SEAFOOD TRADE RELIEF PROGRAM DEADLINE APPROACHING JANUARY 15, 2021

Fishermen applying for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Seafood Trade Relief Program need to get their applications in by Friday, January 15, 2021.   The USDA extended the application period in large part to give Alaska fishermen more time because the largest pool of applicants are Alaska fishermen, many of whom were actively fishing through the end of 2020.

The program provided roughly $530 million for disbursement as payments on a per pound basis to fishermen impacted by tariffs on sixteen commercially harvested marine fish species.  Fish caught by Alaska and West Coast small boat hook-and-line and fixed gear fishermen such as tuna, salmon, sablefish, geoducks, Dungeness, king and tanner crabs are among the qualifying species.  

The Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency is administering the program.  As of early December, the Farm Service Agency has disbursed roughly $140 million after processing roughly 6,000 applications with another 2,700 applications in process.

To apply, commercial fishermen must complete a “2020 Seafood Trade Relief Program Application” and submit the application to their local Farm Service Agency office.  Eligible applicants must have been active commercial fishermen in 2020 and have harvested specific seafood species in 2019 with a valid federal or state fishing permit or license.  Applicants will have to certify the amount of commercial landings in pounds for the 2019 season.  

The payment amount per fishermen depends on the amount of pounds harvested.  Payment rates reflect the estimated severity of the impact of trade disruption.  Sablefish and salmon payments will be $.10 and $.16 per pound, respectively with higher amounts of $.47 per pound for Dungeness crab and $.76 per pound for geoducks.  If a fisherman caught 100,000 pounds of salmon, the Farm Service agency would calculate the payment as 100,000 x $.16.  There is a $250,000 cap on payments.  Fishermen with an average adjusted gross income of $900,000 or more may or may not be eligible and should contact a Farm Service Agency representative for criteria and other information applicable to this income threshold.

In some cases the Farm Service Agency may require fishermen to submit additional documentation for eligibility, including commercial fishing permits, documentation of landings and other forms.  Agency personnel processing the applications have found it helpful when fishermen submit processor payment summaries or similar documents with the application.  The application includes multiple forms but many of the forms for individual commercial fishermen are for registration purposes and require just basic personal information.

The online application, and other information about the Seafood Trade Relief Program, is available at:  https://www.farmers.gov/manage/seafood 

 There is a Call Center available for fishermen who may need individual support with the application process: (877) 508-8364 and a powerpoint about the program available here:

https://www.fsa.usda.gov/Assets/USDA-FSA-Public/usdafiles/Outreach/Presentations/STRP/STRP%20Producer%20Webinar-for%20pub%20site-no%20speaker%20notes-2020Sept25.pdf 

Sullivan, Markey, Murkowski Welcome Signing of Young Fishermen’s Development Act

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) today welcomed the signing of the Young Fishermen’s Development Act, legislation to mitigate the challenges facing the next generation of entrants into the fishing industry by supporting regional training opportunities and apprenticeship programs. Congressmen Don Young (R-Alaska) and Jared Golden (D-Maine) were the lead sponsors of the legislation in the House. 

“Just like the proud men and women of the agriculture sector, Alaska’s fishermen work tirelessly to harvest a valuable renewable resource that feeds our country and the world,” said Senator Sullivan. “The Young Fishermen’s Development Act will build on the success of the USDA’s farmer and rancher development program and invest in the next generation of fishermen by lowering the barriers of entry, expanding training opportunities, and harnessing the experience and wisdom of our more seasoned fishermen. I thank my congressional colleagues and the President for championing our bill to reverse the ‘graying’ of the fishing fleet and ensure Alaska remains the unquestioned superpower of seafood.” 

To read the entire press release, click here

ALASKA SENDS CARES ACT FISHERIES DISASTER RELIEF SPEND PLAN TO NOAA FISHERIES FOR APPROVAL

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) submitted its “Section 12005 CARES Act Relief for Fisheries Participants Final Draft Spend Plan” on December 7, 2020 for approval by NOAA Fisheries.  If approved, the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission will then develop and review applications and distribute over $49 million in fishery disaster relief funds as direct payments to fishermen who meet eligibility criteria, including greater than 35% loss in gross fishery revenue from March 1, 2020 to November 30, 2020 as a direct or indirect result of COVID-19 relative to average gross fishing revenue during qualifying time periods.  The December spend plan draft makes changes to residency requirements, reduces the time frame used to calculate losses, and maintains the State of Alaska’s plan to divert roughly $10 million in seafood processor relief funds to the charter fishing sector.  

The relief funds allocated to Alaska reflected multi-year revenue information from commercial and charter fishing sectors, aquaculture businesses and processing sectors.  Seafood processors generated nearly 60 percent of Alaska’s fishery revenue.  Commercial harvesters generated 35.2 percent of the state’s fishery revenue, and charter operators generated the remaining 5.5 percent.  As explained in the Department of Commerce’s press release, the funds are to “support America’s fishermen and our seafood sector’s recovery” and “the men and women working to provide healthy and safe seafood.” 

ALFA wrote several comment letters requesting that ADF&G use NOAA’s percentages as a primary basis for allocating disaster relief funds between the sectors.  Other major fishing state spend plans allocated fishermen’s funds either by using the NOAA Fisheries formula or through a fair and proportional allocation based on the number of license holders and businesses in each sector. 

ADF&G, however, allocated over a quarter of the funds – 27 percent ($13.2 million) - to the charter sector – or roughly five times their allocation under the NOAA formula. Commercial harvesters who are not processors will receive 35 percent ($17.3 million) of the relief funds. The seafood processing sector, which includes both shore-based processors and numerous commercial fishing vessels with processing permits that freeze, participate in dive fisheries or direct market their catch, will receive 32 percent ($15.8 million) of the disaster relief funds. There are well over 500 seafood processors permitted in Alaska, and most of the permit holders are community-based commercial fishing vessels.  Subsistence households will receive $2.5 million and aquaculture businesses, such as shellfish farmers, will receive $500,000 and the remaining $700,000 will support administrative costs.

ADF&G justified the re-allocation based on the agency’s unexplained assumption that the charter sector experienced disproportionate losses caused by travel restrictions and health mandates.  As explained in a comment letter from ALFA and the Alaska Troller’s Association (ATA), ADF&G ignored the significant travel restrictions placed on fishing workers and crew members entering the state.  Even after Governor Dunleavy relaxed quarantine requirements for most travelers in June, he maintained an expensive two-week quarantine requirement imposed only on commercial fishing participants and seafood processing workers.  Processors incurred an estimated $50 million in COVID caused costs needed to test, transport and quarantine employees and observe health protocols in seafood plants.  

While every coastal state’s charter sector suffered significant economic harm and reductions in fishing trips due to  health mandates, social distancing requirements and other COVID-caused factors, Alaska is the only state that re-allocated a significant amount of funds from one sector to another.  Other fishing states, after recognizing the serious impacts on the charter sector still utilized the NOAA formula or made minor adjustments so that fund disbursement remained consistent with the CARES Act goal of supporting fishermen and seafood sector recovery.  ALFA comment letter explained that restaurant closures and COVID-caused impacts on Asian markets resulted in 40-60 percent reductions in prices paid to our fishermen in 2020. Other fishing states considered these impacts in their spend plans, noting that prices for some seafood products, particularly those destined for restaurants as well as other harms to food supply and distribution chains caused “significant losses” and “sharp declines in demand” and “some of the lowest prices ever.”  However, ADF&G did not consider these impacts as significant enough to warrant providing processors with their fair share of the CARES Act relief funds.

The new plan did respond to concerns about residency requirements which discriminated against commercial fishermen.  ADF&G’s initial plan allowed charter operators residing in other states to apply for relief funds but excluded non-resident commercial fishermen.  The second plan then effectively excluded non-resident commercial fishermen by requiring an Alaska business license.  The final draft spend plan now allows commercial fishermen from other states who meet all other eligibility requirement to apply for relief funds so long as they do not apply for fisheries disaster relief in any other state.  

This change affects many Alaska commercial fishermen who reside in Washington or other states.  The state of Washington also submitted its draft plan in December and the agency’s press release indicates that Washington residents who fish in Alaska will be eligible for relief in Washington.  Washington State’s plan has a shorter time period for calculating revenue losses, however, which reduces the program’s accessibility to many Alaska fishermen.  Application periods for relief in California and Oregon have already closed.

The final draft also provided additional estimates related to the “share payment systems” for all sectors.  Actual payment amounts will not be known until all applications are received.  Each sector will have its total allocation divided by the total number of shares which will then become the base share value.  For the $17.3 commercial harvester allocation, there will be one share per eligible permit - there are 18,926 Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) permits, 732 CFEC vessel permits and 5,301 NOAA Fisheries permits, or a total of 24,958 potential shares.  If all 24,958 permits and vessel licenses were eligible for a share, the base share would be $692.  For example, a commercial harvester who owned a vessel, a salmon troll permit and halibut quota would receive $2,076.  All applications must be received before the actual per share value is known.

ADF&G developed a seven-tier system for distributing the $15.8 million allocated to Alaska’s seafood processing sector based on average wholesale revenues.  The lower tiers include processors with revenues between $30,000 and $75,000 which would receive one share, and in tier 2, processors with revenues between $75,000 and $500,000 would receive 2 shares.  At the top end of the scale, processors with larger revenues of between $20 million and $50 million would receive 6 shares, and processors with revenues above $50 million would receive 7 shares.  If the entire pool of eligible processors submitted qualifying applications, ADF&G estimates there would be 1,150 total possible shares, making each share worth $13,729.

ADF&G will also implement a share system for the charter sector’s $13.3 million allocation, with one share per guide or business, one-half share per registered vessel, and 2 shares for holders of a combined Guide/business license.  ADF&G estimates a total of 5,790 potentially eligible shares, with a base value of $2,301 per share.

There were over 200 public comments on the first and second draft plans.  The final draft plan and public comments are available at: Ongoing Issues - Hot Topics and Issues, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

An updated summary of eligibility requirements and other spend plan components for fishermen and processors is available on ALFA’s COVID-19 page. 

Alaskans Own Seafood Donation Program provides over 500,000 seafood meals to families in need this year

Sitka, Alaska - With the end of 2020 quickly approaching, Alaskans Own is proud to share that it distributed over 533,000 donated seafood meals (or 302,000 pounds of seafood) to more than 100,000 families in need throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest this year. The donated seafood was sourced from a variety of Alaska-based fishermen and suppliers, including Seafood Producers Cooperative and Sitka Sound Seafoods in Sitka, and Northline Seafoods in Bristol Bay. The seafood donations were made possible by funding from Catch Together, Multiplier, The Alaska Community Foundation and affiliate Sitka Legacy Fund, First Bank of Alaska, Sealaska, and a host of individual and business donors. Many community partners stepped up to assist with seafood distribution logistics, including the Wave Foundation, Chignik Intertribal Coalition, and the Armed Services YMCA of Alaska.

To read the full press release, please click here

Young Fishermen’s Development Act Passes Congress

Act Creates National Grant Program to Support Next Generation of America’s Fishermen

On Sunday, December 20th, the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) and commercial fishermen around the country are cheering the passage of the Young Fishermen’s Development Act (H.R. 1240, S. 496), which passed in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. The bipartisan bill, introduced by Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) in the Senate and Representative Don Young (R-Alaska) in the House, passed unanimously in both chambers of Congress and establishes the first ever national program to train, educate, and foster the next generation of commercial fishermen.

The Young Fishermen’s Development Act (YFDA) was first proposed in 2015 by the Fishing Communities Coalition (FCC); a national advocacy group that represents over 1,000 independent fishermen and business owners from Maine to Florida to California and Alaska. ALFA - a founding member of FCC - and others have spent the last five years working with members of Congress to develop the YFDA, which directs the National Sea Grant in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish a Young Fishermen's Development Grant Program to provide training, education, outreach, and technical assistance initiatives for young fishermen.

To read the entire press release, click here.

$4.1 Million Awarded for Electronic Monitoring

Fishermen’s news online

November 17th, 2020

Grants totaling $4.1 million have been awarded for fisheries electronic monitoring and reporting projects in 14 states, including Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington state, plus Puerto Rico. The grants, which will generate $4.8 million in matching funds, were awarded through the Electronic Monitoring and Reporting Grant Program, a partnership of NFWF, NOAA, the Walton Family Foundation and the Kingfisher Foundation.

Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association received $185,104 to develop improved image quality and cost effectiveness in Alaska’s fixed gear electronic monitoring program. ALFA contributed $213,500, for a total of $398,604 for the project.

See article on Fishermen’s News Online Here: https://fnonlinenews.blogspot.com/2020/11/41-million-awarded-for-electronic.html

Seafood Trade Relief Program Deadline Approaching December 14, 2020

Fishermen applying for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Seafood Trade Relief Program need to get their applications in by December 14, 2020.   The program provides roughly $530 million for disbursement as payments on a per pound basis to fishermen impacted by tariffs on sixteen commercially harvested marine fish species.  Fish caught by Alaska and West Coast small boat hook-and-line and fixed gear fishermen such as tuna, salmon, sablefish, geoducks, Dungeness, king and tanner crabs are among the qualifying species.  The Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency is administering the program.   

Fishermen can apply for the payments through Monday, December 14, 2020.    To apply, commercial fishermen must complete a “2020 Seafood Trade Relief Program Application” and submit the application to their local Farm Service Agency office.  Eligible applicants must have been active commercial fishermen in 2020 and have harvested specific seafood species in 2019 with a valid federal or state fishing permit or license.  Applicants will have to certify the amount of commercial landings in pounds for the 2019 season.  

The payment amount per fishermen depends on the amount of pounds harvested.  Payment rates reflect the estimated severity of the impact of trade disruption.  Sablefish and salmon payments will be $.10 and $.16 per pound, respectively with higher amounts of $.47 per pound for Dungeness crab and $.76 per pound for geoducks.  If a fisherman caught 100,000 pounds of salmon, the Farm Service agency would calculate the payment as 100,000 x $.16.  There is a $250,000 cap on payments.  Fishermen with an average adjusted gross income of $900,000 or more may or may not be eligible and should contact a Farm Service Agency representative for criteria and other information applicable to this income threshold.

In some cases the Farm Service Agency may require fishermen to submit additional documentation for eligibility, including commercial fishing permits, documentation of landings and other forms.  Agency personnel processing the applications have found it helpful when fishermen submit processor payment summaries or similar documents with the application.  The application includes multiple forms but many of the forms for individual commercial fishermen are for registration purposes and require just basic personal information.

The online application and other information about the Seafood Trade Relief Program is available at:

https://www.farmers.gov/Seafood

The Alaska Service Center is in Palmer, and its website, including contact information for staff administering the STRP is here:

https://www.fsa.usda.gov/state-offices/Alaska/index

Fishermen in other states can find their local Farm Agency Service Center through the following link:

https://www.farmers.gov/service-center-locator

There is a Call Center available for fishermen who may need individual support with the application process: (877) 508-8364 and a powerpoint about the program available here:

https://www.fsa.usda.gov/Assets/USDA-FSA-Public/usdafiles/Outreach/Presentations/STRP/STRP%20Producer%20Webinar-for%20pub%20site-no%20speaker%20notes-2020Sept25.pdf

ADF&G Releases Second Disaster Relief Draft Spend Plan with Changes to Eligibility Criteria and Payment Tiers

ADF&G RELEASES SECOND DISASTER RELIEF DRAFT SPEND PLAN WITH

CHANGES TO ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA AND PAYMENT TIERS

On November 9, 2020, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) released

its second “Section 12005 CARES Act Relief for Fisheries Participants Second Draft

Spend Plan” which will distribute $49 million in fisheries disaster relief funds to

eligible participants from the commercial fishing, seafood processing, charter fishing,

aquaculture and subsistence sectors. ADF&G’s second draft spend plan allocates

over a quarter of the funds – 27 percent - to the charter sector. Commercial fishing

vessel owners who are not processors will receive 35 percent of the allocation.

Seafood processors, including numerous commercial fishing vessels that freeze,

participate in dive fisheries or direct market their catch, will receive 32 percent of the

disaster relief funds.

The second draft spend plan makes some changes to the October draft spend plan

which include an extended time period for calculating revenue declines, eligibility for

a small number of commercial fishermen who reside in states outside of Alaska, and

changes to the tiered payment system. Eligible commercial fishermen must have one

of the following permits or licenses: (1) a 2020 CFEC commercial vessel license; (2) a

2020 CFEC Commercial fishing permit; (3) a 2020 NOAA Fisheries License Limitation

Permit; (4) a 2020 NOAA fisheries IFQ permit and/or (5) NOAA fisheries crab

rationalization IFQ permit. Eligible applicants will receive 1 share per permit.

Payment amounts are unknown until all applications are received and the total

number of shares counted to determine the value of a single share.

Eligible applicants must have fished in 2018 and 2019 and must certify that they

have experience a greater than 35% loss in fishery revenue from January 1, 2020 to

November 30, 2020 as a direct or indirect result of COVID-19 relative to average

gross fishing revenue the past five years for same time period. Those applicants who

did not fish all five years can use average gross revenue for their years in operation.

Applicants must also certify that if they received other pandemic related aid,

including unemployment, grants, or loans that won’t be repaid, the sum of fishery

revenue + pandemic aid (not including loans to be repaid) must not exceed average

annual revenue from 2015 to 2019. Self-certification will be sufficient to verify the

losses, but applicants must attest that they have and will retain records documenting

the losses.

One of the changes to eligibility requirements is that commercial fishermen who are

residents of other states may apply, but only if they have a business license issued by

Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. It is

unclear if this change will help non-resident commercial fishermen. In June, the

state of Alaska excluded most commercial fishermen from the Alaska Cares Act

grant program by requiring a state business license. Alaska exempts most

commercial fisheries businesses from the state business license requirement. As a

result, most commercial fishermen were not eligible for the AK CARES grants until

the state expanded program eligibility in August.

Many commercial fishermen, including freezer vessels, many dive operations, direct

marketers and some tender vessels will apply for relief funds allocated to the

processing sector. Processors must hold a 2020 processing permit issued by Alaska

Department of Environmental Conservation and processing vessels must be

homeported in AK. Eligible processors must have a minimum average annual

wholesale value revenue of $30,000 from 2015-2019. The spend plan establishes

seven tiers based on average wholesale revenues to determine payment amounts.

For example, processors with revenues between $30,000 and $75,000 receive one

share, and processors with revenues between $75,000 and $500,000 receive 2

shares. At the top end of the scale, processors with larger revenues of between $20

million and $50 million would receive 6 shares, and processors with revenues above

$50 million would receive 7 shares.

The second draft plan is available at:

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/home/news/hottopics/pdfs/cares_act_spending

plan_110920.pdf

ADF&G is allowing a public comment period through 5:00 p.m. November 15, 2020.

Fishermen can send comments to dfg.com.caresact@alasak.gov.

ADF&G's Second Spend Plan Maintains Disproportionate Allocation of CARES Act Fishery Relief Funds to Charter Sector

ADF&G’S SECOND SPEND PLAN MAINTAINS DISPROPORTIONATE ALLOCATION OF CARES ACT FISHERY RELIEF FUNDS TO CHARTER SECTOR

On November 9, 2020, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) released its second “Section 12005 CARES Act Relief for Fisheries Participants Second Draft Spend Plan” which will distribute $49 million in fisheries disaster relief funds to eligible participants from the commercial fishing, seafood processing, charter fishing, aquaculture and subsistence sectors.  ADF&G’s second draft spend plan allocates over a quarter of the funds – 27 percent ($13.2 million) - to the charter sector. Commercial fishing vessel owners who are not processors will receive 35 percent ($17.2 million) of the allocation. The seafood processing sector, which includes both shore-based processors and numerous commercial fishing vessels with processing permits that freeze, participate in dive fisheries or direct market their catch, will receive 32 percent ($15.7 million) of the disaster relief funds.  There are well over 500 seafood processors permitted in Alaska, and most of the permit holders are community-based commercial fishing vessels.  The spend plan allocates most of the remaining funds to the aquaculture and subsistence sectors while leaving an unexplained omission of $1 million from the plan.

ALFA and other fishery stakeholders have repeatedly requested that the Department use the approach of other major fishing states such as Massachusetts, which evaluated 2020 fishery market trends and other fishery data while developing its spend plan and allocated its funds by sector using NOAA Fisheries’ formula for distributing the CARES Act funds to each coastal fishing state. Other coastal state spend plans also attempted to allocate fishermen’s funds fairly by identifying the number of license holders and businesses in each sector. 

NOAA Fisheries allocated $50 million to Alaska based on multi-year revenue information from commercial and charter fishing sectors, aquaculture businesses, and processing/seafood sectors showing that nearly 60 percent of Alaska’s fishery revenue derived from seafood processors.  Commercial fishermen generated 35.2 percent of the state’s fishery revenue, and charter operators generated the remaining 5.5 percent.  ALFA requested that ADF&G should use these percentages as a primary basis for allocating disaster relief funds between the sectors.  

Instead, ADF&G’s spend plan explains that the agency increased the charter allocation to 27 percent to mitigate losses caused by travel restrictions and health mandates.  This approach deprives commercial fishermen who hold processor permits and shorebased processors from access to over $10 million in CARES Act relief funds allocated to Alaska’s processing sector under NOAA’s formula.  ADF&G ignores the fact that many Alaska-based processors have also incurred significant expenses in order to operate under the state’s health mandates and travel restrictions, and despite precautions, some have shut down due to COVID-19 outbreaks.  The ADF&G spend plan does not provide any explanation for the state’s assumption that the charter sector experienced more cumulative economic harm than commercial fisheries and seafood processors.

Alaska’s fisheries produce more seafood volume than all the other states combined - nearly 60 percent of all commercial fishery landings in the United States by volume, and one-third of the nation’s commercial fishery economic value.   The seafood industry is second only to oil and gas in terms of state jobs, making it important to utilize the limited funds in a way that fairly allocates relief.  ADF&G’s allocation does not reflect the relative importance of the seafood sector, which employs more workers than any other industry in Alaska.  Available data from the McDowell Group’s 2017 report, “The Economic Value of Alaska’s Seafood Industry” identify a total of 16,500 Alaska residents and 9,400 home-ported fishing vessels that, combined with non-resident fishermen, generated $1.7 billion in ex-vessel value in 2016.  The state’s seafood processing industry employs 26,500 Alaska residents and generated a wholesale value of $4.2 billion in 2016.  

In contrast, according to a 2019 NOAA Fisheries report measuring economic contributions from the charter fishing sector, “the saltwater recreational charter fishing sector is small relative to the commercial seafood sector,” contributing a total economic output of $166 million, or 4 percent of the $4.4 billion total fishery economic output to Alaska’s economy.  Most saltwater charter businesses are concentrated in portions of Southeast and Southcentral Alaska.  This means that funds which would otherwise provide relief to processors and the numerous commercial fishing vessels with processor permits that operate in rural coastal fishing communities throughout the state will instead accrue to charter businesses concentrated in just a few communities – or even to residents of other states. 

ADF&G’s initial draft spend plan allowed charter operators residing in other states to apply for relief funds but excluded non-resident commercial fishermen.  The second plan now allows commercial fishermen who are residents of other states to apply, but only if they have a business license issued by Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development (DCCED).  Alaska exempts most commercial fishing businesses from the DCCED business license requirement.  As a result, the second plan effectively excludes non-resident commercial fishermen from the program – but includes non-resident charter businesses.

Most major coastal fishing state spend plans reflected an evaluation of data showing the relative economic contributions of the sectors or the number of affected businesses and workers.  Their spend plans evaluated changes in the ex-vessel values of their fisheries and compiled data identifying of the total number of eligible participants by sector.  But Alaska’s spend plan uses hypothetical examples based on “back of the napkin math” to illustrate how the state will calculate direct payments rather than using readily available data to assess the number of total shares or estimate payment amounts.

ADF&G is allowing a public comment period through 5:00 p.m. November 15, 2020.  ALFA encourages commercial fishermen, processors and community members to comment on this unfair allocation.  The second draft plan is available at: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/home/news/hottopics/pdfs/cares_act_spendingplan_110920.pdf 

Fishermen can send comments to dfg.com.caresact@alasak.gov.  

An updated summary of eligibility requirements and other spend plan components for fishermen and processors is available on ALFA’s COVID-19 page.   

Bycatch Becoming Massive Issue in BSAI and GOA: First Halibut, Now Sablefish, Soon Crab

November 6, 2020

Ten harvester groups from Alaska urged NOAA Fisheries Administrator Chris Oliver to consider “area closures, payback provisions, and even hard cap inseason closure authority ”to reduce the overharvest of sablefish bycatch in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska.

For the second year in a row, the Bering Sea trawl fishery caught more sablefish as bycatch than their allocation allowed -- by 484% this year, after a 356% overage last year. Together, that amounts to over 11 million pounds in the last two years alone.

Peggy Parker
SeafoodNews.com
1-781-861-1441
peggyparker@urnerbarry.com