More virus trouble

The city of Unalaska is reporting that Westward Seafoods, owner of Alyeska Seafoods, has "temporarily halted production based on a cluster of positive cases of COVID-19 identified during surveillance testing of the workforce at the Alyeska plant."

Turnover at the top of NMFS

With the change of presidential administrations, it would appear the top leadership has changed at the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The agency's website now lists Paul Doremus as the acting director of NMFS.

He replaces Chris Oliver, who helmed NMFS through the Trump administration. Oliver previously was executive director for the Anchorage-based North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Who will the Biden administration tab as permanent NMFS chief? Let the speculation begin.

Here's your Copper River salmon forecast

The state is a forecasting harvest of 652,000 sockeye this year at the Copper River.

That's certainly nothing to write home about. But it would sure beat last year, when the Copper River driftnet fishery pulled in fewer than 100,000 sockeye.

Trident calls a COVID timeout

Trident Seafoods is pausing operations at its Akutan processing plant.

Aleutian outbreaks

As the huge Bering Sea groundfish harvest swings into action, the coronavirus is menacing the industry.

Significant outbreaks have been reported at the UniSea processing plant in Dutch Harbor, and at Trident's Akutan plant.

And the city of Unalaska today reported an outbreak on the fishing vessel Ocean Peace.

Trump's boast

President Donald Trump recently vetoed S. 906, a bill that would have affected the California swordfish fishery and the Alaska halibut fishery.

Trump's veto message explains the action and also asserts:

My administration has done more for American fishermen than any president before me.

That's quite a statement considering the landmark actions of previous presidents. Some examples:

President Gerald Ford in 1976 signed what is today known as the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

President Bill Clinton in 1996 signed the Sustainable Fisheries Act. And in 1998, he signed the American Fisheries Act into law.

President Ronald Reagan established the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone with a 1983 presidential proclamation.

Going farther back, President Andrew Johnson in 1867 signed the treaty for the purchase of Alaska, which has proven to be a pretty good place for fishing.

More COVID relief for halibut, sablefish fleet?

Here's a letter asking for emergency action to "allow those individuals that have IFQ in their own names to be exempt from being on a vessel when their quota is being fished."