NPFMC Releases Quota Plan for Review

Federal fisheries managers in Alaska have put out for public review an analysis for a recreational quota entity to hold limited amounts of commercial halibut quota shares on behalf of guided recreational anglers.

The action came during the April meeting of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in Anchorage after hours of testimony. Longliners oppose the RQE as proposed, while many in the charter boat sector favor it. All written testimony, along the initial review document, the council motion and more are posted at the council’s website, www.npfmc.org

Even if the council takes final action on the RQE, as planned, during its December meeting in Anchorage, it will take at least a year to get final approval from the US Department of Commerce, and more time to write the regulations. According to council chairman Dan Hull, it could be at least five years before any RQE goes into effect, even if approved.

Council member Andy Mezirow, a charter boat operator, agreed that the RQE would likely be a long, slow reallocation of halibut quota. “There are a bunch of pieces to this that the council isn’t even weighing in on,” he said. These include where the money would come from for the charter boat operators to buy halibut quota.

Charter boat operators “don’t make money catching fish; we make money catching clients,” he said. “There still has to be a funding source that we have to borrow from and pay back.”

Charter boat operator James Kearns of Gustavus told the council that the real issue is that charter boat operators and businesses are not commercial fishermen. “They are really Coast Guard licensed taxi drivers,” he said. “Therefore the sports fishermen whom they transport are not commercial fishermen either, and thus it is not realistic or right that they be put in a commercial fishing allocation.”

Executive director Linda Behnken of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association said that while the RQE may promote greater stability in the charter sector, it would do so at the expense of subsistence, non-guided sport fishermen, commercial harvesters, processors, support sector businesses, seafood wholesalers, retailers and millions of Americans who enjoy commercially harvested halibut.

Tom Gemmell, executive director of the Halibut Coalition, expressed concern that the RQE would not require charter operators to invest their own money to purchase quota. It is a basic tenet of IFQ programs that investment tends to encourage resource stewardship, Gemmell said. There is also an issue of fairness if one sector pays and the other uses someone else’s money to get into the game, he said.

AK Legislature to Hear Engineered Salmon Testimony

Alaska’s House Committee on Labor and Commerce will take testimony today (Wednesday, April 13) on a bill opposing the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of AquaBounty AquAdvantage genetically engineered salmon.

The fish in question is produced by adding a growth-hormone regulating gene from the Pacific Chinook salmon and a gene from an eel called the ocean pout to allow the new salmon to produce growth hormones year round.

House Joint Resolution 28, sponsored by Representatives Geran Tarr, D-Anchorage; Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks; Dan Ortiz, non affiliated-Ketchikan; and Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, D- Sitka; urges Congress to enact legislation that requires prominently labeling genetically engineered products with the words “Genetically Modified” on the product’s packaging and encourages the restoration of wild, native populations of salmon in areas where development has negatively affected salmon.

In her sponsor statement for HJR 28, Tarr noted that the commercial fishing industry is the largest private sector employer in Alaska and that annual seafood exports are worth more than $3.25 billion.

“Residents fill their freezers and smoke houses with healthy wild seafood,” Tarr said. “This industry and way of life would be jeopardized with the inevitable, accidental release of transgenic fish into the wild.”

“In addition to the impact to the commercial, sport and subsistence fishing, the long-term health effects of consuming genetically engineered salmon are unknown,” Tarr said. “A majority of state residents oppose the approval of the genetically engineered salmon and more than 2,000,000 nationwide submitted comments opposing the approval of AquaBounty’s genetically engineered salmon. Additionally, 40 members of Congress have voiced opposition.”

AquaBounty (www.aquabounty.com) has said that its product will be raised in land-based production systems away from the ocean, eliminating the risk of escapes that could impact native fish populations and risk of pollutants or contaminants that could harm marine ecosystems. Its product also would grow to market size using 25 percent less feed than traditional Atlantic salmon on the market today, the company has said.

Quota Set for Southeast Treaty Kings

An all-gear harvest limit of 355,600 treaty Chinook salmon has been set by the Pacific Salmon Commission, under provisions of the Pacific Salmon Treaty, based on strong returns in 2015 and projections for 2016 returns in the same river systems.

The announcement of April 11 from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game noted that the harvest limit is based on the forecast of aggregate abundance of Pacific Coast Chinook salmon stocks originating from river systems in the area subject to management under the treaty, which stretches from Cape Suckling, Alaska, to Cape Falcon, Oregon.

Actual returns of Chinook salmon to a number of river systems in 2015, especially to portions of the Columbia River, exceeded forecasted levels, and large returns of kings are projected again this year for those river systems, so that the all-gear treaty quota is much larger that that of a year ago. Figures on the actual all-gear treaty quota from 2015 were not available.

The all-gear Chinook salmon quota is allocated among commercial and sport fisheries, according to management plans established in regulation by the Alaska Board of Fisheries. Most Chinook salmon produced from Alaska hatcheries are not factored into the abundance index and may be harvested in addition to the treaty limit, ADF&G noted.

Of those 355,600 kings, 15,291 fish, or 4.3 percent of the total, are allocated to purse seiners, and 10,312 fish, or 2.9 percent to the drift gillnet fleet, plus another 1,000 fish to the set gillnet harvesters, for a total net gear allocation of 26,603 fish.

The troll fleet was allocated 263,197 kings, or 80 percent of the total all-gear treaty quota after net gear subtractions, and the remaining 65,799 fish, or 20 percent, went to sport anglers.

The summer commercial troll quota is calculated by subtracting the treaty Chinook salmon harvested in the winter and spring troll fisheries from the annual troll treaty allocation. The winter fishery is managed to not exceed the guideline harvest level of 45,000 treaty Chinooks.

While there is no ceiling on the number of Chinook salmon harvested in the spring fisheries, the take of treaty Chinook salmon is limited according to guideline percentages of the Alaska hatchery fish taken in each fishery. Spring fisheries are managed to limit harvest of treaty Chinook, as non-Alaska hatchery fish are counted toward the annual treaty harvest limit of Chinook salmon, while most Alaska hatchery fish are not.

Since spring fisheries will be in progress through June 30, preliminary harvest estimates for treaty Chinook in the spring fisheries will not be determined until late June, state biologists said.

The summer fishery will be managed to harvest 70 percent of the remaining fish on the troll allocation in the first summer Chinook salmon opening in July. The rest will be available for harvest in a second opening, typically taking place in August. The decision as to whether the first summer opening will be managed in-season rather than for a fixed number of days will be announced just prior to the July 1 opening, state biologists said.

Trident Seafoods Acquires Germany Processing Plant

Trident Seafoods Corp. says that the acquisition of the Pickenpack Vertriebs and The Seafood Traders processing facility in Riepe, Germany, will move the company closer to European markets, a long time goal of the Seattle-based company.

The acquisition, announced on April 12, brings into the Trident family a major user and marketer of single-frozen wild Alaska Pollock, a logical fit for us, said Joe Bundrant, chief executive officer of Trident Seafoods.

Trident can now offer European customers the assurance of full control of our product supply chain at a time when transparency is becoming increasingly important to consumers, he said.

“Genuine Alaska Pollock is a staple of German fish consumption and it has been recognized by consumers for its superior quality, sustainability and traceability,” Bundrant said. “That’s why it is one of the most popular wild seafood species in Europe.”

The vertically integrated seafood processor produces a variety of ready to heat and eat seafood products, including Alaska pollock, Alaska salmon, cod, halibut, tilapia, flounder, and Mahi-Mahi. Preparation and recipe tips for using these seafoods for all meals are online at www.tridentseafoods.com

ADF&G Releases Bristol Bay Update

A new forecast for the 2016 sockeye salmon fishing season in Bristol Bay says the fishery, which opens by regulation on June 1, is expected to have a run of some 46.6 million fish, with 29.5 million potentially available for commercial harvest.

The figures were released on April 4 by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

For the eastside districts, fishing will be allowed using a weekly schedule that will vary by district, to balance fishing opportunity with escapement in the early part of the season, particularly for Chinook salmon. In the Nushagak District, management of the king salmon fishery will govern fishing time in the early part of the season, followed by directed sockeye salmon management as abundance dictates.

The forecast calls for a run of 23.2 million sockeyes in the Naknek-Kvichak District, with a projected harvest of about 11.7 million reds, 5.9 million from the Kvichak River, 2.7 million from the Alagnak River and 3.2 million from the Naknek River.

For the Egegik District the forecasted run of 7.4 million sockeyes, and a potential harvest of 5.7 million fish.

The Ugashik District will likely see a run of 5 million fish, with a potential harvest of 3.8 million fish while the Nushgak District, with a run forecast of 10.4 million fish, could bring in a potential harvest of 7.8 million reds.

At Togiak, a run of 660,000 salmon is forecast, up from the 2015 forecast of 610,000 fish, with 440,000 reds potentially available there for harvest. Both the permit and vessel are now restricted from fishing in the Togiak District if they are registered for any other district.