NPFMC Considering Charter Halibut, Chinook PSC

Catch limits are lowered for the commercial halibut fishery that got underway in Alaska on March 24, and now federal fisheries managers are preparing for final action on charter halibut permits, along with adjustments to limits on the Chinook salmon prohibited species catch.

Both items are on the agenda for the spring meeting of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) in Anchorage, Alaska schedule for April 2–10.

The preliminary preferred alternative for an annual renewal process for charter halibut permits (CHP) includes a requirement for permit holders to renew annually with the Restricted Access Management Program of National Marine Fisheries Services. The council said its intent is to provide more complete and useful information to evaluate whether amendments to the CHP program are necessary as a result of changes in ownership and participation of CHP holders, to facilitate retirement of non-transferable permits when ownership changes, and to improve the ability of enforcement agents to ensure valid permits are being used.

The council also plans final action on the mixing of halibut caught under guided and unguided conditions on the same fishing boat.

Regulations differ for halibut harvests of guided and unguided halibut fishing trips. Unguided anglers may harvest halibut of any size without restriction and are not subject to an annual catch limit, while anglers harvesting halibut aboard charter boats are subject to restrictions on daily bag limits, size, daily closures and annual catch limits.

The council’s preliminary preferred alternative is an option to implement International Pacific Halibut Commission annual management measures for guided sport fish for all halibut onboard fishing vessels in Southeast and Southcentral Alaska if halibut harvested using sport fishing guide services is possessed with halibut harvests without those charter services.

The complete meeting agenda is available online at http://legistar2.granicus.com/npfmc/meetings/2018/4/977_A_North_Pacific_Council_18-04-02_Meeting_Agenda.pdf

The meeting will be broadcast at https://npfmc.adobeconnect.com/april2018. Motions will be posted on the website following the meeting.

Nominations Posted for Alaska Seats on IPHC, NPFMC

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker has nominated six people to fill two Alaska seats on the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) that expire on March 31, 2018 plus six more for two seats on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) that expire August 10.

The IPHC nominees include incumbent Alaska representatives Linda Behnken, of Sitka, Alaska and Bob Alverson, of Seattle, Wash., whose terms are expiring.

Behnken, a veteran longliner, is the president of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, and a former member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Alverson, the general manager of the Fishing Vessel Owners Association, is also a former member of NPFMC.

Other nominees include:

• Stephen Joner, of Port Angeles, Wash., who is the chief biologist for Makah fisheries management with the Makah Tribe.

• Richard Yamada, of Juneau, Alaska, owner/ operator of a sport-fishing lodge in Southeast Alaska. • Andy Mezirow, of Seward, Alaska, who is a charter boat captain, fisheries manager and serves on the NPFMC.

• Duane Edelman, of Valdez, Alaska, also a commercial harvester, employed as a mechanical maintenance technician for Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.

The IPHC nominees must be vetted by the Department of Commerce and State Department, then forwarded for consideration for presidential appointments.

Mezirow, whose appointment on the NPFMC expires in August, is also nominated for reappointment to the council. The two seats opening at IPHC include Mezirow’s and that of current council chairman Dan Hull, of Anchorage, Alalska who can’t be reappointed following the end of his third term on the council.

Other NPFMC nominees include

• Paul Gronholdt, of Sand Point, a commercial harvester;

• Greg Indroeland, manager of Yakutat Seafoods in Yakutat, Alaska;

• John Jensen, of Petersburg, Alaska, a commercial harvester and chairman of the Alaska Board of Fisheries;

• Dan Falvey, of Sitka, Alaska, a veteran harvester and project coordinator for the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association; and

• Tom Panamaross, of Kodiak, Alaska, regional and legislative affairs executive with Koniag, Inc., the regional Native association for the Kodiak region of Alaska.

Walker has also appointed Duncan Fields, of Kodiak, and reappointed Orville Huntington, of Huslia, Alaska, to the Alaska Board of Fisheries, pending approval from the state Legislature.

Fields, a veteran harvester and attorney, completed a third term with NPFMC in 2016. Huntington, whose term expires on June 30, is the wildlife and parks director for the Tanana Chiefs Conference in Fairbanks.

E-Stop Switch Helps Prevent Injury

Emergency stop switches for hydraulic purse seine winches have been licensed for commercial use since 2007, but vessel owners have been slow to put them on board. While fatalities are rare, there have been a number of severe injuries, ranging from compound fractures and dislocations to amputations caused by individuals getting entangled in the winch.

Why such a hard sell is still somewhat of a puzzle, and the matter came under discussion this past week during ComFish 2018 in Kodiak, Alaska.

The concept is simple: if a crewmember becomes entangled in the winch, pushing the E-stop locks the winch in place immediately. The crew can then return the control valve back to neutral and the button can be reset to free the individual from the winch.

While fatalities are rare, there have been a number of severe injuries, ranging from compound fractures and dislocations to amputations caused by individuals getting entangled in the winch.

Why then do so few purse seiners have winches with E-Stops on board?

Cost is a factor. The E-stop switch kit for a purse seine winch runs several thousand dollars for the product and installation.

One harvester at ComFish 2018, where researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health spoke about the safety benefits of the E-Stop, suggested that discount incentives from insurance companies for having them on board would help justify the expensive installation cost.

Veteran fishermen who were injured by winches give their rational on installing E-Stop and why they feel it’s important to have them onboard in a video titled “The Most Powerful Thing…Deck Safety Awareness for Purse Seiners.” The safety awareness video by the NIOSH Spokane Research Lab, is posted online at www.kolstrand.com/products/e-stop-emergency-stop-switch/ and can also be downloaded from NIOSH at https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/video/seining.html.

For additional information, visit www.cdc.gov/niosh or call 800-356-4674.

Healthy Pollock Fishery Ahead for Kodiak in 2019

Preliminary results of NOAA Fishery’s winter 2018 acoustic surveys for Kodiak and the Shumagin Islands, southwest of Kodiak in the Aleutians, bode well for 2019 Pollock fisheries in those areas.

“We are seeing lots of fish,” NOAA Fisheries biologist Darin Jones told harvesters during ComFish 2018 – Alaska’s largest commercial fisheries forum and trade show.

The final report won’t be completed until summer. It will then go to the groundfish plan team, which makes recommendations to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, but Jones said he expects no significant changes in the numbers.

The acoustic surveys show lots of 2012 year class Pollock, which have started reproducing, so there is a fairly large one-year old-year class coming into the fishery right now, and that’s a good sign, he said. Overall the acoustic surveys show results similar to amounts observed last year, he added.

Pollock are spawned in March, and the numbers of young Pollock observed in June, July and August of last year showed that they are survived the roughest life stage, he said.

Eophausiid, small shrimp-like crustaceans, are a major food source for young Pollock. The young Pollock, in turn, are a food source for many other marine species, from whales and sea lions to cod, arrowtooth flounder and even Pollock, who are cannibalistic by nature.

Along with the acoustic surveys, harvesters heard a presentation from NOAA Fisheries research biologist Patrick Ressler, on innovative tools aimed at improving their surveys, including the use of Saildrones, carrying acoustics packages, which can be monitored from a desk in the office.

Word of a healthy abundance of Pollock was good news to Kodiak harvesters, who saw their allowable catch quota for Pacific cod cut by 80 percent, due to a dramatically decreased number of cod found in surveys of the Gulf of Alaska.

The exvessel value of cod is higher than for Pollock, but the pounds delivered in Pollock is so much better, said Julie Bonney, executive director of the Alaska Groundfish Data Bank. Last year Kodiak area harvesters brought in 243 million pounds of Pollock, and 59 million pounds of cod, she noted. In addition, the young Pollock managed to survey the Pacific Blob, a pool of exceptionally warm water observed last year in some areas of the Alaska coastline. The blob began in late 2013 and persisted at least into 2016.

Salmon Initiative Certified for Alaska’s 2018 Ballot

An initiative aimed at providing additional protection of wild salmon habitat will be on Alaska’s primary ballot if the legislative session ends on time, or the general election ballot if the Legislature goes into special session.

The Alaska Division of Elections on March 15 certified the “Yes for Salmon” initiative, clearing the way for voters to decide either in the primary or general election.

Meanwhile, the Alaska House Special Committee on Fisheries continued working on House Bill 199, which would establish general fish and wildlife permits and anadromous fish habitat permits for certain activities, to protect fish and game and their habitat. The likelihood of passage, which could replace the ballot initiative, appeared uncertain in this session as the big focus is on the state budget.

Supporters, including commercial fishing and conservation entities gathered nearly 42,000 signatures to put the “Yes for Salmon” initiative on the ballot. If approved, the initiative would update the 60-year-old state law to promote balanced, accountable management of development projects, with regulation limiting the amount of disturbance to fish habitat allowed for such projects. Current law sets no specific limits on disturbance of fish habitat for such projects, including the proposed Pebble mine site adjacent to the Bristol Bay watershed.

The effort to put the “Yes for Salmon” initiative on the ballot came from the Stand campaign, a diverse group of Alaska-based individuals, businesses and organizations.

“Salmon is our way of life, a cornerstone of our culture and economy,” said Stephanie Quinn-Davidson, a ballot sponsor and director of the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. “Promoting responsible development is something we can control and is the most important proactive step we can take to keep our runs strong. And now we officially have the chance to vote on this critical issue.”

Salmon is also critical to Alaska’s economy, providing nearly 30,000 jobs for Alaskans and generating $2 billion in economic activity. The fishing industry also pours millions of dollars in taxes and other revenues into fishing communities and the state economy as a whole.

The initiative has drawn criticism from some businesses and others who fear it would restrict development of nonrenewable resource extraction projects. Leading the opposition is a coalition of Alaska Native corporations, unions, and business and industry organizations. Stand for Alaska contends that the initiative would not negatively impact private projects, as well as public infrastructure projects and facilities.

Interim Final Rule on Halibut Catch Implemented

An interim final rule for 2018 Pacific halibut catch limits published days before the fishery begins on March 24 lowers allowable catch by over 15 percent in Southeast Alaska and 16 percent in the Western Gulf of Alaska.

The interim final rule revised the catch sharing plan for commercial individual fishing quota and guided sport halibut fisheries in areas 2C (Southeast Alaska) and 3A (Central Gulf of Alaska), as well as the catch sharing plan for the commercial IFQ and Western Alaska Community Development Quota halibut fisheries in areas 4C, 4D and 4E.

The National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) noted that the action was necessary because the International Pacific Halibut Commission, during its annual January meeting, did not recommend new catch limits or specific catch sharing plan allocations and charter management measures for areas 2C, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D and 4E for the current year.

The catch limit for Area 2C dropped 15.2 percent, from 5,250,000 pounds in 2017 to 4,450,000 pounds in 2018. In the Central Gulf of Alaska, the catch limit went from 10,000,000 pounds to 9,450,000 pounds a 5.5 percent reduction, while the Western Gulf of Alaska saw a 16.6 percent drop, passing from 3,140,000 pounds to 2,620,000 pounds.

For the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, the allocations are:

• for area 4A – 1,370,000 pounds, down 1.4 percent from 1,390,000 pounds

• for area 4B – 1,050,000 pounds, down 7.9 percent from 1,140,000 pounds

• for areas 4 CD and E – 1,580,000 pounds, down 7.1 percent from 1,700,000 pounds.

NMFS also set the guided sport catch limits at 810,000 pounds for Southeast Alaska and 1,790,000 pounds for the Central Gulf.

ComFish 2018 Comes to Kodiak March 22–24

ComFish 2018, which this year focuses mainly on the impact of climate change on Alaska’s fisheries, will open this week in Kodiak, Alaska. The trade show that runs concurrently with the conference will feature many industry related new products and novel ideas.

ComFish discussions will open on Thursday, March 22, with a seafood market update from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute and the McDowell Group, followed by a state issues update from Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott, and discussions on the impact of global warming from scientists with the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. The afternoon discussion will focus on the impact of “The Blob” and will address its impact on the Pacific cod fishery, which is leading to an 80 percent reduction in the allowable catch for 2018, as well as discussion on recent actions of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

A preview of Exercise Northern Edge 2019 from officers with the US Pacific Fleet is on tap for March 23. An update on Alaska’s fish habitat permitting law, a review of fatalities on commercial fishing vessels, new technology to measure halibut bycatch are among the other topics on the agenda.

An array of seafood harvested by Kodiak fisheries will be on display on the morning of March 24, at a processor recognition and fish exhibit outdoor event at the Kodiak Harbor Convention Center.

Then comes the Fishermen’s Showcase, a lively competition where Kodiak harvesters vie for the title of most able fisherman by completing five skills, while the crowd cheers them on.

Preliminary results of NOAA ‘s winter 2018 acoustic surveys on Pollock and an introduction to new survey tools wind up the gathering.

The complete schedule of presenters, and trade show participants, is available online at www.kodiakchamber.org/comfish.