Washington watch

Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, in a press release this week, outlined numerous provisions in a defense bill including this:

Prohibit military dining facilities and commissaries from purchasing or selling seafood that originates or is processed in the People's Republic of China to help Alaska fishermen.

Foreign coast guard vessels reported in Bering

Here's a press release from the U.S. Coast Guard.

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.

'The true cost of cheap seafood'

Joe Bundrant, CEO of Seattle-based processing company Trident Seafoods, addresses a seafood worker scandal in China.

Chinese, Russian naval vessels in the Bering

Details in this news release from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Chinese warships spotted

The U.S. Coast Guard says its cutters, during a patrol in the Bering Sea and Arctic region, on Aug. 30 encountered Chinese military ships including a guided missile cruiser and a guided missile destroyer. A few more details here.

Dealing with Russia and China

State legislators have introduced a pair of resolutions aimed at troublesome overseas markets.

Senate Joint Resolution 16 — Calling on President Biden to immediately seek and secure an end to the embargo imposed by Russia on seafood imports from abroad so that Alaska seafood producers' access to the Russian domestic seafood market is fully restored.

Senate Joint Resolution 17 — Requesting the U.S. Trade Representative bring a renewed focus on the plight of producers of seafood in the state and the United States and to compel China to comply with its commitment to increase its imports of seafood products from the United States.

Chile, China and the coronavirus

SalmonChile, the industry association for Chilean salmon farmers, says "all salmon shipments to China have been suspended ... until the health emergency is controlled."

"This measure is not directly related to the infectious effect," SalmonChile says in this public statement. Rather, it's because of a drop in demand as Chinese authorities recommend people avoid crowds, leaving restaurants and supermarkets without customers.

Easy with the tariffs!

Major seafood organizations are raising concerns about Trump administration trade policy. Here are some comment letters submitted recently.

Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute
At-sea Processors Association

Murkowski wants China meeting on shellfish ban

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is urging U.S. officials to send a delegation to China to try to persuade that country to lift its import ban on geoduck clams and other shellfish from Alaska and the West Coast.

Here's a letter Murkowski sent last week.

Check this NOAA website for background and updates on the China situation.

Speaking of ASMI...

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute is looking for a contractor to do some China market research.

Here is the request for proposals. The good stuff starts on page 11.

It appears the contractor's main task will be to evaluate the effectiveness of ASMI's marketing strategy in China.

The contract is worth up to $50,000.

Alaska seafood export value surges

The value of Alaska's seafood exports grew 35 percent to $2.5 billion in 2011, the governor's office just announced.

And where did all that seafood go? Here's a Top 10 list:

Country	Value (millions)
China	$836.1
Japan	$589.2
Korea	$303.6
Germany	$201.4
The Netherlands	$159.4
Canada	$89.5
France	$46.3
Thailand	$34.6
Spain	$33.8
Portugal	$30.3

Commerce Secretary Locke to take foreign post

National news outlets are reporting that U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, the former governor of Washington, is President Obama's pick to take a new post as ambassador to China.

Born in Seattle, Locke is Chinese-American.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is among the many agencies within the Commerce Department.

Far East opportunity

Want a job marketing lots and lots of Alaska fish to China and Japan?

Check out this want ad.

'Travel is required'

Here's an interesting job posting at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute:

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING PROGRAM DIRECTOR - ASMI

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI), Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED), State of Alaska is seeking candidates for International Marketing Program Director.

This Position Control Number (PCN) is located in Juneau, Alaska, and reports directly to the Executive Director. It is an administrative supervisory position who oversees a staff of two, plus five overseas contractors (Overseas Marketing Representatives - OMRs) located in Japan, China, France, United Kingdom, and Spain. This position manages an annual budget of approximately $7M and works closely with ASMI technical program, fiscal staff and U.S. domestic marketing and communication program managers. The International Marketing Program Director is part of the core leadership team who work with the Executive Director to coordinate and execute ASMI programs.

Responsibilities include working directly with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) to secure Market Access Program (MAP) funding which requires preparing and executing the Unified Export Strategy which forms the basis of the MAP grant application. Oversight of this grant is a significant duty and requires detailed monitoring and reporting to FAS. Direct oversight of the OMRs is required to administer their contracts. In addition, the incumbent works with the ASMI International Marketing Committee which provides guidance and feedback on overseas markets and helps shape the strategic direction of the Institute. Travel is required to attend international trade shows, annual cooperator meetings with FAS, and other MAP grant related meetings and to attend ASMI board of directors and committees meetings.

This person will represent the Alaska Seafood Industry and the State of Alaska in international forums and other public venues and must be a good public speaker.

The ideal candidate will possess expertise in the following areas:

• Good leadership skills and team building skills
• Communication skills and the ability to work with different cultures
• Federal grants, and both federal & state budget, accounting, and administrative processes
• Knowledge of the Alaska Seafood industry
• Personnel management
• Knowledge of overseas markets

Minimum requirements:

A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college in marketing, international marketing, international relations, government and internal marketing experience or experience in grant administration. Other degree fields will be considered if they are relevant to the position. Work experience will also be evaluated and considered in lieu of a Bachelor’s degree.

State of Alaska Executive Exempt (XE) salary and benefits - D.O.E. Starting salary at (XE) 24-A $78,500 plus State benefits.

Closing date for application to be received by 4 PM AST May 27, 2009

Send application letter, resume and references to: hire@alaskaseafood.org

ASMI is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Affirmative Action employer