Alaska Wants More Residents in Processing Jobs

Alaska’s labor officials are working with seafood processors in hope of putting Alaska residents into many of the 1,600 seasonal jobs needed to process the state’s 2015 commercial salmon and pollock harvests.

Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Heidi Drygas met with many of the largest seafood processors operating in Alaska in late April to discuss how they can increase Alaska hire through use of registered apprenticeships, work release programs and employment of returning citizens.

Now is the time for workers to be contacting their nearest Alaska Job Center to apply, said Nelson San Juan, an employment security specialist at the Seafood Employment Office in the Anchorage Midtown Job Center. These jobs provide an excellent opportunity for those who enjoy physical work, want to establish a work history, earn and save money quickly, and move up the career ladder, he said.

Seafood processers are continuing to recruit to fill more than 1,000 seafood-processing jobs for the Bristol Bay salmon season, in Naknek and Togiak.

Seafood firms in Dutch Harbor meanwhile are recruiting for more than 100 jobs processing pollock beginning in June. Salmon processors in Kenai hope to fill nearly 500 jobs from late June through mid-August.

The jobs are posted online at Alaska’s Labor Exchange System. They include higher paying skilled and technical positions. More information is available by calling the Anchorage Seafood Employment Office at 1-800-473-0688.

Companies Seeking MSC Certification Make an Offer

Companies seeking to be part of the Alaska salmon certificate for Marine Stewardship Council certification say they’ve offered to pay the full cost of the assessment and annual audits incurred to date by the existing client group in order to access the certificate.

“We are still awaiting response to our request to joint the client group,” said Stefanie Moreland, director of government relations and seafood sustainability for Trident Seafoods, this week.

“The offer includes administrative expenses and would be contingent upon the client group extending the certificate to any other eligible fishery participants,” Moreland said. “This approach is intended to expedite negotiations since a fight over equitable distribution of costs is not necessary if new entrants are willing to absorb 100 percent.

“Moving forward, new entrants would expect more equitable distribution of costs incurred to the client group,” Moreland said. “New members will not disrupt the structure of ASPA and are open to discussions of any mitigation measures the client group thinks necessary.”

The certificate sharing arrangement for the Alaska salmon MSC certificate at the time of the April 7 request to join the client group stated that the client “will share the certification with eligible salmon fishermen, seafood processing companies and other qualified individuals or entities, subject to their consenting to a cost-sharing mechanism for the expenses associated with obtaining and maintaining the MSC certification.”

There has been no response yet to the offer extended to the Alaska Salmon Processors Association, an offer that would also cover expenses incurred by the Purse Seine Vessel Owners’ Association. 

Rob Zuanich, of Silver Bay Seafoods, which is part of the current client group, said that no decision had been reached yet.

The Purse Seine Vessel Owners Association had been the client for getting Alaska’s salmon fishery recertified through MSC, but after that recertification was completed, the PSVOA withdrew as the client and a new client group was formed, of processors who were part of the client group under which the PSVOA got recertification.

So still, on the eve of what is expected to be a very robust harvest season for wild Alaska salmon, there are concerns among processors with European markets over the lack of the MSC certification demanded by some buyers.

Other issues they are reckoning with include a substantial inventory of unsold canned and frozen 2014 harvest, which has been moving, and the strength of the dollar over the euro, the yen and the ruble.

Geoff Bolan, director for MSC’s Americas program, said that MSC was happy to learn that these companies wanted to rejoin the client group. If the existing client group, the holder of current MSC certification, and the applicant companies cannot reach agreement, these companies could then opt to commence a duplicate MSC fishery assessment, he said.

Togiak Herring Harvest Wraps Up

Purse seine herring harvesters in Togiak in Southwest Alaska netted more than 18,017 tons of fish through May 10, in a fishery including six gillnetters and 16 purse seiners, said biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Since only two companies were purchasing gillnet fish, the gillnet harvest is confidential, biologists said.

The fishery ended on May 11.

This year’s buyers from purse seiners were identified as Silver Bay Seafoods, Icicle Seafoods, Trident Seafoods and North Pacific Seafoods. Silver Bay and Icicle were also purchasing fish from the gillnetters.

Harvest allocations for 2015 include 20,309 tons, or 70 percent of the harvest) for the purse seine fleet, while the gillnet fishery is allocated 8,704 tons, or 30 percent.

The spawn on kelp allocation is 1,500 tons, Togiak sac roe is 29,112 tons, and the Dutch Harbor food and bait allocation is 2,184 tons.

The fishery usually lasts about 10 days for purse seiners, but a little longer for the gillnet harvesters.

ADF&G area biologist Tim Sands, in Dillingham, said some deadloss was observed and that the agency had also received a tip that at least one company was doing partial pumps of sets.

“The combination was enough that the department wanted to remind participants what is required and expected,” Sands said. “We were in communication with public safety folks (Alaska State Troopers) that were monitoring the herring fishery and we made them aware of our concerns,” he said. But, Sands, added that he did not think this was a widespread issue and would not quantify the amount of deadloss as a lot. “The sole purpose of mentioning it in the announcement was to remind industry that we need to work together to sustainably harvest this excellent resource and don’t want any distractions that would bring discredit to the fishery,” he said.

Sands said that he understood that a company samples the set and decides then whether to buy it or not, but if they decide to buy it, then they should buy the whole thing, he said.

Apparently some vessels don’t do this. This might be because they run out of room on tenders for the fish or because as they are pumping the set they keep checking the roe percent and if it gets below what they want, they stop, he said. They want the fish with a high roe percent, so if the roe percent drops they don’t want the fish.

“However, to pump these sets they have to crowd the fish and dry up the net, and this can kill some or most of the fish. This is a problem we want to avoid,” he said.

Studies Look at Climate Impact on Arctic Cod, Northern Rock Sole

New research studies on Arctic cod and northern rock sole are offering federal regulators insight into how climate change may affect some Arctic marine species.

NOAA Fisheries scientists say that hatching and growing Arctic cod in captivity is shedding light on the influence of temperature and competition from more southern cod species on Arctic cod survival.

A second study is providing information about the ability of northern rock sole to withstand changes due to lower pH levels in the ocean, or an increasingly more acidic ocean.

Growing Arctic cod in the Alaska Fisheries Science Center laboratory is helping scientists understand how these “bellwether” fish in the arctic marine ecosystem may fare in a warming ocean and climate change. It also allows for new studies in a laboratory setting of Arctic cod, who are a key component of the Arctic marine ecosystem, providing an important food source for seabirds, ringed seals, narwhals, belugas and other fish.

The new research is also showing that Arctic cod may be the most vulnerable to warming ocean waters.

In general, NOAA scientists said, Arctic marine species require colder water to survive than populations further south, but determining just how cold is tricky and requires specialized laboratory space to simulate the Arctic environment.

Young Arctic cod were collected during the summer months of 2012, 2013 and 2014 in the Beaufort Sea, and live-shipped to the Alaska Fisheries Science Center laboratory in Newport, Oregon, where facilities allow for simulation of Arctic environments to grow fish by mass chilling natural seawater pumped from the Pacific Ocean.

The first series of experiments focused on growth of juvenile Arctic cod in response to temperature and food availability, while the second series of experiments, which is still ongoing, focuses on the same factors during the egg and larval stages. At the same time tests were being conducted on Arctic cod, comparative studies were done on walleye pollock, Pacific cod and saffron cod.

In waters bordering northern Alaska, coastal surface temperatures can already exceed 14 degrees Celsius in the summer, and NOAA predicts temperatures in these regions will increase by one half degree Celsius per decade.

If these northern waters get warmer, beyond the range that Arctic cod eggs and juvenile fish can compete and survive, we could see cascading effects in the marine food chain, according to NOAA. Top predators may be forced to feed on other fish that are lower in fat content, like saffron cod, Pacific cod or pollock. Loss of high quality prey like Arctic cod may make it especially difficult for ringed seals already dealing with the loss of nursery habitat with shrinking sea ice, they said.

NOAA Seeks Nominations for IPHC Commissioner Seats

Two-year terms for two current US commissioners for the International Pacific Halibut Commission will expire on Dec. 31, and while they are eligible for reappointment, other nominations are being sought as well.

One of the three U.S. commissioners must be an official with NOAA. That post is currently held by James Balsiger, NOAA Fisheries Alaska Regional Administrator. Balsiger is also a voting member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Donald Lane, of Homer, Alaska, currently fills the IPHC seat that must be held by an Alaska resident, and Robert Alverson of Washington State currently holds the seat for a non-resident of Alaska.

NOAA Fisheries officials published the call for nominations in the May 5 edition of the Federal Register, and said the nomination period would remain open for 30 days, after which names of all nominees would be posted on the NOAA Alaska regional website, http://alaskfisheries.noaa.gov/.

Commissioners do not receive compensation for their services, but their travel expenses are paid for by the U.S. State Department. Nominations for an Alaska or non-Alaska resident for these seats may be emailed to IPHC2015nominations@noaa.gov, faxed to 1-907-713-2313, or mailed to Patrick Moran, National Marine Fisheries Service Office of International Affairs, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

Once the names of all nominees are posted online, the public may submit comments on them for a period of days. Those comments may be emailed to IPHC2015comments@noaa.gov, faxed to 1-907-586-7249, or mailed to Pete Jones, NOAA Fisheries Alaska Regional Office, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668.

After all nominees are vetted, their names will be forwarded to the Office of the President, with a goal of receiving presidential appointments by Jan. 1, 2016.

Brussels Show Brings Buyers for Alaska Seafood

Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute officials say a major seafood trade show in Brussels in mid-April brought in high sales in the nick of time, on the eve of what are projected to be some of the largest salmon runs in recorded history.

On site sales were reported to be more than $44 million, according to the ASMI, which promotes the sale of Alaska’s wild seafood on a global scale.

The nearly two-dozen producers of Alaska seafood attending the show from April 21 to April 23 also projected sales over the next 12 months to be more than $650 million as a result of their presence there.

Challenges facing Alaska seafood sales this year include the strong value of the dollar over the yen and euro, plus Russia’s ban on the purchase of seafood from the US and Norway, which put product from both nations in greater competition in seafood markets elsewhere.

The Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global is the world’s largest seafood trade event, attracting buyers, suppliers, media and other seafood professionals from 150 countries.

The show itself is mostly about planning, meeting people, and finding out what people want, said Tom Sunderland, vice president of marketing and communications for Ocean Beauty Seafoods, who noted that interest is strong for wild Alaska seafood. “If you find an intense interest in one particular product form, you can still possibly change production to meet that demand,” he said. Cassandra Squibb, chief marketing officer for Copper River Seafoods, also spoke of the value of the show to Alaska’s seafood producers.

“Not only do we make critical sales there, but we are there to represent the always-popular Alaska brand,” Squibb said.

“The international markets have an ever-growing demand for Alaska’s wild sustainable seafood,” said Michael Cerne, executive director of ASMI. “It’s important that we represent Alaska at these trade shows both to develop the sales that keep the industry in business and to maintain our leadership seat at the table in the bigger picture of the world’s sustainable fisheries.”

Ruettgers Named CEO of Icicle Seafoods, Humphreys is New Chairman

Icicle Seafoods has announced the appointment of former chief executive officer Amy Humphreys as chairman of the board, effective May 1, saying she will help lead the company’s strategic direction and governance.

Also announced were the appointments of Chris Ruettgers, Icicle’s executive vice president of strategy and corporate development, as the company’s new chief executive officer, and LaDon Johnson as president.

Johnson will retain his responsibilities as Icicle’s chief financial officer, and will now also oversee the company’s accounting and finance, legal and human resource activities, said Dexter Paine, chairman and chief executive officer of Paine & Partners, the New York based firm invested in the food and agribusiness sectors.

Icicle Seafoods was founded as Petersburg Fisheries in Petersburg, Alaska, nearly half a century ago. Now a major diversified provider of seafood, the company’s products include wild Alaska salmon, Atlantic salmon, Alaska crab, Alaska halibut, Pacific cod, black cod/sablefish, Alaska pollock and fish roe.

Icicle is one of a number of worldwide acquisitions of Paine & Partners, whose acquisitions in more than 20 countries represent over $8.7 billion in enterprise value, according to the company’s website.

With her knowledge of Icicle’s day-to-day operations, Humphreys will bring significant experience to the board, help lead Icicle’s strategic direction and governance, and facilitate the transition to Ruettgers and Johnson in their new roles, Paine said.

Ruettgers joined the company in 2011 and has been a member of its board of directors since 2007. He has been instrumental in the growth and development of Icicle’s operating platform and the strategic transactions he has led have grown and diversified Icicle’s operations, Paine said.

Prior to joining Icicle, Johnson was the chief financial officer of Cibus Global, a global plant biotechnology company, and also served as president of international operations for Cibus. He brings to Icicle significant administrative and financial expertise, and is well suited to take on the additional responsibilities of president, Ruettgers said.