Would you eat this?

No bones, no scales, no problem: The first lab-grown salmon sold in the U.S.

Three rescued from Bristol Bay boat in distress

From the Alaska State Troopers:

Location: Ugashik fishing district

Type: Search and rescue

On June 28 at 2:54 p.m., the Alaska Wildlife Troopers received a report of an overturned or swamped fishing vessel, the Happy Hooker, in the shallows off the beach in the Ugashik fishing district, outside King Salmon, near Pilot Point, with three commercial fishermen in survival suits stuck on the listing boat. The patrol vessel Audrey Ann was in the district due to the ongoing commercial fishery and responded. Troopers were able to rescue all three, under very challenging wind and surf conditions, from the Audrey Ann's skiff. All three survivors declined medical attention.

PSPA adds an Oregon heavyweight

The Pacific Seafood Processors Association today announced it has taken on a major new member — Pacific Seafood Group, based in Clackamas, Oregon.

Juneau-based PSPA, based in Juneau, is "a nonprofit trade association representing seafood processing companies in the policy, regulatory and legislative arenas since 1914," its website says. Its corporate members include many of the top processors operating in Alaska including Silver Bay Seafoods, Trident Seafoods, UniSea, and units of Canfisco and Maruha Nichiro.

Pacific Seafood has a considerable processing presence in Alaska, including Seward and Wrangell. Last year, it completed a big expansion in the state, acquiring Trident's Kodiak processing operations.

Burned car carrier sinks off Aleutians

Here's an Associated Press news story.

Salmon notes

Here's a quick update as the Alaska salmon season continues to unfold.

• The statewide commercial catch now exceeds 2.8 million salmon, including 1.4 million sockeye and 1.2 million chums. These totals are small — we won't see really big numbers until the Bristol Bay sockeye fishery and the pink salmon fisheries kick in later in the summer. The state has forecast a total haul of 214.6 million salmon for this season.

• The first opener of the Southeast Alaska summer troll season will begin July 1 targeting about 36,500 treaty Chinook salmon, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced today. That's way down from last year's initial quota of 64,700 Chinook.

Oscar Dyson overhaul

NOAA has awarded a $95.4 million contract to a Seward shipyard for major upgrades to the fisheries survey vessel Oscar Dyson.

King Cove's plight

With the collapse last year of Peter Pan Seafood, the remote Alaska Peninsula community of King Cove now faces another salmon season without its mainstay processing plant.

The town is meeting the "nightmare" situation with a blend of anger, determination and hope, King Cove Mayor Warren Wilson writes here.