Alaska
PWS coho, chum, sockeye harvests still rising Statewide commercial salmon exceeds 108M fish Cordova Times by Margaret Bauman - September 5, 2020 Even as the 2020 season is winding down, the catch of coho, chum and sockeye salmon is rising in Prince William Sound. https://www.thecordovatimes.com/2020/09/05/pws-coho-chum-sockeye-harvests-still-rising/ Northline Seafoods barge beached near Ekuk after Sunday's storm KDLG by Isabelle Ross - September 3, 2020 The 150-foot vessel is worth $7 million. It sustained severe damage after it was beached during last weekend’s storm. https://www.kdlg.org/post/northline-seafoods-barge-beached-near-ekuk-after-sundays-storm West Coast IPHC Sets Date for 'Special Session' on Extending Halibut Season to Feb. 2021 — in B.C. Only SeafoodNews.com by Peggy Parker - September 4, 2020 SEATTLE — The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) will hold a four hour meeting on Thursday, September 17 to discuss a proposal to extend the fishing season in 2B, British Columbia, until February 20, 2021. The season would normally close on November 15, 2020. The six-member panel made up of U.S. and Canadian Commissioners, will also hear a carryover provision allowing “10% of this year’s recreational TAC, if uncaught, to be added to the recreational TAC in 2021.” This proposal is also specific to B.C. The proposal is in relation to constraints brought to the fishery and the market by COVID-19. “Commercial and recreational fisheries for Pacific halibut have experienced disruptions to fishing opportunities and markets, and are proposing sector-specific management responses for consideration by DFO and the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC),” read the IPHC statement that quoted the Canadian proposals. The season extension proposals was submitted by the commercial sector and the overage rollover was submitted by the recreational sector. 1. A season extension for the commercial fishery, changing the closure from 15 November 2020 to 20 February, 2021; 2. A carryover of uncaught quota for the recreational fishery of 10% to be added to the recreational Total Allowable Catch (TAC) in 2021. The first proposal is expected to be voted on by the six Commissioners due to time constraints in the current season. The second proposal will only be discussed, with a decision to be made during the IPHC’s annual meeting in January of next year. The meeting will be held via the go-to-meeting platform with a link to be added to the meeting page immediately prior to the session. Meanwhile, interested stakeholder can view documents and the agenda for the meeting here. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1179978/IPHC-Sets-Date-for-Special-Session-on-Extending-Halibut-Season-to-Feb-2021--in-BC-Only COVID-19 outbreak at Bandon Pacific Seafood, health department says KCBY - September 4, 2020 COOS BAY, Ore. - Coos Health & Wellness announced Friday that a report of a workplace outbreak of COVID-19 at Bandon Pacific Seafood in Coos Bay will appear on the Oregon Health Authoriy's weekly report. https://kcby.com/news/local/covid-19-outbreak-at-bandon-pacific-seafood-health-department-says National Your Coronavirus Test Is Positive. Maybe It Shouldn’t Be. The usual diagnostic tests may simply be too sensitive and too slow to contain the spread of the virus. New York Times by Apoorva Mandavilli - August 29, 2020 Some of the nation’s leading public health experts are raising a new concern in the endless debate over coronavirus testing in the United States: The standard tests are diagnosing huge numbers of people who may be carrying relatively insignificant amounts of the virus. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/health/coronavirus-testing.html Environment/Science Ecosystem Changes Mean More Pink Salmon in Warmer Arctic Waters SeafoodNews.com by Peggy Parker - September 4, 2020 A new study by NOAA Fisheries has linked increased abundance of pink salmon in the northern Bering Sea with a shifting ecosystem and warming waters. The study provides insight into the response of pink salmon to climate change. The results will be helpful for commercial and subsistence fisheries, and the communities they live and work in, as they prepare for changes to come. “Our results suggest that warming is both increasing freshwater habitat and improving early marine survival of pink salmon in the northern Bering Sea,” said Ed Farley, NOAA Fisheries biologist at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, who led the study. “Subsistence harvesters would like to know what foods may be available to them now and into the future,” Farley said. “The importance of fish in Arctic subsistence economies cannot be overstated; they are some of the most commonly eaten foods,” said coauthor Todd Sformo, biologist at the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management. “Participating in this study allowed me to present a subsistence perspective, learn how fellow researchers measure production dynamics, and better understand how pink salmon are responding to climate warming in the northern Bering Sea. While this research is further south than the waters surrounding the North Slope, it is a beginning of our attempt to account for potential change in subsistence fishing.” “We’ve been working in the north Bering Sea for about 20 years, and sporadically in the high Arctic. It has changed dramatically in that time. We didn’t expect to see this much loss of sea ice for 20 more years,” said Farley. “But it is already happening. The ecosystem is transforming. Seabirds have shifted from fish-eating species to plankton-eating species. Fish such as walleye pollock and Pacific cod are moving north in large numbers. And we are seeing big changes in salmon populations.” “A community-based monitoring effort called Arctic Salmon has documented a general trend of more pink salmon being harvested in more places across the Canadian Arctic, especially over the last 10-15 years,” said Karen Dunmall, biologist at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. “While we do not believe that pink salmon have yet successfully established in the Canadian Arctic, these harvests indicate larger changes in the marine ecosystem. They are an obvious and tangible example of the influence of climate change on fish biodiversity in the Arctic.” Researchers developed models based on 23 years (1995-2018) of data from multiple sources. Counting pink salmon returns in rivers and streams gave the scientists a good idea of how many adult pink salmon spawned two years earlier. Researchers also looked at juvenile pink salmon abundance relative to the total number of returns and to Nome air temperature. They examined whether higher juvenile abundance, body size, and warmer summer sea temperatures lead to greater numbers of adult pink salmon the following year. “The most exciting thing about this study was being able to link our survey data to changes in ecosystems and climate, to see how fish respond to shifts. We connected pink salmon dynamics from juvenile abundance to adult returns. That had not been done in this region,” said Farley. “Our analysis suggests that pink salmon production in the northeastern Bering Sea is driven by freshwater and early marine habitat dynamics. Conditions in those environments are key to our understanding of pink salmon production dynamics in this region. And conditions under climate change may benefit pink salmon in the Pacific Arctic.” The abundance of juvenile pinks showed a significant positive relationship with Nome air temperature, suggesting that warming rivers and streams may open new areas to spawning. Another interesting result was that salmon abundance patterns over time were happening in synch across the northeastern Bering Sea. Farley said continued monitoring of freshwater temperature and flow, ice dynamics, and salmon throughout their life cycle is key to better understand the link between climate change and salmon. This research was a collaborative effort between NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Fisheries Science Center (Ed Farley, James Murphy, Kris Cieciel, Ellen Yasumiishi), Fisheries and Oceans Canada (Karen Dunmall), the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management (Todd Sformo), and Prince William Sound Science Center (Pete Rand). https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1179975/Ecosystem-Changes-Mean-More-Pink-Salmon-in-Warmer-Arctic-Waters Labeling and Marketing 3MMI - Covid-19 Foodservice & Production Update TradexFoods - September 7, 2020 The majority of foodservice felt the impacts of Covid-19 like no other, but are cautiously finding their new normal. In the USA, a growing number of states are pausing plans to reopen, amid rising case counts... https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=gFsWlITh6ko&feature=emb_logo FYI’s Celebrity Chef Dan Churchill to address Wild Alaska Pollock meeting Cordova Times - September 5, 2020 Celebrity chef Dan Churchill, an Australian-born aficionado of good eating and healthy exercise, will deliver the keynote address on the future of fish at the second annual meeting of the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) on Oct. 12. https://www.thecordovatimes.com/2020/09/05/celebrity-chef-dan-churchill-to-address-wild-alaska-pollock-meeting/
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