ASMI Seeks $300 Million Plus Opportunity for Seafood Retailers

Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute has released a study saying there are opportunities for retailers to improve sales, and make more than $300 million annually, if they adopt optimal promotion strategies.

The study analyzed sales performance of 60 large- and mid-sized food retail chains in three major Alaska seafood categories- wild salmon, cod and crab, including king, snow and Dungeness. Retailers were scored on how much of the total sales volume they were getting in their marketplace, sales velocity, promotions and retail prices, then sorted to compare the top 10 with the 10 lowest performing retailers.

Best of class retailers’ wild salmon sales were correlated with better total seafood department sales performance.

The study found that when wild salmon is offered on a year-round basis at the seafood counter, sales of both wild and farmed salmon improve. The best retailers also promoted salmon more frequently over longer time periods, but at smaller discounts for overall better sales and profit performance.

Best of class retailers in cod sales generated better total finfish category sales. They promoted cod twice as often and at slightly larger discounts, and generated better total finfish category sales.

Best of class practices could also generate sales improvement in all three crab species, ASMI said.  Top retailers of snow crab generated better total shellfish category sales.

The study by Encore Associates of San Ramon, California, compared sales for the 52-week period ending on Oct. 6, 2013, and covered the continental United States.

ASMI retail marketing director Larry Andrews is also offering to meet with seafood department sales, retail buyers, merchandisers and marketing teams to review this data to increase their sales. Reach him via email at landrews@alaskaseafood.org

NOAA Fisheries Observer Program Reforms Scrutinized

Federal fisheries regulators are drawing criticism for new reforms to protect independent monitors of domestic commercial fishing fleets.

Both the Association for Professional Observers and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility said in a statement issued this week that these reforms are weak and will not solve existing systemic management problems in observer programs. They allege that under a system set up by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the fishing fleets can compromise verification of catch limits, bycatch of protected species and violations such as shark-finning and marine pollution.

Fisheries observers accompany commercial fleets working in 47 different fisheries in the United States and International waters. They are not federal employees, but work for companies under contract to NOAA that do not provide guaranteed on-the-job protections.

In a complaint filed jointly in late 2011 by APO and PEER, fisheries observers from the Southeast US said they are discouraged from reporting violations, subjected to unsafe conditions, pressured about the integrity of data they collect and vulnerable to reprisal through blackballing or being assigned to arduous “punishment trips.”

Responding to that complaint, NOAA did a formal investigation and in early 2013 pledged to adopt nine reforms, including a “uniform, transparent and consistent procedure for collecting and reporting all potential marine resource violations” to law enforcement, stronger safety procedures, and a process for observers to file complaints.  These reforms are supposed to apply across the board to all seven major US observer programs.

Elizabeth Mitchell, president of APO, said the report is of little consolation to observers.  Without enforceable national standards, contractors and NOAA staff can still point the finger at each other with no accountability for observer welfare, professional standards and integrity of the data.

NOAA responded to an inquiry from Fishermen’s News on the matter, saying that NOAA takes seriously any safety concerns or other complaints raised by observers.

“There are several private companies who hold federal contracts to hire fisheries observers,” said NOAA spokesperson Keeley Belva.

“Recruiting and hiring decisions are made by these private observer provider companies and not NOAA. NOAA Fisheries supports a safe working environment and whistleblower protections for observers, “ Belva said. “NOAA Fisheries is moving forward with changes in a thoughtful and disciplined way to ensure fisheries observers have a safe work environment. We remain committed to ensuring that these policies are applied consistently in observer programs across the country.”

Oregon, California Ports Offer Refuge, Commerce, Community

By Terry Dillman 

“Any port in a storm."

Often erroneously used by landlubbers as a metaphor for sailing past any situation, dangerous or not, this time-worn idiom can sometimes mean the difference between life or death for commercial fishermen and other seafarers. Fortunately, Oregon and California each offer a network of coastal ports that provide refuge from rough seas, as well as markets for commercial fishermen's catches and a place to call home. These harbors are alive with varying and eclectic mixes of commercial, industrial and recreational activities and services.

Oregon – Newport and Astoria

Oregon's 363-mile coastline features a network of 15 ports – from large harbors that host international shipping and regional-scale fishing fleets to smaller, shallow-draft sites with limited capabilities – integral to their communities' lifestyles and economies. Collectively, Oregon's ports forge "an important regional network of maritime infrastructure," according to the Oregon Coastal Zone Management Association (OCZMA), which studies the Oregon coast economy and conveys information to an extensive network of government officials and others, aiming to improve the region's standard of living.

Newport and Astoria, two of Oregon's three deep draft ports (along with Coos Bay), are prime examples of what ports can do in socioeconomic terms, not only for their commercial fishing fleets, but coastal communities and the state.

About 250 commercial fishing vessels make Oregon's central coast their home port – most of them in Newport, with a few each in the "world's smallest harbor" at Depoe Bay and inland up the Yaquina River at Toledo, according to information compiled by Fishermen Involved in Natural Energy (FINE), a Newport-based 16-member committee of mostly commercial fishermen.

The Port of Newport features 206 commercial vessel slips, 54 waterway related businesses, and a distant water fleet that annually brings in between $14 million and $32 million to the local economy. To varying degrees, along with the ports of Depoe Bay and Toledo, Newport provides services to commercial vessels of all sizes, ranging in length from 18 feet to 126 feet.

The port is home to US Coast Guard Station Yaquina Bay and National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Marine Operations Center-Pacific, which opened in 2011 under a 20-year lease after the port took on a $38 million project to build the facility. Port officials also point to the completion of another major project – the refurbishing of the port's international terminal, which became fully operational in January. The 17-acre site features 1,000 feet of deep draft waterfront, docks and storage facilities, and several acres of industrial land. Factoring in that project, which port officials say has already drawn intense interest from timber exporting ventures and cruise lines, Newport stands on the cusp of economic prosperity forged from a diverse mix of traditional and emerging industries.

The Port of Astoria is tacking along a similar course.

Located at the northwestern tip of Oregon where the Columbia River feeds into the Pacific Ocean, the port manages a combination of commercial and recreational marine, marina, industrial and aviation facilities, and leases property for industrial and commercial services, including fish processing plants.

Home to 138 commercial fishing vessels, the port provides commercial berthing, seafood processing and fleet support. Pier 1 and Pier 2 are its primary deep water piers, with most commercial fishing services offered at Pier 2, with three fish processors, a 71,800-square-foot multi-tenant warehouse, fish off-loading and net haul-out areas, and a dock that can accommodate vessels as long as 1,100 feet. Maintenance, repair, active and inactive services are available at the Pier 3 haul-out boatyard at Tongue Point, which features an 88-ton travel lift. A strategic business plan developed in 2010 focuses on enhancing the central waterfront and Tongue Point facilities. Planned improvements include multi-tenant industrial buildings, cold storage and cannery facilities, and acquiring a 250- to 300-ton capacity mobile crane and standby tug service.

The business plan noted that Astoria would remain "a focal area" for Oregon's commercial fisheries.

California – Fort Bragg and Half Moon Bay

California's 840-mile coastline features 46 ports of varying sizes and capabilities. Leaders of the California Fisheries Coalition, which represents 27 marine-related organizations, say fish and shellfish brought to those ports and marketed statewide, nationally and overseas by more than 14,000 fishermen and more than 200 seafood companies, contributes more than $5.5 billion annually to California's economy.

Commercial fishing tradition is rich at ports in historic Fort Bragg and Half Moon Bay.

Located 170 miles north of San Francisco, Noyo Harbor and adjacent Fort Bragg are situated near highly productive fishing grounds for salmon, groundfish, urchin, crab, abalone and shrimp. Port officials say most resident fishermen participate in more than one fishery, and fishermen say the 80-vessel fleet includes about 30 to 40 salmon trollers, 15 to 20 multi-fishery vessels, 10 to 15 urchin dive boats and seven groundfish trawlers.

The harbor district, Dolphin Isle Marina and a cluster of about 25 businesses at or near the harbor, along with others in the region, provide considerable infrastructure, goods and services to support fishing activities. Local support businesses offer everything from fuel and ice to refrigeration, vessel repair and maintenance. Fish receiving and processing capacity includes six buyers with receiving stations at the harbor, three on-site processors and a live fish buyer.

While much of the catch is processed locally, buyers say some of it is shipped out of the area for processing and distribution. Several fishermen and local buyers sell salmon, crab, groundfish and albacore tuna either off-the-boat or through other direct sales.

Located 28 miles south of San Francisco, Half Moon Bay's Pillar Point Harbor on California's central coast is home to most of the central coast's commercial fishing fleet. The harbor features 369 berths, pump-out facility, ice-making facility, fuel dock and community fish buying center.

Major investments in outer and inner breakwaters by the San Mateo County Harbor District created what district officials consider "the most protected harbor of refuge" along the coast. The district has also invested in berthing and launching facilities and equipment upgrades. Pillar Point also provides a top-notch search-and-rescue service, which officials say performs 110 rescues each year, has saved more than 100 lives and "millions of dollars in boats and equipment."

Like other commercial fishing ports along both the Oregon and California coasts, Pillar Point is also home to experienced multi-generational fishermen, including Jim Anderson, skipper of the F/V Allaine.

Anderson, who fishes for Dungeness crab and salmon, is – like most of his fellow fishermen – an advocate for the industry, immersing himself at various times in the workings of the California Salmon Council, the state's Dungeness Crab Task Force, and the Half Moon Bay Fishermen's Marketing Association, among other things. He says fishermen have "always understood sustainability" and the need to protect ocean resources, but he wants to help the fleet and "the folks I've grown up with" to plot a course through an ever-changing regulatory and economic climate.

They also want to keep fishing ports like Half Moon Bay, Fort Bragg, Newport and Astoria thriving.

Leaders at the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association (PNWA) say ports are critical to the economic survival of their communities, with international trade, commercial fishing and recreational boating becoming "more important to the economic health of coastal port communities than ever before." Business analysts, port officials and fishermen say the vitality of each port is essential, because the migratory nature of many Pacific fish stocks – most notably, salmon and albacore tuna – or simply the pursuit of a catch in the best locales for certain fisheries, such as Dungeness crab or groundfish, find most commercial fishermen operating out of more harbors than just their home ports as fishing seasons change.

As they say, any port in a storm, whether it's literal or figurative.

Economists say commercial fisheries and working waterfronts remain essential sources of jobs and economic growth along both the Oregon and California coasts.

Fisheries also provide part of the overall ambience folks want to experience when visiting the coast - or opting to live there. They attract artists, writers and others, including retirees, who in turn make their own contributions to an ever-diversifying economy and culture. Visitors spend time watching and photographing the fishing fleets, and travelers often show up at the coast seeking fresh, locally caught seafood.

Port and agency officials in both states say ports continue to play a key role in supporting commercial fisheries.

British Columbia Mine Plans Pose Concerns For Southwest Alaska Fisheries

An environmental watchdog group says that a mining boom underway in northwest British Columbia could threaten fishing and tourism jobs and the unique way of life in Southweast Alaska.

Presenters at the Western Mining Action Network’s biennial conference in Anchorage May 9-11 included Chris Zimmer, campaign director for Alaska Rivers Without Borders, who described the mining plans as a "triple whammy" for the fish, water and people of the transboundary region. The problem, said Zimmer, is the mining boom comes with a weakened Canadian permitting process and environmental safeguards, and a lack of engagement on those concerns by both the state of Alaska and the federal government.

While more than a dozen industrial mines are currently engaged in permitting or advanced exploration in areas of British Columbia bordering on southeast Alaska, those of major concern are the Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell, or KSM gold and copper mine project, and the Tulsequah Chief mine project.

The KSM mine lies 20 miles from the Alaska border, near the headwaters of the Unuk River, and just upstream from Misty Fjords National Monument. Seabridge Gold in Toronto has proposed to construct three open pits and an underground mine, a project that Zimmer said would require dams the size of Hoover Dam to contain some 2.5 billion tons of tailings in perpetuity. There is potential, Zimmer said, for significant acid mine drainage.

Toronto-based Chieftain Metals, meanwhile, hopes to reopen the Tulsequah Chief mine, an underground mine upstream of its confluence with the Taku River, which flows into Southeast Alaska. There is already ongoing acid mine drainage pollution and the mine is opposed by the Taku River Tlingit First Nation, he said, and the high potential for other pollution of the Taku, Stikine/Islet, Unuk and Nass watersheds from these mines poses harm to commercial, sport and personal use fisheries.

Owen Retires as Kodiak Harbormaster

Kodiak’s busy harbor underwent a changing of the guard in early May, with the retirement of long time harbormaster Marty Owen, and the promotion of deputy harbormaster Lon White to Owen’s post.

Owen has been with the harbormaster’s office for 32 years. He had been deputy harbormaster since 1995, when Owen, recently retired from the US Army Corps of Engineers, was selected to replace retiring harbormaster George “Corky” McCorkle.

Owen acknowledged during an interview at the harbormaster’s office shortly before his retirement that he had mixed emotions about leaving. “But," he said “what I don’t want to happen is for somebody to say ‘that old codger should have retired five years ago’.”

Not that Owen and his wife, Marion, have any plans to depart from Alaska’s Emerald Isle. The couple own and operate a 42-foot yacht that offers everything from whale watching to dinner cruises and weddings on board, plus a bed and breakfast business in this busy seaport community.

During his tenure as harbormaster, Owen has been involved in major changes at the port, and there’s more to come still, including replacement of the cargo terminal, Pier 3, where container ships dock.

The old dock, built in the 1970s, will be replaced, and Horizon Lines will be bringing their town crane, one twice the size of the one there now, Owen said. “It will be more efficient and they will be able to stack the loads higher on cargo ships.”

When Owen became harbormaster in 1995, the port facilities at Kodiak were owned by the state of Alaska and maintained by the city.

Owen got involved in negotiating with the Alaska Department of Transportation to take over the port facilities in Kodiak, a deal that included the state providing funds to start replacing the downtown St. Paul Harbor completely, in the late 1990s, and then adding on to the St. Herman’s Harbor on Near Island.

By 2005, after a decade of work and planning, Kodiak also got its shipyard, an open yard facility where boat owners can hire whomever they want to for maintenance and repair of their vessels. Since a lot of boat owners spend from $100,000 to $500,00 on this work, those dollars were now staying in Kodiak, rather than being spent in Puget Sound, Ketchikan or Seward.

Another big project during Owen’s tenure was the breakwater for St. Herman Harbor in 1997. The project had been on the US Army Corps of Engineers waiting list for 30 years. Last summer, the corps also did a lot of dredging for St. Herman Harbor. “You just have to stick with it and persevere to get your fair share,” he said.