March means more fishing boats are out on the water with the start of the Pacific halibut and sablefish (black cod) fisheries this past Sunday, followed by Alaska’s first big herring fishery at Sitka Sound.
For halibut, the coastwide catch from waters ranging from the West Coast states to British Columbia to the far reaches of the Bering Sea was increased by 5.7% this year to 41.22 million pounds.
Alaska always gets the lion’s share of the commercial halibut harvest, which for 2022 is 21.51 million pounds, a nearly 10% increase. Expectations for a good fishery are high and “rumors of opening dock prices around $8 per pound have folks very excited,” said Alaska Boats and Permits in its weekly report from Homer.
The average dock price for Alaska halibut in 2021 was $6.40.
Alaska fishermen also are seeing increased abundance of sablefish and the combined 2022 Gulf and Bering Sea catch limits were increased by 32% to 76 million pounds.
A herring spawn-on-kelp fishery opens March 17 at Craig and Klawock, with a harvest limit of 5,060 tons.
The roe herring fishery at Sitka Sound that typically kicks off in late March has the highest harvest level ever at 45,164 tons.
The Tanner crab fishery at Southeast that began on Feb. 11 should close by March 9. No word yet on catches but managers reported “historically high crab levels” and the take should easily top last year’s 1.27-million-pound harvest. Crabbers have fingers crossed that the Southeast price will mirror Kodiak’s healthy $8.50 per pound.
Southeast crabbers also can pull up golden king crabs with a harvest limit of 75,300 pounds, a nearly 24% increase from last year. The goldens weigh 5 to 8 pounds on average and last year averaged $11.55 per pound at the docks.
Seat still open
on Board of Fisheries
The state Board of Fisheries meeting is just days away, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy has yet to reveal who might fill a vacant seat on the seven-member panel.
The board will convene March 10-22 in Anchorage to address Southeast/Yakutat commercial, sport, subsistence and personal-use fishery management issues.
Dunleavy appointed Indy Walton, of Soldotna, to the board in September but he resigned in December due to health reasons. By law, the governor has 30 days to make another appointment. Requests for information to Dunleavy’s office have gone unanswered.
The governor also is silent about his selections for two seats on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. By law, names must be forwarded to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce by March 15. The council oversees management of more than 140 fish and shellfish species.
Wonders of fish ‘wastes’
Scottish researchers are turning salmon wastes into a key component in nylon.
Plastic experts from Impact Solutions have partnered with the University of Edinburgh, seafood producer Farne Salmon and Trout and the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre to use biological enzymes to extract the fatty components of fish waste. They are then turned into a mixture of adipic acid, a precursor to nylon.
Adipic acid also is used in a wide range of products including petrochemical and polyurethane-based items such as building insulation, furniture cushions, cosmetics, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, food additives and flavorings.
“This project marks the start of an exciting journey to find a sustainable alternative for a key component found in the fabric of our clothes. The initial feasibility study has led us to an exciting juncture where we can begin to see the potential of generating value from a material that would otherwise be discarded,” Impact Solutions Development Manager Simon Rathbone told SeafoodSource news.
The researchers want to maximize the value of the process by looking at other components that can be extracted from fish wastes, such as fatty acids and fish oils.
“Our waste streams have been a major focus in recent years and wherever possible we have found routes to divert them to businesses who have the foresight and technology to utilize them as raw materials for further processing,” the team added.
The researchers noted that more than one billion pounds of waste is created annually by the U.K processing industry. In Alaska, the wasted skins, heads, oils and other fish parts top three billion pounds and could add over $700 million to the industry’s revenue stream, according to a report on specialty products by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.
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