Juneau watch

The House Labor and Commerce Committee is planning a hearing tomorrow on seafood industry safety.

The hearing is expected to focus, at least in part, on a proposed but ultimately canceled $450,000 fine against Copper River Seafoods.

Do released halibut survive?

The International Pacific Halibut Commission is looking to conduct a recreational discard mortality study.

Halibut time! Sablefish too!

The halibut season opens at noon local time Saturday.

The open comes a good bit earlier than last year, when the halibut fishery started on March 14.

The sablefish season also opens at noon tomorrow.

F/V Haida Lady afloat again

The F/V Haida Lady, which sank near Cobb Island south of Sitka, has been raised with lift bags and dewatering pumps, the U.S. Coast Guard reports. This is the boat as seen Wednesday. USCG photo

Juneau watch

Rep. Geran Tarr, D-Anchorage, has been named chair of the House Special Committee on Fisheries.

She takes the gavel from Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, who is now speaker of the House.

Bristol Bay's price discontent

After last season ended, Bristol Bay salmon fishermen grumbled over the 70 cents per pound the major processors paid for sockeye. It was a huge drop from the $1.35 paid the prior season.

The reason for the price drop would seem evident and understandable: COVID-19 and the anxiety it created in the markets.

Nevertheless, Bristol Bay fishermen remain angry over last year's fish price.

Many hope the processors will come through with supplemental payments for the 2020 catch.

This week, the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association, which represents drift gillnetters, posted a white paper examining last year’s disappointing sockeye price and options for what the fleet could do about it. Here's a summary of the paper.

Seiner reported sunk near Sitka

Here's a situation report from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.