Sen. Cantwell rips reported NOAA purge

Here's her statement.

Commissioner outlines king rebuilding efforts

Alaska Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang has a piece on the Anchorage Daily News site headlined Here's what the state is doing to rebuild king salmon stocks in the Gulf of Alaska.

Fix those buoys!

State Sen. Forrest Dunbar, D-Anchorage, has introduced a resolution urging Congress and NOAA to address outages of key weather and wave buoys including the Seal Rocks Buoy at Hinchinbrook Entrance, where oil tankers pass.

Dive boat, one aboard, reported lost in Southeast

Here's the story from KRBD in Ketchikan.

More from Juneau

Two interesting bills dropped today in the Alaska Legislature. They're by request of the legislative task force evaluating the state's troubled seafood industry.

House Bill 116 — Commercial fishing insurance co-ops

House Bill 117 — Set gillnet co-ops

We'll update this post if and when further task force legislation is filed.

Juneau watch

The House Special Committee on Fisheries tomorrow will consider the governor's appointment of Rick Green to the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission.

Here's his resume.

'Creating a new fish farming industry'

Gov. Mike Dunleavy is offering legislation to allow limited finfish farming in Alaska.

The bill would authorize "the cultivation and sale of certain finfish in natural or artificial inland, closed-system bodies of water," said a letter from the governor to House Speaker Bryce Edgmon.

It would prohibit farming pink, chum, sockeye, coho, Chinook and Atlantic salmon.

Juneau watch

Rookie Congressman Nick Begich, R-Alaska, had a good bit to say about fisheries during his Thursday address to the Legislature.

Lutnick confirmed as commerce secretary

Here's a news account.

Hatcheries not a problem for wild salmon, MSC says

A Marine Stewardship Council audit found that "hatchery enhancement activities are highly unlikely to have significant negative impacts on wild pink and chum salmon in Southeast Alaska, Prince William Sound and Lower Cook Inlet."

Here's an MSC news release on the audit.

No PWS shrimp pot fishery this year

"The Prince William Sound Area commercial shrimp pot fishing season will not open in 2025," the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said today in an advisory announcement.

The department cited declining abundance of spot shrimp.

Another lost season for Cook Inlet setnetters?

The Upper Cook Inlet eastside setnet fishery, which targets sockeye, was closed for the entire 2024 season to protect a poor run of Kenai River king salmon.

Now, setnetters might be facing another shutdown season, per this advisory announcement from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Public asked for help in Wind Walker case

U.S. Coast Guard investigators are appealing for further information regarding the fishing vessel Wind Walker, which sank on Dec. 1.

The bodies of two crewmembers were recovered, but three others remain missing.

USDA to buy 21M pounds of Alaska pollock products

Here's the announcement.

Board sinks hatchery proposal

The Alaska Board of Fisheries, meeting in Ketchikan, voted 5-2 against Proposal 156, which would have reduced pink and chum salmon production capacity by 25 percent at Southeast Alaska hatcheries.

The proposal, from Virgil Umphenour, drew widespread opposition from hatchery supporters including this group of legislators.

Limit set for Cook Inlet EEZ sockeye

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is recommending a total allowable catch of 800,126 sockeye this year in the Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone.

That's well above last year's TAC of 492,100 sockeye, which seems to make sense with forecasters calling for an excellent Cook Inlet sockeye run this year.

A threat to sue

The Wild Fish Conservancy says it will sue the National Marine Fisheries Service for missing the deadline to determine whether Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon should be listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Here's a press release the organization issued today.

NMFS this week provided an update to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Here it is:

Chinook Salmon Endangered Species Act Listing Petition Update

On May 24, 2024, NMFS announced a positive 90-day finding on a petition to list Chinook salmon in the GOA as threatened or endangered under the ESA, concluding that it presented substantial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted. We convened a team of federal scientists to review the species’ status and extinction risk, and we invited experts from ADF&G and a tribal member to participate as advisors to the team. The Status Review Team (SRT) is making progress on the analysis and incorporating information from public comments, including an extensive letter from ADF&G and formal tribal consultations. The SRT has preliminarily identified Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) in the GOA and conducted demographic trend analyses at the ESU level. The SRT is compiling information about threats to the species in the region. The SRT will then synthesize the results of the demographic and threats analyses and assign an extinction risk category (low, medium, high) to each ESU. The SRT's analyses and conclusions of the risk assessment workshop will be summarized in a status review report to inform the 12-month finding.

Transition at NMFS

The National Marine Fisheries Service has a new boss — Emily Menashes.

She's filling the position on an "acting" basis, and is likely to be replaced as President Trump continues to build out his second administration.

Janet Coit previously headed NMFS, and departed with the end of the Biden administration.

Crewman found dead on trawler near Dutch Harbor

From the Alaska State Troopers:

Location: Unimak

Type: Deceased person

On 1/27/25 Alaska State Troopers received a report of a death. Kien Au, 66, a crewmember onboard a large trawler about 110 miles from Dutch Harbor, was found deceased in his room. Next of kin has been notified. The state medical examiner's office has received the remains and conducted an autopsy. It was determined that Au passed away from natural causes. No foul play has been suspected.

Squid game

The Alaska Board of Fisheries is meeting in Ketchikan. Among the many proposals under consideration are a couple to create a directed jig fishery for magister armhook squid in Southeast Alaska waters.

"Magister squid is an underutilized species that not only could provide a source of revenue for dwindling commercial fishermen, but also provide a mechanism to control their predation on other economically important commercial species such as all species of salmon, cod fish, and herring," say the proposals from Richard Yamada and the Juneau-Douglas Advisory Committee.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is opposed to the proposals.