Alaska as a state ships fish all over the World often traveling thousands of miles. It is kept frozen in warehouses and even comes back to Alaska to be sold. A community supported fishery in Sitka Alaska aims to supply locals with fresh wild Alaskan seafood, as sometimes locals struggle to get fresh fish before export. The program named Alaskans own uses green practices to reduce its carbon footprint and and practices sustainable practices. Locals are excited to enjoy the wonderful omega 3 rich seafood caught right of local shores.
The Alaska Marketing Institute has just launched a sandwich cookbook for the food service industry titled “Between the Bread and The Blue Sea” the book includes recipes such as Alaska Sole Meuniere, Salt and Pepper Alaska Cod and Salmon Deli Sandwich. Consumer reports indicate that sandwiches are a big trend right now with people eating 3.4 sandwiches a week. While this book is only available to food services professionals why not use our wonderful wild Alaska seafood to make gourmet sandwiches for a change. Or use the leftovers to give a work lunch some pizazz.
Sadly the chum salmon return to the Yukon river is not looking good this year. Only 143,000 fall chums have been seen with sonar this is half of last years number. The communities around the Yukon river have been hard hit with poor returns in the last few years and have received emergency funding from the government to help. Hopefully the salmon are just fashionable late as the season has not yet ended.
Opponents of the proposed pebble mine in the Bristol Bay area of Alaska have approached the Federal Environmental Agency to stop the building of pebble mine. Local communities want EPA to ban pebble mine from dumping waste into major river drainage systems. Fisheries, locals, and environmental groups have concerns that the waste will damage the worlds largest salmon population. However the developers state it will produce more needed long term jobs in the area. EPA enforces clean water laws there will likely be a hearing and public comment as things progress.
Former Senator Ted Stevens had a huge impact on the Alaskan fishing industry his work affected schools, ports, airports and every town. In the 1970’s he negotiated with Canada and Russia for America to have larger fishing boundaries and set the 200 mile rule. Then in 1985 he introduced The Pacific Salmon Treaty and then again in 1997 and 1999 and in 2008 the later is still in effect. He set catch limits and deadlines to end over fishing and placed a strong emphasis on science. He was influential in the marketing of Alaska seafood adn secured millions of marketing dollars. He will be missed.
New restrictions have just been proposed to protect sea lions in the Aleutians. The Federal National Marine Fisheries Service proposes to close all commercial fishing for mackerel and pacific cod. These are remote areas but valuable to fisherman. However it is important that Alaska not only ensures sustainable fishing practices but protects other marine mammals. It is hoped that this measure will increase sea lion numbers in the next few years as they will not be competing with fisherman for the fish. The fisheries service is currently accepting comments on the proposal
Bristol Bay fisherman are happy with a 28 million sockeye catch. Its a little less than expected but a bigger pay day then they have seen in the last 20 years. Fisherman got paid more this year due to high demand from consumers and the great status of wild Alaska seafood. Alaska is high tech using electronic methods to record fish numbers at the dock, to help the government assess catch and to maintain sustainable fishing to ensure we can all enjoy tasty Alaskan seafood.
Good news for sport and commercial fisherman as catch numbers have been increased. More salmon are returning to the kenai river than expected. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game just doubled its bag limit to 6 a day. Commercial fisherman have also been allowed an additional 51 hours of fishing a week. So far 2.2 million upper cook inlet red salmon have been harvested. The expected late numbers are now at 750,000 -950,000 46% higher than last year, still lower than average but better than predicted.
This is good news for sports fisherman and commercial and for us as we are guaranteed great salmon on our tables.
Alaska has a wonderful range of summer festivals for those who love and celebrate seafood. Here are a few:
Kake Dog Salmon Festival - July 24th
Celebrates chum or dog salmon its a gathering of friends and family who return home to celebrate much the same way that the salmon do. Its features canoe and boat races, a fish filleting contest, herring toss, line dancing BBQ and more
Sitka Seafood Festival  August 6-7th
It just started this year and aims to celebrate wild Alaskan seafood and the local fishing industry it will have a banquet, music and local chefs doing demos, crab races and fish tossing.
Overall salmon fishing is going fairly well, although poor returns have ensured fisherman are making more for their fish as there is increased demand. Alaskan fisherman are moving around to different area’s to ensure a good catch. Salmon is so much in demand that even Western Alaska are getting more pay. The projected catch for 2010 is 137 million down 15% from last year.
Halibut sales are also doing well and holding their own since the season opened in March. Overall consumers are demanding good quality fresh fish and Alaska is meeting the demand. Fishing remains a great occupation for the state.
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