Global Warming | Alaskan Harvest Seafood Blog

Alaskan Pollock Fishery: Warmer Waters, Migrating Stocks

Filed under: Dungeness Crab Recipes, News — Tags: Alaska Pollock, climate change, commercial fishing, fish migration, Global Warming, pollock fishery, pollock industry, Russia, Walleye Pollock —

The Alaskan pollock industry is the largest commercial fishery in the United States, accounting for 2 billion pounds of catch annually, or a third of all seafood caught (by weight). Careful monitoring of pollock stocks and migration patterns on the part of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) and other conservation and management bodies have contributed to the sustainability and robust trade economy of the fishery. The Alaskan pollock fishery is endorsed by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), a third-party marine conservation group that certifies commercial fishing operations for environmentally sound and sustainable practices and management.

Alaskan Pollock, also known as Walleye Pollock, is a near-ubiquitous staple in processed seafoods on the consumer end: fish sticks, imitation crabmeat, and fish patties for popular fast-food chains all depend upon pollock for their production.

Climate change trends and the warming of waters in the Bering Strait, along with the retreat of winter ice farther north, have begun to have an impact on this Alaskan fishery, however. Warmer sea currents have apparently shifted some of the migration patterns of the pollock population, causing them to move farther north and west, away from expected fishing grounds. This migration has led the pollock right out of American waters and across the border into Russian territory, provoking a potential conflict with Russian fishing industries.

Other results of climatic shift have been noted, as well. Salmon have been found colonizing rivers farther north, and whales have been spotted well into the Arctic, where they apparently wander, starving, in search of food after krill die-offs in traditional feeding territories. This ecological shift has also contributed to massive seabird deaths in some areas, and unexpected blooms of phytoplankton in the warming waters.

Sources:

1. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-pollock19-2008oct19,0,6659556.story

2. http://www.atsea.org/industry.php

3. http://www.alaska-in-pictures.com

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Strangers in the Deep

Filed under: News — Tags: cephalopod, climate change, crustacean, deep sea, fish, Global Warming, jellyfish, marine, new discovery, new species, new species of fish, science —

Researchers in both Antarctica and the waters south of Tasmania have been exploring uncharted underwater terrain, including over a hundred undersea mountains, some as high as 1,640 feet, and trenches even larger than the Grand Canyon. These deep sea topographies have proven to be home to thousands of species of fish, sponges, corals, mollusks, crustaceans, and other forms of aquatic life. Many of these animals are completely new to science, or are previously unrecorded forms of known species, for example:

In order: brittlestar, squid, deep sea jellyfish, fish, sea squirt, “psychedelic” octopus.

The researchers in Antarctica claim that the species have come to their attention due to the break up former ice sheets, a result of global warming trends. The changes in global temperature have created a number of radical shifts in marine ecology. Scientists don’t yet know how great the extent of this impact will be, nor how much of an effect it will have on shallower water ecosystems, such as those farther north used for commercial fishing operations.

Sources:

1. http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/10/08/new-marine-species.html, retrieved 10/10/08.

2. http://www.livescience.com/environment/070225_antarctic_biodiversity.html, retrieved 10/10/08.

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Greenpeace scoring ranks supermarkets failing

Filed under: News — Tags: Atlantic Salmon, Cod, Fishing, Global Warming, Greenpeace, Salmon, Tuna —

Recently, the Greenpeace organization has released a ranking of many nationwide grocery and supermarket outlets, commenting that the commonly sold farmed Atlantic salmon, as well as shrimp, pollock, cod and tuna are all considered to be “red listed.”

Red listing is the Greenpeace term for hazardous, or unacceptable scores on their ranking structure. While we in the industry have known for a long time that Atlantic salmon, especially the farmed variety has been widely sold to consumers through supermarkets regardless of the health issues it causes, the public is just beginning to become aware of the true dangers of this fish. High mercury content, as well as water pollution and poor maintenance of the facilities where these fish are raised can lead to serious side-effects if the product is consumed. We don’t even recommend this for a pet!

Recently we’ve even changed our supply of Alaskan Tuna so that our products remain completely acceptable on even the toughest standards.

Read the full article about Greenpeace and their thoughts on the changing status of the seafood industry here.

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