Saving Seafood

Stakeholders worry after profanity prompts federal fisheries council to tighten comment policies

May 6, 2021 — For all the controversy and high-strung emotion that can accompany fisheries decision-making bodies, the federal council that manages fisheries in the North Pacific says it hadn’t ever received public comments with explicit language… until last month.

North Pacific Fishery Management Council members like Bill Twiet said at the council’s April meeting they worried that crude language and personal attacks could prevent people from speaking up.

“We lose collectively — the council loses, but also the council family loses — when people choose not to engage with us because they look at some of that testimony and they think ‘If that’s the cost of speaking up, I don’t want to,’” Tweit explained.

Council members say five of the nearly 600 comments submitted to the council last month contained vulgar language or personal attacks. The council’s executive director says his staff reached out to the commenters and asked them to resubmit, sans swearing. One did.

But those five comments were apparently enough to prompt changes to the council’s written comment policies. That includes a profanity filter, tighter deadlines for submitting comments and some discretionary power for Council staff to move — or remove — off-topic comments.

And that’s prompted outcry from longtime fisheries advocates. The head of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association Linda Behnken says she’s never seen the council move like that: “I mean, never seen them bring something up, take action, boom, done without more opportunity for meaningful engagement.”

Read the full story at KSTK

In a down market, Alaska fishermen avert disaster by feeding families in need

October 2, 2020 — It’s been a hard season for small fishermen in many parts of Alaska because of economic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. But a seafood donation program started by a Sitka organization is helping bring some stability to fishermen and consumers during an uncertain time.

“I very quickly heard about people who were struggling here in town and that catalyzed us to start talking to local fishermen, local processors, about how we as commercial fishermen could help meet that local need,” Behnken said.

Normally, ALFA is a membership organization that advocates for sustainable fisheries and small fishermen. They also run Alaskans Own, a community supported fishery that sells seafood boxes to people around the country.

But Behnken and her partners decided to branch out to meet the local need brought on by the pandemic. They used grant funds from Catch Together to supplement the price of lingcod, so Sitka fishermen like Foss and her husband could start their season with some security. Then, they created a market for the seafood by delivering it to families who were struggling to make ends meet because of the pandemic.

“The pandemic really created a lot of need around Alaska and around the country from loss of jobs,” she said. “It’s just a particularly difficult time for people and then to be able to have really good quality food coming from Alaska’s healthy oceans. It’s just a really special to be able to provide that and make those connections.”

Soon, Behnken started getting calls from other communities asking her to expand. With the help of outside funders and organizations, they delivered seafood to military families in Alaska and to Tribal communities in the Pacific Northwest. Justin Zuelner is the head of The Wave, the foundation that helped distribute the seafood in the Pacific Northwest.

Read the full story at Raven Radio

The David And Goliath Story Playing Out In Alaska’s Fisheries

September 14, 2020 — One day in April 1991, a large fishing boat sliced through the cobalt waters of the North Pacific, not far from Sitka, Alaska, on its way to the Bering Sea. For some reason, perhaps to make sure its gear was in order, the boat dropped its weighted trawling net, dragging it across the ocean floor. As the boat drifted by, thousands of pounds of rockfish got scooped up in the mesh. Just like that, the local rockfish season was over.

“Outraged.” That is how Linda Behnken, a Sitka-based fisherman and director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, described her reaction to news of the trawler’s nets rising from the ocean full of strangled or struggling fish, leaving the area’s fishing territory depleted. “It was a major catalyzing event.”

Facing the loss of a resource that had supported generations of fishing families, Behnken and the local community set out to protect the pristine waters of Southeast Alaska from the ravages of industrial fishing and banish trawling boats that drag wide nets to indiscriminately collect fish. A David to industrial fishing’s Goliath, Behnken was told to give up, that the cards were stacked against her. It took years of lobbying and rallying local support, but with the passage of the Southeast Alaska Trawl Closure in 1998, she had helped enact what at that time was the world’s largest ban on trawling, protecting 70,000 square miles of ocean habitat.

“The trawling ban is the reason we still have healthy small-scale fisheries in Southeast Alaska,” she said.

In the decades since, as the global fishing industry has consolidated into fewer, larger corporate fleets and environmental changes have threatened the ocean’s resources, Alaska’s Southeastern panhandle has emerged as a bastion for sustainable, small-scale fishing.

Read the full story at the Huffington Post

Southeast Alaska fishermen’s group works to feed families affected by COVID-19

April 16, 2020 — With thousands of Alaskans out of work because of coronavirus mandates and other economic effects, fishermen and processors in Southeast Alaska are working to ensure families in need have access to food.

One of those groups, the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, is partnering with processors in Sitka to distribute five-pound packages of fish to families in Sitka. The families in need have been identified through the town’s mutual aid program.

“Within a week or two of the shelter-in-place and a lot of the businesses closing down, hearing that the grocery store here was not accepting checks anymore because too many of them were bouncing, to me was a pretty clear sign that people are feeling that stress,” said Linda Behnken, Executive Director of ALFA. “Since we are probably closer to the whole economic impacts of this pandemic than the end, we started thinking about what we could do and talking to the processors here in Sitka, and right away heard from fishermen that where they can they’re willing to donate fish to help to get to families in need.”

Behnken said the processors then also jumped on boarding, saying they’d help get the fish to families as long as someone could distribute it. Anyone else who want to support the effort can help cover the costs by purchasing donation boxes through ALFA’s community-supported fishery program, Alaskans Own.

Read the full story at KTUU

New lender hopes to draw young Alaska fishermen into the commercial ranks

March 20, 2019 — A new lender is offering loans to young Alaska fishermen who want to buy into the halibut and sablefish fisheries, and repayment is based on their catches.

The Local Fish Fund opened this month to provide alternative loan structures to young fishermen as a way to help turn the tide on the trend called the “graying of the fleet.”

The average age of an Alaska fisherman today is 50, and fewer recruits are choosing the fishing life. A big part of what’s turning them away is the cost to buy into fisheries that are limited through permits or, in the case of halibut, catch shares that can cost up to $75 a pound. The high values have made conventional loans unobtainable, especially for crewmen who may know how to catch fish but have little collateral.

“The cost and risk involved in accessing Alaska’s quota share fisheries are comparable to purchasing a hotel as a first step in home ownership,” said Linda Behnken, founder of the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust and director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association in Sitka. “We’re looking for ways to help the next generation of fishing families get that start and build sufficient equity to eventually access conventional loans.”

The trust is among a group of entities that collaborated on the unique lending concept for more than a decade. They include The Nature Conservancy, Craft3, Rasmuson Foundation, Catch Together, Oak Foundation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The Local Fish Fund was jumpstarted with $1.5 million from Catch Together and the Rasmuson Foundation and will be centered for now on fisheries in Southeast Alaska.

“We’re hoping to build the fund to be available more broadly and capitalize at a higher level,” Behnken said.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Alaska Longline Group Seeks Applicants for Crewmember Apprenticeship Program

January 25, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA), a Sitka-based fishing group, is seeking applicants for its Crewmember Apprenticeship Program. The program aims to provide young people an opportunity to gain experience in, as well as an understanding of, commercial fishing and its importance to supporting coastal communities.

In late 2017, ALFA was awarded a $70,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to expand this program in Sitka and to support efforts tolaunch similar programs in other parts of the state. The grant, leveraged with support from the City of Sitka and ALFA members, was awarded as part of NFWF’s Fisheries Innovation Fund.

Last year, ALFA’s apprentice program received over 100 local, national, and international applicants, and ALFA placed 13 apprentices on commercial fishing boats over the 2018 fishing season.  In 2019, ALFA plans to increase the number of participating apprentices, skippers, and fishing vessels and to enhance local employment opportunity.

Executive Director of ALFA, Linda Behnken explains, “With support from NFWF, we plan to expand the program to include more boats, crew, and communities. Our goal is to provide young people with a safe introduction to Alaska’s fisheries and to share the curriculum we have developed through our program with fishing groups in other parts of the State and country”.

Lea LeGardeur, a crewmember apprentice from last year, says of her experience in the program, “Beyond giving me an entry point into an industry that I otherwise would have had a harder getting into…the skippers in the program all wanted to teach, and sign up to take greenhorns so they could pass on what they know.”

ALFA is seeking applicants for the 2019 fishing season. Crewmember application period is currently open and will close February 28th, 2019. Applicants must be 18 years or older to qualify. It’s free to apply; application information can be found at http://www.alfafish.org/apprenticeship/.

This story was originally published by SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Terms Extended for U.S. IPHC Commissioners While Commerce, State, and White House Weigh Appointments

March 30, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Yesterday Linda Behnken and Bob Alverson, current U.S. Commissioners on the International Pacific Halibut Commission, both received emails from the Department of State extending their current terms to August 31, 2018.

“This appointment is effective immediately and expires on August 31, 2018, or whenever another Alternate or presidentially-appointed Commissioner is appointed to fulfill the relevant duties, whichever occurs first,” wrote Judith Garber, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs at the State Department.

Although the appointment is a presidential decision, it’s not unusual for reappointments, or extensions of terms as in this case, to be made by the State Department, the agency that oversees international commissions.

Both Behnken and Alverson’s terms ended March 31, 2018. Both are preparing for a meeting with the Canadian commissioners in mid-April to work on issues within the Commission’s harvest policy that resulted in not reaching an agreement on catch limits at the group’s annual meeting in January.

The federal agencies are currently considering six names for the two seats. Besides Behnken’s and Alverson’s nominations, Andy Mezirow, Richard Yamada, and Duane Edelman were nominated for Behnken’s Alaska seat and Steve Joner was nominated for Alverson’s seat. Mezirow and Yamada are recreational charter operators, Edelman is a fisherman, and Joner is a fisheries manager for the Makah Tribe.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

 

Southeast Alaska Longliners Become Bathymetric Cartographers to Avoid Bycatch

March 12, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — A desire by Southeast Alaska longliners to avoid rockfish bycatch in 2009 evolved into a high-tech effort to collect bathymetric data for use in detailed seafloor maps. The maps would ultimately help fishermen avoid bycatch and sensitive habitats like coral and sponge areas. Next week, these detailed and data-rich maps will be available to the fishermen who helped make them.

For the last decade, members of the Fisheries Conservation Network (FCN) used scanning software to map the halibut and sablefish grounds. At the end of each fishing season, FCN members shared the data with ALFA, where it was combined into one database, then used to create the enhanced maps and sent back to the fishermen to continue adding data to.

ALFA Executive Director Linda Behnken, in an interview with KCAW radio in Sitka, said the result is one of the most complex bathymetric databases on the eastern side of the Gulf of Alaska.

“One hundred and forty million data points have been contributed,” she said. “It’s been a lot of years getting to this point. We’re really excited about the level of detail we have now and the quality of the maps.”

Read the full story with a subscription at Seafood News

 

Alaska: A Tough Break for Alaska Fishermen: Pacific Halibut Catches Likely to Drop Next Year

December 5, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — It’s going to be a tough year for many Alaska fishermen.

After announcements of a massive drop in cod stocks, the industry learned last week that Pacific halibut catches are likely to drop by 20 percent next year, and the declines could continue for several years.

That could bring the coastwide catch for 2018, meaning from Oregon to British Columbia to the Bering Sea, to about 31 million pounds.

Scientists at the International Pacific Halibut Commission interim meeting in Seattle revealed that survey results showed halibut numbers were down 23 percent from last summer, and the total biomass (weight) dropped 10 percent. The surveys are done each year from May through September at nearly 1,500 stations from Oregon to the far reaches of the Bering Sea.

The biggest drop stems from a lack of younger fish entering the halibut fishery. Stewart said the 9- to 18-year-old year classes that have been sustaining the recent halibut fishery are not being followed up by younger fish.

“In 2018, and especially projecting out to 2019, we are moving out of a fishery that is dominated by those relatively good recruitments starting in 1999 and extending to 2005. We see an increasing number of relatively poor recruitments stemming from at least 2009 and 2010,” he said.

Although they are not factoring them into their halibut catch computations, scientists for the first time are looking closely at environmental and habitat conditions, as well as trends in other fisheries.

Stewart said warmer waters starting in 2007 appear to correspond to the lower halibut year classes. Most relevant to the drop in halibut recruitment in recent years, as with Pacific cod, are the effects of “the blob.”

“Especially through 2015 to 2016 we saw that warmer water extending even to deeper shelf waters in the Gulf of Alaska,” he said. “We’ve seen a big increase the last several years in pyrosomes, which are these nasty gelatinous zooplankton, well documented sea bird die offs and whale strandings. So some abnormal things are going on in the Gulf.”

The IPHC does not always follow the recommendations of its scientists. Final decisions will be made at the annual meeting Jan. 22-26 in Portland, Oregon.

Sport halibut hike

While commercial halibut catches are set to drop, charter operators will see an increase.

A Recreational Quota Entity program was approved by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council that will allow halibut catch shares to be purchased and held in a common pool for charter operators to draw from as needed.

Under the plan, the RQE can hold 10 percent of the total commercial quota pool in Southeast Alaska and 12 percent from the Southcentral region, making it the single largest halibut-holding entity in the North Pacific.

The program would be phased in over 10 years with transfers of 1 percent and 1.2 percent from each region, respectively.

It is unclear where the RQE will get the estimated $25 million needed to buy halibut shares. Some have suggested a self-funding option such as a halibut stamp, similar to king salmon, or a voluntary tax.

The RQE program is strongly opposed by commercial fishermen. In written comments, the Halibut Coalition’s Tom Gemmell stated that the RQE “undermines the goal of maintaining an owner operated fleet, and will force fishermen to compete for quota against a subsidized entity.”

Linda Behnken, director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, said charter effort has remained relatively constant or increased despite catch conservation measures.

“Charter operators claim their clients need more harvesting opportunity despite low abundance, ignoring the obvious need for all sectors to conserve during times of low abundance,” Behnken said.

Longtime fisheries advocate Clem Tillion called RQEs the “death of a small boat, owner operated fishery” adding “Holland America and Carnival Cruise lines will buy the quota and hired hands will fish it, and the small boat fleet out of villages is gone.”

The RQE plan is set to begin next year.

Gender on the agenda

Recognizing the roles of women in the seafood industry and making them more visible is the goal of the new group International Association for Women in the Seafood Industry (WSI) and input is being gathered from around the world.

The nonprofit, launched a year ago, was created by seafood and gender issues specialists to highlight imbalances in the industry, to shed light on women’s real participation and to promote greater diversity and inclusiveness.

One in two seafood workers is a woman, WSI claims, yet they are over-represented in low-skilled, low-paying positions and account for less than 10 percent of company directors and a mere 1 percent of CEOs.

“There is a gender imbalance,” said Marie Catherine Monfort, WSI president and co-founder.

Monfort, who is based in Paris, has been working in the seafood industry for several decades, both as an economist and a seafood marketing analyst.

“I noticed that in most meetings I was surrounded by men, and I could only see men speaking in most conversations. Women were very numerous in this industry, but not very visible. They are not taken into account by the policy makers and by employers as well. That was the main motivation,” she said in a phone conversation.

To gather more perceptions on women’s roles in the industry, WSI launched a first of its kind survey in September at a World Seafood Congress in Iceland.

It went so well, she said, that WSI decided to translate the survey into French, English and Spanish and expand it to the entire world.

“The questions center around what is the position of women in your company, and what is your opinion of the situation of women in the industry. Are there areas where things could be improved, or maybe some feel there is no need for any improvement,” Monfort said, adding that responses by both sexes are welcomed.

“It is very important to also collect men’s opinions, and it will be interesting to see if men and women have the same or differing opinions,” she said. “The results will help us cultivate a better future with equal opportunities and increase awareness of women’s roles in the seafood industry. The more we are, the stronger we will be.”

The “Gender on the Agenda” survey is open through December, and results will be available by early March. Contact Monfort at contact@wsi-asso.org with questions.

Crab wrap

The Bristol Bay red king crab season wrapped up after about five weeks, and by all accounts, it was uneventful.

“Fishermen were seeing about what we expected from the survey, with a little bit slower fishing and pockets of crab without real wide distribution,” said Miranda Westphal, area management biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Dutch Harbor.

The red king crab catch quota this year of 6.6 million pounds was down 22 percent from last season, and the lowest catch since 1996.

The crab was “big and nice,” said Jake Jacobsen, director of the Inter-Cooperative Exchange, a harvester group that catches 70 percent of the Bering Sea crab quota.

There’s no word yet on price, and Jacobsen said negotiations will likely continue into January. Red king crab averaged $10.89 per pound to fishermen last year, the highest price ever. Jacobsen said the price is likely to be lower this year.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

 

ALASKA: Science and accountability urged in fisheries management

Behnken: no one wins if the resource loses

September 1, 2017 — Fisheries and conservation advocates for coastal communities are urging that greater accountability and conservation measures be included in reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

“Both fishermen and managers understand that in the long run no one wins if the resource loses,” veteran harvester Linda Behnken told Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, during a field hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard on Aug. 23 in Soldotna. “As Congress works to strengthen the Magnuson-Stevens Act to support community based fishermen, we firmly believe that maintaining productive fisheries through resource conservation is step one in that process …   The heightened emphasis on resource rebuilding that was central to the last reauthorization is still essential to long term resource health and we ask that Congress recommit to conservation goals,” she said.

Behnken, a harvester for more than 30 years, longlines for halibut and black cod and trolls for salmon with her family out of Sitka, which ranks 15th of all domestic fishing ports in the value of commercial landings. She is the president of the Halibut Coalition and executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association.

Behnken also asked the committee to address challenges faced by young fishermen and the growing impact to rural communities of lost fishing access.

Read the full story at the Cordova Times