Not giving up

Two tribal organizations — the Association of Village Council Presidents and Tanana Chiefs Conference — are appealing their recent defeat in a case challenging the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands groundfish fisheries.

A major victory for the groundfish industry

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit two tribal organizations brought against the National Marine Fisheries Service challenging the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands groundfish fisheries.

Here is U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason's 45-page decision and order dismissing the claims of the Association of Village Council Presidents and Tanana Chiefs Conference. The two groups sued in April 2023.

And here is a joint press release from the At-sea Processors Association and United Catcher Boats.

Big day in court

As previously reported here on Deckboss, two tribal organizations are suing the National Marine Fisheries Service in federal court, challenging the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands groundfish fisheries.

At 9 a.m. tomorrow in federal court in Anchorage, lawyers will square off for oral arguments, each side seeking summary judgment — a knockout victory.

The tribal organizations — the Association of Village Council Presidents and Tanana Chiefs Conference — are represented by Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law firm.

The public may listen to the hearing by dialing (571) 353-2301 and using call ID 275666327.

Groundfish fisheries challenged

The Association of Village Council Presidents and Tanana Chiefs Conference have sued the National Marine Fisheries Service in federal court, challenging the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands groundfish fisheries.

The 33-page lawsuit cites trawl bycatch of salmon and "rapid and unprecedented" ecosystem change.

Salmon or surimi and fish sticks?

U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola is weighing in with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council on the issue of salmon bycatch. Here's her letter.

Responding to the Western Alaska salmon crisis

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council, meeting in Sitka, passed this hard-hitting motion acknowledging the Western Alaska salmon crisis.

The motion "requests" the pollock industry do more to avoid chum bycatch, and calls for a discussion paper and a "working group."

Meantime, Gov. Mike Dunleavy says salmon donations will continue this year to the Yukon-Kuskokwim region.

Trident's warning

A recent federal summary of enforcement actions for the first half of 2017 said a written warning was issued to Trident Seafoods.

Deckboss obtained a copy of the written warning through a Freedom of Information Act request. Read it here.

48 hours in Anchorage

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council convenes today for a meeting expected to last until Tuesday.

That's a long time to talk fish, but it's normal for the council, which holds about five lengthy meetings a year. Most are held in Alaska, but occasionally the council meets in Washington state or Oregon.

For this meeting, the council has allotted 48 hours to work through the agenda, which includes items on Steller sea lions, fishing cooperatives, the observer program and the scallop stock assessment.

Also of interest, the council will receive federal reports on genetic analysis of salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska.

We gave you a taste of one of these reports yesterday. Scientists are working to identify the stocks of origin for salmon taken incidentally in the pollock trawl fisheries.

Here are links to the reports:

Genetic Stock Composition Analysis of Chinook Salmon Bycatch Samples from the 2011 Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska Trawl Fisheries

Genetic Stock Composition Analysis of Chum Salmon Bycatch Samples from the 2011 Bering Sea Walleye Pollock Trawl Fishery

Council to reach out to rural Alaska today

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has felt some heat in recent months from residents of western Alaska, chiefly over the issue of the Bering Sea pollock trawl fleet's incidental catches of Yukon River king salmon.

To show some deference to rural Alaskans, the council in June appointed a Rural Community Outreach Committee to help Native and rural communities better connect with council business.

The committee meets from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce.

Deckboss presumes this is a public meeting. Here's the agenda.

Eric Olson, the North Pacific Council chairman, also chairs the rural outreach committee. Other members are Paula Cullenberg, Duncan Fields, Jennifer Hooper, Tom Okleasik, Ole Olsen and Pete Probasco.