Juneau watch

The House Special Committee on Fisheries is set to receive a presentation from the Alaska Bycatch Advisory Council.

The hearing begins at 10 a.m. Thursday.

'A key step'

Silver Bay Seafoods has joined the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative as a "funding partner."

And what is GSSI?

We wrote about it in 2017 in Pacific Fishing magazine.

Northline barge in jeopardy of arrest

A federal judge today ordered a warrant for the arrest of the Northline Seafoods processing barge due to money owed.

The company is aiming to take the barge to Bristol Bay this summer for its second salmon season, but this could derail those plans.

Right now, the barge is located in Bellingham, Washington.

We first wrote about this situation earlier this month.

More from Juneau

The state House has passed a bill to help fishermen form insurance cooperatives.

House Bill 116 addresses "a growing crisis in the commercial fishing sector: the soaring cost and declining availability of vessel insurance," says this press release from the Alaska House Majority Coalition. "Traditional insurers have increasingly raised premiums and refused coverage for older vessels, making it difficult for many small operators to stay in business."

Some insurance pools already operate in Alaska, but they're based in Washington state, the sponsor statement for HB 116 says.

The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Juneau watch

Legislators are considering House Bill 199 to help the Alaska Commercial Fishing and Agriculture Bank better compete with the state in making loans.

This sponsor statement explains.

A 'new choice' in seafood certification

Click here for a press release and fact sheets about Certified Seafood International.

And here's a look at the organization's board of directors. One director is a policy analyst for Silver Bay Seafoods, and another is CEO for the At-sea Processors Association.

Circle's salmon barge makes ready

Circle Seafoods, based in Aberdeen, Washington, last week released this photo of its first processing barge, the Circle I. Construction is nearing completion, and the barge plans to sail June 9 for the Southeast Alaska fishing season, the company said.

Blotter

Be sure to catch our companion blog The Brig for lots of Alaska fisheries enforcement news.

CFEC notes

Here are two items of interest from the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission.

• The commission will hold a public meeting beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday. Here's the agenda.

• The commission is conducting an optimum number study for the Prince William Sound salmon drift gillnet fishery. The area includes the Copper River District. The study comes at the request of a permit holder who submitted this petition. The commission obscured the petitioner's name. An optimum number study helps the commission determine if the number of permits in a fishery is appropriate. The Prince William Sound fishery (SO3E) has 535 permits, according to the CFEC database.

Kodiak trawl case draws nearly $13K in penalties

A trawling enforcement case we've been following for nearly two years recently was resolved without going to trial.

The defendant, Steven Spain, who was operator of the fishing vessel Mar Pacifico, on March 24 pleaded no contest in Kodiak District Court to a reduced charge and was fined $1,500 and ordered to pay restitution of $11,198.65.

According to court notes, Spain said he didn't feel he had done anything wrong, and that financially it was getting hard for him to carry on.

Cutter Mustang exits

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mustang, photographed here in 2009 in Seward, was decommissioned Tuesday during a local ceremony honoring nearly 40 years of service. The 110-foot Mustang was stationed in Seward her entire career. She responded to more than 200 search and rescue cases and completed more than 2,000 law enforcement sorties, the Coast Guard said. The service is replacing aging Island-class patrol boats such as the Mustang with Sentinel-class fast-response cutters. Wesley Loy photo

Sitka herring summary

This year's Sitka Sound herring sac roe fishery tallied about 6,200 tons of herring, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said in this season summary.

The harvest fell far short of the preseason quota of 36,720 tons.

The two-week fishery closed for the season on April 4.

Trump watch

President Trump today issued an executive order titled Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.

New salmon season in sight!

The famed Copper River fishery, generally regarded as the annual kickoff to a new Alaska salmon season, will open at 7 a.m. May 22 for a 12-hour period, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said in this advisory announcement.

The sockeye outlook is bright with the state forecasting a commercial harvest of 1.92 million fish, more than twice the 10-year average of 824,000.

As usual, Chinook salmon conservation measures are expected to constrain the fishery somewhat.

New boss for NMFS

The Trump administration has named Eugenio Piñeiro Soler, from Puerto Rico, as head of the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Duncan Fields removed from ASMI board

Duncan Fields, of Kodiak, has been removed from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute board of directors.

The action comes after Alaska Wildlife Troopers charged Fields and members of his family with multiple criminal charges involving alleged illegal salmon setnet permit transfers.

Fields believes he's innocent of the charges, and had intended to remain on the ASMI board through the end of his term in July.

He occupied a harvester seat on the seven-member ASMI board, which is controlled by representatives of seafood processing companies.

ASMI describes itself as "a public-private partnership between the state of Alaska and the Alaska seafood industry established to foster economic development of a renewable natural resource."

Juneau watch

The House Special Committee on Fisheries on Tuesday will consider the governor's appointment of Olivia Irwin to the Alaska Board of Fisheries, and his reappointment of Tom Carpenter.

Here is Irwin's resume.

One commercial fishing organization, Cordova District Fishermen United, is opposing Irwin's appointment, saying she lacks experience and appears anti-commercial fishing.

Last days for NMFS?

CNN reports the Trump administration's proposed budget "severely defunds" key offices of NOAA including the National Marine Fisheries Service and "transfers most of the fisheries service functions to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which sits under the Interior Department."

NMFS currently is part of the Commerce Department.

Legal trouble for Northline's processing barge

A Washington state company, Leo's Welding and Fabrication, has gone to court seeking to force a U.S. Marshals Service sale of the Northline Seafoods processing barge.

The company, in its five-page lawsuit, says it's owed for work to ready the barge for its 2024 debut in the Bristol Bay salmon fishery.

The suit says nearly $1.3 million is currently owed.

The 2024 season didn't go smoothly for the Northline barge, which was somewhat hobbled by a fire.

Northline is expected to take its barge to Bristol Bay again this summer.

Juneau watch

Sen. Mike Cronk, R-Tok, today introduced Senate Bill 161, which appears to ban the use in state waters of trawl gear making "substantial bottom contact."

Fields family charged after extensive investigation into salmon setnet activity at Kodiak

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

Kodiak notes

Here are a couple of interesting items from Alaska's Emerald Isle:

• ComFish Alaska, Kodiak's big fisheries trade show, is set for April 15-17. Here are all the details.

• The U.S. Coast Guard commissioned a new cutter, the John Witherspoon, in a ceremony Thursday in Kodiak. It's the first of three fast-response cutters to be homeported at Coast Guard Base Kodiak.

Crewman reported missing at Unalaska

Details in this city news release.

Washington watch

Here are two notes of interest from the nation's capital.

• U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and colleagues have introduced legislation to help seafood processors meet labor needs.

• U.S. Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, is cosponsoring a bill to establish "a dedicated secretary of the Coast Guard, providing the service with the same level of leadership and representation as the Army, Navy and Air Force."

Nenana woman named to Board of Fisheries

Here's the announcement from Gov. Mike Dunleavy:

Olivia Henaayee Irwin of Nenana has been appointed to the Board of Fisheries. Irwin has served as co-chair of the Minto/Nenana Fish and Game Advisory Committee and currently works as a policy coordinator at the Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association.

Fish farming in Alaska?

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has prepared this overview for House Bill 111, the governor's legislation to legalize limited fish farming in the state.

Bill would expand Farm Credit System for fishing

U.S. Sens. Angus King, of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, are among sponsors of the legislation. More details in this press release.

A big cut for Southeast Alaska trollers

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game today announced a preseason troll treaty harvest allocation for 2025 of 92,700 Chinook salmon, down 39 percent or 60,300 fish from last year.