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Halibut Cove artist Diana Tillion dies after battle with cancer (2/5)
FEDERAL
Alaska imposes new restrictions on declining Yukon River Chinook (2/2). Just days after U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke formally declared the Yukon River a fisheries "disaster" because of declining numbers of chinook salmon, Alaska has imposed controversial restrictions on gillnets to give the biggest salmon a better chance to reach their traditional spawning grounds on the Canadian side of the river.
The decision, which has sparked complaints from some Alaskans for whom the annual chinook catch is an economic staple, follows years of concern in both countries that the resource was being fished out of existence in the U.S. before the species could replenish itself in Canadian waters east of the Alaska-Yukon border.
The decision, made this week in Fairbanks during a meeting of the Alaska Board of Fisheries, calls for a one-inch reduction in the size of the nets being used to harvest salmon by 2011 — a rule experts believe will allow bigger fish with a higher reproductive capacity to survive their journey from the Pacific Ocean to the upper reaches of the Yukon River in Canada.
The ruling represents a financial hit for commercial fisheries in Alaska, which will have to purchase new equipment to conform to the more stringent guidelines. More
Southeast Alaska halibut catch limits drop 12.4 percent (2/2). Catch limits for the 2010 halibut fishery were set at a meeting in Seattle Friday by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC).
The six-member government-appointed commission, from both the United States and Canada, was recommended by its scientific staff to set the catch limit at 48.7 million pounds, but instead set the limit at 50.67 million pounds.
The catch limit for Area 2C, Southeast Alaska, was set at 4.4 million pounds. That is a 12.4 percent cut from the previous year, which stood at 5.02 million pounds.
Bruce Leaman, executive director of IPHC, said the lower catch limit has to do with the lower fish population in the area.
“It’s largely a result of the passing out of strong-year classes out of the stock,” he said. “Researchers also found fish to be moving more than they thought … had to bring catch limits down in response.”
The 12.4 percent cut is better than the 26.1 percent cut fishermen were facing under the staff recommendation. However, Southeast halibut catch limits have gone down by 65 percent in the last five years, and used to be set at around 10 million pounds.
An increase in catch limit for the Southeast area is expected in 2013. More
NOAA Administrator Takes Action on IG Report on Fisheries Enforcement (2/3). NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco today instructed the agency’s head attorney and its top fisheries manager to take immediate and long-term actions to improve the agency’s enforcement and legal operations and enhance its relationship with the fishing community.
In a memo issued today, Dr. Lubchenco directed NOAA General Counsel Lois Schiffer, and NOAA Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Jim Balsiger, to take a two-part approach to responding to the Jan. 21 recommendations by the Commerce Department’s Inspector General that reviewed the policies and practices of NOAA’s fisheries enforcement system. Lubchenco requested the review in June 2009 after listening to concerns of fishermen and Congress.
“I take this report very seriously and I want a comprehensive approach to addressing both the IG’s observations and the perceptions of fishermen. Fish are a public resource that should be protected through proper regulation and enforcement for the benefit of Americans, coastal economies and the marine environment. We can’t manage effectively without trust,” said Dr. Lubchenco. “Taking these steps will help us resolve the issues identified by the Inspector General and enhance our efforts to work with the fishing industry and public in a more constructive manner.”
NOAA will implement the following immediate actions: More
NOAA budget shifts priorities Spending plan nixes research funding for catch shares (2/5). The highlight of NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco's first new budget for federal fisheries is a $54-million investment in catch shares, the hotly disputed regulatory system that's set to take effect in New England May 1.
But, to maximize the size of the catch share fund, $6 million would be shifted from "cooperative research," and $11.4 million shifted from "fisheries research and management programs."
The budget makes clear that the administration is moving full speed ahead with catch share management, which regulates fishermen's work based on hard catch allocation figures, rather than by limiting their days at sea. A partial rollout will convert the strongest section of the groundfishery into voluntary fishing cooperatives called "sectors" that will share the total allowable catch based on landing histories.
"When participants have a secure portion of the catch," reads the Statement of Need and Economic Benefits in Lubchenco's budget submission to Congress, "they gain the flexibility to make business decisions that improve safety, enhance the value of their share and promote the sustainable fishing of the stocks."
The Environmental Defense Fund, which has been catch shares' biggest champion, greeted NOAA's catch share-focused budget with applause. More
Halibut capital maintains sport quota. IPHC’s annual meeting squeaks through with no loss in numbers (2/3). The International Pacific Halibut Commission allotted 3.6 million pounds of halibut to Area 3A at its annual meeting on Friday in Seattle.
The IPHC, the body that, under treaty, has a responsibility for determining overall catch levels each year, kept the allocation at last year’s Guideline Harvest Level.
The amount is to be shared among all guided recreational sport halibut fishermen in south central.
“We’re not under threat as far as being restricted this year,” said Rex Murphy, who attended the IPHC’s annual meeting. “One of the reasons is that the estimated guided limit for area 3A was 2.5 million pounds last year.”
That means the 3A halibut fishermen did not reach their limit. Area 2C’s halibut allocation also remained level with last year’s numbers. That area was limited to one halibut per fishermen, per day, though the Homer/Kodiak area maintains its two-halibut daily limit.
A motion was raised asking the commission to further restrict guided harvest in 2C, which received a GHL of 788,000 pounds.
“We objected to that on that grounds that this is a domestic allocation issue that, by law, needs to be taken up by the National Marine Fisheries Service,” Murphy said. “That was good news: the international body did not further restrict 2C harvest, but there is a mild threat to do that in the future.”
The commission can institute restrictions in a number of ways. They can close or shorten the season, require one halibut of a maximum size, or limit fishing for halibut to certain days when the season opens. More
Homer News SeaWatch. IPHC softens catch cut for Southeast (2/3). The International Pacific Halibut Commission wrapped up its annual meeting last week by sticking very close to the staff recommendations for 2010 catch limits, although it did vary in a couple of areas, most noticeably area 2C, in Southeast Alaska.
The staff recommendation for 2C was for a 26 percent cut from the 2009 Total Allowable Catch of 5 million pounds, which would have meant a TAC of 3.71 million pounds. However, the IPHC set the 2010 TAC for 2C at 4.4 million pounds, making it only a 12 percent cut.
Other areas came in at the staff recommendations except for a slight increase for area 4CDE, the Bering Sea and Pribilof Islands.
The 2010 TACs are as follows: 2C (Southeast), 4.4 million pounds; 3A (central Gulf of Alaska), 20 million pounds; 3B (south end of Kodiak to Unimak Pass), 9.9 million pounds; 4A (eastern Aleutians), 2.33 million pounds; 4B (western Aleutians), 2.16 million pounds; and 4CDE (the Bering Sea and Pribilof Islands), 3.58 million pounds, up from the staff recommendation of 3.25 million pounds. The combined quota for Alaska waters is 42.36 million pounds, down from 45.5 million pounds in 2009.
There has been talk in the industry and proposals to the IPHC to reduce the size limit from 32 inches to 30 inches, as surveys have shown that halibut are not growing as fast as they once did, and in fact some males never reach the 32-inch mark, keeping them out of the commercial harvest regardless of maturity. However, IPHC Executive Director Bruce Leaman said that while discussion is ongoing, nothing concrete is on the horizon.
"The issue is that there are a lot of small fish out there," Leaman said. "But we kind of have it on hold right now, because it's a two-edged sword." More
Coast Guard conducts medevac off St. Paul (F/V ALASKA LEADER) (2/4). KODIAK, Alaska - A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and an HC-130 Hercules aircraft crews conducted a medevac of a fisherman from the 150-foot fishing vessel Alaskan Leader 265 miles northwest of St. Paul Island Thursday about 11:50 a.m.
Chad Smith, 40, resisdence unknown, was reportedly suffering from severe chest pains aboard the Alaskan Leader when Health Force Partners called the Seventeenth Coast Guard District Command Center in Juneau at approximately 4:55 p.m. Wednesday requesting assistance. The helicopter crew is scheduled to arrive in St. Paul about 1:30 p.m.
The watchstanders at the Rescue Coordination Center directed the launch of two helicopter crews about 7:38 p.m. Wednesday and arrived on scene two hours later but due to severe weather the hoist could not be completed. Weather conditions at the time of the attempted hoist were winds of 23 to 35 mph, with seas up to 20 feet and visibility of five miles. Weather conditions did not improve but daylight aided rescuers.
Smith is scheduled to receive a commerical medevac flight from St. Paul to Anchorage.
The Alaskan Leader is a longliner and homeported in Kodiak. Link
Coast Guard Cutter Acushnet crew conducts fisheries boarding near Amchitka Island (2/3). KODIAK, Alaska - A Coast Guard boarding team from the Coast Guard Cutter Acushnet prepares to board the 226-foot Seattle-based fishing vessel Alaska Victory four miles south of Amchitka Island Feb. 2, 2010.
The boarding team found the Alaska Victory crew was over-reporting fish production weights the boarding team sent a field report to the National Marine Fisheries Service, who regulates the catch, so the vessel can be inspected pierside to verify they are following federal reporting procedures. More/Photo’s
Opinion. Fred Huntington Sr, Galena. Pollock impact (2/5). This is a letter responding to the Yukon River chinook season. I have always stated that the Bering Sea pollock fisheries and the Yukon River drainage fisheries have been harvesting the same fish, fish that are bound for western Alaska rivers.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game regulates river fisheries and looks the other way when it comes to Bering Sea fisheries (North Pacific Fisheries Management Council). The 1997 season was the last good year for chinook salmon fishing on the Yukon River where I live. That year, we caught an average of 40-pound kings. The run was from the first week in June and lasted through the middle of August, with a harvest that filled smokehouses in Galena.
Since then, we got smaller kings and less and less. Fisherman in this area were concerned; however, no one would listen. The awareness was slow in coming. The Bering Sea fishing continues to overharvest what’s called the bycatch. (This is anything that was not pollock.) In 2007, 122,000 kings were caught. At the Pilot Station sonar on the Yukon River, 150,000 kings passed.
Today, a cap has been placed on the Bering Sea fisheries. After 60,000 kings, the fisheries would stop fishing. This number is the past 10-year average the pollock fisheries have been harvesting, and so, when a cap is put in place, this doesn’t save fish, on average.
Now, the Board of Fisheries decides to restrict the Yukon River fishermen with a smaller size mesh and expect to save fish for our future. I would like to know why a restriction is not put in place for the pollock fisheries. Maybe they should take a close look at the nets they use — trolling nets the size of three football fields catching more than 50 percent of the Yukon River fish alone. And there are other major rivers on the western Alaska coast.
I would like to read and hear comments from other fishermen on the Yukon River. Link
Yukon Fishermen Criticize New Regulation (KYUK Audio) (2/3). A recent decision by the Alaska Board of Fisheries is being criticized by fishers on the Lower Yukon River. The Board says their trying to rescue a dwindling stock of Chinnok, or King Salmon. But fishers in the most impoverished region of the State say the brunt of conservation efforts are again falling on their shoulders.
STATE
ADF&G, industry test red king crab estimating methods (KFSK Audio) (2/2). ) The Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the commercial crab fleet are trying out some different approaches to estimating the amount of red king crab in Southeast. The effort was prompted by crabbers who say the department’s current stock survey under-estimates crab abundance. The fishery has remained closed for the last four years because of low survey numbers. The department tried out two new survey methods last fall and presented the results of that pilot project to crabbers late last month.
Mixed forecast for Copper River salmon (2/4). FAIRBANKS - This year’s Copper River salmon projections for sockeye and king salmon are a mixed bag for fishermen.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is projecting a Copper River red salmon run of almost 2.2 million fish, which should mean plenty of fish for commercial, subsistence, personal-use and sport fishermen. If realized, it would be the 10th largest red salmon run in the Copper River since 1980.
The forecast for the Copper’s king salmon, however, is not as optimistic. Biologists predict only 49,000 kings will return, which would be the second-smallest king run since 1999 and only slightly higher than last year’s run of approximately 44,000, which resulted in restrictions on kings for commercial, personal-use and sport fishermen.
Commercial fishermen were restricted from fishing inside the barrier islands for almost the entire season. The commercial king salmon catch last year was approximately 9,500, the lowest commercial king harvest since 1980 and second-lowest dating back into the 1960s, commercial fisheries biologist Steve Moffitt in Cordova said.
Personal-use dip-netters at Chitina, meanwhile, weren’t allowed to keep any kings — dip-netters are normally allowed to keep one king as part of their bag limit — after the first week of the season in early June.
The bag limit for king salmon sport fishermen on the Gulkana River was cut in half, from four to two, while king fishing on the Klutina River was restricted to catch and release only the entire season.
If this year’s king run is as small as predicted, it will make managing it difficult and will likely result in restrictions, biologist Steve Moffitt in Cordova said. The department’s escapement goal is 24,000 fish, which leaves only 20,000 fish to split amongst subsistence, commercial, personal-use and sport fishermen. More
Survey examines economic impact of halibut-sablefish quota system (2/4). Fairbanks, Alaska—In 1995, Alaska’s longline sablefish and halibut fleet went from a frenzied, injury-plagued, free-for-all to a slower, safer, quota-based system that allowed only specific fishermen to take part. Almost overnight, fishermen who were left without catch shares lost their jobs, their boats, and their livelihoods.
But it wasn’t all bad. Fishermen who received quota shares became more efficient, delivering higher quality product that commanded higher prices. The derby-style fishery was eliminated and fishermen were allowed to fish just about whenever they wanted, and at a slower pace that lessened injuries and fatalities. For consumers, the new management system meant fresh fish at the market throughout the year.
But aside from higher fish prices and better product, what has been the impact to Alaska communities themselves? Economically speaking, are Alaska’s coastal communities better off now, or worse, as a result?
Alexander Kotlarov is a Ph.D. student of economics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. For the past eight years, Kotlarov prepared statistical reports as an economist for the State of Alaska and as an analyst for NOAA Fisheries. As part of his doctoral research, Kotlarov has begun studying how income and spending patterns have changed in Alaska’s federally managed sablefish and halibut fisheries since the quota system began in 1995. ~~~~More
Fish face further security surcharge. From Feb. 15, 2010, freight that is not pre-screened by shippers under the TSA’s Certified Cargo Screening Program (CCSP) will have to be delivered to the airline four hours prior to flight departure.
Alaska Cargo is increasing its security screening surcharge to $0.04 a pound with a $2.00 minimum charge per shipment and seafood boxes must be dry to ensure accurate testing. The airline says wet boxes and containers that have not been pre-screened may be rejected for shipment.
Not surprisingly, seafood shippers already certified under the CCSP will not be charged by the airline for pre-screened shipments and the cut-off time will remain two hours.
Joe Sprague, Alaska Air Cargo’s vice president said, “We strongly encourage all seafood shippers to consider joining the TSA’s Certified Cargo Screening Program.” More information from www.tsa.gov/ccsp
In a related move, Smiths Detection, Lufthansa Cargo and Covenant Aviation Security have announced they will provide a one-stop, TSA-approved security solution for the US logistics industry. The new partnership will provide freight forwarders and shippers with ground handling, security screening and equipment, warehousing, training and transportation. Link
Ivar’s wins People’s Choice Award (2/4). Ivar’s Seafood of Seattle on Wednesday beat out 13 other entries to capture the Alaska Symphony of Seafood’s 17th annual Seattle People’s Choice Award for its Wild Alaskan Smoked Salmon Chowder. The contest was held at the Palace Ballroom in downtown Seattle.
"Against such strong competition, we were surprised and honored to win," said Bob Donegan, Ivar's president. "We introduced the product last summer and were pleased that it was quickly picked up by customers in Alaska! It's a delight to know that Alaskan Keta salmon make their way to Seattle, are smoked here, then mixed in our secret soup plant, and shipped back to Alaska. Alaskans really know their salmon so we’re pleased they’ve selected ours for their hotels and restaurants."
Ivar's Wild Alaskan Smoked Salmon Chowder will also be served in Vancouver for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games. "Whistler, the resort where the alpine events will be held, picked up the product and have already sold through half the product ordered, and the games haven’t even begun," Donegan added. More
MISC
ABC News Video. Trash Found in Fish (2/3). The ocean is filled with refuse that may be getting into our food.
Seafood Choices announces 2010 seafood champion finalists at seafood summit (2/2). SEAFOOD Choices, an initiative of the ocean conservation organization SeaWeb, announced 10 Seafood Champion finalists at the opening reception of the 2010 Seafood Summit. The 2010 Seafood Champion finalists are:
Anova Seafood Bv, The Netherlands
Center for Development and Sustainable Fisheries (CEDEPESCA), Latin America
The Co-operative, United Kingdom
Helene York of Bon Appétit Management Company Foundation, United States
Howard Johnson of Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, United States
KLM In-Flight Services, The Netherlands
Overwaitea Food Group, Canada
The Pollock Conservation Cooperative, United States
Réseau des Journalistes pour une pêche responsable en Afrique de l'Ouest (REJOPRAO), West Africa
WiLDCOAST/COSTASALVAjE, Mexico and the United States More
The halibut fleet's snuff famine (2/3). Among the various supply shortages plaguing the fishing fleet in the season of 1945, as World War II wound down, was Copenhagen "snoose." Undoubtedly all of the Southeast halibut fishermen felt the effects of the shortage, but it was Petersburg's fishermen who complained the loudest. That city's newspaper said that Petersburg probably consumed a larger tonnage of snoose per capita than any town in the western hemisphere. The fleet was due to sail May 1 for the annual "halibut-snatching" that lasted 60 to 70 days, but the fishermen discovered that the manufacturers, mostly located in Chicago, had been put under a 10-day embargo: this meant that snoose was not being shipped.
The Seattle fleet owners put in anguished calls to their local senator, Warren G. Magnuson. The latter galloped into action. He yipped and howled around the War Production Board so lustily that the embargo was lifted and rush shipments of snoose were sent to the halibut fleet.
Thus, the fleet sailed on schedule, and as the Petersburg paper said, "The hardy Norsemen, facing into the sunrise, no longer were chanting in mournful numbers: 'No snuff, no fish.'" The reporter added, "Why the Scandinavian fishermen require Copenhagen, snuff, snoose, Scandihoovian-dynamite, Swedish conditioner-powder, or Swedish brain-food, as it is variously called, is something of a mystery to non-Nordics." More
Halibut Cove artist Diana Tillion dies after battle with cancer (2/5). Diana Rutzebeck Tillion, a unique Alaska artist, died at her home in Halibut Cove on Wednesday night. She was 81 years old. Tillion was born June 1, 1928, in Paradise, Calif. She came to Alaska in 1939, when her mother and stepfather worked at Independence Gold Mine near Palmer. In 1942, the family moved to Homer, where she graduated from high school in 1948.
Even when she was a teen, her talent was recognized. She was paid $100 -- a stupendous sum given the time and place -- to paint a mural of Homer in the old Yah Sure Club saloon.
No road reached the lower Kenai Peninsula at that time. She studied art by correspondence course and later left to study with teachers in New York, London and Paris.
In 1952, she married Clem Tillion, a fisherman whom she had met in 1945. They lived in Halibut Cove, on the south side of Kachemak Bay, and had four children: William, Marian, Martha and Vincent. More
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