Climate refuge insights and sustainable solutions

From National Fishermen:

As climate changes become more noticeable in Southeast Alaska, residents are eager for scientific data on what the future holds. According to the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust (ASFT), the state’s southeast coast is projected to play a unique role as a climate refuge. This isolated area maintains habitat favorable to critical species. “Rainforest scientists such as Dominick DellaSala say we’re warming more slowly than nearby regions,” says ASFT board president Linda Behnken. “They believe there is potential for our region to become a stronghold where everything, from wild salmon to big conifers, can still find habitat.” This information and more is part of ASFT’sSeaBank initiative, a multi-disciplinary approach to identify, assess, and communicate the value of the Southeast Alaska ecosystem. “Our goal is to empower residents, visitors, and policymakers to make sound long-term decisions that promote stewardship and sustainable economics,” said Behnken.

To share this emerging science with the public, Behnken and her team will host an evening SeaBank Summit in Sitka on November 13. Keynote speaker Dr. Dominick DellaSala, chief scientist of Wild Heritage and leading coastal temperate rainforest expert, will guide attendees through the latest climate refuge data. Additional presenters include Gah Kith Tin Alana Peterson, executive director of Spruce Root, who will share thoughts on sustainable Southeast economies. Award-winning author and yellow cedar expert Lauren E. Oakes will also attend, reading from her forthcoming book Treekeepers: the Race for a Forested Future. 

Beth Short-Rhoads, who recently produced ASFT’s newly launched podcast, The SeaBank Chronicles, brings the viewpoint of a citizen scientist to current research. “In sifting through this dense material as a layperson, I began to see that our situation in the Southeast Alaska rainforest is both simple and profound. The maritime rain and clouds that we take for granted and sometimes even complain about are really a kind of climate medicine,” she says. “Their buffering influence offers some protection against the extremes of rising planetary heat. That’s a benefit for Southeast and for the entire planet–and the intriguing story you’ll hear when you immerse yourself in a SeaBank Chronicles soundscape.” 

ASFT’s Paul Olson, a commercial fisherman and environmental attorney, has also drawn on the research of DellaSala and other scientists, and will be unveiling the 2024 edition of his popular SeaBank Report at the summit. A data-based advocacy tool for policymakers and citizens, this 260-page report captures the economic benefits resulting from Southeast Alaska’s unique geography and climate. “Fisheries and tourism are mainstays of the region’s economy,” he says, “and we owe them entirely to the huge ecological wealth stored in the lands and waters around us. That’s why we call this place the SeaBank.”

“If we make the right choices now, we can positively influence the outcome of our Southeast SeaBank,”  said Behnken. “We have the opportunity and the responsibility to safeguard this place– as Alaska’s Native people have since time immemorial.”

In addition to hearing from leaders in rainforest science, climate resilience, and sustainable communities, attendees will enjoy Thai Coho Wraps from Fireweed Dinner Service, non-alcoholic birch spritzers from Crooked Creek Birch, a no-host bar, and cupcakes. Opportunities to mingle with experts, listen to the SeaBank Chronicles podcast, participate in a silent auction, browse The 2024 SeaBank Report, sign up as a Founding SeaBank member and purchase holiday gifts will immediately follow the program. 

The Summit is a fundraiser for the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust, SeaBank Initiative. Doors open at 5:45, and dinner and the program begin at 6:00.  Tickets are $20 and are available at https://thealaskatrust.org/seabank-summit or at Old Harbor Books. The event is open to the public and will be live-streamed on Zoom. Attendees interested in joining virtually can register on the ASFT website or here. For more information, contact ASFT Program Director Natalie Sattler at 907-738-1286 or email program.director@alfafish.org.

Corporate Sponsors for the Summit include Seafood Producers Cooperative, Fireweed Dinners, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, Alaskans Own and many more. Support for ASFT’s SeaBank Initiative includes funding from the Walton Family Foundation, the Edgerton Foundation, the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, and many private donors and individuals. 

ASFT is a non-profit dedicated to strengthening fishing communities and marine resources through research, education and economic opportunity.

View full article here.

OPINION: Canada’s rubber-stamp mining decision could endanger Alaska salmon

On July 26, KSM Mining ULC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Seabridge Gold, Inc. received its “substantially started” determination from the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office for its Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) project. KSM is a huge proposed open-pit and underground gold-copper-silver mine targeting coastal mountains of northwestern B.C., within the headwaters of both the Nass River, which lies entirely within B.C., and the transboundary Unuk River which flows into Southeast Alaska near Ketchikan.

Why does this matter? According to B.C. regulations, an Environmental Assessment Certificate is the key overarching permit required for a reviewable development project to go forward. With the Certificate comes a stipulation that the project must be “substantially started” within 10 years, with an opportunity for a one-time five-year extension. The rationale behind the 10-year stipulation is that environmental analyses and the studies on which they are based should be relatively current. If a project is not launched in a reasonably timely way, environmental reviews, and the studies on which they are based, should be revisited to consider changing circumstances, new data, evolving environmental concerns, etc.

Read the full article here.

Representatives Peltola and Carter introduce Domestic Seafood Production Act to support U.S. fishing communities

Casey Willson August 1, 2024, Press Releases

The Act enhances seafood processing infrastructure and capacity in coastal communities, while blocking the development of industrial finfish farms in federal waters.

On July 30, 2024, Congresswoman Mary Peltola (D-AK-At Large) and Congressman Troy Carter (D-LA-2) introduced the Domestic Seafood Production Act (DSPA), legislation aimed at supporting seafood and mariculture processing in the United States, particularly in fishing communities with a demonstrated need.

“In Alaska, so many communities rely on fish and seafood production both for subsistence and good-paying jobs,” said Rep. Peltola. “My bill would support our local fishing and maritime communities while strengthening our domestic seafood supply chain.”

Through competitive grants, the Act would fund community development projects to improve local processing of seafood from wild-capture fisheries and mariculture, defined as the cultivation of shellfish and aquatic plants. It would also prohibit federal agencies from developing offshore finfish aquaculture in United States federal waters without congressional approval.

Read Full Press Release Here

A public serv-fish announcement: You should be eating more black cod.

Northern Journal

By Nathaniel Herz

Aug 30, 2024

Alaska caught black cod is oily and delicious, and it's selling at rock bottom prices right now in part because of the devaluation of the Japanese yen.

I do not ever attempt to buy or sell individual shares of publicly traded companies — I’m too financially incompetent. Consequently, I would not ever suggest turning to Northern Journal for personal financial advice or stock tips.

However, this is a column wholly dedicated to telling you, quite assuredly, how you can personally profit from the weak Japanese yen, which recently hit its lowest value against the U.S. dollar in decades.

Run, do not walk, to your nearest fish market to buy some black cod — a species that’s being sold for cheap in U.S. markets as its Japanese customer base has eroded.

In due course over the next thousand words, I will provide you with ample scientific background and narrative justification for why you should eat more of this underrated, undervalued denizen of the deepwater Pacific. (If you are a fisherman or fishing community resident whose freezer is already full of black cod, sorry for my patronizing tone; you can skip this column.)

Such is my confidence that I will first make you an aggressive proposal:

If you have never tried black cod before, go and get some. It is selling for $9.99 a pound at Costco in Anchorage, the same as fresh silver salmon.

Read Full Article Here

Federal appeals court ruling eliminates — for now — legal threat facing Southeast Alaska fishers

Alaska Beacon

By James Brooks

August 16th, 2024

A three-judge panel at 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a lower-court decision that could have temporarily halted troll fishing for salmon in Southeast Alaska.

The appellate court decision, announced Friday, clears the way for the region’s troll fishery to continue. It had been threatened by a lawsuit from the Washington-based Wild Fish Conservancy, an environmental group.

The group filed suit in 2020, arguing that National Marine Fisheries Service rules applied to the fishery were inadequate when it came to protecting endangered killer whales that live in Puget Sound.

A U.S. District Court judge in Washington state agreed with the group, ruling in May 2023 that the biological opinion — a document that underpins fishing rules — was inadequate. Southeast Alaska’s troll fishery would be shut down as a consequence.

Read full report here

Charter fishermen blamed for closure of Alaska’s summer king salmon troll season

Seafood Source

By: Cliff White, published in Supply & Trade

August 16th, 2024

The August king salmon season in Southeast Alaska will not happen after Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) determined there was a catch overage in the first retention period earlier this summer.

Commercial trollers caught 82,000 kings in the first season, above the target of 66,700, forcing ADF&G to end fishing on 8 July. While the agency’s 2024 preseason forecast estimated commercial fishermen would be left with 15,000 kings to catch in the second season in August, sport fishermen caught around 52,000 kings, exceeding their allocation by 14,000 fish. Following a controversial management plan approved in 2023, that total was deducted from the commercial troll allocation.

Read full article here

Tenure Rights/USA: By, and from, the Sea

International Collective in support of Fishworkers

Samudra Reports

By: Brittany Tholan and Linda Behnken

June 2024

Permit banks and collective ownership in Alaska return individual fishing rights to the collective, harking back to the early days of fishing

More than 12,000 years ago, people on Haida Gwaii, an archipelago off British Columbia about 48 km south of Alaska, were cooking salmon. They are the earliest known humans to do so.

As with all early human societies who lived by the sea and off it, the first relationship with the ocean beyond the northwest coast was one of collective tenure. There were locally-derived systems of norms, rules and practices that evolved over time and gained social legitimacy. Men caught halibut via hook-and-line from canoes; women fileted, deboned and dried the fish. The Haida, Tlingit and Tsimshian peoples of present-day southeast Alaska fashioned large, v-shaped hooks out of wood to snare fish up to 500 pounds (227 kg). Potlaches, traditional feasts that involved dancing, fed, impressed and welcomed guests. The rights of Alaska Natives to access, steward and honour relate to, safeguard and/or share (for example) elements of their coastal territories and culture that have fluctuated over time, Tribal members have continued to work hard to keep their cultural traditions alive.

Read full article here

Bringing Salmon home to the Columbia River

The Tyee

By: Mark Thomas, Chief Keith Crow, and Jason Andrew

August 15th, 2024

An Indigenous-led, cross-border approach has seen great successes. But it needs BC and Canada’s ongoing financial support.

The Columbia River was once the source of the greatest salmon runs in the world. Millions of life-giving sockeye and giant chinook swam upriver to spawn each year.

The beloved performing arts showcase is back this September on Granville Island.

The Columbia’s headwaters are in British Columbia. The upper 40 per cent of the river winds through the province before entering the U.S. in Washington state and emptying into the Pacific in Oregon.

An epic 2,000-kilometre journey.

But massive dams, beginning with Grand Coulee in Washington, have blocked salmon from returning to the headwaters of the Columbia River for almost a century. In the 1960s, under the Columbia River Treaty, more dams were built without consultation with our Indigenous nations on our unceded territories in B.C.

Read more here