Pacific Blob Tracker Launched

The Alaska Ocean Observing System in Anchorage has launched a “blob” tracker to keep the public informed about the “Pacific Blob,” a large pool of unusually warm water off the West Coast, extending to Canada and as far north as the Gulf of Alaska.

The Blob Tracker, at alaskapacificblob.wordpress.com, will feature some basic background information and Alaska relevant resource links and current observations. AOOS also plans to maintain the site with contributions from a team of experts and questions addressed on a FAQ page.

The Blob Tracker is already reporting the sighting of four ocean sunfish, also known as Mola Mola, off of Hinchinbrook Island near Cordova. The sighting occurred on Aug. 5 by Scott Pegau of the Oil Spill Recovery Institute in Cordova.

Mola Mola are the heaviest known bony fish in the world, with the average adult weighing in between 545 and 2,205 pounds.

The species is native to tropical and temperate waters and exhibits surface basking behavior where they swim on their side exposing their largest profile towards the sun. It is during such times that they are usually noticed by people on boats.

Mola Mola feed on jellyfish, and are prey for sharks, Orca whales and sea lions.

Mola Mola are normally found in water warmer than 50 degrees Fahrenheit and are rarely observed in Alaskan waters. Scientists think one major factor driving this migration is temperature. Documenting regular as well as unusual sightings may help scientists to understand better what is influencing the range and migration of these sea creatures, AOOS said.

Festival in Homer, Alaska will Celebrate Halibut

Educating people about the science and value of Homer, Alaska’s halibut resource is key to the first Homer Halibut Festival, set for Sept. 19-20 on the Kenai Peninsula.

The Alaska Marine Conservation Council is partnering with several other organizations and individuals in Homer for the event, which is being promoted as an opportunity to learn more about Homer’s iconic halibut resource.

Attendees will find opportunities to learn about halibut science and fisheries, enjoy a community meal with friends, and, through music, story telling and art honor the fish and fishing traditions that have enriched this community at the end of the road.

Educational panels at the Islands and Oceans Visitor Center will be held on the morning of Sept. 19, followed by the community fish fry and a demonstration on filleting a halibut.

Fishery poem readings and a buoy auction will be held that evening.

For Sept. 20, the agenda includes seafood cooking demonstrations, fishing photography, survival suit races, tours of commercial fishing boats and marine businesses, and more.

AMCC is looking for people and businesses to get involved as sponsors, hosts of activities, and operating trade booths for the two-day event. The contact for event updates and more information is Hannah Heimbuch, 1-907-299-4018, or email her at hannah@akmarine.org

AMCC, founded in 1994, is a community-based non-profit organization whose goal is protecting the long-term health of Alaska’s marine ecosystems and sustaining the working waterfronts of Alaska’s coastal communities.

Its membership includes fish harvesters, marine scientists, business owners, conservationists, families and others concerned about Alaska’s oceans.

Alaska Prepares to Talk Transboundary Mining with BC Officials

State fisheries and mining officials are joining Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott in Juneau today and tomorrow to meet with commercial fish harvesters, tribal leaders, conservationists, miners and others to discussion transboundary river issues.

The lieutenant governor’s office says they want to hear what all these entities have to say about the overall water quality, habitat integrity and resources sustainability of the salmon rich waters that flow from British Columbia into Southeast Alaska.

The state is preparing for discussions in Alaska later this month with British Columbia Minister of Energy and Mines Bill Bennett, who is coming to hear Southeast Alaska residents’ concerns about proposed Canadian mines near these transboundary rivers.

The concerns, in the wake of the 2014 Mount Polley mine disaster in central British Columbia, are rooted in apprehension that such mines stand to adversely affect salmon habitat in Southeast Alaska. A tailings pond breach at that mine, owned by Imperial Metals, sent a year’s worth of mining waste from the copper and gold mine flowing into nearby creeks and rivers, felling trees and leaving a trail of mud and debris. In July the provincial government issued a conditional permit allowing the mine to reopen with restrictions.

On July 31, the state of Alaska released a white paper on the transboundary mines as part of its information package for the dialogue set for Aug. 6. The paper lays out an approach for engaging with British Columbia regarding downstream effects in Southeast Alaska from transboundary mines. These include seven major mine projects, of which only one, the Red Chris Mine, is currently operating.

The paper says more needs to be done to ensure that Alaskan waters and fish are protected as these mine projects are considered, including establishment of a joint water quality monitoring program for transboundary rivers.

Chris Zimmer of Rivers Without Borders, a watershed based conservation group, is skeptical of how effective this approach will be. In a response to the white paper issued on Aug. 4, Zimmer said the paper failed to the main issue, enforceable protections to ensure the long-term, cumulative effects of existing and future large scale mining and associated development in northwest British Columbia will not harm Alaska’s fisheries and watersheds.

Feds Will Purchase Up to $30M in Surplus Salmon

Alaska salmon industry woes over a large surplus of wild salmon are getting some relief from the US Department of Agriculture, which will purchase up to $30 million worth of canned sockeye salmon.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said Aug. 4 that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack agreed to her request to purchase the surplus canned red salmon for the Emergency Food Assistance Program.

With more Americans nationwide in need of help from food banks, Alaskan sockeye salmon is an ideal source of heart healthy protein, Murkowski said.

“Knowing that Alaska has tons of excess canned sockeye salmon hurting our fishing industry, this seemed a great fit to clear their shelves and help out those who are still waiting to feel an economic recovery,” she said.

The 2014 harvest of sockeye salmon in Alaska was the second highest in the past decade and this year the sockeye harvest has exceeded 35 million fish.

As a result, seafood producers are holding onto an unprecedented inventory of canned sockeye salmon, which only continues to grow,” Murkowski said in a letter to Vilsack in late July.

In September of 2014, Vilsack, again at the request of Murkowski, agreed to purchase $13 million in canned pink salmon for The Emergency Food Assistance program. The program provides food aid to state governments, who will then distribute it to food banks and other local distributors.

In 2013, the USDA purchased $30 million in canned wild Alaska pink salmon, again to lower the abundance of surplus stocks and aid food banks.

International Effort Growing to Combat Rogue Fishing

United Nations officials say that a growing number of countries are ratifying an international agreement to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, which strips an estimated $10 billion to $23 billion from the global economy.

To help tackle the problem, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in 2009 brokered the adoption by its member countries of the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing. The agreement comes into force when 25 countries have deposited their instrument of ratification, known as acceptance of accession.

So far, the FAO said on July 30, 12 countries have done so, the latest being Iceland in June, and soon two more states will join them.

Signatories who have completed the ratification process to date include Chile, the European Union, Iceland, Mozambique, Myanmar, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, the Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Uruguay and Gabon.

The agreement promotes collaboration between fishermen, port authorities, coast guards and navies to strengthen inspections and control procedures at ports and on vessels. The agreement also allows states to prevent the landings of catches derived from IUU fishing by vessels regardless of the flag they fly.

“The agreement aims to harmonize port controls in order to prevent illegally caught fish from ever entering international markets through ports,” said Blaise Kuemlangan, chief of FAO’s Development Law Service. “The ability to turn away vessels taking part in IUU fishing will greatly reduce opportunities for selling their catch, decreasing IUU fishing worldwide.”

The agreement will enable better compliance with the 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, which seeks to promote the long-term sustainability of the sector.

Fishing without authorization, harvesting protected species, using outlawed fishing gear and violating quota limits, may account for up to 26 million tons of seafood a year, more than 15 percent of the total global output, the FAO said. Besides economic damage, illicit fishing poses risks to local biodiversity and food security in many countries.

To assist countries in building their capacity to implement the agreement, the FAO has convened a series of workshops in all world regions.

The sixth in the series, funding by the government of Norway and covering West Africa, ran this month in Praia, Cabo Verde, an island country in the central Atlantic Ocean, 350 miles off the coast of Western Africa. Fifty participants from 16 African coastal countries took part, along with experts from the European Union, the International Maritime Organization, the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the COMHABAT Ministerial Conference on Fisheries Cooperation Among African States Bordering the Atlantic Ocean, the Pew Charitable Trust and the World Wildlife Fund.

Two Canadian Firms Fined for Violating Fisheries Act

Investigators with Environment Canada levied fines against companies based in Alberta and British Columbia in late July, in two separate incidents, for offenses under the Canada’s Fisheries Act.

The Canadian agency said that Panther Industries (Alberta) Inc. pleaded guilty on July 28 in Alberta Provincial Court to violations under the Fisheries Act, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, and the Environmental Emergency Regulations related to a spill of hydrochloric acid into the environment and into water frequented by fish.

Environment Canada’s investigation found that on Dec. 9, 2012, 150,000 liters of HCI spilled through a broken sight glass on a storage tank system at the Panther Industries site in Edmonton, Alberta. An estimated 40,000 liters of HCI overflowed the secondary containment and, of that amount, some 5,000 liters entered a nearby creek resulting in a fish kill.

A valve between two CHI tanks had been left open, increasing the total amount spilled, and an acid cloud formed as a result of the spill, necessitating an evacuation of the surrounding area for public safety. The company was ordered to pay $375,000 in penalties, including a $5,000 fine and $370,000 to be paid to the Environmental Damages Fund.

West Coast Reduction Ltd. in Vancouver, British Columbia, has been ordered to pay $90,000 in Vancouver Provincial Court after pleading guilty to an offense under Canada’s Fisheries Act.

The conviction stems from a spill of some 1,800 liters of canola oil into the Burrard Inlet, an incident that occurred as West Coast Reduction Ltd. was loading the vessel Bum Shin at the Port Metro Vancouver. Canola oil is deleterious to fish and harmful to migratory birds.

Of the $90,000 penalty, $85,000 will be directed to the Environmental Damages Fund and $5,000 paid as a fine. The EDF follows the “polluter pays principle” to help ensure that those who cause environmental damage or harm to wildlife take responsibility for their actions.

The company ‘s name is also being added to the Environmental Offenders Registry, which contains information on convictions of corporations registered for offenses committed under certain federal environmental laws. The registry contains convictions recorded for offenses committed since June 18, 2009, when the Environmental Enforcement Act received Royal Assent.

The company reported the incident on Nov. 24, 2013, and the fine was levied on July 8, 2015, Environment Canada said in a news release on July 23.

The family owned and operated business of more than 70 years provides services to farms, feedlots, restaurants, butcher shops, supermarkets and processors of beef, pork, poultry and fish products intended for human consumption.

House Bills Would Address Oil Spill Cleanup, Establish Icebreaker Fund

Two bills under consideration in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Coast Guard Subcommittee stand to aid the fisheries industry.

H.R. 1684, the Foreign Spill Protection Act of 2015, would ensure that the responsible party, regardless of origin, pays for all American cleanup costs associated with an oil spill.

Under current laws, spills occurring in US waters must be paid for in full by the responsible party, But foreign oil spills reaching US waters are paid for through the Oil Liability Trust Fund, which covers $150 million for clean up and up to $850 million for claims.

Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, a co-sponsor of H.R. 1684, said this legislation is increasingly important as maritime activity near Alaska increases. If a vessel transporting oil in Russian waters suffers a spill, ocean currents may very well bring that oil into Alaska’s waters, he said. H.R. 1684 would force the responsible party to pay for the costs associated with clean up, he said.

The second piece of legislation, for the National Icebreaker Fund Act of 2015, would establish an alternative funding process for building a new icebreaker, renovating an existing icebreaker, or leasing private icebreakers. That fund would be eligible for monies from a variety of sources, including congressional appropriations.

The National Icebreaker Fund would allow the Coast Guard to use funds to renovate its existing polar icebreakers, acquire a new one, or lease such a vessel from a private owner, said Young, who also is a co-sponsor of this legislation.

The benefits of this approach would be that Congress could build the fund up over years rather than trying to appropriate the significant overall costs of a new icebreaker in a single year, he said.