Laine Welch
Laine Welch has covered the Alaska fish beat for print and radio since 1988. She also has worked “behind the counter” at retail and wholesale seafood companies in Kodiak and on Cape Cod. She retired in April 2022 from her Fish Factor reports, but now produces a blog at alaskafish.news.
Fish Factor: Have some fish farms with those relief funds
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.
Fish Factor: Alaska halibut gets battered by foreign imports
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.
Fish Factor: COVID-19 cuts values of Alaska salmon permits
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.
Fish Factor: New mandates issued for independent harvesters
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.
Fish Factor: Salmon catch projected to be down 36 percent
Alaska’s total salmon catch for 2020 is projected to be down 36 percent from last year's haul of 207 million fish, the eighth largest on record that was valued at nearly $658 million at the docks.
Fish Factor: Eat seafood, America, and we’ll get through this
The coronavirus pandemic has taken Alaska's seafood industry into uncharted waters, writes Laine Welch.
Fish Factor: Deadline is April 10 to comment on cod crash relief
The state of Alaska wants input on plans to distribute nearly $24.5 million in federal disaster relief funds for stakeholders and communities hurt by the 2018 Gulf of Alaska cod crash. Better make it quick – the deadline to comment is April 10.
Fish Factor: US seafood industry gets $300 million in COVID-19 relief
The U.S. seafood industry received a $300 million assist from the $2 trillion COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress, and a wide coalition of industry stakeholders is hoping for more.
Fish Factor: Halibut fishermen face flattened market, fire sale prices
The Pacific halibut fishery opened amid little fanfare and flattened markets.
Fish Factor: Plant-based imitations are not seafood
Imitation seafood products are often nutritionally inferior to real seafood, writes Laine Welch.
