The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Fisheries and Oceans Canada are saying their tests have found no confirmed cases of the infectious salmon anemia virus, after investigating earlier reports that the virus was found in wild Pacific salmon.
A spokesperson for the CFIA said during a news conference on Nov. 8 that that agency, is continuing to investigate reports of the ISA virus in British Columbia, collaborating with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the province of British Columbia and the Atlantic Veterinary College.
The Canadian spokesperson said all 48 samples received as part of the original investigation were tested and found to be negative for the virus, and that these findings were consistent with those of an independent laboratory in Norway, which also tested samples associated with this investigation.
The virus was initially detected in two of 48 juvenile sockeye salmon which were part of a long-term study of sockeye salmon let by Rick Routledge, a researcher at Simon Fraser University. Fred Kibenge of the Atlantic Veterinary College at the University of Prince Edward Island then confirmed the presence of the ISA virus in two fish.
Their reports prompted concern in both Canada and the United States that the virus, which is lethal to Atlantic salmon, could spread to wild Pacific salmon stocks.
U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington State, as well as Senators Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Mark Begich, D-Alaska, are calling on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to conduct its own tests on the fish.
Previous outbreaks of the ISA virus in Chile and Norway have done significant damage to their fishing industries.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Salmon Virus
Alaska fisheries officials are keeping a close watch on Canadian efforts to track samples from sockeye salmon that showed exposure to infectious salmon anemia virus, or ISA. The concern stems from Canadian reports that two of 38 Pacific salmon smolt caught in the waters of British Columbia tested positive for the virus, which is lethal to farmed Atlantic salmon, but whose effect on wild Pacific salmon is unknown. The virus is not known to be harmful to humans.
Jeff Regnart, director of commercial fisheries for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said Nov. 1 that fisheries scientist Ted Meyers, a pathologist, is in daily contact with his Canadian counterparts on the matter, as they await the results of further testing. “Once this second round of tests is completed, we will take appropriate action” Regnart said. State Fish and Game Commissioner Cora Campbell said earlier that the agency will take all necessary measures to protect Alaska stocks.
Meyers cautioned that while state fisheries officials are concerned, they do not want to overreact before receiving more definitive information from Canadian authorities.
The cautionary approach was not winning support, however, from industry folks like Dale Kelley, executive director of the Alaska Trollers Association in Juneau.
Kelley said in an editorial published in the Vancouver Sun newspaper that she has no desire to strike fear into the hearts of the public or the fishermen that she represents.
“However, we need transparency and assurance that appropriate steps are underway,” she wrote. “If the Canadian government has information to quell our concerns, we have not yet heard it. If they have an effective plan of action, we have not yet seen it. How do fisheries professionals in Canada and along the West Coast intend to safeguard wild fish and fishing communities from the introduction of foreign disease strains now, and into the future? We’re listening.”
Jeff Regnart, director of commercial fisheries for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said Nov. 1 that fisheries scientist Ted Meyers, a pathologist, is in daily contact with his Canadian counterparts on the matter, as they await the results of further testing. “Once this second round of tests is completed, we will take appropriate action” Regnart said. State Fish and Game Commissioner Cora Campbell said earlier that the agency will take all necessary measures to protect Alaska stocks.
Meyers cautioned that while state fisheries officials are concerned, they do not want to overreact before receiving more definitive information from Canadian authorities.
The cautionary approach was not winning support, however, from industry folks like Dale Kelley, executive director of the Alaska Trollers Association in Juneau.
Kelley said in an editorial published in the Vancouver Sun newspaper that she has no desire to strike fear into the hearts of the public or the fishermen that she represents.
“However, we need transparency and assurance that appropriate steps are underway,” she wrote. “If the Canadian government has information to quell our concerns, we have not yet heard it. If they have an effective plan of action, we have not yet seen it. How do fisheries professionals in Canada and along the West Coast intend to safeguard wild fish and fishing communities from the introduction of foreign disease strains now, and into the future? We’re listening.”
Bristol Bay Red King Crab Update
With quotas down by 47 percent and prices skyrocketing to $20 a pound delivered in Japan, this year’s Bristol Bay red king crab fishery is attracting a lot of attention.
The fishery began on Oct. 15, and by Nov. 1, 82 percent of the total allowable harvest of 7.8 million pounds had been landed. That’s 7,050,600 pounds to the individual fishing quota permit holders, plus another 783,400 pounds for community development quota entities.
State fisheries officials said 62 vessels were participating, down three from a year ago.
Prominent crab buyer Rob George of the Law Vegas-based Crab Broker, said this year’s fishery reminds him a bit of the old pre-crab rationalization legislation derby days.
George, who makes an annual foray to Dutch Harbor to watch the crab come in, said most of the boats were on the crab, and several reached their quota quickly.
George noted that there is no cheap crab on the market right now and that most consumers will have to look hard to find any true Alaska king crab in their stores.
Some harvesters, like Kodiak’s Mark Israelson of the fishing vessel Island Mist questioned survey results that led to the harvest quota being slashed by 47 percent this season. George said a lot of skippers and crews told him that they were finding an abundance of crab, plus a lot of undersized crab, which were promptly returned to the ocean. That should bode well for the 2012-2013 season, he said.
But Regnart said his agency was doing the best job they can with the money they have to do it with.
The fishery began on Oct. 15, and by Nov. 1, 82 percent of the total allowable harvest of 7.8 million pounds had been landed. That’s 7,050,600 pounds to the individual fishing quota permit holders, plus another 783,400 pounds for community development quota entities.
State fisheries officials said 62 vessels were participating, down three from a year ago.
Prominent crab buyer Rob George of the Law Vegas-based Crab Broker, said this year’s fishery reminds him a bit of the old pre-crab rationalization legislation derby days.
George, who makes an annual foray to Dutch Harbor to watch the crab come in, said most of the boats were on the crab, and several reached their quota quickly.
George noted that there is no cheap crab on the market right now and that most consumers will have to look hard to find any true Alaska king crab in their stores.
Some harvesters, like Kodiak’s Mark Israelson of the fishing vessel Island Mist questioned survey results that led to the harvest quota being slashed by 47 percent this season. George said a lot of skippers and crews told him that they were finding an abundance of crab, plus a lot of undersized crab, which were promptly returned to the ocean. That should bode well for the 2012-2013 season, he said.
But Regnart said his agency was doing the best job they can with the money they have to do it with.
Southeast Alaska Forecast for Pink Salmon
A new forecast for pink salmon in Southeast Alaska in 2012 has the harvest coming in at some 17 million pinks, well below the recent 10-year average of 40 million pinks, but equal to the average harvest over the past three even years.
In the season just past there was a record run of pink salmon in northern Southeast Alaska, with nothing much going on in the southern part of Southeast.
State biologists say there are two primarily reasons to expect that the coming year’s harvest will be smaller than average. First, although biological escapement goals were met in the parent year, 2010, escapement indices were below average on inside waters north of Sumner Strait, state biologists said. Management targets for pink salmon were not met in four districts, and at a finer scale, for 7 of 24 pink salmon stock groups in that area.
The federal fisheries laboratory operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at Auke Bay continues to conduct research that has greatly improved the state’s ability to forecast pink salmon harvest in Southeast Alaska, and state forecasts using NOAA’s juvenile pink salmon data were much proved over previous forecasts, state officials said.
The department will manage the commercial purse seine fisheries in-season based on the strength of the salmon runs. Aerial escapement surveys and fishery performance data will continue to be essential in making in-season management decisions, biologists said.
In the season just past there was a record run of pink salmon in northern Southeast Alaska, with nothing much going on in the southern part of Southeast.
State biologists say there are two primarily reasons to expect that the coming year’s harvest will be smaller than average. First, although biological escapement goals were met in the parent year, 2010, escapement indices were below average on inside waters north of Sumner Strait, state biologists said. Management targets for pink salmon were not met in four districts, and at a finer scale, for 7 of 24 pink salmon stock groups in that area.
The federal fisheries laboratory operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at Auke Bay continues to conduct research that has greatly improved the state’s ability to forecast pink salmon harvest in Southeast Alaska, and state forecasts using NOAA’s juvenile pink salmon data were much proved over previous forecasts, state officials said.
The department will manage the commercial purse seine fisheries in-season based on the strength of the salmon runs. Aerial escapement surveys and fishery performance data will continue to be essential in making in-season management decisions, biologists said.
Pebble Update
State of Alaska officials have filed a constitutional challenge in Anchorage Superior Court against a Lake and Peninsula Borough ordinance recently enacted by a ballot initiative that stands to prevent development of the Pebble mine.
The initiative amended borough code to preclude granting permits for mining operations of greater than 640 acres that would give rise to a significant adverse impact on any salmon streams. The Pebble Limited Partnership, which hopes to build the mine, went to court to try and stop the initiative from getting on the ballot, but the Alaska Supreme Court denied an emergency petition for review by a lower court hearing, choosing to defer a decision on the legality of the ballot measure until after the Oct. 4 election.
The mine is a joint venture of Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., in Vancouver, British Columbia, and London-based Anglo American PLC.
Mining advocates say the massive copper, gold and molybdenum project can be developed in harmony with the commercial, sport and subsistence fisheries resources of Southwest Alaska. A number of fisheries and conservation groups argue that such a mine could prove disastrous to the fisheries.
The state’s lawsuit alleges that the borough ordinance is invalid because it tilts the constitutional balance between state and local interests. The state argues that the Alaska Constitution gives the state Legislature authority to determine how to develop resources for maximum use consistent with the public interest. State attorneys say it is the state’s duty to evaluate projects to determine whether they can be conducted in a way that serves the public interest, and if so, what safeguards to require. Under the Lake and Peninsula Borough ordinance, the state may never have that opportunity, the lawsuit says.
The initiative amended borough code to preclude granting permits for mining operations of greater than 640 acres that would give rise to a significant adverse impact on any salmon streams. The Pebble Limited Partnership, which hopes to build the mine, went to court to try and stop the initiative from getting on the ballot, but the Alaska Supreme Court denied an emergency petition for review by a lower court hearing, choosing to defer a decision on the legality of the ballot measure until after the Oct. 4 election.
The mine is a joint venture of Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., in Vancouver, British Columbia, and London-based Anglo American PLC.
Mining advocates say the massive copper, gold and molybdenum project can be developed in harmony with the commercial, sport and subsistence fisheries resources of Southwest Alaska. A number of fisheries and conservation groups argue that such a mine could prove disastrous to the fisheries.
The state’s lawsuit alleges that the borough ordinance is invalid because it tilts the constitutional balance between state and local interests. The state argues that the Alaska Constitution gives the state Legislature authority to determine how to develop resources for maximum use consistent with the public interest. State attorneys say it is the state’s duty to evaluate projects to determine whether they can be conducted in a way that serves the public interest, and if so, what safeguards to require. Under the Lake and Peninsula Borough ordinance, the state may never have that opportunity, the lawsuit says.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Voluntary Lowering of Lease Fees Offered By Some Crab Quota Share Holders
By Margaret Bauman
November 2011
A report of the crew work group meeting at Dutch Harbor during the October meeting of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council notes that some current crab quota shareholders have agreed to voluntarily lower lease rates.
The report, prepared by Edward Poulsen, distributed on Oct. 4 to members of the working group who participated in the Sept. 29 meeting, notes several issues covered by those in attendance and via teleconference, including a Kodiak connection.
It does not mention electronic data reporting, a subject on which the council will take final action at its December 5-13 meeting in Anchorage. Poulsen, former executive director and now an advisor to the Bering Sea Crabbers, said he was preparing an updated report on the meeting to deliver at the December meeting.
A number of people who crew on crab boats have expressed concern since the crab rationalization legislation went into effect several years ago about loss of jobs and income, mainly because of fleet consolidation and leasing of quota shares. Some crew members also feel they should have been allocated crew quota shares because of their long-term participation in this dangerous fishery, an opinion challenged by some vessel owners who said they have invested substantial capital in the fishery, as opposed to physical effort alone.
Several people representing crewmembers also want data reports made available that show specifically how much income crew members earned annually before the federal crab rationalization program was approved.
“What we would like to see on public record is the pay from pre-rationalization,” said Steve Branson, a veteran Kodiak fisherman. “It would be nice to be able to compare what was going on before and after privatization.”
Branson said after seven years of traveling from Kodiak to attend various meetings of the federal council he is not overly optimistic about change any more, even though ”the council now is more fair-minded. I don’t think it (crab rationalization) would have passed if it had been scrutinized more closely.”
Vessel owners held the Dutch Harbor meeting to discuss progress in development of measures to address crew issues, as a precursor to the industry’s report to the council in December.
First up on their agenda was a proposal of vessel owners to provide a right of first offer to active participants on 10 percent of the quota share being transferred in any transaction. The right is intended to increase the portion of the quota share pool held by persons actively fishing. The remaining 90 percent could be subject to a similar right of first offer for either people active in the fleet or owning a fishing vessel.
Proponents of the measure are still developing the specific agreement and suggested that a written description could be provided at the next meeting.
Vessel owners also reported that a substantial portion of current quota holders have agreed to voluntarily limit their lease rates to 65 percent in the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery and 50 percent in the Bering Sea opilio fishery, Poulsen said. The lower limit is intended to reduce the pressure on vessel owners that could arise under arrangements that only guarantee crew minimum shares of a vessel’s gross revenues, Poulsen said. In the absence of limits on lease rates, a reduction on the lease rates that may be charged to crew may disadvantage vessel owners that lease a substantial share of the quota that they harvest, he said.
Supporters of the limit on lease rates suggested that in the future cooperative agreements could be modified to include a limit on the lease rate percentage that may be charged to crew, Poulsen noted in his meeting report. However, it was also noted that affiliated coops would also need to implement similar changes that could be more difficult as they are not FCMA cooperatives, he said. In addition, provisions could be included in that agreement to prevent vessel owners from modifying crew contracts to pass on additional costs to crew that might offset the reduced charges on lease costs.
Before crab rationalization went into effect, crew made more money for their efforts because only a percentage of the vessel’s fuel, bait, food and pot loss were deducted before their percentage of the profit was calculated. Once crab rationalization went into effect, some vessels began fishing a great deal of leased quota shares, for which they were paying a lease fee of sometimes up to 80 percent of the harvest, and that lease fee was added to the list of vessel expenses deducted from crew pay.
Branson, who was not among those attending the Dutch Harbor meeting, said he would have made substantially more money the last time he crewed on a crab boat, had lease fees not been deducted.
Some crewmembers at the meeting expressed support for efforts of vessel owners to improve crew compensation through reduced lease fees. These representatives suggested that they would support allowing vessel owners to continue with the effort to use reduced lease rates to address the crew compensation issue.
Poulsen said meeting participants also discussed the means of evaluating the effects of the reduced lease rates on crew compensation.
Vessel owners offered to advance a list of quota holders and/or vessel owners who agreed to the arrangement, but opposed any effort to collect additional information on crew compensation.
These vessel owners expressed their opinion that the adequate information would be provided by the list of quota holders. Vessel owners said that, when available, electronic data reporting data would demonstrate specific effects on compensation.
Some crew representatives voiced concern that electronic data reporting data may not be available until more than a year after some seasons, which would limit the ability to address compensation, if the lease rate reduction measure fails to achieve its intended result. For this reason, they believe that some other means of demonstrating the effectiveness of the measure should be pursued, Poulsen said.
Vessel owners also offered to bring a written description of the agreement to limit lease rates to the next meeting for review by all participants. That description could help participants evaluate the measure, including the potential for reports to establish its effectiveness, Poulsen said.
It was suggested by staff that the group meet prior to the December meeting of the federal council, perhaps on Nov. 21, to ensure that all participants have the same understanding of the progress of discussions.
Poulsen said in an interview later that a loan program up and running since this summer allows crew to get low interest loans to purchase crab quota shares through the National Marine Fisheries service, with amortizations over a 20 year period. “The issue is the NMFS loan program is so low that there is not a lot of incentive for more programs, he said.
The federal crab rationalization program was the first and only program that gave 3 percent of the individual fishing quota shares to skippers. The quota share holders would not be supportive of reallocating quota shares, because it would be disruptive to their businesses now ongoing, he said.
Another Kodiak commercial fisheries veteran, Kodiak city council member Terry Haines, noted that efforts to get banks to offer reasonable interest rates to crew members seeking to buy into quota share did not work out well. “And you can’t blame them,” Haines said. ‘The whole concept makes the banks nervous, that crew might have rights to quota shares they have already given out loans on.”
Haines noted that the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act identifies quota shares in the crab fishery as a privilege that can be taken back at any time, if there is enough reason. “It makes the banks very nervous,” he said.
Caps on leased quota share, Haines said, are on the other hand something that is quite doable.
Another issue the council has not discussed is caps on the amount of quota share that may be harvested on the same vessel, he said. When huge amounts of leased quota are harvested on the same vessel, it takes away from a crew’s ability to leverage pay. The bottom line is, what is their percentage of net profits now? Before rationalization is was 6-8 percent for the crew and the skipper got 15 percent (after expenses). Now with 80 percent lease fees off the top that leaves you 20 percent,” he said.
Haines and others are also eager to get the crab electronic data reporting up and running to provide data that provides more information.
Public comment submitted at the Dutch Harbor meeting by Stephen Taufen for the Groundswell Fisheries Movement urged that data collection should include reconciled fish settlement accountings, and inclusion of each crab vessel’s by-species/fisheries lay share contracts.
The reconciled fish settlement accountings should detail whose quota is consolidated on which vessel, the rents or leases charged to the vessel and portion passed along to crews by lease, as well as shared trip settlement expenses by categories, such as fuel, bait, and gear, the percentage for each crewmember by name, showing individual trip settlement costs as well as total personal deductions, Taufen said.
The electronic data collection should also include lay share contracts for all captain and crewmembers, as part of the collection of data that confirms both quantitative analysis and qualitative assessment of whether or not the Bering Sea –Aleutian Islands crab rationalization program meets the requirement that in order to hold quota rights, all applicable federal laws must be obeyed by each IFQ holder, Taufen said.
Haines said that from a community perspective, he looks at the reduced revenue going out of communities as a result of consolidation of the fleet after rationalization and lease fees. From a community perspective, vessel caps and a limit on lease fees would address capital flight form communities, he said.
Haines is a member of the Crewmen’s Association, which has been advocating for crew rights for several years, but said he is more focused at this time on Fish Heads, an advocacy group for the preservation of the vitality of Alaska’s fishing communities.
A number of people who work as crew members have been reluctant to speak out about their support of the Crewmen’s Association, led by Shawn Dochtermann, and other advocates for crew rights because if they were to put their names on a list of those groups they could lose their jobs, he said.
Margaret Bauman can be reached at margieb42@mtaonline.net.
Salmon Virus Update
The chief pathologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says there is concern over reports that exposure to infectious salmon anemia virus was detected in sockeye salmon in British Columbia, but that people should not overreact.
There’s a good chance of false positives in those test results reported by researchers from Simon Fraser University from two of 48 sockeye salmon smolts in central British Columbia, said ADF&G’s Ted Meyers. Now those initial results are being analyzed through additional testing in a second laboratory to rule out any false positives and Alaska fishery scientists are awaiting results of those tests, he said.
“At this point we are concerned, but do not want to overreact as we await more definitive information from Canada,” he said.
There is some concern that the source of the salmon anemia virus, if indeed the additional tests confirm its presence, same from Atlantic salmon farms in British Columbia, which have imported millions of salmon eggs since the mid-1980s.
Meyers noted that regulations in place in Alaska do not allow importation of any fish for aquaculture purposes. The only root of infection could be from strays from British Columbia fish farms and the British Columbia farms have been examined for the past eight years for ISA virus and have been found to be negative, he said.
Still, if the virus is confirmed present in British Columbia migratory Pacific salmon or the Atlantic salmon stocks prevalent in British Columbia fish farms, there is concern over potential impacts to Alaska salmon stocks.
Senators Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Mark Begich, D-Alaska, Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., have introduced legislation directing government scientists to determine the scope and cause of the outbreak of infectious salmon anemia that has devastated salmon farms in Chile and elsewhere, and to recommend steps to protect the health of salmon stocks along the West Coast, Canada and Alaska. The scientists would have six months to complete their report.
Tim Bristol, director of Trout Unlimited’s Alaska Program, said it was fortunate that fish farms are outlawed in Alaska, but urged Alaska officials to take steps to protect Alaska’s wild salmon stocks and the critical habitat necessary for their sustained production.
There’s a good chance of false positives in those test results reported by researchers from Simon Fraser University from two of 48 sockeye salmon smolts in central British Columbia, said ADF&G’s Ted Meyers. Now those initial results are being analyzed through additional testing in a second laboratory to rule out any false positives and Alaska fishery scientists are awaiting results of those tests, he said.
“At this point we are concerned, but do not want to overreact as we await more definitive information from Canada,” he said.
There is some concern that the source of the salmon anemia virus, if indeed the additional tests confirm its presence, same from Atlantic salmon farms in British Columbia, which have imported millions of salmon eggs since the mid-1980s.
Meyers noted that regulations in place in Alaska do not allow importation of any fish for aquaculture purposes. The only root of infection could be from strays from British Columbia fish farms and the British Columbia farms have been examined for the past eight years for ISA virus and have been found to be negative, he said.
Still, if the virus is confirmed present in British Columbia migratory Pacific salmon or the Atlantic salmon stocks prevalent in British Columbia fish farms, there is concern over potential impacts to Alaska salmon stocks.
Senators Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Mark Begich, D-Alaska, Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., have introduced legislation directing government scientists to determine the scope and cause of the outbreak of infectious salmon anemia that has devastated salmon farms in Chile and elsewhere, and to recommend steps to protect the health of salmon stocks along the West Coast, Canada and Alaska. The scientists would have six months to complete their report.
Tim Bristol, director of Trout Unlimited’s Alaska Program, said it was fortunate that fish farms are outlawed in Alaska, but urged Alaska officials to take steps to protect Alaska’s wild salmon stocks and the critical habitat necessary for their sustained production.
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