Commercial Fishing Loans Bill Awaits Action in Alaska Legislature

Legislation currently awaiting action in the Alaska House Finance Committee would raise the total aggregate amount a borrower may hold unpaid from $300,000 to $400,000 on certain commercial fishing loans made by the state.

The measure, sponsored by Representative Daniel Ortiz, an independent legislator from Ketchikan, and co-sponsored by Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, D- Sitka, was approved by the House Special Committee on Fisheries in late February.

The bill refers to total balances outstanding on loans made by the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development.

House Joint Resolution 12, which passed the House Special Committee on Fisheries unanimously in late February, is now awaiting action in House Resources.

The resolution opposes the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of AquaBounty AquaAdvantage genetically engineered salmon. It urges Congress to enact legislation that would require prominently labeling genetically engineered products with the words “genetically modified” on the product’s packaging.

Rep. Geran Tarr, D-Anchorage, the resolution’s sponsor, said the measure is designed to protect Alaska’s wild salmon and support sustainable fisheries.

Also of interest to Alaska’s fishing industry is House Bill 60, which has been referred to the House Finance Committee, legislation related to motor fuel taxes.

The bill, sponsored by House Rules Committee at the request of Gov. Bill Walker, would in part increase the tax on motor fuel for all watercraft.

Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, chair of the House Special Committee in Fisheries, passed an amendment to the bill to allow commercial fishermen to apply for a 3 cent per gallon rebate. If the bill passes the Legislature, the tax on marine fuel would rise 5 cents this year and the rebate effectively mitigates that increase to 2 cents.

Stutes also notes that language in the bill was tightened to specify that proceeds from the marine fuel tax should be used to support ports and harbors and the state’s Marine Highway System.

Pacific Halibut Opener Gets Under Way on March 11

Commercial fishing for Pacific halibut will open on March 11, with a catch limit of 31.4 million pounds, a 5 percent increase from a year ago. Alaska’s total halibut catch is set at 22.62 million pounds, an increase of 1.17 million pounds from 2016.

The season will continue through Nov. 7.

The 2017 regulations were published on March 7 in the Federal Register at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/03/07/2017-04407/pacific-halibut-fisheries-catch-sharing-plan

The announcement came after some industry concern that with the 60-day freeze imposed by the Trump administration on all new and pending regulations that the State Department and Commerce Department would be delayed in approving the start of the fishery. Industry insiders gave much credit to two women in the catch share branch of NOAA’s Alaska Region office who spent hours working on the regulations sent on to Washington DC for approval. They are Rachel Baker, catch share branch chief, and Julie Scheurer, coordinator for charter halibut management and recreational fishing.

The new regulations include authorization for longline pot gear as legal gear for the commercial halibut fishery in Alaska when NOAA Fisheries regulations permit use of this gear in the individual quota share sablefish fishery. Vessels using longline pot gear to harvest IFQ sablefish in the Gulf will be required to retain halibut consistent with IPHC regulations and NOAA Fisheries regulations specified in the final rule to authorize longline pot gear.

Use of longline pot gear as legal gear for the commercial halibut fishery in Alaska was authorized at the IPHC’s annual meeting in 2016.

A regulatory amendment approved by the IPHC requires that beginning in 2017 all commercial Pacific halibut must be landed and weighed with their heads attached for data reporting purposes. The amendment requires that halibut be landed head-on and those head-on halibut will be subject to a 32-inch minimum size limit, the only exception being for vessels that freeze halibut at sea. Those vessels may deliver their frozen, head-off halibut shoreside with a 24-inch minimum size limit.

Concerns Raised Over Proposed Cuts to EPA Funds for Puget Sound

A Washington state congressman is raising concerns over proposed cuts to Environmental Protection Agency funding for Puget Sound.

“These cuts would decimate EPA-backed Puget Sound restoration and leave NOAA without the necessary resources to fight climate change and support Pacific Northwest Fisheries,” says Rep. Rick Larsen, D-WA. Larsen vowed this week to “oppose these slash and burn cuts and continue fighting for a healthy, clean and protected environment.”

Larsen noted that in addition to reducing resources for Puget Sound from $28 million in fiscal 2016 to $2 million in fiscal 2018 that the Trump administration is reportedly seeking to cut a quarter of the EPA’s total budget, eliminating 3,000 positions and impacting programs aimed at reversing climate change, and protecting clean air and water.

The fiscal 2018 budget for the EPA and other federal agencies is still a long way from decided.

Larsen’s office was not immediately available for further comment, but a spokesman for Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, said House and Senate appropriators are currently working with their colleagues to outline priorities and topline figures to fund these federal agencies. “There is significant work to be done, including a number of major reforms and policy provisions to roll back many of the previous administration’s destructive rules and regulations,” said Young aide Matt Shuckerow.

Larsen and Young are co-chairs of the 21-member Congressional Arctic Working Group, whose goal is to help Congress better understand the opportunities and challenges of the US as an Arctic nation.

Bill Would Require Legislative Approval for Large-scale Mines

A bill back for a second round before the Alaska lawmakers would require legislative approval for a large-scale metallic sulfide mine operation within the watershed of the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve.

Such authorization would take the form of a duly enacted law finding that the proposed large-scale mining operation would not constitute danger to the fisheries within the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve.

The focus of the bill, while not mentioned by name, is the proposed Pebble copper, gold and molybdenum mine at the headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed.

Hunter Dickenson Inc., a diversified global mining group based in Vancouver, British Columbia, has spent millions of dollars on the project to date, in hope of getting the mine permitted and into the operational phase. HDI, whose Alaska subsidiary is the Pebble Limited Partnership, in Anchorage, contends that the mine can operate in harmony with the watershed that is home to the world’s largest run of wild sockeye salmon. Thousands affiliated with the seafood industry, environmental entities and the recreational fishing and hunting industries disagree, contending that the mine poses great risk to salmon habitat.

HDI and its subsidiary, Northern Dynasty Minerals, have yet to apply for permits to operate the mine, and are still seeking a major financial partner to replace Anglo American, a major global mining firm, that walked away from the partnership in 2013, after investing six years and at least $541 million in its partnership with Northern Dynasty.

House Bill 14, first introduced during the last session of the Alaska Legislature, failed to make it to the floor of the House, but the author of that bill, Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, is optimistic about its chances of making it to the House floor during this session.

HB 14 has already been heard by the House Special Committee on Fisheries, chaired by Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, and Josephson said he’s optimistic that it will move on to the House Resources Committee, which he co-chairs with Rep. Geran Tarr, D-Anchorage. From there it would go to House Rules, chaired by Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, R- Anchorage, and former mayor of the Kodiak Island Borough. Should it pass the House, which Josephson thinks is likely, HB 14 would go on to the Senate, where passage would be a real long shot.

Norton Sound Winter Crab Harvest Opens for CDQ Fishery

With the winter commercial red king crab winding up, the community development quota fishery for Norton Sound red king crab opened on Feb. 28, with an allocation of 496,800 pounds.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists at Nome said that through Feb. 27, 27,600 pounds of the 39,744-pound guideline harvest level were caught, with 35 of the 57 registered commercial permit holders having made at least one delivery.

Based on current catch rates and good weather forecast, and barring any unforeseen ice or wind conditions, ADF&G anticipated the GHL would be reached by March 2.

The CDQ allocation is up to 37,260 pounds of red king crab.

Half of the CDQ allocation belongs to the Norton Sound Economic Development Corp., which was also working to get the remaining quota for its resident fishermen.

Under NSEDC’s policies, commercial fishing for CDQ crab is open to any fishermen age 18 or older who qualifies as a Norton Sound resident under NSEDC residency policy, and signs the 2017 NSEDC Norton Sound Red King Crab Fisherman’s Agreement and NSEDC residency verification forms.

By regulation, the CDQ is allocated 7.5 percent of the allowable commercial harvest of 496,800 pounds. In 2017, this equates to 37,260 additional pounds that could be harvested this winter. Commercial fishing for CDQ crab is open to all residents 18 years of age or older who qualifies as a Norton Sound resident under NSEDC’s residency policy, can obtain a CDQ gear permit card, and signs the 2017 NSEDC Norton Sound Red King Crab Fisherman’s Agreement and NSEDC Residency Verification forms.

Sea Lion Boards Fishing Boat, Bites Crewman

A crewman aboard a fishing vessel tied up at the Peter Pan Seafoods dock at Sand Point was severely injured when a sea lion jumped on board, clamped onto his leg with its jaw and slammed him to the deck.

The incident aboard the F/V Cape St. Elias was reported Feb. 28 in an article in “In the Loop,” an online publication of Alaska’s Aleutians East Borough, written by AEB communications director Laura Tanis.

Michael “Mack” McNeil, who is recuperating at home in Deer Park, Washington, never saw it coming. “It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt,” he said.

Ben Ley, the vessel’s owner and skipper, said the attack occurred while the crew was taking off a pollock net and putting on a cod net, and that there were no fish on board. McNeil was running hydraulics and walked around to clear the backlash when the sea lion came up all the way out of the water, jumped up over the stern ramp and onto the deck.

McNeil said the sea lion grabbed him before it even hit the deck. Other crew rushed to grab McNeil before he got closer to the stern ramp. The sea lion took a couple hops back toward the water, but then let go, McNeil said. But the sea lion had bit through his oilskins, sweatpants and long underwear, down to the bone.

The crew called for help and McNeil was transported to the local clinic, then transported to Anchorage, where an orthopedic surgeon operated on his leg later that evening. “The muscles in my calf were partially severed, so the surgeon reattached them,” McNeil said.

McNeil said he is unable to walk right now and he expects it will take at least 12 weeks for his calf muscles to heal, so he can begin physical therapy.

He still is puzzled about the unprovoked attack, because the net was clean and there were no fish on board.

“I’m a big guy,” he said. “I’m 6’3” tall. I was wearing bright orange oilskins. There’s no way the sea lion could have mistaken me for a piece of fish.”

NOAA’s office of law enforcement in Kodiak is also puzzled by the incident, but NOAA officials did note cases where fishermen have dumped fish parts near docks or in harbors, and said that as a result some sea lions may view fishing boats as a food source.

Feeding changes the natural behaviors of sea lions, decreasing their willingness to find their own food, and increasing the chances they will steal fish from fishermen. Sea lions may then lose their natural wariness of humans and associate people with food, resulting in dangerous and unpredictable behavior toward people, NOAA officials said.

The sea lions are, however, federally protected under the Marine Mammals Act, so NOAA’s advice to the public is to be aware that they are aggressive animals and need to be left alone.

Alaska Resolution Critical of Genetically Engineered Salmon

A resolution under consideration by the Alaska Legislation strongly opposes the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of AquaBounty AquAdvantage genetically engineered salmon.

House Joint Resolution 12, sponsored by Rep. Geran Tarr, D-Anchorage, urges Congress to enact legislation requiring prominently labeling genetically engineered products with the words “genetically modified” on the product’s packaging.

In late February the state House Fisheries Committee had the measure under consideration. Tarr’s resolution notes that this is the first time in history that Food and Drug Administration has approved a genetically engineered animal for human consumption and that the majority of Alaska residents, and more than two million Americans oppose such approval.

The resolution also notes that in May 2013, a research report from Canada’s McGill University detailed findings demonstrating interbreeding between genetically modified salmon and brown trout could occur, suggesting that the potential for similar hybridization between other closely related species could pose risks for wild populations, including wild salmon. That research also demonstrated that transgenic hybrid salmon can outcompete with wild salmon and genetically modified salmon, making hybridization relevant to risk assessments, and that with thousands of salmon escaping from open water net pens every year into the Pacific and Atlantic oceans such escapement is a serious threat to wild fish populations.

A copy of the resolution is online at http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/30/Bills/HJR012A.PDF In a sponsor statement accompanying the resolution, Tarr said that Alaska prides itself in producing the highest quality wild seafood, and that the commercial fishing industry is the largest private sector employer in the state, with seafood exports worth over $3.25 billion annually. Residents also fill their freezers and smoke houses in Alaska with healthy wild seafood, she said.

“This industry and way of life would be jeopardized with the inevitable, accidental release of transgenic fish into the wild, Tarr said.

“HJR 12 is designed to raise awareness about the importance of wild seafood and the commercial fishing industry while highlighting the concerns regarding the long term safety of consuming genetically engineered food products,” she said.