Twelve more for trollers

Southeast Alaska trollers are getting a shot at 4,000 additional treaty Chinook salmon.

A 10-day fishery opens after midnight tonight, with 12 Chinook allocated per permit, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced.

A halibut history on the horizon

Gustavus author James Mackovjak, who books have included histories of Alaska's Pacific cod and herring fisheries, is now nearing completion of a halibut fishery history.

The book is headed for review by the University of Alaska Press.

Here's a brief description of the epic book, which will cover the years 1888 to 2023.

Deckboss is looking forward to adding this one to his fish library!

Kodiak fish debate set for congressional candidates

Details in this press release from the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce.

This will be completed really fast, right?

The Government Accountability Office is reviewing the federal fishery disaster assistance program.

The review comes at the request of Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska.

Farmed salmon? How about sablefish instead?

Here's an interesting column today in The Seattle Times.

Task force reportedly gets to work

The legislative task force on Alaska's seafood industry has begun its work, holding its first meeting recently. That's according to one of the members, Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau.

To our knowledge, no public notice of the meeting was given, which is disappointing.

Kiehl, in his latest newsletter, wrote the following about the task force:

Alaska's seafood industry is in crisis. That's an ugly phrase, but it's no exaggeration. Processors are closing, fishing families are paying more for fuel than the value of the fish they catch, salmon numbers are below projections, and halibut and crab stocks aren't healthy. Low prices, international competition, and poor markets all compound the problems. High interest rates make weathering the storm harder than usual.

Alaskans know how vital our fisheries are — seafood is a huge sector of our economy, a critical natural resource, and an essential part of our way of life. This year the legislature passed SCR 10, creating a task force similar to one from the early 2000s, when the salmon industry looked bleak. We had slightly different issues to work on back then, but a series of changes the task force suggested helped the state's single largest employer bounce back.

I'm proud to report Senate President Gary Stevens appointed me to the new Seafood Industry Task Force. We had our first meeting last week, where we hammered out a schedule for our work on solutions for the industry.

We'll meet with fishing families and stakeholders, communities and financial types. This effort will need all hands on deck, so if you have ideas I'd love to hear from you, too. Come next session, we want to be ready with serious, impactful legislation to help Alaska seafood businesses get back on their feet.

Crab fleet rep reportedly wins council seat

Jamie Goen, executive director of the trade group Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, has been appointed to replace the late Kenny Down on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

So says this Facebook post. We've yet to see any official announcement from federal officials.

Goen was one of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee's nominees for the seat, though not his top pick.

Another big Bristol Bay sockeye harvest in 2025?

A preliminary forecast from the University of Washington projects a harvest of 32.4 million sockeye next year in Bristol Bay.

That would slightly top this year's solid harvest, which is all but finished.

What caused the great snow crab collapse?

NOAA's Alaska Fisheries Science Center sent this today:

In a new paper published in Nature Climate Change, NOAA Fisheries scientists attribute the abrupt collapse of snow crab to borealization, or an ecological shift from Arctic to sub-Arctic conditions during the marine heatwave in 2018-2019 in the southeast Bering Sea due to human-caused climate change. Scientists determined that climate change affects crabs at different life stages. A combination of factors, all associated with borealization, likely played a role in the decline including a decrease in sea ice, increase in the prevalence of bitter crab disease, which can be fatal for snow crabs, increased Pacific cod abundance (snow crab predator) and prey limitations. Scientists ruled out trawl fisheries bycatch to explain the mortality associated with the collapse because the estimated bycatch is orders of magnitude too small to explain this level of mortality. Results indicate that over the next 1-2 decades, the Arctic characteristics necessary for the snow crab stock may become scarce in the southeastern Bering Sea.

More legal trouble for trawlers

The environmental group Oceana is suing the National Marine Fisheries Service in Alaska federal court, accusing the agency of failing to protect corals, sponges and seafloor habitat from "the destructive effects of trawling."

Here's a press release from Earthjustice, the law firm representing Oceana.

Man reported killed on troller near Sitka

Details in this press release from the Alaska State Troopers.

A boat seizure and arrest in Southeast

State troopers have seized the commercial fishing vessel Silver Surfer and arrested a Ketchikan man following a "remote operation" in Southeast Alaska. More details in this press release.

A big win for trollers

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today issued an opinion reversing a lower court ruling that could have idled Southeast Alaska Chinook salmon trollers.

Cook Inlet EEZ closes

Commercial fishing for salmon in the Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone closes for the year at 7 p.m. today, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced.

This was the first season for a separate, federal fishery in the EEZ — a result of ongoing court battles over Cook Inlet salmon management.

It appears the salmon harvest has been modest in the EEZ. The latest tally shows a catch of 323,680 sockeye, or 66 percent of the quota.

Manufacturer of the Year

The state has presented an award to Copper River Seafoods.

Body of missing Bristol Bay fisherman recovered

Here's a press release from the Alaska State Troopers.

Trawlers to court: Please hurry

A trawl fleet challenging tighter halibut bycatch limits is pleading with the Alaska federal court to issue a decision by Nov. 1.

That's the latest the trawlers can "reasonably make decisions regarding which and how many vessels to activate, how many people to employ, and what supplies to purchase for the 2025 fishing year," says this motion to expedite.

Russian naval vessel seen south of Aleutians

Here's a U.S. Coast Guard press release with details and a photo.

Salmon notes

Here are a few interesting items as the salmon season steams ahead.

• The statewide commercial salmon harvest stands at just over 70 million fish. The preseason forecast called for a harvest of 135.6 million fish this year. That could be unattainable with the pink salmon harvest lagging badly, especially in Prince William Sound.

• It appears Southeast Alaska trollers might be denied a second summer opener and the chance to catch 15,000 highly valuable Chinook salmon. The Alaska Trollers Association is livid.

• Juneau-based Alaska Glacier Seafoods has acquired Triad Fisheries for an undisclosed price. Triad, based in Sitka the past 16 years, works with a group of independent hook-and-line, frozen-at-sea boats primarily fishing king and coho salmon in Southeast Alaska, with the catch marketed under the Bruce Gore brand.

• Saturday, Aug. 10, is Alaska Wild Salmon Day!

More Peltola fisheries legislation

Alaska Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, who is fighting for reelection, has put in a bill that appears designed to shield the Alaska fishing industry from offshore fish farm competition, while also subsidizing development of community seafood processing capacity.

Fishing finance

Legislation the governor signed into law this week enhances the state's commercial fishing loan program to help the seafood industry cope with "challenging economic conditions."

Another big landslide causes B.C. salmon concern

In 2019, a huge rockslide into the Fraser River north of Lillooet, British Columbia, created a serious impediment to salmon runs.

Now comes word of another big slide blocking the Chilcotin River, an important Fraser tributary.

Read about it in this Pacific Salmon Commission report.

Three appointed to North Pacific Council seats

The commerce secretary has appointed John Moller and Brian Ritchie to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, and has reappointed Anne Vanderhoeven to a second term.

Moller and Ritchie were Gov. Mike Dunleavy's top picks for Alaska seats on the council, which has 11 voting members and helps regulate commercial fisheries off Alaska.

The Vanderhoeven reappointment to a Washington seat is notable in that Gov. Jay Inslee had named Becca Robbins Gisclair, of the Ocean Conservancy, as his top choice. The governor did, at least, include Vanderhoeven on his list of recommendations. Vanderhoeven is government affairs director for trawl company Arctic Storm.