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) ...

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...

Northline Seafoods’ New Freezer Barge At Reduced Capacity Following Electrical Fire

In late May Northline Seafoods’ new freezer barge, Hannah, departed Bellingham’s Fairhaven Shipyard for its maiden voyage to Bristol Bay. The one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art vessel was entering the 2024 salmon season in Bristol Bay with the capacity to freeze up to 1 million pounds of salmon per day, with cold storage on board the vessel able to hold over 10 million pounds of frozen fish, and 2.3 million pounds of fresh.

“This is a dream come true,” Northline Seafoods CEO Ben Blakey...

High Numbers in Egegik But Overnight Ugashik Nearly Tripled Catch to 112,000 Sockeye

If you can’t wait to track the performance stats on display at the Paris Olympics in a month, turn your focus to Bristol Bay, Alaska for a worthwhile diversion before the Games begin.  

Seafood aficionados can track the daily run of what could be 45 million sockeye salmon returning to the Bay’s nine river systems, compare those rivers performances with two forecasts this year, and even get an early DNA peek at what’s to come. A little over a week out and 100 miles distant scientists at ...

Holland America Line’s McKinley Chalet Resort in Alaska Receives MSC Certificate

Holland America Line is ensuring that its guests have access to the highest quality and sustainably sourced seafood through not only their cruises, but also their land-based properties. The company announced on Monday that its McKinley Chalet Resort, located in the heart of the Denali Canyon in Alaska, has recently received Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification. 

"We are proud to extend our promise of fresh, sustainable fish beyond our ships to our guests on cruise tours visiting Denali," said...

Move Over, Grasshoppers. Wild Alaska Pollock Is Coming To T-Mobile Park

Move over, grasshoppers. There’s a new must-have food at T-Mobile Park.

A new partnership between the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) and the Seattle Mariners will bring Wild Alaska pollock fish tacos to Major League Baseball. Beginning June 28, baseball fans will be able to find the fish at Edgar’s Cantina, as well as in other locations and clubs throughout the stadium.

“It’s a big deal to have a menu item at a major MLB stadium — not only for the sheer number of...

Silver Bay Seafoods to Buy Trident Seafoods' False Pass Facilities

On Friday Trident Seafoods and Silver Bay Seafoods announced an agreement for Silver Bay to purchase Trident’s False Pass processing facility and fuel business on the Alaska Peninsula. It is the second purchase by Silver Bay in an area where they already own a plant and process salmon.With this purchase, Silver Bay will be processing salmon at plants in Southeast Alaska (Craig, Sitka, Ketchikan); south-central Alaska (Valdez), Kodiak, Bristol Bay (Naknek), and the Alaska Peninsula (False Pass) this season.

Acquiring the Valdez plant in Prince William Sound and the ...

NFI President Lisa Wallenda Picard Responds to Peltola’s Bottom Trawl Clarity Act

On May 22 Alaska Representative Mary Peltola introduced a pair of bills designed to restrict bottom trawling and reduce bycatch. And one of them has garnered a response from National Fisheries Institute (NFI) President and CEO Lisa Wallenda Picard.

The first bill — the Bycatch Reduction and Mitigation Act — would authorize NOAA’s Bycatch Reduction and Engineering Program (BREP) to provide $10 million in funding for five years. The bill would also establish the Bycatch Mitigation Assistance Fund, administered by the National Fish and...

NOAA Updates Response to Court Order on Wild Fish Conservancy Suit

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released an update last Friday on its response to the District Court’s order to complete analyses required by the decision on a suit brought against NOAA Fisheries by the Wild Fish Conservancy.

The Wild Fish Conservancy v. Quan — also known as the Southeast Alaska salmon fishery — brought into question a NOAA Fisheries 2019 biological opinion that analyzes two actions related to salmon fishing in Southeast Alaska. It also involved a third action on a conservation program for habitat improvement and hatchery production... 

Trident Seafoods Will Operate Kodiak Plants Through ‘B’ Season

In a series of events that define the phrase “Timing is everything,” Trident Seafoods has announced it will continue to operate its Kodiak plant through the pollock “B” season. The news comes on the same day that Kodiak’s City Council and the Borough prepared a request for a federal emergency rule to allow a mothership processor to buy and process fish from Trident’s pollock fleet of 15-25 vessels this fall. 

Kodiak’s Hail Mary was well planned, not to mention well timed, for the North Pacific Fishery...

NMFS Opens Year-Long Review: Is “Southern Alaska” Chinook an Endangered Species?

With a positive 90-day finding on a petition filed last January by the Wild Fish conservancy, National Marine Fisheries Service has begun the second phase of a series of steps required to list Alaska Chinook salmon as an endangered species. Yesterday the agency launched a 12-month review to determine whether the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing is warranted. 

The Wild Fish Conservancy is a Seattle-base nonprofit that has launched lawsuits, media campaigns, and other efforts, raising money and awareness to save the...

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...

Northline Seafoods’ Freezer Barge Returns To Full Operations Less Than Month After Fire

Hannah, the new freezer barge from Northline Seafoods, is back to full operations less than a month after a fire occurred under one of Hannah’s three spiral freezers.

As Seafoodnews reported early this month, an electrical fire on board Hannah “caused a significant loss of freezer production capacity” on the vessel. The freezer barge had only departed Bellingham’s Fairhaven Shipyard for its maiden voyage to Bristol Bay in late May. The one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art vessel was entering the 2024 salmon season...

It's Early: Alaska Wild Salmon Landings on Par With ADF&G Forecasts So Far

With 10.6 million wild salmon caught in Alaska this year so far, landings are on par with ADF&G forecasts of 135.7 million salmon rather than last year’s actual landings of 232.4 million salmon, a 41.6% drop that is due to lower projected catches of pink salmon in Southeast and sockeyes in Bristol Bay. It is still too early in the season to make statements on timing: the latest numbers are as of July 1 when the peak of the Bristol Bay Run is still at ...

Commerce Approves More Than $12M for Alaska, Washington Salmon Disasters in 2021-2022

Last Friday U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced that $12.2 million will be allocated to Alaska’s 2022 Kuskokwim River salmon fishery, 2021 and 2022 Upper Cook Inlet East Side Setnet salmon fishery, and the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe’s 2021 Puget Sound fall chum and coho salmon fisheries.

In the past twelve months, Commerce has approved as many fisheries disaster just in the west coast states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California. The fishery disasters, most of them salmon and of those many...

Japan: 2023 Sockeye Salmon Imports Surged by 41% to Over 10,000 Tons

EPA: Revised Water Quality Standards In Alaska Needed To Meet Clean Water Act Requirements

Last week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent a letter to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to warn that new and revised water quality standards are “necessary” to meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act. According to the EPA, “new and revised human health criteria, or HHC, are needed to protect against adverse human health effects related to pollutants in Alaska’s surface waters.”

Alaska’s DEC defines HHC as “the maximum concentration of a pollutant in a waterbody considered to be...

Northline Seafoods Launches New Seafood Platform To Operate In Bristol Bay During 2024 Salmon Season

Meet “Hannah,” a new, one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art seafood platform from Northline Seafoods that is ready for the 2024 salmon season in Bristol Bay.

Northline announced late last week that its newest vessel officially departed Bellingham’s Fairhaven Shipyard for its maiden voyage to Bristol Bay, where it will operate during the 2024 salmon fishing season.

“This is a dream come true,” said Northline Seafoods CEO Ben Blakey. “Seeing our vessel leave the Fairhaven Shipyard is a...

Copper River Sockeye Salmon Roe Record Wholesale Prices in Sendai at JPY 6800/kg for No. 1 Grade

On May 31, this season's first shipment of salted salmon roe (sujiko) from Copper River, Alaska, arrived at the Sendai Central Wholesale Market. One hundred three pails were planned, but arrival was delayed due to an air freight problem. The remaining 40 pails will be auctioned on June 7.

The entire shipment was delivered to Sento Gyoryu, a wholesaler at the market. The traditional lottery was held on the sales floor. The wholesale price was...

High Liner Foods and Trident Win USDA Alaska Pollock Purchase Request

On Thursday the USDA announced the purchase award winners for the May 3 invitation for Alaska pollock products. Both High Liner Foods and Trident Seafoods were awarded the contracts, which combined are worth $3,756.021.68.

High Liner was awarded a contract for 76,000 lbs of frozen Alaska pollock fillets (pkg 20/2 lb), 76,000 lbs of frozen Alaska pollock sticks (pkg 20/2 lb), and 836,000 lbs of frozen and breaded Alaska pollock sticks (40 lb carton). The contract total of 988,000 lbs is worth...

Murkowski, Sullivan, Peltola Denounce NMFS Move to Study Gulf of Alaska Chinook for ESA Listing

All three of Alaska’s representatives in the U.S. Senate strongly denounced last week’s decision by NOAA Fisheries to begin a robust scientific study to determine if Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon should be added to the Environmental Protection Agency's endangered species list. 

NOAA Fisheries’ move was prompted by an 87-page petition filed last December by the Wild Fish Conservancy to list Chinook salmon throughout the Gulf of Alaska as endangered. The petition, described as containing “numerous factual errors, omissions, incomplete references, and...