The biggest red salmon run in the world is building at Bristol Bay.
Unexpected upheavals stemming from the coronavirus have slowed the process of getting relief payments into the hands of fishermen and communities hurt by the 2018 Gulf of Alaska cod crash.
All systems are go for keeping close tabs on fish and crab stocks in waters managed by the state, meaning out to 3 miles. While constraints from the coronavirus resulted in nearly all annual stock surveys being cut in deeper waters overseen by the federal government, it’s “closer to normal” …
Surveys of Alaska’s fish, crab and halibut stocks in the Bering Sea have been called off or reduced due to constraints and dangers posed by the coronavirus.
Recycled fishing nets from Cordova will soon help launch a new clothing line by Grundens, the maker of the iconic foul weather gear “built by fishermen for fishermen for over a century.”
A rapid response by nearly 800 Alaska fishermen will provide a guideline for giving them a hand up as the coronavirus swamps their operations.
Giving COVID relief funds to the seafood industry and stepping on the gas for offshore fish farming are two big takeaways from the executive orders and congressional packages coming out of the nation’s capital.
Some fast food restaurants in the Lower 48 have stopped serving hamburgers. Meatpacking plants have shut down. Grocery stores are frequently sold out of flour and rice. But Americans can buy Alaskan seafood directly from the fishermen who caught it — and, in increasing numbers, that’s what t…
Sales of Alaska’s most popular seafoods are being hit hard by markets upended by the coronavirus, but perhaps none is getting battered worse than halibut. Along with the big losses in the lucrative restaurant trade, Pacific halibut also is facing headwinds from increasing foreign imports.
The value of Alaska salmon permits is another casualty of the coronavirus, with prices dropping for all fisheries across the state. There are a lot of permits for sale — and the most offers ever to lease permits, especially at Bristol Bay.
Strict new rules are now in place for Alaska fishermen and their vessels to protect against and prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the 2020 salmon season.
Alaska’s total salmon catch for 2020 is projected to be down 36% from last year’s haul of 207 million fish, the eighth largest on record that was valued at nearly $658 million at the docks.
How can fishermen be sure their vessels are clean of coronavirus contamination? Where can they find out about relief funds that are newly available for fishermen?
The U.S. seafood industry received a $300 million assist from the $2 trillion COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress on March 27, and a wide coalition of industry stakeholders is hoping for more.
The Pacific halibut fishery opened on March 14 amid little fanfare and flattened markets.
Genetically tweaked salmon that grows three times faster than normal fish … fillets grown in labs from fish cells ... now plant-based seafoods such as “vegan shrimp,” or “Toona” are gaining footholds in the marketplace — and confusing customers.
Alaska shellfish farmers and divers fear they won’t be “open for business” much longer if they’re forced to pick up the tab for federally required lab tests as outlined in Governor Dunleavy’s budget.
Seafood coming from and going to China is piling up in freezer vans and cold storages indefinitely as the coronavirus continues to cause commerce chaos around the world.
Lost in the headlines about the hits to seafood sales from the Trump Administration’s trade war with China is another international barrier with Russia that’s been going on far longer.
Alaska lawmakers are making fast work of several fish bills that have wide support from Alaska’s fishermen.
Alaska gets a good return on investment from its commercial fisheries.
Which Alaska region is home to the most fishing boats and where do most of Alaska’s fishermen live?
It’s been a long time coming but payments should soon be in hand for Alaska fishermen, processors and coastal communities hurt by the 2016 pink salmon run failure, the worst in 40 years. The funds are earmarked for Kodiak, Prince William Sound, Chignik, Lower Cook Inlet, South Alaska Peninsu…
Every year since 1991 Fish Factor has selected “picks and pans” for Alaska’s seafood industry — a no-holds-barred look back at some of the year’s best and worst fishing highlights, and my choice for the biggest fish story of the year.
“If cod forsake us, what then would we hold?
Go Fish!
Weed is set to give a big boost to Alaska’s blue economy!
In 1974, as discussed in last month’s column, Alaska began limiting the number of salmon fishermen in 19 salmon fisheries, from Southeast to Norton Sound. The Limited Entry program was created to address rising numbers of fishermen and dismal salmon runs, which were making it increasingly ha…
Lower catches for Pacific halibut are in the forecast for the foreseeable future.
The value of Alaska salmon permits has ticked upwards in regions that experienced a good fishery this year while others have tanked.
Alaska’s 2019 salmon season was worth $657.6 million to fishermen, a 10% increase from the 2018 fishery.
The federal government’s plan to raze more roads through the Tongass National Forest is facing strong headwinds from fishermen, Native groups and coastal communities throughout Southeast Alaska.
They are certainly cute but the voracious appetites of sea otters continue to cause horrendous damage to some of Southeast Alaska’s most lucrative fisheries.
As more Alaskans eye the lucrative opportunities in growing kelp, many others are heading to beaches at Lower Cook Inlet to commercially harvest the detached bunches that wash ashore. That practice is now getting a closer look by state managers and scientists and could result in new regulati…
Hundreds of fishery stakeholders and scientists will gather in Anchorage next week as the state Board of Fisheries (BOF) begins its annual meeting cycle with a two-day work session.
Halibut catches fluctuate based on the ups and downs of the stock from California to the farthest reaches of the Bering Sea. If the numbers decline, so do the catches of commercial and sport fishermen.
The nation’s farmers of the sea are hoping for a helping hand from Uncle Sam to train future generations of fishermen. It would mirror programs in place for nearly 160 years for U.S. farmers and ranchers.
“Unpredictable” is the way salmon managers describe Alaska’s 2019 salmon season, with “very, very interesting” as an aside.
Federal agencies are meeting now through next March to define U.S. dietary guidelines for 2020-2025, and a high powered group of doctors and nutritionists are making sure the health benefits of seafood are front and center.
Now the shuffling begins at Alaska fisheries offices around the state as the impacts from back and forth veto volleys become more clear.
Underwater and out of sight are the makings of a major Alaska industry with two anchor crops that clean the planet while pumping out lots of cash: shellfish and seaweed.
Investment that comes from within, not from without, is the motivation behind a boot camp that will jump start and nurture businesses in communities throughout Bristol Bay.
While Joshua Slocum is famous as the first person to sail alone around the world, he also led the first American commercial salmon fishing venture in Cook Inlet, in 1871. Fishing off the Kasilof River with double-ended sailing dories, which later evolved into the famed Bristol Bay double end…
The Alaska Chamber of Commerce touts itself as “the voice of Alaska business” but seafood industry and coastal community members are largely left out of the conversation. The Chamber isn’t entirely at fault; it appears that most of those members are not speaking up.
It’s been one year, so how’s that trade war with China working out for the nation’s seafood industry?
KODIAK — As Alaska lawmakers continue their struggle to keep the state afloat, commercial fisheries dodged a bullet that would have removed millions of dollars from its budget.
KODIAK — Fisheries fared better than most people in terms of Governor Mike Dunleavy’s budget cuts.
KODIAK - One fisheries item that appears to have escaped Governor Mike Dunleavy’s veto pen so far is his desire to divert local fish taxes from coastal communities into state coffers.
KODIAK — The biggest fish story for Alaska’s salmon season so far is the early plug of pinks at the South Alaska Peninsula.
A well-intended new Alaska law has gone awry from a botched rollout that has turned thousands of Alaska fishing vessel, tender, barge and sport fish operators into lawbreakers.
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