catch reduction.
She compares what local fishermen might get on the West Coast with the approximate $160 million the American government spent last year alone to pay their commercial fleet just south of the border not to fish Chinook. More
UNEP. Large Marine Ecosystem Report (Include Bering and GOA). The world’s coastal ocean waters continue to be degraded by unsustainable fishing practices, habitat degradation, eutrophication, toxic pollution, aerosol contamination, and emerging diseases. Against this background is a growing recognition among world leaders that positive actions are required on the part of governments and civil society to redress global environmental and resource degradation with actions to recover depleted fish populations, restore degraded habitats and reduce coastal pollution.
No single international organization has been empowered to monitor and assess the changing states of coastal ecosystems on a global scale, and to reconcile the needs of individual nations to those of the community of nations for taking appropriate mitigation and management actions. More
USCG. Navigational aids targeted by vandals, thieves (5/28). JUNEAU, Alaska - The Coast Guard has set numerous seasonal aids to navigation, including the Mendenhall Bar and Holkahm Bay buoys, to aid mariners in safely navigating the waterways.
Since the buoys have been placed, Coast Guard technicians conduct regular servicing and discover aids off their mooring, with batteries stolen or riddled with bullet holes. These and other acts of vandalism waste valuable time and taxpayer funds with repairs and replacement, as well as limiting or negating visibility of the aids from their intended purpose, to provide safe passage to mariners.
There are over 800 aids facilitating the flow of commerce throughout Southeast Alaska year-round. The Coast Guard aims to ensure that all aids to navigation are on station, displaying proper characteristics.
Persons who vandalize, obstruct, or impair the usefulness of aids to navigation in any way are subject to a fine of $2500 and up to one year in prison.
Vandalism or theft are most often reported in Gastineau Channel, lower Stephens Passage, and Olga and Neva Straits near Sitka. In 2007, McDonald Rock Lighted Buoy in Stephens Passage was shot by a large caliber rifle and sunk. The cost of a replacement buoy was over $28,000.
Boaters who notice discrepant, missing or damaged aids, or witness anyone vandalizing or stealing aids, are requested to contact the nearest Coast Guard unit or the District Seventeen Command Center at 907-463-2001. Link
STATE
Westman Marine puts finishing touches on Alaska seiner (5/14). “It’s nice to see a new state-of-the-art Alaska Limit seiner,” said Bob Gudmundson of Westman Marine as he stood back to admire the 58-foot steel hulled Intangible taking shape in his yard. “There was a 20 year stretch where not many new fishing boats were made,” he said.
But as with land-based businesses that work on their infrastructure during times of economic slow-down, owner and skipper Eric Rosvold of Petersburg, Alaska, is building the new vessel despite fish prices that have dropped right along with other commodities in the current recession.
“It wasn’t an easy one to build because of the shape and the unusually strong framing,” said yard foreman Marv Hansen, who added that he and Gudmundson have built approximately 50 to 60 large boats together. “They take about 9 to 18 months to complete,” he said. More
CDQ group opens fish processing plant in Platinum (5/22). A community development quota group representing 20 Southwest Alaska communities will open a new $35 million salmon processing facility in June in Platinum. The facility will be financed by the group's lucrative profits in Bering Sea pollock fisheries.
The plant, under construction for the past year by Coastal Villages Region Fund, is expected to employ 125 workers, with room and board at the plant, will double the salmon processing capacity already provided by the CVRF's Quinhagak plant, which also employs 125 people.
CVRF officials said they anticipate the new plant will operate at a deficit for up to five years. Still it will make CVRF the third largest employer in the region, where fisheries - which include salmon, halibut, crab, but mainly pollock - are critical to the economy.
"Pollock provides" is the mantra of this CDQ group, which represents 8,700 residents living in the 20 villages in the Bristol Bay region. More
Funds sought to restore habitat for Pribilof king crab fishery (5/22). Backers of a project aimed at restoring the habitat of the Pribilof king crab fishery are seeking $2.79 million in federal stimulus funds for the two-year effort to clean up and map the area and build infrastructure to monitor the waterways.
Chugach Regional Resources Commission, a nonprofit group partnered with other industry, education, tribal and other entities, submitted the proposal to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
While depressed stocks of Pribilof blue and red king crab and their habitat would be the primary beneficiaries of the project, hundreds of fish, invertebrates and seabirds, plus sea lions, fur seals, harbor seals and whales would benefit, according to the project proposal.
The Pribilof blue king crab stocks, once a multi-million dollar fishery, were declared overfished in September 2002 and recovery has been minimal, despite stock rebuilding measures, said Michelle Ridgway, of Juneau, a marine ecologist and project team leader. More
Homer boat fuel prices ‘exorbitant’ (5/27). When commercial fishermen refuel in Kodiak, they pull up to their choice of two filling docks and pay between $2.46 per gallon of unleaded or $2.60 for diesel.
Even Cordova fishermen pay less than Homer. At Shoreside Petroleum, they pay $2.44 for diesel and $2.67 for unleaded.
Locally, where commercial fishermen have only one place to refuel, the cost is up to $3.04 per gallon of diesel, $2.72 for unleaded.
Homer City Manager Walt Wrede questioned Petro Marine in a letter May 13, asking for "an explanation regarding why fuel prices are so exorbitantly high at the Homer Port and Harbor."
Petro Marine owns the Petro Marina at the Homer Harbor, and one of the two fueling stops at Kodiak, also called Petro Marine. Shoreside receives its fuel shipments from the same barge that delivers Homer's fuel: Barge No. 282. It is leased by Petro Marine and transported to Cordova, but Petro does not own the fuel station in Cordova. More
Homer's own 'shipping news'. Wooden treasure sails the seas of Alaska (5/27). The green and white Kilkenny remains one of the last big wooden boats afloat in the Homer harbor, and it possesses a storied past of forging through rough seas in waters from the East Coast to Alaska.
And while she has seen plenty of action over the past 40-some years, perhaps her best story is the lack of drama she has had to weather – aside from a hurricane passing over once.
Based out of Homer, the 75-foot Kilkenny is in port this month for maintenance work that preserves her as a near-period piece. Her finished hardwood ribs and keel hark back to the eastern-rig schooners originating in the 1920s, built by Newbert & Wallace of Thomaston, Maine. More
Homer News SeaWatch. Humans to replace sonar for fish count (5/27). Instead of a single escapement goal of 90,000 to 160,000 sockeye, there will be weirs with separate goals at three lakes: Chu- latna and Judd lakes, which drain into the Yentna River, and Larson Lake, which drains into the Susitna River via the Talkeetna River. Those goals will be 20,000 to 65,000 sockeye for Chulatna, 25,000 to 55,000 for Judd, and 15,000 to 50,000 for Larson. More
Howard Delo. Inside look at fisheries meetings (5/25). Last week, the Mat-Su Blue Ribbon Sportsmen’s Committee hosted a public meeting with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The Blue Ribbon Committee had asked ADF&G to explain how they planned to manage the Cook Inlet salmon fisheries for this 2009 season and how their management approach would impact sports fisheries in the Northern District specifically. It was an interesting meeting!
Both of ADF&G’s fisheries management divisions, Commercial Fisheries and Sport Fish, were represented by their respective division directors, the area management biologists involved in the day-to-day management decisions, and regional staff. Three legislators representing the Valley (Senator Charlie Huggins, Representatives Mark Neuman and Bill Stoltz) and one from Anchorage (Representative Craig Johnson) were in attendance as were two Board of Fisheries (BOF) members (Karl Johnstone and Howard Delo).
Before I mention the substance of the meeting, here are some general comments and observations. First, there were many in-depth questions asked by members of the public which indicated a very thorough understanding of the fisheries situation in the Northern District. Several of these questions were answered inadequately or not at all by ADF&G. Second, some explanations presented to support various department actions were superficial in detail and some used questionable data or facts as support. And finally, some disturbing statements were made by department staff. Larry Engle, a retired ADF&G Sport Fish Division biologist and former BOF member and Chairman, moderated the meeting. More
Recycling old fishing nets for energy (5/23). Recycling old fishing nets gets underway this summer at several Alaska fishing ports. The communities of Naknek, Dillingham, Petersburg and Cordova received funding via the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission for two years to jump start net recycling projects. The pool of money comes from the US Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which has committed $2 million to the 'Fishing for Energy' program over the next five years.
"The goal is to find an alternative use for these mountains of web that otherwise go in our landfills," said Kristin Smith, director of the Copper River Watershed Project, one of many recycling project partners in Cordova.
Each community is in the process of hiring a net recycling coordinator, whose first task will be to set up convenient net drop off areas near local harbors. The old fishing nets will be barged to a salvage company in Washington where they are converted to pelletized plastics and sold to Asian markets.
An attempt to recycle nets in Cordova in 1991 tanked due to the high shipping costs, but the town is getting an assist this go around.
"Alaska Marine Lines has agreed to contribute shipping and they are a key to the whole process," Smith said. "Because the economics are not there right not - there was a time when they would pay 12 cents a pound for old web, now it's 4 cents." Link
Fish commissioner heads to Western Alaska (5/28). The state’s Fish and Game commissioner is visiting six lower Yukon River villages this week to talk about the area's struggling king salmon fishery, state officials said.
He’ll also be available to answer questions about a controversial proposal he made as a member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
Denby Lloyd will likely get an earful from the Yukon fishermen who rely on king salmon to supplement their incomes and feed their families.
Many fishermen are angry with the council, saying it didn’t do enough to limit bycatch at its April meeting, said Becca Robbins Gisclair with the Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association, a fishermen advocacy group.
Bycatch in this case are king salmon accidentally caught at sea by the massive pollock industry. More
NSF announces funding for Alaska Region Research Vessel (5/27). The National Science Foundation has announced that the Alaska Region Research Vessel will be the first major project funded from NSF's portion of the nation's economic stimulus funds, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The research vessel is a 242-foot, ice-capable vessel to support scientific research in high-latitude waters. The vessel will be owned by NSF and operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks on behalf of the entire ocean sciences community, through the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System. Bids for shipyard construction are due this September. The vessel is expected to be ready for use in 2014.
"Ocean scientists have been seeking a high-latitude research vessel for over 30 years,” said Denis Wiesenburg, dean of the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. “We are delighted that the increased emphasis now being placed on science by the new administration has allowed funding of this research platform as part of the economic stimulus funding. UAF has a welder-ready project that will benefit both the economy and the ocean science community."
As the first vessel in the U.S. academic research fleet capable of breaking ice up to 2.5 feet thick, the new ship will open up the ice-choked waters of the Alaska region to scientists from all over the world. More
MARKETING
Compass Group Announces Results of Landmark Policy to Purchase Sustainable Seafood (5/14). MONTEREY, Calif. and CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 14 /PRNewswire/ -- At Monterey Bay Aquarium's cooking for Solutions, Compass Group USA announced the three-year results of its sustainable seafood purchasing initiatives implemented in 2006. They also took the opportunity to announce the second phase of its sustainability seafood platform leading up to 2012.
Compass Group recognizes the Monterey Bay Aquarium as the leading science-based conservation organization developing sustainable seafood recommendations. Compass Group's ongoing commitment to sustainable seafood remains grounded in the Aquarium's Seafood Watch program and the partnership between the two organizations. 2006: Kick-Starting Sustainable Seafood
Three years ago,
1. Replace Atlantic cod, a species that leading conservation organizations have recommended that consumers avoid, with more the environmentally sound Pacific cod, Pollock and other alternatives. More
Model of U.S. Alaska Pollock Fishing Vessel on Display at Smithsonian. C/P Alaska Ocean Model Donated by At-sea Processors Association to The National Museum of American History (5/22). (Washington, D.C.) – The On the Water exhibition opened today at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The new maritime history exhibit includes a four-foot long cutaway model of the largest U.S. fishing vessel, the C/P Alaska Ocean. The Alaska Ocean is a 376- foot long U.S.-flag catcher/processor vessel that participates in the Bering Sea Alaska Pollock fishery and the west coast Pacific whiting fishery.
The cutaway model, built to the specifications of the Smithsonian, was funded by the At-sea Processors Association (APA). It provides a spectacular cross-section view of the vessel’s wheelhouse, factory decks, crew staterooms, galley and cold storage hold. A short video produced by the History Channel of the vessel’s fishing and processing operations and actual equipment used onboard the vessel complements the model display. More
Bristol Bay regional Seafood Development Assn. Your 1% at Work - 2009 Project Reports now available (5/28). The BB-RSDA board received and evaluated more than seventy funding proposals and approved 20 of those for 2009. A detailed Project Report is now available for download. The Project Report outlines how your 1% is being used to improve the Bristol Bay fishery.
Pacific Andes proposes rights issue (5/22). FROZEN fish supplier Pacific Andes (Holdings) on Friday proposed a rights issue with warrants to raise about $300 million in a bid to increase its working capital.
Healthy global demand for frozen fish also led the group to post a 38.1 per cent rise in net profit to HK$664 million for its 2009 financial year.
The mainboard-listed firm said on Friday it expects to raise up to S$228.6 million by way of a renounceable underwritten rights issue, and up to S$70.1 million from the exercise of the warrants. More
Ranking fails all Canadian supermarkets on supporting sustainable seafood (5/22). MONTREAL, May 22 /CNW Telbec/ - A new Greenpeace report shows that Canada's major supermarket chains are failing to provide Canadians with seafood that is sustainably caught and farmed.
The report, Out of Stock, Out of Excuses: Ranking retailers on seafood sustainability shows that some retailers have made progress on providing sustainable seafood while others are ignoring the problem. More must be done to protect the world's oceans and fish stocks.
The report ranks the major chains on seven criteria, including: the quality of their seafood policies, the level of information they provide on how and where the seafood they sell is caught or farmed, and the number of Redlist species they sell. Greenpeace released the report in Montreal at a news conference today.
"Our analysis shows that major supermarket chains are still part of the problem of destroying our oceans and destroying seafood," said Beth Hunter, Greenpeace oceans campaign coordinator. "Some chains have taken steps in the right direction, but all need to take bigger strides to ensure there will be fish in the future. Supermarkets are selling out our oceans and selling themselves out of stock." More
Marine Conservation Alliance
431 N Franklin St Ste 305
Juneau, AK 99801-1186
