Thursday, September 29, 2022

Alaska A rare summer-long chinook opener was not enough to lure SE trollers away from Chumageddon KCAW - September 28, 2022 Chinook trollers in Southeast may have left a sizeable portion of their allocation in the water when the summer season wrapped up on September 20 – but that doesn’t mean it was a bad year. Instead, it was a rather unusual year. https://www.kcaw.org/2022/09/28/a-rare-summer-long-chinook-opener-was-not-enough-to-lure-se-trollers-away-from-chumageddon/ International China’s Pollock Processing Business Recovering as H1 Imports from Russia Doubled SeafoodNews.com by Tom Asakawa - September 28, 2022 According to the Hokkaido Trawl Fisheries Cooperative Federation, China's Russian pollock business, which was temporarily depressed due to the new coronavirus, is heading for a complete recovery, reported Suisan Keizai. In the first half of this year (January to June), China imported about 340,400 tons of frozen Alaska pollock, double that of last year. The fish seems to be primarily dressed pollock from Russia. The average CIF price of Russian fish imported by China from January to July was $1,280 per ton, and the single month in July was just under $1,400, showing a recovery to the pre-COVID level, according to some data. Traditionally, China's Alaska pollock business was to import dressed Russian fish, process them into fillets, and export them to European markets and other markets. However, in the fall of 2020, the Chinese authorities tightened import restrictions to prevent the spreading of the new coronavirus infection. Imports of Russian dressed pollock plunged sharply, and prices weakened. This year, the tide has changed with the relaxation of this regulation. Along with the recovery in imports, prices rose against the backdrop of increased global demand, inflation, and a tightening of supply and demand due to reduced production of Alaska pollack in the United States. A major Chinese fishery company that imports and processes Alaska pollack reportedly posted a net profit of 155 million yuan ($21.60 million) in the first half of this year, a significant recovery from a loss of 136 million yuan ($18.95 million) in the same period last year. Impressive business rebound. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1236066/Chinas-Pollock-Processing-Business-Recovering-as-H1-Imports-from-Russia-Doubled Russia: Analysts Expect Growth of King Crab Population in Arctic Seas SeafoodNews.com by Eugene Gerden - September 29, 2022 The population of Kamchatka crab is steadily growing in the Arctic seas of Russia and other countries of the region amid the conditions of global warming and the ongoing climate change. During the 1960s, these crabs were delivered to the Barents Sea from the Far East. Thirty years later, the volume of their reserves allowed to start their commercial fishing in the Northern Basin. In the case of Russia, the volume of king crab has been steadily growing in recent years. In Norway the local authorities were unhappy with the ever growing stocks of Kamchatka crab in their territorial waters, due to its negative impact on the ecosystem of the country. In recent years Scientists from the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research have been called on the state to increase quotas on the catch of king crab, with the aim of the reduction of its stock. According to specialists from the Murmansk Marine Biological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, climate change in the Arctic has a positive effect on the population of king crabs. They began to move to new areas of the Arctic seas. Scientists predict a further growth of the stock of these crab species in the eastern and northern areas of the Barents Sea, as well as south along the Norwegian coast within the next several years. According to them, king crab can withstand high water temperatures, being able to survive well even at higher water temperatures of 6 degrees Celsius. Still, the mechanisms, affecting the development of king crab larvae and the successful development of its stock in the Barents Sea as well as other Arctic seas, according to scientists are still poorly understood. Most of them, however, believe that king crabs in Russia and its territorial waters will only be growing in years to come. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1236137/Russia-Analysts-Expect-Growth-of-King-Crab-Population-in-Arctic-Seas Environment/Science September storm brings hot weather and warning of increased tropical storm activity to Aleutians KUCB by Maggie Nelson - September 28, 2022 The National Weather Service recorded temperatures of more than 72 degrees in Unalaska around Sept. 15. https://www.kucb.org/science-environment/2022-09-28/september-storm-brings-hot-weather-and-warning-of-increased-tropical-storm-activity-to-aleutians FYI’s Comment Sought on Salmon Disaster Spend Plan Fishermen's News - September 28, 2022 The State of Alaska, in consultation with stakeholders and NOAA Fisheries, is seeking public comment through Oct. 6 on the initial $131.8 million spend plan for the 2020-2021 statewide Salmon Disaster Initial Draft Spend Plan. https://fishermensnews.com/comment-sought-on-salmon-disaster-spend-plan/ 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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