Friday, July 22, 2022

Alaska Record Catch of Bristol Bay Sockeyes in High Retail Demand National Fisherman - July 20, 2022 Soaring harvests of Bristol Bay’s famed wild sockeyes salmon run leaped by millions of pounds a week in July, as eager consumers were placing individual orders of up to 30 pounds each, while freezer container supplies ran low. https://fishermensnews.com/record-catch-of-bristol-bay-sockeyes-in-high-retail-demand/ Bristol Bay Exceeds Pre-season Sockeye Run Forecast, State at 60% of Salmon Harvest Forecast SeafoodNews.com by Peggy Parker - July 21, 2022 Bristol Bay’s storied salmon run just keeps shattering records. As of two days ago the run surpassed ADF&G’s jaw-dropping forecast of 75.27 million sockeye by over 100,000 fish. The total of 75.389 million sockeye returning is made up of a harvest of 57.645 million sockeye as of Tuesday, but the fleet is still fishing, pulling in an average of 700,000 fish a day since July 16. If that average continues slowing at the current rate, another week of fishing could bring the fleet above the projected harvest of 59.94 million sockeye. But the run isn’t the only record breaker — the other component for management is escapement to Bristol Bay's nine river systems and that has also out-performed the forecast. As of Tuesday, a cumulative escapement of 17.744 million sockeye has been recorded. That’s more than 4 million — and growing — above the 13.46 million projected. Like recent years, the additional escapement was seen mostly in the Nushagak District, where the projected number of 2.63 million sockeye was surpassed by a total so far of 7.33 million. Both the Wood River and the Nushagak River saw increased escapement — 3.67 million in the Wood compared to a predicted 1.53 million, and 3.4 million in the Nushagak, compared to a predicted 770,000 sockeye. Other districts show similar escapement levels, with the exception of Togiak. In the Naknek/Dvichak District, a total of 7.28 million salmon have returned upriver, just half a million less than the predicted 7.72 million. Ugashik’s escapement is now at 1.33 million, about 10% above the forecasted 1.18 million salmon. Same for Egegik, now with 1.75 million escapement, compared to the 1.70 expected pre-season. Togiak’s escapement has reached 43,000 fish, compared to a predicted 230,000 to that river. As astonishing as the final numbers will be, the real story is the endurance of the fleet and processors this year. For a jaw-dropping 20 days in a row, Bristol Bay’s fishermen and processors brought in, on average, more than 2 million fish a day. That peak has been realized in the past for a few days in a row, but nearly three weeks at that intensity is something to ponder. July 4, the historical peak of fishing for the Bay, was true to legend and saw over four million fish harvested and processed in 24 hours. The build-up to that started on June 23rd with the first over-one-million-a -day harvest, and grew from there as the surge of red salmon came in from the Bay. The daily catch reached 3.6 million on June 30, the same the next day, dropping to 2, then 2.6 million before July 4. After the 4th, daily harvest didn’t drop below 2 million per day until July 15. Statewide total for salmon catches have reached 93.3 million for all species, about 60% of the pre-season forecast of 160.6 million salmon. That is thanks to a surge of pink salmon in Prince William Sound, where 18 million have now been caught. Total landings of pinks as of Tuesday July 19, is 19.82 million; the preseason forecast statewide is 67.2 million. Total statewide landings of sockeye is now 68.5 million thanks to Bristol Bay and also the Alaska Peninsula where 7.5 million sockeyes have been landed. Chinook salmon landings are at 155,000 compared to an expected catch of 310,000 statewide. Coho salmon season won’t start for another six weeks, but so far 130,000 coho have been landed; 3.6 million are predicted for 2022. Chum salmon numbers continue to be down — statewide landings are only 4.67 million, compared to 15.4 million predicted catch. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1230766/Bristol-Bay-Exceeds-Pre-season-Sockeye-Run-Forecast-State-at-60-percent-of-Salmon-Harvest-Forecast National SNP Urges Stronger Focus on Seafood Nutrition National Fisherman - July 20, 2022 The value of seafood nutrition needs to be included in the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health as part of the strategy to end hunger, increase healthy eating and reduce diet-related diseases, members of the Seafood Nutrition Partnership say. https://fishermensnews.com/snp-urges-stronger-focus-on-seafood-nutrition/ Environment/Science What science says about the sustainability of trawling National Fisherman by Guest Author, Ray Hilborn - July 21, 2022 With the launch of several recent advocacy campaigns, bottom trawling is squarely in the crosshairs of some environmental groups and media outlets that regurgitate their press releases. https://www.nationalfisherman.com/national-international/what-science-says-about-the-sustainability-of-trawling FYI’s Commercial Fishing Photo Stories: Bristol Bay in the Summer National Fisherman by Bri Dwyer - July 20, 2022 Over the last 5 years I have spent 4 of them going to Bristol Bay in the summer to witness the largest commercial harvest of wild sockeye salmon in the world. I have worked the deck of a tender, picked fish on a gillnetter, walked the trail with bears at Brooks Lodge and thrown up my spaghetti on a particularly rough ride back from the Nushagak. Bristol Bay has been a contribution to my success as a photographer as well as my evolution into the passionate seafood educator I’m working to become. https://www.nationalfisherman.com/bristol-bay-in-the-summer Life-Sized Fishermen’s Memorial Planned for Unalaska National Fisherman - July 21, 2022 A small-scale rendering of a life-sized fishermen’s memorial planned for Unalaska. Image courtesy of Karel Machalek. https://fishermensnews.com/article/life-sized-fishermens-memorial-planned-for-unalaska/ Desautel Named GAPP Board Chair National Fisherman - July 21, 2022 Bob Desautel, co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Global Seas and Nina Fisheries, has been selected to serve as chairman of the board for the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP), replacing outgoing chair Mikel Durham of American Seafoods. https://fishermensnews.com/article/desautel-named-gapp-board-chair/ Newly Built USCG Cutter Heads for Ketchikan, Alaska Homeport National Fisherman - July 21, 2022 The U.S. Coast Guard accepts delivery of the 49th Fast Response cutter Douglas Denman in Key West, Fla., May 26, alongside the Denman family. The cutter will be homeported in Ketchikan, Alaska. U.S. Coast Guard photo. https://fishermensnews.com/article/newly-built-uscg-cutter-heads-for-ketchikan-alaska-homeport/ Pacific Seafood Processors Association 1900 W Emerson Place Suite 205, Seattle, WA 98119 Phone: 206.281.1667 E-mail: admin@pspafish.net; Website: www.pspafish.net Our office days/hours are Monday-Friday 8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. *Inclusion of a news article, report, or other document in this email does not imply PSPA support or endorsement of the information or opinion expressed in the document.