NOVEMBER 2022 l VOL 71 ISSUE 9
worldfishing.net
Viewpoint 3 | Insight 12 | Fishing Technology 20 | Analysis 26
ALASKA CANCELS CRAB SEASONS Officials have announced the closure of both the Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea snow crab 2022/23 seasons over concerns that populations are edging towards collapse. In an Advisory Notice, issued on 10 October, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) advised that it and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) had completed analysis of 2022 NMFS trawl survey results for Bristol Bay red king crab. It was found that the stock is estimated to be below the ADF&G regulatory threshold for opening a fishery and that it would therefore remain closed for the 2022/23 season. The notice stated that ADF&G appreciated and carefully considered all input from crab industry stakeholders prior to making its decision. “Understanding crab fishery closures have substantial impacts on harvesters, industry, and communities, ADF&G must balance these impacts with the need for long-term conservation and sustainability of crab stocks. Management of Bristol Bay red king crab must now focus on conservation and rebuilding given the condition of the stock,” ADF&G said. It continued, “Efforts to advance our science and understanding of crab population dynamics are underway. With crab industry input, ADF&G will continue to evaluate options for rebuilding, including potential for sustainably fishing during periods of low abundance. This will allow ADF&G
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www.macduffshipyards.com 8 While the red king crab harvest has been cancelled for the second successive year, this is the first time the snow crab fishery has been closed
to work on issues related to state and federal comanagement, observer coverage, discard mortality, and fishery viability.” ADF&G advised that additional information will be made available during the annual ADF&G/Crab Industry meeting, with details of that meeting to be announced shortly. A very similar Advisory Notice was issued on the same day for the 2022/23 Bering Sea snow crab season. While the red king crab harvest has been cancelled for the second year in a row, this is the first time the snow crab fishery has been closed. The closure announcements have generated considerable concern in the industry.
NORWAY LIMITS RUSSIAN FISHING VESSEL ACCESS Norway has imposed restricted access to its ports for Russian fishing vessels in order to prevent them from circumventing the sanctions placed on Moscow due to the conflict in Ukraine. “We have closely monitored Russian activity in Norwegian waters and in Norwegian ports to avoid Norway becoming a transit country for transporting goods illegally to Russia,” said Norway’s Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt. “We now have information that indicates that there is a need to increase controls of Russian fishing vessels. “Russia is more unpredictable and is searching for new ways to avoid the sanctions regime.” Russian fishing vessels are only able to call
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at Kirkenes and Båtsfjord in the Barents Sea and Tromsø in the Norwegian Sea. Visiting vessels will also be subject to closer customs inspections. While the main reason for the move was to prevent Russia from circumventing Western sanctions, the decision is also thought to be part of Norway’s increased vigilance of its offshore and coastal oil and gas facilities following four unexplained leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea, as well as unidentified drone sightings near some of Norway’s offshore platforms. Norway, which is now Europe’s biggest supplier of gas, has increased security around its energy infrastructure.
NEW HORIZONS
New proteins on the table page 14
NEWBUILDS
Versatile Monsun built for Norway page 18
AQUACULTURE
Addressing antimicrobials page 28