American Seafoods buys Massachusetts firm
American Seafoods, the Seattle-based operator of the largest fleet of Bering Sea pollock factory trawlers, is expanding its East Coast processing operations with a new acquisition.
Alaska salmon industry bails on MSC
Here's statement just in from the Marine Stewardship Council:
Jan. 17, 2012
MSC statement regarding Alaska salmon
The Marine Stewardship Council has been informed by the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, the organization that serves as the client for the Alaska salmon fishery, that it is withdrawing the fishery from assessment toward a possible third five-year certification.
The existing MSC certification runs until Oct. 29, and any Alaska salmon caught prior to that date may be sold as MSC-certified.
Kerry Coughlin, MSC Americas regional director, said: "We regret that the Alaska salmon fishery is being withdrawn from the assessment under way for a potential third certification period. While there are other sources of MSC-certified salmon, Alaska was an early and important leader in the MSC program. We hope that this fishery will re-enter assessment, maintain the market advantage of MSC certification, and continue to showcase their sustainability.
"The number of fisheries and supply chain companies using the MSC program continues to expand worldwide, and consumer appreciation for the MSC ecolabel on products is increasing. MSC remains the recognized global standard by which fisheries confirm they are meeting or improving to global best practice in sustainable fishing as established by a wide consensus of scientists, industry experts and conservation organizations. By demanding a scientifically rigorous, transparent certification process using truly independent, third-party assessments, seafood markets around the world are helping to protect our ocean resources as well as seafood-related jobs and livelihoods now and for the future."
The third assessment was announced by the Alaska salmon fishery on Nov. 18. A certifier had been engaged by AFDF, the first site visit in the assessment process had been scheduled for later this month in Alaska and a number of conservation organizations had registered as stakeholders. The fishery, first certified in 2000 and recertified in 2007, includes Chinook, chum, coho, pink and sockeye salmon throughout Alaska waters. It does not include the tribally managed Annette Islands Reserve salmon fishery in southeast Alaska, which continues in the program and holds its own separate MSC certification.
Certificates for all other MSC-certified species in Alaska are also unaffected by the change in status for the state-managed Alaska salmon assessment.
Jan. 17, 2012
MSC statement regarding Alaska salmon
The Marine Stewardship Council has been informed by the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, the organization that serves as the client for the Alaska salmon fishery, that it is withdrawing the fishery from assessment toward a possible third five-year certification.
The existing MSC certification runs until Oct. 29, and any Alaska salmon caught prior to that date may be sold as MSC-certified.
Kerry Coughlin, MSC Americas regional director, said: "We regret that the Alaska salmon fishery is being withdrawn from the assessment under way for a potential third certification period. While there are other sources of MSC-certified salmon, Alaska was an early and important leader in the MSC program. We hope that this fishery will re-enter assessment, maintain the market advantage of MSC certification, and continue to showcase their sustainability.
"The number of fisheries and supply chain companies using the MSC program continues to expand worldwide, and consumer appreciation for the MSC ecolabel on products is increasing. MSC remains the recognized global standard by which fisheries confirm they are meeting or improving to global best practice in sustainable fishing as established by a wide consensus of scientists, industry experts and conservation organizations. By demanding a scientifically rigorous, transparent certification process using truly independent, third-party assessments, seafood markets around the world are helping to protect our ocean resources as well as seafood-related jobs and livelihoods now and for the future."
The third assessment was announced by the Alaska salmon fishery on Nov. 18. A certifier had been engaged by AFDF, the first site visit in the assessment process had been scheduled for later this month in Alaska and a number of conservation organizations had registered as stakeholders. The fishery, first certified in 2000 and recertified in 2007, includes Chinook, chum, coho, pink and sockeye salmon throughout Alaska waters. It does not include the tribally managed Annette Islands Reserve salmon fishery in southeast Alaska, which continues in the program and holds its own separate MSC certification.
Certificates for all other MSC-certified species in Alaska are also unaffected by the change in status for the state-managed Alaska salmon assessment.
Sticky proposals for geoduck fishery
Alaska geoducks — worth a lot of clams. ADF&G photo The Alaska Board of Fisheries is meeting all this week at the Sons of Norway Hall in Petersburg, and quite a few interesting Southeast shellfish proposals are on the table.
Proposals 183 and 184 strike me as particularly intriguing.
These would revolutionize the fishery for geoduck (pronounced gooey-duck), a giant clam divers collect from the seafloor. Most all of the clams are exported live to China, and can retail for upwards of $20 a pound, says a recent study done for the Southeast Alaska Regional Dive Fisheries Association.
The two proposals would convert the geoduck harvest from a weekly competition among divers to a program where each permit holder would be allocated an equal share of the annual Southeast geoduck quota.
The Sitka Geoduck Marketing Association is offering the two proposals, one of which has an added component to disperse divers between desirable and less desirable harvest areas.
Proponents say the proposals would maximize the value of the fishery by allowing divers to focus on product quality rather than speed. They also tout other benefits such as better controlling the flow of product to the market, and reducing pressure on divers to work in poor weather.
However, the most competitive divers might suffer because of a redistribution of harvest share.
And the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says it would have to hire more people to manage an equal shares fishery. It also cites potential for high-grading, where divers might keep only top quality geoducks and discard others, increasing harvest mortality.
Nevertheless, the department is taking a "neutral" stance on the proposals.
Well, Deckboss is sure you've heard all the arguments, pro and con, in past debates over various forms of catch shares.
Certainly, based on the recent trend, an equal share of the Southeast geoduck fishery would be quite lucrative.
The dockside value of the fishery has soared, from an estimated $465,000 for the 2000-01 harvest of 438,334 pounds of geoducks to nearly $5.6 million in 2010-11, when 845,582 pounds were taken.
The state has issued 112 Southeast geoduck permits, but only 69 divers made landings last season, earning an average of $81,000.
Should be quite a meeting in Petersburg.
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