A missing person in Bristol Bay

Authorities have been searching for a person reported overboard from a fishing vessel at Egegik in Bristol Bay.

The missing person was first reported to the U.S. Coast Guard last week, said Mike Salerno, a Coast Guard spokesman in Juneau.

Coast Guard aircraft, the cutter Aspen, and several fishing boats mounted a search of area waters. The missing person reportedly wasn't wearing a life jacket.

The vessel involved was the Warmaster, Salerno said. State records list the owner of the 32-foot boat as Guy Hoy, of Everson, Washington.

Salerno said the Coast Guard, by policy, would not release the missing person's name.

Deckboss has asked the Alaska State Troopers for identification.

Salmon notes

Here are a couple of items of interest from the salmon season so far.

• The industry has notched a productive season in Bristol Bay. The total catch stands at 30.8 million sockeye, well above the preseason forecast of 25 million. The fish, however, reportedly are quite small this year. Deckboss remains in the dark on prices. Evidently they were good, as we've heard no bellyaching from fishermen.

• The Prince William Sound seine fishery is struggling. The common property pink salmon harvest through July 26 was "very poor" at 3.9 million fish, or 68 percent below the even-year average for 2004-22, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports.

A bill to ban octopus farming

U.S. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have introduced legislation to ban commercial octopus farming in the United States and prohibit imports of farmed octopus from foreign countries.

"Octopuses are among the most intelligent creatures in the oceans. And they belong at sea, not suffering on a factory farm," Whitehouse said in this press release.

The bill "protects Alaska's marine ecosystems and supports wild harvest opportunities for Alaska's fishermen," Murkowski said.

Outlaws at Egegik

Citing "numerous reports of illegal fishing activity in closed waters," the Alaska Department of Fish and Game today is closing commercial fishing with driftnet gear in Bristol Bay's Egegik District.

A big canned salmon deal

The court-appointed receiver for Peter Pan Seafood is looking to sell the company's canned salmon inventory to Silver Bay Seafoods in a $27.3 million deal.

Silver Bay would use the inventory to help fulfill a U.S. Department of Agriculture contract, according to this motion filed in King County Superior Court.

Turning the page on paper logbooks

The International Pacific Halibut Commission has launched a trial of electronic logbooks in Alaska.

The commission distributed tablets to several vessel captains to record fishing activity normally put down in paper logbooks.

Here's a press release with further details.

More Peter Pan news

Proceedings continue in the case of Peter Pan, the legacy seafood processor now in receivership.

The latest twist is an offer from Peter Pan's president, Rodger May, to acquire certain assets, including the Port Moller processing plant, for $15 million.

For more details about the proposal, plus some interesting remarks about Silver Bay Seafoods, see this 18-page motion filed in King County Superior Court.

Salmon notes

Here are a few important developments in the salmon fisheries.

• The Bristol Bay sockeye fishery continues and the harvest has now exceeded the preseason forecast. The catch currently stands at 26.5 sockeye, well above the projected 25 million.

• Northline Seafoods says its Bristol Bay freezer barge is back to full operations following a fire that hobbled the platform earlier in the season.

• Hannah Heimbuch tells the story of how salmon setnetters at Alitak, on the remote south end of Kodiak Island, saved their season after processor OBI Seafoods dropped the fleet this year. The setnetters found a helping hand in Silver Bay Seafoods, Heimbuch writes.

• It's a big day for Alaska's troll fishery tomorrow in San Francisco, where the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral argument in the Wild Fish Conservancy case. The organization has been trying to shut down the fishery, which it claims is harmful to endangered killer whales.

Eagles on the attack in Kodiak

KMXT radio has the story.

Capitol salmon

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has been working on spending bills, and a press release from her office notes the following:

Senator Murkowski inserted report language in the Legislative Branch FY25 Appropriations Act that encourages the Senate Dining Room and food-service facilities in the Capitol to source domestic seafood products, including wild-caught salmon. Alaska-caught seafood should be available for those who visit the capitol to enjoy and to appreciate that when it comes to seafood, there's no substitute for Alaskan seafood.

Legislative task force membership named

Eight state legislators have been appointed as members of a special task force established to address the "economic peril" swirling around the seafood industry.

Here's an Alaska Senate Majority press release with details.

Southeast salmon crossed off Canada's list

Canada's largest sustainable seafood label has pulled its recommendation for Southeast Alaska salmon fisheries, the Times Colonist newspaper reports.

Salmon notes

Here's a news roundup from the salmon season thus far.

• The Bristol Bay catch now stands at nearly 21 million sockeye. Fishing remains strong with more than 1 million fish taken yesterday.

• Driftnetters have taken nearly 1.3 million sockeye in the Copper River District, and Eshamy Main Bay has produced more than 1 million sockeye.

• Circle Seafoods confirms the first of several planned processing barges will not be ready in time to take part in this year's Southeast Alaska salmon fisheries. In the interim, the company is renting plant space in Metlakatla this summer to handle pinks and chums from a handful of seiners, the Ketchikan Daily News reports.

• In Canada, the Fraser River sockeye run size forecast is the lowest on record. More details in this Pacific Salmon Commission report.

'It is critical that we take action now'

The congressionally mandated Alaska Salmon Research Task Force has released its final report.

A big new bycatch report

The U.S. Government Accountability Office today released a report titled Federal Fisheries Management: Efforts to Reduce and Monitor Unintentional Catch and Harm Need Better Tracking.

Chinese military reported in the Bering

The U.S. Coast Guard says it encountered multiple Chinese military ships over the weekend in the Bering Sea. Details in this press release.

Mark your calendars

The organizers of Pacific Marine Expo, the big Seattle trade show, today announced dates and times for this year's event, and they're kinda different.

"This year's show will follow a new schedule pattern," a press release said, with the show floor opening as follows:

• Wednesday, Nov. 20, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

• Thursday, Nov. 21, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Friday, Nov. 22, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Any takers for American Seafoods?

The American Seafoods factory trawler Ocean Rover moored in Seattle. Wesley Loy photo

Seattle-based American Seafoods has been for sale for years. But a sale has proved elusive, and now the company has "paused its sale process."

"Our business remains strong," CEO Einar Gustafsson said in this press release. He said the company would revisit sale discussions "when the macroeconomic environment improves."

American Seafoods is one of the biggest players in Alaska's groundfish industry. It operates several enormous factory trawlers and controls a large percentage of the total allowable catch of pollock in the Bering Sea.

It's not surprising that American Seafoods is a hard sell.

The company has operated on a foundation of risk and debt. Risk, in that it's largely dependent on the health of a single stock — pollock. And American Seafoods historically has dragged a heavy debt load, though we can't quantify the company's current status in that regard.

Another concern for American Seafoods is the advanced age of its fleet. Most of its vessels were built originally in the 1960s and '70s.

The major shareholder of American Seafoods is Bregal Partners, a private equity firm.

Crewman reported dead in Bristol Bay

From the Alaska State Troopers:

Location: King Salmon

Type: Drowning

On 7/5/24 at approximately 1231 hours, Department Of Public Safety patrol vessel Stimson received a mayday call from a commercial salmon fisherman in Kvichak Bay stating he lost a crewman over the side of his vessel. Alaska Wildlife Troopers responded to the area with two patrol skiffs and arrived just as the reporting vessel had located and retrieved their unconscious crewmember out of the water. AWT performed lifesaving measures for approximately one hour prior to pronouncing the crewman deceased. Investigation revealed Corwin Wheeler, 21, of Wisconsin, had become entangled in fishing gear and was pulled overboard and underwater. Next of kin has been notified.

Bristol Bay comes to life

After an easygoing start, the Bristol Bay salmon fishery is starting to gallop.

Yesterday was the first really big day of the season with a catch of more than 1.6 million sockeye, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports.

Total catch for the season now stands at nearly 7 million fish.

The forecasted harvest for this year is about 25 million sockeye, so still a ways to go.

Blotter

As the summer fisheries ramp up, so does enforcement. We're tracking the action on our sister blog The Brig.

Northline barge at 'reduced capacity' after fire

Here's a press release with further details.