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UFA and Salmon Task Force Update May 12, 2004 Joint Legislative Salmon Industry Task Force Update: UFA Thanks the Joint Legislative Salmon Industry Task Force and the Alaska Legislature for its efforts to help fishermen. The following Task Force measures passed the Legislature and are awaiting transmittal to the Governor: CS HB409 (Fsh) – removes seine vessel length limit from statute (58’ limit is still in regulation and proposals to change by area can be taken up by the Board of Fisheries). http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/23/Bills/HB0409B.PDF SCS CSHB 419 (Fin) – Allows fishermen to form regional marketing organizations and assessments for funding. http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/23/Bills/HB0419D.PDF CS HJR34 (Fin)– Resolution requesting modifications to USDA Trade Adjustment Assistance program, additional programs, and to create a TAA program specifically for fishermen. http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/23/Bills/HJR034B.PDF HCS CSSB 273(Fin) – ASMI Funding changes and reduction of board size, subject to vote of processors. http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/23/Bills/SB0273D.PDF CSSB 282 (Res)– Identification of Farmed / Wild fish in food service establishments http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/23/Bills/SB0282B.PDF CSSB 286 (Fin) – Reduces Tax on Direct Marketing Fishermen to .3% (same as shore-based processors) http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/23/Bills/SB0286C.PDF SB315 – Allows continued assessment to repay forward outside funding of Permit Buyback programs. http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/23/Bills/SB0315A.PDF SB322 – Allows increases in Salmon Enhancement tax, subject to vote of fishermen. http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/23/Bills/SB0322A.PDF SCR 19 – Resolution supporting fisheries education http://www.legis.state.ak.us/PDF/23/Bills/SCR019A.PDF Federal Assistance for Fishermen: TAA and NEG Update Fishermen and crew are receiving letters indicating they have been approved or rejected for USDA TAA benefits. If you had a decline in Salmon fishing income from 2001-2002, but have been rejected because your IRS Schedule C does not show the necessary “Net fishing income decline” because of other adjustments, we encourage you to appeal your rejection decision. UFA is working with USDA on this. Please contact our office at (907) 586-2820 or fax us a copy of your appeal letter at (907) 463-2545. You still need to attend TAA Technical Training - Deadline is June 30 for AK residents. If you have not yet attended the TAA technical training, contact the Marine Advisory Program at 1-888-788-6333, or visit the workshop web site at www.taaworkshops.org . In Anchorage call 786-6328. Rejected for TAA? - Other assistance is available for Fishermen, Crew, Tendermen, Cannery workers and Family in the National Emergency Grant Program. Spaces in this program are going fast – call your local State Job center office ASAP, & see website: http://www.jobs.state.ak.us/neg/index.html Table of Contents 1. Legislature adjourns – special session looms 2. Ferry Leconte is stable, but still in danger 3. Aleutians East Borough offers to pay for genetic study of Chums 4. Geoduck divers wrap up season – live delivery makes the difference 5. Togiak Herring finishes with 75% of quota harvested 6. Governor pleased with appointee confirmations 7. UFA Responds to FMI on COOL in Juneau Empire 8. Proposal to cut size of Bering Sea crab fleet moves forward 9. Bristol Bay suit settlement checks on their way 10. Alaska's rich fishing industry caught between changing times, poor prices 11. DIPAC looks to replace cracked aquarium base 12. AK Central Express offers expanded cargo service for fresher fish 13. Yakutat's Hubbard Glacier threatens Situk sport & commercial fisheries 14. Book: SOUND TRUTH and CORPORATE LIE$ -R. Ott on Exxon Valdez 15. Wild Salmon Prices Boosted by Campaigns Promoting Health, Taste, Env. 16. Nat’l Governors Assn. asks for more time to comment on Oceans report 17. Port authority bill HB 562 passes House 18. Kodiak Biologist Jeff Barnhart makes salmon leather 19. Laine Welch: Salmon Skins are new source of life-saving Heparin 20. AK Fisherman & Swimmer Derek Gibb aims for Olympics, needs sponsors. 21. Kenai man discovers crawfish in unlikely place 22. Tough new rules on diesel vehicles 23. WA: Fish Farm chemical firm accused of violating pesticide law 24. WA: Hood Canal in peril, report says 25. Canadians board five foreign trawlers, claiming illegal overfishing 26. UK: Plastic Debris Found in Oceans - Bits of Refuse on Beaches and Ocean 27. BC: DFO study finds no link between salmon farms and sea lice on wild salmon 28. BC: Some B.C. fisheries targeted by groups 29. ASMI: AK Salmon in Wine Spectator & Sunset Magazines 30. OR: Crazy about Wild Salmon 31. Oregon picks Crater Lake for Commemorative coin 32. OR: Climbing temperatures spell big changes for fish 33. WA: Follow up stories on ESA Hatchery vs. Wild: 34. OH: Cincinnati Reds offer Alaska Seafood “Slammin Salmon” T-Shirt Night 35. ADF&G posts Preliminary Processor Intent to Operate list for 2004 36. Alaska Sea Grant Fishlines May online newsletter 37. Southeast Subsistence RAC to meet June 1 38. Federal Subsistence Proposals for 2005 39. Chitina Subsistence Schedule posted 40. NMFS posts Final Cook Inlet Beluga Subsistence Harvest Management Plan 41. NMFS Proposed Rule on use of PSD Salmon & Halibut offal for commercial use 42. NMFS Posts Sablefish Survey Calendar 43. NMFS Final rule - 2A Halibut annual mgmt. measures and sport fishing regs… 44. NMFS Final Rule – Rule 63 makes Skates a Target species: 45. Notice of public meetings on Puget Sound joint tribal & state hatchery management 1. Legislature adjourns – special session looms State lawmakers were set Tuesday night to close the 23rd Alaska Legislature with a budget increasing K-12 education funding by a historic $82 million, but the absence of a long-term fiscal plan could put the session into overtime… http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/051204/sta_lastday.shtml Kodiak Daily Mirror: Lawmakers adjourn with massive capital budget, no fiscal fix
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AK_XGR_ 2. Ferry LeConte is stable, but still in danger http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/051204/loc_ferry.shtml Ferry LeConte hits reef in Peril Strait http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/051104/sta_ferry.shtml Officials scramble to cover ferry service without LeConte http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/051104/loc_ferryserv.shtml Reef still impales ferry: http://www.adn.com/front/v-akcom/story/5061947p-4989772c.html Governor comments: http://www.gov.state.ak.us/news.php?id=970 3. Aleutians East Borough offers to pay for genetic study of Chums Badgered by claims of overharvesting chum salmon destined for subsistence users, fishermen at the tip of the Alaska Peninsula are offering to help pay to show it's not true. The Aleutians East Borough is offering the state $50,000 per year for the next five years for stock identification studies along the migratory route of chum salmon… http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/5049977p-4977762c.html 4. Geoduck divers wrap up season – live delivery makes the difference "Overall it was a very good fishery," said Julie Decker, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Regional Dive Fisheries Association. "Basically, it was the best for live product since the (geoduck) fishery started in Southeast."
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/051104/bus_ 5. Togiak Herring finishes with 75% of quota harvested Area Manager Tim Sands says though the total harvest of 19-thousand tons amounted to only three-quarters of the quota…he closed the fishery when it was clear there were no new fish coming into the district.
http://www.akradio.org/AlaskaNewsNightly.htm#10_Togiak_ 6. Governor pleased with appointee confirmations Board of Fisheries candidates Art Nelson and Robert Heyano were among the vast majority that were confirmed without opposition. http://www.gov.state.ak.us/news.php?id=971 7. UFA Responds to FMI on COOL in Juneau Empire “Mr. Block's estimated $159 million cost in the first year for the seafood industry includes the current cost of record-keeping that is already required in Alaska. We are already paying this as a cost of doing business because the sustainability of our fisheries depends on documentation. As for the concern that federal regulators will be boarding vessels and passing out $10,000 fines for every fish that does not have a record, this is nothing new; the Coast Guard, NOAA Fisheries and Alaska Department of Fish and Game already do…”
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/050704/let_ Food Marketing Institute Executive Vice President John Block’s opinion of April 29 opposing mandatory COOL: http://juneauempire.com/stories/042904/opi_myturn1.shtml 8. Proposal to cut size of Bering Sea crab fleet moves forward Ten percent of Bering Sea commercial crab-fishing licenses would be surrendered under a proposed $100 million buyout program, according to federal officials.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/ 9. Bristol Bay suit settlement checks on their way …Nearly all the fishermen's checks were mailed Friday, Folse said. Fishermen will receive an amount that corresponds to the number of pounds of salmon they landed during the 1989-95 fishing seasons. Payment is based on a rate of about three-quarters of a cent per pound. Individual payments range to nearly $10,000 but the average is about $2,000…
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/ 10. Alaska's rich fishing industry caught between changing times, poor prices Wesley Loy discusses foreign competition, the closure of processors, decline in the Japanese market, and CDQ programs… http://www.adn.com/business/story/5054179p-4982036c.html 11. DIPAC looks to replace cracked aquarium base Hatchery mounts campaign to replace damaged aquarium…Staff at the hatchery will sell engraved tiles to go on the new aquarium or on the floor of the visitor center, for between $50 and $1,000, depending on the location and size of the tiles. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4923228 12. AK Central Express offers expanded cargo service for fresher fish
http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories/051004/loc_ 13. Yakutat's Hubbard Glacier threatens Situk sport & commercial fisheries “The Situk River, which is a world-class both commercial- and sport-fishing river, would be in jeopardy," Mallott said. "As would a number of smaller feeder streams that are critical to both the commercial and the sport fishing systems here. Local folks are very apprehensive about what this means." http://juneauempire.com/stories/050504/sta_hubbard.shtml 14. Book Release: SOUND TRUTH and CORPORATE LIE$ - The Legacy of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, by Dr. Riki Ott Contents and Excerpts are online at: http://www.bookmasters.com/marktplc/rr01161.htm 15. Wild Salmon Prices Boosted by Campaigns Promoting Health, Taste, Env. Benefits …over the past two years,
campaigns promoting the +health+, taste and environmental benefits of
ocean-caught salmon have converged with efforts by fishermen to produce a
better fish through careful handling. Along with scientific studies on fish
contamination and new laws, ocean-caught salmon prices have been pushed back
up.
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20040505_298.html? 16. Nat’l Governors Assn. asks for more time to comment on Oceans report “Given that the Commission’s preliminary report offers the first substantive review of our oceans in more than three decades, an additional 60 days to dig into the report is certainly appropriate,” said House Resources Chairman Pombo. “The Commission had four years to collect this information. If we are serious about listening to the Governors, they need more time to draft their comments.”
http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/Press/releases/2004/ Seattle Time Op-Ed piece
by Fred Fellman: “Only governors can comment on the report. Therefore, it is
important that the public urge Gov. Gary Locke, at his public forum at the
Seattle Aquarium starting at 3 p.m. tomorrow, to strengthen the report's
findings… “http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2001925996_ 17. Port authority bill HB 562 passes House The bill would create the Interior Rivers Port Authority, a body that would be able to accept public and private funds, issue bonds, enter leases and contract for the provision of management services for facilities and operations.
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AK_XGR_ Bill status:
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session= 18. Kodiak Biologist Jeff Barnhart makes salmon leather After a few years of work creating a formula used in tanning the hides, Barnhart now features a range of leather products made in his shop in the Kodiak Island community of Bells Flats…
http://afjournal.yellowbrix.com/pages/afjournal/Story.nsp? 19. Laine Welch: Salmon Skins are new source of life-saving Heparin Thanks to a Cordova fisherman, salmon skins could soon prove to be a prime source for a life saving product called heparin. Heparin is a natural product, available by prescription, which is used to dissolve or prevent formation of blood clots after surgery and in other settings. http://www.kinyradio.com/fishfactor.html 20. AK Fisherman & Swimmer Derek Gibb aims for Olympics, needs sponsors. “I’m in the process of trying to get some fish companies to help me out. I can wear a picture of a salmon or a seafood logo on my swim trunks when I’m on the blocks when all the TV cameras are on me. I’ll do anything to make people aware that wild seafood from Alaska is better than farmed fish,” Gibb said. http://www.kinyradio.com/fishfactor.html (scroll down to second story) Sitka’s Highliner Coffee www.highlinercoffee.com is sponsoring Derek and helping arrange personal visits – in Sitka contact Melissa at 747-3954. UFA members & friends in Juneau who’d like to meet Derek later this month and help contribute should contact our office at 586-2820. 21. Kenai man discovers crawfish in unlikely place According to Tim McKinley, a sportfish biologist with the department, the state is very concerned with the chance that there could be more crawfish crawling around town. "It's our mission to help preserve, maintain and enhance the fisheries around here, and this definitely doesn't fit with that," he said. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4917387/
HB309 Sponsored by Representative Kelly Wolf will make it illegal to “knowingly release, or transport, possess, import, or export for the purpose of release, into the water of the state live nonindigenous fish or live fertilized eggs of nonindigenous fish…”
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session= 22. Tough new rules on diesel vehicles "This is a big deal," Leavitt said, standing outside the White House after he briefed President Bush on the matter. "Nearly everyone will remember when we took the lead out of gasoline. We are now going to take sulfur out of diesel. The black puff of smoke will be a thing of the past." http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0511cleanair11.html 23. WA: Fish Farm chemical firm accused of violating pesticide law
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/ 24. WA: Hood Canal in peril, report says - Total fishing ban urged for heavily polluted fjord Picturesque Hood Canal is facing a permanent fishing ban because people in the fast-growing area aren't controlling their waste. Up to 300 tons of oxygen-stealing pollution is dumped into the 60-mile fjord every year, helping fuel massive fish kills, according to a government report released yesterday. Waste seeping from septic systems accounts for roughly 60 percent of the pollution, with manure from farm animals, carcasses of salmon caught for caviar and tainted storm-water runoff contributing to the problem, the report found. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/172427_hood07.html 25. Canadians board five foreign trawlers, claiming illegal overfishing Canada boarded five foreign trawlers in international waters in an anti-overfishing swoop, as Prime Minister Paul Martin vowed to crackdown on "rogue" foreign skippers depleting fish stocks… Three of the vessels were allowed to go on their way after the swoop off the Grand Banks in the North Atlantic ocean over the past week…
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1539 26. UK: Plastic Debris Found in Oceans - Bits of Refuse on Beaches and Ocean Plastic debris dumped in the ocean over decades is breaking into microscopic particles that are cropping up everywhere from beaches to deep ocean sediment, according to a study being published today by a group of British scientists… http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A6891-2004May6?language=printer 27. BC: Latest DFO study finds no link between salmon farms and sea lice on wild salmon; activists' claims shown to be false http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/May2004/10/c1339.html 28. BC: Some B.C. fisheries targeted by groups Conservation groups bankrolled by a major U.S. foundation are launching a global boycott of fish caught in environmentally damaging fisheries, potentially involving B.C. salmon farming and shrimp trawling.
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/news/ The Packard Foundation sponsored the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch cards. We have alerted the Seafood Watch Program that their card should be updated to differentiate farmed canned salmon from the BEST CHOICE wild Alaska canned salmon. http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_regional.asp 29. ASMI: AK Salmon in Wine Spectator & Sunset Magazines Check out the May 15th issue of Wine Spectator on newstands now for "The Fish of Choice: Salmon is plentiful and versatile, and wild varieties usually have the best flavor" article. &&& The 1.5 million consumers that subscribe to Sunset Magazine will be reading all about Wild Alaska Salmon from Kodiak Island in the May article titled "Kodiak Island, Alaska - Salmon and Bears Adore this Island."
http://www.alaskaseafood.org/foodservice/enews_ 30. OR: Crazy about Wild Salmon …And this year it's not just locals who are clamoring for wild-caught chinook from Northwest waters. News stories about farmed salmon have triggered interest in wild salmon, according to seafood distributors. "Right, wrong or indifferent, it's creating new demand," says Ed Drennan of Pacific Seafood, a Portland-based distributor. "We've heard from people across the country asking about it who have never done so in the past."
http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/oregonian/index.ssf?/ &&& Wild Salmon Prices Boosted by Campaigns Promoting Health, Taste, Env. Benefits
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20040505_298.html 31. Oregon picks Crater Lake for Commemorative coin (We were worried that they might cork us with a salmon on their quarter) http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=79759 (Click on the link under the salmon design to see the chosen Crater lake design) 32. OR: Climbing temperatures spell big changes for fish Herb Goblirsch is not sure whether he believes in global warming, but he has no doubt his ability to make a living as a fisherman can turn on a difference of just a few degrees in water temperature… http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0506warming-fish-ON.html 33. WA: Follow up stories on ESA Hatchery vs. Wild: Seattle PI: In the Northwest: Wild salmon runs may not be able to survive Bush http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/171320_joel30.html Washington Post: Pollsters Doubt Fish Rules Will Move Votes http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A6872-2004May6?language=printer 34. OH: Cincinnati Reds offer Alaska Seafood “Slammin Salmon” T-Shirt Night Saturday, June 26 vs. Pirates, 7:10 (Free “slammin’ salmon” t-shirt to the first 10,000 adults in attendance.) http://www.sportsfeatures.com/PressPoint/show.php?id=7729 & Cincinnati gets ready for Copper River Salmon
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/05/12/tem_ 35. ADF&G posts Preliminary Processor Intent to Operate list for 2004 http://www.cf.adfg.state.ak.us/geninfo/permits/intent/2004ito-v4.pdf New Direct Marketers: be
sure to read the Notice to All Catcher/Processors and Catcher/Exporters
http://www.cf.adfg.state.ak.us/geninfo/permits/plf_ 36. Alaska Sea Grant Fishlines May online newsletter http://www.uaf.edu/seagrant/Fishlines/May04.html 37. Southeast Subsistence RAC to meet June 1 10:00 am AK time – by Teleconference
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/ 38. Federal Subsistence Proposals for 2005 http://alaska.fws.gov/asm/05fishprop/index.html 39. Chitina Subsistence Schedule posted The tentative pre-season fishing schedule for Federally qualified subsistence users in the Chitina Subdistrict of the Copper River was announced today by the Federal Subsistence Board. This pre-season schedule is identical to the State pre-season schedule and is subject to change based on numbers of salmon entering the Copper River… http://alaska.fws.gov/asm/04inseason/r050504.html Federal Subsistence Board main page: http://alaska.fws.gov/asm/home.html 40. NMFS posts Final Cook Inlet Beluga Subsistence Harvest Management Plan
http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/protectedresources/whales/beluga/ 41. NMFS Proposed Rule on use of PSD Salmon & Halibut offal for commercial use NMFS proposes to allow processors to use the offal from Pacific salmon (salmon) and Pacific halibut (halibut) intended for the Prohibited Species Donation (PSD) program for commercial products including fish meal, fish oil, and bone meal. This action is necessary to change current regulations which prohibit the sale of any parts of salmon or halibut that are processed under the PSD program…Comments due by June 4
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/ 42. NMFS Posts Sablefish Survey Calendar
http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/abl/MarFish/pdfs/Calender% AK Fisheries Science Center main Sablefish Research page: http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/abl/MarFish/sablecruise.html 43. NMFS Final rule - 2A Halibut annual mgmt. measures and sport fishing regs… & changes to the Catch Sharing Plan.
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/ 44. NMFS Final Rule – Rule 63 makes Skates a Target species:
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/ & sets Skate harvest &
closures:
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/ 45. Notice of public meetings on Puget Sound joint tribal & state hatchery management Notice of Intent to Conduct Public Scoping and Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement Related to Two Joint State and Tribal Resource Management Plans for Puget Sound Region Hatchery Programs…NMFS will conduct four public meetings…
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/
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