Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Alaska Sockeye escapement on Kasilof hits record KDLL by Sabine Poux - August 23, 2022 Fish counting has wrapped for the sockeye runs on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers this summer. Over 1.5 million sockeye passed through the sonar on the river during the late Kenai River run. The escapement goal for the run set by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is between 1,100,000 and 1,400,000 fish. The total escapement for that run is equal to that number minus the number of fish harvested upstream of the sonar — an average of 300,000 sockeye. https://www.kdll.org/local-news/2022-08-23/sockeye-escapement-on-the-kasilof-hits-record State fishery managers will continue to keep the Kuskokwim River closed to coho salmon fishing KYUK by Anna Rose MacArthur - August 23, 2022 State fishery managers will continue to keep the Kuskokwim River closed to coho salmon fishing. With the run the lowest it’s been in decades and unlikely to meet state escapement goals, managers have refused local residents’ requests to loosen restrictions. https://www.kyuk.org/hunting-fishing/2022-08-23/state-fishery-managers-will-continue-to-keep-the-kuskokwim-river-closed-to-coho-salmon-fishing National FDA Enters Phase 3 of A.I. Imported Seafood Pilot Program Urner Barry by Ryan Doyle - August 23, 2022 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it has begun phase three of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Imported Seafood Pilot program. The FDA’s program utilizes AI and machine learning (ML) to improve import screening to help ensure food entering the country is safe. The pilot focuses on seafood because over 90% of the U.S. seafood supply comes from imports. This pilot builds upon the two previous phases under the New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint, a program that seeks to reduce the number of foodborne illnesses by leveraging technology to create a safer, more digital, traceable food system, per an August 22 FDA constituent update. The current phase will work to “improve the agency’s ability to quickly identify imported seafood products that may be contaminated by illness-causing pathogens, decomposition, the presence of unapproved antibiotic residues, or other hazards.” The FDA explained that ML is a type of AI that identifies connections and patterns that people or the FDA’s screening process cannot see. The patterns found by ML can be implemented into incoming supply chains to help predict if a shipment could be harmful or not meet FDA regulations. “The ability of ML to analyze data, already generated and used by the agency, makes it well suited for addressing complex public health challenges and helping the agency to ensure the safety of imported foods,” the FDA wrote in the update. The FDA hopes the pilot will enable the FDA to expand ML in screening other products and “inform future risk-based surveillance in products that present the greatest risk to consumers.” Specifically, the third phase started on August 15 and the FDA said it will “help to determine the feasibility of deploying in-house AI/ML models using the intelligence that FDA extracts from the data we collect reviewing millions of import entries per year.” Find the timeline/background the FDA provided for the AI Imported Seafood Pilot program below: “In 2019, the agency launched the first phase of the pilot, an analytical proof of concept. The analysis demonstrated potential for an ML-driven approach to expedite the review of lower-risk seafood shipments, while identifying those of higher risk for violations or refusals. The second phase, conducted in-the-field, was designed to integrate ML into existing import data systems to inform decisions about sampling by entry reviewers while gaining more experience with training of the ML model. The operational pilot was launched at all 328 U.S. ports of entry from February 2021 through July 2021 and proved successful. The real-time model was able to analyze an import entry and return a sample recommendation within seconds.” “The agency is committed to enhancing the screening of potentially hazardous products at ports of entry and facilitating access to safe seafood and other products without delay. The third phase is expected to be completed in late fiscal year 2023. For more information or questions, contact FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) via email at ORAOEIOAIInquiry@fda.hhs.gov.” Find the Phase 3 update from the FDA here. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1233247/FDA-Enters-Phase-3-of-AI-Imported-Seafood-Pilot-Program Environment/Science Up close with spawning salmon: University of Washington researchers contribute to decades of Bristol Bay data KDLG by Katherine Moncure - August 23, 2022 In the summer, hordes of salmon travel thousands of miles from the ocean to fill the streams and creeks around Lake Aleknagik. These waterways are an important part of the salmon life cycle, where adult fish come to spawn and then die. https://www.kdlg.org/environment/2022-08-23/up-close-with-spawning-salmon-university-of-washington-researchers-contribute-to-decades-of-bristol-bay-data Federal Register Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Kamchatka Flounder in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area A Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 08/24/2022 NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Kamchatka flounder in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2022 Kamchatka flounder initial total allowable catch (ITAC) in the BSAI. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/08/24/2022-18248/fisheries-of-the-exclusive-economic-zone-off-alaska-kamchatka-flounder-in-the-bering-sea-and Opinion OPINION: Alaska’s CDQ fishery program is too important to be misunderstood Anchorage Daily News by Robin Samuelson and Ragnar Alstrom - August 223, 2022 Fish politics run deep with Alaskans, and many of us have strong opinions about fisheries management issues. However, the Aug. 4 commentary appearing in this newspaper from Mike Heimbuch, a sitting member of the Board of Fish (BOF), was simply misinformed. We write to not only set the record straight, but also to make sure his conclusions about fish user groups not prejudge the opinions of the ADN’s readers or other Board of Fish members. https://www.adn.com/opinions/2022/08/23/opinion-alaskas-cdq-fishery-program-is-too-important-to-be-misunderstood/ 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.