Factory trawler hit with $122K penalty

NOAA's Office of General Counsel reports this case charged in September:

• F/V America's Finest — Owner America's Finest Fishing LLC was charged under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act with directed fishing for groundfish with trawl gear in the Nearshore Bristol Bay Trawl Area when that area was closed to trawling. A $121,984.48 NOVA (notice of violation and assessment) was issued.

Tad Fujioka crosses the bar

The Alaska State Troopers report the death of Tad Fujioka as the likely victim of a bear mauling.

Fujioka, 50, of Sitka, was a commercial fisherman and owner of the F/V Sakura. He chaired the Seafood Producers Cooperative board of directors. A remembrance is posted here.

MSC victory for Alaska salmon

A decision turning back objections out of Canada clears the way for Marine Stewardship Council recertification of the Alaska salmon fishery.

The fishery has been certified since 2000. The certification was due to expire on Nov. 11.

Certification allows Alaska salmon to carry the blue MSC label signifying the product has been independently verified for sustainability.

No on Ballot Measure 1, says PSPA

The Pacific Seafood Processors Association is opposing Ballot Measure 1 and explains why here.

Personnel file

• Stephanie Madsen, longtime executive director of the At-sea Processors Association, will retire at the end of the year. APA represents Bering Sea pollock factory trawlers.

• Michelle Stratton is the new executive director of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council.

• At its meeting this month, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council reelected Angel Drobnica as chair. She is director of fisheries and government affairs for the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association.

Do we have a harbor porpoise problem?

Federal and university scientists have published a study better defining Alaska's harbor porpoise population.

The research seems to lay the groundwork for measures to limit bycatch of harbor porpoises in the Southeast Alaska salmon gillnet fisheries.

A turning point for Prince William Sound herring?

The Prince William Sound herring food and bait fishery will open in November with a guideline harvest level of 500 tons, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced.

Several years of favorable spawning biomass estimates and signs of improving recruitment "support opening this small-scale fishery," the department said, adding: "This is the first time the food and bait fishery has been open since 1998."