Alaska Last chance? Cook Inlet setnetters look to buyback as a way to save fishery Alaska Journal of Commerce by Elizabeth Earl - August 17, 2021 Editor’s note: This article is the second of a three-part series about the Upper Cook Inlet commercial fishery. Click here for the first part. The next article will be about the proposed closure of the federal waters to salmon fishing in Cook Inlet. In some ways, Cook Inlet’s East Side setnet fishery is the most desirable of commercial fisheries to get into: instead of having to fish remote sections of muddy beach, far from roads or towns, commercial fishermen can finish their sets for the day, jump up to the top of the bluff, and go to town for the night. https://www.alaskajournal.com/2021-08-17/last-chance-cook-inlet-setnetters-look-buyback-way-save-fishery LED lights offer potential solution to chronic bycatch problem in Alaska fisheries Anchorage Daily News by Laine Welch - August 17, 2021 Bycatch gives Alaska’s otherwise stellar fisheries management its biggest black eye. The term refers to unwanted sea creatures taken in trawls, pots, lines and nets when boats are going after targeted catches. Bycatch is the bane of existence for fishermen, seafood companies and policy makers alike, yet few significant advances have been found to mitigate the problem. https://www.adn.com/business-economy/2021/08/16/led-lights-offer-potential-solution-to-chronic-bycatch-problem-in-alaska-fisheries/ ANALYSIS: Pollock Landings Improving, Industry Still Playing Catch Up Urner Barry by Lorin Castiglione - August 19, 2021 After two consecutive seasons reporting lackluster landings amid an active and growing demand, the Alaskan pollock industry is breathing a slight sigh of relief as landings volume currently outpace the 2020 B season by 113,491 metric tons as per the most recent data from NOAA through the week of August 7.
The 2021 B season has produced more favorable landings compared to the previous year every week with the exception of the last week of July, where 2020 outperformed the comparable 2021 week by 1,627 mt...
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https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1206085/ANALYSIS-Pollock-Landings-Improving-Industry-Still-Playing-Catch-Up
International
Russian Pollock Producers Call on New Talks with China to Resume Supplies
SeafoodNews.com by Eugene Gerden - August 17, 2021
The closure of the Chinese market for Russian pollock producers may lead to a drop in revenue by almost 27% this year, according to producers.
In order to prevent the crisis, the All-Russian Association of Fisheries (VARPE) has recently called on the government to hold new negotiations with China to remove obstacles for the imports of Russian pollock to the Chinese market.
As the Russian Kommersant business paper has recently reported citing on the letter of the president of VARPE German Zverev, (which was sent in early July to the head of the Ministry of Economy Maxim Reshetnikov), the closure of the Chinese market, will lead to a significant drop of revenue of domestic fish producers this year. Moreover, the losses of the Russian federal budget and social funds from the existing ban will amount to about RUB 13.1 billion.
According to VARPE, there is a need to conduct additional consultations with the Ministry of Commerce of China to remove obstacles on the supplies of Russian fish products to this country, as well as to agree on a temporary import procedure.
In 2020 China accounted for 16% of the total revenue of Russian fishermen, however, at the end of last year, the country introduced quarantine measures in its ports after the detection of traces of COVID-19 on the packaging of fish products, delivered from Russia. According to Russia’s customs data, from January to April 2021, the volume of Russian fish exports to China fell by 83.2% year-on-year basis, to 77,000 tons. In value terms, exports fell by 60.14% to US$264.1 million. Part of the supplies was reoriented to the ports of Korea, however, the latter was also completely closed for receiving cargo in May, according to VARPE.
As Alexey Buglak, president of the Russian Pollock Association, told Kommersant, the situation had a negative effect on the Russian fish catch, while, according to his data, as of July 27, 1.18 million tons of pollock were produced in Russia, which is 12% less than a year earlier.
According to producers, there is an acute need to resolve the current issue with the Chinese supply chain, especially due to the current salmon fishing season, which poses a threat of overstocking of the Russian market with domestic fish.
According to analysts’ forecasts, the total catch of Pacific salmon in Russia this year should reach 459,000 tonnes. In 2020, 299,200 tons were produced, of which about 100,000 tonnes were exported to China. If the problem is not solved, then the fish industry can lose about US$300-350 million this year.
Saveliy Karpukhin, First Deputy General Director of RRPK, believes that the industry should focus on the development of deep fish processing, which, according to him, will make Russian fishermen less dependent on foreign markets.
In the meantime, representatives of Rosrybolovstvo have already said that they are working on the opening of new markets for Russian fish, taking measures for the increase of pollock sales in the domestic market including through the supplies of fish for the needs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the Federal Penitentiary Service. In addition, on July 26, the government extended subsidies for rail transportation of pollock from the Far East to Central Russia.
https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1205858/Russian-Pollock-Producers-Call-on-New-Talks-with-China-to-Resume-Supplies
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