Record haul of herring at Togiak
Seiners pulled in a record 23,060 harvest of herring at Togiak this spring. With a herring roe price of $75 a ton, that meant a payday of $1.73 million for 19 vessels participating.

Summer fisheries are underway
The big Bristol Bay sockeye season will be underway soon as Alaska’s seasonal fisheries approach their peak. So far the Copper River and Prince William Sound fisheries have been doing well, while fishing has been a bit slow around Kodiak, Cook Inlet and Chignik. Alaska pollock, cod, flounder and rockfish harvesting is happening in the Bering Sea, with several hundred vessels participating. Summer crab fishing is also underway in many regions, with golden king crab being harvested in the Aleutians; red king crab in Norton Sound, and Dungeness crab in Southeast.

Seafood groups seek aid on trade
Alaska’s Congressional delegation is working to get the state’s seafood harvesters and processors included in a new federal program that helps farmers affected by trade disputes. Alaska seafood producers are losing markets in China because of the current U.S.-China trade war.

Warm water off western coasts
Scientists are alarmed over an unusual spike in ocean temperatures in waters off western Alaska, as much as nine degrees Fahrenheit above normal and reaching into the lower 60-degree F. water temperature. The warmer water and early receding sea ice may be connected to a sharp increase in reported bearded seal and gray whale deaths. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will do a more extensive summer survey in the Bering Straits area this summer to test for impacts of warmer waters on the Bering Sea commercial fisheries.