Fisheries

Starting July 21, Alaska farmers can sign up for  the US Department of Agriculture’s Reimbursement Transportation Cost Payment Program.

Under the 2014 Farm Bill, farmers outside the contiguous US can now receive a portion of the costs of shipping their agricultural products over long distances.

The announcement of the new plan was made last Friday by USDA Farm Service Agency administrator Juan Garcia.

Danny Consenstein is the director of the USDA Farm Service Agency. Consenstein said Alaska peony, hay and barley growers will all benefit.  Fish producers are not included in the plan, but oyster farmers in Southeast and Prince William Sound can take advantage of the program.

The reimbursement program also pays producers for the costs of  buying supplies needed for planting at the start of the season. The benefits to producers are based on costs incurred each fiscal year, subject to an $8,000 cap.  Reimbursements are usually paid back in the spring, Consenstein said.

The ruling also affects Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and other islands far from the US mainland.

The  USDA will spend  $1.8 million in  transportation offset costs for producers enrolled in the program in the last year.

Update | Sunday May 25 8:30 a.m.

A specially trained team of marine mammal experts late Friday captured a harbor seal pup that had been hauled out near the Auke Bay boat ramp since Thursday.

The capture operation took about 20 minutes and the pup is in good condition, according to a NOAA Fisheries release sent Sunday morning. NOAA Spokeswoman Julie Speegle writes that the pup was taken to the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, where it will be trained to fend for itself. The plan is to reintroduce it to the Juneau area, she says.

Officials were worried for the pup’s safety with increased traffic expected in the Auke Bay area over Memorial Day weekend. Speegle says it’s common for harbor seal mothers to leave their young hauled out while the mothers forage for food. While there were adult harbor seals nearby, NOAA officials were not able to determine if one of them was the pup’s mother.

Original post | Friday May 23 1:00 p.m.

Marine mammal experts are asking Juneau residents to avoid disturbing a harbor seal pup that’s been hauled out near the Auke Bay boat ramp since Thursday.

With increased boating activity expected over Memorial Day weekend, officials are concerned for the pup’s safety. NOAA Fisheries Spokeswoman Julie Speegle says the animal appears to be in good health, but if it has too much interaction with humans its mother may abandon it.

“This is normal harbor seal behavior,” Speegle says. “Mothers will often leave their pups hauled out in a spot and the pups generally stay where their mama leaves them while the mother goes and forages for food. She just chose a really busy spot to leave her pup.”

Speegle says officials are not sure if the seal pup has been abandoned already. If so, a specially trained team of marine mammal experts may be brought in to capture the animal and take it to the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward. The center would train the pup to fend for itself before releasing it back into the wild.

“We will see what activity is like in the Auke Bay area this weekend,” Speegle says. “And if the activity seems to be too much or too dangerous for the pup, then we may go ahead and take action, or we may wait and see if the mother comes back.”

Speegle says people should keep their pets on a leash to keep them from approaching the seal as well.

It’s illegal to harass harbor seals under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. If you see harassment, call NOAA Fisheries Law Enforcement at 1-800-853-1964.

A U.S. Senate panel yesterday moved to require labeling for genetically modified salmon, if it’s approved for sale in this country.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski told the Senate Appropriations Committee she hopes the FDA never allows genetically modified salmon to reach supermarket shelves.

“But we haven’t been able to get the FDA able to slow down off their track of approval,” she said.

So, Murkowski says, they should at least require “that they put on the package of fish: This is a genetically modified salmon.”

But mandatory labeling repels senators from farm states, who fear it’ll lead to labeling of GM crops. Sen. Mike Johanns of Nebraska defended genetically modified food at the hearing, saying it can help sustain the world’s ever-growing population.  Johanns says labeling would be a compliance nightmare, with consumers footing the bill.

“There’s a cost to that, for no basis in science,” he said.

The company that wants to produce the AquAdvantage salmon says its farmed fish would be just like a conventional Atlantic salmon. Sen. Mark Begich, who co-sponsored Murkowski’s labeling amendment, says the company should just be upfront with consumers.

“If their fish product is so good, then tell us,” he said. “That’s all we’re asking.”

Appropriations Committee passed the amendment on a voice vote with only one audible “nay.” Still, it’s a long way from law. Alaska’s delegation to Congress has fought to require labeling in the past, only to see it stripped out of the final legislation. The bill next goes to the full Senate.

On the day that the summer’s king salmon restrictions began, the Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Working Group met to hash out the details of this summer fishing plans. In a year of mixed federal and state control, unprecedented closures, and new gear rules, managing a precarious king salmon run along 700 miles of river will be anything but simple.

After months of in depth discussions leading up to the closures, 12 hours in, some working group members were still confused.

“What about now, is it wide open it now to any type of gear, or drifting or what? That’s the confusion we have,” said Aloysius.

Bob Aloysius is from Kalskag. Part of that confusion come from the different geographic jurisdictions. Federal managers control the waters in the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge from the mouth to Aniak. The state manages below the mouth and above Aniak.

There are a few key differences in regulations, especially around the middle river. Unlike the federal rules, the state would allow drifting with 4” nets. And they do not plan to allow fishwheels above Tuluksak during times of king salmon conservation, whereas the feds would with certain protections for kings. That comes as bad timing to several Middle River villages which, through the Kuskokwim Native Association, are investing in fish wheels. Lisa Feyereisen is from Chuathbaluk.

“It absolutely does not make sense that we could sit out there drifting with 4” mesh and keep incidental kings when we’re more than willing, we’ve purchased the material, we have people monitoring the fish wheel, and we’re releasing every single king, and that’s the goal of it, to release every single king,” said Feyereisen.

Chuathlbaluk was hoping to have a fish wheel running for the first time in 25 years. The working group passed a motion in support of allowing fish wheels on state waters. As it stands in the management plan, fishwheels operations are linked with 6” mesh openings, which would only be done when there are very few kings in the river.

Federal in Season Manager Brian McCaffery shared details on what’s hoped to be a small social and cultural harvest opportunity of about 1,000 kings total. He says it would be on a per capita basis for 31 of the 32 eligible communities. Each village get a dozen to several dozen fish, but Bethel would not be not proportional to population and may receive around 100 kings.

“Our primary goal again this year is conservation. And we want to give people an opportunity, we hope to work with the tribal council here in Bethel to find ways to provide community opportunities,” said McCaffery.

But the run has to be strong enough to support that limited harvest. To gauge that and considering this year’s early breakup, the Bethel Test Fishery will be starting a few days early, around the 27th.

And just days before the run hits in earnest, managers are worried about two weirs that are hanging in balance. The villages of Tuluksak, Kwethluk, Akiak, and Akiachak signed a letter saying that that if they can’t fish for kings for sometime in June, Tuluksak and Kwethluk would break contracts for operating the Tuluksak and Kwethluk river weirs. Steve Miller is with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“But we’re hoping right now we can resolve that and get a contract in place. We’re required by law to conserve the fish on this river. That takes data, and those two systems are the only two systems on the lower river and our plan is to operate both weirs,” said Miller.

The group passed a motion supporting the operation of all the river’s weirs to count escapement. The next working group meeting will be at call of chairs.

Wrangell fishermen are getting their gear ready for the chamber of commerce’s king salmon derby. But some anglers in other towns are already out on the water.

Organizers say things are looking good for this year’s Wrangell King Salmon Derby.

Now, organizers are always optimistic. But this year, they’ve got evidence.

“I’ve been seeing some pictures on Facebook. People are already out there catching fish. So I think it’s going to be a great year,” says Cyni Waddington, who runs the derby for Wrangell’s Chamber of Commerce.

The organization promises more than $30,000 in prizes for contestants. They range from $6,000 for the overall biggest Chinook to smaller prizes for youth and seniors.

Not all winners get cash.

“One of the local Native artists … does a sterling silver salmon bracelet for the woman who catches the biggest fish in the derby and that’s very popular,” she says.

Wrangell’s salmon derby runs through the first week in June.

Ketchikan, Sitka, Haines and Petersburg have salmon derbies over the Memorial Day weekend. Ketchikan continues for two more weekends, Haines and Sitka for one.

Skagway’s Game Fish Derby is near the end of June. And Craig and Klawock have one running this and next month, with another starting in July.

Juneau has two large derbies, and one is already underway.

“It seems like the run is just fantastic this year. I don’t hear anyone complaining about long rod hours. Everybody’s catching,” says Leslie Isturis, organizer of the capital city’s Spring King Salmon Derby.

It’s a project of the regional Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. Proceeds go to scholarships.

The contest runs all of this month, and the prize for the top fish is $10,000.

Isturis says other payouts are a little different from last year.

“Rather than have a lot of the money in the regular prize listing, we split it up between daily and weekly prizes,” she says.

Juneau’s longest-running derby, the Golden North, runs the second weekend in August.

Many of the prizes are goods or services rather than cash.

Wrangell’s Waddington says that’s part of the fun.

“We actually get lots of prizes from the community … for derby award night. We just basically go down the ladder from the largest weight. I think last year everybody who entered a fish got a prize of some sort,” she says.

Tlingit-Haida’s derby has its own collection of prizes donated by individuals and businesses.

Isturis says there’s even a mystery prize, donated by two local carvers.

“They gave me a check inside an envelope and they said we’ll let you know about half-way through what the weight is. They won’t even tell me,” she says.

The derbies help merchants sell fishing gear, groceries, and other important supplies, such as beer.

Wrangell’s Waddington says they also promote tourism.

“There’s a good number of people who come from other places in Alaska, but there’s definitely a good number of people who come from the Lower 48 as well, who make this one of their travel destinations to come fishing,” she says.

Anglers should have a better chance to catch the big one this year.

The resident bag limit is three kings a day, 28 inches or larger, with no annual limit. That’s up from one a day in 2013.

Aerial surveys of herring spawn wrapped up last week in the Juneau District by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The department conducted surveys of Seymour Canal Tuesday and Wednesday, and lower Lynn Canal Wednesday. They say survey conditions were excellent.

In Seymour Canal Tuesday, approximately 0.8 nautical miles of active spawn was observed, mostly on the Admiralty shore south of Pleasant Bay. On May 7, approximately 0.1 nautical miles was seen in the same location. Small schools of herring were seen near the spawn on both days. The total amount of documented spawn is now 4.8 nautical miles.

In Lynn Canal, no spawn was seen May 7. There was one good sized school of herring observed inside Statter Harbor in Auke Bay, several schools of herring were seen in the vicinity of the Auke Bay ferry terminal, and one school in Indian Cove. Numerous schools were observed in north Tee Harbor and scattered along the Breadline north to the Shrine of St. Therese.

Here are the full survey results:

Juneau District surveys