Alaska legislators on Monday passed the Defense of Alaska Fisheries Resolution, urging federal and state officials to continue to defend the state’s fisheries, including the Southeast Alaska troll fishery, and to do everything within their power to keep that fishery open.

House Joint Resolution 5, was introduced by Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, D-Juneau, in response to a lawsuit filed by the Seattle-based Wild Fish Conservancy, to halt the Southeast Alaska troll salmon fishery, in order to provide more fish for Southern Resident orca whales in Puget Sound. Participants in the fishery as well as legislators, said a closure would be devastating for the troll fleet and have a significant economic impact on the region. 

Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, addressing participants in ComFish Alaska 2023 in Kodiak this past weekend, noted that the Southern Resident orcas are hundreds of miles away from the troll fishery and that the Alaska delegation has filed a brief challenging the lawsuit. “We will not let our Alaska small boat trollers be bullied,” Peltola said.

A recent report from a magistrate judge in Washington state recommended against allowing retention of king salmon during the winter and summer troll seasons in that fishery. A decision is pending in U.S. District Court.

Source: The Cordova Times | read the full article here

Organized crime in the fishery industry that endangers stocks, exploits labor and robs states of billions of dollars must be fought. This is according to officials meeting in Copenhagen on Thursday, March 23.

Around 600 million people worldwide depend on the sector for their livelihoods.

Government ministers and delegates attended a conference by the Blue Justice Initiative. The conference was backed by 60 coastal states including Brazil, South Africa, Norway and Indonesia. The goal was to jointly eliminate transnational crime in global fishery.

Jamaica and other CRFM States celebrate the Caribbean’s launch of the first regional Blue Justice Hub. Photo: Derrick Theophile, Dominica

Many developing nations lack the basic tracking systems needed to understand the latitude of the problems, the Norwegian fisheries ministry said.

The transnational nature of organized crime makes law enforcement even harder. It can be difficult to prove that a crime took place within the maritime borders of a particular country.

The Director of Fisheries has decided to make the following adjustments for the calculation of Norwegian vessels' quotas in fishing for herring in the North Sea and Skagerrak:

• The quota unit for vessels in the purse seiner group is increased to 2.23.
• The quota unit for vessels in the group of small seine vessels (SUK) is increased to 1.59.
• The quota unit for vessels in the trawl group is increased to 0.65.
• For vessels in the coastal group, the quota unit for calculating the maximum quota is increased to 11.3 tonnes. The quota unit for calculating the guaranteed quota is increased to 8.7 tonnes.

As of now, no changes are being made to the sub-quota units that are used to calculate Norwegian

vessels' maximum quota in the British zone.

The changes take effect from and including today, Friday 24 March 2023.

THE DIRECTOR OF FISHERIES / Norges Sildesalgslag

The first trial of the top intelligence and security officials from the Moon Jae-in government began Friday over the death of a South Korean public employee who drifted into North Korean waters.  

The trial took place on West Sea Defense Day, which was first designated in 2016 to commemorate the soldiers who lost their lives to defend against military provocations by North Korea, in the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong in 2002, the sinking of the Cheonan warship in 2010 and the shelling of Yeongpyeong Island in 2010.

Former Blue House national security adviser Suh Hoon, National Intelligence Service (NIS) Chief Park Jie-won and Defense Minister Suh Wook appeared at the Seoul Central District Court where they defended themselves against allegations that they had tampered with and manipulated documents in order to make it look like a South Korean fisheries official was attempting to defect to North Korea.

Source: koreajoongangdaily

Representatives from the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA), the fisheries ministry and the private sector have started discussions on draft protocol for experimental fisheries that will support fish exports from the island nation

During the half-day workshop on Thursday, stakeholders gave their inputs on developments they would like to see take place. It was also an opportunity for the private sector to establish how they can work with the authority and the ministry to develop the protocol.

An operational protocol for experimental fisheries provides step-by-step guidelines for the design and implementation of new fisheries as well as identifies new fishery resources that are under-utilised or test new fishing methods. At the moment Seychelles does not have a comprehensive experimental fisheries policy and no experimental fisheries protocol is in place.

Source: seychellesnewsagency

Wednesday’s aerial survey covered Sitka Sound from Povorotni Point to St. Lazaria Island and as far north as Krestof Sound. Survey conditions were fair with cloudy skies and 15-knot winds. No herring schools or herring spawn were observed. Concentrations of humpback whales were seen in the deeper waters between Crow Pass and Big Gavanski Island, near Inner Point, and near Galankin Island. Concentrations of sea lions were observed from Inner Point to Kamenoi Point.

The R/V Kestrel arrived in Sitka Sound Wednesday morning. Department vessels surveyed south of Sitka from Indian River to Deep Inlet and in the northern portion of Sitka Sound from Inner Point to Harbor Point. 

Source: alaska native news

Chilean industrial fishing processing plants in the Biobío region have criticized the lack of regulation of the artisanal fleet that catches sardines and anchoveta, which is causing "saturation" of the processing plants.

According to Macarena Cepeda Godoy, president of Asipes, Industrial Fishermen of Biobío, the sardine fleet goes fishing under the modality of "Olympic race".

Source: IndustriasPesqueras | Read the full article here

Market demand continues to increase significantly for convenience fish products. Whether it's fish fillets, sticks or cakes, consumers are looking to spend less time preparing a healthy meal and more time enjoying it. Valuable raw materials such as trimmings, trimmings, ground meat, or frozen blocks can be turned into profitable value-added products. Your final product is our starting point.

Source: Aqua | Read the full article here

AquaFuture Spain’23 offers an ambitious programme with sixty recognised experts from the national and international aquaculture sector.                                                         

• More than thirty conferences, presentations and show cookings will take place at this ii aquaculture fair during its three days of celebration, from march 28 to 30
• The event will not only turn the Galicia Abanca Feira International campus into a great showcase of this productive area, but also into an interesting knowledge forum

Source: FishFocus | Read the full article here