Friday, November 12, 2021

Alaska Boom-bust commercial salmon season doubles 2020 value Alaska Journal of Commerce by Elizabeth Earl - November 10, 2021 This summer was significantly better for commercial salmon fishermen in Alaska than 2020, though that success was far from evenly spread. https://www.alaskajournal.com/2021-11-10/boom-bust-commercial-salmon-season-doubles-2020-value Operation Fish Drop Delivers Salmon to Yukon River Villagers Fishermen's News - November 10, 2021 Residents of upper Yukon River villages in Alaska who were banned from fishing in the summer of 2021 due to weak runs of keta and Chinook salmon are getting another gift of wild Alaska salmon, thanks to the efforts of a Stanford University senior of Alaska Native heritage https://fishermensnews.com/operation-fish-drop-delivers-salmon-to-yukon-river-villagers/ Alaska’s Plateau of COVID Cases is “Creeping Downward” Says State Epidemiologist SeafoodNews.com by Peggy Parker - November 9, 2021 The numbers from last weekend — 1,387 new cases, 53 deaths and 139 hopitalizations — may sound similar from weeks earlier, but state epidemiologist Dr. Louisa Castrodale carefully told the Anchorage Daily News yesterday that looking at the past two weeks, the case count appears to be “creeping downward." Cases over the past weekend are 10% lower than a week ago and 40% lower than the first weekend in October. September has been the cruelest month since the pandemic began in Alaska, and today’s most recent numbers underscore that. Most (31) of the 53 deaths reported today took place in September. Another five deaths were in August, 16 in October and one in November, according to the Department of Health and Social Services. The state is now changing an often-used metric of vaccination rates for those 12-years old and older to those 5-years old and older. Currently 59% of Alaskans age 5 and older have gotten at least their first vaccine dose, and 54% of Alaskans five and older have been fully vaccinated. Across the state, particularly in rural, remote fishing communities, the story is never the same. Kodiak has been hard hit by the summer surge of Covid-19 infections, driven by the highly contagious delta variant. There are 48 active cases in the Kodiak Borough today according to the city of Kodiak’s dashboard, but the state reported 49 cases just over the weekend. No hospitalizations are reported currently, but since the pandemic hit Alaska, there have been 90 local hospitalizations. The Kodiak Island School District has mandated students wear masks since the beginning of the school year. There is a small but organized opposition to that mandate, numbering about ten unmasked individuals at the last school board meeting. Kodiak is one of the top three communities in Alaska with a high density for its 5,600 residents: 1,423 people per square mile in the borough. Only Palmer, in the Mat-Su Valley outside of Anchorage, and Ketchikan, a fishing community in Southeast Alaska, are higher in density. Both communities have reported high contagion rates and case loads. Ketchikan, with 8,300 people in the 2021 census count, has a density of 2,186 people per square mile. There are 64 active cases of the delta variant of Covid-19 in Ketchikan, with an average of 60 new positive cases per week. Sixty-two percent of Ketchikan’s 8,300 residents have been fully vaccinated. In Dillingham, the largest city in the Bristol Bay and Lakes Borough areas, the local community health center began offering vaccines to children 5-11 years old yesterday. The Southcentral Foundation’s Lake Iliamna clinics are set to start administering the vaccine Tuesday, and will continue to provide vaccines to kids 12 - 17 years old. The Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation plans to start giving the shots later this week. Dillingham Public Health has received allocations of the vaccine and is working to set up a schedule for vaccinations. Like adults and older children, the younger age group will get two doses of the Pfizer vaccine given three weeks apart. Last month Dillingham had a surge of positive cases — 128 in Bristol Bay during the week of October 25 — 92 in the Dillingham area and 36 in the Lake and Peninsula and Bristol Bay boroughs. The region’s case count for the past 14 days was at 234, with 163 in the Dillingham area and 71 in the boroughs, public radio station KDLG reported then. The week before, the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation reported 46 cases in six outlying communities, and three cases in Dillingham. Despite those high numbers, Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation Incident Commander Jennifer DeWinne said the health corporation was handling patient care well. DeWinne told KDLG that BBAHC sends teams out to villages that have COVID outbreaks. It also provides monoclonal antibody treatments to COVID patients who have consulted with their doctor to determine whether they should receive that treatment. While most of the state continues under a ‘high alert’ status, Unalaska had dropped their status to medium after a week of zero positive cases in the community near Dutch Harbor. That prompted an “optional masking” protocol in Unalaska’s schools that was implemented on Monday. “But then, the city’s case count rose over the weekend, quickly pushing the schools transmission threshold back up to “medium,” after just one day at the lower level. As of Friday, the city reported a total of six active community cases.,” reported KUCB, Unalaska’s public radio station. Superintendent Robbie Swint Jr. noted that "optional masking" is still allowed under the “medium alert” level, until the city's emergency operations center advises the increase in protocol. In Southeast Alaska’s Petersburg, however, case counts are climbing. Yesterday, Petersburg Medical Center reported 69 new cases, 54 of which were in last week. As of yesterday, there were 28 cases in the school district among staff and students. Last Friday, school Superintendent Kludt-Painter said the schools are the verge of not being able to maintain in-person learning. The medical center’s testing positivity rate has been around 20 percent for several days, KDF reported, and another 55 test results were pending as of Monday. All borough buildings remain closed to the public. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1212041/Alaskas-Plateau-of-COVID-Cases-is-Creeping-Downward-Says-State-Epidemiologist West Coast Ocean Carriers Expect to Carry Costs of New Container Excess Dwell Fee Onto Shippers, Importers SeafoodNews - November 10, 2021 The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach have implemented a new “Container Excess Dwell Fee” to kick off November that aims to help alleviate the backlog of containers sitting on the west coast. However, this new fee may mean additional costs to shippers and importers. OCEANAIR, a transportation logistics company said that these new fees, as many shipping companies have already announced, will be passed on to the shippers/importers. Shipping firm MSC said it expects “all costs will be passed through to shippers, although it remains unclear whether the Marine Terminal Operator (MTO) or the carrier will be rebilling this.” Ocean Network Express (ONE) also noted that it will issue a customer invoice for the accumulated amount. OCEANAIR also shared a news release from Maersk / Hamburg Sud, who commented: “Naturally we understand this puts all parties involved in a rather difficult situation as truck, chassis and warehouse capacity are all extremely stretched. Rest assured, we are aggressively working on several solutions to help mitigate some of the impacts. We will continue to keep you informed on all developments over the coming days.” “It must be noted that we are still actively working with both regulators and the port of Los Angeles and Long Beach alike to gain a full understanding of all the issues at hand and as more information becomes available, trust we will do our utmost to keep you informed.” The fee is part of actions taken by the Biden-Harris Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, looking to ease the congested supply chain and backlog at ports. The policy will see ocean carriers hit with a “potentially heft daily compounding fee for shipping containers that linger too long at ports.” The fee will be applied to all trucking containers that remain on the terminals for 9 days or more and 3 days or more for rail containers, per a news release. The cost is $100 per container on the first day past the dwelling limit and will increase by increments of $100 for each day the container remains on terminal. “These moves are likely to encounter some push-back from already frustrated importers, who have faced rising costs and continued supply chain delays,” OCEANAIR wrote. “Many shippers will likely refuse to pay the charges, claiming they have no control over retrieving their containers from the ports.” With November underway, the Western States Trucking Association is urging the Governor of California to enforce state legislation that prevents the terminal operators and carriers from charging the excessive fees when truckers are unable to pick up loaded import boxes or return empty containers, per OCEANAIR. These fees are also spreading across west coast terminals with Matson Terminals – Long Beach will issue a Container Dwell Surcharged along with a pair of marine terminals at the Port of Tacoma, Washington, Husky Terminal & Stevedoring and Tacoma’s Washington United Terminal. OCEANAIR provided a list of Frequently Asked Questions on its website, including how the fees will be assessed, when they will be imposed and other topics that may impact businesses that will be faced with the new fee. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1212159/Ocean-Carriers-Expect-to-Carry-Costs-of-New-Container-Excess-Dwell-Fee-Onto-Shippers-Importers Environment/Science Ad Campaign Urges EPA to Veto Pebble Mine Fishermen's News - November 10, 2021 The Bristol Bay Defense Fund has launched an ad campaign urging the EPA to protect salmon habitat in the Bristol Bay watershed. Image via Bristol Bay Defense Fund. https://fishermensnews.com/ad-campaign-urges-epa-to-veto-pebble-mine/ NOAA Bottom Trawl Survey finds warmer waters and declining fish populations KNOM by Miriam Trujillo - November 10, 2021 Multiple fish populations in the Bering Sea have experienced a slight decline, according to the 2021 Bottom Trawl survey. Every year the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, conducts the bottom trawl survey, using a net to collect samples of the sea life that resides near the bottom of the ocean floor. The survey examines elements of marine life such as fish population sizes, distribution of species across the Bering Sea, fish diets and environmental data. https://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2021/11/10/noaa-bottom-trawl-survey-finds-warmer-waters-and-declining-fish-populations/ FYI’s From the Editor: Pacific Marine Expo Fishermen's News - November 10, 2021 As you may know if you’re involved in the commercial fishing industry, one of the largest and longest running commercial fishing and commercial marine trade shows on the West Coast, Pacific Marine Expo, takes place Nov. 18-20 in Seattle. And this year, for the first time ever, Maritime Publishing will be in attendance. https://fishermensnews.com/from-the-editor-pacific-marine-expo/ NPFMC Virtual Meeting Set for Dec. 2-16 Fishermen's News - November 10, 2021 The North Pacific Fishery Management Council plans to hold virtual meetings during the first two and a half weeks of December, with Scientific and Statistic Committee and Advisory Panel meetings beginning on Thursday, Dec. 2. https://fishermensnews.com/npfmc-virtual-meeting-set-for-dec-2-16/ 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. 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