2024 Seabank Annual Report Links Natural Environments and Human Economies in SE Alaska

On Monday the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust (ASFT), released the 2024 SeaBank Annual Report that includes, among other facts about the value of the SE Alaska ecosystems, the $1 billion annual contribution to regional economies in jobs and resources to over 72,000 residents in 33 communities.

“We can look at Southeast Alaska as a bank of forest and sea,” says ASFT board member Linda Behnken, “one that supports the entirety of our collective economic, social, cultural, and physical well-being. If we steward this natural bank ...

Alaska and Washington Get Federal Boost for Port Infrastructures From Saint Paul Island to Tacoma

Six coastal communities in Alaska and five in Washington state will receive nearly $150 million for improvements in critical port and maritime infrastructure. The grants are funded by both annual appropriations and the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The IIJA provided $2.25 billion in funds available over five years to the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP), which was created to improve the movement of goods through our nation's ports and supply chain and enhance port resiliency.

Alaska has more coastline than ...

Alaska Salmon Fishery Achieves Fifth MSC Certification; Marks 25 Years of Program Engagement

For the fifth time, the Alaska salmon fishery has achieved certification against the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard. The milestone also means the fishery has reached 25 years of engagement with the MSC program.

The Alaska salmon certificate is held by the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation (AFDF), per the MSC.

The Alaska salmon fishery was described as a “pioneer of high standards for sustainable fishing and environmental stewardship.” Not only was it one of the first fisheries to join the MSC program, but...

Alaska Pollock Group At-Sea Processors Association Announces Leadership Transition

The At-sea Processors Association (APA), a trade group within the Alaska pollock industry, announced that its Executive Director, Stephanie Madsen, will retire at the end of the year.

Madsen has been at the helm of the APA since 2007 and has spent nearly 50 years working with the Alaska fishing industry. Madsen started her career working with fishing industry leaders in Unalaska over 40 years ago. She served a pair of terms on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, serving as the first woman Chair and also as...

NOAA Fisheries: Alaska’s Seafood Industry Bore a $1.8 Billion Loss in 2022-23

For anyone curious about what all the disaster declarations, price drops, rising costs, market shifts, and labor shortages have added up to over the past two years, now we can — it’s $1.8 billion.

NOAA Fisheries has done the heavy lifting of summing up the financial impacts of consumer behavior changes, shifts in global markets, climate change, and other factors in its 67-page economic report called Alaska Seafood Snapshot, released yesterday.

In the three-year period 2021-2023, the report says that the Alaska fishing ...

Alaska's Peltola Announces $277 Million to Alaska Fisheries Disasters

Last week, Alaska’s U.S. House Representative Mary S. Peltola announced $277 million in financial relief for ten fisheries disasters that have occurred in Alaska between 2018 and 2022. The funding will go from NOAA Fisheries in the Department of Commerce to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSFMC)  and will be distributed in partnership between the PSFMC, the State of Alaska, and Tribal leaders.

Peltola wrote to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo last April, urging action and expressing concerns about “three groups of fishery disaster funds that were stuck ...

Russia's Navy Launches Ocean 2024 War Drills  Globally, USCG Alerts Alaska Fishing Industry

Yesterday, Russia began a long-planned, massive military exercise dubbed Ocean-24 in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, the Mediterranean, Caspian, and Baltic Seas. The exercise involved over 400 warships, submarines, and support vessels, more than 120 planes and helicopters, and over 90,000 troops, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. The ministry said the maneuvers would continue through Sept. 16.

Last week, Alaska’s 17th District of the US Coast Guard warned the fishing industry, particularly those operating in the Bering Sea and Aleutians, to be...

UW Issues Early Bristol Bay Forecast of 49.6 Million Salmon Run in 2025, 32.4 Million Harvest

University of Washington’s Fisheries Research Institute (UAW-FRI), part of the university’s Alaska Salmon Program, released a preliminary preseason forecast at the request of Bristol Bay’s fleet, processors, and managers of 49.6 million sockeye, which translates to a preliminary estimate of 32.4 million harvested. 

To date 31.2 million sockeye have been landed in Bristol Bay this year, compared to a 25 million fish forecast. UW-FRI’s team of forecasters, led by Dr. Curry Cunningham, will release a more detailed forecast in early November ... 

Trending Now: Single Ingredient Treats In The Pet Food Space

In recent years there has been a growing interest in eating items with “clean” labels. People want to understand what they are putting into their bodies. And the same goes for their pets. Single ingredient treats are rising in popularity, and the seafood industry is cashing in on this trend.

There is so much more than just fillets when processing fish. The seafood industry has long used byproducts, such as heads, frames, skin and viscera, to create additional products like fishmeal, fish oil and other...

Alaska Air Cargo Expands Capacity Out of California With 24/7 Service At LAX

Growing logistical needs has led Alaska Air Cargo to expand its capacity in California. The airline service provider has not only added new routes, but also new hours to continue to support businesses as they move time-sensitive cargo — like fresh caught seafood.

Los Angeles has become the airport Alaska Air Cargo services with the most daily flights with belly-cargo capacity. And in order to handle that demand, the company announced that “at LAX, the Alaska Air Cargo station never...

ADF&G Forecasts 51.3 Million Sockeye Salmon Run to Bristol Bay in 2025, 16% Below 10-Yr Average

Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game’s annual pre-season forecast of a total run of 51.31 million sockeye salmon and a harvest of 34.8 million sockeye is 16% smaller than the most recent 10-year average of 61.23 million fish but 38% greater than the long-term average of 37.07 million fish (1963– 2024).

It is slightly higher than the only other prediction for the world-class fishery in Bristol Bay, which was released August 15 by the University of Washington last ...

Les Hodges: The Holiday Buying Season Begins with New Alaska Fisheries

The Alaska king and snow crab fisheries are underway, with all eyes looking north. This season, the red king crab quota has been raised by 7.5% to 2.310mm pounds. Meanwhile, tanner (or bairdi) snow crab has seen a remarkable increase, tripling last year's quota to 6.27 million pounds. Additionally, there's an unexpected opening for opilio snow crab, with a quota set at 4.720mm pounds. However, St. Mathew blue king crab and the Pribilof red and blue king crab remain closed.

Norway also announced 2025 quotas...

2024 Wild Salmon Season: Unraveling the Causes Behind Declining Landings

The 2024 Alaskan wild salmon season experienced significantly lower landings across all species, including Chinook (king), chum (keta), pink, coho, and sockeye. With the season largely wrapped up through September 7, landings for sockeye across Alaska were down 20% compared to 2023, with pink landings falling 44% from 2022 YTD and the chum catch dipping 32% year-over-year, respectively, according to Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute's Weekly Alaska Salmon Updates produced by the McKinley Research Group.

Back in September, McKinley Research Group noted that the harvest of lower than 100...

Nearly $40 Million in Disaster Funding Allocated for ’23-24 Bering Sea Snow Crab Fishery

The U.S. Secretary of Commerce announced that $39.5 million in funding will address a fishery resource disaster that occurred in the Alaska Bering Sea Snow Crab Fishery from 2023 to 2024.

“As climate change continues to have severe impacts on the fisheries and ecosystems that are vital to Alaska’s economy, the Department of Commerce remains committed to providing disaster relief across the state,” said Secretary Raimondo. “This funding will help Alaskans recover from the Bering Sea Snow Crab Fishery disaster...

U.S. Coast Guard Encounters Russian Naval Vessels near Point Hope, Inside Alaska’s EEZ

For the fourth time in less than a week, U.S. Coast Guard and other military monitors located Russian military aircraft or warships near Alaska. The most recent one occured Sunday, when USCG Cutter Stratton observed four Russian Federation Navy (RFN) vessels 57 miles northwest of Point Hope, AK, within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Chukchi Sea.

The day before, Saturday September 14, two Russian IL-38 military aircraft were detected and tracked while operating within the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) ...

AK Bering Sea Crabber’s Jamie Goen Appointed to Seat on North Pacific Council

Alaska’s crab industry hasn’t had much good news lately, but early last week, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced that Jamie Goen, executive director of the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers Association (ABSC) was picked to serve on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC). Goen has advocated for science-based management and sustainable fishery practices for most of her career, and for Alaska crab specifically since she was hired to lead ABSC in 2018. 

Goen's appointment follows the untimely death of Kenny Down, a highly respected advocate ...

Alaska Salmon Season Shaping Up to Be Worst in Several Decades

The most recent cumulative state landings on Alaska salmon show 83.9 million salmon harvested, compared to a preseason forecasted annual harvest of 135.7 million. Looking at the calendar -- there are only a few weeks left in the season -- and following the catch trajectory, 2024 could be the lowest salmon catch on record since 1988, when annual landings reached 100 million salmon.

The bulk of current landings are made up of 40.5 million sockeye and 29.6 million pink salmon. Sockeye landings dovetail almost exactly with forecasts of 39.5 million. Statewide ...

Crustacean Boom: Mid-Year Market Trends of King and Snow Crab

Data covering global king and snow crab for the first half of 2024 has been released, revealing that demand remains strong in both the live and frozen crab sectors, despite economic difficulties in major markets.  

The U.S. continues to import snow crab at a robust pace with 91 million pounds imported through June. Overall, snow crab from all sources have increased by 18%. Compared to 2023, snow crab imports from Canada have surged by 19%, now representing 90% of all...