Copper River update

The Copper River District commercial salmon fishery will resume at 7 a.m. Thursday for a 12-hour period, but the Chitina dipnet fishery will remain closed at least through June 9 due to a low sonar count.

A leadership transition at AMCC

Here's the announcement.

Northline processing barge heads to Bristol Bay

Here's the press release.

USCG reports fire and vessel tow

A U.S. Coast Guard enforcement report to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council includes this note:

May 15 — F/V Defender reported fire onboard. The fire was extinguished, and a tug towed the vessel into Dutch Harbor while being escorted by USCG cutter Midgett.

Another problem for Peter Pan

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is suing Peter Pan Seafood Co. to resolve violations of the Clean Water Act at processing plants in Valdez and King Cove.

Under a proposed consent decree, Peter Pan and another company, PSF Inc., would pay a civil penalty of $750,000.

The decree lays out requirements to monitor and manage seafood processing waste discharges.

The EPA lawsuit also names Silver Bay Seafoods as a defendant, due to Silver Bay's recent purchase of Peter Pan's Valdez plant.

Eye on the competition

A couple of weeks ago, Deckboss saw a Publix circular offering "Bluehouse Atlantic Salmon Fillets" at $11.99 a pound.

The ad further described the product as "Fresh From Florida, Sustainable, Farmed."

A timeout for the Copper River

The Copper River is off to a hot start this season, with the first three fishing periods yielding stronger than expected catches of sockeye salmon.

Now, the fishery is taking a break.

The Copper River District will remain closed on Monday, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced today. The department didn't say when the fishery might reopen.

The problem appears to be lagging escapement upriver. The cumulative sonar count through Friday was 2,808 fish whereas 44,862 had been projected, the department said.

The cumulative harvest to date in the Copper River District is about 168,000 sockeye and 4,100 Chinook.