US House Votes Unanimously to Pass Coast Guard Authorization Bill

Coast Guard reauthorization legislation that passed the US Senate on Nov. 14 has been unanimously approved by the US House.

The bill now heads to the White House, where it is expected to be signed into law by year’s end. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, hailed the House vote on Nov. 27 as “finally a win for Dakota Creek and the hardworking men and women who build fishing, Navy and other vessels in our state.”

Provisions contained in the huge Coast Guard package deal contain legislation to help protect shipbuilding jobs at Dakota Creek Industries in Anacortes, Washington.

Other provisions include improved oversight of ships that pose oil spill risks, recapitalization of the Seattle-based Polar Star icebreaker and improved paid family leave policies for Coast Guard members and their families.

The legislation also involves the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act, which sets a national standard for regulation of ballast water and other incidental discharges, while providing a permanent exemption for commercial fishing vessels and other commercial vessels under 75 feet from needing permits through the Environmental Protection Agency. In addition, the bill reauthorizes the Hydrographic Services Improvement Act, which will improve hydrographic surveying, especially in the Arctic. As noted by Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, it will aid in construction of a new homeport for the NOAA research vessel Fairweather in Ketchikan, Alaska.

Seafood Harvesters of America also hailed the benefits of the bill for fish harvesters dealing with ballast water and other discharges. The measure was criticized by the Center for Biological Diversity as a blow to the Clean Water Act’s ability to protect rivers, estuaries and lakes from harmful invasive species.

Co-sponsors of the bill in the Senate included Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, both R-Alaska, John Thune, R-SD, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Bill Nelson, D-Florida.

Charter Halibut Management to be Addressed at NPFMC Meeting

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) will take final action on recommendations to the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) on charter halibut management in the coming year for Southeast and Southcentral Alaska.

During its Dec. 4 meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, the council will consider the advice of the Charter Halibut Management Committee, which meets on Dec. 3, as well as analysis by Sarah Webster of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Sport Fish on potential management measures to keep the charter sector within their allocation.

The committee requested analysis for area 3A with regards to the following regulations: a two-fish bag limit, 28-inch maximum size limit per fish, four-fish annual limit, one vessel-trip per permit per day, Wednesday charter halibut closure and closure of halibut fishing on six Tuesday from mid-July through mid-August. For area 2C the analysis focused on a one-fish daily bag limit, retained halibut being less than or equal to 38 inches or greater than or equal to 80 inches in length requirement.

An action memo posted online in advance of the council meeting notes that between 2014 and 2018 area 2C charter fisheries have been over their allocation by as much as nine percent and below by as much as 10 percent, while in area 3A, charter fisheries have consistently been over their allocation by 11 to 16 percent, except for the 2018 preliminary estimate which shows only four percent over the allocation.

The IPHC’s own 2017 fishery-independent setline survey indicates that halibut stocks declined continuously from the late 1990s to around 2010 due to decreasing size-at-age, as well as somewhat weaker recruitment strengths than those observed in the 1980s. The 2018 survey shows a second consecutive year of decreased, down seven percent from 2017, with individual biological regions ranging from a six percent increase in region 4B to a 15 percent decrease in region 2.

Weak Run of Pink Salmon Predicted for Southeast Alaska

Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) biologists are forecasting a weak run of pink salmon into Southeast Alaska in 2019, with a point estimate of 18 million fish.

The 2019 forecast is based on juvenile pink salmon abundance indices collected with support of NOAA’s long-term Southeast Coastal Monitoring Project in northern Southeast Alaska inside waters in June and July.

The harvest forecast is about half of the recent 10-year average harvest of 36 million pink salmon. A harvest near this forecast would be the lowest odd-year harvest since 1987, according to biologists. The 2018 peak June-July juvenile pink salmon index value ranked 20th out of the 22 years that SECM information has been collected.

A potential source of uncertainty in the 2019 pink salmon return is the anomalously warm sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Alaska. Warm temperatures that persisted throughout the Gulf from the fall of 2013 through much of 2016 were back in 2018. Pink salmon that went to sea from 2014 to 2016 returned in numbers below expectation and below recent odd-and-even year averages.

Although sea surface temperatures moderated in 2017, effects on the Gulf ecosystem likely persisted and pink salmon that went to sea in 2017 and returned in 2018 had a reduced rate of survival.

ADF&G plans to manage the 2019 commercial purse seine fisheries in-season based on the strength of salmon runs. Aerial escapement surveys and fishery performance data will be used as always to make in-season management decisions.

Fishing Communities Urge Action on Sustainable Fisheries Policy

Members of the Fishing Communities Coalition will ask the 116th Congress in January to defend sustainable marine fisheries management and conservation gains under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Spokesman John Pappalardo, chief executive officer of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, said commercial harvesters expect Congress to work in good faith to advance science-based fisheries legislation and defend the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which he said has demonstrated remarkable success in rebuilding fish stocks in U.S. waters.

NOAA Fisheries officials reported earlier this year that the number of fishes on the overfished list reached an all-time low in 2017, thanks to the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

“Young men and women looking to start a career in commercial fishing face daunting challenges, including high cost of entry, financial risks, and limited entry-level opportunities,” said Theresa Peterson, fisheries policy director of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council. Peterson, who also serves on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, said that “breaking down the high barriers to entry for the next generation of commercial fishermen is critical to the very survival of our fishing communities.”

The Fisheries Communities Coalition represents over 1,000 small boat harvesters from Maine, Cape Cod, the Gulf of Mexico, California and Alaska.

Trident, Tai Foong Take Symphony Top Honors

Pollock packed protein noodles, cod dumplings and Wild Alaska Pollock oil for pets claim the top spots of the 2019 Alaska Symphony of Seafoods.

The annual competition, held in Seattle, Wash., and in Juneau, Alaska, focuses on increasing the value of Alaska seafood by encouraging product development which diversifies markets, utilizes more of the resource, and reduces fish waste.

This year’s winners were announced by the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation (AFDF) during the Pacific Marine Expo presented in Seattle, on Nov. 19.

Trident Seafoods’ Protein Noodles took first place in the retail category and claimed the Seattle People’s Choice award. The mild, gluten-free product ready to eat cold or heated up is expected to be on the retail shelves in Costco stores in January.

Tai Foong USA, with offices in Seattle and farms in Belize, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and China, took first prize in the food service category with its Alaska Cod Dumplings. The ready to warm and eat product features good texture and good quality Alaska cod, according to Julie Decker, executive director of AFDF.

Wild Alaska Pollock Oil, a product of Trident’s subsidiary Alaska Naturals Pet Products, won the symphony’s Beyond the Plate competition. The omega-three rich oil is available in 32-ounce and 8-ounce sizes for dogs and 4-ounce containers for cats.

The complete list of winners in the retail, food service and the beyond the plate competition, as well as the People’s Choice awards and the grand prize winner will be announced during AFDF’s Legislative Reception on Feb. 19.

Major sponsors of this year’s events are the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, Northwest Fisheries Association, Alaska Air Cargo, Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association, At-Sea Processors Association, Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp., Marel, Northwest Fisheries Association, Kwik’Pak Fisheries LLC, Trident Seafoods, UniSea and United Fishermen of Alaska.

Relief Sought on Incidental Discharges

US Coast Guard legislation that passed the US Senate Nov. 14, would relieve commercial fishing vessel owners and operators from federal and state regulations for ballast water and other incidental discharges.

The Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018, having passed the Senate by a vote of 94-6, is heading back to the House for consideration after the Thanksgiving break, then on to President Trump for his signature, according to staff of Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska.

The ballast water legislation is contained in a provision of the bill known as the Vessel Incident Discharge Act. Sullivan is a co-author of the Coast Guard bill, which is co-sponsored by Senators John Thune, R-SD, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Bill Nelson, D-Florida, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.

The provision provides a permanent exemption on incidental vessel discharge for all commercial fishing vessels and commercial vessels under 79 feet in length. Without this exemption, small vessel operators and fishermen would be forced to obtain Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permits for even the most basic activity, including vessel deck runoff, hosing out their fish holds, and other minor discharges. Sullivan said that the language also provides a comprehensive fix to a broken regulatory framework by establishing a single, nationally uniform standard for the regulation of ballast water and other vessel discharges.

The Senate vote drew quick praise from Seafood Harvesters of America and criticism from the Center for Biological Diversity.

Chris Brown, president of Seafood Harvesters of America, said the bill reflected “strong environmental protections for the nation’s waters, along with the reduction on nonsensical regulatory burdens on the commercial fishing industry.

Brett Hartl, government affairs director for the Center for Biological Diversity, took issue with what he called “a significant blow to the Clean Water Act’s ability to protect rivers, estuaries and lakes from harmful invasive species.

“The Coast Guard has never upheld its obligation to fight the spread of aquatic species in ballast water,” Hartl said. “This new law makes matters worse by allowing them to shirk that responsibility for years or decades to come.”

NOAA Approves Killing Sea Lions at Willamette Falls

NOAA Fisheries has approved killing up to 93 sea lions annually at Willamette Falls, where the pinnipeds are consuming as much as 25 percent of wild winter steelhead trout and up to 9 percent of wild spring Chinook salmon.

While the sea lions are protected under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, they are eating fish species that are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The decision by NOAA Fisheries was reported in the Nov. 19 edition of The Columbia Basin Fish & Wildlife News Bulletin.

After efforts at hazing and non-lethal removal of the California sea lions failed to keep them from hanging out at Willamette Falls, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) applied to NOAA in 2017 for authorization to lethally remove some of them under a MMPA Section 20 permit.

This fall NOAA convened a Willamette Falls Pinniped Task Force, which issued a recommendation on Oct. 15 that the permit be authorized.

Oregon filed for the application because its analyses showed that the high levels of predation by sea lions, including 25 percent of the steelhead run in 2017, meant there was an almost 90 percent probability that one of the upper Willamette steelhead runs would go extinct.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Game noted in a news release that the level of predation of spring Chinook, although at 7 to 9 percent annually, is enough to increase the extinction risk by 10 to 15 percent.

The permit applies only to California sea lions, and not the much larger Steller sea lions, which, according to ODFW policy analyst Shaun Clements, are present at the Falls in growing numbers and prey on white sturgeon. “Current federal law prohibits us from doing anything about that,” Clements said.

Removing the sea lions is about striking a balance between recovery of imperiled salmon and steelhead and the ongoing conservation of sea lions.

According to ODFW predation by pinnipeds also threatens gains made by significant regional investment to improve fish passage at dams, restore fish habitat and implement fishing regulations that prohibit anglers from harvesting wild fish.