OpEd: Update to Federal Fisheries Management Could Provide Voice on Trawl Bycatch, Fisheries Access

JUNEAU, ALASKA—Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, Bering Sea Fishermen's Association, SalmonState, Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association (ALFA), The Boat Company, and DeepStrike Sportfishing applaud the start of a federal process that gives Alaskans an opportunity to weigh in on potential new guidelines for federal fisheries management — including trawl bycatch, support for community-based fisheries, and much-needed consideration of climate change in management decisions. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Fisheries on Monday announced a process to update three key conservation and...

Seafood Industry Australia: ‘Sustainable Fisheries Targeted in Baseless Ocean-Grab’

Austral Fisheries (Austral) and Australian Longline Fishing (ALF), along with Seafood Industry Australia (SIA), the national peak body representing Australia’s commercial seafood industry, and the Commonwealth Fisheries Association, the peak-body representing commercial fisheries in Australia’s Commonwealth waters, have condemned the Albanese Government’s announced restructure of the Macquarie Island Marine Park, labelling the tabled plans an ocean-grab funded by international activists with no basis in science, designed to tarnish the sustainably managed Toothfish Fishery.

“Tragically, Minister for the Environment Tanya Plibersek has chosen to...

The Winding Glass: Kodiak Crab Strike Has Ended, But It Is A Sign Of Disputes To Come This Spring

The Kodiak crab strike ended on Saturday when the 130 vessels remaining tied up in the district voted to go fishing for a price of $3.25 per lb.

The season opened two weeks ago, but harvesters were dissatisfied with the pres-eason price offers and refused to fish. The pre-season offers reported by KMXT were $2.50 per lb. Some processors offered $3.25, but that was not initially acceptable.

Kodiak crabbers were hoping for $4.00 to...

OPINION: New AFAC Can Oversee S-K Funding and Launch a National Seafood Promotion

The American Fisheries Advisory Committee (AFAC) was passed and signed into law by President Biden in May 2022. This committee of seafood industry experts was an original part of the Saltonstall Kennedy Act (SK) of 1956. The statute charges the Committee to “Promote and Develop Seafood Products” with the goal of “increasing the free flow of domestic seafood products through Commerce.” 

AFAC’s primary charge with the SK grant program, also in statute, is to design and conduct a grant program that includes the “...expansion of domestic ...

Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers: Fleet Faces $500M in Losses After Council Puts Conservation Request on Ice

This week, Alaska’s crab industry is absorbing another seismic shock.

On Monday, Oct. 10, 2022, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council opted not to act to protect vulnerable crab stock in Alaska’s Bering Sea. On the heels of that decision came an announcement that Bristol Bay red king crab will be closed for the second year in a row, and Bering Sea snow crab will close for the first time in the history of this fishery...

OPINION: Why are ENGO’s Largely Silent on Risks of Offshore Wind to the Marine Environment?

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is fast-tracking offshore wind development off both U.S. coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico to meet the political promise of 30 GW of offshore wind deployed by 2030. Concerns about fisheries disruption and negative impacts to food security, while major, are only a fraction of the considerations being discussed. 

On the West Coast displacement from traditional fishing grounds will be extreme, however, the potential environmental impacts to endangered whales and birds...

The Winding Glass: Why Has The Shellfish Market Fallen So Hard?

Take a look at these two graphics. U.S. shellfish, including snow crab, lobster tail, king crab, and crabmeat, have all experienced some of their most rapid, and in some cases steepest, market declines in the past eight months.

But shrimp, by far the largest volume shellfish item, has not seen a significant price decline. Urner Barry’s value-added shrimp index has barely moved, even while the volume of U.S. shrimp imports continue to set records.

What factors made shellfish so vulnerable to a rapid correction, but didn’t apply to...

“A Devastating Decision” says BC Salmon Farmers as DFO Ignores First Nations Rights and Title, and Science  

The Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard (DFO), Joyce Murray, announced earlier today her commitment to the closure of all farms in the core territories of the Laich-kwil-tach and Klahoose First Nations – a region DFO calls the Discovery Islands.

We know that anti-salmon farming campaigners were given an early signal that a decision would be given today, before impacted First Nations or industry.

"The Federal government continues to demonstrate a lack of care for rural...

OPINION: Trawlers Get a Pass in Bering Sea Snow Crab Rebuilding Plan

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) must decide this month on a 10 year rebuilding plan for Bering Sea snow crab to comply with federal fisheries laws. They have no time to waste: the plan must be in place prior to the start of the 2023/2024 fishing season.

According to the initial environmental assessment of the Rebuilding Plan for Eastern Bering Sea Snow Crab released on November 10, “The main driver in speed of rebuilding for this stock is not fishing mortality, rather...

OP-ED: NWAA To Public Lands Commissioner Franz: You Got It Wrong!

Just four days after she announced that she would not renew Cooke Aquaculture’s fish farming leases, Washington state Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz held a press conference where, flanked by her anti-aquaculture supporters from the Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC), she declared an end to the proud 40-year tradition of fish farming in Puget Sound.

In response, the Northwest Aquaculture Alliance, joined by six other leading seafood trade associations—the National Fisheries Institute, National Aquaculture Association, Global Seafood Alliance, Best Aquaculture Practices, California Aquaculture Association...

OPINION: Canada’s Commitment to North Atlantic Right Whales A Call for Cross-Border Collaboration

Since 2017, many of us in the Canadian lobster industry feel like we’ve been trapped in a South Park episode. There has been a steady drumbeat eager to blame Canada for the plight of North Atlantic right whales (NARWs). The unfair red-listing by Seafood Watch just adds fuel to the fire.

Right whales were rarely observed in the Gulf of St. Lawrence until recently. Historically, they never ventured much beyond their northernmost habitats in the Bay of Fundy and the Roseway Basin area...

The Winding Glass: Monterey Bay Discredits Itself with Red Listing of Lobster

[The Winding Glass is the commentary and opinion column by John Sackton, Founder of Seafood News.]

One of the key points about NGO ratings of fisheries is their variability. Different organizations have different levels of independent governance, transparency, and public accountability. 

The recent red (avoid) listing of American and Canadian lobster by Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch is an example of how ratings organizations can reflect their own organizational biases. Seafood Watch is not among the nine seafood rating organizations benchmarked by the Global Seafood Sustainability Initiative...