The reports assess losses to the sea cucumber, geoduck clam, red sea urchin and Dungeness crab fisheries. The bottom line: Sea otter predation in those fisheries has cost Southeast Alaska's economy more than $28 million in direct and indirect losses since 1995. These fisheries employ roughly 625 fishermen and dozens more tender operators and processing workers.
Fishery managers estimate sea otters affect 39 percent of Southeast's dive fishery harvest areas. Out of 15 Dungeness crab districts, six have large otter populations and Dungie pots have lost nearly 3 million pounds to otters in a decade.
Best estimates say there are about 19,000 sea otters in Southeast Alaska this year. That number is expected to approach 28,000 by 2015. Based on a conservative estimate of otter body weight of 50 pounds, and daily food intake of 20 percent of body weight, the report concludes that otters would consume more than 10 million pounds of Southeast Alaska's dive and crab species in 2015.
The McDowell report says: "In short, commercial dive fishing and large populations of sea otters cannot coexist. ... In addition, once the commercially viable biomass of crab and macro invertebrates -- such as sea cucumbers and geoducks -- is gone, it likely will not return given sustained sea otter predation."
For more information, contact the dive association's Phil Doherty at sardfa@kpunet.net
Fishing fees
Alaska fishermen who hold catch shares of halibut, sablefish and Bering Sea crab pay an annual fee to the federal government to cover management and enforcement costs for those fisheries. The fee, which is capped at 3 percent, is based on dock prices and averaged across the state.
Bills were mailed to 2,163 Alaska longliners this year, compared with 2,187 last year. For halibut and black cod (sablefish) coverage, this year's fee of 1.6 percent totaled $5.2 million, up from $3.9 million last year, said Troie Zuniga, fee coordinator at NOAA Fisheries in Juneau.
Record dock prices drove both fisheries during the eight-month season. This year's average price for halibut was $6.56 a pound and $5.15 a pound for black cod. That compares with averages of $4.86 a pound for halibut and $3.21 a pound for black cod last year.
The prices used in the federal data are based on buyers' reports through the end of September and don't reflect the last six weeks of the fisheries.
For halibut, the overall Alaska value is $194 million, for black cod about $124 million. That's $610,000 higher than the 2010 value for halibut, and $41 million higher for black cod, Zuniga said.
The Bering Sea crab fisheries yielded $3.2 million for management and enforcement costs; a coverage fee of 1.23 percent will remain through 2012. The value of the 2010-11 Bering Sea crab fisheries based on eLanding delivery reports is $262 million, compared with $147 million last season.
The payment deadline for longliners is Jan. 31, and for crabbers the end of July.
Bay Watch
Marubeni Corp. has purchased Yardarm Knot's Naknek seafood processing plant, making it Japan's largest sockeye salmon buyer. Marubeni, one of Japan's largest multinational companies, is the parent of North Pacific Seafoods in Alaska.
Seafood Soiree
The call is out for entries in the 19th annual Alaska Symphony of Seafood competition. The three product categories are retail, food service and smoked. The new seafood items will be judged in Seattle on Feb. 2; winners will be announced at a "gala soiree" in Anchorage on Feb. 10. The entry deadline is Jan. 6. Get more info at www.symphonyofseafood.com/.
Laine Welch is a Kodiak-based fisheries journalist. Her Fish Radio programs can be heard on stations around the state. This material is protected by copyright. For information on reprinting, contact msfish@alaska.com.
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