Thursday, October 21, 2021

Alaska Developing a Strategy For Monitoring Alaska Fisheries in 2022 and Beyond NOAA Fisheries collaborates with industry partners to plan cost-effective collection of data essential for sustainable fisheries management. NOAA Fisheries - October 14, 2021 Each year NOAA Fisheries scientists collaborate with fishing industry partners to develop a deployment plan for the Alaska fishing fleet. The challenge is to assign observers and electronic monitoring (EM) to vessels and processing plants in a way that gathers statistically reliable data while remaining cost-effective. Right now, Alaska Fisheries Science Center scientists are meeting with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to set a deployment plan for 2022—and beyond. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/developing-strategy-monitoring-alaska-fisheries-2022-and-beyond North Pacific Fishery Management Council - October 2021 Newsletter Call for Nominations, SSC and Advisory Panel, Charter Halibut Management Committee, Council Membership Changes, BSAI Salmon Bycatch, BSAI Crab, BSAI Crab Stock Status, IFQ items and Committee Report https://www.npfmc.org/october-2021-newsletter/ Faced with crashing crab stocks, council looks to swiftly analyze closures and trawl impacts Alaska Journal of Commerce by Elizabeth Earl - October 20, 2021 As crab fishermen face a dire season in Western Alaska this year, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is looking for quick analysis and the fleet is looking for more extensive closures to protect some crab stocks. https://www.alaskajournal.com/2021-10-20/faced-crashing-crab-stocks-council-looks-swiftly-analyze-closures-and-trawl-impacts NPFMC Requests Analysis on Impact of Expanding Red King Crab Savings Area Fishermen's News - October 20, 2021 Closure of the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery, coupled with an 88% slash in the snow crab quota has prompted the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to explore ways to help restore crab fisheries to robust abundance. But it’s a lengthy process https://fishermensnews.com/npfmc-requests-analysis-on-impact-of-expanding-red-king-crab-savings-area/ COVID-19 Positivity Rate Highest Ever As Epidemic Trajectory Declines in Alaska SeafoodNews.com by Peggy Parker - October 20, 2021 Alaska’s public health experts who look at the changes in daily cases say the recent high daily counts are now in a decline and forecasted to drop to half in about 12 weeks. The projected slow decline began in mid-September when model projections were over 1,000 cases per day to now when daily counts are averaging about 740. These levels are still higher than the worst of the pandemic in Alaska prior to vaccinations being available. But the delta variant, which is far more contagious than the original virus and is responsible for nearly all of the new cases, Alaska’s positivity rate is now above 11%, the highest in the history of the pandemic and more than double what the CDC suggest communities stay below. Yesterday, 2,842 cases were reported from a four-day period including last weekend and Monday, a state holiday. The daily count of positive Covid cases was 824 on Friday, October 15; 1,122 on Saturday; 580 on Sunday; and 516 on Monday. Also reported were 66 deaths during that time, and 213 hospitalizations. Of the total new cases, 980 (resident and non-resident) were from Anchorage, 377 from Wasilla, 223 from Fairbanks, and 162 from Palmer. Outside of these population centers, Juneau had 87 cases and the Kenai Peninsula cities of Soldotna and Kenai had 86 and 85 respectively. Fishing ports around the state did not fare as well last week as earlier in this second, post-vaccination wave, with the exception of Sitka, where the case count has remained low compared to a very high start of more than a month ago. Kodiak reported 55 cases in the last four days, including the only one of the 2,842 cases identified as from the seafood industry; Dillingham Census Area reported 35 cases in four communities which does not include six cases in Dillingham itself; Valdez had 29 new cases over the weekend; and the Nome Census Area reported 24 in five communities not include Nome itself, with another 24 cases. The Kenai Peninsula Borough reported 23 cases in two communities, Homer reported 21and Ketchikan reported 19. The first resident cases of Covid were reported from St. Paul Island in the Pribilofs last week. St. Paul city officials said in a statement that two community members tested positive. One was traveling, and the other is a member of their household, reported Maggie Nelson from KUCB radio. A ten-day quarantine began immediately for the two who tested positive and all those who traveled with the pair were asked to be tested. As of last week, no 'close contacts' had been identified. The Pribilof community of 370 residents has only had four Covid cases since the start of the pandemic — one in April and one in August. Over 90% of St. Paul residents are fully vaccinated. St. Paul is currently at the medium local COVID-19 risk level. A total of 212 Covid patients are currently hospitalized. The state records indicate 17 ICU beds are available currently in Alaska. About 280 non-ICU beds are available throughout the state. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1210648/COVID-19-Positivity-Rate-Highest-Ever-As-Epidemic-Trajectory-Declines-in-Alaska National Seafood Sales Continue to Soar at US Retail Seafood Source by Laine Welch, Fish Radio - October 21, 2021 This is Alaska Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch – Seafood sales continue to soar at U.S. retail stores. More after this -- Fish Radio is brought to you by Alaska Boats and Permits in Homer. Marine broker for vessels, permits and IFQs. Online at www.alaskaboat.com The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute provides digital and print marketing materials to the Alaska seafood industry. Find access to thousands of stunning photos, high quality video footage, and sales tools at www.alaskaseafood.org. Seafood sales spiked at retail stores during the first three quarters of 2021 with no slowdown in sight. It’s a trend that picked up steam at the onset of the Covid pandemic when more Americans turned to seafood for its healthier benefits. When compared to the pre-pandemic 2019 levels, all three areas of fresh, frozen, and shelf-stable seafoods easily trended ahead. National market trackers say that 36 percent of Americans are eating more seafood in place of meat, and two-thirds are looking for more recipes and new products to help them do so. Seafood Source news reports that fresh and frozen seafood sales reached nearly $5.5 billion from January through September. And it appears that the industry’s longtime efforts to convince Americans that the quality of frozen seafood is as good or better than fresh is finally paying off, especially with a majority of younger buyers. Of all frozen protein offerings, seafood was by far the largest category with sales reaching $533 million just in September. That month, frozen seafood sales soared 7 percent compared to 2020, and 38.4 percent against 2019. Plus, three-quarters of consumers said they eat seafood at home or away from home at least once a month, and 46 percent eat it at least weekly, according to foodservice research firm Technomic. Only 12 percent of consumers say they never eat seafood. And in more good news for Alaska, four in 10 seafood eaters make a significant effort to choose sustainable seafood. But while wild-caught remains the most important choice at 36%, preference for farm-raised is on the rise at 29%. Sales of farmed seafood grew 18.9% from January through May of this year – likely reflecting the fact that over 80% of America’s seafood is imported from elsewhere. Find links to the market reports at www.alaskafishradio.com and on Facebook and Twitter. Check out the lineup at Pacific Marine Expo, Nov. 18-20 in Seattle. www.pacificmarineexpo.com Fish Radio is also brought to you by OBI Seafoods, an Alaska corporation proudly supporting Alaska’s coastal communities and the Alaskans who depend on fishing for their livelihoods and culture. Visit www.obiseafoods.com In Kodiak, I’m Laine Welch. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1210723/Seafood-Sales-Continue-to-Soar-at-US-Retail Environment/Science Petersburg assembly OKs resolution seeking BC mining permit pause, end to tailings dams KFSK by Joe Viechnicki - October 20, 2021 Petersburg’s borough assembly Tuesday passed a resolution seeking changes in operations and permitting for precious metal mines in British Columbia near salmon rivers that flow into Southeast Alaska. https://www.kfsk.org/2021/10/20/petersburg-assembly-oks-resolution-seeking-bc-mining-permit-pause-end-to-tailings-dams/ 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. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. *Inclusion of a news article, report, or other document in this email does not imply PSPA support or endorsement of the information or opinion expressed in the document.