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Alaska/Pacific Coast

Bering Sea Chinook salmon bycatch management program set for 2011 season

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [seafoodnews.com] - August 31, 2010 - NMFS has published the final rule establishing the Bering Sea Chinook bycatch management plan for 2011. The new plan is designed to to minimize the accidental catch of Chinook by vessels trawling for pollock in the Bering Sea. The program:
* Sets a limit on the amount of Chinook salmon that may be caught and shuts down the fishery if that limit is reached;

* Sets up a structure for the pollock fishing fleet to develop incentive plans encouraging each vessel to avoid Chinook salmon at all times while fishing for pollock, not just when bycatch numbers are high;

* Uses a performance standard to ensure that the incentive plan is effective and that bycatch remains below the limit;

* Increases observer coverage for pollock catcher vessels to count every Chinook salmon caught in the pollock fishery.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended the plan as Amendment 91 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area. NOAA Fisheries wrote the final rule based on the Council's plan and taking into consideration public review and comments on the amendment and proposed rule. The Bering Sea pollock fishery accounts for about 95% of Chinook salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea groundfish fisheries. “Commercial fisheries as well as communities in Western Alaska depend upon Chinook salmon for their livelihoods and way of life,” said Jim Balsiger, regional administrator for the Alaska Region of NOAA Fisheries. “Minimizing Chinook salmon bycatch is desirable and achievable for pollock fishers as well.” The final rule and Amendment 91 are available on the internet at: http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/sustainablefisheries/bycatch/

Politics

3 candidates 8 votes apart in Alaska House primary

ADN, August 31, 2010

FAIRBANKS -- A primary race between three candidates seeking the Republican

nomination for Alaska House District 12 has come down to eight votes in the latest tally.

http://www.adn.com/2010/08/30/1431518/3-candidates-8-votes-apart-in.html

AK Senate hopeful Miller seeks probe of observer

The Seattle Times, August 31, 2010

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says Republican rival Joe Miller may be creating doubt in

the minds of Alaskans about the integrity of the voting process by ratcheting up the

hyperbole about possible election fraud.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2012761858_apusalaskasenate.html

Press release:

Governor Announces More Board Appointments

August 30, 2010, Anchorage, Alaska – Governor Sean Parnell today announced his

appointments to the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority, the Board of Forestry,

the Marine Transportation Advisory Board and the Alaska Seafood Marketing

Institute Board of Directors.

http://gov.alaska.gov/parnell/press-room/full-press-release.html?pr=5482

International

Salmon can become too expensive

Intrafish.com, August 31, 2010

As expected, salmon production will exceed one million metric tons this year and conditions are set for continued good prices -- for a long while yet. Executive Chairman Lars Liabo of Kontali Analyse told IntraFish the Norwegian regulating regime limits supply of salmon to markets out in the world. This means that the level of prices is high for the buyers. The Minimum Permitted Biomass (MTB) regime has set a ceiling for growth in Norway. It’s unlikely the authorities will increase the MTB this year. Also, some fish producers have been plagued by disease, pancreatic disease (PD) in particular. Winter was cold and low sea temperatures have resulted in poor growth for the fish. There quite simply hasn’t been much opportunity for growth. Many are making use of the 65 new production licenses that were dealt out last year. But a slight degree of growth is possible nonetheless,” said Liabo. When asked if we talking about a 10-percent rise in slaughter volume for 2010, he was reserved. “Maybe, but that’s being optimistic. It requires ideal sea temperatures and robust biology. If it is around 10 percent this year, perhaps lower, it will be considerably lower than 10 percent next year, said Liabo, without going into further detail. Norway is on track to slaughter around 950,000 metric tons of Atlantic salmon round weight (WFE) or “slightly less,” he said. “We are currently collecting data. After August 31 we will know more for certain.” This year’s trout production will be close to 60,000 metric tons, he said. This would mean that slaughter volume of salmonids in Norway this year would for the first time exceed one million metric tons. An anonymous exporter interviewed by IntraFish several weeks ago, warned – not unexpectedly – of good kilo prices paid to the producer for a good, long while yet. “There isn’t more fish this autumn than there were last autumn. People have been tempted to harvest fish that are smaller than preferred due to the good prices. This means they will have to hold back later,” said the exporter. Liabo agrees that 2010 has been an “awesome year” for the fish producers. “No, there’s no basis for increased harvesting in autumn compared with last year,” he said. Good prices for 2011? “2010 has turned out better than I would have thought. Only a very few had imagined the year would be as good as this,” he said. “Chile is still out of the picture and Norway is dominating the market, but with production restrictions. Supply on a global basis will reduce this year. Salmon is being sold at high prices. The challenge we face is that we can risk pricing ourselves off the market. Liabo said if production had not been restricted, more players would have set out fish and production would have increased. Salmon prices would have probably decreased accordingly. “The problem is knowing when consumers in the major markets will say that salmon has become too expensive? There’s for limits for that as well. The level of prices is already high,” said Liabo.

Gulf of Mexico

BP CEO tells governors lawsuits are not the answer

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Montgomery Advertiser] By Sebastian Kitchen - August 31, 2010 - HOOVER, Ala., The Mississippi-born top executive of BP told Gulf coast officials Sunday that the company is trying to compensate people with losses due to the oil spill without litigation, but that a lawsuit filed by the attorney general of Alabama is complicating the company evaluating a $148 million claim from that state. Incoming BP CEO Bob Dudley said the lawsuit was filed by the attorney general the same day that Gov. Bob Riley and other officials presented him with the $148 million claim for lost revenue. 'We hadn't even read the claim when the lawsuit came. It was that quick,' he said. Alabama Attorney General Troy King filed two lawsuits on Aug. 12 against BP, Transocean, Halliburton Energy Services and other companies blamed for their alleged involvement with the April oil rig explosion that killed 11 workers and led to millions of gallons of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. King argues that he is trying to ensure BP is keeping its word, that there were outstanding unpaid claims despite all of the flashy TV and newspaper ads, and that he believes the company is hiring lawyers and experts to avoid taking care of its obligations. A spokesman for King has argued the lawsuit can be dropped if BP meets its obligations, that the attorney general wants to ensure there is legal protection for the people of Alabama and that $148 million could be 'chump change' compared with the final amount the state could receive.

Riley has claimed the lawsuit was premature and that it could hurt Alabama receiving money from its claims. 'It does change things,' Dudley said. The lawyers have more reservations, he said. Dudley said BP officials will meet Monday with representatives of the Alabama attorney general's office and Riley's finance office. He said they will meet to discuss the specifics of the claim and the claims in the litigation. Dudley will not attend the meeting. Dudley said BP's approach has been to negotiate 'without the time-consuming process' of litigation. He said BP, unlike Exxon with the Valdez spill, does not want to spend 20 years in court. 'I do not think that is the way for us to resolve this,' Dudley said. He said that Alabama was the first to submit its claim, which Riley, economist Keivan Deravi and acting finance director Bill Newton did during an Aug. 12 meeting in Montgomery with Dudley. Dudley said how they handle the claim will in some ways set a precedent. The $148 million is the estimated loss in state revenue in the region affected by the spill from May through September and is not the final amount, according to Riley's office. Dudley was in Hoover, just outside of Birmingham, to address the Southern Governors' Association, where he was joined by retired Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander for the spill, and Kenneth Feinberg, the administrator for the $20 billion fund set up by BP to pay claims.

Dudley said BP has paid $296 million in Alabama with $98 million for claims for individuals and businesses, $22 million to help promote tourism, a $50 million grant to the state, and funds for the Vessels of Opportunity program and for mental health. 'There will undoubtedly be more,' Dudley said. Dudley said they should have the blowout preventer that failed, contributing to the giant spill, to the surface by late Monday or early Tuesday. He said they are treating the blowout preventer as evidence in the investigation. Dudley said that the company should release a detailed report within 10 days 'of the details of what happened on that rig.' He said the report would have been ready on Monday, but those working on it wanted to look at the blowout preventer and be certain there were not any surprises. As with aviation accidents, Dudley believes people will see that there were several issues that led to the April explosion, the deaths of 11 workers and tens of millions of gallons leaking into the Gulf. He said there are failures of equipment and of very experienced people. Dudley said the well will be capped and he does not expect it to leak again. 'The well will be capped and nobody will ever want to go near it again,' he said. Dudley said BP is not trying to hide behind the $75 million legal liability cap and has spent $7.5 billion so far in claims, to help states promote tourism, to test seafood, for studies and on cleanup efforts. BP has a goal of selling $25 million to $30 million of its $250 million in assets to meet its obligations and to show the market the company will meet its responsibilities, Dudley said. He said BP will be a smaller, slimmer company.

But, he said, the company is not in danger of filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Dudley said any talk of BP withdrawing from the coast since the leak has been stopped 'couldn't be any further from the truth.' He said resources that are no longer needed for cleaning beaches are not there, but that work continues to clean up the marshes in Louisiana. Mike Sole, outgoing secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, said during the governors' association meeting that work with the recovery from the spill would continue there for months, if not years. Allen told him the response would not stop even if the direction was changing from response to recovery with more emphasis on local control. Partially at the urging of Riley and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Dudley said BP is spending $500 million for independent research on the effects of the oil and dispersants on the Gulf. Dudley, a Hattiesburg native, remembers fishing and swimming along the Mississippi and Alabama coasts during family vacations growing up. 'It's very personal to me,' he said.