Parallel P-cod seasons: one ends, another begins
The Prince William Sound area parallel Pacific cod season for pot, jig and longline vessels (less than 50 feet in length) gear closes at midnight on Friday, Dec. 31, and the 2022 parallel Pacific cod season then immediately opens to vessels using pot, jig and longline gear at 12:01 a.m. Jan 1.
Cool phase forecast out for GOA in 2022
Even as the Gulf of Alaska concludes a second consecutive non-marine heatwave year, with average ocean temperatures on the surface and at depth, impacts of four years of marine heatwave period are continuing to impact the Gulf ecosystem.
Grant will aid ALFA in expanding seafood security network
Officials with the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association say that a $189,100 federal grant award will be used to foster new partnerships in Alaska to help build a more resilient regional food system, with a focus on local seafood access and seafood industry workforce development.
Peter Pan Seafood hails new brand identity
Almost a year into the purchase of Peter Pan Seafood from a major Japanese corporation, the new owners are celebrating a successful 2021 and say they are bracing for more of the same in 2022.
EVOSTC meets virtually on Jan. 18
Tune in Jan. 18 on Zoom as the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council discusses its fiscal year 2022 work plan and other council business.
Tribes urge Commerce Department to eliminate Chinook bycatch
Tribal entities representing thousands of western Alaska Natives are calling on Commerce Secretary Gina Marie Raimondo to take emergency action to eliminate the incidental catch of Chinook salmon and set a cap on chum salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea Pollock trawl fishery for the 2022 fishery.
Walton resigns, leaving BOF seat open
Veteran commercial harvester Indy Walton, who was appointed to the Alaska Board of Fisheries in September by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, has resigned from the board, leaving his seat on the seven-member board open for nominations.
2021 PWS salmon harvest up for all but kings
Preliminary total harvest reports for the 2021 salmon season in Prince William Sound show that the catch exceeded 2020 harvests for sockeye, keta and Chinook and the 2019 harvest of pink salmon, McKinley Research said on Monday, Jan. 3, in a report for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.
BOF puts Ketchikan meeting on hold due to COVID
Concerns over the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus have prompted the Alaska Board of Fisheries to postpone a meeting scheduled for Jan. 4-15 in Ketchikan to a later date. The meeting will address Southeast and Yakutat finfish and shellfish issues.
Bycatch Review Task Force formed
A bycatch review panel, chaired by a veteran fisherman who serves on both Alaska and federal fishery management entities, has been tasked with helping the state better understand the reasons behind why there is so much unintended incidental catch of untargeted species.
