Alaska/Pacific Coast
City Council passes new fees, encourages community to attend Board of Fish events to support fishermen KMXT by Maggie Wall - January 10, 2020 The Kodiak City Council breezed through its short agenda during last night’s regular meeting. There were no public comments during the one public hearing about the proposed changes to city fines and fees. That measure was passed unanimously. http://kmxt.org/2020/01/city-council-passes-new-fees-encourages-community-to-attend-board-of-fish-events-to-support-fishermen/ Pink Salmon Payouts for 2016 Run Failure Back on Track Seafood News by Laine Welch - January 15, 2020 This is Alaska Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch – Pink salmon payouts for the 2016 run failure are getting back on track. More after this - Going to the Young Fishermen’s Summit in Juneau? The Alaska Marine Safety Education Association is offering free emergency drill conductor training on January 24th. Sign up online at amsea.org. Integrated Marine Systems is the leader in marine refrigeration in Alaska. Simple, reliable, built to last. Visit www.imspacific.com/ It’s been a long time coming but payments could soon be in hand for fishermen, processors and communities hurt by the 2016 pink salmon failure Kodiak, Prince William Sound, Chignik, Lower Cook Inlet, South Alaska Peninsula, Southeast Alaska, and Yakutat. Congress ok’d over $56 million in federal relief funds the following year, but the authorization sat on NOAA desks in DC for over two years. Finally, last October salmon permit holders, who can split the biggest share at nearly $32 million, were able to apply to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. But when it was discovered that the ways in which the payouts were calculated was badly flawed, they put on the brakes. “When the payout first started for the fishermen there was a big snafu because a lot of the crew was under reported by the skippers. So Pacific States said that until everything gets squared away, no one is going to get any checks.” State House Representative Louise Stutes of Kodiak has been watchdogging the pink salmon payouts since the beginning. She credits the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game for working out a better solution and says some checks should be in hand by mid-February. “With the help of the Commissioner Vincent-Lang and Deputy Commissioner Rachel Baker we were in touch with Pacific States and they agreed to send out the checks to those individuals who there were no questions about, and they are going to send out letters to individuals they have questions about to give them an opportunity to immediately reply rather than wait till the appeal period.” Salmon processors will split nearly $18 million in relief funds. “So yes, checks are going out and I know processors have gotten their checks and they are trying to figure out how to pay their employees and what employees qualifies. So it’s finally moving after, what, three and a half years.” $2.4 million in disaster funds is earmarked to municipalities affected by the pink crash and nearly $4 million goes to pink salmon research. Of that, $450,000 goes to Kodiak’s Kitoi Bay Hatchery for its Saltwater Marking Sampling project. The Southeast Alaska Coastal Monitoring Survey will get $680,000 to help with pink salmon forecasting. And $2.5 million will go to the Alaska Hatchery Research Project that since 2010 has studied interactions of hatchery and wild salmon in Prince William Sound and Southeast. Stutes advises that anyone wanting to appeal their shares of the payouts should make it snappy. The only advice I have to those who are very unhappy and plan to appeal, make sure you have your appeal in and hopefully already have it in, because there is a finite amount of money for those appeals.7 Fishery disasters also were declared for the 2018 cod collapse in the Gulf of Alaska and the sockeye salmon failure at Chignik but Stutes says there’s nothing to report yet on that. That could get a boost from a bill introduced this week in Congress that would improve the federal fishery disaster process and set a strict timeline for payout of funds. 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/1161602/Pink-Salmon-Payouts-for-2016-Run-Failure-Back-on-Track International Fisheries management is actually working, global analysis shows Phys.org by University of Washington - January 13, 2020 Nearly half of the fish caught worldwide are from stocks that are scientifically monitored and, on average, are increasing in abundance. Effective management appears to be the main reason these stocks are at sustainable levels or successfully rebuilding. https://phys.org/news/2020-01-fisheries-global-analysis.html Environment/Science In some Bristol Bay rivers, the hottest month on record was deadly for salmon KDLG by Isabelle Ross - January 14, 2020 2019 was the hottest year on record for Bristol Bay. In rivers such as the Igushik, that heat resulted in tens of thousands of dead fish. https://www.kdlg.org/post/some-bristol-bay-rivers-hottest-month-record-was-deadly-salmon#stream/0 Federal Register Fraser River Sockeye and Pink Salmon Fisheries; Inseason Orders A Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 01/14/2020 NMFS publishes Fraser River salmon inseason orders to regulate treaty and non-treaty (all citizen) commercial salmon fisheries in U.S. waters. The orders were issued by the Fraser River Panel (Panel) of the Pacific Salmon Commission (Commission) and subsequently approved and issued by NMFS during 2019 for sockeye and pink salmon fisheries within the U.S. Fraser River Panel Area. These orders established fishing dates, times, and areas for the gear types of U.S. treaty Indian and all citizen commercial fisheries during the period the Panel exercised jurisdiction over these fisheries. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/01/14/2020-00021/fraser-river-sockeye-and-pink-salmon-fisheries-inseason-orders Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Pacific Cod by Pot Catcher/Processors in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area A Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 01/15/2020 NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher/processors using pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season apportionment of the 2020 Pacific cod total allowable catch allocated to catcher/processors using pot gear in the BSAI. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/01/15/2020-00537/fisheries-of-the-exclusive-economic-zone-off-alaska-pacific-cod-by-pot-catcherprocessors-in-the
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