The Department of Fish and Game is forecasting a 2012 commercial salmon catch of 132.1 million fish.
That would be 25 percent lower than last year's catch of 177.1 million.
The difference is a smaller projected pink salmon catch. Pinks are the smallest and least valuable of Alaska's five commercially harvested salmon species, but the most numerous.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Metlakatla plans big cold storage project
The Metlakatla Indian Community is inviting bids for a big freezer expansion project for its Annette Island Packing Co.
According to an ad published in Friday's Anchorage Daily News, the project involves design of a storage room big enough to hold 1 million pounds of seafood.
The town of Metlakatla is on Annette Island, south of Ketchikan. It anchors the only Indian reservation in Alaska.
The local salmon fishery, tribally managed, won Marine Stewardship Council certification in June 2011.
According to an ad published in Friday's Anchorage Daily News, the project involves design of a storage room big enough to hold 1 million pounds of seafood.
The town of Metlakatla is on Annette Island, south of Ketchikan. It anchors the only Indian reservation in Alaska.
The local salmon fishery, tribally managed, won Marine Stewardship Council certification in June 2011.
Salmon future looks fine, Icicle manager says
John Woodruff, vice president of operations for Icicle Seafoods Inc., was another speaker Friday at the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference meeting. And he had plenty to say.
Seattle-based Icicle is one of the largest seafood processors operating in Alaska. In fact, Woodruff ranks his company third among shoreside operators behind Trident and Maruha Nichiro.
"I'm a fish buyer," Woodruff began his talk. He oversees production at Icicle's Petersburg, Seward, Larsen Bay and Egegik plants, and spends a good part of his days talking directly with commercial fishermen.
Icicle also has floating processors, including the Northern Victor, a pollock processing ship based near Dutch Harbor.
Here's a sampler of Woodruff's remarks Friday:
• The outlook for wild Alaska salmon is rosy. Demand for two species in particular, pink and chum salmon, has surged remarkably.
Six or eight years ago, pinks paid fishermen only a nickel a pound, Woodruff said. Last year, Icicle paid 45 cents.
"There's a huge interest in wild-capture fish," he said, summing up the general market.
• Woodruff doesn't see quite the same upside for sockeye, historically the main money fish in Alaska's salmon crop.
"I personally don't think sockeye prices are gonna do what pinks and chums have done," he said.
He noted sockeye fillets marked at $9 a pound in Safeway stores.
"That's pretty pricey," Woodruff said.
Bristol Bay is the state's major sockeye fishery. Can fishermen there expect higher prices this summer?
"If I was a Bristol Bay fisherman, I'd plan for prices like what we've seen the past couple of years and hope for better," Woodruff said.
Last year's price was around $1 per pound, not counting bonuses.
• Speaking of Bristol Bay, Woodruff discussed the fishery's drive toward chilling more of the catch for better quality.
He said "well in excess" of half the fish Icicle buys at Bristol Bay is chilled, either with ice or refrigerated seawater systems aboard boats.
Bristol Bay packers, who once just canned the sockeye or froze them whole, now fillet about 15 percent of the catch, mainly for the domestic market, Woodruff said.
• Icicle's newest processing plant is at remote Adak, a former military base far out the Aleutian chain.
The plant is taking crab deliveries now, and contributing significant taxes to the fledging city of Adak, Woodruff said.
• In 2007, a private equity firm bought out Icicle.
"I gotta tell ya, I feel good about 'em," Woodruff said. "They allow us to do our job."
The goal of the firm, Paine & Partners, is to build up Icicle and then sell the company, he said.
Seattle-based Icicle is one of the largest seafood processors operating in Alaska. In fact, Woodruff ranks his company third among shoreside operators behind Trident and Maruha Nichiro.
"I'm a fish buyer," Woodruff began his talk. He oversees production at Icicle's Petersburg, Seward, Larsen Bay and Egegik plants, and spends a good part of his days talking directly with commercial fishermen.
Icicle also has floating processors, including the Northern Victor, a pollock processing ship based near Dutch Harbor.
Here's a sampler of Woodruff's remarks Friday:
• The outlook for wild Alaska salmon is rosy. Demand for two species in particular, pink and chum salmon, has surged remarkably.
Six or eight years ago, pinks paid fishermen only a nickel a pound, Woodruff said. Last year, Icicle paid 45 cents.
"There's a huge interest in wild-capture fish," he said, summing up the general market.
• Woodruff doesn't see quite the same upside for sockeye, historically the main money fish in Alaska's salmon crop.
"I personally don't think sockeye prices are gonna do what pinks and chums have done," he said.
He noted sockeye fillets marked at $9 a pound in Safeway stores.
"That's pretty pricey," Woodruff said.
Bristol Bay is the state's major sockeye fishery. Can fishermen there expect higher prices this summer?
"If I was a Bristol Bay fisherman, I'd plan for prices like what we've seen the past couple of years and hope for better," Woodruff said.
Last year's price was around $1 per pound, not counting bonuses.
• Speaking of Bristol Bay, Woodruff discussed the fishery's drive toward chilling more of the catch for better quality.
He said "well in excess" of half the fish Icicle buys at Bristol Bay is chilled, either with ice or refrigerated seawater systems aboard boats.
Bristol Bay packers, who once just canned the sockeye or froze them whole, now fillet about 15 percent of the catch, mainly for the domestic market, Woodruff said.
• Icicle's newest processing plant is at remote Adak, a former military base far out the Aleutian chain.
The plant is taking crab deliveries now, and contributing significant taxes to the fledging city of Adak, Woodruff said.
• In 2007, a private equity firm bought out Icicle.
"I gotta tell ya, I feel good about 'em," Woodruff said. "They allow us to do our job."
The goal of the firm, Paine & Partners, is to build up Icicle and then sell the company, he said.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
APICDA to expand False Pass, Atka plants
The Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association is planning major expansions of its False Pass and Atka processing plants.
Larry Cotter, chief executive of Juneau-based APICDA, offered details of the expansions in a talk Friday at the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference annual meeting in Anchorage.
APICDA is one of Alaska's six community development quota companies. Under the CDQ program, these companies hold lucrative Bering Sea fishing rights, proceeds from which are used to benefit Western Alaska villages.
Recently, the APICDA board decided on a new strategy for the small False Pass and Atka plants, Cotter said.
In the past, APICDA worried that growing larger operations might attract big processors, who could bring crushing competition, he said.
But what APICDA has learned is staying small doesn't work, and doesn't do enough for the local economies, Cotter said.
And so...
At False Pass, a tiny village near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula, the plan is to spend $11 million over the next three years — including $8 million this year — to greatly expand Bering Pacific Seafoods, Cotter said. Construction of worker housing also is planned.
At Atka, in the Aleutian chain more than 300 miles west of Dutch Harbor, the plan is to spend $10 million in 2013-14 to expand Atka Pride Seafoods.
The goal is to turn both plants, now open only seasonally, into diversified, year-round seafood processors, Cotter said.
Larry Cotter, chief executive of Juneau-based APICDA, offered details of the expansions in a talk Friday at the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference annual meeting in Anchorage.
APICDA is one of Alaska's six community development quota companies. Under the CDQ program, these companies hold lucrative Bering Sea fishing rights, proceeds from which are used to benefit Western Alaska villages.
Recently, the APICDA board decided on a new strategy for the small False Pass and Atka plants, Cotter said.
In the past, APICDA worried that growing larger operations might attract big processors, who could bring crushing competition, he said.
But what APICDA has learned is staying small doesn't work, and doesn't do enough for the local economies, Cotter said.
And so...
At False Pass, a tiny village near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula, the plan is to spend $11 million over the next three years — including $8 million this year — to greatly expand Bering Pacific Seafoods, Cotter said. Construction of worker housing also is planned.
At Atka, in the Aleutian chain more than 300 miles west of Dutch Harbor, the plan is to spend $10 million in 2013-14 to expand Atka Pride Seafoods.
The goal is to turn both plants, now open only seasonally, into diversified, year-round seafood processors, Cotter said.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Wanna be on the IPHC?
The government today published this Federal Register notice inviting nominations for people to serve on the International Pacific Halibut Commission.
The IPHC, as I'm sure you know, is a fishery management panel with three members from the United States and three from Canada.
The Department of Commerce is seeking nominations for two U.S. seats now occupied by Ralph Hoard and Phillip Lestenkof. Both are eligible for reappointment.
Hoard is a longtime IPHC member and, if I'm not mistaken, a now retired Icicle Seafoods executive. Lestenkof is president of Central Bering Sea Fishermen's Association.
Maybe you'd like to relieve one of these guys on the IPHC?
Read the notice for details on the nomination process and deadline.
The IPHC, as I'm sure you know, is a fishery management panel with three members from the United States and three from Canada.
The Department of Commerce is seeking nominations for two U.S. seats now occupied by Ralph Hoard and Phillip Lestenkof. Both are eligible for reappointment.
Hoard is a longtime IPHC member and, if I'm not mistaken, a now retired Icicle Seafoods executive. Lestenkof is president of Central Bering Sea Fishermen's Association.
Maybe you'd like to relieve one of these guys on the IPHC?
Read the notice for details on the nomination process and deadline.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Look out, codfish!
Artist's rendering of planned longliner Northern Leader.Seattle-based Jensen Maritime Consultants says it has been selected to design "one of the world's largest freezer longliner fishing vessels."
The 184-foot boat will be built in Tacoma for Alaskan Leader Fisheries and will be homeported in Kodiak.
On the rocks
It doesn't look good for the fishing vessel Kimberly, hard aground in Jute Bay on the west side of Shelikof Strait. The 58-foot steel vessel was forced aground in a storm on Jan. 24. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter safely rescued all four aboard, but the boat has sustained heavy damage including holes in the hull. The plan now is to delay salvage operations until May when weather improves, the state Department of Environmental Conservation says. The boat's owner is listed in state records as Aloys Kopun of Chignik. Photo by Jack McFarland, Alaska Marine Surveyors Inc.
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