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.