1.      NMFS.  Annual Catch Limits & National Standard 1 Guidelines: NMFS announces three public meetings to solicit comments on the proposed revisions to the National Standard 1 Guidelines.  Meetings July 10 Silver Spring, July 15 St Petersburg, and July 24 Seattle (NS1 meeting follows MSA-NEPA meeting each day)

2.      Commerce Announces 2008 Ocean Fishery Council Appointments (6/27).  The Commerce Department today announced the appointment of 21 members to the eight regional fishery management councils.

The councils, established by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, prepare fishery management plans for marine fish stocks in their respective geographical areas of responsibility. NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service reviews, approves and implements the management plans on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce.

“Knowledgeable council members representing a variety of interests and willing to work together for sustainable fisheries are a key part of the fisheries management process,” said Jim Balsiger, Ph.D., acting director of NOAA Fisheries Service. “Our continued hard work with the councils will help us in our efforts to end overfishing by the year 2010, as required by the Magnuson Stevens Act. I am pleased to announce this group of highly qualified and dedicated individuals to serve on the eight regional fishery management councils, and plan to start working together right away.”

Council members represent diverse interests, including commercial and recreational fisheries, as well as environmental, academic and other perspectives from each geographic area. The Secretary of Commerce appoints a total of 72 obligatory and at-large members to the eight regional councils. Council members serve three-year terms, and may be reappointed to serve up to three consecutive terms. Approximately one-third of the terms expire annually. …..

North Pacific Council

The North Pacific Council includes members from the states of Alaska and Washington. The appointees for 2008 fill obligatory seats for Alaska and Washington.

Obligatory seats:

*Eric A. Olson – Alaska

John J. Henderschedt – Washington   More

3.      Even Exxon gets chunk of money (6/26).  HOMER -- While disappointment left coastal Alaska in a stormy mood Wednesday, the smaller Exxon punitive damages amount set by the court -- about $1 billion, including 5.9 percent interest -- promises to inject real money into the state's fishing communities.  Commercial fishermen who missed their 1989 seasons will get the most, since the punitive award is pegged to those who could show actual economic damage. Exxon has already paid compensation for proven losses. The punitive award comes as punishment on top of that, though fishermen say it will compensate for ongoing losses, such as the disappearance of herring, that have been hard to link directly to the spill.

The fishermen's awards are based on the value of each fishery, with individual awards parceled out depending on a fisherman's past catches. The Cook Inlet driftboat fleet, for example, will cut about $94 million among 585 permit holders. That comes to an average of $160,000 apiece, though each skipper's real share is confidential.

EXXON'S SHARE

The biggest single recipient of funds from the punitive award will be Exxon itself. Exxon stands to put about $110 million from the award in its own pocket thanks to a side deal cut in 1991 with seven Seattle fish processors. Those processors settled with Exxon for $70 million at the time but got to remain in the punitive lawsuit and pass any award they received back to the company. The deal was called "an astonishing ruse" by the federal judge in the case, but it was upheld on appeal.   More

4.      Opinion.  Slow justice (6/28).  Nineteen years after the Exxon Valdez caused the nation's worst oil spill, the justice system finally resolved the biggest claim against the company. It took five years for the main spill lawsuit to go to trial, and another 14 years for the courts to resolve all the appeals.  The phrase "justice delayed is justice denied" comes to mind.

Why did the case take so long?

First, Exxon truly felt aggrieved by the multibillion punitive damage award and fought it to the bitter end. The company believed that taking responsibility for dealing with the aftermath of the spill should excuse the irresponsible behavior that produced the spill in the first place.

Second, federal law on punitive damages was in a state of flux as the case moved through the court system. Each time the Supreme Court ruled on other punitive damage cases, Exxon lawyers had new grounds for trying to attack the judgment against the company. The case made multiple trips up to the federal appeals court and back to the trial court.

But an obscure aspect of federal law also rewards prosperous companies like Exxon for stringing out a case as long as possible.   More

5.      Exxon plaintiffs updated (6/29).  Following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision earlier this week, local stakeholders received information in Kenai on Saturday regarding the status of the Exxon Valdez oil spill litigation. Brian O'Neill, a Minneapolis, Minn., attorney with the firm Faegre and Benson, spoke candidly to the plaintiffs he represented.

"I'm sorry. A system I'm a representative of, and that I asked you to place your faith in, screwed you and I'm sorry. (The decision) shakes my faith in the judicial system," he said.

O'Neill recapped what many at this point already knew, that the Supreme Court held that the $5 billion in punitive damages awarded by the jury and subsequently reduced to $2.5 billion by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals are excessive based on maritime common law. In particular, the court held that the punitive damages should be equal to the compensatory damages, which the court recognized as $507.5 million in this case.

In regard to this $507.5 million, O'Neill said it's a sum the Supreme Court "pulled out of their judicial ass."

The case is now vacated and remanded to the 9th Circuit to reduce the punitive damage award. With interest of $502,188,867, the total award is expected to be $1,009,688,867, he said.

O'Neill didn't just reiterate the Supreme Court's decision for the stakeholders, he made certain all in attendance knew exactly how the justices voted. It was a 5-3 decision.

"Justice Alito resigned himself from the case due to owning ExxonMobil stock. Justices Stevens, Ginsburg, and Breyer indicated that they would have upheld the 9th Circuit's decision on the size of the punitive damage award. They were on our side. It was Justices Souter, Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas that did this, and they all were appointed by either Reagan or a Bush," he said.

This food for thought O'Neill was attempting to share with the plaintiffs was not lost on them, as following his breakdown of the vote, one angry man yelled out from the crowd "Remember that when you vote in the upcoming presidential election."   More

6.      Murkowski urges Congress to pass legislation to support fishermen hurt by rising fuel prices (6/27).  For commercial fishermen struggling to stay afloat in the face of ever-increasing prices for diesel fuel, relief may soon be on the way.

On Thursday Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, introduced legislation aimed at providing commercial fishermen a temporary tax credit to help offset the soaring cost of fuel.

“My office has received a petition signed by more than 1,700 Alaskans asking Congress to help provide commercial fishermen with emergency tax relief from high fuel prices,” Murkowski said.

Co-sponsored by Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, the Fisheries Fuel Tax Relief Act of 2008 “would go a long way toward helping our fishermen out in these dire times,” Murkowski said.

Under the proposed legislation, the tax credit would be based on the difference between the price of fuel on Labor Day 2004 and prices paid this year. The credit would be applicable to eligible taxpayers for a two-year period following enactment of the act.

Noting that diesel fuel prices in Alaska and across the country have increased more than 50 percent in the past year and that some fishermen are reporting spending up to 70 percent of their income on fuel, Murkowski said, “Fishermen all over the country are staying tied to the dock, unable to make enough money from their catch to pay for fuel. When fishermen can’t go fishing, they can’t make their boat and permit payments. Many are simply going out of business.”

Stevens said he has heard from people statewide that they can no longer afford to fuel their boats and therefore can’t earn a living.

“This is having an unfortunate effect on Alaska’s families that depend on fishing as their only income,” Stevens said. “It also hurts our nation, because our seafood fills Americans’ freezers from coast to coast.”   More

7.      Entangled: Saving Sea Lions Snared In Trash (6/29). About 40 sea lions lounged on the rocks at the Benjamin Island haulout north of Juneau, and one was injured. A thin, white plastic packing band circled his neck and cut deep into his skin.

Two biologists studied the animal from a skiff 40 yards off the rocks. Lauri Jemison and Jamie King of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game discussed possible ways to free the entangled animal. None seemed very promising.

Jemison and King are marine mammal researchers and they're trying to help entangled sea lions and prevent further entanglements. In recent years about 400 entangled sea lions have been documented in Southeast Alaska, although biologists believe the actual number is higher. About half the animals have loops around their necks - mostly hard plastic packing bands or heavy rubber loops made from inner tube material. About half are caught in fishing gear. A few are tangled in netting or rope, and one has an old tire stuck around its neck.

"Any kind of loop that goes into the water can be deadly," Jemison said. "A small loop can be deadly to seabirds and fish, a larger loop can entangle marine mammals. Synthetic materials are the worst. A simple solution is to cut any kind of loop you might have."

Bait boxes are often secured by packing bands which are made of a hard plastic material, and if those are lost overboard, uncut, they can be a source of entangling material. "We have seen a number of sea lions with packing bands around their neck, with the band cutting into the skin and flesh," Jemison said. "As the sea lion grows, the band cuts more deeply and eventually can kill the animal."  More

8.      Southeast charter owners get reprieve on halibut limit (6/29).  Charter vessel operators in Southeast Alaska have won at least a temporary victory in their battle against a one halibut daily bag limit imposed by federal officials.

A temporary restraining order issued June 20 in Washington, D.C., by U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer lifted a one-fish a day bag limit on that region's guided sport fisheries.

Charter fishermen in Southeast Alaska filed a lawsuit June 2 against Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez over the federal rule changing the daily bag limit for charter customers.

The suit alleges that the secretary failed to comply with the fair and equitable allocation requirements of the Northern Pacific Halibut Act, and also violated the Administrative Procedures Act.

Officials with the National Marine Fisheries Service had cut the daily bag limit for guided anglers from two to one halibut a day, effective June 1. NMFS cut the bag limit because charter vessels in that area had greatly exceeded their harvest limit set by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

The suspended regulations would have limited sport charter vessel anglers to keeping one halibut a day to keep halibut harvests in the region, known as Area 2C, within the guideline harvest level established in federal regulations, as recommended by the council. The restriction applied only to guided anglers, allowing all other anglers to continue to keep two halibut a day.  More

9.      Alaska Ranger's owners seek to limit liability in lawsuits (6/29).  The legal maneuvering over the deadly sinking of the Alaska Ranger in the Bering Sea in March has begun, with the boat's owners asking a federal judge to limit — or remove entirely — any liability for the tragedy even as lawsuits from surviving crew members and families of the dead pile up.

So far, 21 personal-injury and two wrongful-death lawsuits have been filed in King County Superior Court, each accusing Seattle-based Fishing Company of Alaska — the owner of the 189-foot head-and-gut processor — of negligence and operating an unseaworthy vessel. Several other lawsuits are pending, including one to be filed by the family of the ship's captain, 66-year-old Eric Peter Jacobsen, of Lynnwood, one of five crewmen who died, according to maritime lawyer Steven Fury, who represents Jacobsen's widow.

Several other crewmen have already settled claims with the company, according to other area maritime lawyers.

There were 47 crew members aboard the ship when it foundered in rough weather 120 miles west of Dutch Harbor while heading out to fish for mackerel. The ship, according to testimony during U.S. Coast Guard hearings, lost power and steering as water poured into its engine room. The crew was forced to abandon ship in 35-degree water, snow squalls and rough seas.  More

10.  Road work damages salmon streams (KFSK Audio) (6/26).  JUNEAU, ALASKA (2008-06-26) Road work on part of Prince of Wales Island is damaging fish habitat. The Forest Service and other government agencies are looking for a solution. But residents of nearby Coffman Cove worry delays will hurt their community.

11.  NPFMC.  June Newsletter

STATE

12.  Weak runs of king salmon alarm, puzzle biologists (6/29).  Even before this fishing season began, Alaska fishery biologists expected they could be in for a funky year.  Cold waters in the Alaska Current sweeping the Gulf of Alaska warned them salmon were likely to return later than normal.

Unexpected, though, was that fewer of the fish would come back at all. Some biologists are wondering now whether a northern ocean chilled by La Nina -- El Nino's frigid alter ego -- might have done more than just delay returns.

Some places, the result has been a disaster.

Commercial fisheries on the Yukon River are closed. Subsistence fishing there has been cut back significantly. And biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are still worried that too few salmon will escape nets and fish wheels to ensure future runs.

The spawning goal is 100,000 of the big fish upriver. Projections based on early sonar counts at Pilot Point on the lower river indicate the entire king run might number only 100,000, possibly less. It's normally at least twice as large.

Some Canadians are already calling for a moratorium on fishing for Yukon kings. They are worried Alaska fisheries could snare enough fish bound for Canada, where much of the Yukon run spawns, that there won't be enough to meet a treaty-guaranteed goal of 45,000 spawners -- let alone additional fish to support traditional Native fisheries.  More

13.  State reaches settlement with owners of grounded boat.  NORDIC VIKING: $27,500 to be paid to state, Gulf Keeper (6/29).  The owners of a commercial fishing vessel that ran aground last summer, spilling 3,500 gallons of diesel fuel into Prince William Sound, have agreed to pay $27,500 in penalties under an agreement with the state.  The Nordic Viking, a 130-foot boat used to haul salmon, ran onto rocks on July 21 near Port Gravina, a bay on the eastern side of the Sound.

The grounding happened "due to the reckless conduct of Dale Pruitt," the boat's captain, according to the state settlement with the owners.

The grounding breached the boat's fuel tanks, and the leaking diesel forced state officials to temporarily close some areas to commercial salmon fishing.

Under terms of a "civil compliance order by consent," finalized late last month, the boat owners agreed to certain penalties and other steps in exchange for the state not taking further civil or criminal action:

• The Nordic Viking owners must pay $17,500 into a state oil and hazardous substance prevention and cleanup fund. 

• The owners will pay $10,000 to a nonprofit organization, the Gulf of Alaska Keeper, for use in its program to clear beaches of derelict fishing equipment and other marine debris.  More 

14.  BOF.  United Cook Inlet Drift Association Petition & Teleconference (6/26)

Petition
Agenda
Legal Notice
Department Comments Summary of Actions

15.  Alaska Supreme Court.  Wilber v. State, Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (6/27). 

MARKETING

16.  2008 Alaska Salmon Price Report for Jan-Apr (6/13)
Intro Letter   Report

MISC

17.  You too can be a virtual Bering Sea crabber.  New video game puts players in the skipper's chair (6/30).  VIRTUAL DUTCH HARBOR -- Minutes into your new career as a crab boat captain, the crew is already a headache.  "Captain, you've got help me. I've got a girl in my bunk and my girlfriend just showed up. Can you keep her busy?"

Do you help your crewman trick his girl, or tell him he's on his own? Choose wisely. Keeping your crew happy is a big part of "Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm," a new video game based on the wildly popular Discovery Channel series.

Released this month for Xbox 360 and planned for personal computers, the game is a crab-fishing simulation set in the Bering Sea. Players step into the chairs of real-life captains made famous by the show -- Northwestern skipper Sig Hansen gives you advice throughout -- and compete for crab while docking at computer-generated versions of Dutch Harbor, Akutan and St. Paul Island.  More