Disaster aid OK'd for cod, Chignik salmon fisheries

Alaska's congressional delegation says $24.4 million in disaster relief has been approved for the 2018 cod crash and $10.3 million for the 2018 sockeye failure at Chignik.

More details in this press release.

Juneau watch

State Rep. Chris Tuck, D-Anchorage, has introduced a bill relating to "the delegation of authority to fish under a limited entry commercial fishing permit."

'Fishermen shooting at bears from their boats'

Quite an interesting letter here from the National Park Service to the Alaska Board of Fisheries.

Halibut takes a dip

The International Pacific Halibut Commission today set a coastwide catch limit of 36.6 million pounds for this year.

That's a reduction of 5.2 percent from last year.

The commission set season dates of March 14 to Nov. 15.

The IPHC manages U.S. and Canadian halibut stocks. The bulk of the commercial catch comes from Alaska.

Here is the full slate of 2020 catch limits, by regulatory area, expressed in millions of pounds.

Regulatory area	2019 catch limits	2020 catch limits	% change
2A	1.65	1.65	Same
2B	6.83	6.83	Same
2C	6.34	5.85	-7.7
3A	13.5	12.2	-9.6
3B	2.9	3.12	+7.6
4A	1.94	1.75	-9.8
4B	1.45	1.31	-9.7
4CDE	4.0	3.9	-2.5
TOTAL	38.61	36.6	-5.2

Click here for a map of IPHC regulatory areas.

Juneau watch

Legislators this week held a hearing on Senate Bill 115, which would raise taxes on motor fuels.

The bill would double the tax on marine fuel to 10 cents per gallon.

"With this increase, Alaska would still have the lowest marine fuel tax in the nation," Sen. Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks, says in a sponsor statement.

Chile, China and the coronavirus

SalmonChile, the industry association for Chilean salmon farmers, says "all salmon shipments to China have been suspended ... until the health emergency is controlled."

"This measure is not directly related to the infectious effect," SalmonChile says in this public statement. Rather, it's because of a drop in demand as Chinese authorities recommend people avoid crowds, leaving restaurants and supermarkets without customers.

Fresh halibut all the time?

Barring a standoff between the United States and Canada, we should get the 2020 catch limits Friday from the International Pacific Halibut Commission.

Meantime, the IPHC's Conference Board has "requested the formation of an ad-hoc stakeholder working group to review options for shifting to a year-round fishery."