Thursday, April 28, 2022

Alaska Managers expect huge Togiak herring return but low harvest this season KDLG by Isabelle Ross - April 27, 2022 The Togiak herring fishery opened to the purse seine fleet today, kicking off the 2022 season. The state department of Fish and Game anticipates a herring biomass of over 357,000 tons — the largest forecast since the state started using its current assessment model three decades ago. https://www.kdlg.org/fisheries/2022-04-27/managers-expect-huge-togiak-herring-return-but-low-harvest-this-season Statewide summary predicts record-hitting run in Bristol Bay and below-average harvests in Cook Inlet KDLL by Sabine Poux - April 26, 2022 Fish and Game predicts about 2.05 million sockeye will be available for commercial harvest in Upper Cook Inlet in 2022. https://www.kdll.org/local-news/2022-04-26/statewide-summary-predicts-record-hitting-run-in-bristol-bay-and-below-average-harvests-in-cook-inlet Council asks industry for recommendations on Bristol Bay red king crab Alaska Journal of Commerce by Elizabeth Earl - April 27, 2022 After the first season closure for the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery in decades, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is seeking more data on how to rebuild the stock and stabilize the fishery. https://www.alaskajournal.com/2022-04-27/council-asks-industry-recommendations-bristol-bay-red-king-crab $197.3 Million Available to CDQ Groups in Western Alaska as Long-term Loans SeafoodNews.com by Peggy Parker - April 27, 2021 Alaska’s six Community Development Quota (CDQ) groups now have nearly $200 million available to them in the form of 30-year loans through the NOAA Fisheries Finance Program (FFP). The six CDQ groups represent more than 65 Alaska communities from Norton Sound in the north to the Pribilof Islands and Aleutian Chain in the south. The financing can be used for buying all or part of ownership interests in fishing or processing vessels, shoreside fish processing facilities, permits, quota, and cooperative rights in any of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Island fisheries. FFP loans cannot be used for new vessels or other purposes that could contribute to over-fishing. Alaska’s six CDQ groups are already well-invested in Bering Sea and Aleutian Island fisheries. The groups eligible for the funding are: 1. Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association 2. Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation 3. Central Bering Sea Fishermen's Association 4. Coastal Villages Region Fund 5. Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation 6. Yukon Delta Fisheries Development Association These nonprofit groups were created to support economic development and wellbeing in communities on the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands through fisheries revenues. “This particular loan program was kind of a follow up to the general concept of the CDQ program,” Stephanie Warpinkski, NOAA fisheries management specialist, told Unalaska-based KUCB earlier this week. “This is another opportunity for long-term direct loans for the CDQ groups to use to assist villages with economic development.” According to the March 25, 2022 Federal Register notice, the FFP has approximately $197,284,200 in CDQ loan authority, which means each of the six CDQ groups could borrow up to $32,880,700. CDQ groups were asked to submit a letter of interest by April 25, after which they would receive an application for a loan. They began accepting applications as early as last Monday and will continue until June 24, 2022. Applications will be reviewed in the order in which they are received. Letters of interest had been received by last Monday, according to an agency spokesperson. Authority for the Community Development Loan program for CDQ lending as a component of the FFP is found in the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, Public Law 105-277, "Originally created in 1992, CDQ has been in its current form since its reauthorization in 2006," wrote Ian Stanfield in the University of Washington School of Marine and Environment Affairs three years ago. "The idea behind the program was to increase Alaskan ownership of Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) fisheries, which impoverished, primarily Native Alaskan communities in Alaska would otherwise be locked out of by overhead costs such as permitting. In order to qualify for CDQ, communities must be located within 50 miles of the coast, certified under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and reliant on BSAI fisheries for at least half of their fishing," Stanfield wrote. "To this end, the CDQ program allocates 10% of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of several BSAI fisheries to the 65 participating communities. Originally the communities were only allocated part of the pollock TAC, but the program has since expanded to include halibut, sablefish, cod, crab, and other valuable catch species," he wrote. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1224438/197-point-3-Million-Available-to-CDQ-Groups-in-Western-Alaska-as-Long-term-Loans Environment/Science New global forecasts can provide advance notice of marine heatwaves National Fisherman by Guest Author: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - April 25, 2022 Researchers have developed global forecasts that can provide up to a year's advance notice of marine heatwaves, sudden and pronounced increases in ocean temperatures that can dramatically affect ocean ecosystems. https://www.nationalfisherman.com/national-international/new-global-forecasts-can-provide-advance-notice-of-marine-heatwaves The Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Sustainable Salmon Initiative is looking for research proposals to study salmon KYUK by Olivia Ebertz - April 27, 2022 The Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Sustainable Salmon Initiative is looking for proposals for scientific projects to study salmon in the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim region. https://www.kyuk.org/hunting-fishing/2022-04-27/the-arctic-yukon-kuskokwim Federal Register North Pacific Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting A Notice by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 04/28/2022 The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) Crab Plan Team will meet May 16, 2022, through May 19, 2022. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/04/28/2022-09148/north-pacific-fishery-management-council-public-meeting 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. 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