Yeah, well I am pretty discontent about the management of the Copper River and PWS gillnet fishery. Year after year we see hundreds of thousands of extra fish escape the Copper and a similar quantity of chums wasted at Esther because PWSAC can't count how many they have for brood. Think I will start a petition...
I am unhappy with the way Lynn Canal sockeye runs are being managed. The minimum escapement goals are too low. ADF&G lets the seiners fish right below us intercepting over 40K sockeyes this summer . I do not understand why they allow this intercept fishery, crooked business going on somewhere .
Without hatcheries there could be half a chance for a price based on natural supply and demand. With PWS "making" the number of fish each year as it currently does, their fish compete with truly wild fish for food, affecting the strength and size of wild salmon and ultimately affect the price each year. Fishermen will never see a reasonable price for sockeye or pinks with so many fish on the market. It is imperative that the "new" MSC maintains the standards that will set apart hatchery fish that are truly not sustainable from wild stock.
Lets talk about PWS hatcheries. It's horrible for markets. I always hear the argument that high production from hatcheries evens out salmon supply and is good for the markets.
That reminds me of the last Pacific Fishing with the guy who has the High R Standard. Theres a great quote about how the large runs will help markets. It's just not so. .50 a pound in the bay. I'm OK with Bristol Bay having large runs. It's natural. But, the release of millions of hatchery salmon is a practice that needs to be reconsidered for countless reasons. The most obvious is the market glut it creates. It's not even helping the guys who catch them that much.
PWS is not the only place that there are Hatcheries, Kodiak has Kitoi Hatchey and Southeast has Hidden falls, However I will say it does not make sense to produce a hundred million fish and get paid less than half, how about a few extra money fish.
Wow, people still remember Salmon Nation! I tried to access the hatchery report cited but the website is down or no longer exists, could not contact the server after an hour trying. I assume their website just aged out but I may be wrong.
I looked into Salmon Nation several years ago and found they had a very large advisory council (60+ people) but only two were Alaskans, both full-time environmental activists and neither with a significant connection to the salmon industry. I also recall their material was focussed on Oregon and Washington habitat concerns and their hatchery position was clearly developed to address genetic diversity problems with lower-48 hatcheries but was improperly extrapolated to include Alaska .
Is this hatchery thing a new report from Salmon Nation? Have things changed in their approach or in their inclusion of Alaskans?
If you are against hatcheries you are against making money salmon fishing. PWS and S.E. and other districts with hatcheries make money year after year. They know that without hatcheries they would be starving right now. There's a protein shortage in the world and if AK fish ain't filling it FARM FISH will. Its B.S that hatchery fish compete with wild salmon for food. There's so much feed out there, its a big ocean. Sounds like some theory a fish biologist from down south came up with when he was up here working for the summer. Wish all the best for Chignik and hope they get F&G to pull there head out, and a hatchery.
Actually Southeast has the most Hatcheries of any area in Alaska, PWS has 5 hatcheries, Cook Inlet has 4 and there are 2 in Kodiak.So it is not like Prince William is the only area with hatcheries, perhaps they have the most efficient ones. I think Hatcheries are a good thing, but certainly they could tone down the pink production, for the benefit of price.
Missing pinks (wild) in SE and PS and PS has an avg of 2.25/lb. Get rid of the hatcheries and the wild stocks might survive. Hatcheries are no different than fish farms, the rob resources from wild. Only someone profiting from either would suggest otherwise.
"When is chignik ever happy??????" Too funny. I think the last time that salmon fisherman were 'happy' was 1988. So much so that they couldn't even bitch at the processors and the conspiracy theorists were silent. Everyone was a genius back then.
I am willing to give anyone reading a description why Chignik fisherman are unhappy. Fish and game has been managing Chignik with heavy influence from outside areas such as Kodiak and Area M. Wassip studies have shown that Dolgoi Island (while not managed under the SEDM allocation) catches up to 70% Chignik sockeye. While these areas are open to fishing the Chignik fishery has been closed while we wait for escapement. Chignik fisherman want Area M and Fish and Game to take responsibility that this interception fishery has a major impact on escapement and harvest and should be managed accordingly.
Fish and game closed us down more than once during the peak. All the while having essentially cost recovery under the pretense of "test fishing" to add to Fish and Games budget. We sat and had over escapement because of poor and influenced management.
Our beef with Kodiak is not unfounded either. Though it is managed under allocation guidelines, that line has been skewed as of the last ten years. I will reluctantly say it is a traditional interception fishery as of the mid 70's. Kodiak has a right to the first run which they always caught in June. Very few fish, comparatively, swing up through the Cape Igvak area in July and August but alas Kodiak is allocated for the entire Chignik sockeye run instead of only first run. The fish and game office out of Kodiak pulls the strings heavily on the Chignik biologists. Chignik sees a new biologists every few years while the ex biologist moves up the chain into Kodiak management.
And now for Trident. Essentially the only game in town except for ISA (which Trident may buy out). Trident put us on a dog leash this year telling us where we could and could not fish during the peak of the sockeye season. Putting us on limits of 10,000 -20,000 lbs for all species, with 10,000 lbs being the norm. Shutting us down for sometimes a day, sometimes three because our one 200,000 lb a day floating processor could not keep up. We sent very few fish to Kodiak or Sand Point. Hatchery pinks were flooding Trident Kodiak where PWS fisherman were on no limits while Trident would not buy our sockeye. When we did go over our limit by even small margins Trident STOLE FISH from us. Our fish tickets would say one thing, say 11,500 but our statements read 10,000. Trident received hundreds of thousands of pounds of STOLEN salmon. If we asked to work with another market we were threatened with loss of market from Trident and no retros. Trident is a bully now more than ever. They burnt down one plant and tore down another after they let it rot.
The city of Chignik is moving forward. We now have a beautiful boat harbor and a city dock that should be completed in the next two years. We are trying but we need solidarity. I know we need a new processor in town and its up to us to make it happen. I would gladly put my name on this but if Trident saw this and another buyer didn't come in I would not have a market next year.
In Court 9:47pm. Fishermen 1, Jamie Ross 0. Board of Fish 0. Department of Law 0.
The Limited Entry Act, for limited areas of more intensive mental development.
"Grunert argues that fixed leads take on the character of fish traps, when unattached to purse seines and vessels which are prohibited in Alaska waters…"
Got a set net permit? Unattended fish traps coming soon from a Courtroom near you!
Some people think Fish Traps were not voted on either, some people flunked 8th grade also.
First I heard of such severe limits in Chignik. Trident had their area M boats on much bigger limits and also ran fish from Sand Point all the way to Ketchikan. In PWS, Trident had limits sometimes but also had two or three floaters and also ran fish to Ketchikan and Kodiak. Difference is that in Chignik there is no real competition and so the guys there take it in the shorts. Not the way to handle things at all, but just indicative of the New Trident.
Hatchery fish are far more detrimental to our wild stocks than farmed salmon, hands down. Also this year's monster harvest of PWS hatchery pinks will be haunting our markets for all species for several years to come. The only hope is PWSs lack of a MSC certification will devalue pinks in European markets. Seems the Europeans care more about our wild salmon than we do. The reason all the processors wanted back in on the MSC was because the Europeans said no to our lack of a MSC certification. We need ADFG to have some courage and do something about this tragedy.
So where were all the pro-wild salmon fisherman, when PWSAC told ADF&G to f#ck off after ADFG staff investigated PWSAC programs and practices several years ago and found many violations of the state hatchery regulations? Instead of making any of the necessary changes required by ADFG, for the most part, PWSAC simply defied the department and got away with it (and is still getting away with it apparently). Talk about the tail wagging the dog.
September 8, 2015 at 12:39 PM - Denby Lloyd is that you? or is it Dan Gray?
PWSAC defended its self against your hack job of an investigation filled with baseless lies and accusations. Every point in the so called investigation was proven to be baseless, pointless and petty. So after you and your investigation were found to be fr#cking joke, you then violated your own practices and ethics by released the piece of poop to the public when you where instructed to throw it in the trash!
Proven by whom? Please provide links to the "proofs" of PWSAC. Also who instructed ADFG to throw the so-called "hack job" in the trash -- would that be the PWSAC board. The tone of your comment and lack of substance would suggest you have spent way too much time mixing milt and eggs in a plastic bucket.
ADFG biologists would risk their job and career if they spoke up against PWSAC. I'm sure they would like to, but there is to much at risk. Lets hope MSC works and people really do care about our sustainable wild salmon resource. Such large hatchery releases make no sense, it hurts everyone in the end.
September 9, 2015 at 3:26 PM - What part of "Internal Review" do you not understand?? PWSAC and ADF&G has complied with the recommendations that came out of the INTERNAL REVEIEW. To go back 30 years to try and find any dirt that they could when the program was in its infancy is cheapness at it finest.
September 11, 2015 at 4:02 PM - "ADFG biologists would risk their job and career if they spoke up against PWSAC". VFDA has the largest pink releases and returns in PWS. No hidden agenda there? No personality conflict there? You ever seen a ADF&G manager lose their job? It doesn't matter if they are great managers or if they destroy healthy fish runs. they all get promoted, do their 20 years, retire and then double dip.
Yeah, well I am pretty discontent about the management of the Copper River and PWS gillnet fishery. Year after year we see hundreds of thousands of extra fish escape the Copper and a similar quantity of chums wasted at Esther because PWSAC can't count how many they have for brood. Think I will start a petition...
ReplyDeleteWell stop producing so many fake fish and we'll all be better off.
ReplyDeleteI am unhappy with the way Lynn Canal sockeye runs are being managed.
ReplyDeleteThe minimum escapement goals are too low.
ADF&G lets the seiners fish right below us intercepting over 40K
sockeyes this summer . I do not understand why they allow
this intercept fishery, crooked business going on somewhere .
The whole state should start a petition on PWSAC.
ReplyDeleteGenetically Modified Salmon, brought to you by PWSAC, and that Genetically Modified Fleet.
These private non-profit (PNP) associations have no stockholders, owners, or members.
http://www.salmonnation.com/essays/hatcheries.html
Lets get rid of the Hatcheries all together.
ReplyDeleteWithout hatcheries there could be half a chance for a price based on natural supply and demand. With PWS "making" the number of fish each year as it currently does, their fish compete with truly wild fish for food, affecting the strength and size of wild salmon and ultimately affect the price each year. Fishermen will never see a reasonable price for sockeye or pinks with so many fish on the market. It is imperative that the "new" MSC maintains the standards that will set apart hatchery fish that are truly not sustainable from wild stock.
ReplyDeleteLets talk about PWS hatcheries. It's horrible for markets. I always hear the argument that high production from hatcheries evens out salmon supply and is good for the markets.
ReplyDeleteThat reminds me of the last Pacific Fishing with the guy who has the High R Standard. Theres a great quote about how the large runs will help markets. It's just not so. .50 a pound in the bay. I'm OK with Bristol Bay having large runs. It's natural. But, the release of millions of hatchery salmon is a practice that needs to be reconsidered for countless reasons. The most obvious is the market glut it creates. It's not even helping the guys who catch them that much.
Believe it or not, CRAA wants to start a hatchery in Chignik...
ReplyDeletePWS is not the only place that there are Hatcheries, Kodiak has Kitoi Hatchey and Southeast has Hidden falls, However I will say it does not make sense to produce a hundred million fish and get paid less than half, how about a few extra money fish.
ReplyDeleteStan? Is that you?
ReplyDeleteWow, people still remember Salmon Nation! I tried to access the hatchery report cited but the website is down or no longer exists, could not contact the server after an hour trying. I assume their website just aged out but I may be wrong.
ReplyDeleteI looked into Salmon Nation several years ago and found they had a very large advisory council (60+ people) but only two were Alaskans, both full-time environmental activists and neither with a significant connection to the salmon industry. I also recall their material was focussed on Oregon and Washington habitat concerns and their hatchery position was clearly developed to address genetic diversity problems with lower-48 hatcheries but was improperly extrapolated to include Alaska .
Is this hatchery thing a new report from Salmon Nation? Have things changed in their approach or in their inclusion of Alaskans?
If you are against hatcheries you are against making money salmon fishing. PWS and S.E. and other districts with hatcheries make money year after year. They know that without hatcheries they would be starving right now. There's a protein shortage in the world and if AK fish ain't filling it FARM FISH will. Its B.S that hatchery fish compete with wild salmon for food. There's so much feed out there, its a big ocean. Sounds like some theory a fish biologist from down south came up with when he was up here working for the summer. Wish all the best for Chignik and hope they get F&G to pull there head out, and a hatchery.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to be non-profit, just build a hatchery; it's not any different in any West Coast River system 10:30.
ReplyDeleteEver read about inbreeding, it works the same in humans and fish.
Oregon (2014)
http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2014/may/study-finds-wild-coho-may-seek-genetic-diversity-mate-choice
Canada 2015?
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjfas-2013-0501?journalCode=cjfas#.VeD6B0vWb3Q
Alaska 2005?
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/home/library/PDFs/afrb/rodgv11n2.pdf
"improperly extrapolated" 10:30am? The reports are the same, from Sacramento to Ft. Yukon; did your folks also inbreed?
Actually Southeast has the most Hatcheries of any area in Alaska, PWS has 5 hatcheries, Cook Inlet has 4 and there are 2 in Kodiak.So it is not like Prince William is the only area with hatcheries, perhaps they have the most efficient ones. I think Hatcheries are a good thing, but certainly they could tone down the pink production, for the benefit of price.
ReplyDeleteWhen is chignik ever happy??????
ReplyDeleteMissing pinks (wild) in SE and PS and PS has an avg of 2.25/lb. Get rid of the hatcheries and the wild stocks might survive. Hatcheries are no different than fish farms, the rob resources from wild. Only someone profiting from either would suggest otherwise.
ReplyDelete"When is chignik ever happy??????" Too funny. I think the last time that salmon fisherman were 'happy' was 1988. So much so that they couldn't even bitch at the processors and the conspiracy theorists were silent. Everyone was a genius back then.
ReplyDeleteI am willing to give anyone reading a description why Chignik fisherman are unhappy. Fish and game has been managing Chignik with heavy influence from outside areas such as Kodiak and Area M. Wassip studies have shown that Dolgoi Island (while not managed under the SEDM allocation) catches up to 70% Chignik sockeye. While these areas are open to fishing the Chignik fishery has been closed while we wait for escapement. Chignik fisherman want Area M and Fish and Game to take responsibility that this interception fishery has a major impact on escapement and harvest and should be managed accordingly.
ReplyDeleteFish and game closed us down more than once during the peak. All the while having essentially cost recovery under the pretense of "test fishing" to add to Fish and Games budget. We sat and had over escapement because of poor and influenced management.
Our beef with Kodiak is not unfounded either. Though it is managed under allocation guidelines, that line has been skewed as of the last ten years. I will reluctantly say it is a traditional interception fishery as of the mid 70's. Kodiak has a right to the first run which they always caught in June. Very few fish, comparatively, swing up through the Cape Igvak area in July and August but alas Kodiak is allocated for the entire Chignik sockeye run instead of only first run. The fish and game office out of Kodiak pulls the strings heavily on the Chignik biologists. Chignik sees a new biologists every few years while the ex biologist moves up the chain into Kodiak management.
And now for Trident. Essentially the only game in town except for ISA (which Trident may buy out). Trident put us on a dog leash this year telling us where we could and could not fish during the peak of the sockeye season. Putting us on limits of 10,000 -20,000 lbs for all species, with 10,000 lbs being the norm. Shutting us down for sometimes a day, sometimes three because our one 200,000 lb a day floating processor could not keep up. We sent very few fish to Kodiak or Sand Point. Hatchery pinks were flooding Trident Kodiak where PWS fisherman were on no limits while Trident would not buy our sockeye. When we did go over our limit by even small margins Trident STOLE FISH from us. Our fish tickets would say one thing, say 11,500 but our statements read 10,000. Trident received hundreds of thousands of pounds of STOLEN salmon. If we asked to work with another market we were threatened with loss of market from Trident and no retros. Trident is a bully now more than ever. They burnt down one plant and tore down another after they let it rot.
The city of Chignik is moving forward. We now have a beautiful boat harbor and a city dock that should be completed in the next two years. We are trying but we need solidarity. I know we need a new processor in town and its up to us to make it happen. I would gladly put my name on this but if Trident saw this and another buyer didn't come in I would not have a market next year.
In Court 9:47pm. Fishermen 1, Jamie Ross 0. Board of Fish 0. Department of Law 0.
ReplyDeleteThe Limited Entry Act, for limited areas of more intensive mental development.
"Grunert argues that fixed leads take on the character of fish traps, when unattached to purse seines and vessels which are prohibited in Alaska waters…"
Got a set net permit? Unattended fish traps coming soon from a Courtroom near you!
Some people think Fish Traps were not voted on either, some people flunked 8th grade also.
http://www.touchngo.com/sp/html/sp-6006.htm
First I heard of such severe limits in Chignik. Trident had their area M boats on much bigger limits and also ran fish from Sand Point all the way to Ketchikan. In PWS, Trident had limits sometimes but also had two or three floaters and also ran fish to Ketchikan and Kodiak. Difference is that in Chignik there is no real competition and so the guys there take it in the shorts. Not the way to handle things at all, but just indicative of the New Trident.
ReplyDeleteHatchery fish are far more detrimental to our wild stocks than farmed salmon, hands down. Also this year's monster harvest of PWS hatchery pinks will be haunting our markets for all species for several years to come. The only hope is PWSs lack of a MSC certification will devalue pinks in European markets. Seems the Europeans care more about our wild salmon than we do. The reason all the processors wanted back in on the MSC was because the Europeans said no to our lack of a MSC certification. We need ADFG to have some courage and do something about this tragedy.
ReplyDeleteSilver bay ran fish from area m to Sitka for a select few Peter Pan fisherman too
ReplyDeleteSo where were all the pro-wild salmon fisherman, when PWSAC told ADF&G to f#ck off after ADFG staff investigated PWSAC programs and practices several years ago and found many violations of the state hatchery regulations? Instead of making any of the necessary changes required by ADFG, for the most part, PWSAC simply defied the department and got away with it (and is still getting away with it apparently). Talk about the tail wagging the dog.
ReplyDeleteSeptember 8, 2015 at 12:39 PM - Denby Lloyd is that you? or is it Dan Gray?
ReplyDeletePWSAC defended its self against your hack job of an investigation filled with baseless lies and accusations. Every point in the so called investigation was proven to be baseless, pointless and petty. So after you and your investigation were found to be fr#cking joke, you then violated your own practices and ethics by released the piece of poop to the public when you where instructed to throw it in the trash!
Proven by whom? Please provide links to the "proofs" of PWSAC. Also who instructed ADFG to throw the so-called "hack job" in the trash -- would that be the PWSAC board. The tone of your comment and lack of substance would suggest you have spent way too much time mixing milt and eggs in a plastic bucket.
ReplyDeleteADFG biologists would risk their job and career if they spoke up against PWSAC. I'm sure they would like to, but there is to much at risk. Lets hope MSC works and people really do care about our sustainable wild salmon resource. Such large hatchery releases make no sense, it hurts everyone in the end.
ReplyDeleteSeptember 9, 2015 at 3:26 PM - What part of "Internal Review" do you not understand?? PWSAC and ADF&G has complied with the recommendations that came out of the INTERNAL REVEIEW. To go back 30 years to try and find any dirt that they could when the program was in its infancy is cheapness at it finest.
ReplyDeleteSeptember 11, 2015 at 4:02 PM - "ADFG biologists would risk their job and career if they spoke up against PWSAC". VFDA has the largest pink releases and returns in PWS. No hidden agenda there? No personality conflict there? You ever seen a ADF&G manager lose their job? It doesn't matter if they are great managers or if they destroy healthy fish runs. they all get promoted, do their 20 years, retire and then double dip.