| | | | Hi Trollers, Have you heard the news about the lawsuit? Trollers aren’t being sued. Neither is NMFS. Yet.
On Jan 9th a Puget Sound area environmental organization called Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC) published a letter of intent to sue NOAA over NMFS’ 2019 Biological Opinion (BiOp) of Southeast Alaska’s (SEAK) Chinook harvest. ATA is watching this closely and communicating with both NMFS and ADF&G. I’m don’t know what WFC’s chances of success are but like most Southeast Alaskans, I think that organization is out to lunch on this. A press release quotes WFC Executive Director Kurt Beardslee saying: “It is irresponsible for NOAA to authorize this harvest in Alaska when they know it undermines efforts to restore imperiled wild Chinook populations in Washington, British Columbia, and Oregon rivers, and contributes to the starvation of endangered SRKW and fishing communities all along the coast.”
The Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (NSRAA) commissioned a study which (among other things) shows that the 2018 Salmon Treaty cost Trollers 12.5% of our historic king salmon harvest (not 7.5%). We lost 15% of our harvest in 2008. Alaska took these hits, the argument goes, to protect Puget Sound Chinook (PSC).
PSC are not far-north-ranging salmon so Alaskans catch few. According to the 2019 BiOp these fish and their SRKW predators rarely travel north of Graham Island in B.C.’s Haida Gwaii. The BiOp reveals that PSC make up 0.1% to 2.5% of SEAK’s king salmon harvest. In Treaty negotiations SEAK Chinook harvest was traded to persuade Canada, who do catch PSC, to reduce their interception. You’d think giving up nearly 30% of Alaska’s historic harvest to protect fish we don’t catch while Washington increased their share would satisfy any Southern US (SUS) critic. Apparently not.
In their publications Mr. Beardslee and WFC ignore the fact that far-north-migrating Chinook spend the majority of their lives in Alaska’s pristine waters. Alaskans have been harvesting these fish for centuries. Without Alaska’s habitat and forage fish these stocks wouldn’t exist. WFC also overlooks the existence of the international Treaty agreement. Treaty negotiators included Washington State representatives. In this forum the SUS has more representation than Alaska so the agreement has produced lopsided results favoring Washington over Alaska.
WFC’s letter of intent is blind to the main causes of decline in Puget Sound salmon populations, pollution and habitat destruction. Besides dams the many Washington State fish farms have devastated northern migrating king salmon with sea lice and deadly diseases that never before existed in the North Pacific. One Puget Sound environmental group, “The Rainforest Site”, had this to say about SRKW: “Our Southern Resident Orca whales have some of the highest overall toxic loads and, in particular, highest PCB levels of any marine mammals anywhere in the world.” Connections between PCBs and birth defects are well documented.
It’s good news that it’s NMFS being threatened with the suit, not trollers, and it is possible the suit might not happen. The bad news is trollers (and sports) have to depend on NMFS to do the right thing. Rest assured that ATA is paying close attention but we’re not camped out on social media monitoring the dialog. We don’t have the manpower or the finances for that. If an ATA member wants to do that, give Amy a call.
Matt Donohoe, ATA President Below is a graph from the 2019 NMFS BiOp showing the long term population of SRKW by 2% while SEAK king salmon allocation decreased by 53%. Considering that (for Seattle’s entertainment) over 100 breeding age SRKW were killed or taken in the 60s and 70s and remembering that these whales live in the most polluted marine environment in the Pacific Northwest the SRKW are doing better than might be expected.
WFC’s long term goal is to replace commercial fishermen with fish traps. Check it out on their website. | |
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| | | ATA Board Nominations are open NOW Until February 20, 2020 For all board 11 Powertroll seats:
- One (1) Board member Ketchikan, currently held by Ben Atwood
- One (1) Board member Wrangell, currently held by Brett Stillwaugh
- One (1) Board member Petersburg, currently held by Mark Roberts
- One (1) Board member Juneau, currently held by Ken McGee (current Treasurer)
- One (1) Board member Southern Rural (Districts 1-8), currently held by Tim O’Connor
- One (1) Board member Northern Rural (Districts 9-16) currently held by Jim Moore
- Two (2) Board members Sitka, currently held by Tad Fujioka (current Vice President) and Matt Lawrie
- Two (2) At-Large Board members are currently Matt Donohoe (current President) and Thatcher Brouwer (current Secretary)
- Two (2) Board members from Non-Southeast, currently held by Joel Brady-Power and an open seat.
ATA members please contact us at alaskatrollers@gmail.com or text (907) 957-8004 to nominate and self-nominate officially. Must be current on dues to participate in elections. | |
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| | New Paypal Option: Become or Renew Membership We now have a new way to become or renew your membership with Paypal and major credit cards. We appreciate every membership and donation we receive. Thank you.Renew or become a member. | |
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| | REMOVING SOUTHEAST FROM THE CURRENT CRITICAL HABITAT PROPOSAL | |
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| | | As a result of a lawsuit brought in March of 2018 by the Center for Biological Diversity specifying critical habitat designation for the ESA-listed Mexico and Western North Pacific subpopulations of Humpback whales, NMFS has proposed designating an area the size of California off the coast of Alaska as Critical Habitat which includes nearly all of Southeast Alaska waters. This “broad brush” approached to the proposed large area designations are the result of limited data. The expansive critical habitat designation encompasses areas that are not critical feeding areas for humpback whales.
Humpback whales were listed as Endangered world-wide in 1973 without further refinement of the global population structure or listing status until 2016, when NMFS began dividing |
| | humpback populations based on where they breed. Three humpback subpopulations use Alaska waters to feed: the Hawaiian subpopulation which was removed from the ESA list in 2016, the Western Northern Pacific subpopulation of which 55% use the Bering Sea/Aleutian Island to feed during the summer; and, the Mexican population, of which only 2% use the region from northern Vancouver Island to Yakutat Bay. From many accounts of fishermen testimony humpback whale populations in Southeast are very high, the highest ever observed.
While designating Critical Habitat in itself is not anticipated to restrict or harm our fishery, we are wary of the “broad brush” in which this proposed action demonstrates. Having the CH regulatory framework added and in place to our geography will prove cumbersome and costly to small communities and our small boat fishery, as it has the potential to increase regulatory burdens. It has been shown that fewer than 2% of the Mexican subpopulation use Southeast Alaska waters. This is truly a small and peripheral amount. Common sense and statistics should set the agency straight in their reaction to this lawsuit. Southeast waters should be removed from the NMFS Critical Habitat designation.
Amy Daugherty, Executive Director
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| | The 29th Annual ATA Raffle is underway !! $20 Each, now available at the ATA office and from board members. Grand Prize… $2500 cash 2nd Prize… $1000 cash 3rd Prize… $500 cash
And Much More! | |
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| | January 2021 Board of Fisheries Meeting
During our December board meeting, the ATA board looked at a number of Board of Fish proposals for the 2021 BoF Southeast Finfish meeting scheduled for January 4-16 in Ketchikan. While ATA hasn’t yet decided to put any of these proposals forward for consideration, we did agree to look closer at nine of them. The next step is to gather fleet input on these, as well as to look at any new proposals members of the fleet might have.
To that end, ATA is arranging port meetings in communities around Southeast. The BoF is one venue where, rather than simply being reactive to attacks on our industry, we can work to actually improve things in the fishery.
A recent small example of this is an ATA proposal put forward in 2015 that resulted in ADFG being able to conduct the limited harvest fishery we had last September to mop up our remaining chinook allocation. While 2 fish per boat was not a lot, it did allow us to fully utilize our allocation which would not have been possible otherwise with so few fish left to harvest.
While involving your gear group in putting forward a proposal is of course not required, it can improve the chances of success by coalescing support within the fleet. If you have an idea you would like to have the ATA board look at, or are just interested in what might already be put forward, I urge you to attend a port meeting in your community or to reach out to Amy or your local ATA representative.
Proposals for the 2021 meeting are due by April 5th. There will be a meeting in Sitka on Friday, February 7th at NSRAA at 4:30. Hope to see you there or to hear from you soon.
From Matt Lawrie, ATA Board Member | |
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| | | Ben Campen, Sitka Mark Hofstad, Petersburg Graham Kraft, Haines Lance McCutcheon, Sitka Tim O'Connor, Craig Walt Pasternak, Sitka Grizzly Tackle Shop, Hoonah David & Dena Williams, Sitka Randall Wortman, Craig |
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| | Thanks for the Platinum Processor Memberships... | |
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| | | Tom Pope SA Marine Surveyor
Serving the Fishing Fleet Since 1967
360-808-1042 Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors
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