|
June 7, 2004 Table of Contents 1. Ocean Beauty's Mark Palmer Elected Chair of Streamlined Alaska Seafood Board 2. Feds won’t intervene in Area M Fishery 3. (NEG) State launches AK Salmon Fisheries Response Project 4. Governor calls special session for June 22-24 5. Governor Murkowski comments on U.S. Oceans report 6. Oregon Governor Kulongoski pushes $4B trust for oceans to commission 7. Governor signs Community Quota Entities loan bill 8. DOL Commissioner O’Claray: J-1 Student visas robbing from AK workers 9. DNR decision expands Chilkat jet boat tour routes 10. The Gold Standard of Alaskan Kings Returns: Yukon River Salmon 11. Ketchikan faces cruise ship berthing decision 12. NRDC pushes campaign against Ketchikan mill reopening 13. DEC grants log storage permit at Ward Cove 14. Juneau road plan attacked by Taxpayers for Common Sense and Friends of the Earth 15. Soldotna man tagged in sport fish for sale scam 16. Ocean Aquaculture set to grow if NOAA and Gulf Council can get act together 17. Oregon Live: Open Ocean Fish Farms would be recipe for Disaster 18. Study shows Alaska's fish are mostly pollutant-free 19. $316M plan proposed for hydropower to diesel-powered SE communities 20. Summer Reading: We Alaskans and We Alaskans II by Sharon Bushnell 21. Public Comment taken on Klukwan Long Island pesticide spraying 22. Sea Otters thriving further west 23. Western Sea Otter ESA Threatened listing - Deadline for Public Comment June 10 24. Laine Welch Fish Factor: Bycatch avoidance competitions; Valdez pink salmon 25. Seafood.com: American Seafoods IPO unfairly criticized in Seattle Times 26. BofA underwrites BumbleBee – Connor Bros merger with $125M loan. 27. Oregon Brand already showing results 28. WA: Pollution likely killed hatchery salmon in Edmonds 29. NW: New fish-counting plan may not be as bad as feared 30. Senate lets DOE reclassify nuclear waste in Hanford Snake River cleanup 31. Klamath Tribes Push for Higher Profile in Water Wars, Salmon Debates 32. Copper River trounces farmed salmon in Reno Gazette-Journal taste test 33. TX: Shoppers swim against tide of high salmon prices 34. TX saltwater sport license surcharge to pay for Comm. shrimp fleet reduction 35. Maine & Maritimes: Atlantic salmon in dire straits 36. CANADA: Move fish farms onto land, conservation group says 37. UK: Killer infection ravaging 70% of Scottish fish farms 38. EVOS Public Advisory Committee seeks Nominations 39. NPFMC amendments 81 & 74 for BSAI & GOA Groundfish – comment by 8/ 2 40. NPFMC Meeting June 7- 15, Portland Oregon 41. NMFS Proposed rule on Aleutians Atka Mackerel – Comment by Jun17. 42. NOAA posts comments received on EFH Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 43. USFWS extends comment period on Refuge Conservation plans until June 11 44. AT1 Killer Whales listed as MMPA depleted stock 45. Nat’l Park Service proposes changes to AK parks – Glacier Bay- comments due 7/16 46. USFWS posts Stikine River Subsistence Sockeye July 2004 Regs 47. Subsistence Proposals for 2005 48. SMIS Salmon Price Report and Salmon Market Bulletin 49. IPHC Halibut Landing report #3 for 2004 50. DEC Public Notice on Long Island Bark and Wood Debris – comment by July 6 1. Ocean Beauty's Mark Palmer Elected Chair of Streamlined Alaska Seafood Board The new board of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) held its first meeting and elected Mark Palmer of Ocean Beauty Seafoods as Chair of the reorganized body… For complete ASMI Press release see: http://www.alaskaseafood.org/aboutus/060404.htm 2. Feds won’t intervene in Area M Fishery Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton announced Tuesday she had turned down the request by Western Alaska communities and fishermen who said commercial fishing at False Pass at the tip of the Alaska Peninsula, also known as Area M, affected their subsistence take farther north along Alaska's coast. The Federal Subsistence Board took two days of testimony on the issue. Norton said she was not swayed to intervene and pre-empt the state authority… http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2187236,00.html Governor welcomes decision: http://www.gov.state.ak.us/news.php?id=1010 Dept. of Interior Press release: http://alaska.fws.gov/asm/news04/r060104.html 3. (NEG) State launches AK Salmon Fisheries Response Project with up to $8M from fed. “The state of Alaska,
through federal funding, is launching a new program called the Alaska Salmon
Fisheries Response Project. The project is an emergency grant designed to
create new opportunities for people in the salmon industry who can no longer
support themselves”…
http://www.ktva.com/Stories/0,1413,163~29969~ This is the “National Emergency Grant” (NEG) – those not qualified for TAA should their local AK Dept. of Labor Job Center Office to apply. For more information, see http://www.jobs.state.ak.us/neg/index.html .” 4. Governor calls special session for June 22-24 Governor Frank Murkowski
on Friday called the Alaska Legislature into special session to address the
state's long term fiscal shortfall. Murkowski issued a proclamation to all
legislators, saying the special session will convene in Juneau on Tuesday,
June 22 at 10 a.m…
http://www.sitnews.us/0604news/060504/060504_ &&& Peninsula representatives not happy about governor's decision
http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/053004/new_ 5. Governor Murkowski comments on U.S. Oceans report State sovereignty must be protected, no new fed. bureaucracy needed… The state's response points to Alaska's oceans and fisheries management regimes as models that the federal effort should emulate.
http://www.sitnews.us/0604news/060404/060404 Governor’s Press release: http://www.gov.state.ak.us/news.php?id=1017 Full text of response is available at: http://www.gov.state.ak.us/pdf/watkins_letter.pdf U.S. Oceans Commission Home page: http://oceancommission.gov/newsnotices/welcome.html 6. Oregon Governor Kulongoski pushes $4B trust for oceans to commission …Kulongoski told the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy on Thursday that he supports creation of a trust fund to provide $4 billion a year to protect oceans and coastlines, but warned against providing incentives for development that threatens the environment….
http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2004/ 7. Governor signs Community Quota Entities loan bill At a gathering of Alaska
Natives from around Southeast Alaska, Governor Frank Murkowski on Thursday
signed SB 387. The bill will help jumpstart community quota entities (CQE)
that will bring limited entry permits and individual fisheries quotas back
to local communities.
http://www.sitnews.us/0604news/060404/060404_ Governor’s Press Release: http://www.gov.state.ak.us/news.php?id=1016 SB 387 bill info:
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp? 8. DOL Commissioner O’Claray: J-1 Student visas robbing from AK workers “Recruiters are awarding jobs in seafood processing and tourism and hospitality to J-1 visa workers that should be going to Alaskans who apply at our network of Alaska Job Centers… “But search government job recruitment Web sites till the cows come home; I don't think you'll find a student visa category that includes entry-level jobs in seafood processing and resort hotels. http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7252~2182338,00.html This is a different issue from UFA’s and Senator Lisa Murkowski’s ongoing attempts to obtain entry for a small number of specially certified Japanese roe grading technicians under H-2A visas, but perhaps it bears a relationship. Could the lack of progress on the roe tech visas have something to do with ill will due to misuse of visas for entry level workers??? 9. DNR decision expands Chilkat jet boat tour routes River Adventures can run its jetboat tours in critical Upper Chilkat River salmon habitat, according to a ruling by Department of Natural Resources commissioner Tom Irwin. Irwin’s decision overturns a previous closure of the area, the so-called "secondary route" from just below the Kelsall River Delta to Turtle Rock, by DNR in 2003. The measure, a recommendation of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, was included in the 2003 revision of the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve management plan. http://www.chilkatvalleynews.com/stories/story-3.html 10. The Gold Standard of Alaskan Kings Returns: Yukon River Salmon America Gets Its Hooks into the Tasty Fish that Almost Got Away …This year, Kwik'pak Fisheries will make sustainable, wild Yukon kings available to U.S. consumers. The fish is slated to hit stores the second week of June, and initial retail prices are expected to give its Copper River counterpart a run for the money. http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040601/sftu049_1.html 11. Ketchikan faces cruise ship berthing decision
http://www.sitnews.us/0604Viewpoints/060104_thomas_ (Link includes diagram and photo) 12. NRDC pushes campaign against Ketchikan mill reopening Earlier this year, an NRDC-induced letter-writing campaign generated more than 40,000 letters and faxes from across the country to Timber Products President and CEO Joe Gonyea II, pleading with him to not use Tongass timber in the mill… Roger Rutan, Timber Product’s assistant vice president of marketing, said that being a target is no fun and that company officials were unhappy with “misstatements of fact” by the environmental groups. http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=81176 13. DEC grants log storage permit at Ward Cove "If we can find a veneer operator, this will allow them to have log storage, which they will need," http://www.adn.com/business/v-akcom/story/5132902p-5061432c.html 14. Juneau road plan attacked by Taxpayers for Common Sense and Friends of the Earth A taxpayer watchdog group and environmental advocacy organizations have declared the Juneau access road project one of the nation's top highway boondoggles. Proponents of a road from Juneau to Skagway say the project would create jobs and business opportunities for the region without drastically hurting the environment. http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2197654,00.html 15. Soldotna man tagged in sport fish for sale scam An advertisement on a Poacher's Cove community bulletin board led to the arrest and conviction of a Soldotna man for running an illegal fish processing and sales facility, according to Alaska State Troopers…
http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/060304/new_ 16. Ocean Aquaculture set to grow if NOAA and Gulf Council can get act together An amendment before the
Gulf Council would permit offshore finfish aquaculture operations under the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act; if passed, the
measure would make the Gulf region the first in the nation to develop such
aquaculture facilities under that law. Meanwhile NOAA is floating
legislation that would establish federal coordination of marine aquaculture
activities within the agency. 17. Oregon Live: Open Ocean Fish Farms would be recipe for Disaster …But there are a whole host of other arguments against commercial fish farms. Open ocean is a common resource. With exclusive leases of large hunks of the sea to industry, the move will be to privatize one of the largest public trusts we have, the ocean. That's manifest destiny on a large scale…
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/argus/index.ssf?/base/ 18. Study shows Alaska's fish are mostly pollutant-free The researchers looked at all five species of Pacific salmon from every major drainage in the state, halibut and other bottom fish, and some freshwater fish, like sheefish and northern pike. Alaska's fish are showing low amounts of PCBs and other organic pollutants that hang around for decades roaming around the planet by hitchhiking in the fat cells of animals. The traces of PCBs and other pollutants can travel north in migrating fish or those fish eaten by Alaska fish. "You're looking at extremely small numbers," said Gerlach, "The only way we'd be happier is if we could find no contaminants, but you'd find traces of these things in every living animal on Earth." http://www.adn.com/life/story/5136510p-5065649c.html 19. $316M plan proposed for hydropower to diesel-powered SE communities An ambitious $316 million plan now is being put forth to connect most Southeast communities into a regional power grid so the benefits of less expensive hydroelectric power can be shared. http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories/060104/loc_hydro.shtml 20. Summer Reading: We Alaskans and We Alaskans II by Sharon Bushnell Excerpt from We Alaskan’s II: Gordon Jensen celebrates 50 years of AK fishing: http://www.adn.com/life/story/5136513p-5065650c.html 21. Public Comment taken on Klukwan Long Island pesticide spraying Plans by Klukwan Incorporated to spray herbicides on Long Island near Hydaburg this summer were roundly opposed during a public hearing Thursday in Ketchikan. As Deanna Garrison reports, the native village corporation is seeking a state permit to conduct aerial spraying of two herbicides on some 2,000 acres of property on Long Island. (KRBD Audio) http://www.krbd.org/NewsReports/060404_herbicides.html Deadline for comment is June 21 see: http://www.state.ak.us/dec/eh/pest/klukwan.htm 22. Sea Otters thriving further west "In the Near Islands ... the decline is very, very serious. But 300 kilometers to the west, you've got the Commander Islands, where there's no indication of problems at all, and that's quite interesting." http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/5139988p-5070155c.html 23. Western Sea Otter ESA Threatened listing - Deadline for Public Comment June 10 Federal Register Notice:
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/20feb20040800/ 24. Laine Welch Fish Factor: Bycatch avoidance competitions; Valdez pink salmon giveaway http://www.kinyradio.com/fishfactor.html And Fish Radio audio: http://www.vesselconnection.com/fish_radio.htm 6/03 - Valdez pinks... 6/02 – Fish prices help fishermen 6/01 Roe Tech Visas 25. Seafood.com: American Seafoods IPO unfairly criticized in Seattle Times …A couple of days ago, the Seattle Times [Link] blasted the American Seafoods IPO saying that because it had been announced over a year ago and not yet consummated, it must indicate a problem with the company. http://www.urnerbarry.com/news/135686.htm Seattle Times article
referred to:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/business 26. BofA underwrites BumbleBee – Connor Bros merger with $125M loan. The loan will be used to acquire a majority interest in Bumble Bee's U.S. and Canadian operations by Connors Brothers Income Fund from Centre Partners Management LLC. The transaction creates the largest branded seafood company in North America and Canada's largest consumer products income fund. http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040603/clth010_1.html 27. Oregon Brand already showing results "As of about two weeks ago, in Oregon primarily because of this campaign is what we are hearing, the price of salmon went from $2.50 a pound to $5.20 a pound," Kennedy said. "The goal of this campaign is to keep a healthy fishing industry." http://www.bendbulletin.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=13615 28. WA: Pollution likely killed hatchery salmon in Edmonds Stormwater runoff is believed to have been the cause of pollution that killed about 9,500 young salmon at a hatchery on Willow Creek last week. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/175848_salmonkill01.html 29. NW: New fish-counting plan may not be as bad as feared The Bush administration's proposal to change the way it counts federally protected fish won't be an environmental disaster - at least not immediate-ly. That's at least temporary relief for environmentalists, leading biologists, members of Congress, and anyone who believes that hatchery fish and wild fish aren't the same. http://www.tribnet.com/opinion/story/5150446p-5082838c.html &&&&& NW: Hatching a salmon plan that also respects habitat
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorials &&&& Bush salmon plan needs follow-up http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/176432_fished.html &&&& Hatchery Salmon unequal
http://www.oregonlive.com/letters/oregonian/index.ssf?/ Federal Register Notice: Proposed Policy on the Consideration of Hatchery-Origin Fish in Endangered Species Act Listing Determinations for Pacific Salmon and Steelhead
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/ NOAA Press release:
http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/releases2004/may04/ 30. Senate lets DOE reclassify nuclear waste in Hanford Snake River cleanup More than 50 million gallons of highly radioactive wastes are stored in underground tanks at Hanford, which have leaked and in most cases are beyond their design life. … The Senate did adopt an amendment on a voice vote requiring the department to spend the $350 million in cleanup funding it had threatened to withhold, including more than $60 million for Hanford. http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/story/5154392p-5086677c.html 31. Klamath Tribes Push for Higher Profile in Water Wars, Salmon Debates …The concerns of the Yurok and Hoopa Valley tribes are not always heard, tribal members say, as deals are negotiated in the courts and in government offices to decide how the region's scarce water resources will be apportioned. Media coverage of California's "water battles" often leaves tribal voices out as well, the tribes say…
http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html? 32. Copper River trounces farmed salmon in Reno Gazette-Journal taste test The proof, of course, is on the plate, so last week I taste-tested grilled Copper River salmon against three contenders — farm-raised Atlantic salmon, farm-raised Irish salmon and wild salmon from California. The Copper River salmon trounced its farm-raised brethren, which were bland and washed-out pink in color.
http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2004/06/01/72055. 33. TX: Shoppers swim against tide of high salmon prices …shoppers might feel bitten when browsing grocery aisles this weekend. That's because salmon prices have skyrocketed, with low supplies and high demand draining pocketbooks at checkout counters.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11820 34. TX saltwater sport license surcharge to pay for Comm. shrimp fleet reduction …Under plans still in the formative stages, the $3 surcharge Texas saltwater anglers have since 2000 paid on their annual saltwater fishing stamp will be extended beyond its scheduled termination and used to fund an accelerated buyout of commercial shrimping licenses… http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/outdoors/2606586 35. Maine & Maritimes: Atlantic salmon in dire straits "Since 1974, we have gone from more than 1.5 million salmon to fewer than 500,000 today," Taylor said during a news conference releasing the latest population figures. "This year, scientists project an especially disturbing decline in returns of large salmon to their native spawning rivers." Suggested causes of the decline include changing ocean conditions, acid rain, industrial pollutants, poaching and illegal by-catch, habitat degradation and poorly regulated salmon aquaculture practices. http://www.pressherald.com/news/state/040604salmon.shtml Atlantic Salmon Federation report and press release: http://www.asf.ca/reports/2004state/index.html 36. CANADA: Move fish farms onto land, conservation group says East Coast salmon farms should be moved onto land in a bid to control the spread of a contaminant that can cause “dead zones” in the ocean, the Conservation Council of New Brunswick said Thursday…
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/ 37. UK: Killer infection ravaging 70% of Scottish fish farms An infectious wasting disease is sweeping through Scottish salmon farms, affecting seven out of 10 marine sites, according to the latest official figures. Infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPN) can kill up to a third of young fish, posing a huge economic threat to the Scottish industry… http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/17185.html 38. EVOS Public Advisory Committee seeks Nominations The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council (EVOS) is soliciting nominations for the October 2004 - September 2006 term of the Public Advisory Committee (PAC). http://www.evostc.state.ak.us/admin/nominations_PAC.html 39. NPFMC amendments 81 & 74 for BSAI & GOA Groundfish – comment by 8/ 2 The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) has submitted for Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) review Amendment 81 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area (BSAI) and Amendment 74 to the FMP for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). If approved, the amendments would implement a new management policy by revising the goals and objectives of the management of the groundfish fisheries.
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar200 40. NPFMC Meeting June 7- 15, Portland Oregon For agenda and papers, see: http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc/council.htm 41. NMFS Proposed rule on Aleutians Atka Mackerel – Comment by Jun17. NMFS issues a proposed rule that would remove a harvest restriction on participants in the harvest limit area (HLA) Atka mackerel fishery in the Aleutian Islands subarea. Comments must be received by June 17, 2004.
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800 42. NOAA posts comments received on EFH Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/anpr/efh/index.htm 43. USFWS extends comment period on Refuge Conservation plans until June 11 http://alaska.fws.gov/nwr/planning/plans.htm 44. AT1 Killer Whales listed as MMPA depleted stock
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800 Information related to the petition and the status of the AT1 group of killer whales is available on the Internet at the following address:
http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/protectedresources/ NMFS Press release: http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/newsreleases/killerwhale0604.htm 45. Nat’l Park Service proposes changes to AK parks – Glacier Bay- comments due 7/16 The proposed rule will have crew time count in the years required for a lifetime access permit; you'd still have to be a permit holder when you apply but time served as crew, not only as skipper, would count. And, on the Bartlett Cove dock: restrict vehicles exceeding 30,000 pounds gross vehicle weight on the dock, prohibit processing commercially caught fish, and prohibit commercially buying or selling fish on or over the Public Use Dock; http://www.nps.gov/akso/FederalRegisterNotice.htm (The comment period was
extended to June 16 in a subsequent posting:
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/06jun20041800/ 46. USFWS posts Stikine River Subsistence Sockeye July 2004 Regs
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/ 47. Subsistence Proposals for 2005 http://alaska.fws.gov/asm/05fishprop/index.html 48. SMIS Salmon Price Report and Salmon Market Bulletin http://www.alaskaseafood.org/fishingprocessing/bulletin.htm (expected to be posted by the time you get this) 49. IPHC Halibut Landing report #3 for 2004
http://www.iphc.washington.edu/halcom/newsrel/2004 50. DEC Public Notice on Long Island Bark and Wood Debris – comment by July 6 PUBLIC NOTICE Alaska
Department of Environmental Conservation The Alaska Department of
Environmental Conservation (ADEC) is soliciting public comment on an
application by Huna Totem Corporation for authorization to discharge bark
and wood debris into marine waters under the State s General Permit for Log
Transfer Facilities (LTFs). The application is for the Long Island LTF and
Ship Mooring Facility, located on Frederick Sound, 1-1/4 mile southwest of
Hoonah. The project area is approximately 60 acres; continuous cover by bark
and wood debris on the bottom is approximately 3.5 acres. Huna Totem does
not propose any variation from existing permitted facilities. ADEC proposes
to process the application under the General Permit. The authorization, if
issued, will expire March 21, 2005. ADEC is seeking information concerning
uses of waters by people, aquatic life, and wildlife in the vicinity of the
Long Island LTF. ADEC also is seeking views as to whether authorization
under the general permit is appropriate, and information on any additional
technical issues to be resolved. In evaluating information submitted, ADEC
will consider factors identified in the Antidegradation Policy (18 AAC
70.015) and the Zone of Deposit provision (18 AAC 70.210) of the Alaska
Water Quality Standards. These regulations can be viewed under Chapter 70.
Water Quality Standards on ADEC s website at
http://www.state.ak.us/dec/
regulations/index.htm The regulations, the Huna Totem application, dive
survey reports, and other information are available from ADEC upon request.
The General Permit may be viewed at:
http://www.state.ak.us/dec/water/wnpspc/forestry/ THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING WRITTEN COMMENTS IS 5 p.m., July 6, 2004. Comments may be submitted by mail, FAX, Email, or hand delivery. To submit comments, or to obtain further information, please contact: Dave Sturdevant ADEC/LTF Program 410 Willoughby Ave, Suite 303 Juneau, Ak 99801-1795 Phone: (907) 465-5276 FAX: (907) 465-5274 Email: dave_sturdevant@dec.state.ak.us The State of Alaska complies with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Individuals with disabilities who may need auxiliary aids, services, or special modifications to participate in this public process may contact the numbers above, or TDD (907) 465-5040. Dated at Juneau, Alaska on June 3, 2004. Publish: June 6 and 7, 2004 AO#: 34-5021-04 600-016
|