Alaska’s Fisheries Are Collapsing. This Congresswoman Is Taking on the Industry She Says Is to Blame.

Mary Peltola won her election by campaigning on a platform to save the state’s prized fisheries. A powerful fishing lobby is standing in her way.

By ADAM FEDERMAN

03/03/2023 04:30 AM EST

This article was produced in partnership with Type Investigations, where Adam Federman is a reporting fellow.

HOMER, Alaska — The late 1990s and early 2000s were boomtimes for halibut fishermen in Alaska. Over 80 million pounds of the flatfish were being harvested annually. Deckhands could earn $250,000 a season. The small boat harbor in the southcentral city of Homer, known as the “halibut capital of the world,” was bustling.

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Alaska Beacon: Commentary: Letter from Yakutat: Deep cuts on the Lost Coast

Alaska Beacon

Letter from Yakutat: Deep cuts on the Lost Coast

Logging is on the decline across Southeast Alaska. But in Yakutat, the local Indigenous-owned corporation is still cutting, over the objections of tribal and cultural leaders. Here’s a firsthand look.

NATHANIEL HERZ

This article was originally published in Northern Journal, a newsletter from journalist Nathaniel Herz. Subscribe at this link.

House Joint Resolution 5 moves out of Alaska House Fisheries Committee supporting protection of Southeast Alaska’s troll fishery

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 15, 2023

Juneau, AK - On Tuesday, the Alaska State Legislature’s House Special Committee on Fisheries received testimony and passed a resolution (HJR 5) that calls for state and federal agencies to defend Southeast Alaska’s troll fishery from a potential closure this year due to a lawsuit that a Washington-based organization, the Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC), has filed against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The lawsuit alleges that Alaska’s Chinook troll fishery imperils the Southern Resident Killer Whales and aims to shut the fishery down, leaving nearly 1,500 fishermen without a job. Alaska’s trollers have intervened in the case, calling attention to the WFC’s misguided claims and the well-documented impacts that habitat loss, water pollution, urbanization, and vessel traffic are having on the Puget Sound’s salmon and orca populations. 

The resolution was introduced by freshman legislator Rep Himschoot of Sitka, a sitting member of the House Special Committee on Fisheries. During the hearing, the committee heard from local fishermen, community leaders, and fishery experts on the economic impacts of Southeast Alaska’s troll fishery as well as the devastating impacts of a fishery closure to the region’s economy and fishing families. 

“In our community, trolling is a huge portion of our income, and in particular in the winter months when all the summer activities - all the lodges are shut down, all the sports fishermen are gone - there’s nothing else,” said Casey Mapes, Yakutat resident and lifelong commercial fisherman. “Out of my troll income, king salmon is probably two thirds of what I make in a year’s time.”

“Fishing is now the mainstay of Craig’s economy since logging is all but gone on Prince of Wales Island. Commercial salmon trolling is a significant portion of our fishing fleet. Our fleet on Prince of Wales is over 100 boats with 120 charter boats also operating out of Craig each year… We stand to lose all of this if this Wild Fish Conservancy lawsuit is successful,” shared Tim O’Connor, Mayor of Craig and commercial fisherman.

After hearing all of the oral testimony, the House Fisheries Committee unanimously voted to move the resolution forward out of the committee; it will next be voted on by the House then the Senate before becoming final. The Alaska Trollers Association and Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association celebrated the committee’s vote.

“We thank Representative Himschoot and the rest of the Fisheries Committee for standing with the thousands of fishing families in Alaska who depend on Southeast Alaska’s troll fishery, which provides more jobs for Alaska residents than any other fishery and is especially important to those who live in Alaska’s smaller, remote communities. Trollers are doing everything  we can to fight this misguided lawsuit and defend our state’s economy, but we can’t do it alone and hope that the State Legislature will move to pass this resolution swiftly,” said Amy Daugherty, Alaska Trollers Association Executive Director.

“The Southeast fleet is  grateful to our State’s lawmakers for their leadership and for stepping up to help protect our way of life. As was discussed at length during the committee’s hearing, this lawsuit could have major implications for not just Alaska’s troll fleet, but Alaska’s seafood industry as a whole. The lawsuit discounts Alaska’s decades of sustainable fishery management and our fleet’s proven commitment to salmon conservation. We hope that the rest of the legislature will rally behind this resolution and do all that it can to ensure Alaska trollers can head out on the water this summer and continue to deliver the premium, sustainable seafood product valued by markets around the world,” said Jeff Farvour, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association Board Member and commercial fisherman.

The House Fisheries Committee’s resolution follows a string of supportive letters, resolutions, and donations from Southeast Alaska communities, businesses, and fishing associations, including Southeast Conference, United Fishermen of Alaska, United Southeast Alaska Gillnetters Association, Southeast Alaska Seiners Association, City of Pelican, City of Craig, Port Alexander, Ketchikan, Yakutat, Wrangell, Seafood Producers Cooperative, Sitka Sound Seafoods, OBI, SSRAA, and AKI with more in the works from other communities and organizations. On January 24th, the City of Sitka passed a resolution of support then on February 14th finalized a commitment to donate $25,000 for the Alaska Trollers Association’s legal fund.

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Media contacts:

Amy Daugherty, Alaska Trollers Association - 907-586-9400

Jeff Farvour, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association - 907-738-0898

Linda Behnken, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association - 907-738-3615

ROADLESS RULE PROTECTIONS REINSTATED TO THE TONGASS

For Immediate Release 

January 25, 2022 

ROADLESS RULE PROTECTIONS REINSTATED TO THE TONGASS 

The U.S. Forest Service reinstated the Roadless Rule protections across the Tongass rainforest in Southeast Alaska, the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest and America’s largest national forest. The final rule restores federal protections to over 9 million acres of roadless area, protecting it from industrial logging and damaging roads. 

The Roadless Rule, established in 2001 was repealed by the Trump administration in 2020, enabling logging interests to bulldoze roads and clear-cut trees in areas of the Tongass that were off-limits. After several years of tireless efforts to reinstate the rule, The U.S. Forest Service announced its plans to reinstate the Roadless Rule protections. 

The Tongass National Forest is a 17-million acre forest located in southeast Alaska. It is an incredibly productive place and keeping it intact is vital not only to ways of life and the economy of Southeast Alaska, but to biodiversity and climate change solutions for the planet. It serves as the country’s largest forest carbon sink. The Tongass hosts some of the rarest ecosystems on the planet. Its old growth serves as vital habitat for brown bears, black bears, Sitka blacktail deer, mountain goats, bald eagles, wolves, all five species of wild Alaska salmon and is home to one quarter of the West Coast’s commercial salmon catch. 

Southeast Alaska fishermen have relentlessly advocated for this habitat protection. Annual commercial fisheries dividends from the Tongass include 300 million pounds of seafood, 10,000 jobs and $700 million total economic impact each year on Southeast communities, as well as 72% of southeast Alaska’s coho and 60% of pink salmon. 

The Tongass is the homeland of 19 sovereign Indigenous nations including the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples. It is home to more than 73,000 residents across 35 communities and directly accounts for 26% of sustainable jobs in the region, contributing $1 billion to Southeast Alaska’s economy each year. 

“We are thrilled and relieved to know the Tongass’ remaining unroaded areas will remain intact vibrant forests for generations to come,” said Linda Behnken, Executive Director of Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association. “Our fisheries depend on healthy habitat, and with climate change driving ocean warming, protecting habitat is increasingly important to the fish, the fisheries, and the coastal fishing communities. This is welcome news.” 

Thank you to the countless organizations who worked hard to make this happen and to the supporters who donated, commented and rallied for the Tongass. This wouldn’t have been possible without your help.

Calling All Gulf of Alaska Fixed Gear Groundfish Harvesters: Limited Space Available to Participate in Electronic Logbook Trial Starting 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JANUARY 18, 2023

Calling All Gulf of Alaska Fixed Gear Groundfish Harvesters:

Limited Space Available to Participate in Electronic Logbook Trial Starting 2023

Real Time Data (RTD), a fisherman-founded software company, has been awarded funding by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to pilot their electronic logbook Deckhand® Pro in Gulf of Alaska fixed gear groundfish fisheries, beginning in the 2023 season. Fishers who are currently reporting on the NMFS Daily Fishing Log (DFL) and are fishing for halibut and sablefish are eligible to participate. The project is capped at 30 participants.

The Deckhand team believes that electronic logbooks should be a “wheelhouse essential,” to benefit fishermen and their businesses, similar to other everyday marine electronics. The Deckhand Pro software is used across dozens of fisheries in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States and helps streamline record keeping, including reporting.

Under the NFWF project, weatherproof cases, mounts, and iPads running the Deckhand platform loaded with the fixed gear logbook will be distributed to participants. The trial will run for two seasons and fishermen will receive a $500 stipend along with the hardware to keep for participating the full project length. The Deckhand team is collaborating closely with Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, Fishing Vessel Owners’ Association, North Pacific Fisheries Association, Deep Sea Fishermen’s Union, National Marine Fisheries Service, and International Pacific Halibut Commission to coordinate the project.

Those interested in participating should reach out to one of the above-mentioned organizations or to project manager Lange Solberg at 360-399-6993 or lange@deckhandlogbook.com for more information and to sign up. Space is already filling up.

“We’re ecstatic to be working with industry to get Deckhand Pro out on the water in fixed gear fisheries,” said Lange Solberg, commercial fisherman and US manager for RTD. “Fishermen have been asking for a better, more streamlined way to take care of their logbook requirements in these fisheries, and this is a major first step in moving that needle. Fishermen are still handwriting latitudes and longitudes for every string of gear set and hauled. This project moves the fleet closer to making that, along with many other inefficiencies, a thing of the past.”

Real Time Data has revolutionized fisheries data collection since 2010 at its Adelaide, Australia and Bellingham, Washington headquarters. RTD continues to lead innovation in the global electronic reporting market with its flagship logbook product, Deckhand Pro. The company’s staff in Australia and the US are committed to providing the best technology in the world for a future of sustainable fisheries, happy fishermen, and healthy fishing businesses. For more, go to deckhandlogbook.com or visit @deckhandlogbook on all Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Alaska’s small boat fishermen strongly object to the U.S. District Court’s proposed order to close Southeast Alaska’s winter and summer Chinook fishery

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 13, 2023

Alaska’s small boat fishermen strongly object to the U.S. District Court’s proposed order to close Southeast Alaska’s winter and summer Chinook fishery

Sitka, AK - On January 10th the Alaska Trollers Association (ATA) filed objections to the proposed order by a Magistrate Judge from the United States Western Washington District Court that would effectively shut down Southeast Alaska’s winter and summer Chinook troll fishing seasons. If adopted by the court, the order would leave thousands of rural Alaska fishermen without their primary source of income for 10 months of the year.

The Wild Fish Conservancy, a Seattle-based organization known for its extreme positions on fish hatcheries and fishery harvest management, has singled out Southeast Alaska’s troll fishery in its lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The lawsuit challenges NMFS’ Biological Opinion regarding Southeast Alaska’s fisheries and the impact of the fisheries on Washington’s Chinook and Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW).

“No one is more invested in the future sustainability and recovery of Washington’s Chinook than Southeast Alaska’s trollers.” Said Amy Daugherty, the Executive Director of Alaska Trollers Association. “Our livelihoods depend on their survival, which is why we have reduced our Chinook harvest by 44 percent over the past four decades. Science tells us though that cutting harvest is not going to be enough to restore Washington’s local Chinook populations and it will do nothing to help SRKW. SRKW are threatened by urbanization, toxic water pollutants, and noise disturbance. The Chinook are threatened by impassable dams and habitat damage. If the Wild Fish Conservancy really wanted to do something positive for the SRKW and Chinook, they would join forces with our small boat fishermen rather than try to eliminate one of the salmon’s most important allies and stewards.”

On December 13th, the Magistrate for the U.S. Western Washington District Court released a Report and Recommendation with a proposed order that includes temporarily vacating the incidental Take Permit (ITS) that allows Southeast Alaska’s troll fishery to harvest Chinook year-round. NMFS is currently working to revise the Biological Opinion, including the ITS.

ATA’s objections to the Report and Recommendation named two specific problems with the court’s proposed order. First, the court improperly concluded that the declarations of two Southeast Alaska fishery and economics experts were not admissible and accepted WFC’s request to strike the information they had provided. Such testimony is critical to the Court’s understanding of the Troller’s predicament and should be admitted under the liberal standards that govern this type of testimony. ATA has requested Judge Jones consider the dismissed declarations as he evaluates ATA’s objections.

ATA’s second objection was that the Report and Recommendation “illogically and inequitably” concludes that the ITS should be vacated. The Magistrate’s recommendations contradict NMFS conclusion that the ITS would not “appreciably reduce the likelihood of both survival and recovery of Southern Resident killer whales or destroy or adversely modify their designated critical habitat.”  ATA argues that Report and Recommendation also fails to explain why the mitigating measures currently in place are insufficient despite the conclusions in the Biological Opinion that state otherwise.

“We hope that the Judge will take a hard look at the facts that trollers and ATA submitted, including the devastating economic, cultural, and generational consequences that would result from shutting down Southeast Alaska’s troll fishery,” said Pelican City Mayor Patty Phillips. “The potential implications of this decision for fishing villages like Pelican and the entire Southeast region are massive.”

For more information contact: 

Amy Daugherty alaskatrollers@gmail.com

Jeff Farvour: 907 738-0898

CONGRESS DIRECTS $1M TO YFDA IN FY23 SPENDING PACKAGE

December 23, 2022
by Fishing Communities Coalition

FISHING COMMUNITIES COALITION APPLAUDS CONGRESS FOR FUNDING
YOUNG FISHERMEN’S DEVELOPMENT ACT

The Fishing Communities Coalition (FCC) is thrilled that, for the first time since it was enacted, the Young Fishermen’s Development Act (YFDA) has received federal funding. Congress has directed $1,000,000 to fund YFDA in the recently passed $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23). The FCC thanks House and Senate champions and appropriators for making this victory possible.

 “This $1 million investment in the Young Fishermen’s Development Act is a great step toward supporting our young fishermen and strong American fisheries for the future,” said Linda Behnken, Executive Director of FCC-member, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association,

FCC members have seen an increase of ten years or more in the average commercial fishermen’s age over previous generations, and rural coastal communities have lost 30 percent of local permit holders. To address this ‘graying of the fleet’, FCC members worked with House and Senate members more than seven years ago to first develop the Young Fishermen’s Development Act (YFDA).

Modeled after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s successful Beginning Farmer and Rancher Program, YFDA is a workforce development grant program administered by NOAA Sea Grant aimed at providing both classroom and on-the-water training and education, as well as connect young and beginning fishermen with accomplished captains for mentorship.

“We’re grateful that these funds will be available to support the next generation of hard working commercial fishermen,” added Eric Brazer, Deputy Director of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance. “The future of American seafood is in good hands.” 

This funding will help future fishermen tackle the ever-increasing challenges facing commercial fishermen in the U.S. With our nation’s commercial fisheries generating more than $200 billion in sales and supporting 1.7 million jobs per year, the return on this federal investment will be enormous.

Ben Martens, Executive Director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, stated, “With this funding, we can now give the next generation of Maine fishermen the tools they need to provide sustainable, delicious seafood to our communities for years to come. We greatly appreciate the leadership and support of Maine’s delegation on this issue.” 

While YFDA is a first-of-its-kind national program for commercial fishermen, it follows in the footsteps of numerous successful regional-level initiatives, many of which were spearheaded by FCC members.

Stephanie Sykes, one of many fishermen who traveled to Washington DC to advocate for YFDA, helped start a small pilot Fishermen Training Program for the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, a founding member of the FCC.

She is gratified to see the program begin to see the funding it deserves, particularly as the “buy local” movement continues to gain strength the demand for the catch of day-boat fishermen has increased. “There are many successful commercial fishing businesses on the water and there is a lot of opportunity and need for more in the future,” she said. “This funding is critical to the success of the Cape’s small-boat fleets and our coastal communities that rely on commercial fishing.”

The FCC thanks the House and Senate for recognizing the value and importance of America’s commercial fishermen in including this language in the final FY23 spending package. We are thrilled with this significant step forward to ensuring future generations of American fishermen not only survive in the face of current challenges facing the industry, but thrive.

Added Theresa Peterson, Fisheries Policy Director for the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, “Young fishermen throughout our Nation's fishing communities will benefit from workforce development programs designed to meet their unique needs. We're excited to see Congressional commitment to support the next generation of fishermen.”

Warming waters, not bycatch, are driving Bering Sea salmon and crab crashes. But Alaska’s fishing industry is barely talking about it.

Anchorage Daily News

January 2, 2023

Advocates say that seafood businesses, trade groups and fishermen need to take more action to advocate for lower carbon emissions, or risk continued catastrophic declines in their harvests.

Nathaniel Herz

Alaska Native group protects land coveted by Pebble Mine developers

Analysis by Maxine Joselow

with research by Vanessa Montalbano

December 22, 2022 at 7:33 a.m. EST

Exclusive: Alaska Native group finalizes protections for its land, dealing blow to Pebble Mine

An Alaska Native group on Thursday will announce that more than 44,000 acres of land near Bristol Bay, the site of the world’s largest wild salmon fishery, are off limits to future development, according to details shared exclusively with The Climate 202.

The move will make it harder for the developers of the proposed Pebble Mine to build a road across the land, posing another setback for the controversial gold and copper mine that the Environmental Protection Agency is already considering blocking.

Read the article online here

Pigs in Trough - The Abuse of Optimum Yield in the MSA and Single Species Management

Pigs in Trough

The Abuse of Optimum Yield in the MSA and Single Species Management

By Erik Velsko

December 6, 2022

The Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act (MSA) was put into legislation in 1976 to Americanize our federal fisheries. The MSA contains ten national standards that are applied and interpreted in the management and creation of fisheries policy. These ten standards seek to strike a balance between economic and social aspects of fisheries and communities. There is no formula for balancing the ten national standards, and as a result we have seen some standards prioritized over others.