Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Alaska Trident Reopens Huge Akutan Processing Plant After Month-Long COVID-19 Closure KUCB by Hope McKenney - February 22, 2021 Trident Seafoods' huge processing plant on the remote Aleutian island of Akutan reopened Friday after a nearly month-long COVID-19 closure. https://www.kucb.org/post/trident-reopens-huge-akutan-processing-plant-after-month-long-covid-19-closure#stream/0 Federal Register Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Salmon Bycatch Minimization A Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 02/23/2021 This rule implements salmon bycatch minimization measures to minimize incidental take of Endangered Species Act-listed salmon by vessels in the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery. The rule establishes additional management tools to minimize incidental Chinook and coho salmon bycatch to keep fishery sectors within guidelines, establishes rules to allow industry to access the Chinook salmon bycatch reserve, and creates Chinook salmon bycatch closure thresholds for the trawl fishery. This rule fulfills the terms and conditions of a 2017 National Marine Fisheries Service Biological Opinion. This rule is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan, and other applicable laws, including the Endangered Species Act. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/23/2021-03204/magnuson-stevens-act-provisions-fisheries-off-west-coast-states-pacific-coast-groundfish-fishery Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the NMFS Saltonstall-Kennedy Research and Development Program A Notice by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 02/23/2021 NOAA announces its intent to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for the implementation of projects that foster the promotion, marketing, research, and development of U.S. Fisheries and their associated fishing sectors, as consistent with NOAA's Saltonstall-Kennedy Research and Development Program (S-K Program). The focus of this action will be activities and projects under the S-K Program, which interfaces with numerous programs within NOAA, and it is NOAA's intention that this PEIS may also cover those activities and projects implemented by other NOAA programs and offices that are consistent with the scope of the S-K Program. The S-K Program funds projects that address the needs of fishing communities, optimize economic benefits by building and maintaining sustainable fisheries (where the term “fisheries” includes commercial wild capture, recreational fishing, cultural and subsistence fishing, and marine aquaculture), and increase other opportunities to keep working waterfronts viable. This notice of intent (NOI) to prepare a PEIS initiates the public scoping process and invites interested parties to provide comments on the proposed project, its potential to affect the human environment, means for avoiding, minimizing, or mitigating those effects, the preliminary range of alternatives, and any additional reasonable alternatives that should be considered. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/23/2021-03626/programmatic-environmental-impact-statement-for-the-nmfs-saltonstall-kennedy-research-and 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.