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#05-15-2013 - ComFish News Roundup

Agency seeks comment on Aleutian sea lion rules
Associated Press
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The National Marine Fisheries Service announced Tuesday it will consider dialing back commercial fishing restrictions in the western Aleutian Islands that were put in place to protect endangered Steller sea lions. The agency will take public comment on five alternatives for measures aimed at protecting sea lions with an eye toward reducing the economic effect on fishermen seeking Pacific cod, pollock and Atka... http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2013/may/14/agency-seeks-comment-on-aleutian-sea-lion-rules/


For US, Arctic's comforting obscurity about to end
Alice Rogoff
Map of USA with Alaska highlighted and shown i...
Map of USA with Alaska highlighted and shown in true position (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
May 14, 2013
It is only a matter of time before the warming Arctic becomes busy with development. But unless we take actions on our own behalf now, others will act, and not to our advantage.

We now have a national Arctic strategy document issued by the White House. Of course, it doesn’t say everything Alaskans had hoped for. But it is a big step, all very constructive, and an invitation to us to “put meat on the bones."

As a resident of this great state, the potential of this subject strikes me as so important that we should focus on it while taking our minds off the narrower subject of our oil and gas economic lifeline. I believe Arctic development IS the future of this state, much as it surely will encompass oil-and-gas development for some decades.

I am not an academic expert and I certainly don't claim to be clairvoyant. I'm just someone who cares deeply about the future of Alaska and sees the Arctic as offering us an enormous opportunity -- for better, for worse, or both. The climate is changing, the Arctic ice is melting much faster than expected, and the northern seas are increasingly busy. This is fact. Most experts now say we will have an ice-free north pole within the next five to 10 years.

In short, the region is opening to marine commerce and the world is starting to pay attention. The...... http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20130514/us-arctics-comforting-obscurity-about-end


Fishy curriculum culminates with release, day of learning
Salmon Celebration
Posted: May 11, 2013 - 12:04pm  |  Updated: May 13, 2013 - 10:15am
By Rashah McChesney
Peninsula Clarion
Bethany Richmond does not know what lake water and live fish taste like and she refused to find out Tuesday during the Salmon Celebration in Kasilof. So, as the third-grader made her way down the sandy bank to the water’s edge at Johnson Lake, she made frequent stops and flinched away from..... http://peninsulaclarion.com/news/2013-05-11/fishy-curriculum-culminates-with-release-day-of-learning

Togiak herring fishery harvest reaches 7,932 tons
Posted 05/14/2013
by - Cordova Times Staff
Gillnetters and seiners participating in the Togiak herring fishery harvested 7,932 tons of fish through May 13, Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials said on May 14. The fishery, which began May 11, is expected to last up to two weeks. On May 13 alone, the harvest included 2,070 tons for the purse seine fleet and 920 tons for the.... http://www.thecordovatimes.com/article/1320togiak-herring-fishery-harvest-reaches-7932

Oregonians pass resolution opposing Pebble Mine
May 14, 2013
The Clatsop County Democrats recently passed a resolution to support the Environmental Protection Agency’s Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment, which documents destructive impacts and further risks from the contentious plans to build North America’s largest open-pit mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska..... http://www.alaskafishradio.com/oregonians-pass-resolution-opposing-pebble-mine/

Fish Factor
Ups and downs for Alaska’s biggest seafood buyers
By LAINE WELCH
May 13, 2013
SitNews - Between 60 and 70 percent of Alaska’s seafood is exported to customers around the globe, and the strength of foreign currencies against the US dollar plays a big role in annual sales.  Tracking by the Juneau-based McDowell Group for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute shows mid-year ups and downs for Alaska’s biggest seafood buyers. On the down side:  The Japanese yen has taken a 20% drop versus the dollar this year – not good for Alaska seafood exporters.  Japan is a leading buyer of salmon roe, pollock roe, surimi, sablefish (black cod), and crab..... http://www.sitnews.us/LaineWelch/051313_fish_factor.html

American Seafoods Announces 1st Quarter Conference Call for Bondholders
Published: May 14, 2013
American Seafoods Logo
American Seafoods Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
SEATTLE — ASG Consolidated LLC and American Seafoods Group LLC (collectively, “American Seafoods”) today announced the date and time of American Seafoods’ quarterly bondholder conference call for the three months ended March 31, 2013. The call is open to all holders of ASG Consolidated LLC’s 15% Senior Notes Due 2017 and American Seafoods Group LLC’s 10 ¾% Senior Subordinated Notes Due 2016..... http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/05/14/4861622/american-seafoods-announces-1st.html

Americans are eating more smoked seafood products
Clarke Canfield/The Associated Press
Posted:   05/15/2013 01:53:48 AM PDT
PORTLAND, Maine -- There's no smoke and mirrors about it: Americans are eating a lot more smoked seafood than they used to. And that demand -- part of a larger trend of infusing everything from salts and cocktails to fruit and teas with a kiss of smoky flavor -- has smoked seafood producers like Maine's Ducktrap River moving fast to expand production. ”Our sales have increased to the point where we can't keep up,” said Don Cynewski, the company's general manager. “We feel strongly that this is still a relatively new product in the United States and that it has good growth potential.” By late summer Ducktrap River hopes to finish a $4.5 million expansion that should double its annual production capacity to 5.5 million pounds of smoked salmon -- the top-selling variety of smoked seafood in the U.S. -- as well as trout, mussels, scallops, shrimp and other products. The federal government doesn't track smoked seafood consumption, but sales.... http://www.times-standard.com/lifestyle/ci_23246937/americans-are-eating-more-smoked-seafood-products



















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