Alaska
Pandemic slows distribution of relief funds for 2018 Gulf of Alaska cod crash Anchorage Daily News by Laine Welch - June 23, 2020 Upheavals stemming from the coronavirus pandemic have slowed the process of getting relief payments into the hands of fishermen and communities hurt by the 2018 Gulf of Alaska cod crash. https://www.adn.com/business-economy/2020/06/23/pandemic-slows-distribution-of-relief-funds-for-2018-gulf-of-alaska-cod-crash/ For fishermen traveling to Bristol Bay, Alaska Air confusion complicates early season Flight cancellations and a lack of communication have left some travelers confused and frustrated as they try to balance local quarantine requirements with the time-sensitive fishing season. KDLG by Sage Smiley - June 22, 2020 When Ravn PenAir filed for bankruptcy in early April, rural communities across Alaska were left with cuts in service. Bristol Bay was left with no commercial service at all. https://www.kdlg.org/post/fishermen-traveling-bristol-bay-alaska-air-confusion-complicates-early-season COVID cancels trawl surveys for Bering Sea groundfish Bristol Bay Times by Jim Paulin - June 19, 2020 The Bering Sea pollock B season is underway as the fishing industry grinds forward in the strange new COVID-19 pandemic era. Next year's groundfish quotas may be based more on guesswork than current research, with the cancellation of the summer stock surveys which could also impact state crab fisheries. http://www.thedutchharborfisherman.com/article/2025covid_cancels_trawl_surveys_for_bering_sea Pebble offers to pay annual dividend to residents of Bristol Bay, hotbed of opposition to Pebble’s mine KTOO by Liz Ruskin - June 18, 2020 The proposed Pebble Mine has always faced fierce opposition in Bristol Bay. Now, Pebble is offering to pay every adult resident of the area an annual dividend. https://www.ktoo.org/2020/06/18/pebble-offers-to-pay-annual-dividend-to-residents-of-bristol-bay-hotbed-of-opposition-to-pebbles-mine/ State reports another case of COVID-19 in seafood industry Bristol Bay Times by Kendra Kapotak - June 19, 2020 A seafood industry worker has tested positive for COVID-19 in the Lake and Peninsula area of Bristol Bay. http://www.thedutchharborfisherman.com/article/2025state_reports_another_case_of_covid-19_in West Coast Oregon forgoes requiring mandatory COVID-19 tests for processing workers Seafood Source by Ben Fisher - June 17, 2020 Oregon plans not to require mandatory COVID-19 testing for workers in the seafood industry after outbreaks at Pacific Seafoods and Bornstein Seafoods processing plants prompted a letter from Clatsop County Public Health Director Michael McNickle requesting that the state make testing a requirement, according to The Daily Astorian. https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/processing-equipment/oregon-forgoes-requiring-mandatory-covid-19-tests-for-processing-workers National National Fisheries Institute Statement on the Safety of Seafood from the United States Perishable News by National Fisheries Institute Seafood - June 22, 2020 WASHINGTON, DC — Seafood from America is safe. The World Health Organization, United National Food and Agriculture Organization, and all major national food safety agencies report there is no connection between seafood and COVID-19. Simply stated, people cannot get COVID-19 from eating seafood. Specific to imported seafood that Chinese families enjoy, experts at the Chinese National Health Commission stated, “There’s no evidence so far showing salmon are the origin or intermediate hosts of the coronavirus.” https://www.perishablenews.com/seafood/national-fisheries-institute-statement-on-the-safety-of-seafood-from-the-united-states/ Opinion OPINION: Salmon are returning, regardless of COVID-19 Arctic Sounder by Tommy Sheridan, Mike Wells, Tina Fairbanks, Katie Harms, Dean Day, Scott Wagner - June 19, 2020 The sun is shining, plants are budding and salmon are starting to return. Yet for all the outward signs of a normal spring season in Alaska, it is anything but. COVID-19 has impacted all our family members and friends. It's fractured and isolated our communities and sent the economy into a tailspin toward recession. The scope of what remains unknown is overwhelming. http://www.thearcticsounder.com/article/2025salmon_are_returning_regardless_of_covid-19
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