In Japan, fishermen have filed a lawsuit to stop the disposal of treated nuclear waste water into the Pacific Ocean, arguing that it violates their fishing rights. Spurred by drastic cuts to haddock, hake, and cod quotas, a New England fisheries association is suing the federal government, challenging the quota cuts...

We continued to get quite a bit of fishing reports from longliners this week, and I want to share a big 'thank you' to everyone who has sent thoughts. And to everyone who hasn't: we can't be friends anymore. Kidding. But again, it's never too late...

Permit activity was relatively slow this week. We sold a 3A 6-angler charter halibut permit at $103,100, down from preseason sales in the $110,000-$120,000 range, and a Cook Inlet drift permit at $25,000, down from the last few sales at $28,000 last month. We have a...

Permit prices statewide are starting to shake out, or rather, shake down. Our lowest asking price for an Area M drift permit is now $135,000. Bristol Bay drift prices start at $140,000, with a current offer of $131,000. Southeast drift prices start at $55,000. We have a new offer of...

Heads up to longline and pot vessel owners: the electronic monitoring (EM) pool enrollment is open through November 1. Opting in allows you to skip carrying human observers and fish in more than one regulatory area per trip. Onboard cameras are installed on your vessel at no...

Well, third time's the charm, apparently, because you guys DELIVERED this week (pun intended). Thank you so much to everyone who sent me their thoughts on the state of IFQ fisheries. (Side note: it's never too late, I'm always interested in hearing reports from...

Okay friends, I'm a little disappointed. Of the thousands of you reading this newsletter, not enough have reached out with thoughts on the IFQ fisheries. I know you're busy, you're fishing, you're burned out, but we really do want to hear what you're seeing on the grounds, what you think about the...

Governor Dunleavy has appointed Mike Porcaro as one of the two commissioners of the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC). Porcaro, an advertising consultant and talk show host, has no experience in the commercial fishing industry, which some view as...

If you're not ready to rub salt in your wounds, skip this next paragraph: University of Washington’s Fisheries Research Institute published their preliminary forecast for Bristol Bay's 2024 season and it's not great. They're predicting a total run of...

IFQ activity is picking up slightly, with a sale of 3BBB at $26.00, and some interest in 3A quota. It's still not great, though. Some younger fishermen are seeing these depressed prices as a long-sought opportunity to get into the market. Unfortunately, it comes on the heels of...

The State of Alaska Division of Investments will be in Homer September 21-22 to help with new loan applications, loan extension applications, and answer any questions you have about...

Permits activity is picking up a bit, although permit values are continuing to drop. We sold a Bristol Bay drift permit this week at $130,000. Last year, those permits were selling around $260,000. Math is hard, but that's a pretty easy one to figure out. We have permits listed as low as...

Alright, I've run out of creative things to say about the quota market and IFQ fisheries this week. So instead, why don't we switch things up a bit - how about YOU tell US what you think? Send us an email with your thoughts on the status of the fishery or the market, and we'll share some in upcoming...

National Fisherman named Alaska fishermen MJ Jackson and Matt Alward among their 2023 Highliners! We all know how much these two contribute to Alaska's fisheries. Thanks for all you do, and congrats on the recognition! The Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR) and the Pacific Coast...

Permit activity remains pretty slow, as it usually is this time of year. Bristol Bay permits are moving at $140,000 this week. Our lowest asking price is currently $140,000 and our highest offer is $125,000. In the past, sales start to pick up...

Halibut deliveries are picking back up, which has caused a decline in dock prices. In Homer, boats loaded with halibut have been stuck in the harbor waiting to deliver as buyers struggle to keep up. Yesterday, some deliveries...

Trident announced massive price cuts but, as Alaska Fish News points out, the value of salmon roe has skyrocketed in recent years. How does that factor into what fishermen get paid? Meanwhile, farmed salmon imports are up 10% from this time last year, and are ranging 11-23% higher than the 3-year average. Awesome. Recognizing that coming up with capital for fishing ...

As fishermen across the state are reeling from the low sockeye prices (no pun intended), Trident announced a $0.20 all-in statewide price for chums, and their intention to stop buying salmon almost entirely on September 1, effectively cutting short the fishing season. They'll continue...

The quota market is starting to show some signs of life (albeit small ones). Recent sales include unfished 3ACU at $38.00, the same price the last 3A unblocked sold for, and 4,900 pounds of fished 3ACB at $30.53. After factoring in the 18% cut in the catch limit for area 3A, these values are almost half of what 3A quota was worth last year...

The Homer City Council is holding a work session on the harbor expansion on Monday, July 24. If you're in the area and you care about the harbor project, join us! The USDA bought over $100 million in Alaska seafood this week, with OBI, Trident, and Peter Pan getting large purchase awards...

A Cook Inlet drift permit sold at $28,000 this week, on par with the last sale, but many expect those prices to creep up as strong reports from the fishing grounds continue to come in. Time will tell! We're starting to hear rumors of Bristol Bay drift permits selling at pretty low prices, but so far they're unconfirmed...

In permit news, we listed an Alaska power troll permit for $27,500, which is lower than recent sales; prices may be dropping because of the ongoing lawsuit to shut down the Chinook troll fishery. Bristol Bay drift permits continue to creep down in...

Final reminder: for those of you with deckhands, 1099s must be postmarked by January 31! Governor Dunleavy addressed the Bycatch Review Task Force's recommendations in his State of the State speech, noting a need to sustain our fisheries and manage Alaska's fisheries for the...

Hot off the press! The IPHC announced the new numbers and season dates for the 2023 halibut season this morning. The season will be open March 10 through December 7. Below are the commercial catch limits...

We're headed down to Victoria, BC, for the IPHC Annual Meeting, which kicks off on Monday. At this point, it's really anyone's guess as to what the Commission will do with regards to catch limits. There seems to be a push, primarily from Area 3 stakeholders, for a conservative approach...

For those of you with deckhands, 1099s must be postmarked by January 31! Sunny Rice talks Alaska Sea Grant, fisheries, invasive species, and new projects on the horizon. If you don't know Sunny and the Sea Grant program, you're missing out! The Alaska Mariculture Cluster recently received $49 million from the feds. Here's how they plan to spend it...

In permit news: we have a cash offer of $180,000 for a Bristol Bay drift permit. So far, sellers haven't been willing to go that low - most of our sellers have either countered or declined. We sold a PWS herring seine permit at $15,000 this week, and we still have...

Ayoooo it's tax time! If you make at least 2/3 of your money fishing, don't forget to pay your estimated tax for 2022 by January 17. If you do not pay your estimated tax by January 17, you must file your return and pay all tax due by March 1 to avoid a penalty...

Quota interest is starting to pick up, we sold unfished CGCU at $9.50 on 2023 TAC this week, but there's still little excitement. Members of the IPHC Conference Board are working diligently to come up with suggestions for 2023 catch limits, which has...

In permit news: we sold a Bristol Bay setnet permit for $78,000 this week, up from the previous sale at $65,000 before the 2022 season. We currently have 16 Bristol Bay drift permits listed for sale; our lowest posted asking price is $194,000. Our most recent sales...

NMFS Financial Services Division is looking for a new Loan Specialist, a position which can be held in Juneau, AK, Seattle, WA, or Lacey, WA, and can be done via telework up to four days per week. If you work in finance and you're looking for...

In permit news: we sold a Cook Inlet drift permit at $35,000 this week, up from the last sale about a week ago at $32,500, making it the highest sale price of the year. A PWS drift permit sold at $103,000 this week, up from sales around...

If you missed the NPFMC meeting this month, check out their December newsletter here. The next big item on everyone's radar is the upcoming IPHC Annual Meeting, held in Victoria, BC, January 23-27, when the halibut TAC will be set. We'll be there, will you?

For those of you who lean towards procrastination, you have a few days left to cram in a cash quota purchase before RAM stops processing quota transfers for the season. They'll pick back up again in February or March...

The State of Alaska is working on requesting an Economic Injury Disaster declaration from the Small Business Administration, for businesses affected by the federal crab closures. This would allow the SBA to offer low interest Economic Injury Disaster Loans. But, in order to do so...

In permit news: we sold a Bristol Bay drift permit for $190,000 this week, down from the previous sale at $196,000. Our lowest asking price is $200,000, and while we don't currently have any posted offers, there is quite a bit of...

Congratulations! You made it through the end of the halibut and black cod season. Overall, the commercial fleet caught 86% of the halibut TAC, landing 17,539,060 pounds (excluding CDQ landings), and 74% of ...

Erik Velsko, a Bering Sea and Bristol Bay fisherman, Homer resident, and previous NPFMC AP member, wrote a knockout opinion piece on bycatch, MSA, and federal fisheries management policy. It's well written, he doesn't...

In permit news: we sold a 3A 5-angler charter halibut permit at $85,000 this week, down from the previous sale of a 5-angler permit at $95,000 before the season. The NPFMC will issue a...

If you missed it, IPHC published the survey modeling (graphs) last month, and none of them looked good. The numbers (NPUE) of halibut are down 8% coastwide, the weight for legal fish (O32 WPUE) is down 18% coastwide and the...

The EPA issued its Recommended Determination today, the next step in the process to (hopefully) enact permanent protections for Bristol Bay salmon using the Clean Water Act. This is big news, and the farthest...

In permit news: a Bristol Bay drift permit sold this week at $196,000, down from last week's sale at $200,000 and $205,000 the week before. Our lowest current asking price is...

A small piece of 2CCB sold at $52.00 fished, this week, and a low offer of $40.00 per pound for 3A unblocked was declined by the seller. Otherwise, the market remains slow. The IPHC released their raw survey data...

In their second-to-last meeting on Monday, the Alaska Bycatch Review Task Force (ABRT) declined to pass a recommendation to redefine pelagic trawl gear as bottom trawl gear, given recent data showing that pelagic trawl gear spends...

In permit news: we sold a Bristol Bay drift permit at $205,000 this week, which is the lowest sale we're aware of post 2022 season. In fact, this is the lowest permits have been since about...

The quota market is still stagnant. As the season wraps up, many fishermen have already called it quits for the year and others are still scratching out the last of their pounds, racing against the weather. The IPHC Interim Meeting is coming up...

Election day is Tuesday, November 8. If you fish (or live) anywhere in Alaska, these elections affect you. If you'll be out fishing or won't be able to vote in person on Tuesday, make sure to vote early...

Permit sales are picking up after a slow fall. A Cook Inlet drift permit sold at $30,000 this week, the same as the previous sale two weeks ago. We sold a PWS herring seine permit at...

The biggest state fisheries news this week was ADFG's monster GHL for the 2023 Kodiak Tanner fishery: 5.8 million pounds for Kodiak, 400,000 pounds for Chignik, and 1.1 million pounds for the Southern Peninsula. That's a lot of Tanners! In fact...

There's no two ways around it: the quota market is SLOW. Sellers are dropping their asking prices, but buyers aren't taking the bait. The market is flooded with both halibut and sablefish quota of...

ALFA's Virtual Fall Expo is set for November 9. Maddie will be presenting on the permit and quota systems, and buying and selling permits, quota and vessels. Other topics include...

We've teamed up with Northwest Farm Credit Services and Sea-Mountain Insurance to offer a FREE workshop on purchasing, financing, and insuring your next commercial fishing vessel!

Fisheries are driven by numbers and there will be more ups than downs in 2022 catches for Alaska fishermen based on poundages set by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. The NPFMC is a federal advisory...

It’s a fish trifecta for Alaska’s 2021 salmon season! The fishery produced the third highest catch, fish poundage and value on record dating back to 1975. According to preliminary harvests and values by region from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game...

Governor Mike Dunleavy is the “decider” for winners and losers in Alaska’s salmon season as the state careens towards a shutdown on July 1 due to no budget. As salmon fisheries swell, pink slips are in the hands of 15,000 state workers, including hundreds...

Alaskans who are engaged in or interested in mariculture are invited to become founding members in a new group that will advance the growing industry across the state. The newly formed Alaska Mariculture Alliance (AMA) is a private non-profit successor...

Eager buyers are awaiting Alaska salmon from fisheries that are opening almost daily across the state and it’s easy to track catches and market trends for every region. Fishery managers forecast a statewide catch topping...

Alaskan interest in growing kelp continues to outpace that of shellfish, based on applications filed during the annual window that runs from January through April. The number of 2021applicants dropped to just...

Grundens is using recycled plastics from old fishing gear for a new line of rugged casual wear, and the first batch contains contributions from Cordova. Grundens, whose motto is “We are fishing,” is the go-to brand for outer wear and foul-weather gear for mariners around the world. The company, which originated in...

Fishing for shellfish in Prince William Sound has been hit and miss this spring, with the Tanner crab fishery catch down significantly, but the pot shrimp fishery experiencing good catches and hot sales so far. The Cordova Times reports that...

Alaska’s lone seafood marketing arm gets zero budget from the state and to date, has received no pandemic funds. The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute is hoping to get a breather from the more than $1 billion coming to Alaska in the latest round of federal relief dollars under the...

Togiak herring got off to a slow start last week working on a record quota of 47,300 tons, in spite of increased participation, according to KDLG Public Radio in Dillingham. Ten seiners showed up for the season, along with ...

Alaska seafood has been getting a lot of national attention lately, and while the pandemic has been a struggle for many fishermen, it has been something of a boon for marketers. Third generation Alaska fisherman Hannah Heimbuch got her star turn on...

The budget for Alaska’s commercial fisheries division is facing no cuts for the upcoming fiscal year, assuming the current numbers make it through the Legislature. “The governor's proposed budget is at about $72.8 million, which is a slight increase from...

NOAA Fisheries has been pushing back against what it calls “disinformation” about a picture circulating on social media lately of two orca whales taken as bycatch in a trawl net in Alaska. They don't dispute that the photo is real, or say that...

Are toxins from road runoff a threat to salmon in Anchorage’s most popular fishing streams? A Go Fund Me campaign has been launched so Alaskans can chip in to find out. The push stems from an organic...

When the pandemic struck last year, some were calling for the State to shut down the Bristol Bay salmon season to avoid bringing thousands of workers from out of state into the small community of Dillingham to keep from overwhelming the limited health care system. Instead, processors spent millions quarantining...

“Insatiable” is the word being used to describe the demand for snow crab as the world’s largest fishery got underway on April 5 at Eastern Canada. And while more snow crab will be available this year, buyers expect a tight supply. Global seafood supplier...

The halibut season is off to a slow start in Homer, with so few deliveries that National Marine Fisheries Service doesn't list the landings because of privacy concerns. What landings have taken place on the Kenai Peninsula have been in Seward, which has seen 172,674 pounds delivered as of Monday. Even Kodiak, which...

Alaska fishermen displaced by the Covid pandemic are being recruited for seafaring jobs aboard U.S. cargo barges, tankers, towboats, military support vessels, research and cruise ships and more...

Tribes in Bristol Bay are collecting signatures to push the Alaska congressional delegation to provide permanent protection for the area through federal regulation. On their website, United Tribes of Bristol Bay say that there are two things that need to happen to...

The mask requirement for all persons aboard fishing vessels still stands and Alaska’s U.S. Senators are adding their clout to have it removed.

It’s “back to the future” for Alaska canned salmon as more Americans choose it for its health benefits and as an easy-to-use ingredient for sandwiches, salads and more. Salmon canning in Alaska started in...

After dealing with the closure of several processing plants in Dutch Harbor and Akutan due to COVID-19 outbreaks, Bering Sea crab fishermen now have to manage another costly and time-consuming problem: not enough fuel in St. Paul in the Pribilof Islands. By regulation under the...

Halibut prices for Alaska fishermen for 2021 started out significantly higher than last year, despite sluggish demand and transportation logjams in some regions. The Pacific halibut fishery opened...

It is pretty much old news that 2020 was not a great year for salmon in Alaska. Catches were down, prices took a hit due to the pandemic and fish didn't do what they were supposed to as climate change reared its ugly head. This year is looking better, largely due...

Alaska’s salmon harvest for 2021 is projected to be a big one with total catches producing a haul that could be 61% higher than last year, due mostly to an expected surge of pinks. Fishery managers are predicting ...

Alaska fisherman, doctor and former candidate for U.S. Senate Al Gross wrote an op-ed in the Anchorage Daily News on Monday proposing trading the land under the Pebble Mine prospect to the federal government for protection in exchange for extending state waters out to12 miles, from the current 3 miles. Gross argued that...

It’s likely that no other fishing regions of the world reach out for stakeholder input as much as Alaska does to gather policy-shaping ground truth by state and federal managers and organizations. That’s demonstrated by two...

For fishermen waiting to receive their halibut and sablefish IFQ permits in the mail as usual, the National Marine Fisheries Service is no longer sending them out. Fishermen have to...

The Pacific halibut fishery opens on March 6 and increased catch limits combined with a cautiously optimistic outlook for the near future have fanned interest in buying shares of the popular fish. In January, the International Pacific Halibut Commission...

The International Pacific Halibut Commission is seeking information from the past two years about the financial impact of COVID-19 in a trio of surveys for the commercial, processing and charter sectors. In a press statement, the IPHC stated “In order to...

Alaskans are preparing for another salmon season of poor to average runs to most regions. The big exception once again is at Bristol Bay where another massive return of more than 51 million sockeyes is expected. Managers predict that...

The global COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc in the fishing industry with processors continuing to pay tens of millions of dollars in related costs, the largest processing plant in North America being shut down for weeks, and the Coast Guard issuing...

Fishermen must wear masks while they are underway, even while sleeping, and the Coast Guard intends to enforce it. That’s an edict issued as a public health emergency by the Center for Disease Control in...

The North Pacific Fisheries Management Council is struggling with how to deal with three strong year classes of sablefish that are being caught in the directed fishery that are too small to be of much value but must be...

“Eye-popping” seafood sales continue; One Alaska king salmon is worth the same as two barrels of oil...

The International Pacific Halibut Commission held their 97th annual meeting this week, and voted to increase the quota in all areas of Alaska. The quotas in Alaska have mostly been going down for several years, with area 3A, the largest area in...

The IPHC voted this morning on the final catch limits for the 2021 Pacific halibut fishery. Here are the catch limits for the directed commercial fishery and the TCEY (Total Constant Exploitable Yield), or the total mortality from all sources for halibut over 26" for 2021.

Pacific halibut harvesters got some rare good news last week: increased catches in 2021 along with a longer fishing season. At its annual meeting that ended on January 25, the International Pacific Halibut Commission boosted the coastwide removals for 2021 to 39 million pounds, a 6.53% increase over...

The Canadian government is phasing out all of the open net pen salmon farms in the Discovery Islands in British Columbia over the next 18 months, under pressure from the First Nations, according to multiple news sources. Seafood Source reports that the mandate...

New ocean-related jobs, investments and opportunities will be seeded by an ambitious Blue Pipeline Venture Studio that connects marine business entrepreneurs with the technology, contacts and finances they need to grow. “The state's blue economy includes anything that takes...

Trawl fishermen targeting pollock in the Gulf of Alaska have collectively agreed to stand down from the January 20 start of the fishery in order to target the fish in their more lucrative phase of harvesting the roe, instead of the flesh of the fish which is used more in...

The single biggest hit to fishermen from the Covid-19 virus is lower dock prices, according to Alaska and West Coast harvesters, and 98% said their businesses have been badly bashed by the pandemic. That’s based on survey results compiled...

The Sitka Tribe of Alaska has won a second lawsuit challenging the State of Alaska's assertion that they are providing “reasonable opportunity” for subsistence harvest of herring roe in an ongoing battle pitting seiners and ADF&G against the Tribe. The latest ruling...

Is it a coincidence that one of the world’s largest mineral deposits is located near the world’s largest sockeye salmon spawning grounds at Bristol Bay? And if the likes of a Pebble Mine removed the bulk of those deep deposits that also create the world’s magnetic field, could it...

After a week of meetings, the NPFMC voted Thursay and Friday to adopt the recommended ABC, resulting in increases to the 2021 sablefish TAC of 25% across the GOA, 82% in BS, and 131% in AI. While the Council suggested that the science supports an increased catch, stakeholder concerns about the...

Below are ex-vessel values of sablefish over the last 20 years. These values do not represent seasonal highs, lows, or averages, rather they are a snapshot of prices midseason for each year. Do you have prices or data to share? Email us at office@alaskaboat.com. We appreciate being able to...

Upper Cook Inlet commercial salmon fishermen are alarmed at a proposal to eliminate commercial salmon fishing in the Exclusive Economic Zone, all salt-water areas beyond three miles, in the Inlet. The North Pacific Fisheries Management Council has been tasked with overseeing management of...

Bristol Bay is looking at a smaller sockeye season for 2021, but still in respectable territory. The projected run of 51 million sockeye would allow for a potential total harvest of 37.4 million fish in Bristol Bay and 1 million fish in the South Peninsula fisheries. That would put...

Some surprising results are revealed in the first of a series of briefing papers showing how Alaska’s seafood industry has been affected by the pandemic from dock to dinner plates. The updates, compiled by the McDowell Group for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute...

Bering Sea crabbers will soon know how much they can pull up in their pots for the upcoming season that opens October 15. This week the Crab Plan Team, advisers to state and federal fishery managers who jointly manage the fisheries, will review stock assessments and other science used to...