Monday, October 18, 2021

In Memoriam Passing of Chuck Bundrant - Trident founder and seafood industry giant It is with deep and heartfelt condolences that we heard of the death of Chuck Bundrant and we are grateful that his passing yesterday was peaceful and in the surrounds of family and friends. PSPA offers our sincerest sympathy on this profound loss to the Trident family and the seafood industry. A past Chairman of PSPA, Chuck will always be remembered for his deep love and passion for those he worked with, the industry he helped create, and the communities that Trident calls home. Chuck’s legacy – his spirit and servant leadership, grounded by his toughness, determination, and generosity and belief in others, are guiding principles that will continue to inspire. From Anchorage Daily News & Seattle Times: https://www.adn.com/business-economy/2021/10/18/trident-seafoods-chuck-bundrant-a-pioneer-of-us-fisheries-off-alaska-dies-at-79/ Trident’s corporate obituary for Chuck: https://www.scribd.com/document/533334728/Chuck-Bundrant-obituary-101721 To learn more about this amazing man and the life that he lived, download the podcast, Catching a Deckload of Dreams: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catching-a-deckload-of-dreams-chuck-bundrant/id1483630898. Very Respectfully, Chris Christopher Barrows | President Pacific Seafood Processors Association Alaska Alaska Fisheries Report Oct 14, 2021 KMXT - October 14, 2021 On this week’s Alaska Fisheries Report with host Terry Haines: Sage Smiley reports on a request by salmon dependent communities for zero bycatch in trawl fisheries, plus an interview with biologist Birch Foster on why some salmon thrive. https://kmxt.org/2021/10/alaska-fisheries-report-oct-14-2021/ New BSAI Pacific Cod Trawl Program Using Industry Co-ops Approved by North Pacific Council SeafoodNews.com by Peggy Parker - October 15, 2021 A new management plan for trawl-caught cod in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands was approved by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council earlier this week. It is called the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Pacific Cod Trawl Catcher Vessel (CV) limited access privilege program (LAPP) Cooperative Program, or the PCTC Program. The plan was triggered by an increasingly concentrated effort to land a decreasing annual catch that resulted in a season of days rather than weeks or months. This race for fish also led to increased bycatch of halibut and other species, raised the risk of accidents, and often elbowed out participation of Bering Sea and Aleutian Island communities that relied on Pacific cod but whose smaller vessels could not compete. The Council’s Purpose and Need Statement includes their intention to address these and other issues: “The Council is considering the development of a cooperative-based program to improve the prosecution of the fishery, with the intent of promoting safety and stability in the harvesting and processing sectors, increasing the value of the fishery, minimizing bycatch to the extent practicable, providing for the sustained participation of fishery dependent communities, and ensuring the sustainability and viability of the resource.” That long sentence resulted in a 10-page motion describing the new program’s 14 elements. Approval of the “preferred alternative” final motion eliminated the last element “Gear Conversion” which would have allowed flexibility of vessels to switch to pots under certain conditions. That element was supported by smaller vessel fleets, many based in Alaska, but not the larger trawlers that make up fleets that are for the most part based in Washington or Oregon. For a program that rationalized the last major open fishery in Alaska, the Council took less than two years from start to finish — a record time when compared to other rationalizing programs. Because most of the analysis, public comment, and development of the new fishery plan took place remotely due to Covid, the Council heard testimony from members of the industry that more time was needed to understand potential ramifications of the many components before suggesting further changes. From Council members own comments prior to the first review of the analysis, which took place in December of last year, this plan was to also address a few issues that had been before the Council for years. Two in particular were abundance-based bycatch of halibut in the non-AM80 trawl fleet, and provisions for a portion of the cod annual TAC for Adak in the Aleutian Islands, which lost its 5,000mt “set aside” when a judge found that to be in violation of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and ordered the Council to re-look at that action. The plan creates voluntary industry cooperatives. Cod trawlers will join cooperatives (three or more vessels) each year to harvest the P-cod cooperative quota (CQ). They are not required to stay with a particular coop throughout the year. Catch history will decide who gets how much. The cut-off date for that history was December 31, 2019. The individuals (that includes a company) who receive quota must be assigned to a coop to get annual P-cod CQ. NMFS will allocate quota by season (A, B, or C season) and unused A season quota may be rolled over to B Season. C Season will continue to be managed as it has been, a limited-access trawl catcher vessel fishery, and will receive 15% of the overall P-cod allocation. Vessels in that fishery will not be required to join a coop. Under Element 3, bycatch of halibut will be reduced by 25% and bycatch of crab will be reduced by 35%. That portion is made up of a reduction in bycatch of Red king crab in Zone 1 of 80% from 2019 limits, opioid or snow crab bycatch will be reduced by 69% in Bycatch Limitation Zone from 2019 limits, and tanner (Bairdi) bycatch in Zone 1 and Zone 2 will be reduced by 48% of the 2019 limit. The halibut bycatch reduction will be phased in over two years. Under Element 5, processors were given 22.5% of the QS, again based on processing history. The Aleutian Islands Processors Provision (Element 6) was a flashpoint since June when the Council chose a quota share allocation that was too small to allow the plant to open. Peter Pan Seafoods announced they would cease their efforts to re-open the Adak plant, which had been shuttered as a result of the court action in 2020. Element 6 establishes a percentage of the QS rather than a fixed amount. Council member Rachel Baker, Deputy Commissioner of Alaska Department of Fish and Game, chose the lower of two set-aside levels (now called AI CQ reserve) of 10%. That was later amended to 12% by Council member Nicole Kimball who is Vice President of the Pacific Seafood Processors Association. Even with that increase, it will not reach the level of the previous set-aside of 5,000 metric tons because of the reduced P-cod TAC in the BSAI. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1210325/New-BSAI-Pacific-Cod-Trawl-Program-Using-Industry-Co-ops-Approved-by-North-Pacific-Council Environment/Science Marine debris is washing up again on Bering Strait shores KTOO by Catherine Rubano, KNOM - October 14, 2021 For the second year in a row, Bering Strait residents are finding foreign debris on their shores — and they’re still looking for the source. The first reported piece of trash, one of numerous plastics with Russian and Korean writing, appeared in mid-August. https://www.ktoo.org/2021/10/14/marine-debris-is-washing-up-again-on-bering-strait-shores/ Experts ask Congress for more offshore oil oversight as California cleanup continues LA Times by Anna M. Phillips - October 14, 2021 WASHINGTON — Nearly two weeks after a pipeline ruptured and leaked tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean, environmental policy experts testified before Congress on Thursday, urging lawmakers to require more federal oversight of aging and abandoned offshore oil platforms and pipelines. https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2021-10-14/congress-oil-spill-california-offshore-oil-federal-oversight 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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