Recognize our Mortal Sea as we prepare to give away the Gulf of Alaska.

As we prepare to give nearly 45% the Gulf of Alaska away to the draggers, perhaps we need to be reminded of what has happened to our East Coast neighbors. If we are to judge by what has gone before, our management strategies, of which we are so confident, are flawed.  Our 'need' for development and growth and economic expansion are all inclined to reduce our Gulf of Alaska to the same empty sea as the Atlantic.

Take for instance the failure of king crab stock, once so abundant they could be picked up out of the shallows at low tide, now only a memory, a stock that should be declared endangered in the GOA. What about the shrimp, such incredible abundance...gone.  Tanner crab scarce enough only a few hundred thousand pounds for harvest, when there were once tens of millions.  Regime shift?  Decadal oscillation? Where are the halibut, 35 million small fish gone missing?  Avarice, over confidence and mismanagement have resulted in these losses.  King salmon are there now too, on the missing fishes list.  And the NPFMC can't control the arrogance of the drag fleet, who must already 'suffer' because they have to leave quota 'stranded' if they are to conform to the PSC caps.  The Gulf is not limitless.  The arrow tooth are taking over because the resident stocks are damaged.  The balance is upset.  So to solve it, we give the Gulf away, piecemeal to the draggers, then the pot boats, and finally the longliners.  They are all screaming there won't be enough for them.  They are right you know, but there won't be enough left for anyone unless action and not some flaccid good intentions are brought to bear by management.  The sea is mortal, like the buffalo, you can indeed kill them all. Watch. You will see.

Give a listen to the abundance that was once the Atlantic:  http://onpoint.wbur.org/2013/04/10/the-mortal-sea

Winslow Homer, Fog Warning, 1885.

And keep yer flippers wet.

Gloucester Times on Lubchenco Resignation

A good read on Lubchenco's resignation.

http://www.gloucestertimes.com/fishing/x2120615327/Lubchenco-departure-fuels-hope-for-change-in-fishing-rules?mobRedir=false

and

http://www.gloucestertimes.com/fishing/x2120615228/Breaking-Lubchenco-leaving-NOAA?mobRedir=false

Keep yer head down and yer flippers wet.

Dr. Jane Resigns

“December 12, 2012

Dear NOAA Family,

I write to let you know that I have decided to return to my family and academia at the end of February. I am immensely proud of all we have accomplished in the last four years and know full well that we have been able to do so much only because of your impressive talent and dedication. It has been a special privilege to serve as Administrator and work with all of you.

As many of you know, my home and family are on the West Coast. I’m deeply grateful for the support and love of my family, but as wonderful as Skype is for staying in touch, it is not a viable long-term arrangement!

As I reflect on my time with you, I’m delighted with all we’ve been able to do — big and small. The list is far too long for complete enumeration here, but I’ve listed 20 of our top achievements below. I invite you to share with me your top-tier list, as well as any especially memorable moments or photographs from the work we have done together.
We’ve tackled some big challenges together. Our notable progress includes (in no particular order!):

1.    Ending over-fishing, rebuilding depleted stocks, and returning fishing to profitability;

2.    Strengthening the Nation’s environmental satellite infrastructure because it underpins national security, economic activity and public safety by providing data essential to our short- and long-term weather forecasts;

3.    Delivering life-saving weather forecasts and warnings and strengthening our ability to do so in the future through Weather-Ready Nation, dual-pol upgrades, investments in high performance computing, research, and weather satellites;

4.    Helping create the first National Ocean Policy that recognizes the value of a healthy marine environment, emphasizes collaboration between regions and the federal government and coordination across federal agencies to achieve healthy oceans, coasts and Great Lakes;

5.    Leveling the playing field for our fishermen by reforming international fishery management organizations with the adoption of management measures in line with scientific advice and with strengthened compliance and enforcement tools, and by reducing “pirate fishing” (illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing);

6.    Creating a new generation of climate services to promote public understanding, support mitigation and adaptation efforts, enable smart planning, and promote regional climate partnerships;

7.    Investing in coastal communities and their future resilience through more strategic and better integrated conservation and restoration;

8.    Better serving recreational anglers and boaters by convening a saltwater sport fishing summit, developing a recreational fishing action agenda and ensuring follow through on key commitments;

9.    Strengthening science with our first Scientific Integrity Policy, doubling the number of senior scientific positions, establishing a new Council of Fellows, reinstating the Chief Scientist position, supporting AAAS and Sea Grant Fellows and promoting climate, fishery, ocean acidification, weather and ecosystem science;

10. Responding effectively as “one-NOAA” to disasters such as Deepwater Horizon, the Japanese earthquake/tsunami/radiation/marine debris catastrophe, Hurricanes Irene, Isaac and Sandy, including helping open ports and waterways, survey coasts, and rebuild and restore communities and coastlines to enhance resilience in the future;

11. Bringing experience, scientific and legal expertise to bear on the federal response to the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe (as detailed in two papers in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), jumpstarting Gulf restoration efforts through partnerships and the Trustee Council, and assessing the full impact of the disaster on natural resources with the goal of holding responsible parties accountable and restoring Gulf ecosystems, communities and economy to health;

12. Championing NOAA’s lean, but effective, education program that plays a unique role in providing atmospheric and oceanographic education to young and old and making NOAA-related sciences more accessible to underrepresented groups;

13. Creating NOAA’s first Aquaculture Policy and a National Shellfish Initiative and using science to ameliorate short-term impacts of ocean acidification on shellfish;

14. Setting a stronger course for endangered species conservation in places like California’s Central Valley and the Columbia River and in the ocean, e.g., for coral conservation.

15. Streamlining regulations to save taxpayers time and money and improve efficiency, for example in fisheries regulations and shellfish aquaculture permitting;

16. Increasing effectiveness and decreasing costs of corporate services such as acquisitions and IT, for example by migrating our communication systems to the cloud to enhance functionality, strengthen security and reduce costs

17. Developing and implementing a “One-NOAA” Arctic Vision and Strategy and Task Force to address environmental, social, economic and safety issues emerging in the fragile Arctic region, including mapping to support new safety, a precautionary fishery management plan, launching the Arctic ERMA tool, and innovative research and data partnerships to improve science-based decision-making;

18. Strengthening NOAA’s fishery enforcement program by implementing policy, oversight, personnel and procedural changes to increase effectiveness and transparency;

19. Embracing social media, effective communications and communications training to share NOAA science, information and decisions with our diverse constituents, stakeholders and partners — including creation of NOAA’s and my Facebook pages, multiple NOAA Twitter accounts, and use of crowd-sourcing to digitize old weather records; and

20. Ensuring all our policies, regulations and statements are consistent with the law and legal best practices.

All this and more for less than a nickel a day from each tax payer — now that’s a bargain!

Much of this progress required integration of efforts across line and staff offices and with a wide variety of partners and stakeholders. Our One-NOAA approach has proven its power time and again.

I am well aware of how much work lies ahead. But because I have experienced your impressive talent and your deep-felt dedication to our mission, I am confident that you will continue to tackle problems and devise creative solutions.

I’m proud to have been part of your mission. And I am grateful to Acting Secretary Rebecca Blank and her capable staff and numerous members of Congress for their staunch support for our mission. I appreciate the President’s confidence in me and the invitation to be part of his science team and serve at the helm of the Nation’s spectacular ocean, climate, weather and coastal agency.

But most of all, I appreciate the opportunity to work with all of you. I will miss you, but know you will continue devoting your energy and talent to fulfill our mission. I wish you all a joyous and peaceful holiday season and New Year.
Sincerely,

Dr. Jane”

 Keep yer head down and yer flippers wet.

I Remember When...

“I used to leave the dock to go out for $10K of pollock, and come back with $50K of black cod, $8K of p. cod, and kill off another $100K of halibut and crab each trip, along with enough king salmon to BBQ for the family for the summer – but then they started 100% observer coverage.”

Painting credit: Pablo Picasso

Keep yer head down and yer flippers wet.

Push to Delay King Salmon Bycatch Limit Fails!

Effort to delay NPFMC action by the drag industry on king salmon bycatch has failed.  The good steward of America's fisheries health, Glen Merrill of NMFS (National Marine Trawl Service) spoke for delaying Council action until other means were found to control king salmon bycatch. He was joined by Craig Cross of Aleutian Spray Fisheries and John Hendershedt of Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum (ironic) and Bill Tweit of the WDF&W.  The motion failed.

Much of the dialog was a pissing match between the catcher vessels and the catcher processors. The State of Alaska argued for a greater allocation to the CVs and the Seattle interests argued for their CPs.

Overall health concerns for the king salmon stocks demanded more immediate action.  No cap size or preliminary alternatives were selected but the Council voted unanimously to move ahead with final action on king salmon bycatch restrictions at the April meeting. 

Keep yer head down and yer flippers wet.

Make a Difference, Write or Call

-
For Wiglaf, a good day, lots of visitors.  41,066 visits and 65,761 pages viewed.  If every one of you who is a 'friendly' of these issues, would write a letter or an email to your governor, senators and representatives, we could change the direction of fisheries management.  Then tell every ally you can to do the same.  Change comes through effort, your effort, our effort.

 

Maintain the surge.

 

And keep yer head down and yer flippers wet.

Halibut Quota Slashed, Draggers Kill Future

1972

“The Kodiak area king crab quota for the Southern District of Area K of 10,000,000 pounds should be harvested by Friday, September 8, 1972. As of September 1 7.6 million pounds have been harvested from the Southern district. The majority of the fleet is on the crab grounds now and we expect to have over 9,000,000 pounds harvested by September 4, thus necessitating a Friday closure to stay within the quota established by the Board of Fish and Game.”

Today

The king and Tanner crab are essentially gone from the Gulf of Alaska, thank draggers.

The Chinook salmon are endangered, with the Western Gulf Chinook dragger cap exceeded by 50%.

As the halibut abundance collapses, the draggers continue to kill off the halibut, mostly unobserved, at the rate no doubt far exceeding 4,400,000 pounds annually in the Gulf of Alaska.

 

Draggers get more room to remain unobserved with the New Restructured Unobserver Program. 

Put one more nail in the coffin of the Gulf of Alaska with the news that halibut quota is recommended to be slashed to:

• -03% in 2C
• -22% in 3A
• -46% in 3B
• -46% in 4A
• -67% in 4B
• -66% in 4CDE

This makes the 15% phased-in halibut bycatch reduction passed in June 2012 the joke that it really has been all along. 

Finally, NMFS regional administrator Jim Balsiger says something to the effect that we "need to think outside the box" with regard to trawl bycatch and that he questions why only fixed gear groups get to harvest halibut.  WTF.  Reward the thieves?

So the draggers who continue to decimate the Gulf of Alaska get to have it all?

Preposterous.  And our politicians and bureaucrats and fisheries managers just wring their hands. It is time for the public to weigh in on this and stop the destruction of the Gulf of Alaska by the drag fleet.

How can roughly 45 owners and their hand full of processor allies be allowed to kill off the Gulf of Alaska for us all?

The actual numbers recommended for cuts to halibut quota will be announced at the IPHC meeting in January. These are the Conference Board recommendations.  Read more.

Keep yer head down and yer flippers wet.

How Many Chinook Did You Kill Today?

Dirtiest Kodiak draggers as of today on Chinook in the Gulf of Alaska:

 

From NMFS website data.

Notice the repeat offenders?  Notice NPT which means bottom draggers, are responsible for a high percentage of Chinook catch.  Notice the PTR, the supposedly pelagic trawls are fishing bottom pollock.  As fished, such designations are meaningless.  NPFMC is set to give these dirty operators the majority share of bottomfish as IFQ in the Gulf.  Currently at least four of the draggers are being purchased by processors, as Trident and Icicle.  The real power behind the give away of the Gulf of Alaska resources and wasteful bycatch is the processors. 

Keep yer head down and yer flippers wet.

NMFS Fails to Provide a Workable Monitoring System

So that fishermen and others, policy makers and interested citizens, may have the opportunity to review and reflect upon these important matters, here is the sign-on letter that will shortly begin circulating throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.  Composed by a coalition of concerned fishermen, it seeks to expose and redress failures in the 'Restructured Observer System."  Please take the time to read and add your name and voice to the sign-on letter when it comes around.  Changes to the way the Gulf of Alaska is managed must occur before its productivity and sustainability are forever damaged/destroyed.  The current system is badly broken.  NMFS continues to be derelict in its duty to protect our resources. 

Feel free to print this letter and add a place for signatures and send it off to your representatives or the ones listed on the letterhead.  W.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

November 12, 2012

To:        Governor Sean Parnell

              Senator Lisa Murkowski

             Senator Mark Begich
              Congressman Don Young

Subject: Restructured North Pacific Observer Program and 2013 Deployment Plan

Dear Alaska Leaders,

 In 2010 the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) approved restructuring the North Pacific Observer Program.  A final rule to implement the program is scheduled for early December publication.  The undersigned members of the fishing industry cannot support this program that doubles costs, reduces coverage in high volume fisheries with substantial Chinook and halibut bycatch, and fails to provide a workable monitoring system for small vessels.

We are willing to pay our fair share of observer coverage costs and recognize that at-sea data is needed for conservation and management of the resource.  We are concerned about salmon and halibut bycatch and believe fisheries with high bycatch must be the priority for observer coverage.  We believe at-sea data can be collected from Alaska’s previously unobserved, community based vessels without causing fleet consolidation, job loss, or disruption of business operations.  We have identified electronic monitoring as the tool that works for the small, fixed gear boats.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has consistently ignored the concerns of fishermen most affected by the program.  NMFS is ready to implement a plan that reduces coverage in high volume fisheries with substantial Chinook and halibut bycatch, doubles the cost of an observer day relative to current levels, assigns over half the observed trips to vessels that account for less than 12% of the catch, and places the largest economic burden on the 1,300 small boats that operate out of Alaska’s coastal communities. 

NMFS has provided insufficient opportunity for public comment on the 2013 observer deployment plan, no specificity and therefore no opportunity for comment on deployment logistics for small boats, and little to no analysis of logistical costs imposed on individual fishing businesses.

The undersigned individuals cannot support full implementation of the restructured observer program as proposed for 2013.  We request your assistance in holding NMFS accountable for addressing stakeholder concerns prior to implementation of the restructured program or, at minimum, prior to deployment of observers on the small fixed gear vessels assigned to the “vessel selected pool.”  Our concerns are detailed in the attached document. 

Thank you for your support of Alaska’s coastal fishermen.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

(Sign up section deleted...)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Concerns with the Restructured Observer Program and 2013 Deployment Plan

A final rule to restructure the North Pacific Observer Program is scheduled for early December publication with implementation in January 2013.  The 2013 Observer Deployment Plan was revealed in October 2012 after observer contracts had been signed, allowing only minimal opportunity for public comment and only minor revisions.  Deployment details for small vessels still have not been revealed, effectively preempting public comment.  Despite active and informed participation by Alaska’s coastal fishermen, the restructured program in general and the 2013 Deployment Plan in particular fail to meet resource objectives, control costs, or minimize impacts to Alaska’s small fishing businesses. 

Throughout the two-year process to restructure the North Pacific Observer Program, fishermen have consistently advocated for:

·         Establishing observer coverage levels on a fishery specific basis with emphasis on high impact bycatch fisheries;

·         Incorporating deployment strategies that maximize cost effectiveness;

·         Providing small vessels with electronic monitoring as an alternative to human observers concurrent with program implementation.

The Council has heard these concerns and often endorsed them.  In October 2012 the Council recommended the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) amend the 2013 Deployment Plan to prioritize coverage in bycatch limited fisheries and to do so by reducing observer assignments in the “vessel selected pool.”  The Council also requested NMFS provide a cost accounting report and a strategic plan for implementing electronic monitoring, but did not tie these requests to the 2013 Deployment Plan.  Throughout the restructuring process, the Council has deferred to NMFS to address concerns raised by stakeholders instead of engaging in the normal process of identifying alternatives and incorporating stakeholder input to develop workable solutions.   The result of this unusual process is that NMFS has not been held accountable for addressing concerns prior to implementation.

 While we support the Council’s October 2012 recommendations, we need assurance that observer coverage will be re-prioritized to high bycatch fisheries, that program costs will be controlled, and that observers will not be deployed on small vessels until deployment details are revealed, analyzed and resolved, and electronic monitoring is available as an alternative to human observers. 

More specifically, our concerns with the 2013 deployment plan are the following:

1.       Equal probability of deployment—the deployment plan assigns all fishing trips with an equal probability of observer coverage—whether the trip is taken by an 80 foot vessel that harvests hundreds of thousands of pounds or a 42 foot boat harvesting 500 pounds.  As a result, over 50% of the observed trips will be assigned to small fixed gear vessels that account for less than 12% of the groundfish and halibut harvested off Alaska.  Shifting deployment to small fixed gear boats reduces coverage on high volume and high bycatch fisheries—most notably Gulf pollock fisheries that account for Chinook bycatch.  The Council’s recommendation to “prioritize” coverage of PSC limited fisheries restates objectives NMFS has ignored to date.  While we support the Council’s recommendation, NMFS’ response to the recommendation remains unknown—yet NMFS intends to implement the program in two months. 

 

2.       Failure to contain costs— In October 2012 fishermen learned that the deployment plan increases the cost of an observer day from the current $467 to approximately $1,000.  The deployment plan emphasizes a random deployment approach to obtain unbiased data and does not sufficiently consider alternative stratified sampling approaches that could provide unbiased data in a more cost effective manner. Doubling the costs halves the number of observer days and undermines bycatch management objectives that are vitally important to Alaska’s fisheries.  The Council has requested a detailed cost accounting but has taken no action to control observer coverage costs in 2013. 

3.       No alternative to human observers for the small boat fleet—Stakeholder testimony and Council motions for the past two years, including the Council’s May 2011 comment on the proposed rule, requested an alternative to human observers for the small boat fleet.  Electronic Monitoring (EM) was identified in EA/RIR as the alternative that minimizes impacts to the small boat fleet.  In Alaska, EM project collaborators specifically designed a pilot program in partnership with NMFS to evaluate EM in the halibut and sablefish fisheries to ensure EM would be operational in 2013.  Yet the restructured observer program fails to provide this alternative and makes no commitment to ever providing an alternative to human observers. NMFS has not devoted the necessary resources to provide a viable alternative to human observers despite three years of notice and good faith industry cooperation.  

 

4.       Definition of a fishing “trip”--The definition of a fishing trip still allows “gaming” of the system.  Cod vessels that deliver to tenders will be able to complete an entire season before ending a “trip,” since trip is defined as a shore-side delivery.  As a result, vessels not selected for observer coverage on their first trip can deliver off-shore to tenders until the season ends and thereby avoid coverage for the entire season.  The definition also still lacks quantity of gear set or fish harvested, which allows a vessel to fish for one day in a non-productive area, satisfy the observer “trip” requirement, drop off the observer and then join the rest of the fleet to fish in areas with higher catch and, of more concern, bycatch.

 

5.       “Vessel selected” boats have 100% coverage for two or three months-- Stakeholders have repeatedly commented that the proposed requirement for boats in the “vessel selected” pool to carry observers for all trips during a three months period is overly burdensome and inequitable, particularly when compared to "trip selected" vessels that have a 13% probability of being selected one trip at a time.  The Council’s recommendation to reduce the requirement to two months still assigns the most burdensome observer requirements to the smallest fixed gear boats.  Until electronic monitoring is available as an alternative to human observers, observers should be assigned to small boats on a trip by trip basis.  
 

6.       No Logistical details for the “vessel selected” pool---Logistical deployment details for the “vessel selected” pool still have not been revealed, hence the industry has not been able to evaluate or comment on these critical and potentially costly provisions.  Potential costs include room and board for an observer between trips and insurance to protect against liability.  These costs have never been analyzed.  While logistical details are specified for vessels in the “trip selected pool” (over 57.5 feet), the deployment plan directs fishermen in the “vessel selected pool” to work with the observer contractor to resolve logistics.  The selected observer contractor is based on the East Coast and has no prior experience in Alaska.

 

Again, we cannot support deployment of observers in the vessel selected pool until these concerns have been addressed by NMFS.  We are willing to pay the observer fee in 2013 and we are willing to work with the agency to resolve the concerns identified above. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Keep yer head down and yer flippers wet.

Draggers and the Salmon Crisis

Although these things have been said here in these pages before, this opinion piece is a nice recap of our deepest concerns.  Thanks to the Peninsula Clarion for this.
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Salmon crisis or NPFMC crisis?

By Don Johnson

Soldotna

Some people are claiming that Alaska is experiencing some kind of salmon crisis but is that what is really happening? If there were a real salmon crisis most would expect the blame to be directed towards either a freshwater or saltwater source problem. Freshwater fishermen would claim the problem to be in the saltwater and saltwater fishermen claim it to be in the freshwater. Some even see it as all sides just catching to many fish.

In general most of our local salmon fisheries have been fishing the same way since about 1980 but there has been a substantial increase in one type of fishery. That fishery is our Commercial Pollock Fishery. This trawler fishery targets pollock and it catches a lot of them but it also accidentally kills about 3.4 king salmon per metric ton of pollock. It is a proven fact that just our legal commercial trawlers take over a million tons of pollock each year. Just doing some basic math shows a possible 3.4 million king salmon being killed and dumped by this fishery each year but the NPFMC has set annual trawler by-catch kill caps on king salmon at 25,000 in the Gulf of Alaska and 60,000 in the Bering Sea.

While these commercial trawlers were by-catching salmon, they were also by-catching and tossing overboard dead smaller bait fish which salmon feed on; thus also reducing the prey our salmon have access to. Tremendous schools of herring, cod, rockfish, sand fish, hooligan, candle fish, smelt, stickleback, wolf fish and squid have been permanently wiped out with bait fish by-catch dumping. This environmental destruction then forces our salmon to forage longer to meet their daily and future calorie intake needs. As trawlers kill and dump this salmon prey back into the ocean, they dramatically increase a salmon’s chances of never achieving sufficient fat reserves to make it back to their native freshwater rivers and streams.

The result of all this trawlers fisheries abuse are dwindling fish stocks across the board because of the enormous amount of fish being trashed in the North Pacific Ocean. Fish are basically being killed faster than they can reproduce and just like Wall Street finally collapsed itself with poor oversight and mismanagement, our pollock fishery is also headed towards that same fate. If the North Pacific Fishery Management Council does not take decisive action to reduce pollock catch levels, this fishery must also collapse because of its own mismanagement. Of the four Alaska pollock stocks, two are currently shut down to commercial fishing and a third is just a fraction of what it used to be. In spite of all the warning signs, which include five years in a row of low juvenile survivorship, this industry has continued to target pollock spawners by taking huge numbers of pregnant females just before they release their eggs.

The NPFMC has no idea how many salmon are out there cruising the North Pacific or how many are being trashed as a direct result of its trawler fisheries but it has arbitrarily set salmon by-catch limits anyway at 25,000 per year in the Gulf of Alaska and 60,000 per year in the Bering Sea. How does any fisheries management body set by-catch limits if it has no idea how many fish they are dealing with? With this kind of mis-management it is possible to set by-catch limits equal to total reproduction limits without knowing it, thus resulting in total resource collapse. Setting caps on salmon by-catch is not a management plan, it is only a plan for fisheries disaster.

Do we have a salmon crisis? I believe most can see that the facts point to us actually having a fisheries management crisis. The true problem is that the NPFMC allows its members to have direct financial conflicts of interests. This membership defect reaches to the very core of the Council’s ability to correctly act on the public’s behalf to safeguard our fisheries natural resources. Just like on Wall Street, profit driven Council members are an over-riding consideration within this issue. This is not a salmon crisis, it is a NPFMC membership crisis and if it continues, it will eventually collapse all of our fisheries interests.

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Keep yer head down and yer flippers wet.