Alaska/Pacific Coast
Proposed land trade may turn the tide for Sitka’s maritime industry KCAW by Robert Woolsey - December 6, 2019 A private business has proposed building a new marine haulout in Sitka, in exchange for 17 acres of city-owned waterfront just north of its private cruise ship terminal. https://www.kcaw.org/2019/12/06/proposed-land-trade-may-turn-the-tide-for-sitkas-maritime-industry/ Hot for pots: Alaska longliners advocate for new gear National Fisherman by Jessica Hathaway - December 10, 2019 Sperms to the east and killers to the west, but the Gulf of Alaska’s longline fleet is anything but stuck. https://www.nationalfisherman.com/alaska/hot-for-pots-alaska-longliners-advocate-for-new-gear/ Alaska Seafood Industry Snapshot Seafood News by Laine Welch - December 11, 2019 This is Alaska Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch – An updated Alaska seafood industry snapshot. That’s up after this – Want to make energy efficiency improvements on your boat? Check out the Fishing Vessel Energy Analysis Tool online at www.AFDF.org IMS is offering special discounts on Refrigerated Seawater Systems through the end of the year. Integrated Marine Systems. Simple, reliable, built to last. Visit imspacific.com Alaska’s seafood industry is driven by over 9,000 fishing vessels including about 100 large catcher processors and 100 large shoreside plants. Alaska is home to six of the nation’s top ten ports by value and the industry generates more than $150 million in public revenue annually. Seafood accounts for the largest manufacturing sector in the state. That’s according to an end of year industry update compiled by the McDowell Group. Other findings: Alaska’s seafood industry puts 58,700 people to work and generate $2.1 billion in wages and $5.6 billion in economic output. Nationally, the seafood industry accounts for 101,000 jobs, $5.6 billion in wages and $13.8 billion in economic output. Alaska’s biggest catch is pollock and its most valuable is salmon. The volume of Alaska’s catches averaged 5.8 billion pounds for 2017 and 2018 with Alaska pollock contributing 58%, followed by salmon at 14%. Flatfish and rockfish comprised 13% of the catch volume and cod at 12%. The dockside value of Alaska’s catches totaled $2 billion with salmon accounting for 33% of the value. Halibut, sablefish and crab combined for 24%, Alaska pollock was at 23% and cod accounted for 11% of the total harvest value. The first wholesale value, meaning what processors sold the fish for, was $4.7 billion. Salmon led all others at 37%, with Alaska pollock at 31% and cod at 11% at first wholesale. In terms of products, 85% of Alaska’s seafood is sold frozen. Headed and gutted whole fish make up 41% of the product value, with fillets making up 20%. Only three percent of Alaska’s seafood goes into cans. About 80% of AK seafood is exported, and export value fell 4% in 2018 Wild caught seafood is still leading global production at 52% and aquaculture at 46%. Alaska produced just 2% of the world’s seafood in 2017. Some highlights show that Alaska’s 2019 salmon catch is one of the five most valuable ever. And Alaska’s 3.4 billion pound pollock catch last year was worth $1.5 billion to fishermen last year. Some lowlights show that cod supplies are at a 20 year low and declining, red king crab harvests are at a 50 year low. Alaska accounts for just 10-15% of global red king crab supply and less than 10% of snow crab supply. Sablefish prices are down 25% since 2017 and export value is down 30%. Current harvest levels for halibut are just 20% of catches in the early 2000s. The biggest uncertainties facing Alaska’s seafood industry stem from changing ocean conditions and ongoing trade disputes. Find links at www.alaskafishradio.com and on Facebook and Twitter. Fish Radio is also brought to you by Ocean Beauty Seafoods, an Alaska corporation proudly supporting Alaska’s coastal communities and the Alaskans who depend on fishing for their livelihoods and culture. www.oceanbeauty.com In Kodiak, I’m Laine Welch. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1159058/Alaska-Seafood-Industry-Snapshot Environment/Science Climate change hitting top U.S. fishery in the Arctic: NOAA Reuters by Timothy Gardner, Yereth Rosen - December 10, 2019 WASHINGTON/ANCHORAGE (Reuters) - Climate change is causing chaos in the Bering Sea, home to one of America’s largest fisheries, an example of how rising temperatures can rapidly change ecosystems important to the economy, U.S. federal government scientists said in a report on Tuesday. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-arctic/climate-change-hitting-top-u-s-fishery-in-the-arctic-noaa-idUSKBN1YE2F2 The Blob returns: Alaska cod fishery closes for 2020 National Fisherman by Jessica Hathaway - December 10, 2019 The Gulf of Alaska’s federal cod fleet is bracing for a complete shutdown in 2020 after an 80 percent TAC cut in 2018 and another 5 percent last year, down to 17,000 tons. https://www.nationalfisherman.com/alaska/the-blob-returns-alaska-cod-fishery-closes-for-2020/ Federal Register Control Date for Catcher/Processors Using Pot Gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Pacific Cod Fishery A Proposed Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 12/10/2019 At the request of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), this notice announces a control date of December 10, 2019, that may be used as a reference date for a future management action to limit future access to the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Pacific cod pot catcher/processor sector. This notice is intended to promote awareness of possible rulemaking and provide notice to the public that any participation in the BSAI Pacific cod pot catcher/processor sector after the control date may not ensure continued access to this fishery under a future management action. This notice is also intended to discourage speculative entry into this fishery while the Council considers whether and how access to the fishery may be further limited under a future management action. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/12/10/2019-26395/control-date-for-catcherprocessors-using-pot-gear-in-the-bering-sea-and-aleutian-islands-pacific-cod Fishing Capacity Reduction Program for the Longline Catcher Processor Subsector of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Non Pollock Groundfish Fishery A Notice by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 12/11/2019 NMFS issues this notice to inform the public that there will be an increase of the fee rate required to repay the $35,000,000 reduction loan financing the non-pollock groundfish fishing capacity reduction program. Effective January 1, 2020, NMFS is increasing the Loan A fee rate to $0.021 per pound to ensure timely loan repayment. The fee rate for Loan B will remain unchanged at $0.001 per pound. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/12/11/2019-26633/fishing-capacity-reduction-program-for-the-longline-catcher-processor-subsector-of-the-bering-sea FYI’s Ravn Postpones Community Meeting In Unalaska To Focus On 'A' Season Travel KUCB by Hope McKenney - December 9, 2019 Ravn Air Group has postponed a community meeting it was set to hold in Unalaska this month. https://www.kucb.org/post/ravn-postpones-community-meeting-unalaska-focus-season-travel Seaweed farm training slated for February Cordova Times - December 9, 2019 Efforts to introduce more commercial fishermen, Alaska Natives and fishing communities to seaweed farming continue to an Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation training program set for February in Kodiak, Ketchikan and Sitka. https://www.thecordovatimes.com/2019/12/09/seaweed-farm-training-slated-for-february/
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.