Satellite Based Data Offers Footprint on Global Fisheries

A new study published in Science offers a global footprint on industrial fishing, down to individual vessels and their hourly activities.

A team of researchers using satellite feeds and common ship tracking technology found that industrial fishing covers more than 55 percent of the ocean’s surface – over four times the area covered by agriculture.

The new data set compiled is hundreds of times higher in resolution than previous global surveys and captures activities of more than 70,000 vessels, including more than 75 percent of industrial fishing vessels larger than 36 meters (118.11 feet).

“The biggest issue is a lack of transparency in the global fishing industry,” said David A. Kroodsma, director of research and development at Global Fishing Watch, the lead author of the study. “By publishing the data and analysis, we aim to increase transparency in the commercial fishing industry and improve opportunities for sustainable management,” he added. “It is amazing what we are able to see now. Previously we had a very poor understanding of where fishing was happening in the high seas.” Global Fishing Watch itself is the result of the environmental organization Oceana coming together with Google and SkyTruth several years ago to develop a tool to track large fishing vessels globally.

The study reflects the team efforts of Global Fishing Watch, the National Geographic Society’s Pristine Seas project, the University of California Santa Barbara, Dalhousie University, Sky Truth, Google and Stanford University. Their researchers processed 22 billion automatic identification system messages and tracked more than 70,000 industrial fishing vessels from 2012 through 2016, creating global dynamic footprint of fishing effort with spatial and temporal resolution two to three orders of magnitude higher than for previous data sets.

They found that global patterns of fishing have surprisingly low sensitivity to short-term economic and environmental variation and a strong response to cultural and political events such and holidays and closures, they indicated.

The data set provides greater detail than previously possibly about fishing activity on the high seas, beyond national jurisdictions. While most nations appear to fish predominantly within their own exclusive economic zones, China, Spain, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea account for 85 percent of observed fishing on the high seas.

The study showed that the total area of the ocean fished is likely higher than the 55 percent estimated, as the data do not include some fishing effort in regions of poor satellite coverage, or exclusive economic zones with a low percentage of vessels using automated information systems.

More than 37 million hours of fishing were observed in 2016 and fishing vessels traveled more than 460 million kilometers or 285,830,748 miles, a distance equivalent to going to the moon and back 600 times. The study “Tracking the global footprint of fisheries” appears in Science, Vol. 361, Issue 6378.

ALFA, Saltwater Inc. Win Grants for EM from NFWF

A major grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) will be used to improve at-sea monitoring of Alaska’s longline fisheries via electronic monitoring (EM)technologies. The technology uses video cameras placed onboard fishing vessels to monitor catch and bycatch in lieu of human observers. Since many small boats don’t have the capacity to accommodate for an additional person during fishing trips, EM can provide the same observation and potentially be more cost effective.

Electronic monitoring as an option for small fixed gear vessels in the partial coverage sector of the observer program was approved in 2016 by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. The $577,959 grant received in February by the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Kingfisher Foundation.

ALFA’s Dan Falvey says that 117 longline EM boats signed up for 2018. Of these, 55 are new EM vessels that require EM hardware and installations. ALFA NFWF funds will be used to cover start-up costs for 26 of these vessels. Those funds will also be used to support stakeholder travel and engagement at NPFMC meetings over the next two years as EM is integrated into the observer program, and to develop new tools that prove the utility of EM data for fishermen.

Over the next two years, 120 longline vessels in Alaska will use electronic monitoring while fishing.

This is the second NFWF grant received by ALFA to assist with electronic monitoring implementation.

The NFWF grant program awarded over $3.59 million in grants this year, with those 12 awards generating $3.15 million in matching funds from grantees, for a total conservation impact of over $6.75 million.

Effort Continues on Alaska Legislation to Protect Fish Habitat

Work continues in the Alaska House Special Committee on Fisheries on legislation to assure protection of fish habitat critical to the state’s economy and cultural heritage by establishing fish, wildlife and anadromous fish habitat permits in ways that do not overly restrict development.

The latest version of House Bill 199, which was introduced a year ago and is still in the House fisheries committee, is quite broad, and the committee is working to somewhat limit its impact on road construction and oil and gas development, an aide to the committee said.

The Stand for Salmon initiative slated to go to a statewide vote later in 2018 is designed to establish new requirements and a new process for permit applications, permit application reviews and granting of permits for any projects or activities affecting water bodies where anadromous fish are present. It would prohibit projects and activities determined to cause significant and unrestorable damage to such fish habitat.

Mine proponents and others invested in non-renewable resources contend that HB 199 and the salmon initiative would severely restrict their business efforts.

The committee heard recently from mine opponents concerned about adverse impacts of mine development and operation on the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery.

“The commercial, sport and subsistence fisheries all play a key role in keeping the region’s economy and cultures alive, and Pebble is too great a threat to each of those fisheries,” said Norm Van Vactor, president and chief executive officer of the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp. at Dillingham, Alaska.

While the company claims to have a small impact on salmon, the numbers it talks about refer only to sockeye. But the mine is at the headwaters of the coho and Chinook fisheries too, and the impact on all salmon species would be much greater than the numbers they gave.

“Any conversation the state enters into should be fish first,” Van Vactor said. “Just last summer about 60 million fish showed up. Bristol Bay is sustained by salmon.”.

University of Washington fisheries professor Daniel Schindler, who has done extensive research in the area, said “streams and wetlands will be drained, roads will fragment habitat parcels that fish need to move among, and toxins such as excess copper in the water will interfere with the ability of fish to navigate from freshwater to the ocean and back to spawn.

The mine, he said, will create acid mine drainage. “Copper is a known toxin to fish. We can’t forget the indirect effects of copper on fish. It affects their ability to smell. They smell their way home. If there is copper in the stream, it affects their ability to get home and to recognize predators.”

NPRB Considers Updates for Its Core Program Proposal Process

The North Pacific Research Board (NPRB), based in Anchorage, Alaska, is accepting comments (www.nprb.org) through March 12 on updating its core program proposal process to provide a more stable and flexible funding platform for researchers. The board’s stated preferred alternative is to move from its current fixed proposal deadline with one funding meeting annually to a rolling submissions approach with no deadline and funding decisions spread between two annual meetings.

The NPRB is also seeking nominations for one seat on its science panel and three seats on its advisory panel. All four positions will become available on June 1, 2018. The deadline for nominations is March 2.

The science panel assists the NPRB in shaping its scientific program by advising on science planning and identification of research priorities, identification and evaluation of scientific information relevant to the board’s mission and review of proposals and technical evaluations received by the board. More information is online at http://www.nprb.org/nprb/about-us/science-panel.

The advisory panel represents stakeholders, user groups and other interested parties from areas within the board’s purview. The advisory board’s role includes setting research priorities and defining questions, and highlighting proposals with special stakeholder relevance. To that end, nominations are sought from individuals with practical knowledge and experience in one or more of these large marine regions.

More information is online at http://www.nprb.org/nprb/about-us/advisory-panel.

ASMI Partners to Promote Pollock, Sockeye Salmon

Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) has partnered anew with two fast food chains in California to promote Alaska Pollock, and a British Columbia supermarket chain to promote frozen and refreshed wild Alaska sockeye salmon.

The renewed partnerships with Del Taco, Jack in the Box and Save-On-Foods were announced in ASMI’s mid-February online Marketing Update, on the eve of Lent, a religious tradition observed every year during the 40 days before Easter. Fish is a traditional staple part of Lenten meals. Patrons of these establishments have come to expect these seasonal seafood specials.

Del Taco restaurants offers a limited time special of beer battered fish tacos featuring wild Alaska Pollock, with the ASMI logo visible in Del Taco promotional collateral across print and digital platforms. The taco comes on a corn tortilla with shredded cabbage, tartar sauce and a lime wedge.

At Jack in the Box, the fish sandwich of Alaska Pollock makes its annual return for the Lenten season, breaded in panko breadcrumbs and deep fried, with tartar sauce and shredded lettuce on a plain bun. Alaska Pollock fish sandwiches are also on tap at Burger King and McDonalds. At Burger King, the fish sandwich has panko breading and is topped with sweet tartar sauce and tangy pickles, on a toasted brioche-style bun. McDonald’s filet-o-fish, with melted American cheese and tartar sauce, is served on a soft, steamed bun.

Wendy’s takes a different twist, serving up a panko-breaded North Pacific cod fillet, topped with a dill tartar sauce and crunchy dill pickles.

In January, Save-On-Foods began a promotion of frozen and refreshed wild Alaska sockeye salmon in 162 stores throughout western Canada. In February, ASMI presented to top Walmart executives at the company’s first Sustainable Seafood Summit. Representatives from Trident, Marine Harvest, Blue Star Seafood and other suppliers participated along with the Marine Stewardship Council, Aquaculture Stewardship Council, Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative, Best Aquaculture Practices, and the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership.

Fisheries Coalition Urges Flexibility in Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization

Alaska harvesters and conservationists are the latest in a wave of members of the Fishing Communities Coalition urging Congress to commit to science-based annual catch limits in all sectors in reauthorizing the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Representatives of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association and the Alaska Marine Conservation Council were in Washington D.C. in mid-February meeting with the state’s congressional delegation. They underscored the need for a scientific basis for setting those annual catch limits and urged a commitment to strengthen other key provisions within the act.

“The Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) is working in Alaska and around the country because all sectors adhere to scientifically-sound annual catch limits. Reauthorization will only provide a bright future for our nation’s young fishermen if all sectors – commercial and recreational – recommit to sustainable harvest through improved stock assessment, better catch accounting, and strict adherence to annual catch limits,” said Linda Behnken of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association.

The Alaska contingent discussed the Young Fishermen’s Development Act, urging them to ensure the bipartisan initiative is signed into law in support of the next generation of commercial harvesters. The Young Fishermen’s Development Act would provide grants of up to $200,000 and a total of $2 million annually through NOAA’s Sea Grant Program for training, education and other assistance to the next generation of commercial harvesters.

Just a month earlier, members of the Fishing Communities Coalition from Cape Cod, Maine and the Gulf of Mexico were in Washington, D.C. to meet with policymakers on a similar mission.

The Fishing Communities Coalition (FCC) is concerned that House Resolution 200, one of several bills from which the new MSA legislation could emerge, would give recreational fishermen more access to fish without requiring them to be accountable for what they catch.

The FCC has proposed mandatory reporting in the recreational sector so that fishery managers know how many fish were harvested. The coalition also contends that H.R. 200, introduced by Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, does not constitute a genuine national fisheries policy, as it creates different rules for different regions. The same rules should apply nationwide, the coalition said.

OA Researchers Test the Waters Between Bellingham and Skagway

As the largest vessel in the Alaska Marine Highway System fleet cruises on her route between Bellingham, Washington, and Skagway, Alaska – scientists aboard the M/V Columbia are tracking changes in ocean water that may well impact the fishing future of the Pacific Northwest.

“The project wasn’t by any means a new idea,” says Wiley Evans of British Columbia’s Hakai Institute, , “except that it’s just the first time a carbon dioxide system has been installed on a ferry.”

The project involves a surface seawater monitoring system, installed aboard the M/V Columbia to study ocean acidification, which is caused by increased carbon dioxide in the water.

Water is continuously flowing through the onboard system, which Evans helped to install, entering the ship through a bow thruster port, about six feet below the sea surface. It is measured every three minutes for seawater temperature, levels of salt, oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Data being gathered aboard the M/V Columbia since late 2017 is part of an international effort that began in 2014 to understand the impact of ocean acidification along the coasts of British Columbia and Alaska.

Oceans are absorbing about 25 percent of the increased carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by people. According to the Alaska Ocean Acidification Network that roughly represents seven million tons of CO2 every day. As seawater becomes more acidic it could impact all commercial, sport and subsistence fisheries, as well as wildlife management in Canada, Alaska and the continental United States. Effects of ocean acidification are already being seen in shellfish farms in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon.

The goal is to detail baseline conditions between Bellingham and Skagway, a distance of about 1,000 miles, Evans said. “Within this domain there has not been very good data coverage, particularly Southeast Alaska and the central coast of British Columbia, there is a need to create baseline conditions and seasonality of the area, and to identify the best places for aquaculture to develop and hot spots for corrosive conditions,” he said.

The current plan calls for the project to extend for five years, which Evans said is long enough to understand how data might differ from one year to the next, but more would be better. “My hope is that this platform and the work we are doing in Alaska goes on at least 10 plus years,” he said.

Harmful Algae Network Works to Assure Safe Shellfish Harvest

A network of state, federal and tribal researchers in Alaska is focusing on better understanding and mitigating effects of harmful algae blooms posing health risks to sea creatures and people. The goal of the Alaska Harmful Algal Bloom Network(http://www.aoos.org/alaska-hab-network/ahab-mission/) is to promote more research, monitoring and public awareness of these toxins.

The toxic algal blooms are generated by certain phytoplankton, also known as microalgae, autotrophic or self-feeding members of the plankton community, which are free floating algae. Like terrestrial plants, they contain chlorophyll and require sunlight to live and grow.

Phytoplankton provide food for whales, shrimp, snails and jellyfish and other sea creatures. When too many nutrients are available, phytoplankton may grow out of control and form harmful algal blooms, which can produce extremely toxic compounds harmful to fish, shellfish, animals, birds and people. According to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services’ Division of Public Health, climate change is likely to increase the threat of harmful algal blooms. Warmer waters extend the phytoplankton growing season, increasing the likelihood of toxic blooms, and may allow new potentially harmful phytoplankton species to expand their area of reach in Alaska.

Commercially harvested shellfish sold in stores and restaurants must pass federal Food and Drug Administration and state-run toxin testing to assure their safety for human consumption. Testing is not required for personal and subsistence shellfish harvests, but the AHAB Network hopes to eventually develop the ability to forecast such blooms to alert personal use and subsistence harvesters.

The network is coordinated jointly by the Alaska Ocean Observing System and Alaska Sea Grant.

Members include the Alaska departments of Health and Social Services and Environmental Conservation, Aleutian Pribilof Island Association, Axiom Data Science, NOAA’s National Ocean Service and National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research and the Sitka Tribe of Alaska.

Apprenticeship Program Offers Salmon Trolling Experience

Applications are being accepted through March 1 for the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association’s (ALFA) crewmember apprenticeship program, offering young people a guided entry level experience in commercial seafood harvesting in Southeast Alaska.

ALFA received a $70,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation late last year to expand this program in Sitka and to support efforts to launch similar programs elsewhere in Alaska.

The grant, leveraged with support from the city of Sitka and ALFA members, was awarded as part of NFWF’s Fisheries Innovation Fund. Its aim to improve management that strengthens the welfare of fishermen and local communities, promoting health fish stocks and healthy fisheries.

“With support from NFWF, we plan to expand the program to include more boats, crew and communities,” said Linda Behnken, executive director of AFLA. “Giving young people an introduction to Alaska’s commercial fisheries will help sustain our fishing communities and create the next generation of resource stewards.”

Over the past three years, Sitka-based harvester Eric Jordan of the fishing vessel I Gotta has introduced over 40 young people to commercial fishing as part of the program. Apprentice deckhands are taught the intricacies of commercial salmon trolling, including sustainable fishing practices and conservation ethics.

“The future of our fisheries is dependent on young fishermen learning to love and care for the fish we harvest and the habitat essential to their well-being,” Jordan said. “Our generation’s legacy will be defined as we, Alaskan fishermen, rebuilt and enhanced our fisheries, and how we mentored the next generation.”

ALFA plans to expand the program over the next two years to include more vessels, skippers and crewmembers. Application information is available online at http://www.alfafish.org/apprenticeship/

Prince William Sound Cod Fishery Opens with 992,080-lb GHL

The Prince William Sound area Pacific cod state waters fishery opens at noon on February 15 with a guideline harvest level (GHL) of 992,080 pounds, of which 85 percent (843,268 pounds) is allocated to vessels using longline gear and 15 percent (148,812 pounds) for those with pot and jig gear. A reduction compares to the 2017 GHL of 4,338,141 pounds, which was also down from 4,841,902 pounds in 2016.

A dramatic drop in recruitment prompted fisheries managers’ decisions in December to make more severe cuts for this fishery.

The season is set to open 24 hours after the Prince William Sound P-cod parallel fishery closes to vessels using pot gear and coincides with the National Marine Fisheries Service closure of the P-cod pot gear sector in the federal Central Gulf of Alaska area.

Area registration for the state-waters season is exclusive. It allows no more than 60 groundfish pots to be operated from a vessel and each pot must display a buoy identification tag. A vessel may not participate in a Pacific cod state-waters season and any other P-cod season at the same time.

Following closure of the parallel P-cod season, all groundfish pot gear must be removed from the water, except those on vessels registered for the state-waters P-cod season, which may store theirs per state regulations guidelines. Groundfish storage provisions allow groundfish pot gear to be stored in waters no more than 25 fathoms deep on the north side of Montague island for up to 10 days prior to the opening and 10 days after closure of the state-waters season to pot gear. All bait and bait containers must be removed and all doors secured open at the time of the parallel season closure. After the 10-day period has elapsed, no groundfish pot storage is permitted.

Chinook PSC Limits in Gulf of Alaska Face Another Review

Federal fisheries managers discussed modifying the Chinook salmon prohibited species catch (PSC) limits for non-pollock catcher vessels in the Gulf of Alaska this past week, then recommended another initial review of their analysis.

The action came during the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s meeting in Seattle, Washington The proposed action would consider increasing Chinook salmon prohibited species limits and establishing an annual rollover of unused Chinook salmon PSC for the Gulf’s non-pollock, non-rockfish program trawl catcher vessel sector and/or the Central Gulf Rockfish Program catcher vessel sector.

National Standards of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require that the council balance objectives of achieving optimum yield, minimizing bycatch and minimizing adverse impacts on fishery-dependent communities. Chinook salmon PSC taken in the Gulf by trawl fisheries is a resource concern. The council previously set hard cap PSC limits that are below the incidental take amount that would trigger consultation under the Endangered Species Act. The trawl fishery is closed if the PSC hard cap is reached.

Since implementation of Chinook salmon PSC limits for the Gulf non-pollock groundfish trawl catcher vessel sector in 2015, the fishery has continued to show variable levels and unpredictable timing of salmon encounter, the council noted.

Potential closures and PSC encounter rates that vary from year to year or even week to week have created uncertainty for harvesters, and adversely affect trawl harvesters, crew, processors and coastal communities. The motion passed by the council noted that alternatives to increase PSC limits or to provide more flexibility under the existing PSC limits were offered in light of new information and multiple years of experience fishing under constraining hard caps for these fisheries in a limited access fishery with variable and unpredictable PSC rates.

The proposed action would not modify other existing features of the Gulf Chinook salmon PSC limits for non-pollock trawl fisheries such as PSC rollovers from the rockfish program catcher vessel sector to the limited access catcher vessel sector, and National Marine Fishery Service’s ability to make in-season king salmon PSC limit reapportionments between certain trawl sectors.

Fishing Disaster Relief Funds Signed into Law

A new two-year bipartisan federal budget deal signed into law this week includes $200 million to help communities with declared fisheries disasters.

Washington Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, with Representatives Derek Kilmer and Jaime Herrera Beutler said passage caps years of work to give relief to Washington state’s fisheries, which have experienced numerous federally declared disasters in recent years.

“This fishery disaster funding represents a critical investment in fishing families and the future of their communities,” said Cantwell.

Murray called the funding a good down payment on efforts to get help to families impacted by these disasters and said she would keep fighting to ensure that these funds make it to communities where they are needed.

Alaska Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan also hailed the fisheries disaster funds included in the Bipartisan Budget Act, which established funding levels through the end of fiscal 2019.

Murkowski said the money would be truly vital to communities in the Gulf of Alaska hard hit by the pink salmon fishery disaster of 2016. “From commercial fishermen and processors to local governments who saw less revenue, this hit everyone hard,” she said. Areas impacted by the low harvests of humpies in 2016 included Prince William Sound, Kodiak, Chignik, Lower Cook Inlet, Yakutat, the South Alaska Peninsula and Southeast Alaska.

Changes in Seafood Industry Will Require Fewer Workers

A decline in the domestic workforce for the seafood industry’s harvesting and processing sector is prompting efforts for modernization and automation of the harvest to reduce the number of workers needed, while increasing skills required of those who get the jobs.

That was the message from Gleyn Bledsoe of Washington State University’s Center for Advanced Food Technology to the 69th Pacific Fisheries Technologists Conference in Girdwood, Alaska.

“We don’t have the workers… we lack a stable workforce,” Bledsoe told several dozen conference participants during the first morning of the February 5–7 conference. Many young people in the United States and other countries are choosing less strenuous and safer livelihoods not limited to the seafood industry, he said.

This has left many in the harvesting and processing sectors dependent on a semi-skilled to unskilled immigrant and guest worker labor force that is becoming more difficult to populate and maintain, he explained. The industry’s response has been to modernize and automate their harvest, onboard and shoreside facilities so that the work can be done with fewer people who have more skills. Seafood engineers are approaching the challenge by implementing automated, including robotic, technologies designed to reduce operator numbers and skill requirements and simultaneously develop training program to provide employees with the skills to operate and maintain that equipment.

Washington State University’s School of Food Science’s Center for Advanced Food Technology has now teamed up with WSU’s School of Engineering, Everett Community College Advanced Manufacturing Training and Education Center, North Pacific seafood companies and seafood processing equipment manufacturers to expand current systems and robotics to address these needs and provide associated training programs. More information about the conference is available online at www.pftfish.net

Alaska to Push Transboundary Issues to a Higher Level

Alaska took its concerns about the potential impact of mining near transboundary waterways to a federal level this week, while meeting with Canadian ministers of natural resources, environment and climate, fisheries and crown-indigenous relations and northern affairs in Ottawa, Ontario.

According to Alaska Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott, the goal was to directly convey concerns over the need to protect the environmental quality of transboundary rivers shared by Alaska and British Columbia, rivers where healthy salmon habitat is critical.

Mallott and Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, discussed transboundary mines, water quality and climate change issues with Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna. Mallott said they also asked Jim Carr, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, for baseline water quality measures, financial assurances and cumulative impact assessments for transboundary watersheds impacted by mining.

Mallott noted that while he doesn’t think there will be immediate follow-up, the big change is the matter now involves the federal governments for the US and Canada.

One issue that came up during the talks is concern about the Tulsequah Chief mine, in British Columbia, where acid drainage from the idle mine continues to flow into the Tulsequah River and then the Taku River before reaching Juneau, Alaska.

Concerns over operating mines, abandoned mines and plans for new mines will come up again at federal level meetings of the two countries in April.

“We’re not saying it’s going to be resolved overnight, but now we have our own federal government engaged and motivated,” Sullivan said.

The meetings in Ottawa raised the level of awareness over transboundary river issues, Mallott said.

NPFMC Meets in Seattle Through February 12

The February meeting of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) is under way in Seattle, Washington, with final action scheduled on small sideboard issues.

In June, the council adopted a purpose and need statement, and alternatives for analysis to revise federal regulations prohibiting directed fishing for species with sideboard limits insufficient to support directed fishing by non-exempt American Fisheries Act (AFA) vessels and crab vessels. National Marine Fisheries Service would no longer publish these AFA and crab rationalization program sideboard limits in the annual harvest specifications. This proposed action would also remove the sideboard limit on AFA catcher/processors for Central Aleutian Islands Atka mackerel.

The agenda also includes issues related to the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands crab and Gulf of Alaska catcher vessel Chinook salmon prohibited species catch limit adjustments.

The meeting hosted at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel is open to the public, except for executive sessions. The agenda can be found at http://legistar2.granicus.com/npfmc/meetings/2018/2/971_A_North_Pacific_Council_18-02-05_Meeting_Agenda.pdf.

Those who can attend in person can listen to the online broadcast by logging to https://npfmc.adobeconnect.com/february2018.

Motions will be posted online following the meeting.

ASMI Reports Americans are Eating More Seafood

A new report prepared for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute says consumers are eating more seafood, citing their health concerns as a primary driver.

According to the Chicago-based consulting and research service firm Technomic, younger consumers are more likely to find seafood and plant-based proteins to be healthier than poultry, beef or pork. There is also growing concern among consumers over how food is produced and where food is sourced, and a growing desire to support food producers located in the consumer’s region or within the United States.

Consumers also told Technomic that the place of origin, environmental impact and production method are all playing a part in decisions to purchase seafood.

Forty-one percent of respondents said it is important to them that the environment is not negatively impacted by the seafood they eat. Forty percent said it is important for them to know which country their seafood comes from, and 39 percent said they prefer wild to farm-raised seafood.

The report said that Alaska seafood is well positioned to take advantage of these trends in seafood consumption. However, in order to do so it will need a strategy that targets consumers in and approaching peak spending years, with product strategy that highlights health, sustainability and uses source-specificity to elevate the Alaska seafood brand.

Read the full report online at https://uploads.alaskaseafood.org/2017/12/Technomic_ASMI-presentation-deck_11_28.pdf