Friday, January 8, 2021

Alaska Hatchery manager has brighter outlook for Crystal Lake hatchery funding KFSK by Joe Viechnicki - January 6, 2021 The future is a little brighter for the money needed to pay for operations at a state owned, non-profit run hatchery at Blind Slough on Mitkof Island south of Petersburg. Crystal Lake Hatchery lost a portion of its state funding last year. However, hatchery managers are hoping that will be restored with additional funding to fill in what they hope is only a short-term shortfall. https://www.kfsk.org/2021/01/06/hatchery-manager-has-brighter-outlook-for-crystal-lake-hatchery-funding/ Bering Sea buyout: Western Alaska coalition now owns 3 percent of crab quota National Fisherman by Jessica Hathaway - January 7, 2021 A coalition of 30 communities, the Coastal Villages Region Fund and the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation has come together to buy the Seattle-based Mariner Companies. https://www.nationalfisherman.com/alaska/bering-sea-buyout-western-alaska-coalition-now-owns-3-percent-of-crab-quota Executive Management Shake Ups at Silver Bay Seafoods, Peter Pan Seafood Company Urner Barry by Amanda Buckle - January 7, 2021 The new year is kicking off with some big shake ups at Silver Bay Seafoods and Peter Pan Seafood Company. Michael Guy, who served as Chief Financial Officer for Fishermen’s Finest for over 10 years, has left the company to serve as Silver Bay Seafoods’ new Chief Financial Officer. Guy will be replacing Larsen Mettler, who resigned from the position in July 2020 for what he told Undercurrent News was a “once-in-a-lifetime role.” Meanwhile, Undercurrent News is reporting that Peter Pan Seafood Company has hired Silver Bay Seafoods Chief Operating Officer Jon Hickman to serve as their new Executive Vice President of Operations. Hickman, who held the COO position at Silver Bay Seafoods for 11 years, joins the Peter Pan team just after the company’s sale was finalized on December 31. As SeafoodNews reported in November, Peter Pan Seafood CEO Barry Collier announced in November that longtime owner Maruha Niciro would be selling a major portion of the assets of Peter Pan to an American holding company made up of Northwest Fish Company and McKinley Capital. McKinley Capital CEO and Chief Investment Officer Rob Gillam said in a statement earlier this week that as a “lifelong Alaskan,” he’s “enthusiastic about investing in the Alaska seafood industry, and especially in bringing a storied seafood processor like Peter Pan back under U.S. and Alaska leadership.” “My partners and I want to show the world that Alaska offers world-class sustainable seafood investment opportunities that result in benefits to the state of Alaska, our fishing families and coastal communities, and investors,” said Gillam. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1189063/Executive-Management-Shake-Ups-at-Silver-Bay-Seafoods-Peter-Pan-Seafood-Company UniSea Under Partial Lockdown While City Determines If COVID-19 Positives Indicate Community Spread KUCB by Hope McKenney - January 6, 2021 UniSea is under partial lockdown and has shut down all non-essential work after four employees of the processing plant tested positive for COVID-19 Tuesday. https://www.kucb.org/post/unisea-under-partial-lockdown-while-city-determines-if-covid-19-positives-indicate-community West Coast Washington Crab Season On Hold Beyond Jan. 15; Researchers Find Delays Force Fishing Changes SeafoodNews.com by Susan Chambers - January 8, 2021 A current delay of the crab season in Washington due to domoic acid mirrors previous impediments that researchers say altered fishermen's use of ocean resources. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said Thursday the area north of Cape Falcon, Ore., remains closed in order to coordinate an orderly start with the Washington coastal Dungeness crab fishery, which is expected to be delayed beyond Jan. 15 due to elevated levels of domoic acid. The most recent samples of crab viscera from Oregon’s crabbing areas remains below the action level of 30 ppm. However, results from recent domoic acid testing of crab conducted by the state of Washington continue to exceed federally established thresholds for human health, and therefore Washington is delaying the coastal fishery until further testing is conducted, ODFW said in a press release. The Oregon Department of Agriculture said it will continue to test crab viscera from all areas in Oregon that have razor clam domoic acid results above the alert level of 20ppm. Crabbers already have been delayed from starting their seasons in November and December due to crab quality, domoic acid, weather and a reported disagreement over prices. It's forced most fishermen to wait but some are already considering scrapping the crab season altogether and switching to something else. Researchers found some fishermen switched to other fisheries when the season was delayed for a few months during the 2015-16 season in California. The scientists looked at how the marine heat wave that led to a massive harmful algal bloom and a lengthy delay of the crab season altered the use of ocean resources across seven California crab-fishing communities. The delayed opening of the 2015-16 crab-fishing season followed the 2014-16 North Pacific marine heat wave and subsequent algal bloom, which produced elevated levels of domoic acid in crabs. That event, which is considered a “climate shock” because of its severity and impact, tested the resilience of California’s fishing communities, researchers from Oregon State University, the University of Washington and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center found. The study is the first to examine impacts from such delays across fisheries, providing insight into the response by the affected fishing communities, James Watson, one of the study’s co-authors and an assistant professor in OSU’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, said in a press release. When the Dungeness season was delayed, roughly two-thirds of all vessels stopped fishing temporarily while others switched to different fisheries or moved to more favorable locations, researchers said in the press release. Understanding these impacts and adaptations is critical because the fishing industry is expected to be tested further in the future as the climate warms and climate shock events increase in frequency and intensity, Watson said, who specializes in marine social-ecological systems and understanding complex adaptive systems. “This work is really about understanding how fishing communities can adapt to climate change,” he said in the statement. “We found that West Coast fisheries are highly adaptive. Generally, they can take a hit and bounce back, though some communities are more resilient than others.” The findings were published recently by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study’s lead author, Mary C. Fisher, did the work as a research scientist at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and is now a doctoral student at the University of Washington. Additional co-authors are Stephanie Moore and Jamael Samhouri of NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Sunny Jardine of the University of Washington. The Dungeness crab fishery is vital to many West Coast communities; it accounts for about 26 percent of all fishery revenue in California and supports more than a quarter of all commercial fishing vessels. The researchers studied the impacts of the marine heat wave and harmful algal bloom on more than 2,500 fishing vessels across seven fishing communities along the California coast, from Crescent City to Morro Bay. “We wanted to examine the extent to which the Dungeness crab fishery delays affected participation in other fisheries and the duration of those changes,” Fisher said. The researchers found that 71 percent of the California Dungeness crab fishing vessels stopped fishing all together during the season delay. The remainder either moved to locations unaffected by the delay or switched to other types of fishing. Larger vessels fared better during the closures because they were able to more easily travel to new locations. Fisheries in Central California were more resilient to the closure in part because they had shorter delays and were generally less dependent on Dungeness crab. The fishermen in those communities were typically more flexible in how they fished prior to the 2015-16 season, giving them more options during the closure period. Vessels in northern California are potentially more prone to falling into a “gilded trap” for Dungeness crab, meaning their deep commitment to Dungeness crab fishing may make it harder for them to adapt if needed to other types of fishing, Watson said in the statement. The average catch during the 2015-16 season was about 52 percent of the average over the previous five years. The researchers did not observe any significant, lasting changes to the Dungeness crab fishing community after the closures were lifted, suggesting that a fishing community may return to relatively normal fishing practices fairly quickly after a short-term disturbance such as a climate shock. The most resilient fishermen in the industry leverage strong networks of contacts in different fisheries and have the skills and equipment to fish for different species, Watson said. “What we don’t know is if there is a tipping point, at which fishing communities can no longer adapt or bounce back,” Watson said. “If they get hit again and again, at what point do they permanently change or leave the industry?” https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1189183/Washington-Crab-Season-On-Hold-Beyond-Jan-15-Researchers-Find-Delays-Force-Fishing-Changes Federal Register Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Pacific Cod by Catcher/Processors Using Trawl Gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area A Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 01/08/2021 NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by American Fisheries Act (AFA) trawl catcher/processors in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season apportionment of the 2021 Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC) allocated to AFA trawl catcher/processors in the BSAI. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/08/2021-00110/fisheries-of-the-exclusive-economic-zone-off-alaska-pacific-cod-by-catcherprocessors-using-trawl Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Pollock in Statistical Area 610 in the Gulf of Alaska A Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 01/08/2021 NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 610 in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season allowance of the 2021 total allowable catch of pollock for Statistical Area 610 in the GOA. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/08/2021-00109/fisheries-of-the-exclusive-economic-zone-off-alaska-pollock-in-statistical-area-610-in-the-gulf-of Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Reallocation of Pacific Cod in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area A Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 01/08/2021 NMFS is reallocating the projected unused amount of Pacific cod from vessels using jig gear to catcher vessels less than 60 feet (18.3 meters) length overall using hook-and-line or pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area. This action is necessary to allow the A season apportionment of the 2021 total allowable catch of Pacific cod to be harvested. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/08/2021-00079/fisheries-of-the-exclusive-economic-zone-off-alaska-reallocation-of-pacific-cod-in-the-bering-sea FYI’s AMSEA will host first aid, CPR training Cordova Times - January 7, 2021 Register online now for the mariner’s first aid and CPR/AED class will be offered in Sitka on Jan. 23 by the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association. https://www.thecordovatimes.com/2021/01/07/amsea-will-host-first-aid-cpr-training/ CRWP hopes to recycle more fish nets this spring Cordova Times by Margaret Bauman - December 31, 2020 More snow is in the forecast for Cordova this week, but that’s not stopping the Copper River Watershed Project from looking forward to spring and the odds of shipping out a container load of old commercial gillnets for recycling in Portugal. They would be made into raw plastic for new products. https://www.thecordovatimes.com/2020/12/31/crwp-hopes-to-recycle-more-fish-nets-this-spring/

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