Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Alaska Fishery council approves new restrictions on Bering Sea trawl fleet’s incidental take of halibut The Seattle Times by Hal Bernton - December 14, 2021 A federal fishery council vote Monday could set the stage for future cuts of up to 35% in the incidental halibut take of a largely Washington-based trawl fleet that targets yellowfin sole and other flatfish. https://www.adn.com/nation-world/2021/12/14/fishery-council-approves-new-restrictions-on-bering-sea-trawl-fleets-incidental-take-of-halibut/ *Requires Subscription Scientists, politicians, managers, and Tribes try to find common ground on Western Alaska salmon crash KYUK by Olivia Ebertz - December 13, 2021 On Dec. 8 and 9, U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young held a Zoom meeting between salmon researchers, tribes, and managers. Their goal was to unite these groups’ efforts to determine the cause of the ongoing Chinook declines and the sudden chum crash in Western Alaska. After two days of meetings, the groups are still at odds over what’s causing the declines, and what the best way to move forward is. https://www.kyuk.org/hunting-fishing/2021-12-13/scientists-politicians-managers-and-tribes-try-to-find-common-ground-on-western-alaska-salmon-crash Council cuts Alaska halibut bycatch caps for groundfish fleet National Fisherman by Jessica Hathaway - December 13, 2021 [Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect feedback from stakeholders.] With four proposed alternatives on the docket to amend the management of halibut bycatch in Alaska’s Amendment 80 groundfish trawl fleet, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted Monday, Dec. 13, to approve a compromise between Alternatives 3 and 4. https://www.nationalfisherman.com/alaska/council-cuts-alaska-halibut-bycatch-caps-for-groundfish-fleet West Coast All Assets of Seattle’s NOVA Fisheries to Be Sold By End of Year Urner Barry by Amanda Buckle - December 13, 2021 Seattle-based NOVA Fisheries is set to be sold by the end of the year. Bob Simon, owner of NOVA Fisheries, confirmed to SeafoodNews that the company has reached an agreement that acquisition of its manufacturing and customer sales will be completed at year’s end. No additional information, including the buyer, has been released. Simon has been slowly selling the business for some time, having announced in late 2016 that he was “moving away from seafood” by divesting himself of all of the company’s fisheries holdings. “Although the company continues to further manufacture some products in cooperation with other vessel owners,” Simon said at the time. NOVA Fisheries has been a producer, processor and manufacturer of finished foods for 35 years and is credited with advancing the Alaska scallop fishery, as well as pioneering the commercial development of the Southern King Crab fishery in 2005. The company has also financed the Marine Stewardship Council Certification of the South American fishery. According to Simon, “under the current stakeholders undertaking and financing, certification is pending award next year.” The company’s philanthropic activities over the past three decades will be continued through an established trust foundation. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1214417/All-Assets-of-Seattles-NOVA-Fisheries-to-Be-Sold-By-End-of-Year National Massive canned salmon bid announced as part of Biden's Build Back Better program The purchase is the second for seafood under the ambitious program. Intrafish by Rachel Sapin - December 13 2021 The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a bid solicitation for 302,480 cases of canned sockeye salmon last week, extending the stretch of record federal seafood purchases. https://www.intrafish.com/markets/massive-canned-salmon-bid-announced-as-part-of-bidens-build-back-better-program/2-1-1120907 Pacific Seafood Processors Association 1900 W Emerson Place Suite 205, Seattle, WA 98119 Phone: 206.281.1667 E-mail: admin@pspafish.net; Website: www.pspafish.net Our office days/hours are Monday-Friday 8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. *Inclusion of a news article, report, or other document in this email does not imply PSPA support or endorsement of the information or opinion expressed in the document.