Category Archives: North Pacific
State lawsuit claims federal government owes Alaska $700 billion for quashing Pebble mine
The federal government owes Alaska more than $700 billion in compensation for the 2023 Environmental Protection Agency action that blocked development of the massive and controversial Pebble Mine in Southwest Alaska, Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration claims in a lawsuit filed in a federal court. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in the District of Columbia, is part of a flurry of legal actions by the state and the mine’s would-be developer that seek to revive the massive copper and gold project. In its complaint filed Thursday with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the state cited an estimate for 100 years of production to support the $700 billion figure. And it said Alaska had been depending on Pebble development for its economic future. more, >>click to read<< 09:26
Western Flyer Restoration: The John Steinbeck fishing seiner
Built in Tacoma, Washington, the state-of-the-art seiner was launched from Western Boat Building Company in 1937, destined for the sardine trade of Monterey, California. Builder and shipyard owner, Martin Petrich Sr, specialized in sturdy vessels. For Western Flyer, he used a single, 64ft piece of old-growth fir for the keel; ribs were white oak; fir planks steamed, fitted, and caulked with cotton. The boat’s strength was offset by a graceful sheer and jaunty wheelhouse. In early 1940, scientist Ed Ricketts and author John Steinbeck combed the Monterey waterfront for a vessel that would carry them, along with a small crew and makeshift biology lab, on a scientific research mission to Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. No one was willing until Western Flyer tied to the pier and her captain, Tony Berry, agreed. 12 Photos, more, >>click to read<< 15:37
Federal judge to rule on reduction in trawler halibut bycatch
A U.S. District court judge is expected to issue a decision this spring on a lawsuit filed by the Groundfish Forum challenging a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) decision setting abundance-based limits on halibut bycatch in the Amendment 80 Bering Sea trawl fishery. The Groundfish Forum, based in Seattle, filed its complaint with the U.S. District Court in Anchorage on Dec. 19, challenging the new halibut bycatch rules that were first adopted by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and subsequently approved by NMFS. On Feb. 29, the Halibut Defense Alliance intervened on the side of NMFS over concerns about the number of halibut taken as bycatch by Amendment 80 vessels in the Bering Sea, saying the limits on halibut bycatch would ensure more equitable access to halibut fisheries. The alliance is a broad coalition of commercial harvesters, charter operators, processors and community organizations representing halibut-dependent communities in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. more, >>click to read<< 19:52
BOF declines to lower hatchery production levels
A proposal to lower hatchery production to its 2000 level went down in defeat at the Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting on Monday, March 4 in a 1-6 vote, after the majority of the board concluded that hatchery raised salmon were not causing undue harm to wild stocks. The decision came after extensive testimony, mostly from fishing industry activists opposed to Proposal 43, which was offered by the Fairbanks Advisory Committee to the Board of Fisheries. The board also took testimony at its Lower Cook Inlet meeting in Homer Nov. 26 through Dec. 1, but postponed any action until its Upper Cook Inlet meeting, from Feb. 23 through March 5 in Anchorage. more, >>click to read<< 13:09
Pacific Fishing magazine stops publication
Pacific Fishing, a Seattle publication serving the North Pacific commercial fishing industry from Alaska to Hawaii for more than 40 years, has stopped publication, it was announced Sunday by editor Wesley Loy. “The owner and publisher of Pacific Fishing magazine is retiring. We are actively pursuing a new owner to carry on the publication,” the magazine announced, according to Loy’s Deckboss.com blog. He said the magazine’s last issue was in December. The daily Fish Wrap news service also will be suspended, Loy said. more, >>click to read<< 10:33
‘Deadliest Catch’ Reality TV Star Arrested For Alleged Probation Violation
Police arrested a cast member from Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch” in the Florida Keys on Saturday over alleged probation violations. Forty-year-old Erik James Brown, also known as Erik James, was cuffed in the Stock Island section of the Keys over alleged probation violations, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department arrest log. The exact details surrounding the nature of the arrest remain unclear. Brown was previously arrested for allegedly running an illegal marijuana growing operation out of his nearly $2 million Florida home in 2018. links, more, >>click to read<< 10:54
Board of Fisheries passes new Kenai king salmon plan
New management policies for Kenai River king salmon mean that sockeye bag limits in the river are up, and commercial setnet fishing is likely to be closed for the foreseeable future. Kenai River late run king salmon are now officially designated a stock of concern, which means a host of changes in the management plan. The Alaska Board of Fisheries finalized the designation at its meeting in Anchorage on March 1, and as part of it, revised the management plan for the fishery to help conserve more of the fish. At its October 2023 meeting, the board reviewed the Stock of Concern designation for the late run, which covers July and August in the Kenai River. At its March meeting, the board decided how to change the management plan to help rebuild the run over time. more, >>click to read<< 14:50
Keeping an Industry Afloat – Thomas Goulding’s Cork Mill
Plastic floats have taken over the market since the 1950s, but before then fishing floats were almost exclusively made of cork or wood. The wooden ones were known as “cedar corks” and the only commercial supplier of them on the West Coast was Thomas Goulding who produced them in his Cork Mill at the Acme Cannery on Sea Island. The Acme Cannery was built in 1899, part of the boom in cannery construction during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to take advantage of the seemingly unlimited supply of salmon available in the Fraser River. In 1902 it was absorbed into the British Columbia Packers amalgamation. In 1918 it closed, but the buildings, net racks and moorage were maintained for the community of fishermen, mostly Japanese, who lived around it. In a small building on the west side of the cannery Mr. Goulding set up the cork mill. The building and all the equipment for the mill, the saws, the lathes, the reamer, the stringer and the tar vat were all hand-built by him with help from his Japanese Neighbours. Photos, maps, more, >>click to read<< 13:38
The Complete Guide to Dungeness Crab, where to source, how to break it down, and what utensils you’ll need
Dungeness are cold-water crabs, 7 to 9 inches in width, and 1 1/2 to 2 pounds in weight, found off the coasts of Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, with the San Francisco Bay Area being a singular hotbed for Dungeness lovers, writes F&W assistant food editor Andee Gosnell. They’re prized for their flaky, sweet, juicy meat. Historically, Dungeness crab season started at the beginning of November and lasted through June. In recent years, environmental stressors and the conservation policies to address them have led to a delayed start and early end to the season. The 2023 season is expected to start in mid-December. If you can’t find Dungeness crab, substitute lump crabmeat. Video, photos, more, >>click to read<< 09:44
Construction Worker/Commercial Fisherman David Earl Finifrock Jr. of Washington State, has passed away
Earl Finifrock Jr., born May 1,1966 in Ogden, Utah to father, David Finifrock Sr., currently of Tracyton, Washington and mother Cynthia Finifrock currently of Gig Harbor, Washington, passed away from a massive heart attack on Friday, February 16, 2024, at a construction site he was working on in Key Center, Washington. David was also a successful commercial fisherman, spending most summers for the past several years on his 50′ trawler, the “Sea Queen”, in the waters near Wrangell, Alaska, fishing for salmon. Most people who knew David would describe him as a good and honest friend, nephew, and cousin, a great craftsman, a wonderful son to his parents, and generally “one of the best guys you would ever want to know”. more, >>click to read<< 20:39
Leading Alaska legislators propose task force to help rescue a seafood industry ‘in a tailspin’
Russian fish flooding global markets and other economic forces beyond the state’s border have created dire conditions for Alaska’s seafood industry. Now key legislators are seeking to establish a task force to come up with some responses to the low prices, lost market share, lost jobs and lost income being suffered by fishers, fishing companies and fishing-related communities. The measure, Senate Concurrent Resolution 10, was introduced on March 1 and is sponsored by the Senate Finance Committee. “Alaska’s seafood industry is in a tailspin from facing unprecedented challenges,” said the measure’s sponsor statement issued by the committee’s co-chairs: Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka; Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel; and Sen. Donny Olson, D-Golovin. The measure is also being promoted by Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak. more, >>click to read<< 09:55
Whale not seen in 200 years spotted in New England waters, scientists say
A gray whale that hasn’t been seen in 200 years has been spotted off the coast of Massachusetts, according to officials with the New England Aquarium. Aquarium scientists said the whale was seen on March 1 while they were flying over the ocean 30 miles south of Nantucket. Orla O’Brien is the associate research scientist in the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium. She said seeing the whale was completely unexpected. “I didn’t want to say out loud what it was, because it seemed crazy,” she said. more, >>click to read<< 13:10
Regional council says it won’t tighten fishing regulations in Bristol Bay red king crab savings area
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council will not move forward with a request to close the Bristol Bay red king crab savings area to all commercial fishing. At its February meeting, the regulatory council looked at the effectiveness of closing the 4,000-square-nautical-mile section of the eastern Bering Sea to commercial trawl, pot and longline fishing, but decided not to tighten regulations in the area. The savings box was established in 1996 as a haven for the massive crab species. It is already permanently closed to bottom trawling, but it remains open to midwater, or pelagic trawlers, pot fishing and longlining. Non-pelagic, known as bottom trawling, is allowed in a small section within the savings area — known as the savings subarea — when crabbers are harvesting the species. The council also evaluated a pot gear closure of a large section in the eastern portion of Bristol Bay, known as Area 512, to address drops in the Bristol Bay red king crab stock. All trawling is already prohibited in that area. more, >>click to read<< 12:38
NOAA postpones controversial bottom trawling experiment in Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea
The project, called the Northern Bering Sea Effects of Trawling Study, or NETS, has been envisioned as an experiment to examine impacts of commercial bottom trawling in an area of the Bering Sea where it is currently banned. Bottom trawling is a method of fish harvesting that uses nets to sweep the seafloor. While it is prohibited in the Northern Bering Sea, the shift in fish populations caused by climate change may build pressure for bottom trawling there in the future, according to the study plan. The study has been designed as a multiyear project to start as early as this August. It was to be conducted by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service, also known as the National Marine Fisheries Service. News of the decision came in an emailed letter from Janet Coit, director of NOAA Fisheries, to tribal organizations that had expressed opposition to the project. more, >>click to read<< 09:52
Commercial Fishermen in Alaska Find Suspected Spy Balloon, FBI Investigation Pending
Commercial fishermen off the coast of Alaska have stumbled upon what could be a significant find—a suspected spy balloon, sparking immediate interest from U.S. officials. The object, believed to resemble those used in foreign surveillance activities, is now en route to the shore, escorted by the fishermen who discovered it. This incident has generated considerable attention, with the FBI preparing to conduct a thorough investigation upon its arrival. The unexpected discovery occurred when the fishermen noticed an unusual object floating off the coast. Initial photographs sent to local law enforcement caught the eye of federal officials, prompting an urgent request for the object to be brought to land. more, >>click to read<< 18:18
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol wins one against American fish-shipping companies for violating antiquated Jones Act
Two seafood shipping companies have settled a lawsuit challenging penalties and fines levied by U.S. Customs and Border Protection for violating the Jones Act, a more than 100-year old law requiring merchandise be transported by U.S. flagged vessels between U.S. ports. An exception to the U.S. flagged vessel requirement allows seafood from Alaska to be transported to the mainland U.S. if it travels via Canadian rail. The companies challenged the penalties and fines in the U.S. District Court of Alaska, saying they did not violate the Jones Act while transporting seafood from Alaska to the mainland U.S. because it was “transported” by Canadian rail.A settlement agreement was finalized between the companies and the U.S. in January. The agreement requires KIF and ARM to pay $9.5 million to the U.S. The companies also stopped using the BCR to transport seafood to the U.S. after this ruling. more, >>click to read<< 13:07
Bailouts
The Alaska Congressional delegation is singing praises for a new $100 million bailout of the state’s floundering commercial salmon processing business. In a joint statement from the office of Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the trio applauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) move with the state’s senior Republican lawmaker tried to spin it as a new poverty program to provide “almost $100 million of Alaskan seafood for people experiencing food insecurity. “This purchase won’t just bolster Alaska’s seafood industry and support our coastal communities,” Murkowski was quoted as saying, “but will help bring the highest-quality and healthiest seafood products in the world to families in need. I am grateful for the USDA’s investment in our fishermen and the health of Americans.” There has been no actual “investment in our fishermen,” presuming she is talking about Alaska fishermen. But they may benefit from a deal that helps processors clean out some of their inventory before the upcoming fishing season. More, >>click to read<< 13:06
Senate committee hears setnet buyback bill
A Senate committee on Monday considered legislation that would give Cook Inlet’s east side setnet fishermen the opportunity to retire their fishing permits through a volunteer, lottery-style buyback program. The bill, which still needs to pass in both the Alaska House and Senate in the next 12 weeks, would create the program, but not fund the buyouts. That money would need to come from outside groups. The bill, S.B. 82, is named the East Side of Cook Inlet Set Net Fleet Reduction Act and is sponsored by Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski. The bill aims to make Cook Inlet’s east side setnet fishery more economically viable and to reduce tensions between fishery user groups by reducing the amount of fishing gear in the water and giving permit holders an opportunity to exit the fishery. more, >>click to read<< 10:24
In crabbers’ turbulent moment, Edmonds seafood processor ‘saved our season’
When a seafood processing plant in Alaska shut down in the middle of crabbing season, fishermen found themselves in a pinch. Under the state’s quota system, harvesters can only catch a set amount of crab each year. And they must deliver 90% of their catch to a processor with a corresponding quota With the Peter Pan Seafood facility closed this winter in King Cove, there was no one to process their catch. That’s when Keyport, an Edmonds-based company, stepped up to the plate. “When Peter Pan announced they were shutting down, a lot of fishermen came to us asking for help,” Keyport CEO Mark Pedersen said. more, >>click to read<< 16:18
‘Deadliest Catch’: Will There Be a Season 20?
For nearly two decades, Discovery Channel’s reality series Deadliest Catch has offered TV viewers an inside look at the rough-and-tumble world of commercial fishing. The show, which follows fishermen as they hunt the Bering Sea for crab and other seafood, last aired new episodes in September 2023. Now, fans are wondering if and when it might return with new episodes. Here’s what we know so far about Deadliest Catch Season 20. In recent seasons of Deadliest Catch, viewers have seen the effect dramatic changes in seafood populations in the Bering Sea have had on commercial fishermen. more, >>click to read<< 1o:59
Retired Commercial Fisherman Darryl Olson of Petersburg, Alaska, has passed away
Darryl Olson was born on January 18, 1942, in Petersburg, Alaska, to Dagney Marie (Loseth) Olson and Paul “Bud” Ivar Olson. Darryl grew up fishing with his father, Paul. He attended Petersburg High School and after graduation he married his dream girl, Mary Ann Hasbrouck, on March 10, 1962. They were happily married for fifty-nine years, when she preceded him in death in 2021. He worked for J&H Logging as a choker setter until he started his career as a commercial fisherman. After leasing two boats, Darryl bought the F/V Miss Helen. In 1972, Darryl and Mary Ann began building their Petersburg home. That same year, Darryl purchased his dreamboat, the F/V Mary Ann, with the help of Robert Thorstenson and Tommy Thompson, of Petersburg Fisheries, Inc. more, >>click to read<< 10:45
Sam Parisi asks, How Accurate is NOAA and NOAA Fishery Survey Science?
Half Moon Bay Odd Fellows Speakers Series presents “Ernie Koepf – Fish Tales”
Much change has come about to Princeton and the fisheries of the West Coast. The history of the Coastside is also rich with change. Ernie Koepf is here to speak on both. Ernie Koepf was born (1951) and raised in Moss Beach and raised his own family in El Granada. He now resides in the hills of Oakland with his wife of 16 years, Jan Moestue. Early in his life he was initiated into the fishing community and was known as Little Ernie to his father’s Big Ernie, a prominent commercial fisherman in the community. Coming of age, Ernie Koepf (the junior) began his own fishing career. He retired in 2016 after fishing his two boats for 30 years for salmon and crab and 45 years for herring in SF Bay. To his fishing credits he also adds two years in Bristol Bay and two years in Southeast Alaska. VIDEO. From the Half Moon Bay Odd Fellows lecture presented and recorded on September 6th, 2024 at 7:00pm. more, >>click to read & watch<< 15:31
NTSB Report: Flooding and Non-Operational Alarms Led to Fishing Vessel Loss
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has concluded that the likely cause of the capsizing and sinking of the fishing vessel Hotspur near Nunez Rocks, Alaska, was flooding into below-deck compartments. On August 2, 2022, while transiting through the Dixon Entrance, the Hotspur began to list to port. Realizing the severity of the situation, the captain and four crewmembers quickly abandoned ship, escaping to a life raft. They were subsequently rescued by nearby vessels. Within 20 minutes of the crew first noticing the list, the Hotspur had capsized and sunk. more, >>click to read<< 06:32
Eric’s Heroes: The 50-year journey of fisherman Pete Knutson
A fisherman with long, gray hair looks out at this beautiful place and takes a sip from his coffee mug. The fisherman is Pete Knutson. The place is Fisherman’s Terminal. Each has left their mark on the other. Don’t be fooled by how gorgeous it is. Fisherman’s Terminal, plopped right in the middle of a major metropolitan city, is a place for men and women who understand work. People who fish for a living. “It always felt RIGHT,” he says. “It always felt like a place that I was comfortable. I like the people. I’ve always liked the people in the fishing. They’re really direct, you know? It’s honest work.” Pete has been a fisherman for 50 years. He’s gone to Alaska to ply his trade, four or five months every summer, for half a century. Video, 17 photos, more, >>click to read<< 10:46
The Adventurous life of commercial fishing
With crabbing season just around the corner, the five-person crew of the fishing vessel Adventurous is about to embark. Led by owner and captain Shon Landon, they face brutally long days prepping and converting the ship from its role as a salmon seiner for the summer season to an efficient crabber for the winter. There is both anticipation and excitement at the start of a new season; a successful haul involves planning, reviewing data, strategic decision-making, skilled teamwork, and a splash of luck. In a word, it is truly adventurous. While Landon does not hail from generations of fishermen, he still came into the industry at a young age, taking on his first job on a troller at just 12 years old. His family had moved up to Alaska after his father took a job in the logging industry. When Landon later got a job seine fishing on another vessel, he knew he had found his true passion. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 18:09
Alaska tribes, green group take aim at planned bottom-trawling study in northern Bering Sea
Three tribal governments and an environmental organization on Thursday served notice to federal agencies that they are planning a lawsuit to block a fishing experiment along the seafloor in the northern Bering Sea. The practice of bottom trawling, sweeping a net to catch fish on or near the seabed, is currently prohibited in the Northern Bering Sea, which is abbreviated in legal documents as NBS. But the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service is planning to deploy some commercial trawling gear in selected spots over the coming summers to see what impacts, if any, result to the habitat and the marine life dependent on it. The research project is called the Northern Bering Sea Effects of Trawling Study, or NBET. It is focused on specific areas north and south of St. Lawrence Island and would potentially simulate effects of commercial harvests. more, >>click to read<< 08:10
Vessel Review: F/V Arctic Fjord – Alaska Pollock Trawler to be Deployed in Bering Sea
Seattle-based seafood company the Arctic Storm Management Group has taken delivery of a new trawler-processor optimised for catching Alaska pollock in the Bering Sea. The newer F/V Arctic Fjord has a length of 324 feet (99 metres), a beam of 68.9 feet (21 metres), a draught of 28.5 feet (8.7 metres), space for 152 crewmembers and processing personnel, and a wave-piercing bow that reduces fuel consumption and slamming in rough seas. Approximately 4,000 cubic metres of fish products including fish meal and fish oil can be stored in the holds. Pkotos, specs, more, >>click to read<< 14:25
Pot Half Full: Cordova boats find success in Kodiak crab despite uncertainties
As crab fisheries around the state become increasingly unstable over the last two years, fishermen have found reliable opportunities in Kodiak. Several Cordova vessels and captains journeyed to Kodiak this past month to participate in the 2024 Kodiak tanner crab fishery, a state fishery managed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). The fisheye opened at noon on Jan. 15 and closed on Jan. 21. This year Guideline Harvest Levels (GHL) allowed for 3,480,000 pounds of crab to be harvested by the fleet, down from the 7,300,000 pounds GHL in 2023. Last year the fleet staged a strike over the low grounds price of crab resulting in more than a week’s delay to the season. Although the price rose only marginally this season, the fleet went fishing on the regularly scheduled opener. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 14:37
Pair of bills makes electronic monitoring of state-regulated fisheries a possibility
Nels Evens is a longliner and gillnetter, and the executive director of the Petersburg Vessel Owners Association. He says he’s not sure what the bills’ aim is. “Because it is so broad, and we don’t understand what it’s really trying to get at, we’re not supportive of it,” he said. The pair of bills – Senate Bill 209 and House Bill 294 – stem from a discussion at last year’s Board of Fisheries meeting. The Board was trying to figure out how to enforce regulations that require Area M fishermen to keep chum salmon, instead of tossing them back in favor of much more valuable King salmon. Area M is along the Alaska Peninsula and Eastern Aleutians. It intercepts some chum salmon bound for western Alaska. more, >>click to read<< 08:53