Have a hake, it's sustainable!

Looks like the West Coast hake fishery has made the grade for Marine Stewardship Council certification.

Some of the same factory trawlers that catch Bering Sea pollock also harvest hake, or whiting, in federal waters off Washington, Oregon and California.

Here's a press release:

Pacific Whiting Conservation Cooperative

Oct. 21, 2009

Pacific Hake Fishery MSC-Certified as Responsibly Managed
Fishery Meets the Highest Environmental Standards

SEATTLE — Today the U.S. Pacific hake fishery was independently certified as well-managed and sustainable according to the internationally recognized sustainability standard of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), an organization established by the World Wildlife Fund.

The largest fishery on the West Coast, the U.S. Pacific hake midwater trawl fishery is conducted in federal waters that extend out to 200 miles off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California. The fish is also known as Pacific whiting in many international markets.

The sustainability certification resulted from a comprehensive two-year scientific assessment of the fishery by a team of independent fisheries scientists. The MSC certification process is based on the best available information, is transparent, and encourages stakeholder participation throughout the process.

The exhaustive review reaffirms that the Pacific Fishery Management Council and National Marine Fisheries Service manage this fishery responsibly, and adjust its management to address changing environmental conditions. This certification is also a reflection of an industry that promotes and supports regulatory actions that ensure healthy fishery stocks.

"Today's determination by the MSC is an important independent validation of how the Pacific hake fishery is managed responsibly by a progressive fishery management system," said Jan Jacobs, President of the Pacific Whiting Conservation Cooperative (PWCC). "This action provides assurance to consumers around the world that products supplied from the Pacific hake fishery are best choices for seafood."

The U.S. clients for the MSC assessment are the PWCC and the Oregon Trawl Commission, representing all sectors, of the U.S. Pacific hake fishery, including the onshore, mothership and catcher-processor sectors.

The PWCC was formed in 1997 to promote rational harvesting and to minimize effects of fishing on the environment. Its members are American Seafoods Company, Glacier Fish Company, and Trident Seafoods Corporation.

Just super

Did you know that Alaska salmon is "Super Green" seafood?

So says the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Our Pacific cod is pretty good, too, but only from longliners. Sorry, trawlers.

Your honor, if you please...

Well, now, I see Anchorage attorney David Oesting yesterday entered his firm's appearance in the Adak Fisheries bankruptcy case.

The firm is representing Trident Seafoods, which has been mentioned as a potential buyer of the Adak processing plant.

Oesting, you might recall, has toiled for many years as lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez oil spill case.

ASMI spells out MSC conditions, concerns

Here's the letter the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute has sent laying out its conditions for becoming the Marine Stewardship Council's new "client" for salmon certification.

One of the main points is that ASMI wants the partnership with the MSC to be "cost neutral to ASMI."

It proposes having the MSC extract the $250,000 in costs directly from industry players who benefit from the MSC logo. The MSC would then pass the funds along to ASMI, which would use part of the money to hire a new employee.

The letter raises plenty of other key points and is well worth reading.

For background on this subject, click here.

Arctic fisheries forum launches Monday

We've got a big, three-day event in Anchorage starting tomorrow, the International Arctic Fisheries Symposium.

The symposium is "designed to initiate international discussions for conserving and managing future fisheries in the Arctic Ocean, including managing migratory, transboundary and straddling fish stocks."

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell and the state's two U.S. senators, Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich, are listed as keynote speakers for the event at the Hotel Captain Cook.

Fisheries experts from Great Britain, Iceland, Greenland, Norway, the Netherlands and Russia also will speak.

The registration fee to attend is $200.

Hoping for a nondeadly catch

The major Bering Sea king and Tanner crab fisheries opened at noon today, with the main quarry initially being those giant Bristol Bay red king crab. The total allowable catch this season is 16 million pounds of red kings, down almost 22 percent from last season. The U.S. Coast Guard, citing figures from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, reports that 62 boats are expected to be on the fishing grounds, although 93 preregistered. The Coast Guard has staged a Kodiak-based rescue helicopter at Cold Bay. USCG photo

Judge delays huge oil spill payout

The Exxon Valdez case — pardon my metaphor. Wesley Loy photo

As you might recall, Deckboss reported in early September how lawyers for the thousands of plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez case were seeking to distribute the largest sum yet — close to $300 million in interest payments from Exxon Mobil Corp.

That post included a long list showing dollar amounts each person in the affected claim categories could expect.

Well, it seems we now have — big surprise here! — yet another delay in this marathon case of constant waiting.

On Oct. 9, federal Judge H. Russel Holland signed this order explaining why he can't yet approve the big money handout.

"The prospect of delaying that distribution troubles the court a good deal," Holland writes.

The delay has to do, in part, with a challenge from cannery workers hoping for additional payments.

Once the issue is resolved, and assuming no further snags, the distribution will commence in late November or early December, lawyers for the plaintiffs say.

That will take us through a full year since the process began to distribute winnings accumulated so far from Exxon.