Representatives from Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan’s offices arrived in Sand Point Monday, their first stop on a multi-city tour around the region. The trip, which will include stops in King Cove and False Pass, comes ahead of a strategic plan the senators are expected to present to the Secretary of Commerce this summer.
Matthew Robinson, a legislative assistant with Murkowski’s office, and Sullivan policy advisor Carina Nichols, are meeting with community leaders, fishermen, and community members to hear about the impacts of Alaska’s fishing industry on locals.
Coastal communities along the peninsula have been hard hit in recent years; fish numbers and prices have been low, putting the squeeze on local budgets and households.
The congressional representatives are also traveling with Abby Fredrick from Silver Bay Seafoods, and they plan to fly to King Cove Monday evening, where the community is dealing with the closure of Peter Pan, the town’s only seafood processor.
King Cove has recently implemented several state-of-the-art infrastructure projects, including a hydroelectric power plant capable of supporting the large processing facility.
The group plans to fly to False Pass Tuesday, where Silver Bay recently took over the Trident plant, before ending their tour in Bristol Bay.
Sens. Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski are expected to present a strategic plan to the Secretary of Commerce sometime later this summer.
(Photo courtesy of Trident Seafoods)
Silver Bay Seafoods has purchased Trident’s processing plant in False Pass, according to a joint statement last week from the two seafood companies.
Trident Seafoods sent shock waves through the fishing industry when it announced in December it was selling several of its plants around the state — that after delaying construction of its new, flagship facility in Dutch Harbor by at least a year.
Trident CEO Joe Bundrant called the current restructuring decisions “the most difficult” decisions of his career.
Fishermen-owned Silver Bay already operates a facility in False Pass, just next to the Trident plant. Silver Bay President and CEO Cora Campbell said owning adjacent facilities would make operations more efficient, and allow them to provide more opportunities to the fleet.
Silver Bay said it will also be able to provide fuel services with the new facility.
Alaska’s fisheries are facing an unprecedented crisis. A flood of foreign fish into the market, coupled with inflation and trade sanctions, have led to a massive drop in the market value of Alaska’s fish — and coastal communities are feeling the squeeze.
Peter Pan Seafoods made the last minute decision in January not to open their King Cove facility for A season, and then announced in April they wouldn’t open at all, selling some of their plants in other parts of the state, leaving King Cove without its economic driver.
Download Fish News from Dec. 17, 2022 here:
https://www.aleutianseast.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Fish-News-Dec.-17-2022.pdf
The audio from the meeting is archived here:
https://apradio.org/mp3/2022-12-20-aebfish.mp3
“The Aleutians East Borough Natural Resources Department will host the annual Winter Fisheries meeting via Zoom on Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at 10 a.m.
Agency representatives will provide overviews of upcoming 2023 winter fisheries and give updates on any regulation changes of note.
Some of the upcoming 2023 local State-water fisheries guideline harvest levels and opening dates:
• South Peninsula Tanner Crab Eastern District 525,000 lbs., Western District
575,000 lbs. Open Jan. 15, 2023.
• South Alaska Peninsula Pacific cod pot gear 4,196,059 lbs., opens March 7, 2023
or 7 days after fed season closes, jig gear Pcod 740,481 lbs., opens 48 hours after
federal A season closes.
• Dutch Harbor Subdistrict Pacific cod pot gear 38,316,000 lbs., open 7 days after
fed BSAI pot cod <60ft closes; jig gear Pcod 100,000 lbs., open May 1, 2023."
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will be conducting a preseason fishery stakeholder’s meeting on Tuesday, June 1 at 2:00 p.m.
The meeting will be held at the Sand Point City Chambers. ADF&G will teleconference with both King Cove (at the Harbor House) and False Pass. The meeting will be broadcast live right here, on KSDP 830AM Sand Point and livestreamed at apradio.org.
There are a limited number of teleconference lines. If you would like to call into the meeting, please contact the ADF&G office in Sand Point for the call-in information.
The purpose of this meeting is to provide all interested parties an opportunity to discuss the upcoming salmon season with ADF&G staff.
Topics covered will include:
– Staff introductions
– Department COVID-19 mitigation plans
– 2021 management strategy
– 2021 salmon outlook
– 2021 department test fisheries
– Other topics as time permits
To obtain further information, please contact the Sand Point Fish and Game office at (907) 383-2066.
From “Fish News” via AEB:
Alaska Department of Fish & Game
South Peninsula Pacific Cod State-waters Fishery Preseason Meeting
Download the audio from this teleconference (MP3, 2.4MB).
https://apradio.org/mp3/2021-03-03-adfg.mp3
The Alaska Department of Fish & Game will hold a preseason meeting for the South Peninsula Pacific cod State-waters Fishery at 1pm Wednesday March 3, 2021. ADFG Fishery Managers Nat Nichols & Cassandra Whiteside will discuss fishery reporting requirements, number of registered vessels, weather forecast, season length predictions, etc. and will be available to answer questions.
The teleconference number for the March 3rd 1PM preseason meeting is:
1-800-315-6338
access code:
33470
From the ADFG February 1, 2021 Advisory Announcement for Emergency Order 4-GF-
06-21:
“The South Alaska Peninsula Area state-waters Pacific cod pot gear season will open at
12:00 noon March 7, 2021, unless delayed by weather. If the National Weather Service
marine forecast for Area PKZ155 issued at 4:00 a.m. on March 7, 2020 contains a gale
warning, the season opening will be delayed 24 hours. Weather delays may continue on a
rolling 24-hour basis for seven days, after which the season will open regardless of the
weather forecast. The 2021 South Alaska Peninsula Area state-waters Pacific cod
guideline harvest level (GHL) is 5.28 million pounds. Pot vessels are allocated 85% of
the GHL or 4.49 million pounds. (more…)
Below is a PDF from the Aleutians East Borough with links for applying for Payroll Protection Program (PPP). The due date is Tuesday, June 30, 2020!
Fish News – June 26, 2020
From the latest edition of AEB’s Fish News (PDF, 0.5MB):
AEB Fishermen’s Meeting – Winter Fisheries Teleconference
Thursday, December 27, 2018 – 10:00 AM
TELECONFERENCE audio/participation expected be available at the following sites:
King Cove Harbor House, Sand Point Borough office, False Pass City Office, Anchorage AEB office
Meeting expected to be broadcast live on KSDP and at www.apradio.org
Agency Representatives expected to be available at this teleconference meeting:
• U. S. Coast Guard, Kodiak
• Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Kodiak.
• NMFS Alaska Region, Juneau
• Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Seattle
• North Pacific Observer Program & A.I.S. observer providers
• Other fisheries enforcement representatives
Please contact Ernie Weiss at (907) 274-7557 or eweiss@aeboro.org
In this Edition:
Recapping of Board of Fisheries Workshop MEeting
Read and Download the Latest Edition Her
In this Edition:
– The Rebuilding of the Port Moller Peter Pan Facility
– NMPFC Meeting In Kodiak
– The 2018 Salmon Season Begins!
Read and Download the Latest Edition Here!
Download Fish News from March 13, 2018 – Published by the Aleutians East Borough (PDF, 375KB)
Contents:
Aleutian Islands Waterway Safety Committee Holds Initial Meeting;
A Commercial Fishing Vessel Seat is Still Vacant
By Ernie Weiss, AEB Natural Resources Director
Download the latest issue of Fish News from the Aleutians East Borough.
PDF: Fish_News__-_Nov._2_2017.pdf
Reminder: Deadline Approaching
Aleutians East Borough to Sponsor Young Fishers to Summit
The Aleutians East Borough Natural Resources Department will sponsor local fishers to
attend the Alaska Young Fishermen’s Summit, AYFS VII in Anchorage on December
6-8, 2017.
****
Reminder: AEB Fishermen’s Meeting
During the Pacific Marine Expo
Friday, November 17, 2017 10AM (more…)
The Latest Edition of the AEB Fish News!
In This Issue:
– The AEB Sponsors Young Fishers to Summit
– The AEB to Host Fisherman’s Meeting At Seattle Marine Expo
Read or Download the PFD Here!
