2007 was a good year for SE seiners

Here’s to 2007

2007 saw our pink prices ramp up.

As of press time the highest major dock price is .23 and the highest major grounds price is .20. The highest prices paid for pink salmon were .27 for some hatchery pinks and .25 by a smaller buyer this past summer.

We got our run back,

although the harvest from this cycle was a bit of a disappointment compared with every odd cycle in a decade. While there may be a myriad of reasons for this, including, but not limited to, ocean survival and the major freeze ups (with little or no snow cover) on the mainland systems in the winter of 2006, we managed to get relatively decent escapement.

2007 saw seiners asking for reduced fishing time

for the first time in a long time. The 4 on 1 off schedule will now be a bit more rare as the range for initiating this management regime has gone from a 30 million run to 38 million. SEAS also spent considerable time and energy with polling and meetings in order to sufficiently address the concerns of our members on this important issue. The Task Force in Sitka last month reiterated our prior observations that not all districts needed to be uniform in initiating the 4-1 regime.

We got our fleet consolidation program in late 2007.

In mid-December, Congress passed the final appropriation of $235,000 to fund the loan with National Marine Fisheries Service. The President signed the omnibus package yesterday. So we’re off and running. The SEAS board signed off on using the $2.88 million grant we currently have on the books to do a “reverse auction”. The Southeast Revitalization Association will now meet and determine whether and how swiftly to proceed on this part of the buyback.
In the past we were reluctant to do this in two stages but now the mindset is that the sooner we get out of the gate the better. Again, as always, many thanks to Senator Ted Stevens for his persistence in helping us get this accomplished. And a special thanks to Trevor McCabe, our federal lobbyist since 2004 (with his firm through 2005 and alone since then) . The biggest oar in the water on this from the fishermen’s side has come from our great friend at PSVOA, Robert Zuanich.

Happy New Year to all of our members and thank you for your continued membership in 2007, which is up over 30% by the way.

bobbyt

Today's Juneau Empire on SE buyback.

Web posted November 27, 2007

Forecast: Pink salmon numbers are likely to plummet next year
Industry advocates want commercial seine fleet reduced

AMANDA FEHD
JUNEAU EMPIRE

The number of pink salmon in 2008 is expected to drop dramatically, according to a state forecast.

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Industry advocates say that's all the more reason to reduce the commercial seine fleet by buying back permits.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is predicting a run of about 19 million fish, 40 percent below the average of 47 million fish for Southeast Alaska. That forecast is based on historical data and surveys of fry from 2006 runs. The 2007 catch was 45 million fish.

"We are trying to do buyback so there will be less fishermen fishing, so that in years of lean abundance, there will be enough fish for everyone," said Bob Thorstenson, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Seiners Association.

"Since next year is going to be so low and it's going to be such a terrible season, we are of the mind to go out on the street and buy back as many permits as we can," Thorstenson said.

About $3 million, managed by Fish and Game, is available to reduce the fleet, according to the department. The money was provided by appropriations from the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund.

Another $18 million to $21 million could come as a loan from the National Marine Fisheries Service to be used for the same purpose, pending complete congressional approval, Thorstenson said.

Purse seiners bring in 90 percent of the fish caught in Southeast, in terms of number of fish, and most of those are pink salmon, according to Thorstenson.

The low forecast is a result of lingering effects of a 2004 drought that devastated coastal streams that are snowmelt-dependent. Pinks in streams that were glacier-fed have fared much better.

Pinks have the shortest life cycle of all the salmon species, returning to spawn only two years after being hatched.

The Juneau area is expected to fare better than the rest of Southeast Alaska because area rivers such as the Taku are glacier-fed, and so pink eggs survived the 2004 drought a little better, according to Thorstenson and Fish and Game.

The Juneau area historically has fetched about 15 percent of the region's pink catch, but recently that has climbed to about half the catch, according to Thorstenson.

Fish and Game will base its limits on the commercial pink catch on the actual strength of the run next summer, which is determined by aerial surveys.

"We don't manage to a pre-season forecast at all," said Scott Kelley, regional supervisor for commercial fisheries division.

"The forecast is a way that the department conveys to the industry, primarily the processing industry, what we expect to catch, so they can do their planning, and know how many people to hire,"

Task Force/Nominations/Hats

Guys

If you want to attend the task force meeting this year, it's in Sitka on November 27th. That's a Tuesday.

Nominations for the SEAS board are open until November 22nd. Either mail, fax at 463-5083, email me or forever hold your peace.

Hats are here. If you want a hat you can get one either when you're in Juneau at the office, Seattle at the PSVOA office, or at the task force meeeting.

I'll try to drag a few around with me at EXPO this week as well.

Cheer and hope you are having a great fall, hunting, Puget Sound fishing, finishing longlining or whatever you are doing.

bobbyt

SEAS Board of Directors Election

Guys

Still fall fishing but am back in Juneau from time to time.

This fall's BOD election is drawing near.

The nomination forms will be sent to you in mid-September.

This year seats are up for the following individuals

Mitch Eide- Petersburg
Troy Thomassen-Petersburg
Jeremy Jensen- Petersburg
Al Jacklet-Carnation (WA)


Although I have not contacted them, I presume that these young skippers are all running again this year.

But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't thrown your name in the hat.

If you believe you have the time and energy and wish to be involved year-round with your salmon fishing business in SE, then nominate yourself or ask someone to nominate you.

Call the office with nominations if you wish or wait for the form.

Office number is 463-5080


Have a safe trip back home to those of you hanging it up and safe fishing to those of you longliners and crabbers who are continuing this fall.

Warmest Regards

bobbyt

2-2 or 4-1 and fleet consolidation

Guys

Weigh in on the 4-1 and 2-2 debate.

Great season overall, although not as huge as many we have seen in recent years.

Fleet consolidation is on track, with the needed language proceeding through Congress thanks to our great friend, Senator Ted Stevens.

Newsletter on the way in late September and then we'll vote for 4 of the board members so stay tuned.

I'll be in the office a bit more now that it's late in the season.
Hope you all had great years and we'll look forward to the debates that shape our shared futures.


bobbyt

April Newsletter

SEAS Brailer Scoop... April 2007


Legislative Update
HB188:
Although not in SEAS radar screen, you will hear about this piece of legislation from the several less than credible sources so I thought I’d lay it out for consumption for SEAS membership. HB188 simply memorializes the exact same powers that the Board of Fisheies has always had to allocate “within” a single fishery. It’s sideboards include:

1. No Chignik-style allocations to establish Cooperatives
2. No IFQ’s or historical harvest shares within a fishery.
3. 67% vote of active fishermen within the fishery. ( excludes this provision when a conservation action is necessary to make the change in the fishery)(provision has not been added to current CS yet)

This bill is one of the many tools that the commercial fishing industry in Alaska needs to move forward. Chatham Sablefish, Clarence Sablefish, PWS Sablefish, GOA state waters P-cod, and the 48 hour Bristol Bay district transfer periods all depend upon the board’s ability to allocate within a single fishery. And of course, future Sitka Sac Roe equal split determinations by the board of fisheries would need this legislation as well. The necessity of this legislation was developed when the “Grunert” case (throwing out the Chignik Coop) wrapped up and determined that the board did not have the simple authority to allocate within a fishery.



ADFG Budget:
The initial $4 million budget cut for the department was dramatically reduced to $600,000 by the administration, so we should wind up with close to status quo by the end of the session when the budgets are passed by both bodies of the legislature. Commissioner Denby Lloyd did a remarkable job at balancing the proposed cuts between the Sportfish and Commfish divisions which helped smoke out the earlier administrative posturing that precipitated the initial Administration budget. SEAS believes that we are not only treading water by passing a slightly lower budget, but that we should be looking at expansion of the ADFG budget to allow for further research and development needs within the department as well as better pay for the men and women in ADFG blue.
Once the initial budget cut announcements were made in January, the current President of UFA was quoted as such “These cuts are unacceptable. This industry needs a budget expansion rather than contraction. The commercial fishing industry is one of those areas in the state of Alaska where you have to spend money to make money.”

Fisheries Fairness Act:
We’re on a slow bell on this one. Banking and Securities (in the department of Commerce) Director Mark Davis is working on the bonding provisions but his desk has been fairly full lately. He has been working for 2 ½ years to institute the first-ever provisions and regulations for the home mortgage industry in Alaska. You can imagine what a task this has been. We should have a draft bill and possible introduction by the end of the session and then we’ll make the real progress in the 2008 session. The arbitration and contract provisions of the legislation are being drafted by an attorney working on behalf of UFA and USA. It appears that this legislation will have to take place as a FFA part 1 and FFA part 2, with the bonding and placement provisions done now and holding arbitration and contract provisions until a later date as UFA could not get around the axle on this one and we cannot wait any longer to institute the bonding provisions. Although Representative Peggy Wilson has indicated a willingness to take this on for us, it is likely that Representative Bill Thomas will be the primary sponsor but will get a lot of support from Representative Wilson.

Habitat Legislation:
There is both Mixing Zones legislation and Habitat division legislation this session. The mixing zones are embedded in Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) policy and the habitat division is still within the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). These are where the Murkowski administration left them. Although there has been a movement to change a lot of what occurred during the previous administration, it is apparent that the Palin administration is going to allow at least a year to pass while determining whether changes are needed on both of these important environmental issues.

AGIA:
Alaska Gasline Inducement Act. Although this isn’t a fish issue, it is a big deal for the state of Alaska’s future, which will, in turn have a major impact on whether there is income taxation in the future, increases in the ADFG budget, transportation improvements, etc. etc. So while it is peripheral to our major focus, it is the case that the oil and gas issues so vital to Alaska’s economy does indeed have a direct impact on SEAS members. The Governor has put together a $500 million inducement up front to make the project more attractive for prospective partners. There will invariably be a special session to deal with this contract sometime after the regular session.


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SEAS BOARD MEETING WRAPUP
At our recent board meeting that occurred February 24-26th in Juneau, SEAS elected new slate of officers:
President- Dan Castle
Vice President-Randy Stewart
Secretary-Gary Haynes
Treasurer-Sven Stroosma
The meeting began Saturday at 2pm with a Marketing, Environmental and EEZ FishFarming update from Mr. Bruce Wallace. Mr. Wallace is the UFA Environmental-Farmfish Chair as well as one of 3 commercial fishermen on the ASMI board of directors. Following this session, the board spent 2 hours working the stamps and envelopes to send out membership applications and letters to those of you from whom we haven’t had the grace of membership lately. Then, around 5:30, the first guests began arriving for our annual Poker Night at the Alaska Fishermen’s Building, where we broiled about 30 pounds of meat and Ed Jones, sportfish biologist and member of the Pacific Salmon Commission science and negotiating team, won all the money.

Sunday was a heavy day of getting down with the issues. Our major issues of fleet consolidation, access to our traditional fishing areas, the Pacific Salmon Treaty renegotiations and subsistence were discussed. Fleet consolidation is status quo from the last newsletter. We yet have need of the loan authorization language and the accompanying $180-250K provision to kick start NMFS on the loan. And we also need the SSSF to send down the final $3 million grant as well.

Monday was a busy day, with meetings separate meetings with nearly all of the Southeast delegation as well as meetings with ADFG Hatchery Coordinator Craig Farrington and lunch with Kevin Monagle and ADFG Commissioner Denby Lloyd. Commissioner Lloyd is having a bit more difficulty with his confirmation hearings since that time but we are certain that he will overcome these difficulties and will remain ADFG Commissioner. Several sports groups and hunting groups, along with a few scattered commercial folks resented the Board process of his nomination ( his was the only name sent to the Governor for consideration) as well as some of his policies toward game management. Certainly that has been slightly modified with the first bounty on wolves in 35 years (it’s $150- back in 1972, if you’ll recall it was $50).

The SEAS board was able to give a hearty congratulations to Representative Bill Thomas, who spearheaded the effort to put HB218, the Cost Recovery bill, into law last spring. Representative Thomas has done an exceptional job for his district and for commercial fishermen in general throughout Southeast. Actually I need to back up a bit, as some of our delegation were unavailable to meet Monday, so Randy Stewart, Bruce Wallace and your ED met with deputy Commisioner Al Clough on Friday afternoon and followed up with a meeting with Representative Peggy Wilson, of Wrangell. Recall it was Peggy Wilson who sponsored HB484 last spring which gave us the flexibility we needed within state law to protect our investment in the fleet consolidation loan from adverse impacts of potential optimum study court cases. Monday night we concluded the meeting with a dinner at the Canton House sponsored and hosted by the ED where we entertained Senator and Mrs. Tom Wagoner along with our recent addition to the Southeast legislative caucus, Representative Kyle Johansen, of Ketchikan.

Our budget predicts a shortfall of $34,000 this year. We had built up decent sized reserves during the cost recovery years (1995-2004) and with the advent of lifetime memberships, of which we have a dozen. But SEAS will need stronger membership support in order to remain vibrant and strong to represent you on your issues. Since the meeting, our membership count has been growing and we are double the membership over last year at this time. Please be one of us who are working to protect your fishery. We may not all be friends but we have a common purpose when it comes to protecting and promoting our common fishery and way of life.


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UFA reaches alltime high membership
March 9, 2007 Contact: Mark Vinsel
For Immediate Release Executive Director
UFA Reaches All-Time High Group Membership, Announces New Officers

With the addition of the Alaska Trollers Association, the United Cook Inlet Drift Association and the Alaska Shellfish Association, United Fishermen of Alaska group membership has reached an all-time high of 36 member groups.
“This marks a milestone for UFA and points to the strength and breadth of UFA as the statewide commercial fishing umbrella association,” said UFA President Bob Thorstenson Jr.
“The more groups we have at the UFA table, the more inclusive is our process and the stronger our voice is on the issues we hold in common.”
UFA President Thorstenson, who is stepping down after seven years service in the volunteer position, will be replaced by Joe Childers. Childers, who currently trolls for salmon from Juneau, represents Western Gulf of Alaska Fishermen on the UFA board and was elected to serve as its next president at UFA’s January meeting. Deborah Lyons of Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association was elected as Vice President, formerly held by Childers. Duncan Fields will continue in his position as Secretary. The new officer positions take effect on June15.

UFA’s board of directors includes the 36 member groups and four at-large representatives elected by individual members. Elections for UFA’s four at-large board seats will be conducted this spring.

###





UFA MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS
Alaska Crab Coalition • Alaska Draggers Association • Alaska Independent Tendermen’s Association • Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association
Alaska Shellfish Association • Alaska Trollers Association • Armstrong Keta • At-sea Processors Association • Bristol Bay Reserve
Concerned Area “M” Fishermen • Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association • Cordova District Fishermen United • Crab Group of Independent Harvesters
Douglas Island Pink and Chum • Fishing Vessel Owners Association • Groundfish Forum • Kenai Peninsula Fishermen’s Association
Kodiak Regional Aquaculture Association • North Pacific Fisheries Association • Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association
Old Harbor Fishermen’s Association • Petersburg Vessel Owners Association • Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation
Purse Seine Vessel Owner Association • Seafood Producers Cooperative • Sitka Herring Association • Southeast Alaska Fisherman's Alliance
Southeast Alaska Regional Dive Fisheries Association • Southeast Alaska Seiners Association • Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association
United Catcher Boats • United Cook Inlet Drift Association • United Salmon Association • United Southeast Alaska Gillnetters
Valdez Fisheries Development Association • Western Gulf of Alaska Fishermen


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John Hilsinger Appointed Director of Commercial Fisheries
For the Alaska Department of Fish and Game(Juneau)

– Commissioner Denby Lloyd today announced the appointment of John Hilsinger, to the position of Director of the Division of Commercial Fisheries. Hilsinger previously had been regional supervisor for two different regions within the division before he retired in 1998. Since retirement, he has been working in various short-term capacities for the department, most recently on issues pertaining to dual state/federal subsistence management.
“John is one of those special people who combines both a depth and breadth of experience,” Lloyd said. “He has been involved in the research and management of commercial and subsistence fisheries throughout central, western and northern Alaska, and he will provide the calm deliberate guidance needed for the division statewide.”
The remainder of the department’s leadership team will remain in place, including David Bedford as Deputy Commissioner dealing mostly with commercial fishery issues, Kelly Hepler as Director for the Division of Sport Fish, Matt Robus as Director for the Division of Wildlife Conservation, Elizabeth Andrews as Director for the Division of Subsistence, and Tom Lawson as Director for the Division of Administrative Services.
This was the excerpt from the ADFG announcement that we copied above. Mr. Hilsinger has been a very committed advocate for sustainable fisheries management in Alaska, although his involvement in Southeast fisheries has been minimal until this new post. SEAS has spent some time with Mr. Hilsinger already and has had the opportunity to educate the new Director on the importance of the Treaty as well as the mixed stock management as the basis of our salmon harvest opportunities in the Southeast Alaska purse seine fishery. We are pleased with his appointment and believe that he will be a very effective leader that SEAS can work with in the future.




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Southeast Subsistence Regional Advisory Council Meeting in Kake

This winter’s RAC meeting was in Kake, February 28-March 2. Chairman Bert Adams of Yakutat was chairing his first meeting. His presence and demeanor towards SEAS Executive Director was nothing but respectful and honorable. The process was not well attended as I was the only person from the sport, commercial or subsistence community in Southeast Alaska present to testify.

The issue du joir with the USDA Forest Service and the RAC is Kanalku sockeye. There has been a tremendous effort on behalf of the ADFG to research and develop a strategy for dealing with recovery of this Angoon area sockeye stock which has been returning in lower than average numbers in the past 4 or 5 recent years. Ironically, 2006 was a fairly decent return with approximately 1200 spawners, which is about 5 or 6 times higher than several of the last few years.

Radio telemetry work done by Mr. Ben Van Allen indicated that there is most likely a blockage problem at the falls to the lake. A very large percentage of tags never made it to the lake and not a single fish tagged after the 3rd week of July made it to the lake. Mr. Van Allen is a former ADFG and PST champion who has turned into the main Tongass USDA Forest Service salmon biologist. Mr. Van Allen has been conducting a campaign to “reshape” the Hidden Falls terminal harvest area by pushing the fleet further into Kasnyku Bay and Takacz Bay, stating on the record that the area is not a terminal harvest area. His statements regarding the Upper Admiralty shore as well as the Augusta shoreline were less than remarkable for a biologist of his stature.

There is not one single tag that has been recovered in the Chatham Purse Seine fishery that indicates that one single Kanalku sockeye has been harvested by the fleet. There is not one single scale sample that has indicated that one single Kanalku sockeye has been harvested by the fleet. We are in an arena that would be laughable in it’s biological and scientific findings if it were in any other arena than the Subsistence RAC. Having said that, I have found the RAC to be a place where respect for the opinion and testimony of SEAS ED is heard and respected.

Over half of the Southeast Alaska Regional Advisory Council on Subsistence are current commercial trollers, seiners, gillnetters or longliners, and over 75% of whom are current or former commercial trollers, seiners, gillnetters or longliners. Chairman Adams is a current IFQ fisherman from Yakutat and a former troller. Pelican Mayor Patricia Phillips is a major IFQ holder whose husband owns the Pacific Dawn. Mike Bangs and Don Hernandez are commercial fishermen from Petersburg. Michael Douvier is a commercial power troller from Craig. Another troller on the RAC is Harvey Kitka from Sitka. Joe Hotch is a former drift gillnetter from Haines. Seiners on the RAC include SEAS member Frank Wright (Vagabond Queen) of Hoonah and former SEAS member Nick Davis (Harvester) of Kake. Rounding out the RAC are Floyd Kookesh, director of the Douglas Indian Association and charter skipper from Juneau ( formerly of Angoon and fishes in that area), Merle Hawkins and Lee Wallace…. from Ketchikan-Saxman, and Richard Stokes from Wrangell. If you know any of these folks, please stop them on the street or in the harbor or fishing grounds and let them know that you appreciate the work they are doing and that you are hoping that they recognize the need for balance between all user groups.

This was the last meeting for Bob Schroeder, an anthropologist by training, who has been the coordinator for the RAC since 1999. There may or may not be a replacement due to funding constraints.

One of the fundamental issues we confront with subsistence is that an isolated interpretation of Title 8 of ANILCA, without regard to surrounding user groups, escapement needs or environmental issues, leaves us with a bare cupboard for all other non-subsistence user groups, including, someday, ironically, the subsistence users themselves. A literal interpretation, which is what is being stressed by the SE RAC time and time again, is that NEEDS must be met for the Federally qualified subsistence users. Federally qualified subsistence users in Southeast Alaska include everyone except Juneau and Ketchikan residents.

This means that Petersburg and Wrangell subsistence users have access to whatever their NEEDS are on northern Prince of Wales Island sockeye systems such as Red Bay, Salmon Bay, Lake Bay and Kupreanof systems such as Kasheets Bay. If your needs aren’t met, and this includes all of you who live in SE outside of Juneau and Ketchikan, then the Sumner Strait gillnet fishery would have to be shut down. This is a simple, strict, literal interpretation of Title 8 of ANILCA according to the RAC.

Another example is the POW coho, which became a subsistence priority specie with regulations promulgated in 2002 ( remember, sockeye were really given subsistence priority in 1980, so any localized depletion has had many cycles to generate). If a few cycles pass and not enough coho return to POW systems then the entire SE outside Troll fishery might have to close down to pass these coho if subsistence users NEEDS are not met.

One statement that came up time and again was that we could just wait for the subsistence NEEDS to be met until commercial fisheries opened. And while this was in reference to Chatham Strait purse seining, one can imagine the horror that would reign if we had to wait until late July to open Sumner Strait and Point Baker so that the sockeye needs to be met with Wrangell-Petersburg area subsistence users. Or if we had to wait until the 1st of September for the Troll fishery to open so that we could have the final verdict on what came back insofar as POW coho. This is reality folks, and I sincerely hope that the people who are making the decisions on OUR fishery in Chatham Strait are considering the ramifications on mixed stock fisheries throughout Southeast.

Or perhaps we could wait until traditional, customary and subsistence needs are met in Canada and Washington and Oregon State on Chinook salmon before opening the Alaska Troll fishery. Don’t think we’d want to do that. That is why Alaska has monitoring systems, modeling goals and whatnot so that we can have both healthy mixed stock commercial fisheries as well as passing stocks through to other users.

It is an ironic implementation of a management tool that was banished at the turn of the LAST century, around 1900 or shortly thereafter. Certainly we support subsistence and the rights of subsistence harvest at a level very much on par with the commercial fishing privilege that is granted us by the state of Alaska. However, MSY escapement goal management is what SEAS is all about. We never manage for NEED. We manage for the escapement of the fish and harvest the surplus to escapement needs. That’s where need comes in…….with escapement.

Nonetheless, we actively support a well-managed and well-regulated subsistence fishery and a continued rural priority. We, along with UFA, have always felt that someone who can drive right on over to a Safeway or Walmart is not the same type of subsistence user as someone who lives in a community where there are no restaurants or grocery stores. Ironically, Sitka residents qualify, as do those of you from Petersburg and Wrangell. But while SEAS does not ever intend to trample on those rights, you must recognize that the literal interpretation of ANILCA, title 8, without respect for other user groups, consequently tramples on your commercial fishing rights.



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UFA Opposes Newly Proposed Bill for Fish Farming in the EEZ

"United Fishermen of Alaska and SEAS oppose fish farms anytime, anywhere, any place. Inshore. Offshore. Period," said Bob Thorstenson, currently in his last months as UFA President "Even if it is done halfway across the country, subsidized fish farms are going to compete with our product," he said. "No ifs, ands, or buts."

The US Offshore EEZ Aquaculture plan introduced last month by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez would allow companies to operate fish farms in federal waters three to 200 miles offshore. The plan is largely similar to one that was introduced in 2005 and won little support in Congress. The latest plan would set up a framework for permits, regulation and environmental oversight with the aim of making the United States more competitive in the $70 billion worldwide fishfarming industry. "I think we need to stop perpetuating the misconceptions and myths that are circulating about aquaculture. Fishing and aquaculture are complementary technologies," said Bill Hogarth, director of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service, in a teleconference Monday.
"It is not a competition between wild harvesting and aquaculture," he said. "This is a complementary process."

Alaska fishermen don't see it the same way.
Overseas fish farming nearly crippled the salmon fishing industry in the 1990s, when it caused prices to drop. It has taken several years and thousands of dollars in marketing to bring the market back. "It was not only Alaska's salmon that took a big hit with the over-proliferation of overseas fish farms," warned Bruce Wallace, longtime SEAS member and UFA Environmental and Farmfish Committee Chairman, who has closely followed the issue.
"Farm fish prices also dropped in half," he said.

The latest plan would allow states more control over protecting their wild stock by allowing them to opt out of permitting seafood farms within 12 miles of shore.
Many of Alaska's seafood species are highly transitory, Wallace said, meaning the proposed framework wouldn't work in Alaska. "We don't want them anywhere off our waters. We already have enough problems with British Columbia's fish farms," said Mark Vinsel, executive director of UFA. UFA would support an opt-out provision that extended to the 200-mile limit, he said. Wallace said a better way to boost the country's edge in the world seafood market would be to help Alaskans sell more fish. "We have fish here that is not getting to market," he said.

UFA is formulating an opposition strategy. "We will voice our opposition as a group. We will work hard with Senator Ted Stevens and Senator Lisa Murkowski and Congressman Don Young and with the Palin administration," Thorstenson said. "We believe that all of Alaska's leadership will be supportive."


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"The Man" from Ketchikan

http://www.adn.com/news/government/legislature/story/8764948p-8666586c.html

You'll have to reference the above article from Anchorage on Jim Elkins' recent passing since the Ketchikan Daily News is a "closed class" newspaper.

In any event, Mr. Elkins worked as Ketchikan's lobbyist in Juneau for years prior to becoming a member of the state House of Representatives. He was true to SEAS and our goals and to all commercial fishermen. We were proud to have worked with him during his tenure and prior to that and we will miss him greatly. He had a heart of gold and a spirit that soared like an eagle.

As the story mentions his replacement, Mr. Kyle Johanson, I am sure that Jim would approve of the long hours and hard work that Representative Johanson is doing in his stead. We see a bright future for Kyle and he is filling Jim's shoes nicely.

bobbyt

In memory of our good friend Rupe

Here is an exerpt from a good article celebrating the life of our good friend, Mr. Rupe Andrews, who recently passed away after a courageous fight with cancer. Following is the link to the full article in today's Juneau Empire.

We'll miss you Rupe.

bobbyt

Rupe Andrews stepped down from the Alaska Board of Fisheries on March 1.

Born Sept. 18, 1929, in New Haven, Conn., he moved to Alaska in 1959 and became one of the first biologists in the sport fish division of the newly formed Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Before retiring in 1982, he spent 13 years as director of the division.

Bob Thorstenson, president of the United Fishermen of Alaska, said Andrews had a balanced perspective when it came to resource management and always kept in mind the needs of all user groups.

"He was one of the stalwarts of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for decades," Thorstenson said. "He was a part of the team that brought 20th century and 21st century fish and wildlife management to the pinnacle of success in Alaska."

He called Andrews one of the finest men ever to work on state resource issues.

"He thought first and foremost for the people and the resources of Alaska," Thorstenson said. "He was just an absolute class act, and we are just heartbroken and saddened that we weren't able to spend more time with him."

http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/033007/loc_20070330025.shtml

SE Seafood Transportation

AMHS Southern Gateway Shuttle Ferry Needs to be Operating in 2008

By Mike RoundMarch 25, 2007 Sunday AMhttp://www.sitnews.us/0307Viewpoints/032507_mike_round.html

When Prince Rupert's intermodal freight facility opens October 2007, Alaska should be ready to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities that this port development will provide. The Fairview terminal will be servicing the largest container vessels in the world and running two trains with double-stacked container cars into the U.S. mid-west every single day. Ketchikan's closest neighbor to the south is about to become North America's newest major shipping port. This freight facility has the potential of substantially reducing the cost of doing business, and the cost of living, in southeast Alaska. This project is moving towards completion and connecting to it will be vital to the future economic growth and stability of southeast Alaska. North American trade with Asian countries, and specifically, China has been growing at the rate of two million tons per year. That yearly increase is equivalent to the entire volume of freight that passes annually through the Port of Vancouver, British Columbia. Expansion of existing North American ports to handle this increase has been slow and inadequate. Existing ports were intentionally sited in major high-density urban areas, since the cities themselves represented substantial markets. However, as world markets grew, transshipping to distant destinations beyond the large port cities became more important and increasingly more difficult. The congestion in cities restricts a port's ability to expand and accommodate larger facilities. Presently container ships entering existing ports may sit for days on anchor waiting to be off-loaded. North American ports are maxed out and severe bottlenecks in the flow of freight are occurring. The desperate need for more capacity to handle the ever-increasing trade with Asia has driven the development of the Prince Rupert Fairview Container Terminal. Prince Rupert has other advantages beyond being just a new facility to handle the overflow container traffic. It is the closest North American port to China; it is ice-free year round; it is connected by rail; it is the second largest deep-water port in the world; and it has essentially unlimited room for expansion. The first phase of this $575 million port development will be completed this year, 2007, and future expansion from 500,000 TEUs (Twenty foot Equivalent Units) to 2,000,000 TEUs is scheduled for completion by 2010. If necessary, the Fairview site has the potential to expand to handle over 4,000,000 TEUs. So far, the project is on budget and on time. The Fairview Container Terminal will be run by Maher Terminals of Canada a subsidiary of Maher Terminals of New York. Maher is the largest container terminal operator in the Port of New York and New Jersey and has signed a thirty-year lease to operate the Prince Rupert terminal. Maher has invested over $60 million dollars to install three huge super post panamax cranes that can lift 60 tons and reach 200 feet across the deck of the world's largest container freighters to pick cargo. These cranes will be moving containers across the dock from ship to train sometime this October. CN rail has expanded and upgraded the storage yard tracks at the terminal to hold 17,000 feet of train and has spent $155 million dollars buying and upgrading the rail lines to accommodate double stacked container cars that will haul containers all the way to the United States mid-west. 50 new locomotives have been purchased to provide the transportation needs for this increased rail service. Most large urban port facilities have a significant portion of their containers loaded on thousands of trucks, which causes traffic congestion in and around the port and slows the container transfer operation considerably. The Prince Rupert operation is unique in that it will be 98% pure inter-modal transfer of containers - that is, transferring containers from ships directly to trains. This highly efficient, high-speed transfer of containers could be the biggest impediment to Alaska's successful participation in this venture. Alaska's window of opportunity lies in the remaining 2% of capacity that allows for delivery of containers by other means, such as truck, barge and ferry. Alaska needs to be involved in the planning and administration of this facility to ensure that access for our shipping needs is accommodated. While 2% is a small fraction of the total volume, it still represents 5,000 forty-foot containers, which are the standard size containers hauled by truck. How much of those five thousand truckloads will be Alaska freight will depend on Alaska's ability and political will to take advantage of this opportunity. The Alaska Marine Highway System needs to provide ferry service that will allow southeast Alaska to connect to this "transformational" infrastructure. The Southern Gateway Shuttle ferry, presently on the drawing board for operating in 2010, has yet to be designed or funded. This important transportation link needs to transition from the drawing board to a working reality on a more stepped-up time line. Alaska will need reliable daily ferry service to the Prince Rupert facility in the summer of 2008. Presently Prince Rupert enjoys about 400,000 independent visitors per year. Most of these visitors arrive by car, train and ferry. If daily shuttle ferry service between Prince Rupert and Ketchikan is provided, southeast Alaska will definitely see an increase in the number of independent tourists. As Prince Rupert inevitably grows there will be demand for more passenger train service to the northwest and increased opportunity to attract independent travelers to Alaska. One of the existing fast ferries could be assigned this route during the seasonal high-traffic periods while the Southern Gateway Shuttle Ferry is being fabricated. This mainland terminal connection to North America could soon become the major AMHS feeder line providing needed passenger and freight revenue. With two trains per day and 108 hours travel time between Rupert and Chicago, seafood processors have the opportunity to send out fresh seafood to these new markets. Seafood is currently shipped from Alaska to China, Japan and Taiwan for reprocessing, and the Prince Rupert terminal will be looking to fill back haul containers at discounted rates. While containers imported from China to North America will likely be assessed a rate of between $3500 to $4500 back-haul export rates should be between $300 and $700. With the shipping and transportation opportunities offered by this facility, there will be advantages and incentives for new manufacturing businesses to set up shop and do business in southeast Alaska. Businesses producing manufactured wood products or supplying shelf-stable, value-added seafood products produced in southeast Alaska could bring year round stability to our seasonal economies. Connecting Alaska to Prince Rupert with reliable daily ferry service is vital to Alaska's economic interests. If businesses can fill a shipping container, they should be able to take advantage of the competitive freight rates offered by this new facility. Alaska needs to be involved with and focused on connecting to this "new world of opportunity" coming this year to our southern border.

Mike RoundKetchikan, AK

UFA on Fish Farming in the EEZ

Fishermen group opposes proposal
By BRITTANY RETHERFORD JUNEAU EMPIRE
A Juneau-based commercial fishermen advocacy group staunchly opposes the latest Bush administration-backed proposal to further fish farming.




"(United Fishermen of Alaska) opposes fish farms anytime, anywhere, any place. Inshore. Offshore. Period," said Bob Thorstenson, the organization's president and a Juneau-based seiner.
"Even if it is done halfway across the country, subsidized fish farms are going to compete with our product," he said. "No ifs, ands, or buts."


The plan introduced Monday by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez would allow companies to operate fish farms in federal waters three to 200 miles offshore.
The plan is largely similar to one that was introduced in 2005 and won little support in Congress. The latest plan would set up a framework for permits, regulation and environmental oversight with the aim of making the United States more competitive in the $70 billion industry.
"I think we need to stop perpetuating the misconceptions and myths that are circulating about aquaculture. Fishing and aquaculture are complementary technologies," said Bill Hogarth, director of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service, in a teleconference Monday.
"It is not a competition between wild harvesting and aquaculture," he said. "This is a complementary process."


Alaska fishermen don't see it the same way.

Overseas fish farming nearly crippled the salmon fishing industry in the 1990s, when it caused prices to drop. It has taken several years and thousands of dollars in marketing to bring the market back.
"It was not only Alaska's salmon that took a big hit with the over-proliferation of overseas fish farms," warned Bruce Wallace, a seiner and UFA board member who has closely followed the issue.
"Farm fish prices also dropped in half," he said.
The latest plan would allow states more control over protecting their wild stock by allowing them to opt out of permitting seafood farms within 12 miles of shore.
Many of Alaska's seafood species are highly transitory, Wallace said, meaning the proposed framework wouldn't work in Alaska.
"We don't want them anywhere off our waters. We already have enough problems with British Columbia's fish farms," said Mark Vinsel, executive director of UFA.
UFA would support an opt-out provision that extended to the 200-mile limit, he said.
Wallace said a better way to boost the country's edge in the world seafood market would be to help Alaskans sell more fish.

"We have fish here that is not getting to market," he said.
The fishermen's group is formulating an opposition strategy.

"We will voice our opposition as a group. We will work hard with (Sen.) Ted (Stevens) and (Sen.) Lisa (Murkowski) and (Rep.) Don (Young) and with the administration and with Gov. Palin," Thorstenson said. "We believe that all of Alaska's leadership will be supportive."

United Fishermen of Alaska recently announced its all-time membership high of 36 member groups, representing commercial fishing interests throughout the state.
A decade ago, the group's membership totaled 16 members, Thorstenson said.

• Brittany Retherford can be reached at brittany.retherford@juneauempire.com. Fishermen group opposes proposal
By BRITTANY RETHERFORD JUNEAU EMPIRE

UFA reaches alltime high membership

March 9, 2007 Contact: Mark Vinsel
For Immediate Release Executive Director

UFA Reaches All-Time High Group Membership, Announces New Officers

With the addition of the Alaska Trollers Association, the United Cook Inlet Drift Association and the Alaska Shellfish Association, United Fishermen of Alaska group membership has reached an all-time high of 36 member groups.

“This marks a milestone for UFA and points to the strength and breadth of UFA as the statewide commercial fishing umbrella association,” said UFA President Bob Thorstenson Jr.
“The more groups we have at the UFA table, the more inclusive is our process and the stronger our voice is on the issues we hold in common.”

UFA President Thorstenson, who is stepping down after seven years service in the volunteer position, will be replaced by Joe Childers. Childers, who currently trolls for salmon from Juneau, represents Western Gulf of Alaska Fishermen on the UFA board and was elected to serve as its next president at UFA’s January meeting. Deborah Lyons of Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association was elected as Vice President, formerly held by Childers. Duncan Fields will continue in his position as Secretary. The new officer positions take effect on June15.

UFA’s board of directors includes the 36 member groups and four at-large representatives elected by individual members. Elections for UFA’s four at-large board seats will be conducted this spring.

###




MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS
Alaska Crab Coalition • Alaska Draggers Association • Alaska Independent Tendermen’s Association • Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association
Alaska Shellfish Association • Alaska Trollers Association • Armstrong Keta • At-sea Processors Association • Bristol Bay Reserve
Concerned Area “M” Fishermen • Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association • Cordova District Fishermen United • Crab Group of Independent Harvesters
Douglas Island Pink and Chum • Fishing Vessel Owners Association • Groundfish Forum • Kenai Peninsula Fishermen’s Association
Kodiak Regional Aquaculture Association • North Pacific Fisheries Association • Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association
Old Harbor Fishermen’s Association • Petersburg Vessel Owners Association • Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation
Purse Seine Vessel Owner Association • Seafood Producers Cooperative • Sitka Herring Association • Southeast Alaska Fisherman's Alliance
Southeast Alaska Regional Dive Fisheries Association • Southeast Alaska Seiners Association • Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association
United Catcher Boats • United Cook Inlet Drift Association • United Salmon Association • United Southeast Alaska Gillnetters
Valdez Fisheries Development Association • Western Gulf of Alaska Fishermen

Larry Edfelt named to Board of Fisheries

Web posted March 9, 2007 Juneau's Edfelt named to Board of Fisheries Appointee was on board before between 1992-97
By BRITTANY RETHERFORD JUNEAU EMPIRE
Larry Edfelt of Juneau was appointed Thursday to fill the remainder of a vacated term on the Alaska Board of Fisheries, Gov. Sarah Palin's office announced. He replaces Rupe Andrews, another Juneau resident, who resigned last month.


Sound off on the important issues at "We are pleased and I don't think there could be a better fit for Rupe Andrews' seat. Mr. Edfelt has an extensive biological background, he is highly thought of in the scientific area. He understands our fisheries well," said Bob Thorstenson, executive director of Southeast Alaska Seiners Association.
"If there were going to be someone who is like-minded (to Andrews) and would take a balanced view toward sport, commercial and sport, we couldn't have picked a better guy," he said.
Palin said it was Edfelt's knowledge of Alaska fisheries, his vision and his temperament that prompted her selection for the board, which makes decisions regarding how the state's fisheries resources are managed.
"I am honored that someone of Larry's stature and experience has agreed to come back and serve the state again on this important board," Palin said in a prepared statement.
Edfelt served on the board from 1992-97. In 1986, he retired from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, where he worked for 23 years.
During that time, he served in a variety of roles - as a fisheries biologist, deputy director of commercial fisheries and assistant executive director of the boards of Fisheries and Game.

The Muskegger
Visit Brittany Retherford's blog in which she delves a bit deeper into Southeast's natural resources.
Post your comments and check out other people's remarks at "The Muskegger".He has also worked as a charter boat owner and operator.
The seven members of the board are appointed by the governor and subject to legislative confirmation.
The board is involved in setting seasons, bag limits, methods and means for subsistence hunting and fishing, commercial sport, guided sport and personal-use fisheries.
It also has a role in setting policy and direction for the management of the state's fishery resources. The board is charged with making allocative decisions, while the Department of Fish and Game is responsible for management based on those decisions.
Edfelt will participate as a voting member at the board's next meeting in Anchorage from March 9 to March 13.
"We thank Rupe for his service," said Mark Vinsel, executive director of United Fishermen of Alaska, a fishermen advocacy group.
• Brittany Retherford can be reached at brittany.retherford@juneauempire.com.

Summer 2007

This from last months Alaska Coastal Journal.

Banner year predicted for salmon harvest
By the Journal
State projections of a 2007 salmon harvest of 179 million fish are buoying a commercial fisheries fleet hoping to feed a growing world hunger for wild Alaska salmon.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game issued its forecast Feb. 2, anticipating that the harvest will include 108 million pinks, 40.9 million sockeyes, 24.8 million chum, 4.8 million silvers and 789,000 kings.
That was good news to commercial fishermen like Robert Thorstenson Jr., executive director of the Southeast Alaska Seiners Association, and president of United Fishermen of Alaska.
“The state is predicting 47 million pinks, and the National Marine Fisheries Service is predicting 39 million,” Thorstenson said. “My prediction is 55 million pinks.”
Thorstenson and other Southeast Alaska fishers got socked by a much lower-than-expected pink salmon harvest a year ago, due to a very weak 2006 pink salmon run into Southeast Alaska. The overall pink forecast was for 108 million fish, but the harvest came in at 73 million pinks. “The lack of fish really hurt us on price because the processor costs were so high,” Thorstenson said in an interview Feb. 6. “That's what my processor told me, and that's what other fishermen were told by their processors. The processors didn't have enough production to cover their net.”
Thorstenson said he expects things to be different in 2007, and that processors will be gearing up to harvest the big run.
Fisheries economist Chris McDowell in Juneau, also a commercial fisherman, agreed that in all likelihood the processing sector would rise to the occasion. “We saw that in 2005,” McDowell said.
“We have had a series of enormous pink returns, but the question has been how many fish will the market bear. Considering the recent increase in demand for pinks on the world market, I think we will see fairly strong market demand,” he said.
McDowell was also optimistic about markets for sockeye, cohos, chums and the ever-popular kings, which garnered fishermen $2.77 a pound at the docks last year, the highest prices on record for years.
“It speaks to the health of the market for wild salmon,” he said.

SEAS Board Meeting

SEAS Annual Board meeting is being held in Juneau this Saturday through Monday, February 24-26.

If you happen to be in town or live in town, give a call for the location and times.

bobbyt

Last of February Newsletter Articles

2007 SEAS and UFA Legislation: Fisheries Fairness Act

There is one major bill that SEAS will be helping UFA to introduce this session.
UFA endorsed the bill in concept at the recent January UFA semi-annual meeting.
The bill will tackle 2 major issues for commercial fishermen in Alaska ( it has not been determined whether this will apply to salmon fishermen only or whether there will be application to other species as well). We have the green light from the 3rd floor on this and will be aggressively pursuing this major legislation in the coming days.

1. Bonding and Fisherman Placement- As you might know, we have only a $10,000 bond requirement for processors in Alaska. This seems to not only be insufficient for non-Alaskan based companies with no attachable assets within the state, but whenever there is a bankruptcy, we are always the last guy to get paid—as an unsecured creditor. Why are we unsecured creditors when it’s our fish? We’d like to change that also. And then there is the jurisdictional issue. Without a requirement that the processor who absconded with our fish come back to the state to stand trial, we often end up with unsympathetic judges dealing with our cases. And then we have to pay attorney fees ( which we’ll try to get out of the future bonds as well) and follow the processor to wherever they declare bankruptcy.

2. Contracts and Arbitration- There is a statute on the books to require the state to provide an arbitrator or mediator if prices are not set for up to 90 days before the season. Problem #1 exists of course when our salmon commodity market fluctuates so much. Of course we don’t want to set prices in 2007 until later as we know they’ll go up by summer. But it can and does go both ways, where we might set a price and then see markets tank due to overproduction or whatever. Problem #2 with the legislation on the books is that, although it sets up this system, no one is required to show up to meet with the arbitrator or mediator. Quite a glitch, eh?

We don’t anticipate for the contract and arbitration issues to be easily resolved. Salmon fishermen are perhaps the only relics left from the 1800’s where business was done on a handshake. And although most all of our major processors have been very honorable to do business with, there has to be a time in our future where we have a bit more transparency and have our prices tied to some market reality. SEAS is not insinuating that prices have not been fair and it is not in our charter to negotiate prices. But it is in our charter to deal with political issues and pass legislation that will make for a fairer and more level playing field for commercial fishermen.

Who knows what the next generation of processors will be? Who will own them? Will they be just major multinational conglomerates. Certainly Mr. Bundrant, Mr. Giles, Mark Palmer, Jon Garner, Gordon Lindquist and the rest of our major buyers are honorable men with whom a handshake has been more than enough. But is this our future? These men and their companies are honorable and trustworthy, but times change and SEAS believes that the time is approaching swiftly where we need to safeguard the integrity of the political process that will ensure the fair treatment of ourselves and future commercial fishermen in Alaska. With massive consolidation occurring in the global food business, we may have a completely different slate of ownership and managers than we have today, and perhaps having Alaska’s interest ( since the state of Alaska derives their major taxation benefits through our ex-vessel, not the processors wholesale price) and our interest protected will take a bit more than a handshake.


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SEAS Purchases 25% of the Alaska Fishermen’s Building

For several decades SEAS paid rent on Waters Street in Ketchikan. Enough rent to have paid for the office we were in. In 2003, when Mr. Zuanich and your ED bought the Alaska Fishermen’s Building, we did it because there was no recognizable location in the Alaska Capitol for commercial fishermen.

Now there is and if you’ve ever seen a picture on the PSVOA website or been to Juneau in person in the past several years you have seen the access, location and promotion that just the SEAS has with office space in the building. There is the trademark SEAS sign(a Kevin Patrick special) on the railing along with the “Big Dipper” and 7 gold stars looks like with “Alaska Fishermen’s Building” facing square between the Legislative Office Building and the Governor’s mansion.

In 2006, SEAS board of directors determined that an investment with our reserve account would be a great way to get ahead and solidify our presence in Juneau. So SEAS invested $100,000 into the Alaska Fishermen’s Building for 25% of the ownership of the building. The independent appraisal done last spring put the value of the building at $452,000, thus showing an increase in SEAS investment from the original $100,000 to $113,000 the day we bought into the building. An automatic $13,000 gain.

There are a couple of other tenants in the 6 room, 4200 square foot building, but there is room enough to sleep 4 SEAS board members very comfortably and up to 7 or 8 if they want to bunk with the ED and/or sleep on sofa’s as well. Come on up and visit sometime. My offer is yet open to the first Southeast Alaska Seiners member who decides to come visit this spring—that I will pay his way up here.

I know this is a major step for a non-profit but longtime SEAS members who recall the opportunity they passed on in Ketchikan to purchase part of the building back then believe that this is a golden opportunity and that this will be very beneficial not only financially for the organization but also will highlight the organization by being so open and central in state capitol.


Good day

bobbyt

2007 ADFG Prediction

Note that last year's run size was more like 29 million all gear, all species, rather than the 19 million in the following article... I believe they just added the pinks in at 1.7 million rather than 11.7 million.

http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/020607/sta_20070206002.shtml

bobbyt

It's Official: Denby Lloyd is Commissioner

Governor Palin Appoints Denby LloydFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 07-021
Governor Palin Appoints Denby Lloyd as Commissioner of Fish and Game Thanks the Joint Board of Fisheries and Game for Nomination
February 3, 2007, Juneau, Alaska - Governor Sarah Palin today appointed Denby Lloyd as Commissioner of the Department of Fish and Game.
The Governor received a single name for the position from the Joint Board of the Alaska Board of Fisheries and the Alaska Board of Game. Denby Lloyd was unanimously approved by both boards Wednesday night. The Governor appointed Lloyd as Acting Commissioner on December 26, 2006.
“I want to thank the members of the Joint Board for their service and I congratulate Denby for receiving such a strong showing of support,” said Governor Palin. “There were three strong candidates – all wonderful Alaskans who would serve the state well. Denby has ably led the department for the past month while working through the board process, and I’m so happy to reaffirm him as Commissioner of Fish and Game. Now we can get on with the important business of managing and developing Alaska’s fish and wildlife.”
Lloyd received a Master of Science in Biological Oceanography from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. He has worked in numerous positions at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and other resource management agencies in Alaska since 1974, including as Director of the Division of Commercial Fisheries and Regional Finfish Supervisor. Lloyd will be a member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council where many important decisions are made that affect Alaska commercial and sport fishermen. He is a certified fisheries scientist with the American Fisheries Society and an associate with the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists.
He will join several other department commissioners in a swearing-in ceremony next week in Juneau.

February Newsletter Part #2

Denby Lloyd is new ADFG Commissioner// and Scott Walker is the new Phil Doherty

Hot off the press, night before last, Mr. Lloyd became Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game when the joint boards of Fish and Game sent his name to Governor Palin for appointment. His confirmation process should be an easy one as he is well liked and respected throughout the state. His work for the department began in the mid-1980’s culminating in the early 1990’s with a stint as Director of Commercial Fisheries. He then did some private sector work, returning to the department as Western Region supervisor under Commfish(shortened version of Dir. Of Comm. Fish.) Director Doug Mecum in the late 1990’s.

In 2005, he was Mr. Mecums replacement as Commfish Director. We had thought we’d lost him to the Fed’s in December, but through her brilliance and swagger, Governor Sarah Palin convinced Commissioner Lloyd to come back into state service. And for that we will be forever grateful to Governor Palin.

And although his bosses on the 3rd floor, Chief of Staff Mike Tibbles, and Legislative Director John Bittney, are remarkable appointments in and of themselves, this appointment of Mr. Denby Lloyd really takes the cake. We at SEAS have always been huge fans of Mr. Lloyd and have long thought that he would eventually rise to this position to run the shop that manages our livelihoods. Naturally, Mr. David Bedford will be his deputy Commissioner and consequently, the lead Commissioner for the Pacific Salmon Treaty renegotiations that will be occurring over the course of the next couple of years.

Mr. Scott Walker, of Ketchikan, took the helm from one of our long-held favorite area management biologists, Mr. Phil Doherty, this past fall. We will miss Phil as he heads over to manage our friends at SARDFA, but are encouraged by the dedication and experience that Mr. Walker brings to the job. He worked under Phil for over a dozen years and while your editor will not research enough to give him the background he deserves here and now, we look forward to working with Mr. Walker and believe that he will be a successful manager in the long line of incredible Ketchikan managers we have had at the department. If you do not know Scott, give a call sometime at (907)225-5195 and see if he has a few minutes to get acquainted.

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Losing Nakat

OK, now here’s a long story that we’ll try to make short enough to put into the newsletter. Back in 2001 and 2002, seiners were out on the high end of the enhanced allocation range. Gillnetters were bouncing around in the low end, but within their range, even though the current accounting for total numbers and dealing with roe issues were yet buried in those old numbers. We have been assured (and are assured by the way) that the business has changed and that a more thorough and accurate accounting of gillnet enhancement benefits is occurring.

So, the SEAS board members on the SSRAA board saw an opportunity to release the entire allowable amount of SSRAA chums on the books. This occurred concurrently with some funding coming through on those years with the SSSF(southeast sustainable salmon fund). SSRAA got $2.8 million as well. So, in order to get 10 million more chums released at Kendrick Bay, 14 million more released at Anita Bay and 5 million more chums released at Neets Bay, to also stabilize a rotational fishery at Anita Bay and to keep Kendrick as a seine only fishery, the seiners on the SSRAA board (along with SEAS concurrence ( this happened in 2002)), determined that it was necessary to agree to the removal of the seine rotation at Nakat Inlet at least until the overall enhancement allocation numbers had changed substantially.

There has not been a formal mechanism for Southeast Alaska Seiners involvement in enhancement organizations. SSRAA and NSRAA board members, while normally SEAS members, do not have an automatic obligation to SEAS, although intrinsically we’d like to think that they would normally think of SEAS interests first. So, while the longstanding doctrine of “never giving up a single set or mile of beach” was violated in this instance, there were allocative issues surrounding the “deal” at the time as well as great benefits to seiners by creating a 50-50 deal at Anita Bay and cranking up the Kendrick Bay releases.

Certainly SEAS will never endorse giving up area and time in trade for anything, any time, anyhow, anyplace. But in this instance we did. And it was a mistake.

Having said that, it is apparent that there may be some serious upside to the increased fishery at both Anita Bay and Kendrick, where we harvested a combined total of over a million chums this past year. We are experiencing a crash through the allocation range and are out on the lower end the past 2 years on a 5 year rolling average ( the mechanism set up by the Board of Fisheries in 1994 to address enhancement imbalances between the fleets dictates that a fleet must be out of it’s range 3 years on a 5-year rolling average) and the gillnet fleet is out 3 years on the high side on a 5 year rolling average.

So, even though we don’t like to go to the Board of Fisheries to address these issues, rather inclining ourselves to working these out with the other gear groups prior to the BOF cycles, we are, ironically, going to be in the drivers seat very shortly due to our failure and the gillnetters success. If this sustains it’s momentum, then we will be able to go back to the Board of Fisheries to change the deal on Nakat, unless the SSRAA gillnetters approach us with a deal before we get to the BOF and make a settlement , and make preparations to re-enter Nakat Inlet.

So why, you ask, did we lose Nakat at a proposal at the 2006 Board of Fish cycle and not earlier. Well, the ”deal”, ( and your ED will take full responsibility for the “deal”, although I was not hired by SEAS yet. I had been involved with SE seine – as a board member from 93-97, and sticking close to the organization from 1998 to May -2003 when you guys hired me. So while I was not on the SSRAA board either, I had heard about the “deal” and did nothing to stop it at the time. Just because I wasn’t running the show didn’t mean that I couldn’t have said anything. I am not one to relinquish my responsibility for my fishery just because I’m not in the room at the time. We all need to share responsibility and blame because it is all of our fishery. If I had wanted to be more involved I had the opportunity to do so. Not only that, but trusting the instincts of the Ketchikan guys on the board led me to believe, as is likely, that the overall benefits will yet exceed the loss of Nakat for the short term.) was not made until it was too late to submit to the 2003 BOF cycle – as proposals had to be in by April, 2002 for that cycle.

By 2006 it was increasingly apparent, that with Hidden Falls shorting on us along with better accounting for the gillnet fleet, that we probably shouldn’t have had to go the full sacrifice of Nakat in this trade but it was too far along to go back. Not to mention that USAG wasn’t about to let us in any event.

So, we made a decision that isn’t normally our Modus Operandi. And I don’t think we’ll ever do it again. But what’s done is done. Sorry.

February Newsletter Part 1

Fleet Consolidation

I’d imagine that many of you are wondering where this is going. Here’s the breakdown.
We have $1 million in grant funding earmarked with the state through the Southeast Sustainable Salmon Fund. We have $2.88 million in grant funding(after the markdown from $3 million from NMFS) from the Federal Government side of the Sustainable Salmon Fund. We have the implementing language stating that we can pay the 3% for a loan of up to $25 million—although at this point we are rated by a NMFS economic study for only $18 million. When Congress passed the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act in mid-December we got everything we needed insofar as implementation language and the rest of the baggage that was hanging out these past couple of years.

So why don’t we just get it on and have a $21.88 million dollar fleet consolidation program? Because, besides the remaining $3 million that is supposed to come to the state through the Southeast Sustainable Salmon Fund later this spring or summer, there is also the seemingly small matter of the loan authorization for the loan. This is 1%, which can either be $250,000 to maximize the loan potential should the loan amount change. Or, conversely, we could get away with $180,000 should our loan potential remain at the rating of $18 million that NMFS has already determined. Language was inserted into our prior $500,000 Southeast Sustainable Salmon Fund grant that deleted our“until expended” language to cause the funding to revert back to the US Treasury by the end of 2006.

It is not likely that we may be able to be included in the February 15th continuing resolution for Congressional funding. So we wait patiently for the next funding cycle of Congress, in April or May hopefully. However, if we somehow miss this important deadline, it also may just be that we have to wait until next October. In any event we will not be able to complete the fleet consolidation until after the 2007 season but should have things completed by the 2008 season in the best case scenario.

Once we have this all-important $180-250K appropriation for the loan authorization, and the $3 million is allocated from the state of Alaska through the Southeast Sustainable Salmon Fund, then we will forward to NMFS the # of permits that the SRA board determines is the correct number to retire and the dollar amount per permit. After this step, NMFS does a bunch of paperwork and puts out a 60 or 90 day comment period and then goes to the fleet for a up or down vote on the plan. The new NMFS language in MSA stipulates that a majority of permits voting must approve the plan for it to be passed.

Your SRA (Southeast Revitalization Association) consists of Tom Manos, Dan Castle, David Street, Troy Denkinger, Dean Haltiner, Nich Babich and Jim Bacon. Each of these gentlemen have served as board members of either PSVOA or SEAS over the years and 2 of them have been President of SEAS. They represent a varied geographic diversity as well as the latent, non-active permit holders as 2 of them have not purse seined in Southeast in 5 years or longer.

We are working hard to complete this fleet consolidation program so that seiners can maintain some semblance of stability on the water in SEAK. Certainly the 2006 season was a dire reminder of the bloated permit numbers in SO1A. Our average gross stock was abyssmal and the number of returning pink salmon in 2006 was at a 20 year low.
Stay tuned to this website, http://www.seiners.net/, for further information.

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SEAS Membership

There’s never been a more important time to join SEAS. Our numbers have fallen due to the overall lightening of the fleet participation in recent years along with the fact that our dues had to be raised substantially from $250 associate and $600 full member status to $400 for nonfishing members and $750 for all currently active fishermen. Nonetheless we still had 100 members in 2006 out of a total of approximately 220 active fishermen, which represents approximately the same percentage of SEAS members in the fleet that we have always had.

But we need more participation. The issues get tougher, the fights get nastier, and our future is constantly being threatened. Several years ago, in the early 1990’s, I recall a few members complaining that SEAS never did anything proactive. They were convinced that all SEAS did was maintain the status quo. I explained that this was a major accomplishment—to maintain the status quo. It takes a strong organization with massive participation to keep peace on the water with other gear groups, to maintain harmony with Canada, environmental groups, miners,n loggers, sportsmen, enhancement groups, subsistence users and other multiple users of the Tongass. SEAS has done an amazing job over the years at maintaining a major presence on the water and in the halls of decision makers.

Yet this was not enough for many members of our fleet who have recently been subjected to the major global competition with farmed salmon and other protein sources that come into the United States and also compete with our salmon in the global marketplace. So we have worked hard with the marketing arm of UFA to create TAA opportunites for our membership, the $36 million Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board ( Bruce Schactler’s idea), and to revamp ASMI to the $16 million annual powerhouse it is today. Likewise on the production side of things we have worked diligently to provide a fleet consolidation program that relimits limited entry to a number that was more appropriate for the 21st century. No tricks or gimmicks or processor shares, just a simple relimiting of limited entry.

You can read all about it on our website and in this newsletter, but SEAS has been the only Alaskan-based salmon seine organization that has persevered in the past several decades to accomplish major improvements in any seine fishery in the state of Alaska. Kodiak Seiners Association folded its tent 4 years ago. The Peninsula Marketing Association (False Pass seiners) folded about a decade ago. The Prince William Sound seiners are a division, along with the gillnetters, of Cordova District Fishermen United.
And although the CDFU folks are a great organization, it is a difficult integration to have a group of combined gear types, especially if there are conflicts and allocations to live up to.

So to those of you who seem to have a problem coughing up the $750 for whatever reason, you have to ask yourselves: Would you like to either be integrated into PSVOA?—not really a bad idea perhaps—or would you like to be integrated into United Southeast Gillnetters Association?—losing a bit more independence and leverage than the former idea perhaps? What is your plan?

I have been around only for the past 21 years as a SEAS member, 4 as a board member, 4 as Executive Director and the other 13 just as a regular member. I have heard all the excuses for not joining or for skipping a year of dues. All of them. And most of them more than once. I guess there is only one result of skipping or refusing to pay dues. You lose your voice and we lose ground. Without cost recovery, which many of you objected to as you thought we’d eventually lose our independence to the hatchery system, we have a pathetic budget. We’re just getting by right now and losing financial ground every year. The 100 guys have held you all up thus far but how long this can continue is a question mark. Sure we can slide into a few more years, but why are those who aren’t members staying out? Certainly there are issues, and seemingly valid ones, for skipping dues.

One of our longtime members was upset about losing access to fishing Nakat Inlet. So what’s the solution. Quitting? Yeah, that may make some board members feel hurt, but then he realized that by quitting SEAS he will likely be throwing away another seine area in the future. By not supporting SEAS you are inevitably supporting everyone else who we dealing with to hold our own in access to the Southeast salmon resource.

We realize that you may not like each and every issue we tackle and the way we do business. But unless you are willing to strap on your boots and sportcoat and tie and head to Juneau and spend your own $750, it seems to make much more sense to join SEAS.
Again, thanks to those of you who stick with us through thick and thin.
Many thanks for being consistent and being a part of the team.

keep the faith

bobbyt

Pacific Salmon Treaty talks

Pacific Salmon Treaty

The negotiations have begun in earnest. SEAS members on the Northern Panel Mr. John Carle, Mr. Mitch Eide and PSC Alternate Commissioner Jim Bacon were present this past week in Vancouver along with your Executive Director.

At the Vancouver meetings there were no disagreements between Canada and the US on a rollover of the Tree Point driftnet and Noyes Island purse seine annexes. The US has underharvested in both fisheries since the signing of the Treaty in 1999, and in the future these fisheries have shown no inclination to the same harvest levels we achieved in the first 15 years of this Treaty.

Part of this is atttributable to the decreased participation in both US fleets: the Noyes Island boat days are somewhere near half of the pre-1999 negotiations while the Tree Point fleet has lost nearly 40% of their pre-1999 fleet. Some of this displacement is fewer overall boats in the entire SE region andsome has to do with the success of our enhancement programs in the rest of the SE region, which has consequently drawn boats away from the Boundary Area.

Naturally there are yet unresolved issues with Chinook salmon. There needs to be some education on King salmon, both in the US generally and especially within the NW region. Our Chinook fishery is based upon healthy stocks. In fact, since the signing of the Treaty annexes in 1999, we have seen 2 ( maybe 3) of the alltime high Chinook abundances since 1948 of the "far north migrating" complex.

Past ADFG CommFish Director and current Washington State Fish and Wildlife (since 1998) Director Jeffrey Koenings has been on record touting the excellent health of these "far north migrating" chinook salmon that we harvest in Alaska. Looking back at the record, Mr. Koenings made this case in the late 90's, when the "far north migrating" Chinook complex was at about half the abundance of what it has been in the past 4 or 5 years.

So, to put it otherwise, there are twice as many Chinook now than there were when Mr. Koenings stated that our harvest of Chinook wasn't a problem for the lower 48. He also emphasized that these stocks that we harvest in Alaska needed to be considered as separate from the Puget Sound stocks and other Chinook stocks that aren't harvested in great numbers in Alaska. Nonetheless, Chinook will be an issue to be resolved along with the Transboundary Rivers, Taku and Stikine, which are still on the docket to be negotiated.

The new representatives on the TBR panel from Canada seem to be having a difficult time within their negotiating team. At the end of the day, all of us represent our government's positions and there needs to be less grandstanding on the Canadian side of the TBR panel and more attention paid to the traditional relationship we have had with these longstanding driftnet fisheries on both the Taku and Stikine.

We have and will harvest a larger proportion of salmon bound for these rivers forever. The logistics of harvest on the upper reaches of the Taku and Stikine as well as the extraordinarily small numbers of fishermen on the Canadian side of the border do not justify a straight up "equal sharing".

So the good news is that Tree Point and Noyes Island are done insofar as direct negotiations are concerned. However, we have a year and a half to wrestle with Chinook and the Transboundary Rivers. Wish us luck.... It's your fishery.

bobbyt

Hatcheries

Enhancement in Alaska


Hatcheries, or what you will.

The current hatchery system in Alaska is a recent development. At the turn of the century into the 20’s, the Feds had a slightly different system in mind… one that was abused horribly in the lower 48 and the Columbia River system.

This is how “old” hatchery thinking worked.
If the region needed a dam, irrigation ditches, logging (esp. with splash dams), etc., then the hatchery would be the deficit reducer when all the natural and wild salmon had been destroyed by whatever industrial practice was occurring. So if you had 100,000 salmon in a system that were now pretty much decimated, you would replace these by an estimate of 100,000 salmon in hatchery production.

Well, you could see the first problem. There was no way to prove up until 4 or 8 years later when we would find that the hatchery facility could only make 10,000 salmon. By then it was too late. In some cases, there was no built-in funding mechanism for lifespan of the hatchery. Many of the “deals” made for fishermen in the lower 48 would be lightweight deals without longterm funding appropriated.

Of course other issues soon became obvious—well, after about 50-75 years of this stuff going on—issues like genetics. Salmon eggs would be transferred from the Sacramento to the Columbia. Fish that had had generations of breeding to accomplish certain feats on their return migration that matched their river of origin were now replaced by “foreign” fish that had no “game” on their current river or stream. We got better at this over time but the resultant issues are still prevalent in the lower 48.

In Alaska our current enhancement system came into being in the 1970’s. It is based on the best available science to manage and promote the system and the resultant production is based upon economic production for coastal Alaska rather than a replacement for wild stocks. In fact, in most cases of production, the goal has been to augment, rather than replace, natural occurring production. Consequently, the siting of these hatcheries and remote release sites is based upon minimal interaction with wildstock salmon.

Most of the issues facing salmon enhancement in the lower 48 were taken into account and a new dawn of salmon enhancement was about to spring upon Alaska. There still are straying issues, similar to the ones we find in the wildstocks. This is natural. We try to avoid it as much as possible and this is why our hatcheries are sited as far away from wildstock systems as is practical.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, under new Commissioner Denby Lloyd, manages for wild stock abundance, not for hatchery abundance, in our mixed stock corridors. There are times when the wild and enhanced abundance does not track well enough to justify mixed stock harvest of enhanced salmon. For example, imagine a normal wildstock corridor gets fished 9 of 10 years when there is an abundance of wild salmon as the target species. Incidentally to this wild stock harvest, we are harvesting good numbers of hatchery stock. Now on year 10 there may not be an abundance of wild salmon. That corridor, according to state law, shouldn’t be fished on year 10, or at least it should have reduced fishing time because we are managing for the wildstocks, not the hatchery stocks. Thus the fishing time on the hatchery stocks is now going to be decreased in that area.

The economics of Alaska’s enhancement program is staggering. Many years, a large percentage of Kodiak production occurs at Kitoi hatchery. In PWS, hatcheries have become the standard bearer for production for the purse seine fleet. The drift fleet is a lesser participant in PWS, but I doubt those guys are in favor of the system changing any more than the seiners would be.


In SE Alaska, hatcheries produced somewhere near half of the dollars made by commercial salmon trollers, seiners and drifters in 2006. Normally enhancement is more of an addon in SE. approximately 20% of the coho harvest, 50-75% of the chum harvest, 2-3% of the pink salmon harvest, 10% of the Chinook harvest and a 1-5% of the sockeye harvest is enhanced.

SEAS believes that Alaska’s enhancement program has been an amazing biological as well as economic success. We always welcome debate and insight into how we could do an even better job of managing our hatcheries—many of which we own by the way. Another feature of the modern hatchery system in Alaska is it’s self financing mechanism. No other state or country has ever produced as much enhanced salmon. And no other country has ever tried to privatize their enhancement system like Alaska has.

What we need now for Alaska’s enhancement program is better funding. Fishermen own and pay for many of our hatcheries but there are a few other PNP’s that just go it on their own. These hatcheries are in need of capital projects, new roofs, etc etc. The $95 million total debt incurred to the state( approximately $32 million in PWS, $50 million in SE and the rest wherever) has been the greatest economic return on investment the state of Alaska has ever made. For this $95 million, we have harvested over $1.5 billion worth of salmon, paid $50 million in raw fish taxes, tens of millions in fuel and local taxes, and generated several billion dollars of economy.

So when we have an issue, as apparently we do with the ADFG according to the latest news sources from our friend Wesley Loy, then we must proceed with due care and caution. We don’t need the extra press right now. We need to sit down and evaluate if there are any feathers that are ruffled on our golden goose.

SEAS was initially no big fan of hatchery production since our founding in 1968. However, our current enhancement production was set up to balance out the lean years and is the status quo that we balance our business plans upon. And it is needed to balance out user conflicts and to drive the economies of small coastal towns and villages across this great state…. From Cordova, Kodiak, Homer to Ketchikan, Sitka and Juneau and everywhere in between to some extent.

Sometimes Peninsula folks and western folks from the Bay and whatnot complain that they would like to see us go away. Unfortunately, what they fail to realize is that many of the same processors whose lifeblood is salmon, are afloat today to go west to buy fish just because there exists the economic safety net that defines the hatchery system.

Also, I’m sure our SE drifters, Copper River guys and PWS and SE seiners would be happy to double or triple the effectiveness of the western Alaska fleets if our lifeblood was taken away.
So we’re all in this together. Hatcheries are us.


bobbyt

ps. a relevant article recently at http://ap.alaskajournal.com/stories/state/ak/20070101/134393908.shtml