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Monday, August 6, 2007 Letter: Draggers Behind Halibut Bycatch
KODIAK, Alaska - Last week the International Pacific Halibut Commission in Seattle confirmed that they believe the actual amount of halibut bycatch caught in the Gulf of Alaska flatfish and Pacific cod fisheries is greater than the 2,500-ton federal limit.
At the June North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Sitka, the council staff confirmed that the draggers, not the pot fishermen or jiggers, are their prime suspects because closer to 10 percent, instead of the required 30 percent of bottom trawls are federally observed. That fact makes IPHC nervous, real nervous, I hear. The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires the council and the Commerce secretary to approve only a 2008 combined trawl fisheries total allowable catch that prevents overfishing of both the directed fishery catches (flatfish and Pacific cod) and, just as importantly, the halibut bycatch, too. But I’ll bet you that, come December, neither the council nor the secretary of Commerce will follow the rules already published by the Commerce Department in the Federal Register to discourage chronic overfishing. Why? Because Al Burch and Julie Bonney have political stroke with the council, National Marine Fisheries Service Juneau and National Marine Fisheries Service Washington, D.C., which will mean more bycatch overfishing in 2007 and 2008. Just a friendly reminder, folks. Halibut sold for more than $4 per pound in Kodiak last week. How’s that compare to what the draggers were paid for arrowtooth flounder and Pacific cod in town lately? Go figure. – Bill Alwert to the Kodiak Daily Mirror– The Brooklyn Paper Several Interests Speak Against Pebble Mine This is the third installment in an examination of the Pebble Mine controversy by reporters of the Homer Tribune.It's no surprise that, among all the arguments surrounding the proposed Pebble Mine Project near Iliamna, none appears more volatile and emotional as the brawl between those who want to develop Alaska's natural resources and those who want to leave them alone. It's also no big revelation that both of these camps have very passionate feelings and ideas about what's best for Alaska's future. This week, those watching the Pebble project with a wary eye air their opinions. Next week, Pebble proponents will lay out their case. Fisheries at forefront of debate Of all the natural resources comprising Alaska, perhaps none is revered as highly as the state's fisheries. Fishing is a mainstay for many Alaskans. And any impact to those fisheries will affect everyone from the commercial fisherman, to the charter operator, to Native villagers who live a subsistence lifestyle. One of the greatest concerns voiced regarding the development of the mine has come from those who live and work in the Bristol Bay area. "Our people have depended on our fisheries for many generations, so it's an established economy and way of life," said Ralph Andersen, CEO of Bristol Bay Native Corporation. "Any threat to that is going to be met with some pretty strong resistance." The headwaters of Bristol Bay run directly through the intended Pebble site, opponents say, and residents in the area are concerned about what kind of impact mine exploration and development will have on "crucial salmon spawning" areas. "I have been a very vocal opponent of the proposed Pebble Mine, pretty much from the moment I heard about it," said Izetta Chambers, manager of Naknek Family Fisheries, LLC. "My family has lived in this area for generations and has depended upon the salmon fishery for both subsistence and commercial purposes." Some people aren't convinced when the company maintains it can carefully pluck the rich copper, gold and molybdenum resources while still protecting the fishing industry. "Northern Dynasty executives have assured us that they can build and operate the mine safely, but they have yet to name one similarly-sized copper mine that has ever operated safely in such a pristine and sensitive environment," Chambers said. "The risk is too great, and the reward is too meager." Nationwide efforts, much like those aimed at ending efforts to exploit the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, are being made to build public dissent on Pebble. Trout Unlimited offers a chance to sign a 10,000-strong petition to the Bureau of Land Management against the project. It offers the chance to take action against destroying the pristine "salmon factory of the world," and the opportunity to support production of documentary film "Red Gold: The Southwest Alaska Salmon Treasure." The goal is directed in particular to killing the open-pit idea. A matter of trust And while the majority of commercial fishermen are concerned about Alaska's fisheries because of the ultimate impact on their wallets, other opponents of the mining project answer to a different set of standards. "I really think the whole thing is just a very bad idea," said Erin McKittrick, a 27-year-old Seattle native with a master's degree in molecular and cellular biology. McKittrick and her husband, Hig, hiked extensively through the Pebble site earlier this summer as part of a nine-month environmental-exploration expedition from Seattle to the Aleutian Islands. "Our salmon in southwest Alaska are in pretty good shape right now. The risk of completely destroying them seems more than we ought to take," she said. "There is either no technology now to do correctly, or the technology exists, but no one knows how to use it properly yet. I'm sorry, but the track record for mines devastating the land and waters around them does not lead me to trust them much." Trust is also a big issue for the Bristol Bay Native Corporation. Andersen recalled his first encounter with Pebble proponents when he was the director of natural resources at Bristol Bay Native Association in 2004. "Our office sponsored a land resources conference, and among the topics covered were oil and gas leasing, offshore drilling and mineral development," Andersen said. "Very early in the process, Pebble proposed dumping the tailings from mine operation into the bottom of Lake Iliamna. You could honestly hear the collective gasp from the crowd when they said that." Economic boost worth the risk? Throughout its presentation endorsing the large-scale mining operation west of Iliamna, Northern Dynasty has said it is, "committed to developing the Pebble Project in a way that protects the environment and traditional ways of life." To that end, Northern Dynasty Minerals and its consultants reportedly invested $49 million on those environmental studies to the end of 2006. They also reported completion of almost three years of environmental studies, along with the use of more than more than 50 consulting firms and 500 environmental scientists and technicians. Many of those firms and employees, according to Northern Dynasty, are from Alaska – reinforcing the goal of creating jobs for Alaskans. However, Chambers said she and other residents of Naknek aren't that impressed by what the mining giant says it can offer. "The biggest argument in favor of the Pebble Mine is the promise of jobs," she said. "Considering all of Alaska's large mines only employ around 1,500 people currently, this argument doesn't hold water against a well-established, renewable resource such as salmon, that provides jobs, borough revenue and subsistence resources for its residents." "The long-term effects on our renewable resources aren't going to be affected for a while," Andersen said. "Do we want this to be the legacy we leave our children and grandchildren? If we just roll over and allow this to happen without raising any questions, then shame on us." – Homer Tribune
SAN FRANCISCO – A conservation group that went to court to preserve standards for "dolphin-safe" labels on canned tuna declared victory Wednesday with the passing of a deadline for the federal government to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
News: Tuna-safe Labels Gain Court Victory "At long last, the dolphin-safe label for tuna is safe from the Bush administration's legal attack," said David Phillips of the Earth Island Institute, which filed the latest suit in 2001 and has been in court on the issue for more than a decade. The label, which has become essential for imported tuna, was established by a 1990 federal law and signifies that the fish were caught without harming dolphins. The mammals swim above tuna in the eastern Pacific and were depleted for decades by tuna fleets. A 1997 law allowed the government to extend the label to imported tuna caught by nets that trap dolphins if scientific studies showed that the fishing practices were not harming the dolphins. But courts have rejected attempts by the Bush and Clinton administrations to invoke the law. Most recently, the Commerce Department declared in 2002 that the tuna-fishing practices of Mexico and several other nations were not killing dolphins. U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson of San Francisco ruled in 2004 that that the government had disregarded the contrary conclusions of its own scientists. Henderson's decision was upheld in April by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which said the administration had allowed political pressure to interfere with science. Earth Island Institute spokesman Mark Palmer said the government notified his organization last week that it had decided to let the deadline for an appeal to the Supreme Court lapse. – San Francisco Chronicle News: Fish Farm Group gets $2.4 Million Grant PRINCE RUPERT – British Columbia's recently founded Middle Bay Sustainable Aquaculture Institute (MBSAI) will be getting $2.4 million in funding to further develop and demonstrate the use of commercial-scale solid wall containment systems for fish farms.The funding comes from Sustainable Development Technology Canada, a not-for-profit foundation created by the Government of Canada that operates a $550 million fund to support solutions for clean technologies that deliver environmental, economic and health benefits to Canadians. "The debate over how to manage sea-lice infestations is a heated one in B.C.," said MBSAI board member Richard Buchanan. "When the legislative committee on sustainable aquaculture recommended earlier this year that net cage fish farms be switched to closed-containment systems, some in the industry felt it would be too expensive; most in the environmental movement believed it was the only way to protect wild salmon." – Prince Rupert Daily News Oil Gas Leases in Chukshi Sea on the Block ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The federal government announced it plans to hold an oil and gas lease sale in the remote Chukchi Sea on Feb. 6, 2008 in Anchorage.Sale 193 will be the first in the Chukchi in 17 years, said officials with the U.S. Minerals Management Service. The sale area will encompass 29 million acres off the northwest coast of Alaska, from Point Barrow down to Cape Lisburne. The MMS estimates a 50 percent chance the Chukchi holds recoverable reserves of 15 billion barrels of oil and 76 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The government has held two previous lease sales in the Chukchi, one in 1988 and another in 1991. Five exploratory wells have been drilled in the Chukchi, four of them by Shell. Click here for more information, including a map of the proposed sale area. - Alaska Daily News <<<•>>> Tuesday, August 7, 2007 News: Trollers Facing Tough Season HALF MOON BAY, Calif. – No one said fishing was supposed to be easy. Even so, some years are easier than others.And this year hasn't been one of them. Paul Wade, a fisherman who was killed two and a half weeks ago while pursuing salmon off Point Reyes, is just one dramatic and tragic casualty in an industry that has taken a number of recent hits. While the U.S. Coast Guard continues its investigation into the events surrounding Wade's death, the episode underscores the dangers that face many commercial fishermen, particularly when a number of factors ranging from the environment to bureaucratic decisions seemingly work against them in consecutive fashion. "We did get a report ... with the salmon fisheries, stating that the weather has been worse this year than in past years," said Lt. Anya Hunter of the Coast Guard. "So it caused the price for salmon to go up. That, we think, was a driving factor for a number of fishermen to fish in inclement weather." This year's season included a one-month hiatus in June to ensure sufficient stocks for commercial activity, and last year's salmon season proved disappointing for most commercial fishermen. The complex bureaucratic machinations needed to manage the salmon stock have combined with punishing behavior in the market. As Hunter suggested, fishermen often find themselves in the Catch-22 of supply and demand economics: the more they catch, the lower the price; the less they catch, the higher the price. Neither equation seems to compute for many fishermen. The per-pound price of salmon had been as high as $7.50 in May before the mid-season hiatus. Jim Anderson, who fishes out of Pillar Point, said that the most recent wholesale figure he had heard since the season reopened was $5.25. "The price wasn't as high as it was last year at this time," Anderson said. "This is the second year in a row that we haven't had much of a season." Anderson said many of the fishermen at Pillar Point have not been seeing too much activity. "The guys aren't doing much the past two weeks," he said. Duncan MacLean, another Pillar Point fisherman, said that July has been somewhat foggy and windy, but nothing so severe it would interfere with fishing. "We have excellent, excellent ocean conditions," MacLean said. "The ocean conditions cannot be blamed for what's going on with the stock. It's the in-river habitat." MacLean pointed to environmental and bureaucratic decisions made in recent years regarding the Klamath and Sacramento rivers as the main culprits for straining the industry. Many agree and some are putting the blame at the doorstep of the White House. Tuesday the U.S. House of Representatives convened a hearing into the role Vice President Dick Cheney may have played in a 2002 diversion of water on the Klamath that killed about 70,000 salmon. Meanwhile, local fishermen are chasing scarce salmon into some dangerous corners of the Pacific. In Wade's case, fishermen say, the salmon happened to be running two weeks ago on the edge of a lane reserved for large commercial ships that often travel between 20 and 30 knots. Given the demands of the industry, everyone interviewed for this article could understand why Wade - and the many other commercial vessels who were nearby that day - attempted to fish the area. "It's a tough situation," said Anderson. "Maybe if the price was up, maybe those guys wouldn't have been trying to make a living in that particular place." – Half Moon Bay Review News: Icicle Sold to Investors This article also appears in today's Wild News.SEATTLE – Executives with one of Alaska's largest seafood processing companies announced Sunday they intend to sell the operation to a California private equity firm. Icicle Seafoods Inc., based in Seattle, is one of the top processors of Alaska salmon, halibut, pollock, crab and other seafood. Executives said they have agreed to sell the company to Fox Paine Management III, an investment firm based near San Francisco. The sale price was not disclosed. Until last year, when it sold its shares, Fox Paine was a major owner of Alaska Communications Systems, an Anchorage telecom company. The Icicle sale comes during the busiest time of year for the company, which is now cleaning, freezing and canning millions of migrating salmon caught by commercial fishermen around the state. Icicle has seasonal peak employment of about 2,200 people and has annual revenue of about $300 million. The company operates packing plants in Bristol Bay, Seward, Kodiak's Larsen Bay and Petersburg. It also operates a fleet of processing ships including the Northern Victor, which handles Bering Sea pollock and cod. Outside, Icicle has a processing plant in Bellingham, Wash., and recently announced it had begun farming salmon and trout in Chile. The Icicle sale is subject to stockholder and regulatory approval. Executives with Icicle and Fox Paine said they hoped to close the deal in 90 days. This the second major Alaska seafood processor to change hands this year. In April, Seattle-based Ocean Beauty Seafoods Inc. announced it was selling a 50 percent stake in the company to Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp. of Dillingham. Icicle's president, Don Giles, said Sunday he and other top managers would be staying on to run the company. Fox Paine brings extra financial muscle to the firm, he said. "It's a good opportunity for the company to grow a lot faster than it otherwise would have, and it's also a way to liquidate some of our long-term shareholders," Giles said. "We've got a lot of things we want to do in Alaska and other places." Icicle's rise is the stuff of commercial fishing lore in Alaska. The company began in Petersburg in 1965 after a group of fishermen and employees purchased the local Pacific American Fisheries cannery. Since then, the company has become one of the highest-volume fish packers in Alaska, a state that accounts for more than half of all U.S. seafood production. The bulk of Icicle's owners today are employees who run the processing plants, Giles said. Fox Paine invests in a wide range of companies, according to its Web site, from perfume and agricultural seed producers to insurance and high-tech firms. Now it aims to land a big fish company. "Icicle Seafoods has long been a leading operator in the Alaska and Pacific Northwest seafood industry," said W. Dexter Paine III, president of Fox Paine III. – Anchorage Daily News
FRASER RIVER, British Columbia - Fears of a wipeout season for commercial salmon fishery is mounting with each passing day that the sockeye fails to show up on the Fraser River.
News: Fears of Fraser Wipeout Gaining Each Day "The optimistic person is still hoping it's going to open. It's a little early but 10 more days and it won't be," says Dave Barrett, interim executive director of the Commercial Salmon Advisory Board. The Fraser River salmon fishery has been closed to all fishing due to low returns of the early sockeye salmon. The latest forecast for the early-summer sockeye run estimates only 230,000 salmon, down sharply from previous estimate of more than 600,000. Currently, only limited Chinook salmon fishing is being allowed for Aboriginal fisheries. However, the big question is whether the much larger remaining two components - the summer run and late summer run - will show equally low returns. The peak is expected next week, around Aug. 8, so those summer-run sockeye should be swimming up the Fraser very soon. But current tracking shows the summer run sockeye is going to be below the forecast of 3.3 million fish, according to the Fraser River Panel, which regulates fishing. The summer and late-summer runs are considered the bread and butter of the industry and low salmon returns could spell economic disaster. Barrett said the expected harvest this year was one million fish, translating to about $12 million in revenue. "If [fishing] does not open then the impact will be horrendous because first of all, the lost opportunity and lost income will be in the millions but also next year is what's expected to be a low abundance year - it goes in cycles of four - so the chances of fishing next year is slim to none. So now you've got a double whammy," says Barrett. "The entire industry is on pins and needles." – Victoria Times-Colonist News: Pay Fishermen for Marine Protected Areas? AUSTRALIA - Concerns are being raised that the South Australian Government's marine parks could trigger compensation claims of up to $400 million.The State Government is proposing to establish 19 marine parks around the state. The Eyre Peninsula Local Government Association says marine parks in Queensland have resulted in more than $200 million in payouts. Chief executive Diana Laube says a study is needed into the economic impact of the parks and who will be responsible for it. "The commercial fishing industry is a major economic force and we are certainly calling for the State Government to identify that cost so that we know in advance what type of an end park figure we are looking at," she said. – Australian Broadcasting Corp. Enviros like Stevens’ Arctic Fish Amendment ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Environmental groups say they're cheered by a joint resolution introduced in the US Senate by Alaska Republican Ted Stevens.The resolution directs the United States to start international discussions and take steps with other Arctic Nations to negotiate an agreement for managing migratory fish stocks in the Arctic Ocean. The resolution calls on the United States to support international efforts to stop expansion of commercial fishing activities until such agreements are in place. Chris Krenz of Oceana says the resolution could help set the stage for responsible domestic policy that protects communities and wildlife of the Arctic. He says the world has seen devastating effects of managing regions only for "money fish." He says that with the Arctic, northern countries have the rare opportunity to protect a place before it's exploited. Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski is a co-sponsor of the resolution. – KTUU, Anchorage <<<•>>> Wednesday, August 8, 2007 News: Again, Pacific Whiting Season Shut Down Fish Wrap reported this last week. Here are additional details.PORTLAND – The Pacific whiting commercial fishery, one of Oregon and Washington's most lucrative and productive, has been shut down early because whiting fishermen caught too much of a rockfish that regulators want to restore. The shutdown affects processors and commercial fishermen all along the coast. It was the first early closure since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries established maximum limits for unintended "bycatch" of widow rockfish in 2005. The season closed July 25 on federal orders, at least three weeks early, furloughing extra workers hired during the high-volume whiting season. The fishery is about 25 percent short of its 208,000 metric ton quota for whiting, or about $7 million at going rates. Pacific whiting is used in products from fish sticks to fake crab. "It hurts," said Rod Moore, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association. "It's not as if we had to shut down the entire fishery for a year. But it makes your bottom line look a lot smaller than it should have, and that's true for the communities, too." The importance of keeping rockfish bycatch numbers low may have prompted at least one fishing boat to illegally dump unwanted fish. Capt. Mike Cenci of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said he got word July 17 that dead fish were washing up on the beach near Oysterville, on Washington's southern coast. With a mix of widow rockfish, whiting and salmon among the 3,000 pounds of dead fish, it was obvious that a fisherman had dumped his net rather than report the bycatch, Cenci said. The fisherman, who turned himself in, told officers he disabled the video camera trained on his deck, then dumped his catch, Cenci said. The fisherman has not been charged, but he faces as much as $130,000 in civil penalties. His identity was not released. In addition, a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officer paid a 3 a.m. visit to a processing plant in Grays Harbor County, Wash., and found a container filled with rockfish headed for a grinder. That processor has not been charged, and its identity has not been released. Investigators estimated that 16,000 pounds of widow rockfish had been dumped, or about 7 metric tons. It's likely that regulators will decide to reopen whiting fishing this year, perhaps as soon as October, said John DeVore, groundfish staff officer for the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which sets fishing seasons. Widow rockfish numbers are increasing, and that trend probably will prompt the council to increase bycatch quotas. – The Oregonian News: Swanton Named Alaska Sport Fish Director JUNEAU, Alaska – Commissioner Denby Lloyd today announced the appointment of Charlie Swanton as director of the Division of Sport Fish for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). Currently, Swanton is the Southeast Regional supervisor for Sport Fish with the department.“Charlie brings a wide range of experience and knowledge to the director’s job,” said Commissioner Lloyd in announcing the appointment. “He has worked all over Alaska, and he’s dedicated and enthusiastic about creating sport fishing opportunities for all Alaskans.” Swanton earned degrees from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Washington. He began his career with ADF&G in various research positions with the Division of Commercial Fisheries, but more recently has been the regional management supervisor and Southeast Regional Supervisor with the Division of Sport Fish. Charlie’s career has given him exposure to fisheries in the Chignik and Kodiak areas, throughout the broad Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim region based out of Fairbanks, and in Southeast Alaska. “I’m extremely pleased that Charlie agreed to bring his skills and intelligence to this important position,” Lloyd said. Swanton’s first official day as Sport Fish Director will be Aug. 13. Swanton replaces outgoing Sport Fish Director Kelly Hepler, who served in that role for seven years. Hepler leaves the job after a distinguished 28-year career at ADF&G. The Division of Sport Fish is responsible for fisheries stock assessment and management, development of public access for sport fishing and boating, hatcheries, and planning, information and education services. The division employs more than 400 full-time and seasonal employees and has an annual budget of more than $40 million. – Press release
PRINCE RUPERT, British Columbia – The Minister of Agriculture and Lands issued two finfish and two shellfish aquaculture licenses for the province last week.
News: B.C. Issues More Fish Farm Permits The two finfish licenses have been issued to Marine Harvest and are located at Lime Point and adjacent Sheep Passage near the village of Klemtu on the Central Coast of British Columbia. In a separate statutory approval, the ministry approved the offering of two Crown land tenures to Kitasoo Aqua Farms Ltd. for these sites. "Part of the arrangement is that one other license will be surrendered at Arthur Island. They previously had a total of five licenses, so with the two new ones minus the relinquished one it will bring their total to six," said Minister Pat Bell. "Their intent is really to have a more effective management regime for their licenses." Numerous parties were consulted on these applications, including the Canadian Coast Guard, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Environment Canada, First Nations groups in the area, the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine, the Raincoast Conservation Society and the public. "We're very happy," said Percy Starr, elder band council manager of the Kitasoo nation. "Our objective has always been six working sites, where four will be working and two will be fallow on an annual basis, to address environmental concerns." The fish farm operations have brought an abundance of jobs into the area for the Kitasoo nation, which the band council is more than pleased with already. "When you take a look at what we have now; we have 15 people working at the fish farms, we have about 35 people in the processing plant when we start operating, and we also do the packing which uses about six people," said Starr. "Fifteen are year-round, the rest are about eight months a year." In light of the fact that fish farming is one of the most controversial fishery issues, the news will no doubt bring criticism from some sectors, said Starr, adding that the Kitasoo want everyone to know they are doing their job in keeping the area pristine. According to Starr, the most recent environmental report on their farms showed their stock averaged one to three sea lice per fish, the same amount of lice found on fish 40 miles away from their farms. "We dig clams from right by the farms, we still eat prawns from the area. We eat our diet which has not been impacted because of the farms in our traditional territory," he said. "We monitor all of the sites, and we invite people to come in and be a part of our team when we go out and do our work. We're not hiding anything, and we're just as concerned as other people." In addition, the Kitasoo Band Council's agreement gives them the rights to manage the sites, as well as close them if they are environmentally harmful. – Prince Rupert Daily News Letter to the Editor: "Floating Feedlots" It’s encouraging that risks of floating feedlots are well understood, as exemplified by those community "Voices" who answered the question of whether Washington should follow Alaska’s lead and ban Atlantic salmon farming.As one of two states that allow salmon farms, we’ve learned they are incapable of confining fish or contaminants. Parasites, pathogens and voluminous amounts of waste flush from open cages. More than 613,000 nonnative salmon escaped in four years into our marine waters. However, despite huge risks and substantial economic harm to family fishing businesses and coastal communities, federal legislation is being pushed that allows industrial feedlots 3 miles offshore, just outside of states’ jurisdiction. The National Offshore Aquaculture Act of 2007 was recently introduced into the House of Representatives as H.R. 2010 and Senate as S. 1609. In the proposed legislation environmental risks and impacts need only be "addressed" and "considered" — and then can be ignored. Permits would be for 20 years. Liability is also ignored, and companies would not pay royalties or “resource rent” for use and pollution of our ocean commons. Washington’s elected officials are crucial to stopping this bad legislation, but they need to act quickly and courageously. And they need to be encouraged. - Anne Mosness Bellingham, writing in the Bellingham Herald In Depth: Another View of Icicle Sale Fish Wrap reported this Monday. Here’s the Kodiak perspective.KODIAK, Alaska – Icicle Seafoods Inc., the growing seafood firm that purchased Kodiak Salmon Packers in Larsen Bay in 2006, is about to be sold to a California-based investment firm that has had holdings in everything from wire rope manufacturing to the Alaska telecommunication company ACS. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal is between the privately held processor Icicle Seafoods Inc. and Fox Paine III, a 10-year-old investment firm with offices in San Francisco and New York. If the processor’s shareholders approve, Icicle will change hands within 90 days. Icicle has peak seasonal employment of about 2,200 people and annual revenue of about $300 million, according to Associated Press reports. It is one of the top processors of Alaska salmon, halibut, pollock and crab. “We have lots of plans to grow and we are excited about the seafood business. We are excited about Alaska,” Icicle president and CEO Don Giles said today from his office in Seattle. The company’s management will remain the same under the new ownership. Icicle management supports the deal because they want the company to continue to grow. Giles said the deal means new capital for growth at Icicle, but would not say what properties the Icicle team wants to invest in. Technically, the Icicle buyout is a merger with a newly formed holding company created by combining Icicle’s assets — fish plants in Alaska and Chile and a small fleet of at-sea processing vessels — with cash from Fox Paine III. The holding company formed by the deal is to be called FP Icicle Holdings Inc. Icicle purchased the Kodiak Salmon Packers plant in Larsen Bay in 2006. Giles said investments have already taken place to spruce up the facility, but he had no comments about the future of the plant. Icicle operates plants in Petersburg, Seward, Homer and Egegik. The company has seasonal support sites at Ninilchik, Dillingham, Dutch Harbor, Naknek and St. Paul Island, according to the company’s Web site. Icicle also operates four floating processors in Alaska waters, according to the Web site. The company has roots in salmon, herring and crab, but now processes an array of Pacific seafood products, including surimi. Icicle is the second major Alaska seafood processor to change hands this year, according to the Associated Press. Seattle-based Ocean Beauty Seafoods Inc. announced in April it was selling a 50 percent stake to Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp. of Dillingham. – Kodiak Daily Mirror <<<•>>> Thursday, August 9, 2007 News: Young to Pay Back Seafood Association WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) has agreed to reimburse a seafood trade association $5,583 for the cost of providing food at his annual "Crab Feed" fundraiser for the past seven years.Young's campaign treasurer said that this spring the Pacific Seafood Processors Association sent the campaign an e-mail, saying the group had researched its records and determined it had made in-kind contributions that needed to be disclosed. The campaign wasn't aware of the contributions until receiving the e-mail, said Robert Bohnert, Young's campaign treasurer. Originally, the campaign was going to reimburse the industry group only for the 2004-2006 contributions, but decided last week to also send back the 2001-2003 contributions, worth about $3,175 total. Typically, the Pacific Seafood Processors Association provided between $700 to $900 in seafood for the event, Bohnert said. Bohnert said he did not know why Young or his lawyers made that decision, and referred further questions to Young's campaign manager, Steven Dougherty. "We're not commenting at this time," Dougherty said. "We're not commenting on issues pertaining to this topic." But until the seafood trade association told them about the in-kind contributions, they weren't aware of them, Bohnert said. They pay someone to organize the event, including ordering the food and renting out the Capitol Hill Club. The annual event is a Washington tradition for Alaska's Republican congressman In July, Young disclosed to the Federal Elections Commission that he spent more than $262,137 from his campaign account to pay legal bills this year. Between March 10 and June 15, Young's congressional fundraising committee, Alaskans for Don Young, paid two Washington law firms to advise him. Young, who is under investigation by the FBI, has refused to address questions about the federal inquiry. Young has four major fundraisers scheduled this August while he is in Alaska, Dougherty said. – Anchorage Daily News News: Political Opposition to New Fish Farms
PRINCE RUPERT, British Columbia – While the Kitasoo are celebrating the approval of two new fish farm sites on the Central Coast, their political representatives in both Victoria and Ottawa are unhappy with the approvals.
Both Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen and North Coast MLA Gary Coons said the new sites, which will allow the Kitasoo to fallow other sites in their operation, should not have been approved by the province because of the opposition to fish farms in the region. “I find this Liberal government arrogant and disrespectful for not even taking time to consider the Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture’s report, and the work of our committee, but more importantly the hundreds of people who spoke to us, before breaching a key recommendation,” said Coons. The Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture reported back to government in May 2007. The recommendations in the report included a transition from open net to closed containment pens that would separate the wild stock from the farmed stock. The report, which was only narrowly accepted by the committee recommends no new sites be approved north of Cape Caution. The two fin fish sites approved late last week were issued to Marine Harvest, a company that works with the Kitasoo to operate the farms on the Central Coast. The two new sites are at Lime Point and adjacent Sheep Passage near the village of Klemtu. The company has committed to not operate more than four sites at any given time. The two new sites will simply allow them to fallow two existing sites. It won’t actually result in increased production. And the operation provides badly needed employment for the community of Klemtu. However Skeena Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen also disapproved of the new sites. “It is incredibly arrogant and a betrayal by the Gordon Campbell government to issue these licenses in the face of overwhelming public opposition to fish farms of any sort in northern waters,” Cullen said. “Science, the health of the resource and the public’s wishes must be the guiding forces in developing fish farm policy.” – Prince Rupert Daily News
In Depth: Closed Tank Fish Farm Trial
VICTORIA, British Columbia – Development of giant aluminum tanks, touted as the future of fish farming, has received a $2.4-million federal boost.
While controversy continues over the safety of open-net fish pens, a prototype of the first ocean-based, commercial scale closed tank is being developed for a trial near Campbell River. Middle Bay Sustainable Aquaculture Institute is leading the $10-million project. The company has received a grant from Sustainable Development Technology Canada, a not-for-profit foundation, under the auspices of the federal government. SDTC finances development and demonstration of clean technologies that provide solutions to climate change, clean-air and water-quality issues. "The government is funding it because they have some confidence in it," said John Moonen of Middle Bay. "This not only gives us cash, but also some legitimacy. The vetting process is very severe." When the NDP-dominated special legislative committee recommended earlier this year the B.C. salmon farming industry move to closed-containment pens, there was an outcry from the industry, which said the technology did not exist. Middle Bay board member Richard Buchanan, who is hoping the province might also come up with funding, said the research will help settle debates over farmed fish infecting wild salmon with sea lice and the expense of closed-containment systems. "Most in the environmental movement believe this is the only way to protect wild salmon," he said. The floating, circular tank, 30 meters in diameter and 12 meters deep, is being built on the mainland. The first of four tanks will be launched at the Campbell River site in the new year. In the meantime, 75,000 Chinook salmon will be moved to the Middle Bay site this month and kept in fabric containers until the aluminum tank is ready. The fabric bags are sufficient for nursery use, but are not strong enough for bigger fish, Buchanan said. The company has done five years worth of research near Cedar, using land-based containers, but concluded that method was too expensive to be used commercially. However, the quality of the fish was excellent, with a flavor more like wild fish because they are swimming through pumped water, similar to a wave pool. The company already has an agreement with Thrifty Foods and Earl's Restaurants to take the product in 2008, Buchanan said. "I know there are a lot of skeptics in the industry because of the experience with land-based pens, so we have to show the economics are there. The market will drive it because consumers are looking for sustainable products," he said. Environmental groups are thrilled about the federal funding and the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform is calling for the province to follow suit. The tanks will not only protect wild fish and collect the waste, they will also prevent the killing of sea lions and other animals, according to Deborah Conner, Georgia Strait Alliance executive director. Agriculture and Lands Minister Pat Bell said the aquaculture license for Middle Bay is under consideration. "I am hopeful I will be in a position to grant that one at some point in time," he said. - Victoria Times-Colonist Birds Eye Picks Pollock for Fish Fingers
This article also appeared in Monday's Wild News.
LONDON – The humble fish finger - a staple of children's menus - is to receive a makeover in response to declining fish stocks. Cod will be replaced in Birds Eye fish fingers by pollock, following experts' warnings that cod stocks are perilously low. Pollock, a white fish found in seas round north Alaska, has a similar texture to cod but its stocks are more plentiful. Birds Eye, which produces 80 per cent of the UK's fish fingers, is switching part of its range from cod to pollock fish fingers in September. The company, which was bought from Unilever by the private equity group Permira for £1bn last year, sold £80.5m worth of fish fingers in the UK in the year to July 14. Pollock is already in the company's fish fingers sold in mainland Europe. The company will test the waters by replacing 4,000 tons of cod with pollock, 17,000 tons of cod are used in British fish fingers every year. If sales are successful, pollock could become the main ingredient. Martin Glenn, chief executive of Birds Eye, said the motivation behind the move was "enlightened self-interest." Stocks of cod are under so much pressure that big food companies no longer take their catch from the North Sea but from the Baltic, according to Glenn, but those fisheries were also under strain. Pollock is cheaper than cod. Birds Eye conceded it will save money in the longer term by switching to pollock. However, in the short term the move would be "cost-neutral", Glenn said, because the company will have to change its fishing, sourcing and processing practices, change its packaging and change consumers' tastes from cod to pollock. Scientists warned last year that all commercial fisheries would be exhausted by 2048 if the rate of plunder of the oceans continued. The problem is compounded as consumers tend to have fixed buying patterns of fish and are reluctant to try new fish outside the popular staples of cod, tuna, salmon and prawns, which make up the bulk of the UK's fish sales. Canadian stocks of cod off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland in the north Atlantic collapsed in the early 1990s when they were fished out to serve the country's huge fish processing industry. The stocks have never recovered. Experts fear a similar near-extinction awaits cod in other parts of the Atlantic. Glenn said it made sense to diversify the source of fish fingers to a more sustainable fish. He said: "We would be crazy not to try to do it. We think there will be a fish finger franchise for a long time to come." Fish fingers were originally introduced in the UK as a convenience food in the 1950s. Clarence Birdseye developed the plate froster, a device enabling food to be quickly frozen, in the 1920s. Fish cut into even-sized fillets were among the best foods preserved by freezing, and the first fish fingers were introduced in the UK by Birds Eye in 1955 and quickly became popular. – Financial Times Feature: Tug of War for Oregon Coast
COOS BAY, Ore. – "This community, like other coastal communities, is at a crossroads," Oregon Coastal Zone Management Association Executive Director Onno Husing said last week.
Husing's talk before the Rotary Club of Coos Bay-North Bend centered around the growing issues of marine reserves, wave energy and the Ocean Policy Advisory Council's role in working on those matters. Both topics are intertwined to the extent they would close access to parts of the ocean for commercial and recreational fishermen. But, Husing said, so far there is no statewide plan for working on them at the same time and both issues have ruffled the feathers of the commercial fishing industry. It wasn't but a decade ago that federal laws changed how commercial fishermen could do business, giving more weight to the conservation of natural resources than it had before. That change resulted in drastic changes to the West Coast groundfish fleet, including tighter restrictions and fewer vessels, and huge closed areas that stretch from Canada to Mexico. "It was painful," Husing said of the process that put some fishermen out of business entirely. And now the state is proposing to take more fishing areas away. This time around, the restrictions would affect more fishermen that fish within 3 miles of shore, in Oregon's territorial sea. For the most part, trawlers would be less affected than crabbers and salmon trollers. The Dungeness crabbing industry has been on the front lines when it comes to dealing with wave energy companies that want to put energy-generating buoys on sandy ocean bottom in the same depth at which fishermen put their pots. South Coast crabbers have had several meetings with Ocean Power Technologies, a company working on a wave energy park off of Reedsport. Newport fishermen have met with Finavera Renewables, a company hoping to establish a park near Newport and another one near Bandon. But in Washington, the confrontation isn't nearly as cordial. Finavera has been working to put in buoys in Makah Bay, on the northern Washington coast. “Finavera must not be allowed to move forward without specified compensatory mitigation for the loss of fishing grounds, damages to marine ecosystems, especially loss of Dungeness crab and crab fishing grounds,” the Columbia River Crab Fisherman's Association wrote in a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in June. “It is not the initial pilot project that will have such a large impact on the other participants in the ocean; it is the cumulative effect that additional larger intrusions will have. It is not just the wave energy exclusionary zones; it is the wave energy parks, open ocean aquaculture, crabber towlane agreements, tribal SMAs, fiber optic cables, LNG exclusionary zones, ocean dredge disposal sites, and more to come that will have the greater cumulative economic impacts that will destroy our national fishing heritage.” Here in Coos Bay, nobody from the wave energy companies was present at the Rotary meeting Tuesday. Husing noted that emotions are strong on all sides. The governor's office has made it clear it wants marine reserves and wave energy. Fishermen don't want to give up more fishing grounds. Wave energy companies want to put buoys in the water and generate electricity. Marine reserves and wave energy, right now, is a political football, he said. – Coos Bay World <<<•>>> Friday, August 10, 2007 News: West Coast Fishermen Group Joins Farmers SAN FRANCISCO – The West Coast's largest commercial fishermen's organization announced its affiliation with the National Farmers Union (NFU). The announcement was made at the offices of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) in conjunction with a meeting with NFU President Tom Buis and NFU's California chapter president, Joaquin Contente."It's time for our nation's family farmers and family fishermen to work together on behalf of America's food producers whether they harvest the soil or the sea," said PCFFA Executive Director Zeke Grader. "Our common interests include conservation of our lands and waters, preservation of our communities, the production and promotion of safe, healthful and affordable food, fair prices for food producers, and fair trade." NFU's membership includes 250,000 farm and ranch families. PCFFA, which was founded in 1976, is a federation of fishing organizations. Currently it boasts 14 different fishing associations, mostly in California, but with some membership in Oregon and Washington as well. Fishing families, represented by PCFFA's member groups, are engaged in the catch of many different species, including salmon, crab, rockfish, blackcod and lingcod, sole, halibut, herring, sardine, squid and sea cucumber. Tuesday's announcement is taking place in conjunction with a west coast visit by NFU President Tom Buis to discuss the 2008 Farm Bill with the organization's California membership. The House of Representatives just passed its version of the Farm Bill and the U.S. Senate is expected to take it up after the August recess. Grader said provisions in the Farm Bill, particularly the conservation programs, highlight a convergence of interests among farmers and fishermen, particularly those programs designed to conserve soil, preserve farm land and protect water quality as it affects fish populations. "With all the recent attention on food issues, fishermen and farmers now have a common platform that will enable their members to aggressively address the challenges that face these legendary food producers," said Half Moon Bay commercial fisherman Pietro Parravano. Parravano is President of the Institute for Fisheries Resources and was one of two commercial fishing representatives on the Pew Oceans Commission. The Pew Oceans Commission looked extensively at the interface between the land and the sea. PCFFA is not the first fishing organization to affiliate with the NFU. Recently hook fishermen from Cape Cod joined with the area's cranberry farmers to form the New England Farmer's Union. – Press release News: UK Fisherman Catch Black Eye for Industry
NORTH DEVON, U.K. - Conservationists are investigating reports of a vast catch of more than 60 rare sharks by a long-line fisherman operating from a port in North Devon.
If confirmed, the haul would be one of the largest on record and a devastating blow for the population of porbeagle sharks off the isle of Lundy in the Bristol Channel where numbers had been increasing in recent years, having been fished near to extinction in the 1970s. The catch has coincided with the first substantial study of porbeagle sharks in British waters, which included fitting several with satellite-tracking devices. The porbeagle can grow up to 12ft and is closely related to the infamous great white. It is one of the largest predatory sharks in British waters and is hunted for its meat, which is particularly popular in France. The porbeagle is listed as “vulnerable” by the European Union but has no official protection, unlike the basking shark. Richard Peirce, chairman of the Shark Trust, which is campaigning for porbeagle sharks to be given protected status, said: “We know they form large schools and gather together by sex, so a catch of this size may well have wiped out almost all the breeding females in this particular population. It is a devastating blow. “The boat was sailing from Bideford and we know they had caught 26 by 11am. That day we believe they took a total of 60 using a long line and went back and caught more the following day. French wholesalers will have paid about £1.50 per kg for the sharks, which can average 200kg each. The day’s catch of 60 porbeagles would have been worth in the region of £18,000 ($36,400 U.S.). The tags fitted to four porbeagles in Bude Bay, close to Bideford, last week will help to answer some of the mysteries surrounding the fish, such as how far they travel and whether they migrate across the Atlantic, as some suspect. Besides the depth, distance and direction taken by the sharks, scientists are trying to find out more about the connections between shark populations by studying DNA samples taken during the tagging. In June, the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species rejected calls for a ban on the catching of porbeagles and their smaller cousin the dog fish under pressure from fishing nations. Cliona O’Brien, of the World Wild-life Fund, said that porbeagles in the North Atlantic had declined by 90 per cent since the 1960s. – Times of London
Comment: Trawl Regulations Seriously Needed
PORTLAND – In a hurried and misdirected effort to protect West Coast marine fish, the federal government is about to make a few fishermen very rich at the expense of coastal communities and consumers. (Last week) in Salem, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission was briefed on this issue. The commissioners need to know that fishery managers are missing the mark.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council plans to lock in some key design elements of what is called the groundfish trawl individual quota program, giving current owners of trawl permits long-term, exclusive access to the bulk of many commercially caught ocean species. At stake are healthy marine ecosystems and sustainable fishing communities. The federal plan would jeopardize fisheries for a number of West Coast rockfishes, lingcod and other bottom fish, and the restoration of overfished populations from northern Washington to Southern California. The government proposes to give "catch shares" in the sea to the very sector of the fishing industry that overharvested coastal fish some 20 years ago. No conservation outcomes are guaranteed from the trawl quota program, and fishery managers will inevitably undermine the efforts of fishermen who are already fishing sustainably. The theory behind the plan is that having a catch share will encourage fishermen to be better environmental stewards. But there are few incentives for conservation in the current plan. The government should reward those fishermen who have a track record of conservation, rather than those with a track record of overfishing. The nation's leading ocean experts now recognize the need for an ecosystem-based management approach. Conservation incentives matter if we are to create long-term health and wealth in West Coast fisheries. We need a management system that encourages sustainability by eliminating overfishing, reducing waste and promoting viable coastal fishing communities. Federal fishery managers propose to privatize West Coast groundfish fisheries by taking what has long been a public resource and apportioning a substantial part of it to private trawl fishermen. The West Coast groundfish fishery is complex, both in diversity of species and gear types. If market-based tools are to be used in management, they must encompass the entire fishery, rewarding fishermen who use the most selective gear and techniques. We need to ensure that economic rewards are coupled with ecological health. Market-based policies can only do this if designed with conservation as the driver. To be supportable, a market-based plan must be comprehensive and provide strong incentives to achieve the federal government's mandate to encourage a sustainable fishery. If we want to eat wild and sustainable seafood, we need healthy ecosystems and healthy fishing communities. Poorly designed management plans only will hasten the decline of both. – Matt Van Ess, executive director of the Pacific Marine Conservation Council, for The Oregonian News: Canadians Belittle Russian North Pole Stunt |