Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Alaska Trident Seafoods will buy pollock from Kodiak through fall despite pending sale KMXT by Brian Venua - June 4, 2024 One of the facilities Trident listed for sale is its Star of Kodiak plant, the largest plant in its namesake town. https://www.kmxt.org/news/2024-06-04/trident-seafoods-will-buy-pollock-from-kodiak-through-fall-despite-pending-sale OBI, Silver Bay, Trident CEOs predict a year of recovery for Alaska salmon sector National Fisherman by Wesley Loy - June 4, 2024 Though the salmon sector in the U.S. state of Alaska is facing unsettling times, OBI Seafoods CEO John Hanrahan, Silver Bay Seafoods CEO Cora Campbell, and Trident Seafoods CEO Joe Bundrant are hopeful 2024 will bring more stability and profits. https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/supply-trade/obi-silver-bay-trident-ceos-predict-a-year-of-recovery-for-alaska-salmon-sector *Requires Subscription NOAA Updates Response to Court Order on Wild Fish Conservancy Suit SeafoodNews.com by Peggy Parker - June 3, 2024 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released an update last Friday on its response to the District Court’s order to complete analyses required by the decision on a suit brought against NOAA Fisheries by the Wild Fish Conservancy.The Wild Fish Conservancy v. Quan — also known as the Southeast Alaska salmon fishery — brought into question a NOAA Fisheries 2019 biological opinion that analyzes two actions related to salmon fishing in Southeast Alaska. It also involved a third action on a conservation program for habitat improvement and hatchery production to be implemented in the Pacific Northwest. This would offset the effects of salmon fisheries managed under the Pacific Salmon Treaty on Endangered Species Act-listed Puget Sound Chinook salmon and Southern Resident killer whales.On May 2, 2023, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington issued an order directing the National Marine Fisheries Service to address the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act deficiencies identified by the court.The court vacated portions of the incidental take statement that exempts harvesting Chinook salmon commercial troll fishery in Southeast Alaska during the winter and summer seasons. The district court did not vacate portions of the biological opinion analyzing a prey increase program or enjoin the program.A week later on May 8, 2023, the State of Alaska filed a motion for a stay pending appeal on the portion of the district court’s order vacating the incidental take statement. The Alaska Trollers Association joined that motion. On May 22, 2023, NOAA Fisheries filed a response in support of the State’s motion for a stay pending appeal.This fishery supports communities across Southeast Alaska, most of which are small and isolated and some of which are Alaska Native communities. There are more than 1,000 active permit holders, many of whom are small-scale participants, reliant on the fishery.During this same time, the Wild Fish Conservancy filed a motion for an injunction to vacate the 2019 biological opinion with regard to the prey increase program. The State of Alaska, Alaska Trollers Association, and NOAA Fisheries have all opposed that motion."We plan to fully address the deficiencies identified by the district court by offering better reasoning on remand, which we will complete by no later than November 2024," the agency said.In a statement last week, the agency said it is curently working on A Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on Expenditure of Funds to Increase Prey Availability for Southern Resident Killer Whales and an associated Endangered Species Act Biological Opinion, for a prey increase program that mitigates the impacts from the U.S. salmon fisheries managed under the 2019 Pacific Salmon Treaty.An Environmental Impact Statement for the Issuance of an Incidental Take Statement Under the Endangered Species Act for Salmon Fisheries in Southeast Alaska Subject to the 2019 Pacific Salmon Treaty Agreement and Funding to the State of Alaska and an associated ESA Biological Opinion on federal actions related to the Southeast Alaska salmon fisheries.In June 2023, the Ninth Circuit stayed the district court’s partial vacatur of the 2019 Southeast Alaska Biological Opinion Incidental Take Statement’s exemption for the commercial troll fishery in the summer and winter seasons, and the commercial troll fishery has proceeded under that stay, which currently remains in place. The agency anticipates that the ADF&G will open the summer troll fishery as scheduled, on or about July 1, 2024. The Ninth Circuit has scheduled a hearing on the appeal of the vacatur for July 18, 2024. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1278889/NOAA-Updates-Response-to-Court-Order-on-Wild-Fish-Conservancy-Suit

Environment/Science Open gates' in warming Arctic are expanding salmon range Phys.org by University of Alaska Fairbanks - June 5, 2024 New research has connected warming ocean temperatures to higher Pacific salmon abundance in the Canadian Arctic, an indicator that climate change is creating new corridors for the fish to expand their range. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-gates-arctic-salmon-range.html Labeling and Marketing Whole Foods, Legal running big specials for Alaska's first-of-season Copper River salmon “Bigger fish look fantastic in the fresh seafood case, are great for the marketplace, and equally great for fishermen’s bottom lines.” Seafood Source by Christine Blank - June 3, 2024 The kickoff of the Alaska Copper River sockeye salmon fishery season, which occurred this year on 16 May, traditionally triggers a race for both suppliers and retailers to be first to market with fresh offerings. Austin, Texas, U.S.A.-based Whole Foods Market and Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based Legal Sea Foods led the charge in 2024 with big Copper River salmon promotions drawing in shoppers and diners. Whole Foods, which operates more than 500 locations in the U.S., Canada, an https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/foodservice-retail/whole-foods-legal-sea-foods-featuring-first-of-season-copper-river-salmon *Requires Subscription Federal Register Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone; Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Program A Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 06/04/2024 NMFS issues regulations to implement amendments 54 and 55 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) King and Tanner Crabs (Crab FMP). This final rule revises two provisions of the Crab Rationalization Program (CR Program) to do the following: change active crab fishery participation requirements for crab quota share (QS) established for catcher vessel crew (CVC) and catcher/processor crew (CPC), also called C Shares; expand individual processing quota (IPQ) exemptions for custom processing from processor use caps; and remove the processor facility use cap. These actions are intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the Crab FMP, and other applicable laws. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/06/04/2024-12230/fisheries-of-the-exclusive-economic-zone-bering-sea-and-aleutian-islands-crab-rationalization

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