Friday, June 2, 2023

Alaska Summer of Sockeye Salmon Kicks Off in Bristol Bay, Alaska World's largest source of wild sockeye salmon forecast to deliver 37 million fish, a strong follow-up to last year's record-setting harvest PR Newswire by Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association - June 1, 2023 The highly anticipated annual wild sockeye salmon season in Bristol Bay, Alaska has officially commenced and fishermen are gearing up for what is expected to be one of the most bountiful in history. The 2023 harvest runs through September, and is forecast to be among the top five strongest in the last 20 years, estimating a haul of around 37 million fish. This means plenty of delicious, wild sockeye salmon in restaurants and grocery stores nationwide, making this sure to be the summer of sockeye. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/summer-of-sockeye-salmon-kicks-off-in-bristol-bay-alaska-301839051.html Judge keeps Alaska chinook fishery closure in place, state scrambles to save summer season Seafood Source by Nathan Strout - May 31, 2023 A federal judge has rejected a motion from the U.S. state of Alaska, the Alaska Trollers Association, and NOAA Fisheries to stay his order earlier this month that will effectively close the winter and summer commercial chinook troll fishery in Southeast Alaska. https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/judge-keeps-alaska-chinook-fishery-closure-in-place--state-looks-to-9th-circuit-for-relief Copper River sockeye salmon prices drop, but remain sky-high for kings The productive fishing season still pushes against food inflation and economic uncertainty. Intrafish by Rachel Sapin - May 31, 2023 Prices for Copper River sockeye have started to drop this week, as ongoing food inflation and looming economic uncertainty continue to impact US consumers' wallets. https://www.intrafish.com/markets/copper-river-sockeye-salmon-prices-drop-but-remain-sky-high-for-kings/2-1-1458523 *Requires Subscription NOAA initiates Aquaculture Opportunity Area efforts in Alaska NOAA Fisheries - June 1, 2023 NOAA and partners in the State of Alaska are announcing plans to identify Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs) in Alaska state waters. These areas will be selected through engagement with tribes and the public, a process that allows constituents to share their community, tribal and stewardship goals for sustainable aquaculture development in Alaska’s coastal and marine waters. https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/noaa-initiates-aquaculture-opportunity-area-efforts-in-alaska ANALYSIS: Wild Salmon Week in Review May 28-June 3 Urner Barry by Joshua Bickert - June 2, 2023 A few weeks into the wild salmon season and sockeyes out of Copper River have already surpassed both 2022 and the five year average in landings year to date (YTD). As of this writing the cumulative total for Copper River sockeyes is 257,000; 28% higher than the five year average of 200,000 fish and 42% higher than 2022 YTD.

Lower than forecasted landings for the first few openings, coupled with the initial frenzy for the first fresh wild salmon of the season, led to a typically high initial average price for Copper River H&G at $22.50. Pricing fell to an average of $6.43, approximately 19.6% lower than the $8.00 that it was at the same time last year. Some still lower offers continue to be collected. Copper River kings also saw a higher initial price for similar reasons to sockeye. Conversely, pricing is holding much stronger and well above the levels at the same time last year. Initial pricing started at $34.50 and fell 25% to an average price of $26.00 for H&G. Unlike sockeye with higher than average landings and a strong forecast for the season, king salmon has a much bleaker outlook on supply for 2023. Many king commercial fisheries are closed, including California and much of Oregon and Washington, as well as... Be the first to gain access to analysis pieces from Urner Barry market reporters. Subscribe to Urner Barry's Comtell today. Read the analysis on Comtell here. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1254128/ANALYSIS-Wild-Salmon-Week-in-Review-May-28-June-3

National Read President Joe Biden’s Proclamation on National Ocean Month Seafood News - June 1, 2023 National Ocean Month is celebrated in June every year. Ahead of the first day of the month, President Joe Biden released a Proclamation on National Ocean Month for 2023, addressing the climate crisis and the impact that it has on marine life, coastal communities, and the ocean economy. You can read President Biden’s Proclamation on National Ocean Month in it entirety below: The ocean makes life on Earth possible — feeding us, sustaining livelihoods, and connecting economies across the globe. It bonds us as a source of recreation and rejuvenation for our spirits and links us to our heritage through Indigenous communities who have stewarded our marine habitats since time immemorial. Through its rich ecosystems of diverse plants, animals, and other species, it is also central to our fight against the climate crisis and to creating a cleaner, safer, and healthier future. During National Ocean Month, we recommit to protecting and conserving our precious ocean and to harnessing its power to shape a more sustainable planet. My Administration is acting with urgency and a seriousness of purpose. Around the globe, the climate crisis today is drastically impacting marine life, coastal communities, and the ocean economy. The past eight years have been the warmest on record — and more than 90 percent of excess heat has been absorbed by the ocean. Rising temperatures force marine life to move away from their usual habitats, straining communities and working families who rely on fisheries for a living and for sustenance. Increasing acidity in our seas, along with nutrient and plastic pollution, endangers species and threatens food supplies. Higher sea levels make storm surges even more dangerous for coastal communities. But we are not powerless in the face of these challenges — and the ocean can be an effective tool to confront them. That is why my Administration has joined together with State, Tribal, territorial, and local partners to implement the first-ever United States Ocean Climate Action Plan. With billions of dollars from our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and our Inflation Reduction Act –- the most significant climate investment in American history — we are advancing new offshore wind projects with an ambitious goal of deploying 30 gigawatts by 2030, enough to power 10 million homes while also protecting biodiversity. We are modernizing America’s infrastructure and electrifying equipment at our ports to decrease the carbon footprint of cargo ships and build cleaner supply chains. And as part of our strategy to place environmental justice at the center of our ocean climate action, we are supporting communities that have been smothered by a legacy of pollution. At the same time, we are protecting ecosystems and supporting the communities who rely on them. Together with our international partners, we are cracking down on illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. And we are working to strengthen sustainable fisheries, ensuring hardworking Americans can continue to provide for their families and feed our Nation. As part of my America the Beautiful Initiative — which set a goal of conserving 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by 2030 — we are also taking steps toward designating new national marine sanctuaries. Toward that aim, I issued a Presidential Memorandum to consider designating more than 700,000 square miles around the Pacific Remote Islands as a new national marine sanctuary. If completed, this area would be among the largest marine protected areas on the planet. And it would honor the traditional practices and ancestral pathways of Pacific Island voyagers. With input from Tribal partners, my Administration also began the designation process for multiple new national marine sanctuaries, including the Hudson Canyon in the Atlantic Ocean and the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Southern California. These actions make us safer. Healthy ecosystems like mangroves, seagrasses, and salt marshes take carbon out of the atmosphere while creating natural buffers that help absorb the force of hurricanes, typhoons, and tropical storms before they reach our communities. That is why my Administration is investing more than $500 million to help fortify these and other, nature-based climate solutions and create good-paying jobs for Americans in the process. It is hard to imagine just how much of the ocean we have yet to discover and what possibilities for the future of human and planetary health, as well as for our economy, lie beneath its surface. This National Ocean Month, let us honor its beauty and bounty with action and commit to protecting and conserving it for generations to come. NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2023 as National Ocean Month. I call upon Americans to take action to protect, conserve, and restore our ocean and coasts. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-seventh. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1254014/Read-President-Joe-Bidens-Proclamation-on-National-Ocean-Month International NPAFC: North Pacific 2022 Salmon Catch Was Second Lowest of 21st Century Fishermen's News - May 31, 2023 A preliminary report issued May 19 during the annual meeting of the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) in South Korea, says the Pacific salmon harvest in the North Pacific Ocean in 2022 was the second lowest catch of the 21st century. https://fishermensnews.com/npafc-north-pacific-2022-salmon-catch-was-second-lowest-of-21st-century/ Environment/Science Studies Show Major Fish Populations Are Relocating to North, South Poles Fishermen's News - May 31, 2023 Scientists at the University of Glasgow in Scotland say their research shows that the majority of fish populations in the world’s oceans are responding to climate change by relocating towards colder waters nearer the north and south poles. https://fishermensnews.com/studies-show-major-fish-populations-are-relocating-to-north-south-poles/ Federal Register Fishing Capacity Reduction Program for the Southeast Alaska Purse Seine Salmon Fishery A Notice by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 06/01/2023 NMFS issues this notice to inform the public that there will be a decrease of the fee rate required to repay the reduction loan financing the Southeast Alaska Purse Seine Salmon Fishing Capacity reduction program. Effective June 1, 2023, NMFS is decreasing the Loan B fee rate to one percent of landed value to ensure timely repayment of the loan. The fee rate for Loan A will remain unchanged at one percent of landed value. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/06/01/2023-11638/fishing-capacity-reduction-program-for-the-southeast-alaska-purse-seine-salmon-fishery FYI’s Wrangell holds Blessing of the Fleet at newly finished Mariners’ Memorial KSTK by Sage Smiley - May 31, 2023 The Blessing of the Fleet is a tradition for many coastal communities as fishermen get ready for their summer season. On May 28, the Southeast Alaska community of Wrangell revitalized the tradition by holding the ceremony in its newly completed Mariners’ Memorial. https://www.ktoo.org/2023/05/31/wrangell-holds-blessing-of-the-fleet-at-newly-finished-mariners-memorial/ Application Period Opens for Pacific Salmon Commission Grants Fishermen's News - May 31, 2023 Applications for four grant fund programs offered through the Pacific Salmon Commission are being accepted for projects to enhance wild salmon stocks and their habitat, with deadlines ranging from Sept. 6 through Nov. 1. https://fishermensnews.com/application-period-opens-for-pacific-salmon-commission-grants/

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