Dutch Harbor Update | Summer Snow Crabbing?

The opilio season just won’t end this year.  The Deadliest Catch is turning out to be the Longest Catch.  ADFG has just announced the second extension this season, which allows the boats to fish until June 15th.  That’s right!  They are winter crabbing in the summertime.  Only a quarter of the quota is left, so it should be over soon.  Its still snowing in St. Paul and the ice pack is still in the harbor according  to the Time Bandit’s Twit Pic. This is definitely one crab season that few fishermen will forget.  I embedded some other twitter posts to give you an idea of who is still fishing.  The Time Bandit is still at it and it sounds like the Northwestern got more quota.  The season is now scheduled to end June 15th.  I wonder how all of this will affect the summer salmon tender season for most of these boats?

It’s already been a long snow crab season, but it’s about to be longer. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced Monday that the season will be extended by two weeks in some areas, moving the overall end date to mid-June.

Heavy ice cover in the Bering Sea periodically forced fishermen off the grounds this winter and almost a quarter of the allowable harvest remains uncaught. The unprecedented move by Fish and Game should give crabbers time to bring in the remaining 20 million pounds.

The fishery was scheduled to close on May 31, but with the extension, areas west of 171 degrees will be open through June 15.

via Ice Forces Snow Crab Season Extension.

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Togiak Herring 2012 | Could Early Spawn Equal A Roepocalypse?

The recent Sitka herring sac roe fishery ended early because the herring spawned out before the massive quota was caught. Now, Alaska‘s largest herring fishery in Togiak is showing signs of early spawn. After an aerial survey on Monday, many signs af herring are obvious in the region. The most surprising factor was the noticeable spawn and the congregation of the fish against the shore. The level of surprise is obvious in the audio from KDLG. The fishery opened at 6:00 PM on Monday. Stay tuned for more updates…

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iDevice audio here
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Piscatology 101 | NOAA State Of The Fisheries Report

In general, 86% of the fisheries reviewed are in good shape.  This is great news for an industry that has a bad wrap for raping and pillaging the oceans resources.   The entire report is below.  Also, the article below is a nice summation of the report from SeafoodSource.com.

 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Fisheries Service on Monday released its annual report card, called the “Status of U.S. Fisheries,” which has been issued to Congress annually since 1997.

Of the 258 stocks and multi-species groupings known as complexes NOAA scientists reviewed for “overfishing” status in 2011, 222 stocks, or 86 percent, were not subject to overfishing, an improvement from 2010 when 84 percent, or 213 out of 253 stocks, were not subject to overfishing.

Of the 219 stocks and complexes reviewed for “overfished” status in 2011, 174 stocks, or 79 percent, were not overfished, compared to 77 percent, or 159 out of 207 stocks, in 2010. Thirteen of those 45 overfished stocks were located off New England, the most of any geographic region.

“Overfishing” means the catch is above the target set in the fishery’s management plan, while “overfished” factors in a safety margin ensuring the stock is able to recover.

Also, a record six fish stocks were rebuilt to healthy levels in 2011, bringing to 27 the number of stocks that have been rebuilt in the last 11 years. They are Bering Sea snow crab, widow rockfish, chinook salmon (North California Coast, Klamath Fall), coho salmon (Washington Coast, Queets), summer flounder and Gulf of Maine haddock.

“[Most] rebuilding plans started 10 to 15 years ago after Congress amended the Magnuson-Stevens Act in 1996, so we’re seeing the results of that,” said Galen Tromble, NOAA Fisheries’ division chief for domestic fisheries, in a press briefing on Monday.

However, six stocks were newly determined to be overfished in 2010 and 2011. Rebuilding plans are currently being developed for these stocks and must be in place within two years of an overfished determination. Overall, 51 stocks are subject to rebuilding plans, with six additional plans in development.

via A record six U.S. fish stocks rebuilt in 2011 – SeafoodSource.com.

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Dutch Harbor Update | Snow Crab Extension Due to Record Breaking Ice Pack

For the first time ever, the snow crab fishery will be extended.  The grueling season is far from over for many boats.  Almost 1/4 of the 88.9 million pound quota still needs to be caught and the ice still covers most of the fishing grounds. Currently, the crab fishery is extended until May 31st. Even the Togiak herring fishery is off to a late start because of the record breaking sea ice this year.

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“Record sea ice significantly reduced available fishing grounds throughout a large portion of the snow crab season, and as a result, nearly 25 percent of the snow-crab total allowable catch has not been harvested,” according to Tuesday’s news release from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Unalaska. Fish and Game granted a partial extension of the eastern subdistrict between 171 and 173 degrees west longitude until May 31. The area was originally set to close May 15. All areas are now scheduled to close May 31, but ADF&G officials in Unalaska, Kodiak and Juneau are pondering whether to let the fishermen keep dropping pots into the water in June, said biologist Britta Baechler in Unalaska. On Monday, she said 57 boats were still registered, and 21 had finished fishing. As of Monday, 67.7 million pounds were harvested, she said. The season’s quota is about 88 million pounds. “Pretty much anybody involved in the industry is struggling this season,” Baechler said. But Al Mendoza, crab manager at Unisea in Unalaska agreed, said the extension “will definitely help. “There’s a lot of frustrated fishermen. It’s been a long winter season for the fishermen and processors, but everybody’s holding strong and trying to get through it,” Mendoza said. via ADF&G extends snow crab season – The Dutch Harbor Fisherman.
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American Fisherman | F/V Pillar Bay | Boat Cribs

Jason Crosby keeps delivering the sickest vids ever.  This was shot during the recent herring fishing in Sitka.  We had a little time on our hands this year.  Alright, enough chatter.  Check out the video…

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California Salmon | The Return Of The King

The news surrounding California’s salmon run has been dismal in recent history. However, this season is looking up. The price of salmon is at its highest in years and the California fleet is expecting a huge run this summer. This is a real triumph story for the fishermen of California, who have weathered a rough couple of years. Good luck to all the captains and crews, enjoy your season of June Hogs!

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The 2012 California salmon season opened last weekend, and the initial reports are good and could be getting even better. That’s great news for lovers of local salmon, who have pretty much had to do without commercially caught fish since 2008. There was a limited catch last year, but this year the catch looks to be big enough that there shouldn’t be any trouble finding fish.

This season’s catch should total almost 3 million pounds, according to the California Salmon Council, an industry group. Last year, the haul was less than 1 million pounds. That seemed like a lot then, but only because the fishery had been completely closed in 2008 and 2009, and the 2010 catch was only about 250,000 pounds. For reference, the high-water mark for California salmon since 2000 was in 2004, when more than 7 million pounds were caught.

Those bad years had been the result of several factors, including water diversions from the rivers that produce the salmon, and ocean conditions that reduced the amount of krill — similar to baby shrimp — the salmon feed on.

via California salmon start their comeback – latimes.com.

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Internet Bycatch | Alaska State Ferry Vs. Ocean Beauty With Video

The recent Supermoon has kicked up the tides in one of the dangerous harbors in southeast Alaska. The Petersburg harbor is well protected from intense sweep, but it is one of the rare areas where the tide can rip at 4 knots through the harbor. The Ferry dock is fairly far away from the Ocean Beauty Dock, so the tide must have been insane. It appears that the ferry was undamaged, but the docks at Ocean Beauty will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair. Thanks to @sperry06 for the timely photos.  Check out the vid for a great story about the Wrangell Narrows.

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The Petersburg Pilot reports the ferry struck the dock while performing a 360-degree maneuver, required in order for it to dock in Petersburg. The face of the Ocean Beauty cement dock was heavily damaged, dock pilings were broken and a crane was damaged.

Even the second floor of the idled processing plant was damaged, with walls and outer walkways partially demolished. The Matanuska shows possible dents and scrapes to the bow of the ship.

Petersburg Harbormaster Glorianne Wollen told the Pilot: “It wasn’t a glancing blow. It pretty much was a head-on hit.”

via State Ferry Hits Petersburg Seafood Plant Dock Head-On – ktuu.com.

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Southeast Salmon | Fishing Starts on the Taku and Stikine Rivers

The 2012 salmon season is here! Many people consider “Copper River Reds” the first salmon the  season, but southeast fishermen get a chance to start today.!  The Taku and the Stikine are open for a one day King salmon gilnett fishery. Southeast trollers also get a chance at the early kings this year too. Good luck to all! Let’s hope the season starts with a bang!  Enjoy the youtube pick of last year’s gilnett season in southeast.  I kinda like the disco beats in the video, too!

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Commercial Gillnetters and trollers in the Petersburg and Wrangell area will be targeting king salmon in the marine waters near the Stikine River starting early next week. The District 8 king season was closed for the previous three years because the Stikine runs were not big enough. This year, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is projecting nearly 41 thousand large kings will return, which is enough for a commercial harvest.

Area management biologist Troy Thynes says, ” “Now in terms of this forecast, it’s probably, over the long term, about an average size king salmon run for the Stikine River. In short term, its actually under average because we’ve had some very large returns in the early 2000’s……What we’ve seen here is this forecast, compared to past years, is is above the last three years pre-season forecast and pretty similar to the 2007 and 2008 forecast.”

The Stikine River king salmon run is shared between Alaska and Canada under the Pacific Salmon Treaty. Based on the pre-season forecast, Alaska is allowed a total catch of just under 59 hundred kings including commercial and sport landings. Canada’s share is about 68 hundred fish.

Alaska’s target could change later this month when the state comes up with an in-season forecast based on actual returns to the river

via Stikine,Taku Fisheries start up this month | KFSK.

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