The economic potential of the Arctic is one of the ‘hottest’ topics on the national—and international—economic agenda. But what is the true potential? The Promise of the Arctic is a policy-driven conference that seeks to explore the opportunities—and honestly expose the challenges—of the harsh Arctic environment.

The goal of the conference is to identify real economic opportunities for the maritime industry, and the obstacles for maximizing the promise of the Arctic.

Attendees will hear from economists and the financial sector, policymakers…and private sector maritime companies currently involved in the Arctic.

Who should attend:

• Maritime Commercial Interests: Corporate and Administrative Management
• Maritime Operational Management
• Regulatory Agencies
• The Legislative Community—Federal and International

Learn how development and investment in the Arctic may affect your operations.

For more information click here.

Dear AFDF P cod working group,

We are in preparation for the 3^rd Annual Surveillance Audit for Marine Stewardship Council’s certification of sustainability for the Pacific cod fishery in Alaska. One of the steps in preparation is collecting the pro rata shares from the participating primary processors and fishing groups that are supporting the certification. Attached is the Subsector Cost spreadsheet (Subsectorcost_3rdASA513.xlsx) from which the pro rata shares for each gear type, management area, and processor are derived. The cost has dropped substantially from previous years, with both a reduction in the amount charged by the certifier, Intertek Moody Marine, and the overhead cost by AFDF. We are looking at an overall cost of $50 K with $15 K of that as certifier charges and $35 K being AFDF overhead.

AFDF is currently putting together the Client Report for the 3^rd ASA. In doing so, we are in need of the lost gear information that we have discussed in previous updates. The individual lost gear reporting forms for Pot and Longline gear, and the Lost Gear List for these gear types, have been sent out to various companies’ fleet managers and fishing groups, including the Bering Sea Pot Cod Cooperative and the Freezer Longline Coalition. The information from these forms is critical to having a successful site visit with the assessment team in mid-May. We are hoping to focus on the 2013 “A” season as the reference season for lost gear evaluation. We also need to contact some vessel skippers to gather additional information that allows us to evaluate the lost gear forms received. For example, a pot vessel reporting 2 lost pots on Trip 5 delivering at the end of a 5 day trip on January 28^th; we need to know how many pots being fished on the trip and average soak time. If this vessel was fishing 100 pots, one could calculate a 2% pot loss; however, if the vessel fished 100 pots and turned them every 12 hours for 5 days, the lost gear percentage is actually two-tenths of 1 percent (.2%), a much less objectionable loss rate.

AFDF would like to thank fleet managers from Peter Pan Seafoods, Trident Seafoods and Icicle Seafoods for submitting some lost gear forms from 2012 “B” season, and hope they will submit current forms from 2013 “A” season as soon as possible. We would also like to thank Craig Lowenberg with the Bering Sea Pot Cod Cooperative and Chad See with the Freezer Longline Coalition for helping AFDF get the word out and helping us collect this information that is the key to continued certification.

The Client report needs to be completed and to the assessment team by May 1^st, so we have the month of April to compile and analyze the lost gear information from the Pot and Longline fleets in both BSAI and GoA. Any vessel skipper can call me @ (907) 350-8860 and give me lost gear information by trip with dates, whenever they end a trip between now and late April.

We will be getting invoices out for pro rata shares this week and next. AFDF cannot take 6 months of staff time this year to collect the pro rata shares like last year. Any pro rata shares not received by May 15^th will be assessed a surcharge of 10% of sector costs on top of the share.

Sincerely

Jim Browning – Executive Director

ANCHORAGE (Feb. 24, 2013) — The 20^th Anniversary Alaska Symphony of Seafood announced today the winners of its annual New Products Contest judging event held in Seattle. The competition enlists chefs and industry experts to pick the best new seafood products each year. The winners were announced Saturday at the Gala Soiree in Anchorage, where contestants, industry representatives, media and attendees gathered to celebrate and toast the winners.

This year’s first place winners included: Alaskan Sablefish Unagi Style by Triad Fisheries in the Foodservice category, Zesty Grill Sockeye Salmon by Copper River Seafoods in the Retail Category and AquaCuisine’s Lit’l Sammies in the Smoked category.  The grand prize, awarded to the product that received the most overall votes, also went to Zesty Grill Sockeye Salmon by Copper River Seafoods.

The first place winners from each category, and the grand prize winner, received booth space at the distinguished International Boston Seafood Show in March, as well as airfare to and from the show.

The Alaska Symphony of Seafood New Products Contest kicked off on February 13th in Seattle, where the judges tasted, deliberated and selected their favorite products. Evaluations were based on the products’ packaging and presentation, overall eating experience, price and potential for commercial success.

This year’s judges included:  Brian O’Connor from Skillet, Jason Wilson from Crush, cookbook author Tomi Marsh, restaurant consultant Jake Kosseff, Tony Catini from Serious Pie, Charles Benton from Sysco, Dezi Bonow from Palace Kitchen, Cynthia Nims from Mon Appetit and Molly Hancock from FareStart.

Sponsors for this year’s event include: the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, At-sea Processors Association, Northwest Fisheries Association, Marel, Trident Seafoods, Copper River Seafoods, Alaska Air Cargo, Alaska Longline Company, Marine Stewardship Council, American Seafoods, City of Unalaska, APICDA, NSF Seafood, Alaska Commercial Fishing and Agriculture Bank, Alaskan Brewing Co., Port of Seattle, Kwik’Pak Fisheries, Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation. Lynden, Pacific Seafood Processors Association, Alaska Marine Nutrition, Global Seas, United States Seafood, Signature Seafoods, North Pacific Seafoods, Young deNormandie, Pacific Seafoods, Coastal Transportation, Ken Simpson, Columbia Bank, Northern Air Cargo, Alaska Brands Group, Westmar Company, E & E Seafoods.

The Gala Soiree concluded with the announcement of the Anchorage People’s Choice winner,  Zesty Grill Sockeye Salmon by Copper River Seafoods, based on the attendees’ votes.

For a complete list of this year’s winners go to Symphony of Seafood website.

The high cost of fuel is a challenge that affects the entire seafood industry. Over 8,000 commercial fishing vessels are licensed in Alaska. The operation of fishing vessels accounts for a large percentage of the fuel consumption in the seafood industry. This is a significant area to target for energy efficiency and fuel savings.

In response to high fuel costs, the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation (AFDF) is launching a Fishing Vessel Energy Audit Pilot Project. The intent of the project is to identify fuel savings through energy efficiency practices or upgrades onboard fishing vessels in Alaska. According to other examples of vessel energy audits and management plans, fishing vessels have a potential to reduce energy use through improved efficiency by 15-40%. This Pilot Project will conduct energy audits of fishing vessels. The results of the audits will be provided to the vessel owners and other fishermen with vessels of similar size and/or gear types. The final analysis of this Pilot Project will also help to inform a potential long term program in the State of Alaska.

AFDF is collaborating with the University of Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program (MAP), the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) and industry representatives through a Steering Committee to provide input on this Pilot Project, which is funded by a grant from the Alaska Legislature and administered through the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development (DCCED).

AFDF is looking for owners of fishing vessels who are interested in volunteering to participate in this Pilot Project. These vessel owners will receive free audits in exchange for information regarding energy systems and use during normal fishing operations on their vessel and approximately 1-2 days of vessel and owner time in order to coordinate and perform the walk-through audit. Due to limited funding, the Pilot Project will be restricted to vessels between 30 and 125 feet in length. To find out more about volunteering to participate in this Pilot Project, contact Julie Decker at jdecker@afdf.org .

AFDF has issued an RFP from qualified contractors to provide vessel energy auditing and energy efficiency management (EEM) services for the development and implementation of this Pilot Project. The fishing vessel energy audits will provide analyses of energy use and cost, and recommendations to reduce energy use and cost for these specific vessels and in a format applicable to other vessels with similar characteristics and operational patterns.

• Request for Proposal – Fishing Vessel Energy Audits
• News Release

The fundamental difference is that the ice particles are considerably smaller… several hundred of them will fit on the end of a human hair… and the reasons this is important are legion.  The smaller the ice particle the more complete the coverage of the fish and the more rapid the temperature drop.  Proper handling is hugely important, but unless you quickly lower the temperature of the fish, quality deteriorates fast.

NanoICE particles are also smaller than most bacteria, forming a protective wall against microbes.  And NanoICE can be held at 28-30ºF, keeping the core temperature of fish steady at approximately 31ºF… for weeks.  Flake ice has to be kept at 34-35ºF and melt in order for the cooling to take place, and just can’t match this performance.

With the 100% coverage, dehydration and drip loss are cut from approximately 9% to less than 2%.  NanoICE machines use up to 70% less energy than conventional ice machines, and up to 90% less refrigerant.

Installations are being scheduled in Alaska now, and the benefits of this latest arrival to improving fish quality will be watched with great interest. Alaska seafood – already known for its superior quality - may benefit from NanoICE, the next innovative breakthrough.

For more information, please, see: http://www.nanoiceglobal.com/en/

Their executive director, Judy Jamison, has been on the job for 33 years and with her diligent and professional staff does a fantastic job of running the organization.  GSAFF invited me down to attend their annual board of directors meeting, which was held in New Orleans in conjunction with the Great American Seafood Cook Off during the 2^nd week of August, and to update their board on AFDF’s activities over that last few years.
While AFDF is working with industry on halibut and salmon excluder panels for trawl gear, GSAFF is working with their constituents on Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) and Bycatch Reduction Devices (BRDs).  So while the species are different, the core activities are the same, trying to make fisheries cleaner and more efficient so they can continue to operate in a sustainable manner.  They work with 3 separate fishery management councils, Mid Atlantic, South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, which, as you can imagine, keeps their board members and officers busy.
We are fortunate to have a good working relationship with GSAFF, and look forward to working closely with their board members in pursuit of amendments to the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act through a bill titled the Fisheries Investment and Regulatory Relief Act (FIRRA – S. 2184) sponsored by Senator John Kerry with 5 co-sponsors. This bill deals with Saltonstall-Kennedy funding by naming potential recipients and allowable uses of this funding.  AFDF and GSAFF both want to see the lions’ share of this funding restored to industry-directed and prioritized cooperative research; in addition to supporting established fisheries development foundations as specified in the MSFCMA. Visit their website @ www.gulfsouthfoundation.org and the website for their current featured project: www.eatgulfseafood.com . We can learn a lot from our sister foundation.

*Thank you to Trident Seafoods for their 2011 Alaska Symphony of Seafood winning product, Wild Alaskan Peppered and Smoked Sockeye Salmon that we gave to the GSAFF board members as an example of past ASOS winners.

Hot off the press: NanoICE: Icelandic Invention Invades Alaska!

And remember… October 2012 is National Seafood Month! Eat as much seafood as you can, and make it Alaska sustainable seafood!

“It is in the nation’s best interest to maintain a strong seafood industry for both the health of our people and the health of our economy,” Begich said.  “Encouraging marketing activities such as quality improvement, market research, new product development, infrastructure, and promotion will increase the consumption and demand for seafood in the U.S., increase the value of our industry, help grow the economy and boost U.S. jobs.”

The legislation would create a National Seafood Marketing Fund to provide a long-term and sustainable source of funds for the marketing and development efforts.

The legislation includes:

• $50 million annually into the fund but finding a sustainable source of income will be critical to the success of the program;
• Of available funds, 80 percent would be distributed equally between the regional boards and the remainder distributed based on actual seafood production;
• Establishes five Regional Seafood Marketing Boards to manage and direct these dedicated funds; and
• Members of the boards would include harvesters, large and small processors and others involved in the seafood marketing, food service, transportation and retail sectors.

For more information, please visit the following link:

http://begich.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2012/8/begich-to-introduce-national-seafood-marketing-effort

Since it’s time for the Pacific cod “B” season 2012 to start, I wanted to get back with those working group members that work closely with longline and pot fleets in both BSAI and GoA.

AFDF has contacted Mr. Kenny Downs, with the Freezer Longline Coalition, and discussed collection of lost gear information for that fishery.  Kenny has proposed some changes to our reporting form (attached) to more accurately reflect information about gear lost vs. gear retrieved that can be collected from the coalition members’ vessels.  AFDF appreciates working with an organization like the FLC since virtually all the freezer longline CP companies are represented by one contact person.  AFDF is asking for assistance from any fishing organizations or fleet managers that work with longline catcher vessels as well, to collect lost and retrieved longline gear data.

Collection of lost gear information for the Pot gear fishery is more problematic, due to the fact that there is less centralized representation of Pot fishing vessels.  Our contacts for pot vessels have been Jeff Stephans of UFMA for the Gulf and Arni Thompson of ACC for the BSAI.  They have distributed our lost gear reporting forms for Pot gear  to their members’ vessels, but have not received any completed forms.  Mr. Dale Schwarzmiller, with Peter Pan Seafoods, has made an effort to assist AFDF with gathering lost gear information from PPSF’s pot fleet, and we have received a few completed forms from his fleet.

I cannot stress enough the importance of gathering this information on both gear types.  The sole remaining condition for MSC certification for the P cod fishery is specifically to provide information on the amount of lost gear in the trawl, longline and pot fisheries.  Alaska Seafood Cooperative, the client for the flatfish fishery, is gathering information on lost gear for trawl gear from its members, and that information is directly transferrable to the P cod fishery.  AFDF is tasked with collecting the information for longline and pot gear.

We will tentatively schedule a teleconference for the AFDF P cod working group for October to discuss some changes for the process of collecting pro rata shares, particularly the division of CGoA and WGoA.  Overall, AFDF has spent several months contacting and re-contacting companies to collect the pro rata shares and this adds to the overall costs you all pay to maintain MSC certification; this is in addition to the work with the certifier and assessment team to provide them the information they need to complete the annual surveillance audits.  The collection process needs to be streamlined and made more efficient.

There has been some negative press recently on the amount of lost pot gear, mainly from the crab fishery, but the estimates, from relatively reliable sources, are surprisingly high.  This could attract attention to the P cod pot fishery, and we need good solid information on amount of lost pot gear to provide accurate information for the assessment team.  If AFDF is not able to collect this information by the next annual surveillance audit in May of 2013, the certifier is likely to decide that we haven’t made adequate progress on this condition, and there could be some sort of suspension of the certification, or a variance needed to continue.

I’d like to hear from any working group members who have direct contact with pot or longline catcher vessel skippers; I’m attaching AFDF’s Lost Gear Reporting Forms for both Pot and Longline gear for distribution to those skippers.  Forms need to be completed in a manner that can be read and compiled by AFDF staff.

Sincerely,

Jim Browning – AFDF Executive Director

Salmon Certification Update

According to the information below, currently posted on the MSC website, the Purse Seine Vessel Owners Association is leading the client group that has taken over the next MSC certification process of Alaska salmon, since AFDF has voluntarily withdrawn as client after the current certificate which expires 29 October 2012.  PSVOA is taking the Alaska salmon fishery forward, with independent assessment already underway for another five-year certification to the MSC Standard of the entire Alaskan salmon fishery.

Client going forward on the assessment currently underway to maintain MSC certification of Alaska salmon:

Purse Seine Vessel Owners Association

Fishermens‟Terminal
1900 W Nickerson,
Suite 320
Seattle
WA 98119

Phone: (206) 283-7733

Previous Client

Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation Inc.

431 W Seventh Avenue
Suite 106
Anchorage
Alaska
AK 99501

Client: James Browning – Executive Director
Phone: +1 907 276 7315
Email: jbrowning@afdf.org

When AFDF took over the clientship from Alaska Department of Fish and Game in 2010, the certifier, Intertek Moody Marine, made sure to get a letter from ADF&G relinquishing the clientship effective February 18, 2010 with AFDF assuming the clientship effective February 19, 2010.  AFDF is thus hereby issuing this notice that as of October 29, 2012, it is no longer the client for MSC certification.  Any stakeholder or other meetings held as part of the independent assessment process to the MSC Standard for another five-year certificate are no longer the responsibility of AFDF.  Intertek Moody Marine, which remains the certifier for assessment going forward, is holding stakeholder meetings on behalf of PSVOA in Seattle and Anchorage in October 2012.  On  their website, the 2007 reassessment is posted as: Certificate of compliance MML-F-078 – Valid 30th October 2007 to 29th October 2012.  To clarify,  Intertek Moody is holding the October 2012 stakeholder meetings, and has formed their assessment team, for the assessment contracted by PSVOA, which is separate from the expiring assessment under AFDF.

F/V Arctic Prowler (

The construction of the new factory longliner began in March of this year and last month, the first module was moved into Alaska Ship and Drydock’s new state-of-the-art ship assembly and production hall. The 70,000 square foot hall incorporates globally recognized best practice techniques in manufacturing and shipbuilding and can handle vessels up to 500 feet in length.

When the Jensen-designed Arctic Prowler is completed in the spring of 2013, she will be fishing for Pacific black cod in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. She will be powered by a pair of 1,000-hp MTU main engines and three 330-kW gensets, and house 16,300 cubic feet of freezer capacity.

AFDF salutes Alaska Longline Company and Mr. Winther for his vision and hard work in making sound decisions in the Alaska groundfish community.

AFDF staff has been monitoring policy and research developments and had discussions with several key policy makers regarding its interest.  Although opening new commercial fisheries in the Arctic is a long term goal, AFDF continues to pursue this significant area of development in the near term.

We would love to hear from our Members on their interest in Arctic commercial fisheries development. Write to us at jbrowning@afdf.org