Alaska fishermen can increase their federal trade relief funds by adding higher poundage prices for 15 fish and shellfish species. While it’s welcomed, the payouts are a band-aid on a bigger and ongoing problem.
Bering Sea crabbers will soon know how much they can pull up in their pots for the upcoming season that opens Oct. 15.
Pollock season got off to a slow start this year because of the unexpectedly fruitful pink salmon harvest during the summer. The delay comes as the price of pollock and other groundfish has dropped by up to 30% this year due to a variety of factors.
Kodiak has again scored a first debate between candidates in one of Alaska’s most high-profile political races: the U.S. Senate.
Alaska seafood processors are paying tens of millions of dollars extra to cover costs from the COVID pandemic, and most of it is coming out-of-pocket.
Several hundred dead salmon were found floating in the Buskin River over the weekend, the culmination of several naturally occurring factors, according to fish and game officials.
Snacks that are good for people and the planet now come in the form of crispy chips that are made from Bristol Bay sockeye salmon skins.
It was inaction on health care that ultimately made Dr. Al Gross of Juneau decide to challenge Republican Dan Sullivan, who is running for a second, six-year term to represent Alaska in the U.S. Senate.
The Saltery River Drainage, one of Kodiak’s most popular sport fisheries, reopened to sockeye harvesting on Tuesday following a 10-day closure.
Unless you fished for salmon this summer at Bristol Bay, it’s been slim pickings for fishermen in other Alaska regions. Salmon returns have been so poor that communities already are claiming fishery disasters.
top story
Pink salmon is dominating Kodiak’s commercial catch this year, with 7.1 million pinks harvested as of Wednesday out of the total of 8.3 million fish netted.
It got little attention from the mainstream media but seafood netted some historic firsts in the nation’s new dietary guidelines.
Alaska’s seafood industry stakeholders have a four bagger chance to provide input on policy decisions that directly affect their livelihoods: trade, relief payouts for cod and salmon, Board of Fisheries meeting plans and appointees. For several, the window of opportunity is tight.
Most Alaskans are surprised to learn that seafood is by far Alaska’s top export, the source of the state’s largest manufacturing base and its No. 1 private employer.
Governor Mike Dunleavy’s controversial selections to the state Board of Fisheries (BOF) will get a legislative hearing in early fall and the call is out for public comments.
top story
After a month of weak sockeye salmon runs, pink salmon have started appearing in larger numbers this week following the opening of the season on June 9.
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…
Commented