Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Alaska Navy announced change in Gulf Alaska training activities Use of sonar, explosives are not part of the supplemental plan Cordova Times - March 25, 2022 Navy officials have prepared a supplement to the December 2020 Gulf of Alaska Navy training plan known as Exercise Northern Edge. https://www.thecordovatimes.com/2022/03/25/navy-announced-change-in-gulf-alaska-training-activities/ Subsistence harvesters, seiners react to fuel spill north of Sitka KTOO by Katherine Rose, KCAW - March 28, 2022 Herring seiners and subsistence harvesters are grappling with a large diesel spill near Sitka that happened last Monday. https://www.ktoo.org/2022/03/28/sitka-spill-subsistence/ Federal infrastructure money includes major boost for Coast Guard Base Kodiak KMXT by Kirsten Dobroth - March 25, 2022 Kodiak’s Coast Guard Base is getting a major influx of federal infrastructure money. The Coast Guard received $429 million from the bipartisan infrastructure bill signed by President Biden last fall. Speaking during ComFish’s legislative forum Thursday in Kodiak, Sen. Lisa Murkowski said most of that money is coming to Kodiak. https://kmxt.org/2022/03/federal-infrastructure-money-includes-major-boost-for-coast-guard-base-kodiak/ West Coast Dungeness crab season off most of California to end early AP News - March 25, 2022 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Commercial Dungeness crab fishing off most of California’s coast will end early after two humpback whales were recently entangled in crab-fishing gear, authorities announced Friday. https://apnews.com/article/business-mexico-environment-california-lifestyle-46c1be9e28c61a69231deccc2735344f National New poll finds US voters want assurances merchants are selling legally-caught seafood Seafood Source by Emma Desrochers - March 25, 2022 The Walton Family Foundation, in collaboration with Morning Consult, recently released a poll that found Americans would eat more seafood if they had greater knowledge of its health and environmental benefits. https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/new-poll-finds-us-voters-want-assurances-merchants-are-selling-legally-caught-seafood USDA Pays Top Dollar to Trident, High Liner in Latest Alaska Pollock Purchase Urner Barry by Ryan Doyle - March 24, 2022 The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a purchase award description for over 1.5 million pounds of frozen Alaska pollock that will be purchased from High Liner Foods and Trident Seafoods on March 23. In total, the USDA bought just over $5.7 million worth of frozen Alaska pollock fillets, nuggets and sticks. High Liner USA, sold over 380,000 pounds of pollock sticks for just over $1 million. Trident netted most of the bid with shy of 1.2 million pounds of Alaska product purchased for slightly more than $4.7 million. Craig Morris, CEO of the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP), told SeafoodSource that this is the highest price per pound the USDA has ever paid for Alaska pollock products. The premium price falls in line with what Urner Barry market reporter Lorin Castiglione wrote even prior to the Russian seafood ban imposed by the Biden administration on March 11. Lorin wrote on March 4, “unrelenting upwards pressure from supply constraints being carried over from seasons past, as well as a reduced quota for the new 2022 season while demand remains unphased by the premiums seen within the current market, is the baseline undertone before throwing in war-related obstacles.” Currently, the pollock market in the U.S. was described as "wait-and-see" by Castiglione. "While the interpretation of President Biden's March 11, 2022 executive order banning imports of seafood from Russia by industry players does not include twice frozen product, mounting uncertainty still weighs heavy upon the market," Castiglione shared. "Pricing, while unchanged, remains firm at record highs as the industry works to reassess inventory levels and incoming product, and work to circumvent all the new obstacles, yet again, set in place for the foreseeable future." In all, just over $1.2 million of the purchase was for frozen pollock fillets, $885K headed for pollock nuggets and over $3.6 million for pollock sticks. The purchase request initially included an invitation to bid on 36,000 pounds of frozen walleye fillets, but no bids were received, according to the USDA document. The USDA noted that the material was purchased on an f.o.b. destination basis and deliveries are set from April 1, 2022 until September 30, 2022. The products will be used for the child nutrition and other related domestic food assistance programs for Fiscal Year 2022. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1221844/USDA-Pays-Top-Dollar-to-Trident-High-Liner-in-Latest-Alaska-Pollock-Purchase International Russia May Consider Introduction of State Regulation Over Fish Prices in Domestic Market SeafoodNews.com by Eugene Gerden - March 29, 2022 Russia may consider the introduction of state regulation over fish prices in the country – in a move to prevent a sharp rise of prices in the domestic retail. Details of fish species and seafood, prices for which will be a subject of state regulation, are not disclosed. It is planned that it will be a mechanism similar to those that has already been used in Russia in December 2020, when the government fixed prices for sugar and sunflower oil. Now the wholesale prices of pollock in Russia are varied in the range of 130-140 rubles (US$1,3-1,4) per 1 kg., compared to 90 rubles two weeks ago. Currently fish prices in the Russian market are affected by export prices. Over the past month, prices for Russian fish in foreign markets have increased by 40%, so it is more profitable for fish producers to sell it to foreign markets instead of supplies to domestic market. According to Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries, fish exports from Russia increased by 65% in January, 2022 alone, to US$116.4 million. At the same time, as of March 16, fish production in the country has increased by 5%, to 930,000 tons, and fish supplies from the Far East to the center Russia - by 50%, up to 115,200 tonnes. Some local analysts and producers also believe price fixation should only apply to particular fish species, which are in high demand among Russian customers, such as herring and mackerel. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1222161/Russia-May-Consider-Introduction-of-State-Regulation-Over-Fish-Prices-in-Domestic-Market Labeling and Marketing March 2022 COVID-19 Briefing Paper Now Available Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute - March 15, 2022 The March 2022 Alaska Seafood COVID-19 Impact Briefing Paper is now available for viewing and download. Prepared on behalf of ASMI by the McKinley Research Group, the latest in this series of impact reports is a broad analysis of the Alaska seafood industry using 2019 baseline data to compare the first and second years of the pandemic. https://www.alaskaseafood.org/news/march-2022-covid-19-briefing-paper-now-available/ In Memoriam Watch live: Washington honors Don Young, Alaska’s fiery defender in the U.S. House for 49 years Anchorage Daily News by Kevin Freking, Associated Press - March 29, 2022 WASHINGTON — Tugboat captain, teacher, gold prospector and longest-serving Republican in the history of the House. The late Rep. Don Young is being remembered for all of that and more as the country pays its respects to the only congressman Alaska has had for nearly a half-century. https://www.adn.com/politics/2022/03/29/washington-honors-don-young-alaskas-fiery-defender-in-the-us-house-for-49-years/ 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.