NOAA Study Recommends Steps to Support Young Fishermen

Image via NOAA. New research compiled by NOAA Fisheries supports equipping beginning fishermen facing start-up challenges with tools that have been successful in helping young farmers. The study, led by Marysia Szymkowiak at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, notes the similarities between the two professions, both of which ensure food security, provide jobs and support […]

Oregon Halibut Poacher Loses Commercial Fishing Rights

Image: Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. A commercial fishing captain in Tillamook, Oregon, has lost commercial fishing privileges for the next five years after what Oregon state police describe as repeated halibut poaching. Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division brought charges against Charles “Joe” Evens for violating terms of his commercial license by […]

Alaska Commercial Salmon Harvests Exceeds 101M Fish

Image via Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Commercial harvesters delivered some 101 million salmon to processors through Tuesday, July 26, in the 2022 Alaska fisheries, wrapping up a record harvest season. That includes nearly 59 million fish in the Bristol Bay area alone, led by the Nushagak District with over 22 million fish, the […]

NOAA Fisheries Initiative Would Improve Seafood Sector Working Conditions

Image via NOAA Fisheries. A new public-private initiative from NOAA Fisheries aims to promote legal and safe working conditions in order to end forced labor in the commercial fishing and seafood industry. The Collaborative Accelerator for Lawful Maritime Conditions in Seafood, aka CALM-CS, aims to put a halt to illegal and inhumane working conditions, such […]

Norton Sound Fishermen Harvest 308,623 Pounds of Red King Crab

Red king crab. Photo: NOAA Fisheries. Alaska’s only summer red king crab fishery concluded on Sunday, July 24, with the entire guideline harvest of 308,623 pounds of the succulent crab delivered by Norton Sound small boat fishermen, with retail prices commanding up to $74.95 a pound. Biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game […]

Demise of Yukon River Chum Salmon Remains Point of Contention

File photo courtesy of Kwik’Pak. On a cool, cloudy summer day at Emmonak, on Alaska’s Lower Yukon River, not a single commercial fishing boat was delivering its catch to Kwik’Pak Fisheries. Instead families along the lower Yukon were awaiting delivery of state donated sockeye salmon being sent to them by Kwik’Pak, a subsidiary of the […]

NOAA Boosts July Chinook Salmon Quota from Humbug Mountain to California Border

Image via NOAA Fisheries. NOAA Fisheries has boosted the allowable catch for July for the commercial troll Chinook salmon season from Humbug Mountain to the Oregon/California border, which opened on July 1, from 400 to 687 fish. The decision was made in early July in consultation with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, California […]

BOEM Invites Public Comment on Draft Fisheries Mitigation Strategy

Image via Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on June 23 issued draft guidance on mitigating potential impacts of offshore wind development on commercial and recreational fishing and is inviting public review and comment. The draft mitigation document is the next step in development of guidance for offshore wind […]

NOAA Promoting New Steps to Combat IUU Fishing

Image via NOAA. NOAA is proposing new measures to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities and forced labor in the seafood supply chain. The proposed changes are part of a rulemaking process that will include a public comment period after these proposed changes are published in the Federal Register. NOAA’s proposal broadens the […]

Commercial Salmon Harvest in Alaska Reaches $16.3M Fish

Image via Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Commercial salmon harvests in Alaska are off to a robust start, with the central and westward regions of the state leading in harvests, putting the preliminary catch figure at upwards of 16 million fish, according to preliminary reports from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. As […]

Alaska’s Commercial Salmon Catch Swells to Nearly 38M Fish

A pair of sockeye salmon. File photo. A surge of salmon returning to Bristol Bay has boosted the harvest of the famed sockeye salmon fishery to nearly 27 million fish and the statewide preliminary catch estimate to nearly 38 million salmon, including 33.6 million sockeyes. The overall catch through Tuesday, July 5, stood at over […]