Pebble Project Losing Financial Footing

Efforts to finance a highly controversial mining project in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region have hit another stumbling block, with a potential substantial financial backer pulling out of the deal.

News that Northern Dynasty Minerals was unable to reach an agreement with First Quantum Minerals Ltd. was cheered by opponents of the copper, gold and molybdenum mines slated for construction near the world’s sockeye salmon producing fishery, even while a spokesman for the project said he was sure they would secure the funds necessary to continue the permitting process.

An announcement from Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., on May 25, confirmed that the two companies were unable to reach an agreement on a proposed deal that would have given First Quantum Minerals Ltd. an option to earn a 50 percent interest in the Pebble mine in return for First Quantum’s investment of $150 million to fund permitting. First Quantum is a leading producer of copper, gold, nickel and zinc. Northern Dynasty, whose whole focus is advancing the Pebble project, is a subsidiary of Hunter Dickenson Inc. (HDI), a diversified, global mining group. The companies are based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

“Our project is well defined and we are going to continue communicating with Alaskans about why we believe in the opportunity it represents,” said Tom Collier, chief executive officer for the Pebble Limited Partnership in Anchorage, Alaska, a subsidiary of Northern Dynasty.

HDI declined any further comment.

Bloomberg News meanwhile reported that Northern Dynasty stock plummeted after the collapse of the deal that would have helped finance the project. Bloomberg also noted that earlier in May backlash against the mine disrupted First Quantum’s annual meeting in Toronto, Ontario, with mine opponents taking out a full-page ad in Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper vowing to continue fighting the project.

Opponents of the mine had plenty to say though, even as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Anchorage continued to work with a third-party firm to produce a draft environmental impact statement for the project.

“This news could not have come at a more opportune time,” said Jason Metrokin, president and chief executive officer of the Bristol Bay Native Corp. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is again forecasting strong salmon runs for Bristol Bay this year.”

“This is the fourth major company that’s pulled out of Pebble because of the massive environmental risks, lack of economic feasibility and widespread local opposition,” said Robin Samuelsen, a lifelong Bristol Bay harvester and regional leader.

“The governor needs to call for a moratorium on mineral exploration in the watershed and just let people go fishing,” said Mark Niver of Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay. “We need a year where we don’t have this sword hanging over our head,” he said.

Copper River Openers Send Prices Soaring

By the third opener of the Copper River salmon fishery, the harvest was climbing, but nowhere near what the forecast anticipated, and market prices for those sockeyes and Chinooks remained high.

“We were expecting close to 100,000 sockeyes just for the third period, based on the forecast,” said Jeremy Botz, gillnet area management biologist in Cordova for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G).

While cool ocean temperatures could be playing a role, making the run a little later than anticipated, biologists don’t know for certain why the preliminary catch numbers are so low. ADF&G preliminary catch estimates from the May 28 opener showed 1,166 deliveries, including 3,140 kings, 19,979 sockeyes and 2,657 chums, for a total of 7,330 kings, 25,745 reds and 3,029 chums, weighing an average of 16 pounds, 5 pounds and 7.3 pounds respectively.

The fishery began in drizzly rain on May 17, with 384 deliveries totaling a catch of only 2,800 kings and 1,900 reds. Prices at the dock soared to $15.50 and $10.50 a pound respectively, with processors offering an additional 50 cents for dock delivery.

“It was a good start for Chinooks and exceptionally low for sockeyes,” said Botz Preliminary data for the second 12-hour opener on May 21 showed a catch of 1,436 kings and 3,868 sockeyes, averaging at 16.6 pounds and 5.1 pounds respectively. Harvesters made 289 deliveries, as weather conditions declined, said ADF&G officials in Cordova, Alaska.

Pike Place Fish Market’s online prices for fresh Copper River salmon as of May 29 had dropped from $54.99 to $39.99 a pound for whole kings, from $74.99 to $54.99 a pound for king fillets, but still at $159.96 a pound for whole sockeyes and $49.99 a pound for sockeye fillets.

Online marketer FishEx in Anchorage was offering Copper River king fillet portions for $79.95 a pound and Copper River sockeye portions for $46.95 a pound, while 10th and M Seafoods, a top seafood retailer in Anchorage, posted $65.95 a pound for Copper River king fillets and was offering king fillets for $58.95 a pound and sockeye fillets at $45.95 a pound.

Fred Meyer stores in the Anchorage area were offering king salmon fillets for $49.99 a pound and were out of reds, while Carrs-Safeway had king fillets for $45.99 a pound and sockeye fillets for $32.95 a pound.

NPAFC Plans for International Year of the Salmon

Planning is underway for the 2019 International Year of the Salmon. In the coming months, core partners from Canada, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States will be working with the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) to plan and announce details of a North Pacific opening event in Vancouver, BC in October of 2018, as well as a Gulf of Alaska signature project scheduled for March 2019 and detailed research plans. Research and outreach projects and events started in 2018 will continue through 2022.

Organizations and individuals concerned with salmon and interested in participating in this initiative are encouraged to contact the NPAFC.

The announcement came in the wake of the May 21-25 NPAFC 26th annual meeting in Khabarovsk, Russia. The organization also introduced its incoming two-year term officers President Suam Kim, Korea; Vice President James Balsiger, USA; and three committee chairpersons: Mike Carlson, Canada; Masa-aki Fukuwaka, Japan, and Vladimir Belyaev, Russia.

Balsiger is the administrator for NOAA Fisheries Alaska regional office, based in Juneau, Alaska. NPAFC’s current 2016-2020 science plan supports the organization’s primary objective of promoting conservation of anadromous populations of Pacific salmon and steelhead trout within the convention area and is integrated with the International Year of the Salmon initiative.

To review the progress of research and to promote International Year of the Salmon activities and outreach in member countries, a workshop is planned on “Salmon Ocean Ecology in a Changing Climate,” in Portland, Oregon on May 18-20, 2019, following the 27th annual meeting of NPAFC.

Workshop objectives include improving knowledge of the migration, distribution, growth and survival of salmon and their environment in the ocean and increasing understanding of the causes of variations in salmon production. The focus will also be on anticipating future changes in distribution and abundance of salmon and their marine ecosystems, as well as promoting International Year of the Salmon activities and outreach in salmon homing countries.

Salmon research cruise plans for the current year include surveys in the Gulf of Alaska, the Bering Sea, the southern Chukchi Sea, the northwestern and central North Pacific, and the southern Sea of Okhotsk.

NPAFC’s aim is that improved understanding of mechanisms that regulate the distribution and abundance of salmon will promote the conservation of anadromous populations, allow for better forecasts of salmon production trends in the future, and enhance sustainable fisheries management, food security and economic security. NPAFC officials said that with increasingly variable aquatic conditions, a more responsive and efficient approach to understanding and responding to changes is needed.

New Book Explores Natural Resources of Bristol Bay

A new natural resources book on Bristol Bay, supported by the Bristol Bay Partnership, explores in depth the diversity of the region’s ecosystem and its role as habitat for the world’s largest run of wild sockeye salmon.

“Bristol Bay Alaska: Natural Resources of the Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems,” edited by fisheries biologist Carol Ann Woody, compiles the work of numerous scientists and researchers with years of boots on experience in the Bristol Bay watershed, and their concerns over how climate change, ocean acidification and mineral development threaten the diversity of this ecosystem.

Chapters on every facet of the ecosystem, from fish and marine mammals to moose, wolves, caribou and seabirds, and the potential for renewable energy resources call on everyone to do their part to ensure a viable economic and social future for commercial fisheries, sport anglers and hunters, and subsistence hunters and fish harvesters who reside in the region.

The book draws on the research of several dozen scientists who explain the importance of how each piece of the Bristol Bay ecosystem, like parts of a Swiss clock, contribute to the overall diversity that returns millions of salmon back to the bay every year.

The abundance of wild salmon and other wild foods allows for survival of traditional culture, diverse wildlife and vegetation, and a robust fisheries economy, all contributing the sustainability of the others.

“As an ecosystem, the currently healthy habitat of the bay supports the interactions between natural processes and the presence and abundance of all five species of Pacific salmon,” notes the chapter on essential fish habitat and estuarine processes of Bristol Bay.

The last section of the book is devoted to the non-biological resources of Bristol Bay, including the oil and gas potential of the North Aleutian Basin (Bristol Bay), copper, gold and other mineral resources within the watershed, and renewable energy resources: river hydro, wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and tidal.

Woody has skillfully edited the work of the contributing scientists and researchers to produce a very readable book on how year-round resident people and critters, and those migrating there on an annual basis have sustained the region for generations.

Copper River Opener Sends Prices Soaring

Gillnetters out in drizzly rain for the celebrated start of the Copper River salmon fishery May 17 came home with a catch of some 2,800 kings and 1,900 reds, sending prices at the dock soaring.

Harvesters making 384 deliveries netted $15.50 and $10.50 a pound respectively, with processors offering an additional 50 cents for dock delivery.

“It was a good start for Chinooks, and exceptionally low for sockeyes,” said Jeremy Botz, gillnet area management biologists in Cordova for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Preliminary data for the second 12-hour opener on May 21 showed a catch of 1,436 kings and 3,868 sockeyes, averaging at 16.6 pounds and 5.1 pounds respectively. Harvesters made 289 deliveries, as weather conditions declined, said ADF&G officials in Cordova, Alaska.

Pike Place Fish Market’s online prices for fresh Copper River salmon as of May 22 were $54.99 a pound for whole kings, $74.99 a pound for king fillets, $159.96 a pound for whole sockeyes and $49.99 a pound for sockeye fillets.

Online marketer FishEx in Anchorage was offering Copper River king fillet portions for $79.95 a pound and Copper River sockeye portions for $46.95 a pound, which 10th and M Seafoods, also in Anchorage, posted $65.95 a pound for Copper River king fillets.

The arrival of the first Copper River fish meanwhile was heralded with the red carpet treatment and gourmet chefs cook-off at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and with a salmon season kick-off party in Anchorage hosted by Copper River Seafoods.

Some 300 tickets at $15 apiece for the family friendly Anchorage event sold out quickly, and guests indulged in gourmet salmon offerings prepared by chefs from several upscale restaurants, while listening to live music and waiting to see if they won door prizes, which included fillets from a chilled 30-plus pound whole king salmon on display in a bed of chilled ice.

15 Communities Share in NSEDC’s Fisheries Bounty

Fifteen communities in Alaska’s Norton Sound area are getting a mid-year financial boost earned from the bounty of Bering Sea fisheries.

Norton Sound Economic Development Corp. is giving each of the 15 communities $133,333 as a mid-year share of their profits from groundfish and crab fishery harvests.

NSEDC is one of six Western Alaska Community Development quota groups allocated a percentage of all Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands quotas for groundfish, prohibited species, halibut and crab, to provide social and economic benefits for residents of Western Alaska.

Siu Alaska Corp., NSEDC’s wholly owned for-profit subsidiary, issued a $2 million dividend to NSEDC, to allow for the dividend.

“NSEDC’s normal community benefit share distribution comes at the end of the year, but we have been hearing from many of our communities that they are facing significant needs now,” said Dan Harrelson, board chairman. “Whether it’s for aging critical infrastructure, like water, sewer and power; support for our youth and elders; or search and rescue equipment; our communities utilize this funding for items that are vital to the health and well-being of our residents.”

NSEDC traditionally issues an annual community benefit share at its quarterly meeting in November, and for the past five years that share has been $150,000 per community. This is the second time that NSEDC has issued an additional, mid-year community benefit share, the first one being in 2012.

With this latest distribution, NSEDC has allocated to member communities a total of $30.2 million. The NSEDC board also approved 18 community level grants for a total of $668,000 and two regional grants totaling $92,000. In early May the board awarded $20,000 to fund an intensive course for up to 10 Head Start teachers to earn early childhood education credits.

The board additionally voted for a $10,000 increase in funding for Norton Sound commercial fishermen through its revolving loan fund, raising the loan cap to $35,000. The fund is designed to help resident commercial harvesters purchase fishing equipment. Borrowers are required to put 10 percent down and pay back the loans within seven years.

Trollers Want Alaska to Change Approach to Pacific Salmon Treaty Negotiations

Alaska Trollers Association President Steve Merritt is asking the state of Alaska to change its approach in negotiations over the Pacific Salmon Treaty or face the loss of a very valuable resource.

The troll fishery ranks among the largest commercial fisheries in Alaska and most of its permit holders live in Southeast Alaska, playing a vital part in the region’s economy and social well-being. In fact about one in 35 people living in Southeast Alaska works on a troll vessel, according to the ATA.

Merritt voiced his concerns on May 22, in the wake of a king salmon symposium in Sitka a day earlier, where ATA learned they would be giving up more of their harvest share of treaty king salmon as a result of Pacific Salmon Treaty negotiations. “Alaska has not one time, since the treaty’s implementation, went into these negotiations and returned without a loss to their harvest share,” Merritt said.

The troll fleet is being managed very conservatively because of poor returns of kings to the rivers of Southeast Alaska. The Alaska Board of Fisheries last January implemented stock of concern plans that made major cuts to troll winter and spring fisheries. Those were meaningful conservation measures and trollers understood their importance to the health of their fishery, he said.

With abundance of kings in general at low levels for several other stocks on the Northwest coast, Alaska has smaller king quotas under the current Pacific Salmon Treaty agreement, Merritt said.

And Alaska’s Deputy Commissioner of Fish and Game, Charles Swanton, has levied an additional 10 percent cut on Alaska’s Chinook fisheries for 2018 for conservation of Trans-Boundary River and Canadian stocks as well. That’s a cut that the ATA strongly disputes as having any meaningful conservation value and believes is a misinterpretation of the Standardized Fishing Regime portion of the Pacific Salmon Treaty, Merritt said.

Researcher Studies Rising Abundance of Pink Salmon in North Pacific Ocean

Research by University of Alaska Fairbanks professor emeritus Alan Springer has found a correlation between increased abundance of pink salmon in the North Pacific Ocean and declining abundance at breeding sites of another species in Australia.

Springer’s research, published in May in Journal, proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that pink salmon in the North Pacific Ocean have flourished since the 1970s, with growth in wild populations augmented by rising hatchery production. As their abundance has grown so has evidence that they are having effects on other species and on ocean ecosystems.

Springer’s study showed that in alternating years of high abundance, they can initiate pelagic trophic cascades in the northern North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea and depress the availability of common prey resources of other salmon, resident seabirds and other pelagic species.

Spring and other authors of the study found a correlation between the increasing abundance of pink salmon and declining abundance and productivity at breeding sites in southeastern Australia of short-tailed shearwaters, a bird that migrates from nesting grounds in the South Pacific Ocean to wintering grounds in the North Pacific Ocean.

The researchers said they can view the biennial pulses of pink salmon as a large, replicated, natural experiment that offers opportunities to better learn how these ecosystems function. By exploring trophic interaction chains driven by pink salmon, they said they may achieve a deeper conservation conscientiousness for northern open oceans.

Seafood Aficionados Brace for Copper River Opener

Less than 24 hours from now Alaska’s famed Copper River salmon fishery gets underway, with first deliveries anticipated in Anchorage, Alaska, and Seattle, Washington, by Friday morning, May 18. Rain is in the forecast, along with temperatures in the low 40s.

To celebrate the arrival, gourmet chefs will face off on the tarmac at Seattle Sea-Tac Airport to see who can prepare the most creative dish made of wild caught king salmon fillets, delivered by Alaska Airlines fresh from the Copper River.

The online company FishEx in Anchorage is accepting orders for fresh Copper River sockeye salmon fillet premium portions for $46.95 a pound, compared with $34.99 a pound at Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle.

While prices have yet to be set, the popular downtown Anchorage restaurant Orso has already added to its menu a wild Alaska sockeye salmon pan seared entrée, with asparagus, baby carrots, basil pesto, balsamic glaze and fresh lemon, for $29.95.

Copper River Seafoods and 49th State Brewing Co. have teamed up to kick-off the summer salmon season with a family-friendly event on Saturday, May 19, showcasing a variety of award-winning dishes by five popular Alaska chefs.

Chefs Thomas Chapman and Daniel Shier of the 49th State Brewing Co., are preparing Salmon Mi-Cuit, a sous-vide sockeye, with whipped mascarpone, salter baguette and aromatics, plus a sockeye belly hand roll, with nori, furikake, sushi rice, compressed cucumber and Wasabi mayo. Chef Jeremy Fike of Glacier Brewhouse and Orso restaurants is preparing a crème brulee salmon. Chef Laura Cole of 229 Parks Restaurant & Tavern, just outside of Denali National Park and Preserve, will serve up Copper River salmon and spot prawn, sea lettuce dashi with pickled plums, tomatoes, green onion, cilantro, sesame, crispy salmon skin and Asuki beans. A chef for Westmark Hotels, also in Anchorage, will serve pecan and maple crusted wild Alaska salmon with mushroom potato hash.

Tickets for the event can be purchased for $15 a piece either at the door or online at https://salmonseasonkickoff.brownpapertickets.com. Children under 12 are free. Space is limited and advance purchase is advised.

New Report Shows Disruptive Impact of Climate Change on Fisheries

A university study published online today in the journal PLOS ONE concludes that climate change will force hundreds of ocean fish and invertebrate species, including Pacific rockfish, to move northward. The Rutgers University led study, funded by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Pew Charitable Trusts, says these populations, being sensitive to water temperatures, often shift to where that water temperature is right for them.

Their research draws in part on bottom trawl surveys of the Gulf of Alaska, Eastern Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands conducted from 1983 through 2014 by NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

Lead author James Morley noted that shifts of a couple of hundred miles in a species’ range can disrupt fisheries. “This study shows that such dislocations will happen all over the continent and on both coasts throughout the 21st century,” he said.

Co-author Malin Pinsky, at Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, pointed out that for commercial harvesters, this often means longer trips and higher fuel costs. “Some species along the US and Canadian Pacific coasts will move as much as 900 miles north from their current habitats,” he said.

15 Communities Share in NSEDC’s Fisheries Bounty

Fifteen communities in Alaska’s Norton Sound area are getting a mid-year financial boost earned from the bounty of Bering Sea fisheries.

Norton Sound Economic Development Corp. (NSEDC) is giving each of the 15 communities $133,333 as a mid-year share of their profits from groundfish and crab fishery harvests.

NSEDC is one of six Western Alaska Community Development quota groups allocated a percentage of all Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands quotas for groundfish, prohibited species, halibut and crab, to provide social and economic benefits for residents of Western Alaska.

Siu Alaska Corp., NSEDC’s wholly-owned for-profit subsidiary, issued a $2 million dividend to NSEDC, to allow for the disbursement.

“NSEDC’s normal community benefit share distribution comes at the end of the year, but we have been hearing from many of our communities that they are facing significant needs now,” said Dan Harrelson, board chairman. “Whether it’s for aging critical infrastructure, like water, sewer and power; support for our youth and elders; or search and rescue equipment; our communities utilize this funding for items that are vital to the health and well-being of our residents.”

NSEDC traditionally issues an annual community benefit share at its quarterly meeting in November, and for the past five years that share has been $150,000 per community. This is the second time that NSEDC has issued an additional, mid-year community benefit share, the first one occurred in 2012.

With this latest disbursement, NSEDC has allocated to member communities a total of $30.2 million. The NSEDC board also approved 18 community level grants for a total of $668,000 and two regional grants totaling $92,000. In early May, the board awarded $20,000 to fund an intensive course for up to 10 Head Start teachers to earn early childhood education credits. The board additionally voted for a $10,000 increase in funding for Norton Sound commercial fishermen through its revolving loan fund, raising the loan cap to $35,000. The fund is designed to help resident commercial harvesters purchase fishing equipment. Borrowers are required to put 10 percent down and pay back the loans within seven years.

Copper River Salmon Fishery Opens May 17

Alaska’s famed Copper River salmon fishery will open for the 2018 season at 7 a.m. on May 17 for a 12-hour commercial fishing period. Prior to the start of the commercial season, the Copper River District subsistence fishery will open for a single 12-hour period starting at 7 a.m. on May 15. Waters within an expanded Chinook salmon inside closure area will be closed during both periods.

Aficionados of the celebrated opener are already starting to place orders for first run fillets of Copper River reds and kings, even though the price per pound has not been determined. Seattle’s Pike Place Fish Market is already posting a price of $54.99 a pound for wild Copper River king salmon, $174.93 per fish for Copper River reds, $74.99 a pound for wild Copper River king salmon fillets and $34.99 a pound for wild Copper River sockeye fillets.

10th & M Seafoods in Anchorage, Alaska, isn’t releasing prices yet, but started to take orders over the phone. A spokesman for the company said they are expecting a lot more orders to come in just days before the fishery begins.

Copper River Seafoods meanwhile is getting ready to kick off the season with a direct flight out of Cordova to Seattle area markets eager for the fresh fillets, and a celebration at the 49th Street Brewing Company in Anchorage. Three hundred tickets, at $15 apiece are being sold for this family-friendly event that will feature live music and sample gourmet dishes of Copper River sockeyes prepared by chefs from five popular Alaska restaurants.

“We’re due for a good run here,” said Copper River Seafoods spokesman Marty Weiser, “We’re all feeling very optimistic.”

PFDs Save Lives, But Many Still Don’t Wear Them

Fatal falls overboard keep commercial fishing in the top ranks of most dangerous jobs in America, and yet many commercial harvesters still resist wearing the personal floatation devices (PFD) that might save their lives in such incidents.

A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that from 2000 through 2016 a total of 204 commercial fishermen died from unintentional falls overboard, including 51 – or 25 percent of the total – in Alaska. One hundred and 20 of those victims were employed as deckhands, nine of them had taken formal marine safety training.

According to the CDC, the majority of those falls were not witnessed, however, for the 83 that were and rescue attempts made, 22 victims were recovered, but none successfully resuscitated. In all instances, none of the victims was wearing a PFD at the time of death.

One of the authors of the study, epidemiologist Samantha Case, said some harvesters still think PFDs are too big and bulky or think of them as an entanglement hazard. Others found them effective but had a fatalist attitude about falling overboard.

Jerry Dzugan, of the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA) said he feels progress is being made in getting more harvesters to wear PFDs, but it is at a minimal rate.

In every workshop host by AMSEA, instructors present each group of 18 participants with a variety of PFDs available on the market and one or two in each class will say they plan on buying one, although he cannot confirm if they actually do. “The other problem is the old cultural bias against wearing them,” said Dzugan, “that they are not macho.” Historically, there is an emotional reason why some people don’t wear them, fatalism, but on the bright side, he is finding younger harvests more open to the idea about using them.

The study is available online at https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6716a2.htm?s_cid=mm6716a2_e

NPFMC Meets in Kodiak June 4–11

Initial reviews of fixed gear catcher vessel rockfish retention, halibut retention, and a Bering Sea/Aleutian Island Pacific cod trawl catcher vessel analysis are on the agenda for the upcoming federal fisheries meeting in Kodiak June 4–11.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) has scheduled a preliminary review, including a discussion of interaction with Aleutian Island Pacific cod set aside adjustment analysis. Other major items on the agenda include discussion papers on Gulf of Alaska pollock and cod seasons and allocations, Gulf Tanner crab observer efforts, and self-guided halibut rental boats.

The federal council will also do a review of the 2017 observer annual report and hear an electronic monitoring workgroup report.

The meeting will be held at the Kodiak Best Western Convention Center in Alaska. All sessions are open to the public except for executive sessions. The council is accepting public comment through June 1 through its eComment Portal: comments.npfmc.org

The council meeting will be broadcasted live at https://mpfmc.adobeconnect.com/june2018.

ABSC Names Goen as Executive Director

Fisheries industry veteran Jamie Goen has joined Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers (ABSC) as executive director.

Goen, who holds a master’s degree in marine policy from the University of Washington, has extensive experience in fisheries management. In her work and travels she has sailed every ocean except the Arctic.

“Throughout my career, I have been drawn to stakeholders and their role in managing resources, helping them navigate process and encouraging their voice,” Goen said.

After graduate school Goen worked briefly for the North Pacific Fishing Vessel Owners Association’s vessel safety program, before joining the National Marine Fisheries Service for 15 years, predominantly working on catch share programs. Most of her time there was spent with the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery, working on the limited entry fixed gear sablefish permit stacking program, and as the lead on implementation of the trawl rationalization program.

She also spent a year in New England working on the Atlantic Sea Scallop quota program, and later on temporary special assignment as the congressional affairs liaison to the head of NOAA Fisheries, handling all congressional requests, helping to prepare briefing materials for congressional hearings and coordinating national announcements of high profile federal actions.

Most recently, at the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), Goen was charged with overseeing their data collection programs from fisheries and fisheries-independent surveys, and also was involved in regulations and fisheries policy.

ABSC members are engaged in harvesting king, snow and bairdi crab in the Bering Sea and are actively involved in scientific research, policy development and marketing, with a commitment to the sustainability of the Bering Sea crab fishery.

Salmon Ballot Initiative’s Fate Rests with Court

Alaska Supreme Court judges will ultimately decide by early September the initial fate of the Yes for Salmon initiative slated to go on the state’s general election ballot in November.

The five justices heard arguments in Anchorage, Alaska on April 26 from the Alaska Attorney General’s office and Stand for Salmon sponsors on whether the initiative to strengthen requirements for the permitting of renewable resource projects, including mines, is legally qualified to go to a vote. The court now has until September 5 to issue a ruling.

If the court rules in favor of the initiative, it goes to the ballot. The court could also find certain provisions in the ballot initiative unconstitutional and eliminate those provisions, still allowing the initiative to go to a vote.

Alaska Assistant Attorney General Joanne Grace, arguing for the state, told the court that “many large projects in Alaska, including natural resource development projects, cannot be built without permanently displacing some amount of anadromous habitat as it is very broadly defined in this bill.

“The second critical element is the plain language of the bill, which gives Fish and Game no discretion to grant a permit or an activity that will permanently displace the habitat for that category of activities,” Grace said.

Attorney Valerie Brown of Trustees of Alaska, representing Stand for Salmon, acknowledge that some permits would be denied if the initiative passed, but told the judges “that is not the test that this court applies. If the permitting scheme could lead to a denial after the exercise of legislative discretion, that’s permissible.”

“I think what the initiative does is it forces maybe re-siting or technology for projects that will cause adverse impacts,” she added.

During the court session, justices asked a number of questions about whether they could remove portions of the initiative, letting the rest of it stand on the ballot. But they noted that such action would only be allowed if it did not change the reason why thousands of signatures were collected to put the initiative on the ballot.

The initiative qualified to be put on the ballot in January after the Stand for Salmon sponsors submitted more than 43,000 signatures from all 40 legislative districts to the state’s Division of Elections.

The state had rejected the initiative language as unconstitutional in September 2017. Stand for Salmon appealed that decision to the Alaska Superior Court, winning a reversal and the state then appealed that decision to the Alaska Supreme Court.

Bering River Coal Shareholder to Divest

The majority shareholder in the Korea Alaska Development Corp. says he is giving the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council (EVOS) until May 28 to buy his shares or risk development of the coal prospect on the eastern edge of Prince William Sound.

H. Joe Shin, chairman of KADCO, made his offer in a letter in late April.

Shin said KADCO still is agreeable to enter into a conservation transaction to help conserve the area of the coal field to further the restoration mission of EVOS. Shin, who will celebrate his 80th birthday in a few months, said that over the last three decades he has developed a special kinship with Cordova, but now he must make some decisions, including what to do with his majority shares in the company. He said that arrangements have been made with others with minority shareholder status in KADCO to convey some shares to them, allowing them to become majority shareholders, unless an agreement is reached with EVOS by May 28.

A coalition of Alaskans, including marine conservation biologist Rick Steiner of Anchorage, have for years urged that funds for oil spill recovery from the Exxon Valdez disaster be used to retire the Bering River coal field patent from the Korean entity. In December the coalition, including hundreds of individuals, plus small businesses and nonprofits, urged the trustee council to use part of the EVOS settlement funds for a “link to injury” determination needed for any potential habitat project related to the species and human services injured by the 1980 Exxon Valdez disaster. So far, the trustees have only agreed to have staff scope the potential link to injury of fish and wildlife resources and human services in the Copper River Delta.

“Never has there been a more appropriate opportunity to use EVOS funds as to buy and retire the Bering River coalfield owned by KADCO,” Steiner said. “Chugach Alaska Corp. did its share last year, by selling interests in their forest in Carbon Mountain, along with the residual coal, in the California carbon market.

“But the vast majority of the environmental threat in the region remains in the Bering River Coalfield, still owned by KADCO,” he said.

According to Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Sam Cotten, who serves as a trustee on the council, the big issue is that these coal fields are outside of the Exxon Valdez oil spill area, and the matter currently is not a huge priority for the council.

Murkowski: Frankenfish Fight Not Over

In the wake of a Federal Drug Administration decision to approve an application for an AquaBounty salmon facility in Indiana, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, says the fight against Frankenfish is not over.

The Alaska Republican issued a statement on May 1 saying she will continue to push for clear labeling of this product, if it enters the domestic marketplace, and for proper oversight. The senator is a sponsor of the Genetically Engineered Salmon Labeling Act.

Murkowski noted that genetically engineered salmon are currently evaluated under the FDA’s New Animal Drug Application, a program intended to oversee antibiotics and medicines used on animals and livestock. “The fact that the FDA does not have a proper approval process in place for these new GE (genetically engineered) animals for human consumption is frightening and appalling,” she said. “Alaska’s fisheries are world renowned for their high quality, productivity and sustainability, and these genetically modified salmon could potentially devastate our wild populations of salmon and desolate our fisheries,” she said.

While the Indiana plant is approved for production, the company is prohibited from importing the eggs necessary for producing GE salmon there, meaning that U.S. production of the genetically engineered fish is not allowed. That’s because of a requirement in FDA’s current appropriations law that Murkowski championed, which was added in the recent fiscal year 2018 government funding bill and signed into law in March.

Harvester Posthumously Named Fisherman of the Year

United Fishermen of Alaska (UFA) has posthumously named Michael Bangs of Petersburg its Fisherman of the Year for 2018.

UFA is honoring Bangs, who passed away at his home in February, at the age of 62, as an industry leader in development of the roe-on-kelp and dive fisheries in Southeast Alaska.

Bangs had been the chair of the Southeast Regional Subsistence Advisory Council and served on that body since 2003. He also served on the Petersburg Fish and Game Advisory Committee.

“Michael Bangs was a prime example that the job of a commercial fisherman is not limited to just working on the boat,” said Frances Leach, executive director of UFA. “Michael’s involvement on the Southeast Regional Subsistence Advisory Council, Petersburg Fish and Game Advisory Committee and on the Southeast Alaska Regional Dive Fisheries Association demonstrates his service and involvement in public policy and helped paved the way to keep Alaska fishermen fishing.”

UFA, the statewide organization for Alaska’s commercial fishing industry, has since 2001, honored persons of the year in fisheries politics and fishermen.

Past recipients of the fisheries politics award have included former Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski, the late Sen. Ted Stevens, and twice Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

A complete list of past honorees is available online at www.ufafish.org/about/ufa-awards/