Alaska/Pacific Coast
COVID-19 Update: Bristol Bay officials discuss new information about the coronavirus KDLG by Tyler Thompson - March 13, 2020 The city of Dillingham is reaching out to processors ahead of the 2020 salmon season. The hospital can now test for COVID-19 if someone shows symptoms. https://www.kdlg.org/post/covid-19-update-bristol-bay-officials-discuss-new-information-about-coronavirus International Thanks to Several Incentives, Hainan Seafood Market Starts to Rebound SeafoodNews.com by Amy Zhong - March 16, 2020 Under the influence of coronavirus, China’s seafood industry is challenged by the problem of excessive supply during this Chinese New Year, its most important shopping carnival. Hainan, one main aquaculture province, is among the greatest victims in this catastrophe. As statistics show, in this early March, the province is faced with 45,000 tons of unsold tilapia and over 2,500 tons of shrimp stocked in ponds. To encourage companies to buy more and help farmers survive this harsh winter, local government has decided to subsidize processing plants if they meet relevant requirements. According to its official notice, if a company buys more than 100 tons of locally grown shrimp or tilapia from March 3 to the end of this month, it will receive a subsidy of 1,000 yuan per ton. Faced with market imbalance, local companies have also taken some measures. Some, for example, have raised purchase volumes, considering that they have restarted the operation later than previous years. One company, Golden Spring, purchased 400 tons of tilapia earlier this month and intends to hire more staff and buy another 2,000 tons. And a few have even done so without bargaining over purchase prices. Hainan’s seafood market is improving. Take the tilapia for example. In early March, some plants have started to raise purchase prices, and the average one is 2.7 yuan/jin for tilapia weighing between 0.6 jin to 1 jin each while 3.7 yuan/jin for those over 1 jin. Farmers sell around 2.3 million jin to processing plants every day. There are trucks from other regions to buy from locals, and those from Zhanjiang are said to have bought about 0.5 million jin of large tilapia at 3.4 yuan/jin on a daily basis. In addition, its shrimp market is also getting better. Cen from one local shrimp aquaculture facility said that there have been buyers knocking on his door since March 1, and the sales volumes has increased with improvement of transportation systems. On the evening of March 5, Cen was occupied with fishing shrimps to satisfy a 400-jin-shrimp order, the largest one he had received since the coronavirus outbreak. Luckily the brutal winter is seemingly coming to an end before more die from its coldness. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1166464/Thanks-to-Several-Incentives-Hainan-Seafood-Market-Starts-to-Rebound Environment/Science NOAA Fisheries Part of International Team to Study Salmon in Gulf of Alaska Under Continuing Warm Conditions This is the second year of a multi-national winter survey in the Gulf of Alaska to gather critical information on salmon ocean survival. NOAA Fisheries - March 12, 2020 NOAA Fisheries scientists are part of an international team that set sail on March 11. They are studying the impacts of continued warm ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Alaska on Pacific salmon survival. It has been estimated that one-third of all Pacific salmon spend the winter in the Gulf of Alaska. While reduced in size compared to previous years, the current marine heatwave affecting the Gulf remains one of the top five largest heatwaves on record in the North Pacific in the last 40 years. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/noaa-fisheries-part-international-team-study-salmon-gulf-alaska-under-continuing-warm Salmon provide nutrients to Alaskan streambanks Phys.org by American Society of Agronomy - March 16, 2020 Adult Pacific salmon spend a great portion of their life in the ocean. But their life began along the banks of freshwater streams. Their life will end there, as well. These important steps in the lifecycle of salmon play a role in the health of streambank ecosystems. https://phys.org/news/2020-03-salmon-nutrients-alaskan-streambanks.html Federal Register Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska; Sablefish Managed Under the Individual Fishing Quota Program A Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 03/17/2020 NMFS is opening directed fishing for sablefish with fixed gear managed under the Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program and the Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program. The season will open 1200 hours, Alaska local time (A.l.t.), March 14, 2020, and will close 1200 hours, A.l.t., November 15, 2020. This period is the same as the 2020 commercial halibut fishery opening dates adopted by the International Pacific Halibut Commission. The IFQ and CDQ halibut season is specified by a separate publication in the Federal Register of annual management measures. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/03/17/2020-05446/fisheries-of-the-exclusive-economic-zone-off-alaska-sablefish-managed-under-the-individual-fishing FYI’s St. Patrick’s Day Fish Legend Seafood Source by Laine Welch - March 17, 2020 This is Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch… Today is Saint Patrick’s Day. And there is a Saint Patrick’s Day fish story – More after this -- Integrated Marine Systems is the leader in marine refrigeration in Alaska. Simple, reliable, built to last. Visit www.imspacific.com/ The Alaska Marine Safety Education Association is offering Marine Safety Instructor Training in Seward, April 20 to 25. Learn more at amsea.org. Today is St. Patrick’s Day – celebrated by folks of Irish descent around the world. St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland where he ministered in the fifth century. March 17th marks the day he died. Legend credits Patrick with bringing Christianity to Ireland, and for banishing snakes - although there are no traces of snakes ever having lived on the island. Patrick also gets credit for popularizing the shamrock - he used the three leafed clover to teach the Christian concept of the Holy Trinity. There is a fish angle to the story - St. Patrick’s Day falls smack in the middle of Lent, a time of strict fasting and restraint for Christians in Ireland and around the world. But the old bans on boozing or eating meat don’t apply on St. Paddy’s Day. In fact, since the 11th century, meat has been eaten during Lent in honor of the patron saint. It’s called “St. Patrick’s Fish” – but it’s really roast pork. The switch stems from a legend that says Patrick had tucked away a piece of pork during Lent in case he couldn’t resist the temptation, but he was soon filled with remorse. An angel appeared, telling him to throw the roast pork into the river, where – you guessed it – the meat was transformed into a fish! Stories say on March 17, the sun did not set and it shone for 12 days and nights. It’s also said that every year on the day of St. Patrick’s death, fish rise from the sea and pass by his altar in Dublin, built in 1191. And seventeen centuries later, St. Patrick’s Fish is still eaten in Ireland on this day. Fish Radio is also brought to you by Ocean Beauty Seafoods - who salutes and says thanks to the men and women fishing across Alaska for their hard work and dedication. (www.oceanbeauty.com) In Kodiak, I’m Laine Welch. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1166571/St-Patricks-Day-Fish-Legend
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