KODIAK - Alaska longliners who are lucky enough to hold shares of halibut and sablefish (black cod) are required each year to pay for their participation in those fisheries. The annual fee, which can go as high as 3 percent, is calculated according to the total dockside value of the catch and the costs of management and enforcement for the fisheries.
For the 2003 season the "cost recovery" fee is 1.4 percent, based on a combined fisheries value of $236,536,464. That breaks down to $165,048,886 for halibut (an all-time record) and $71,487,578 for sablefish. The management and enforcement costs for the eight and a half month season were just over $3.4 million.
According to Jennifer Hayes, fee coordinator for the Restricted Access Management Division of NOOA Fisheries, the average price for halibut last year was $2.88 a pound and $2.32 for sablefish. That compares to an average of $2.21 a pound for halibut the previous year, and a whopping $3.60 a pound for sablefish, which benefited from a stronger Japanese yen. (Virtually all of Alaska's halibut goes to Japan.)
Hayes said fishermen are very good about paying their bills on time. "We usually have only a handful who are a little late, and only four have been referred to collections. Out of 2,471 fishermen, that's pretty dog-gone good," she added. The division recently sent out reminders about the Jan. 31 payment deadline.
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PETA petition
An online petition asking Disney Studios to break off its affiliation with the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has gathered more than 5,000 signatures in less than two months. PETA recently got permission from Disney to use trademarked characters from its popular "Finding Nemo" movie to turn kids away from eating fish, or even going fishing. PETA has adapted a poster from the movie that says "fish are friends, not food" and is using it widely in its anti-fish campaign.
"We want to gather as many signatures as we can and then we will give the petition to Disney's board of directors. And we'll make as much fanfare about it as we can when we do," said Tom Rose, a petition organizer and spokesman for Modernsportsman.com, an online magazine for hunters and fishermen. Rose believes the number of signatures on the petition will double by March, at which time he'll deliver it to the Disney officials
"Bad press is the one thing these people can't stand," Rose said in a phone interview from his home in California. "We'll continue to add more heat and see if we can force them to at the very least divest themselves of this arrangement they have with PETA."
Meanwhile, Rose hopes others will do their part to help break Disney's ties with PETA's anti-fish campaign by boycotting Disney products and movies. "What's most important is that people let the movie theaters and others know why they're doing it. All it takes is a few complaints and the phones will start ringing at Disney headquarters," he said. The Disney/PETA petition can be found at www.petitiononline.com. For the PETA angle, check out www.fisharefriends.com.
Smell this
Miracles can be found in the smallest things. In this case it's chitin, a natural chemical easily purified from the shells of crabs, shrimp and other crustaceans. Most recently, ground-up shrimp shells stirred into a nasal spray are being tested in England as a treatment for allergies and hay fever.
A UPI report said asthma sufferers have welcomed the new medication because it doesn't have the side effects caused by other treatments. Also, the nasal spray does not trigger seafood allergies. Scientists at the Medical Research Council claim the spray can be used to treat any respiratory tract allergies. The long-term goal is to use it in young children and babies to prevent allergies from developing at all.
Salmon snippets
The Salmon Market Bulletin reports that the total value of H&G (headed and gutted) fresh salmon sales increased from $21 million to $30 million from May through August. Sales of fresh high-value species (king, coho &sockeye) grew from 7 million to 10 million pounds (40 percent) and the sales value of those species increased by $7 million. Also, Southeast Alaska salmon fishermen earned $51 million in 2003, enough to remain the top-earning salmon region in the state for the third year in a row.
Kodiak-based free-lance writer Laine Welch can be reached via e-mail at msfish@ptialaska.net.
