Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Alaska Fish and Game tests new counting method for Nushagak River salmon KDLG by Corinne Smith - July 25, 2022 The Alaska Department of Fish and Game changed how it counts the fish that pass through the sonar site on the Nushagak River this year. https://www.kdlg.org/2022-07-25/fish-and-game-tests-new-counting-method-for-nushagak-river-salmon Surveys bode bad seasons ahead for Bering Sea crabbers National Fisherman by Charlie Ess - July 26, 2022 Alaska’s Bering Sea king crab crash has reached proportions it hasn’t known since 1994 and 1995, when the population surveys warranted a shutdown of the fishery. The outlook appears equally dismal for Bering Sea opilio crab. https://www.nationalfisherman.com/alaska/surveys-bode-bad-seasons-ahead-for-bering-sea-crabbers International NOAA Adds New Public-Private Effort to Stop Illegal Labor Practices in Global Seafood Industry SeafoodNews.com by Peggy Parker - July 22, 2022 The United States has added another weapon in its arsenal against illegal labor practices and in its support for improving working conditions throughout the seafood sector. The Collaborative Accelerator for Lawful Maritime Conditions in Seafood, also called CALM-CS (pronounced "calm seas"), was announced last Tuesday. The next day NOAA hosted a collaborative stakeholder summit called A Call to Action: Ending Forced Labor and Promoting Decent Work in the Seafood Sector, was held. Attending the summer were senior officials from the Departments of Commerce, State, Labor, U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, who met with representatives of businesses, humanitarian groups, and other government agencies to discuss collaborative approaches. While industry participants were not named, the agency said that "The energetic discussions focused on innovative approaches being used, lessons learned by organizations across the sector, and a shared commitment to working together to improve labor conditions throughout the seafood supply chain.” The summit followed President Biden's National Security Memorandum (NSM-11) calling on a dozen Cabinet executives to actively pursue ways to eliminate illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, including the forced labor associated with it. President Biden’s memo also ordered agencies to increase their collaboration with non-governmental partners to develop comprehensive approaches to combat these conditions. CALM-CS was the result. NOAA is inviting industry participation that is critical to closing loopholes not covered by governmental efforts. “By coming together to address illegal labor practices, we can have a positive impact on seafood industry workers and families around the world, and help ensure the stability of the broader seafood supply chain,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo following the summit. “Everyone deserves a safe workplace. President Biden’s July 2022 National Security Memorandum to Combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing and Associated Labor Abuses places special emphasis on the importance of developing public-private partnerships to promote human rights, labor rights, and fundamental freedoms in the seafood sector. “By coming together to address illegal labor practices, we can have a positive impact on seafood industry workers and families around the world, and help ensure the stability of the broader seafood supply chain,” Raimondo added. “NOAA is committed to making progress towards ending illegal labor practices in the seafood supply chain, as well as promoting legal, safe, and healthy working conditions within the fishing industry,” noted Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Dr. Richard Spinrad. “This week, we invited stakeholders who share the same commitment to join a new initiative called the Collaborative Accelerator for Lawful Maritime Conditions in Seafood. This public-private partnership initiative will promote legal and safe working conditions, including combating forced labor, in the fishing and seafood industry. We hope that CALM-CS can leverage the urgency we all feel toward these issues and be just one part of the response to this call for action that is shared around the world. “In the coming months, through the CALM-CS initiative, NOAA Fisheries will pursue public-private partnership efforts to accelerate efforts toward ending forced labor and improving working conditions across the seafood sector. We are at a key moment and I invite more participants from all relevant sectors to join us to collaborate and explore how we can best work together towards these goals,” said Spinrad. Illegal and inhumane working conditions are not only devastating for the victims and their families, they also destabilize maritime security and supply chains, and degrade fisheries and their marine ecosystems. Left unchecked, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and associated labor abuses undermine U.S. economic competitiveness, national security, fishery sustainability, and the livelihoods and human rights of fishers around the world. CALM-CS efforts will focus on five key strategic priorities: • Identifying best practices for industry accountability and due diligence for decent working conditions throughout the seafood supply chain. • Exploring novel sources of information, and enhancing means to share and analyze that information, to better identify illegal and unsafe labor practices in fisheries. • Leveraging technology and supporting relevant organizations to reduce vulnerabilities of crew and observers to labor abuses at sea. • Exploring potential tools to enhance safety and labor conditions aboard U.S. vessels. • Supporting collaboration mechanisms across workers, governments, industry, and civil society to support workers within the seafood industry, including their ability to organize and access remediation and justice. The initiative will focus on steps that can be taken outside the government. Participants will first, “develop clearly articulated, time-bound, and achievable deliverables under each of the priority areas,” NOAA’s announcement said. CALM-CS is open to participants from all relevant sectors—workers, harvesters, processors, retailers, brokers, NGOs, and think tanks. Experts from other sectors with experience in addressing labor issues may also participate in meetings and other initiatives on an ad-hoc basis. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1230868/NOAA-Adds-New-Public-Private-Effort-to-Stop-Illegal-Labor-Practices-in-Global-Seafood-Industry Environment/Science Evidence of invasive crab that could wreak havoc on Alaska fisheries found near Metlakatla KRBD by Eric Stone - July 23, 2022 An invasive species that could wreak havoc on commercial and subsistence fisheries has been found in Alaska for the first time. Biologists with Metlakatla Indian Community say they found the first evidence of European green crabs on Annette Island, near the southern tip of Southeast Alaska, in mid-July. https://www.ktoo.org/2022/07/23/evidence-of-invasive-crab-that-could-wreak-havoc-on-alaska-fisheries-found-near-metlakatla/ Labeling and Marketing Retailers ramp up promotions for Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon Supermarket Perimeter by Hayley Hyer - July 25, 2022 BRISTOL BAY, ALASKA — Throughout July, more than 3,200 retailers have been promoting the Bristol Bay Seafood Association’s Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon. https://www.supermarketperimeter.com/articles/8452-retailers-ramp-up-promotions-for-bristol-bay-sockeye-salmon 3MMI - How Much Salmon Will Canada Supply This Summer? TradexFoods - July 25, 2022 Well according to a B.C. Salmon veteran - this year’s commercial Salmon harvest out of British Columbia Canada will be well over “____________” fish. Much of this year’s catch will be Sockeye so get ready for a lot of fresh and frozen Sockeye - however, the huge harvest out of Bristol Bay may actually depress B.C.’s Sockeye market. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5slwVo5B2F4 Federal Register Pacific Halibut Fisheries; Catch Sharing Plan A Proposed Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 07/26/2022 Under the authority of the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982, this action would create a permitting system for the Pacific halibut commercial and recreational charter halibut fisheries in International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) Regulatory Area 2A off of Washington, Oregon, and California. In addition, this action would establish a regulatory framework for the Area 2A Pacific halibut directed commercial fishery that, consistent with the allocations and coastwide season dates set by the IPHC, allows NMFS to annually determine dates and times the fishery is open and set harvest limits for those periods of time. These permitting and management activities for Area 2A are currently performed by the IPHC; under this proposed rule, NMFS will implement these Area 2A-specific permitting and management activities. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/07/26/2022-15889/pacific-halibut-fisheries-catch-sharing-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. 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.