Tag Archives: salmon fishery
‘Disaster of a season for us’: Cancellation ripples through California salmon fishery
California’s salmon fishermen are seeking federal disaster aid after getting the word that the 2023 commercial and recreational salmon season has been canceled. It comes as projections show record-low salmon stocks, and regulators say the closure is needed to ensure maintenance of a healthy salmon population. Much of the fishing in Oregon has also been canceled. “It’s obviously a disaster of a season for us,” said Tim Obert of Ben Lomond, who has been fishing salmon commercially for close to two decades. “It takes our living away.” >click to read< 17:28
All eyes on Bristol Bay after state predicts a record season, but fishery’s economics still in flux
The summer salmon season is due to ramp up in Alaska over the next few months, and the main focus of this year’s salmon fishery statewide will be on Bristol Bay sockeye. Of the 160.6 million salmon of all species that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game forecasts will be harvested in 2022, 74 million of those are sockeye and about three-quarters of those would come from Bristol Bay. Another 67.2 million are pink salmon, with the rest made up of smaller numbers of the other three species. If the forecast proves accurate, this will be the biggest year ever for the Bristol Bay fishery. > click to read < 14:15
Retailers post prices for Copper River salmon
As commercial harvesters brace for the famed Copper River salmon fishery set to open in mid-May, with indications of a declining run, they’re hoping for the best, forecasts notwithstanding, and aficionados of the oil-rich fish are lining up to order. “It is that time of year when the phone is ringing off the hook for the Copper River season,” said Hilary Branyik at Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle.,, 60° North Seafoods in Cordova has not set its Alaska retail price yet, but for its sales through Sena Sea Seafoods in Washington state the preorder price is $54 a pound for sockeye fillets and $68 a pound for king fillets. >click to read< 12:38
Sockeye Collapse: First Nations call for halt to B.C. salmon fishery on the Fraser River
First Nations leaders in British Columbia are calling for an emergency order from the federal government to close the sockeye salmon fishery on the Fraser River and declare it exhausted. “Without a doubt, it’s collapsed,” said Robert Phillips, an executive with the First Nations Summit and First Nations Leadership Council of B.C., in an interview with Global News on Wednesday. In an Aug. 14 report, the Pacific Salmon Commission projected a record low return this year, with just 283,000 salmon expected to make it to spawning grounds. It’s a less than a third of a projection in July, when as many as 940,000, >click tp read< 19:11
As Alaska fishing season set to begin, fearful communities and seafood industry try to prevent spread of coronavirus
Trident and other seafood-company officials hope to ensure that factory trawlers making their way through remote swaths of the Bering Sea do not replay any of the harrowing scenarios that unfolded on cruise ships this year, when waves of the virus sickened passengers. “The chance of having one hiccup — it’s going to ruin the season for everyone,” Hall said. “The boat has to be virus free.” Processors face another daunting challenge in launching salmon operations in remote Alaska communities, many of which suffered losses in the flu pandemic of more than a century ago and are fearful of thousands of seasonal workers spreading COVID-19. photos, >click to read< 11:43
Coronavirus: Copper River salmon fishery nears without travel restrictions from Cordova City Council
As of Monday, commercial salmon fishing operations in Cordova are moving forward with few protections in place for residents beyond statewide health mandates.,, Although it is not business as usual for fishermen preparing for the mid-May opening, some people in the community fear that not nearly enough has changed to protect the town from a coronavirus outbreak.,, Some fishermen who spoke against the travel hold said that restricting travel would disrupt plans for their crews to travel to the area and complete a 14-day quarantine before the start of the season.,, “Not everyone is going to see the situation the same,” Lange said. “A fisherman by their very nature, one, they’re optimists. Two, they’re very independent. And three, they see the world through a very narrow focus, >click to read< 08:23
State overrules Wrangell, says it can’t add its own COVID-19 restrictions – Wrangell’s proposed restrictions on people arriving at the island community have been shelved after the state said the Southeast city doesn’t have the authority. City leaders had wanted to coordinate the flow of commercial fishermen and fish plant workers expected to arrive for the season. >click to read< 08:56
‘No fish and no hope’: Poor sockeye salmon run takes a toll on Chignik
A dreadful sockeye run in the Chignik salmon fishery, on the south side of the Alaska Peninsula, is imperiling commercial and subsistence fishermen and distressing the community there. In the Chignik salmon fishery, the sockeye escapement — or the number of fish allowed to escape past the fishermen to spawn — was about 190,000 fish as of Friday afternoon. That’s less than half of what the average figure usually looks like by now. Commercial sockeye fishing has been closed there all season, and subsistence fishing has been restricted. Tribal groups have requested a disaster declaration for the fishery from Gov. Bill Walker. >click to read<14:42
No commercial opener for Copper River salmon fishery
Faced with a sonar count that is the ninth lowest on record since 1978, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said the Copper River district of Prince William Sound would remain closed to commercial fishing. The midday announcement on June 6 assured that the district would open to subsistence fishing on June 7. Cumulative commercial harvest to date is the second lowest harvest in the last 50 years, ADF&G said in an announcement from its Cordova office. Harvesters were advised, however, that the commercial fishery might open on short notice, should indices of sockeye salmon abundance support such a fishery. >click to read<11:12
Commercial salmon disaster funding awaiting congressional approval
When Washington’s congressional delegation pressured U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker into signing a disaster declaration for the state’s commercial salmon fishery, local fishermen were hopeful those funds would be making their way into local wallets by the middle of February. However, bitter battles concerning President Trump’s cabinet nominees have dominated Congress for more than a month, and the funding will not be distributed until Congress approves the funding and designates an entity that will be in charge of doling out the relief money. “My best guess is that until the turmoil in Congress settles down concerning President Trump’s cabinet nominations and Congress returns to a normal schedule, that’s where it will sit,” said Greg Mueller, president and executive director of the Washington Trollers Association. Continue reading the story here 08:11
Processing upgrades possible, but humans irreplaceable says analyst
Processing the 20 to 40 million sockeye harvested in about a month each summer is no small feat. And while the Bristol Bay salmon fishery has come a long way from the hey-days of canneries, there are more improvements to come. Bergur Goumundsson has already seen his share of changes in fisheries. He grew up in a town of about 400 people north of the Arctic Circle. His father was a longline fisherman; his brother followed suit. Eventually, Goumundsson found his way into processing technology, and now works for the fisheries division at Morel, an international company that works in food processing. “My job is basically to analyze processes and come up with ideas that could increase the yield. To make more usable products out of the raw materials that you have,” he said. Audio, read the rest here 16:35
