Friday, December 18, 2020

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Bean’s Café continues its mission to provide seafood and other life-giving resources to the homeless population of Anchorage especially during this trying year. Typically, Bean’s Café hosts an annual fundraiser event 'Toast to the Coast' and Pacific Seafood Processors Association (PSPA) is a proud sponsor of this event, but due to COVID they’ve had to make new plans. This annual event brings awareness to and helps fight hunger, brings Alaskans together, and features the best seafood procured by Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, and our collective partners.

PSPA is a strong supporter of their work and we’ve made a donation of $20,000 outside of this event for 2020 – Bean’s Café is hoping to double PSPA’s donation and raise $40,000 to help the homeless and hungry in Alaska.

Donate here: https://donate.beanscafe.org/(mention ‘Choose Alaska Seafood’ in the comments to activate the matching grant)

Please consider Bean’s Café as you finalize your end-of-year donation plans. Your donation of any amount will help Bean’s Café and Children’s Lunchbox continue their mission and continue to provide seafood and other life-giving resources to the homeless population of Anchorage.

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Alaska Trident Seafoods, Peter Pan, Cooke-Ocean Beauty joint venture divvy up $12.4 million USDA canned salmon contract The purchases are a continuation of massive buys by the US Department of Agriculture this year. Intrafish by Drew Cherry - December 15, 2020 Three Alaska seafood giants were the latest to be awarded bids from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) purchasing program, dividing up a $12.4 million (€10.2 million) contract for canned pink salmon. https://www.intrafish.com/markets/trident-seafoods-peter-pan-cooke-ocean-beauty-joint-venture-divvy-up-12-4-million-usda-canned-salmon-contract/2-1-931483 Cod Bounces Back in the GOA: 2021 TAC Almost 3X Higher Than 2020, Pollock TAC Down 2.5% SeafoodNews.com by Peggy Parker - December 14, 2020 The North Pacific Fisheries Management Council set Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for the Gulf of Alaska’s species last Friday, and it looks like Pacific cod is returning in numbers not seen since before the stock crash at the end of 2017. Total catch in 2021 for Pacific cod was set at 17,321 mt in 2021 with a preliminary forecast of 27,961 mt in 2022. Those numbers reflect a jump in TAC of about 10,500 mt each year. Next year’s comeback is not as high as the 2017 TAC of 25,404 mt but predicted to get there by 2022. After the crash, seen in the 2017 suvery, the 2018 TAC of P-cod was 5,657 mt. The Gulf was closed for cod for the next two years. Scientists believe at least two year classes were lost during the exceptionally warm ocean water in 2014-2016, referred to as The Blob. Pacific cod is caught in both federal and state waters, with different TACs. In 2021, the state catch limit is 6,306 mt, about 27% of the total TAC. In federal waters, the 2021 limit is 17,321 mt. Pollock stocks in the Gulf of Alaska have shown a slight drop, and the TAC reflects that in a drop from 115,930 mt to 113,227 mt for 2021 and 99,784 in 2022. Sablefish, as in the Bering Sea, is seeing a stunning increase in stock size, but the majority are still young fish. In the Gulf of Alaska the 2021 TAC is 127,99s, more than 4,000 mt higher than this year. The projected 2022 TAC for sablefish in the GOA is 25,231 mt. All other species in the Gulf — flatfish, soles, Pacific Ocean Perch, some rockfish, skates, cephalopods and others are maintaining the same or near to the TACs from this year. There are two exceptions: Dusky rockfish, which is increasing, and sharks, which are declining. Dusky rockfish biomass is 97,702 mt compared to last year’s 54,626 mt, have a 2021 TAC of 5,389 mt nearly 2,000 mt higher than this year’s TAC of 3,676 mt. The Stock Assessment and Fisheries Evaluation (SAFE) report explains the increase. “While there were no changes to the assessment model, the change in the data treatment, and the addition of age data and survey value for 2019, resulted in a sizeable increase in biomass and ABC value over the previous model.” The complex of shark species, however, is going down. The NPFMC manages a variety of shark species, including spiny dogfish, Pacific sleeper shark, and salmon shark. The biomass dropped from 54,301 mt in 2020 to 23,289 mt for 2021. The recommended Acceptable Biological Catch is 3,755 mt, a 54% decrease from the 2020 ABC of 8,184 t. The TAC for this species is set at the ABC level. The SAFE report describe the fishery as incidental catch for the most part. “There are currently no directed commercial fisheries for shark species in federally or state managed waters of the GOA, and most incidental catch is discarded,” the report says. “There were insufficient data to determine if the shark complex is in an overfished condition, but the complex is not currently being subjected to overfishing,” the report concluded. This year's Gulf of Alaska TAC was 399,236 mt, but as of early November only 186,497 had been landed. This is not unusual; in the past few years total landings in the Gulf have been about 60% of the overall TAC. Next year, the Gulf is expected to produce almost 408,000 mt, or about one-quarter of the volume produced in the Bering Sea. The Gulf total is predicted to grow to 409,039 mt in 2022, showing a steady trend up. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1187380/Cod-Bounces-Back-in-the-GOA-2021-TAC-Almost-3X-Higher-Than-2020-Pollock-TAC-Down-2-point-5-percent- Sen. Murkowski “Disappointed” by Cook Inlet Closure, Supports “Long-Term Solution” for CI Fleet SeafoodNews.com by Peggy Parker - December 11, 2020 Two days after Monday’s decision to close the federal waters of Cook Inlet to commercial salmon fishermen, Alaska’s senior Senator Lisa Murkowski called for “the need to collaboratively resolve tensions that have long persisted in Cook Inlet.” The decision came at the beginning of the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council's December meeting. The 'historical tensions" the senator referred to have been between both commercial and recreational fishermen and between all fishermen and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Cook Inlet is home to Alaska's largest city, Anchorage, the nearby Matenuska-Susitna Borough, and the state’s most popular recreational area, the Kenai Peninsula. About two-thirds of the state's population lives on or near Cook Inlet, which is accessed by the state's only road system. Four major salmon river systems empty into the Inlet but the Kenai and Kasiloff river systems, as well as salmon bound for the northern Susitna and Matanuska river systems, provide commercial fleets and anglers with the bulk of the salmon caught in the area. Two commercial fishermen's groups sued the National Marine Fisheries Service after a series of disputed state management decisions came to a head in 2013. The suit asked for federal management which would apply principles from the Magnuson-Stevens Act, while maintaining the state’s primary goal of stock sustainability. In theory, the two systems are not incompatible, but in practice, they may be. That was the conclusion of the NPFMC last Monday, when the 11-member federal panel adopted Alternative 4 as a federal fisheries management plan for Cook Inlet salmon. Alternative 4 put the salmon within federal jurisdiction and subsequently closed the area. It’s not clear whether the Council would have made the same decision if they’d had more time. Within the same action was Alternative 2, a hybrid proposed by a diverse stakeholder group assigned to find a solution three years ago. That hybrid was supported nearly unanimously by over 230 members of the public in testimony to the Council. But the Council was under pressure of a deadline mandated by the final court order in 2017 to have a decision by the end of 2020. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued that order and in doing so, reversed a lower court decision that denied the 2013 plaintiff’s request for federal management. The agency and state of Alaska sought to appeal the 2017 decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, but was unsuccessful. On Wednesday, Murkowski called the Ninth Circuit decision a “flawed interpretation of the Magnuson Stevens Act” and said, "I stand ready to work with Cook Inlet stakeholders, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, and the State of Alaska on a better long-term solution that supports fishing livelihoods in Cook Inlet.” Murkowski’s statement also expressed concern about federal management of the state’s iconic resource. “I am disappointed by the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council’s decision to close federal waters in Cook Inlet to commercial fishing, but I am also very concerned about the prospect of federal management over resources that have been, and should be, managed by the State of Alaska. "I understand this decision was made under difficult circumstances, and to meet the deadline required under the Ninth Circuit decision affecting management of the salmon fishery in Cook Inlet’s federal waters. Nonetheless—this outcome underscores the need to collaboratively resolve tensions that have long persisted in Cook Inlet," she said. "Our fishery management process is intended to give the public a voice in decision-making, allow for a deliberative discussion of management policies, and foster compromise, but it cannot address serious management challenges arising from the Ninth Circuit’s flawed interpretation of the Magnuson Stevens Act. "I stand ready to work with Cook Inlet stakeholders, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, and the State of Alaska on a better long-term solution that supports fishing livelihoods in Cook Inlet,” Murkowski concluded. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1187263/Sen-Murkowski-Disappointed-by-Cook-Inlet-Closure-Supports-Long-Term-Solution-for-CI-Fleet West Coast Oregon Dungeness Season Kicks Off; Fishermen, Processors at Standstill Over Price Urner Barry by Ryan Doyle - December 18, 2020 The 2020 Dungeness crab season kicked off in Oregon on Wednesday, but many fishermen stayed ashore as they battle processors over prices. According to Amanda Slee, of local TV station KMTR 16, the Charleston Marina was quiet on the opening day of the season. "We're kind of sitting here with our hands tied behind our back. We've got really no options," said Rex Leach, owner of the fishing vessel, Ms. Julie. Leach said that some processors are offering a $2.50 per pound price tag and fishermen are looking for a higher mark, noting Bornstein Seafood and Hallmark Fisheries. For the 2019-2020 crab season, the average price in California in December 2019 was $3.11 per pound, according to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission database PacFIN. By January 2020, when the season had fully opened in Oregon and northern California, the average price in California was $3.45 per pound and in Oregon, $3.48 per pound. By February, California landings had started to drop off and the average price rose to $3.85 per pound and Oregon’s average price rose to $3.73 per pound. By March and April, when restaurant closures were beginning to take effect and isolation measures implemented across the country in an effort to flatten the curve of the coronavirus, both average prices and landings dropped: to $3.58 per pound in California and $3.59 per pound in Oregon in March. The April average price in California was $3.36 a pound but Oregon’s average price rose to $4.47 per pound as landings dropped. Leach told KMTR that fishermen are asking for a similar price as last year and they will stay home until Pacific Seafood, a key player, comes out with an offer. By law, Oregon allows dealers and fishermen to convene supervised price negotiations of the duly elected or appointed representatives of the fishermen and dealers with oversight from the Oregon Department of Agriculture. The negotiations helped create an orderly start to the season in past years. However, no state-supervised negotiations have taken place this year. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1187786/Oregon-Dungeness-Season-Kicks-Off-Fishermen-Processors-at-Standstill-Over-Price House Sends Bill Phasing Out Drift Gillnets in California to President’s Desk Urner Barry by Ryan Doyle - December 14, 2020 The Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction Act was passed by the House of Representatives on December 10. The bill is aimed at phasing out large-mesh drift gillnets that are used off California. Back in July, the bill was passed by the Senate and will look to phase out the drift gillnet usage in federal waters. In 2018, California passed a four-year phase-out of the gillnets in state waters to help protect endangered and protected marine species. The Act will follow suit with a similar plan to rid gillnets within five years and authorize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to help the commercial fishing industry transition to more sustainable gear types. The nets, which can be a mile and a mile and a half long can extend 200 feet below the ocean surface and are left overnight to catch swordfish and thresher sharks. The method does however lead to entanglements of whales, dolphins, sea lions, sea turtles, fish and sharks. According to California Senator Diane Feinstein’s office, 90 percent of the dolphins and porpoises killed along the West Coast and Alaska. “We’re finally close to removing deadly large mesh drift gillnets from California’s waters,” said Senator Feinstein. “Federal waters off the coast of California are the last place in the United States these nets are still used to catch swordfish. However, they also indiscriminately kill whales, dolphins, porpoises, sea turtles and other marine animals in the process. I’m hopeful the president will now sign our bipartisan bill to phase out these harmful nets and help the industry transition to more efficient, sustainable and profitable methods.” The Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction Act will assist the fishing industry to transition to different methods including deep-set buoy gear. Testing with this gear has shown that 94 percent of animals caught in this system are the intended swordfish species. Senator Feinstein noted a Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research found that fishing vessels using the new deep-set buoy gear caught 83 percent more swordfish than those using traditional large mesh drift gillnets. This method also helps get product to the market faster as vessels are alerted as soon as a bite is recorded. “Large mesh drift gillnets are already banned in the U.S. territorial waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii. However, they remain legal in federal waters off the coast of California. The United States is also a member of international agreements that ban large-scale driftnets in international waters,” Feinstein’s office shared. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1187371/House-Sends-Bill-Phasing-Out-Drift-Gillnets-in-California-to-Presidents-Desk National US retail seafood sales continue strong performance in November Seafood Source by Christine Blank - December 17, 2020 Grocery store sales rose 1.6 percent in November, with total sales getting a boost from more Americans eating at home due to COVID-19 shutdowns. https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/supply-trade/us-retail-seafood-sales-continue-strong-performance-in-november FYI’s Navy says Northern Edge 2021 plans include no new activities Public comment period runs through Feb. 16 Cordova Times by Margaret Bauman - December 17, 2020 U.S. Navy officials are seeking public comment through Feb. 16 on proposed continuing periodic military training activities within the Gulf of Alaska. https://www.thecordovatimes.com/2020/12/17/navy-says-northern-edge-2021-plans-include-no-new-activities/

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