Alaska/Pacific Coast
Coghill chum harvest at 1.8 M Cordova Times by Margaret Bauman – July 20, 2018 Harvest of chum and sockeye salmon in the Coghill district of Prince William Sound reached an estimated 1,777,250 and 172,799 fish respectively as of July 16, exceeding the 10-year averages of 1.5 million chum and 150,000 reds, state fisheries biologists said. https://www.thecordovatimes.com/2018/07/20/coghill-chum-harvest-at-1-8-m/
International
Chefs to import wild Alaska salmon to France KMXT by Daysha Eaton – July 18, 2018 A group of French chefs have been traveling around Kodiak Island to learn about Alaska wild salmon. They have been meeting with local seafood processors in hope of sourcing king and coho salmon for import back to France where they plan to smoke it using french recipes. http://kmxt.org/2018/07/chefs-import-wild-alaska-salmon-france/
Seafood analyst: Trump’s proposed tariffs hurt Alaska KTVA by Liz Raines – July 18, 2018 Alaska’s seafood industry should brace for another setback in the growing trade war with China, according to an industry analyst. http://www.ktva.com/story/38678030/seafood-analyst-trumps-proposed-tariffs-hurt-alaska
Russian Ban on Transhipping on Foreign Vessels Could Cripple Fishing Industry SEAFOODNEWS.COM by Eugene Gerden – July 29, 2018 The Russian fishing industry is on the verge of serious losses, due to the recent national Federal Security Service (FSB) warnings to fishing companies about new requirements limiting foreign transport ships and tenders.
The introduction of these new requirements have already been confirmed by the All-Russian Association of Fishermen (VARPE), a public association that unites some leading Russian fish producers.
Previously, such requirements were not imposed if the foreign vessel had the right to operate under the Russian flag and was operated by Russian persons under bareboat charter contracts.
VARPE learned about the change from several enterprises of the Northern Basin. Last week, VARPE president German Zverev was informed about the problem from some Russian fish producers in the Far East.
According to some of the Russian fish harvesters, fishing companies often operate a limited fleet and sign contracts with tenders for transshipment of their catches from fishing areas to primary onshore processors. Due to the limited conditions and terms of storage for products, companies often sign contracts with any available tender/shipowner in the area.
Analysts at Russian Rosryvbolovstvo said there is a clear shortage of vessels in the maritime transport market. According to their estimates, foreigners own about 70 percent of the transshipment fleet with a total capacity of 22,500 tonnes only the Northern Basin alone.
According to harvesters, the exclusion of foreign vessels from the transportation and reloading chains of fish products in Russia will lead to enormous losses to local fish producers, including losses from stopping fishing activities and from possible damage to products.
According to German Zverev, whose company that catches 100,000 tons of cod, haddock and capelin a year in the North Basin, harvesters will have to spend at least an additional $2 million USD on logistics due to the ban. In addition, the immediate changes to logistics routes due to the inability to work with foreign-owned ships during the peak fishing season can cost producers an additional $1 million USD.
Overall, according to calculations of Rosrybolovstvo and local fish producers, additional costs of the industry as a result of the latest requirements of FSB could reach 12 billion rubles per year ($200 million USD). This could result in the increase of prices for fish and seafood in Russia.
According to fishermen, the existing federal law “On Fisheries,” which is the primary legislative act that regulates fishing activities in Russia, is ambiguous regarding foreign-owned ships and tenders for transporting fish and seafood.
In this regard, producers are considering filling a petition to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, asking to check the current situation in the domestic fishing industry.
Representatives of FSB were not available for comment.
https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1110476/Russian-Ban-on-Transhipping-on-Foreign-Vessels-Could-Cripple-Fishing-Industry
Environment/Science
Warm water threatens what should be bumper year for Fraser River sockeye 14 million sockeye forecast to return to Canada’s biggest salmon river — but number may be as low as 5 million CBC News – July 18, 2018 This should be a big year for sockeye on Canada’s most important salmon river, but the threat of high water temperatures and several years of low fish survival is putting that forecast at risk. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/fraser-river-sockeye-2018-forecast-1.4750305
Japanese Research Vessels Dock In Unalaska KUCB by Zoe Sobel – July 19, 2018 Unalaska welcomed two Japanese-flagged vessels to port this week — one devoted to Arctic research, the other connected to controversial commercial whaling. The first is the Oshoro Maru V, a research vessel for Hokkaido University’s school of fisheries sciences. http://kucb.org/post/japanese-research-vessels-dock-unalaska
Federal Register
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Cost Recovery Program A Notice by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 07/19/2018 NMFS publishes notification of a 1.85 percent fee for cost recovery under the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Program. This action is intended to provide holders of crab allocations with the fee percentage for the 2018/2019 crab fishing year so they can calculate the required payment for cost recovery fees that must be submitted by July 31, 2019. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/07/19/2018-15468/fisheries-of-the-exclusive-economic-zone-off-alaska-bering-sea-and-aleutian-islands-crab
FYI’s
Federal Council Names Five Alaskans to Cook Inlet FMP Committee SEAFOODNEWS.COM by Peggy Parker – July 20, 2018 As part of several new appointments announced last month at the Kodiak North Pacific Fisheries Management Council meeting, an entirely new committee was named and members appointed to tackle the thorny issue of salmon management in Cook Inlet.
Five Alaskans were tapped for the Salmon FMP (Fisheries Management Plan) Committee by Council President Dan Hull: Erik Huebsch, Dan Anderson, Dino Sutherland, Hanna Heimbuch, and Mike Casseri. All five members of the committee are commercial drift gillnet fishermen in Cook Inlet. Three are on the board of the United Cook Inlet Drift Association, according to a recent report in the Peninsula Clarion.
The committee is the result of a lawsuit brought against the state by UCIDA for improper management of salmon in the federal waters of Cook Inlet. The state of Alaska managed the resource in federal waters as a result of an agreement between the state and feds years ago. UCIDA’s victory in court to bring the fisheries under federal management in that area, and means that the Magnuson-Stevens Act would determine catch limits and other measures, rather than ADF&G’s in-season management policies. The committee is tasked with helping to develop measures needed to satisfy the MSA requirements.
So far, the “focus of the analytical and technical work to revise the Salmon FMP is on Cook Inlet only,” according to the council’s June newsletter.
Council staff is working on an analysis that will be released prior to the December Council meeting.
“The detailed structure of the analysis has not been developed,” according to the Council newsletter. “The Alternatives are very generally identified as 1. No Action; 2. Cooperative management with the State; and 3. Federal management.”
“My selection of this initial group of Salmon FMP Committee members focuses on the primary affected stakeholders, the Cook Inlet drift gillnet permit holders, who fish in the EEZ waters of Cook Inlet,” explained Hull at the June meeting in Kodiak.
“The tasking that the NPFMC has given to the Salmon FMP Committee is also primarily focused on measures related to management of the drift gillnet salmon fisheries in the EEZ.
“I recognize that these management measures may affect other stakeholder groups and that there is strong interest from a wide range of those groups to join the Salmon FMP Committee. I expect that at a future date the Council could determine, based on the progress of FMP development, that additional tasks for the Committee warrant selection of representatives from other stakeholder groups,” Hull noted.
“The analysis, scheduled for December, could provide the impetus for those selections. Until that time, all interested stakeholder groups are welcome and encouraged to attend the Committee meetings, these meetings are open to the public.”
Outgoing Council Chair Hull expects to appoint a Council member to chair the committee before his term ends in early August. The committee’s first meeting is slated for late fall, before the Council’s December 3-11, 2018 meeting. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1110652/Federal-Council-Names-Five-Alaskans-to-Cook-Inlet-FMP-Committee
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