Daily Online Update, Friday - October 7, 2011

Alaska/Pacific Coast

Council moves forward with halibut by-catch revisions in GOA, trading one job for another

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS by John Sackton - Oct 7, 2011
In another front of the halibut wars, there is a move afoot to revise the by-catch limits for trawl and pot commercial fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska to award more fish to the charter sector. In commenting on the proposal, that examines the impact of a 5%, 10% or 15% reduction in the current 2000 ton halibut by-catch allowance for other Gulf of Alaska trawl and pot fisheries, the Southwest Alaska Municipal Organization, (SWAMC) said it was like trading one job for another. In their newsletter, they write “in a place like Southeast Alaska the main stakeholders are halibut fishermen. However, in the SWAMC region, rolling back halibut bycatch in the groundfish fleet (trawl and hook-and-line) means trading one job for another. “ At least that is how the debate was framed that took place in Dutch Harbor this week as the Council heard testimony from halibut, groundfish, processing and community interests. At issue is whether imposing stricter halibut bycatch limits the capacity of the groundfish fleet, thus reducing community tax revenue and eliminating fishing and processing jobs. So, the question becomes: if there is a trade-off between groundfish and halibut, what is the level that best maximizes resource utilization? The issue is further complicated by the fact that so far, the Gulf of Alaska trawl fleet has been denied the tools that would allow them to closely manage bycatch as is the case in other fisheries where there are IFQ's and coops, and data sharing. Groundfishermen argue that they are being increasingly asked to achieve stricter conservation goals such as by-catch reduction, at the same time the council is refusing to allow them the same tools other fisheries have used successfully to achieve these ends. Recent reports of high by-catch of halibut in the trawl fishery are part of the campaign to demonize the trawl fleet, without asking the basic question before the council: what is the best way to resolve a resource conflict that maximizes public revenue and economic benefit.

Related: Halibut charter, bycatch issues will get more time

Alaska Journal of Commerce, October 6, 2011

A pair of contentious halibut measures are on hold until at least 2013 following the meeting of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in Dutch Harbor.

http://www.alaskajournal.com/Alaska-Journal-of-Commerce/October-2011/Halibut-charter-bycatch-issues-will-get-more-time/

King crab quota cut in half; council may collect more crew info

Alaska Journal of Commerce, October 6, 2011

The highest value Alaska crab fishery is being cut in half for 2011. Alaska Department of Fish and Game released its harvest quotas for all stocks other than Bering Sea snow crab Oct. 3, and the total allowable catch, or TAC, for Bristol Bay red king crab is just 7.83 million pounds.

http://www.alaskajournal.com/Alaska-Journal-of-Commerce/October-2011/King-crab-quota-cut-in-half-council-may-collect-more-crew-info/

Workers’ comp rates to increase in 2012

Alaska Journal of Commerce, October 6, 2011

Workers’ compensation insurance premiums that employers pay are likely to increase modestly in 2012 after several years of decline, state Division of Insurance officials say.

http://www.alaskajournal.com/Alaska-Journal-of-Commerce/October-2011/Workers-comp-rates-to-increase-in-2012/

Gulf Fishery update

BP, MOEX, Halliburton sued over declining fish populations in the Gulf

The Ultimate Memorial, October 6, 2011

Numerous fisheries are suing Halliburton Energy Services, BP and MOEX Offshore over claims the businesses lost profits as a result of the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

http://www.ultimatememorial.com/stories/274793-courts-bp-moex-halliburton-sued-over-declining-fish-populations-in-the-gulf

Politics

Calls growing for NOAA chief's ouster

The Gloucester Daily Times, Fri Oct 07, 2011

After what he described as evasion and equivocation by Jane Lubchenco at a U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing, New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang is calling on President Obama to replace the NOAA administrator.

http://www.gloucestertimes.com/topstories/x1038032286/Calls-growing-for-NOAA-chiefs-ouster

International

Japan can’t get a hold on price

SeafoodSource contributing editor, reporting from Osaka, Japan, 07 October, 2011

Seafood imported to Japan was more expensive in July than in the same month a year ago, according to new customs data.

http://www.seafoodsource.com/newsarticledetail.aspx?id=12431

Seafood processor files for bankruptcy

The Chronicle Herald, October 6, 2011

A Shag Harbour fish and seafood processing company has gone belly up, with liabilities of more than $1.1 million.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1266974.html

Record amounts of cod seen in Barents Sea survey

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS by John Sackton - Oct 7, 2011
Record amounts of cod were seen on a recent survey cruise involving both Norwegian and Russian vessels in the Barents Sea. “We have never before seen such large amounts of cod so far north in the Barents Sea as this year”, said researchers Bjarte Bogstad and Harald Gjosaeter to the Barents Observer. The large stock estimate is due to wider dispersion, with significant amounts of cod found as far as 82 degrees North.  The record amounts of cod are connected to record levels of capelin. The map below, from the Norwegian Marine Institute, shows the acoustic surveys of capelin made by four vessels, and illustrates the huge concentrations of capelin in the northern part of the Barents Sea.

Norwegian Institute for Marine Research: The image shows capelin abundance via acoustic surveys. Norwegian and Russian researchers will meet in Murmansk this week to analyze the survey results, and will make a quota recommendation to the joint Norwegan - Russian fishery commission that meets in Kaliningrad the following week.  The record amounts of cod may not lead to a quota increase, as Barents Sea cod quotas are already over 700,000 tons. But the huge cod biomass is evidence of the strong recovery of Atlantic cod as environmental conditions for cod improve, and effective fishery management remains in place.

Environmental issues

Shellfish harvesters plagued by acidification

The Bangor Daily News, October 7, 2011

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — They’re called dead muds. Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere combined with unregulated nitrogen pollution are having a deadly effect on Maine’s shellfish, some researchers say.

http://bangordailynews.com/2011/10/07/environment/shellfish-harvesters-plagued-by-acidic-%e2%80%98dead-muds%e2%80%99/?utm

Otters or Shellfish?

The Independent News, October 6, 2011

Not even the most politically savvy sea otter activist tries to deny it: If the endangered species is once again allowed to swim in Southern California waters as is currently being proposed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the commercial shellfisheries along the mainland coast from Point Conception to Carpinteria — namely spiny lobster, sea urchin, crab, and sea cucumber — are likely to be decimated within a decade.

http://www.independent.com/news/2011/oct/06/otters-or-shellfish/

FYI's

Coast Guard press release:

Coast Guard, State of Alaska safeguard red king crab fleet

Press release from USCG, OCtober 5, 2011

The Coast Guard is conducting dockside exams in Western Alaska and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game will deploy observers aboard participating crab vessels to safeguard the fishing fleet for the 2011 Bristol Bay red king crab season.

http://www.d17.uscgnews.com/go/doc/780/1207067/

NOAA Fisheries - Public Comment Periods:

Notice of a proposed information collection to conduct a survey of charter vessel owners to collect annual cost and earnings data that will supplement logbook data collected by ADF&G. Comment period through December 6, 2011.

NOAA Fisheries Management Information Bulletins - October:

 75. NMFS Prohibits Directed Fishing for Pacific Cod by Vessels Harvesting Pacific Cod for Processing by the Inshore Component in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska.

 74. NMFS Reallocates Yellowfin Sole from the BSAI Trawl Limited Access Sector to the Amendment 80 Cooperative in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.

Have a good weekend all,

Nancy Diaz

Administrative Assistant/Bookkeeper

Pacific Seafood Processors Association

1900 W Emerson Place Suite 205,

Seattle, WA 98119

Phone: 206.281.1667

E-mail: nancy@pspafish.net

Website: www.pspafish.net

Our office days/hours are Monday-Friday

8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M.