HIGHLIGHTS: ALASKA’S SEAFOOD INDUSTRY SHARES GOALS OF OTHER INDUSTRIES; STABLE AGENCY MANAGEMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE LIKE TRANSPORTATION. CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS ON FISHERIES ATE MIXED. MARKETS IN TURMOIL DUE TO WAR IN UKRAINE. MODERATOR: NICOLE KIMBALL, Vice President, Pacific Seafood Processors Association PANEL: n ERIC DEAKIN, Exec. Director, Coastal Villages Regional Fund n SHANNON MARTIN, Exec. Director, Kenai River Sport Fishing Assoc. n DOUGLAS VINCENT-LANG, Commissioner Alaska Department of Fish and Game KEY POINTS: n Common interests, other industries n Amid pandemic, still large a boost to economy n Sustainability important; no fishery endangered DISCUSSION: Nicole Kimball: Seafood has a lot in common with the state’s other resource industries, including the need for infrastructure and stable, well-funded management by state and federal agencies. Even during the pandemic, fisheries contributed hugely to the state’s economy. Eric Deakin: Community Development Quota groups like Coastal Villages Regional Fund bring the benefits of the seafood industry to small coastal communities. “You can really see the difference. We own our own vessels, and we have local people working as captains and mates.” “We are in cod, crab, pollock and all the important (coastal) fisheries, and there are challenges. We had just invested in crab and had one great year and then the (snow) crab fishery shut down.” “The war in Russia has destabilized the industry,” causing the prices for fillets to drop sharply and an even sharper drop for surimi. We also have recurring problems caused by the Jones Act,” which requires shipping between U.S. ports in U.S.-built vessels, which raises costs. Shannon Martin said the important goal for sports fisheries is sustainability and the way to accomplish this is through education. Events like and sports fish “classics” help do this and also introducing young people to fishing. Protecting habitat is also important, for example in educating people about how walking offtrail along stream banks can damage the soil and vegetation root systems, increasing the danger of stream bank erosion. “Our major challenge is that it’s difficult to find a unified voice in fisheries because we are so diverse. But it’s important that we put (protection of) the resource first,” Martin said. Commissioner Douglas Vincent-Lang said climate change is something to be concerned with, but it affects fisheries in different ways. “The Bristol Bay sockeye fishery is seen to benefit because of warmer water in lakes in the region. Chinook (king) salmon are doing poorly, however. “The important thing is that overall, the yield (harvest) has not gone down although the effects are mixed among the different fisheries. Overall, “our fisheries are far from facing extinction,” the commissioner said. As in many industries working at remote sites, housing for employees in fisheries is a challenge. “Unlike the federal government, which has most of its fisheries staff in larger communities, state Fish and Game workers are scattered across rural Alaska,” Vincent-Lang said. Other discussion: Scientists do blame climate-related warm waters for the cancellation of the winter snow crab fishery for the second year in a row. Improvements in stocks are allowing a small Bristol Bay red king crab harvest after two years of this fishery being closed. State biologists set a 2.15-million-pound quota for this year, just under the 2.6-million-pound harvest allowed in 2020 and 2021. In comparison, crab boats were able to catch 8.47 million pounds in the 2016-17 season. Biologists are also predicting a smaller Bristol Bay sockeye run and harvest in 2024 after a string of record-breaking runs and catches that have swamped markets and depressed prices. The prediction is for 39 million fish returning to the Bay, down from 79 million in 2023 and 60 million in 2022. Of the 79 million fish returning to Bristol Bay this year, 40.6 million were caught, resulting in an ex-vessel value paid to harvesters of $117.4 million, 37 percent below the 20-year average because of lower prices. A flood of Russian salmon dumped on the market helped push down prices. — COMPILED BY TIM BRADNER LEADING INNOVATIONS IN ALASKA’S FISHING INDUSTRY 20 ALASKA RESOURCE REVIEW WINTER 2024
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