Alaska/Pacific Coast
Southeast commercial king trolling done for first opening KFSK by Joe Viechnicki - July 9, 2019 Commercial salmon trollers in Southeast are done with their first king opening of the summer. https://www.kfsk.org/2019/07/09/southeast-commercial-king-trolling-done-for-first-opening/ Cook Inlet salmon fisheries into full swing after rough 2018 Alaska Journal of Commerce by Elizabeth Earl - July 10, 2019 Upper Cook Inlet salmon fisheries are now in full swing, with promising sockeye returns finally showing up. East Side setnetters in the sections north of Kasilof opened for their first period July 8, and the personal-use dipnet fishery on the Kenai River opened July 10. They join the drift gillnet fleet and other Upper Cook Inlet setnetters as well as the inriver sportfishery and the Kasilof River personal-use fishery. http://www.alaskajournal.com/2019-07-10/cook-inlet-salmon-fisheries-full-swing-after-rough-2018 NSF Sells Dutch Harbor Lab to Makuskin Bay Resources Fishermen's News - July 10, 2019 NSF International, headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, recently sold its seafood services laboratory located in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to Jeff Brammer, who will manage the location but under the name Makushin Bay Resources. All systems, scientific equipment and the state of Alaska registration remain with the lab. http://fnonlinenews.blogspot.com/2019/07/nsf-sells-dutch-harbor-lab-to-makuskin.html Amid Heat and Haze Bristol Bay Harvests Second Day of 2 Million Salmon SeafoodNews.com by Peggy Parker - July 8, 2019 Life in Bristol Bay last weekend could only be described as fierce. The fleet caught 2.3 million salmon on Saturday despite 95 degree F temperatures. Friday’s catch of 2.07 million salmon was landed amid temperatures that reached 86 F. Sunday’s harvest is not yet posted, but temperatures were again in the high 80s with humidity between 60 and 70 percent. Southwest Alaska was under an air advisory July 6-8 due to interior fires that caused thick haze on land and sea, making landmarks hard to see. Prevailing winds brought smoke from the interior where several fires are burning, to the fishing grounds, where wind eddies kept dense smoke in certain areas until a strong enough gust blew through. “Generally, worse conditions occur overnight and during the early morning hours, as the atmosphere cools and brings smoke to the surface,” the advisory warned. “During the day, surface heating will mix smoke and carry it upwards, temporarily improving air quality.” Alaska’s Department of Environmental Conservation warned “the elderly and children should avoid prolonged exertion; everyone else should limit prolonged exertion.” Difficult to do during the peak of the run in Bristol Bay. Total landings in the Bay are now 19.1 million sockeyes, more than half of the 26.11million forecast. Escapement, however, is at about a third of what was forecast, 3.5 million bay-wide, compared to 12.58 million in the pre-season forecast. The Nushagak district has exceeded its pre-season forecast by more than 2 million salmon. Their cumulative catch was 9.35 million sockeyes as of Sunday, July 7; the pre-season estimated harvest for the season was 7.97 million. Escapment in that district has reached 1.69 million of the predicted total season escapement of 2.02 million. Egegik also continues strong with a 5.8 million harvest up to Sunday, compared to a pre-season estimate of 7.04 million. Escapement in Egegik has been 790,000 sockeyes, compared to the forecasted 1.7 million. The Naknek-Kvichak district harvest as of Sunday was 3.6 million sockeyes, compared to a pre-season forecast of 7.84 million. Escapment is on the low side there with just about 1 million sockeyes upriver at this point, and a total expected this year of 7.68 million escapement. The latest Port Moller Test Fishery results showed the highest index (130) at Station 18, on July 7. Stations 10-24 all showed low (18-34) double-digit indices on that day. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1146715/Amid-Heat-and-Haze-Bristol-Bay-Harvests-Second-Day-of-2-Million-Salmon Environment/Science Trump administration pushes for new look at proposed Alaska mine near sockeye spawning grounds Seattle Times by Hal Bernton - July 11, 2019 In Alaska’s Bristol Bay, North America’s biggest wild salmon harvest is in full swing, a bonanza of gill-netted sockeye that comes amid renewed concerns about a proposed open-pit mine that fishermen fear would imperil this resource. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/as-sockeye-return-to-alaskas-bristol-bay-trump-administration-action-gives-new-momentum-for-proposed-mine-near-spawning-headwaters/ FYI’s Trawl net recycling turns junk into plastic used in consumer goods, toys, clothing KMXT by Maggie Wall - July 8, 2019 Old fishing nets tend to pile up in storage yards and behind gear sheds, but there is an alternative. Recycle them. http://kmxt.org/2019/07/trawl-net-recycling-turns-junk-into-plastic-used-in-consumer-goods-toys-clothing/
Ann Owens Pacific Seafood Processors Association Office Manager 1900 W Emerson Place Suite 205, Seattle, WA 98119 Phone: 206.281.1667 E-mail: admin@pspafish.net; Website: www.pspafish.net Our office days/hours are Monday-Friday 8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. *Inclusion of a news article, report, or other document in this email does not imply PSPA support or endorsement of the information or opinion expressed in the document.