Saving Seafood

Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation Aims To Expand Mariculture In The Aleutians

July 27, 2021 — Representatives from the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation visited Unalaska last week as part of its push to expand the state’s mariculture industry.

Gov. Bill Walker created the Alaska Mariculture Task Force in 2016. Since then, the organization has been focused on developing the state’s mariculture industry to meet its long-term goal of $100 million by 2038.

Mariculture refers specifically to farming and enhancing shellfish and seaweeds, and does not include farming finfish like salmon, which is illegal in Alaska. The state’s mariculture industry was valued at approximately $1 million in 2018.

Julie Decker, executive director of the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, sees opportunities in the shorelines and beaches of the Aleutian coast.

“You have lots of water, so you have lots of space. Relatively little population which means relatively little conflict,” Decker said. “The people that do live here are used to working on the water. There’s North America’s largest processing port. These are some pretty significant assets.”

Read the full story at KUCB

Tribes, fishermen decry Alaska and B.C.’s decision not to extend transboundary monitoring

March 2, 2021 — A 22-page final report released on Thursday culminates two years of data collected from water, sediment and fish tissue in three transboundary watersheds that straddle the frontier. And now, Alaska and British Columbia governments say their work is done.

“Given the existence of other sampling programs planned by state, federal or provincial agencies throughout the transboundary region, there is no need to continue the joint program,” the state and province said in a joint-statement.

Congress appropriated more than $3 million for renewed stream monitoring at border stream gauges operated by the U.S. Geological Survey.

“With all the resources didn’t feel like it was necessary for multiple agencies to be collecting the same thing,” Terri Lomax, a program manager with the state Department of Conservation, told CoastAlaska.

She’s been part of the cross-border effort ever since Gov. Bill Walker signed a landmark agreement in 2015 with B.C. to set up joint water quality monitoring for a shared watershed that hosts a booming Canadian mining sector that drains into Southeast Alaska.

“We’ve developed a lot of partnerships and a lot of relationships over the last couple of years,” she said. “We didn’t have these relationships with British Columbia.”

Provincial officials say they agree that the program has run its course.

Read the full story at KRBD

ALASKA: What does the Dunleavy administration mean for the proposed Pebble Mine?

December 27, 2018 — One of the most controversial issues Alaska’s leaders have ever had to wrestle with is the proposed Pebble Mine. The new governor is no exception.

Officially, Gov. Mike Dunleavy is not taking a position on the mine, unlike his predecessor, Gov. Bill Walker, who opposed it.

“So the Pebble Mine project, just like any other natural resource development project, will be subject to an established permitting process,” Gov. Dunleavy said in an emailed statement. “The outcome of this process will determine if the project meets the standards set forth in law and regulation.”

But the new governor is already making moves that have encouraged the mine’s backers and worried its opponents.

One of those statements was made during Dunleavy’s first major public appearance after being elected governor. He was speaking a mining conference in Anchorage, where he proclaimed that “Alaska is open for business.”

The governor gave a shout out to the Red Dog mine, where all three of his daughters work. He spoke about his roots in the mining community of Scranton, Pa., which he called the “anthracite coal capital of the world.”

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

British Columbia seeks bids for cleanup of mine polluting Alaska waters

December 5, 2018 — British Columbia mining regulators have taken the first step toward paying to clean up an abandoned mine that has been leaking acid runoff into Alaska waters for decades.

The British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources issued a request for proposals Nov. 6 soliciting bids to remediate the Tulsequah Chief mine in the Taku River drainage about 10 miles upstream from the Alaska-British Columbia border.

State officials contend the multi-metal mine that operated for just six years has been leaking acid wastewater into the Tulsequah River, which feeds the Taku, since it was closed in 1957.

The Taku River empties into the Pacific near Juneau and is one of the largest salmon-bearing rivers in Southeast Alaska.

The Alaska congressional delegation and former Gov. Bill Walker’s administration have stepped up their demands for provincial officials to address the situation in recent years — largely at the behest of Southeast commercial fishing and Native groups — after the mine’s latest owners, Toronto-based Chieftain Metals Ltd., began bankruptcy proceedings in 2016.

Sen. Dan Sullivan and former Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott traveled to Ottawa to meet with Canadian officials in February to discuss their environmental and fishery concerns about government oversight of mining activity within transboundary watersheds in the province that flow into Alaska.

A burst of mining activity in the remote northern region of the province has led to numerous new mines and mine proposals in transboundary watersheds.

At the same time, the Energy, Mines and Petroleum Ministry has come under scrutiny for its regulatory requirements of mines after a British Columbia auditor general report concluded the 2014 Mount Polley mine tailings dam breach was the result of inadequate engineering.

The Mount Polley copper and gold mine is in the upper reaches of the large Fraser River watershed.

Alaska officials have also requested their provincial counterparts assist in conducting baseline environmental studies in the lower reaches of transboundary watersheds to monitor things such as water quality in advance of upstream mine development.

Sullivan said in a Nov. 19 statement from his office that he is encouraged the provincial government has finally taken a more active role in cleaning up the troubled and abandoned mine.

“The announcement that the government intends to move forward and develop a remediation plan is a step in the right direction. As voices on both sides of the border have been asking for years, it’s time for the B.C. government, the state of Alaska, Alaska Native and First Nations communities to work together to remove this and other looming threats over our rivers, fisheries, communities’ health and wellbeing,” Sullivan said.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

ALASKA: Upper Cook Inlet fishermen seek federal disaster declaration

November 15, 2018 — This season was a sour one for salmon fishermen across the Gulf of Alaska, and participants in multiple fisheries are seeking funding for relief.

The Board of Fisheries and Gov. Bill Walker already granted a disaster declaration for Chignik, which harvested next to zero sockeye salmon this year due to an unprecedented poor return to the Chignik River on the Alaska Peninsula. Sockeye salmon runs across the Gulf of Alaska failed to deliver this year, either in timing or in size, at a huge cost to fishermen.

Now the Upper Cook Inlet fishermen want a chance at federal funding to recover some of their losses. The set gillnet and drift gillnet fleet in Upper Cook Inlet harvested about 1.3 million salmon, 815,000 of which were sockeye, or about 61 percent below the 10-year average harvest of sockeye.

This year was forecasted to be lower than the average, but the harvest as of Oct. 5 — when all Upper Cook Inlet salmon fishing closed for the 2018 season — brought in about $11 million in ex-vessel value, a little more than a third of the $31 million recent 10-year average.

The total run, however, was about 32 percent below what was forecast, according to the 2018 salmon fishing summary from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game issued Oct. 22.

The trick of it was that the Kenai River sockeye run — the heavy-hitting run of the region, which usually peaks in July — didn’t arrive in force until August. For only the second time in Fish and Game’s records, more than half the run arrived after Aug. 1.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

Alaska Governor Bill Walker withdraws from race, former opponent Mike Dunleavy opposes salmon protections

October 24, 2018 — With U.S. election day on 6 November just around the corner, Alaska Governor Bill Walker  shocked the state on 19 October by dropping out of his race for reelection.

Walker, an independent, said he realized he would not be able to win a three-way race, and has endorsed the Democratic candidate – former U.S. Senator Mark Begich – who faces former Republican State Senator Mike Dunleavy. Though Walker’s name will still be on the ballot, he urged supporters to vote for Begich.

“Alaskans deserve a choice other than Mike Dunleavy,” Walker said.

Walker was set to debate Begich in a debate over commercial fishing on Monday, but with Walker pulling out of the race, the debate organized by the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce was canceled.

Dunleavy would not have appeared at the event anyway, which would have made him the first gubernatorial candidate in 27 years not to attend the historic debate. Instead, Dunleavy said he was “visiting with Alaskans in Barrow.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Alaska gubernatorial fishing debate called off after incumbent’s surprise exit

October 23, 2018 — Mark Begich, the Democratic candidate for Alaska governor, will not appear on a stage in Kodiak Monday evening to discuss his positions related to the state’s commercial fisheries.

Following Friday’s surprise announcement by incumbent Bill Walker that he was pulling out of the 2018 race, the planned debate has been cancelled, confirms Frank Schiro, executive director of the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce.

Walker, an independent, used the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention, in Anchorage, on Friday, to announce that he would be leaving the four-way contest. He explained that his decision was based on the promise he made in his campaign to keep “Alaska first” and give Begich a better chance at beating Republican challenger Mike Dunleavy.

With the Nov. 6 election day looming, Walker, based on the latest polls taken two weeks ago, had just 27.0% of the Alaska vote while Democrat Mark Begich had 22.6% and Republican challenger Mike Dunleavy had 46.5%. Walker also has a Libertarian challenger, William S. “Billy” Toien, though he was not featured in the poll.

Only 3.9% of respondents were undecided, and the poll had a 4.4% margin of error.

On Friday, Walker, a former Republican, said he didn’t believe 18 days were enough for him to turn things around.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

ALASKA: Kenai asks the state to declare this year’s upper Cook Inlet fishery an economic disaster

October 23, 2018 — Wednesday night, the Kenai City Council unanimously voted to request that Gov. Bill Walker declare an economic disaster for the upper Cook Inlet fisheries region and support a recovery plan.

Clam Gulch resident David Martin spoke in support of the resolution. He’s the president of the United Cook Inlet Drift Association.

“I appreciate the city council bringing this resolution forward and I hope it’s unanimously supported,” Martin said. “I’ve fished here 47 years and this is probably the worst season I’ve seen. We need a little economic help from the state to carry the people through.”

Council member Bob Molloy, who co-sponsored the resolution, said a potential recovery plan could take many forms.

“The state could commit resources to assist permit holders who participate in the Commercial Fishing Revolving Loan Program to avoid default, and who may be unable to meet payment terms who may not be able to pay because of the poor season,” Molloy said.

Vice Mayor Tim Navarre noted that offering relief to the fishing families here will encourage them to stay here and continue their work.

“If they are given some leeway they will stay in the fishery and work,” Navarre said. “That’s really what it’s all about. This isn’t a welfare program. There’s some real relief here and opportunity for people to benefit from it and continue with their livelihood.”

Mayor Brian Gabriel excused himself from the vote, at the advice of city attorney Scott Bloom, who said it could be a potential conflict of interest since Gabriel is a commercial set-netter and could potentially benefit from the passing of the resolution.

Read the full story at The Peninsula Clarion

Republican leading Alaska gubernatorial race a mystery on commercial fishing issues

October 19, 2018 — Every major candidate in every Alaska gubernatorial, US Senate or House election since 1991 — and in quite a few state legislative races, too — has met on the stage in Kodiak to debate issues related to the state’s commercial fishing industry.

They never miss it, such is the importance of fishing to the state of Alaska.

But Mike Dunleavy won’t be at the Gerald C. Wilson Auditorium this Monday to square off against his two main political combatants in the latest race for governor, independent incumbent Bill Walker and Democratic candidate Mark Begich.

Instead, the 57-year-old Republican, former state senator and educational consultant — who has been leading the 2018 race for governor of the state by a wide margin in all recent polls — will be “visiting with Alaskans in Barrow,” a town more than 1,200 miles away in the northern part of the state, his staff reportedly informed the debate organizers this week.

The decision serves to further confound the fishing captains, seafood processors and many laborers in Alaska’s massive commercial fishing industry just three weeks before they’ll join other Alaskans in voting booths. They’re struggling to learn more about what their next likely governor might do on such issues of consequence as the proposed Pebble Mine and trade with China.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Citing failed sockeye runs, Alaska Gov. Walker declares economic disaster for Chignik fisheries

August 24, 2018 — ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Citing a preliminary harvest count of 128 sockeye salmon and rapidly declining escapement counts, Gov. Walker declared an economic disaster for the Chignik fisheries region Thursday.

According to a Thursday release, the governor’s decision is a result of harvest numbers that pose a threat to communities in the region that rely on subsistence and commercial salmon fishing, including Chignik, Chignik Lake, Chignik Lagoon, Ivanof Bay and Perryville.

“Chignik is used to catching more than a million sockeye every year. This year, they caught 128 fish,” Gov. Walker said in the statement. “Salmon is the economic and subsistence staple in these communities and the failure of this year’s fishery is a one-two punch. It is critical that we do what we can to support them as they work to recover: that’s what we’re here for.”

Read the full story at KTUU