North Pacific Seafoods penalized $345,000

Here's the press release from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Something special in Bristol Bay

Here's a message just out from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game:

Fishermen and residents of Naknek should keep their eyes towards the water this evening for a chance to see the double-ender Bristol Bay sailboat, Libby 76, sail back into Bristol Bay and the Naknek River on the next high tide.

Fuel spill reported at Naknek

More details in this announcement from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

St. Paul concerns resolved, EPA files revised settlement packing $2.5 million fine for Trident

Back in September, we told you about a major enforcement action the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was taking against Alaska's biggest fish processor, Seattle-based Trident Seafoods Corp.

The EPA said Trident had agreed to pay a $2.5 million civil penalty and invest millions of dollars at its various plants to control fish wastes.

After that announcement, interests out of St. Paul, the island community at the center of the Bering Sea, raised certain concerns about the deal.

Now the government says those concerns have been resolved, and an amended settlement has been filed that still includes the $2.5 million fine for Trident and the waste control requirements.

One of those requirements calls for Trident to build a fishmeal plant at Naknek, primary hub of the huge Bristol Bay salmon fishery, by June 1, 2015.

Trident to pay $2.5 million, build fishmeal plant at Bristol Bay to settle pollution violations with EPA

From the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:

Sept. 28, 2011

Trident Seafoods Corp. to pay $2.5 million to resolve Clean Water Act violations and spend more than $30 million to upgrade processing plants

Settlement to reduce discharges of seafood processing waste by more than 100 million pounds annually

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice today announced that Trident Seafoods Corp., one of the world's largest seafood processors, has agreed to pay a $2.5 million civil penalty and invest millions in seafood processing waste controls to settle alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.

Unauthorized discharges of seafood processing waste lead to large seafood waste piles on the seafloor, creating anoxic, or oxygen-depleted, conditions that result in unsuitable habitats for fish and other living organisms.

"Today's settlement signals an important change in how seafood processing is managed in Alaska," said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "Trident's investment in fishmeal facilities and commitment to improving its waste management practices will help protect our nation's waters and set the standard for Alaska's seafood processing industry."

"This agreement will benefit the quality of Alaskan waters, which host a critical habitat for the seafood industry," said Ignacia S. Moreno, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "The upgrades will enable Trident to achieve and maintain compliance with the Clean Water Act, and will protect Alaskan waters, eliminate waste and create efficiencies that will serve as a model of best business practices for the seafood processing industry."

The agreement requires Trident to invest an estimated $30-40 million, and potentially more, in source control and waste pile remediation measures. The source control measures include building a fishmeal plant in Naknek that will have the capacity to handle at least 30 million pounds of seafood processing waste annually, taking in both its own fish waste and potentially that of other local processors.

Trident has also agreed to reduce the amount of seafood processing waste discharged from the Akutan, Cordova, St. Paul and Ketchikan facilities and monitor the amount of seafood processing waste discharged into Starrigavan Bay in Sitka. The actions taken will reduce Trident's fish processing discharges by a total of more than 105 million pounds annually.

The company has also agreed to remediation measures including studying seafloor waste piles at Trident's facilities in Akutan, Ketchikan and Cordova. Based on the results of these studies, Trident will remove or partially remediate the piles. One seafood processing waste pile in Akutan Harbor is currently estimated to be more than 50 acres in size.

The EPA complaint, also filed as part of this legal action, alleges that Trident had more than 480 Clean Water Act violations at 14 of its onshore and offshore Alaskan seafood processing facilities. The alleged violations include discharging without a necessary permit, exceeding discharge limits, failing to comply with permit restrictions on discharge locations (including discharges into at least two national wildlife refuges), and creating oxygen-depleting "zones of deposit" or underwater piles of fish processing waste occupying more than the allowed one acre of seafloor. The company also allegedly failed to conduct required monitoring and implement required best management practices.

Over the past decade, Trident has been a party to multiple administrative enforcement agreements and judicial consent decrees resolving similar violations at many of the same facilities.

The settlement was lodged in federal court in Seattle, Wash., and is subject to a 30-day public comment period.

For more information on the settlement and a copy of the consent decree, click here.

Bristol Bay villages extend their reach

Here are a couple of Bristol Bay notes.

• A new road is planned to connect the village of Naknek to Pederson Point. The North Pacific Seafoods salmon cannery is located on the point, currently accessible only by taking a four-wheel-drive along the beach at low tide. Paug-Vik Inc., the Native village corporation for Naknek, wants to extend an overland road 1.7 miles from the east to reach Pederson Point. Paug-Vik says the road would provide year-round access to the point and would improve transportation of fish to Naknek, hub of Bristol Bay's salmon industry. For more information and a map, start here.

• The staff of a state agency, the Local Boundary Commission, has recommended approval of the city of Dillingham's petition to annex extensive commercial fishing grounds (map). The staff's conclusion starts on p. 84 of this preliminary report. At the end of the report, you can find letters from people for and against annexing the new territory. The annexation is still subject to commission approval, plus a vote of Dillingham area residents. For background, here's an item published in a recent issue of Pacific Fishing magazine:

Dillingham's expansion plan

The Bristol Bay city of Dillingham wants to get bigger, way bigger, and collect a lot more tax revenue.

To achieve its goals, the city has petitioned the state Local Boundary Commission to annex rich commercial salmon fishing grounds adjacent to town, including the Nushagak District and the Wood River special harvest area. In all, the city of about 36 square miles is seeking to add 396 square miles of water plus three square miles of islands.

In conjunction with the annexation, the city aims to impose a new local raw fish tax. The 2.5 percent levy would raise an estimated $710,833 annually beginning in 2012.

In their petition, Dillingham officials say they need more revenue to cover and improve city services. The city's population of 2,350 people nearly doubles during the summer fishing season, with up to 700 vessels jamming the city harbor. Most are not Dillingham residents, yet they use the harbor, boat ramps, parking areas, restrooms and bathhouse, and benefit from the city's trash hauling, street maintenance and more.

The proposed tax would extend to the roughly 50 percent of Nushagak Bay salmon delivered outside the district for processing, Dillingham's petition says.

Dillingham officials note that wrapping city limits around fishing waters is nothing new. The commission approved it for Egegik, Pilot Point, St. Paul and Togiak.