The 10th annual Fishermen’s Expo, organized by the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association and Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust, will be held on Feb. 24, from 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the NSRAA Conference Room and via Zoom. The conference offers both in-person and virtual sessions covering topics like new fishing technology, management updates, and safety workshops. Emily Scott, outreach and program coordinator at ALFA, and Natalie Sattler, program director at ALFA, joined KCAW on the Morning Interview to discuss the upcoming event. Listen to the conversation here:

It’s a cold, snowy day down by Sitka’s marine haulout. Inside the giant unheated commercial workspace, I can still see my breath as men weld and work on boat parts around me. 

Off to one side is a giant engine — or should I say two, one white and one dark grey — stuck together in an intricate pattern of metal and tubing. This engine is hybrid electric and is about to be put in the 50-foot fishing vessel Mirage.

The Mirage could be Alaska’s first official hybrid electric fishing boat, and it’s one step closer to hitting the water. The boat is part of a pilot program based in Sitka to address high fuel costs for the fishing fleet and maybe make fishing just a little bit greener.

“We hauled out at the end of October, early November, cracked a lot of eggs, making this big omelet,” said Ben Matthys, of Southeast Sparks, who’s been working to adapt and install the hybrid engine for the boat’s owner the past couple of months. He said they’re pioneering this technology to the fleet to prove that hybridization is viable. 

“Diesel is reliable,” he said, “but as we’re looking to save beyond those low hanging fruits, where do we go? And we decided that diesel electric is the way forward.”

The program is funded by a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, and includes converting two hybrid commercial fishing boats and one fully electric mariculture boat.

While the initial investment is high, Matthys said hopefully it’ll pay off for fishermen down the line. 

“The margins for fishing are getting tighter,” he said. “The price per pound of what people can market the fish for, or what’s purchased at the plant, is lower, and fuel and all operating costs are higher, so most are still tied to going to spaces A, B and C to go get the fish, and even sometimes having to work harder to find that same amount of fish to pay the bills. So as we move forward to the next options to save and become more profitable, this is it.”

Another benefit is helping to address the climate impacts of fossil fuels, and make it healthier for fishermen onboard who are often exposed to harmful fumes, according to Linda Behnken, a commercial fisherman and director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA), which is pioneering the program. Fishermen might even be able to market their product as greener than the next guy and may be able to get a better price for their fish. 

“So we think there are health benefits for fishermen, as well as for the ocean, and for people’s bottom line,” Behnken said.

She said they’ve worked for years to find ways for the fleet to operate more efficiently, by changing certain boat operations, or making certain modifications to vessels. And after a lot of input from people at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, they identified hybrid technologies as the next best step for fishing boats operating out of small communities. 

“At a national level, there’s definitely a lot of interest across the country in hybrid or fully electric vessels,” Behnken said. “Folks in Maine at the Island Institute there have been working with their fleet to look at electric and hybrid. There’s some work being done in Norway on electric and hybrid, or alternative fuels. But up here, we’re really breaking new ground.”

Jeff Turner owns the Mirage. He fishes for spot prawns, salmon and halibut, to name a few, throughout the Gulf of Alaska. 

Turner said he used to longline out of Kodiak, which took about three days to travel to one way. At the end of the trip, he said, he’d rack up about $3,500 in fuel costs. If he could knock that down by a couple thousand dollars by longlining on a battery, he said that could be huge. 

“Hybridization, for me, started with, ‘Oh my god, I’m spending so much on fuel. There’s got to be a better way,'” Turner said. “This grant money came up and there was interest…I raised my hand and said, ‘I’ll try this.”

Throughout the process, Turner said, he’s been learning a lot, and there’s still a lot left to learn. But, he said, he’s ready to install the engine and hopefully hit the water in January.

“I’m really excited about the data they’re going to collect, [to see] how it changes the way I fish and what other people can do with it too,” he said. “So, I mean, it’s exciting [that] every day I go out, I’m going, ‘I’m fishing and researching.’ So it’s kind of nice that way too.”

Matthys, the marine electrician, said that collecting data is going to be important when proving to other fishermen that converting to hybrid energy will be worth the investment.  

“I’m excited to see the technology move forward, advance the fleet. We’re running mostly on 100 plus year old technology moving boats around. And I can understand, you know, grandpa did it, dad did it. It worked for them, and it’s working for me type deal. But as we advance to new technologies, I’m excited to see this stuff come forward,” Matthys said. “I look forward to serving the fleet, both in a traditional sense, and then in this new realm of technology.”

After the Mirage hits the water, Matthys will be working on installing an electric propulsion system on a gillnetter from Juneau and setting up a fully-electric mariculture vessel in Kodiak.

The Alaska Longline Fisherman’s Association and Alaska Sustainability Fisheries Trust will hold a free Fisherman’s Expo on Thursday, March 6, virtually and in person at the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association office. The event will feature interactive classes on fishing-related topics from gear repair to “skipper science.” Emily Scott and Daniel Ortega joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton to discuss the event. Listen to the full interview here:

The event is 8:45 a.m. to 5:00 p.m on Thursday, March 6. Registration is open at alfafish.org.

Linda Behnken and Natalie Sattler with the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association discuss how the organization’s partnership network has allowed over half-a-million seafood meals to be distributed from the Columbia River to Western Alaska. This year, a subsistence donation program organized in Dillingham has sent 5,000 pounds of sockeye upriver to families of the Yukon and Chignik areas.

The Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) and Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust (ASFT) are inviting community and tribal leaders, organizations, fishermen, and others to share via a new Seafood Donation Network Inquiry online form, whether they are struggling with access to local seafood or have seafood that they would be willing to contribute to families in need. Their invitation is part of ALFA and ASFT’s Seafood Donation Network, which was created in March 2020 as a program of ALFA but has since evolved into a statewide network of communities, organizations, businesses, and fishermen concerned about seafood insecurity in Alaska.

Natalie Sattler and Linda Behnken joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton in the studio to discuss the program.

Natalie Sattler and Eric Jordan with the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association Crew Training Program are looking for applicants. Jordan says the idea originated when his wife “retired” from the family fishing business and his own sons grew up and bought their own boats. Since then, under ALFA’s management, over 100 people have participated in the program, including KCAW’s Erin Fulton (2015). Applications are open through March; no experience is necessary. Apprentices can work all or part of the season, in a variety of gear groups.

Visit alfafish.org for more information and to register. Call 907-738-1286 with any questions. 

As a child, George Anderson would spend his summers fishing in Chignik Lagoon, a remote Alaska Native village 400 miles southwest of Anchorage. For him, and the rest of the Chignik community, salmon is more than just a food source.

“You know, fish, it is a part of your life and your identity,” Anderson said. “Growing up, I think we really took it for granted that there was always, you know, some fish returning here,” said Anderson.

But as salmon runs dry up across Western Alaska, many in Chignik have been struggling to fill their freezer and smokehouses over the last few years.

“About 2018, when we did not meet our escapement goals for our early or later run, that’s when people really, really started getting concerned,” explained Anderson.

Anderson is the President of the Chignik Intertribal Coalition, an advocacy alliance created in response to the 2018 salmon collapse. But in the last four years, the shortage of fish has persisted as both the early and late runs failed to return in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

There’s no telling when or if the Chignik Sockeye stock will return, but the dwindling supply comes with grave economic and cultural implications. He says now is the time to act if they want to preserve their way of life, and ensure future food security.

 “It’s just really nice to be able to pass down to our kids and grandkids, the way we prepare fish and store it for winter,” he said. “There’s so many different stressors on our food web. In the face of climate change, it’s just very important to set up these food sharing networks.”

The Fish for Families initiative is becoming an integral part of a food supply network. The grassroots effort hopes to aid communities facing food scarcity across Alaska by sourcing and transporting thousands of pounds of fish. Currently the program only serves the Chignik region, but organizers have been working to raise funds so they can expand to communities in other parts of Western Alaska.

Natalie Sattler is the program director with Alaska Long Line Fishermen’s Association (ALFA), the organization behind “Fish for Families.” While the initiative started as a fish donation program in response to pandemic-related food insecurity and a struggling  seafood industry, two years later, Sattler says the need remains. 

“This is not just a result of the pandemic,” Sattler said. “There are these real issues that we want to help address.”

Sattler says the project is looking to capitalize on the abundance of other fisheries in the state. To fund and transport the fish, ALFA has partnered with  a handful of processors, fisherman and other orgs. For every 24 bucks donated, one salmon is delivered to a family.

 “We know that there’s, you know, these projected record-breaking run salmon runs in Bristol Bay. How can we leverage that or use that abundance to feed these other areas? So kind of Alaskan feeding Alaskans,” Sattler explained.

The project is currently relying on volunteers, charitable donations and federal grants to survive. But because it’s not entirely clear why Chignik’s stock has been so consistently low, the need may be ongoing. And it’s not an isolated event. Sattler says they hope expand to other communities, specifically in the Yukon- Kuskokwim River region, where Chum and Chinook runs are also suffering.  According to Katie Howard, fishery scientist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and lead researcher with the Salmon Ocean Ecology Program, scientists are seeing unprecedented declines. She says declining salmon stocks could have something to do with a warming ocean.

“We’ve seen a lot of drought and really warm temperatures in the river, especially in 2019,” she explained. “And in the ocean, we’ve seen these these really big marine heat waves that have spanned many, many consecutive years, and they’ve just been really large geographically and really, unlike anything that’s ever been seen before.”

While Howard’s research has focused primarily on the health of Chum and Chinook, she says more data on the Chignik’s Sockeyes’ life cycle is coming in the next  year. 

“One of the things that we’re hoping to get started next year is a survey in marine waters to get the same kinds of data we have for the Yukon, that would also collect information on juvenile Chignik salmon, and really zero in on what might be responsible,” said Howard.

 While the future of Western Alaska salmon runs looks uncertain, organizers of “Fish for Families” are working to ensure at least people in Chignik won’t go without fish this summer.

“As you know, we have over 600 commercial boats homeported here,” she said. “Every one of those boats has to haul every year to meet insurance requirements and to be safe and be efficient.”

Behnken said they need a lease to get the ball rolling, especially to secure financing and permits.

The group projects it will cost around $2.9 million, a lower price tag than some previous haulout proposals considered by the Assembly. The price tag is also lower than the RAISE grant the city applied for to fund a haulout project. Although it’s still unknown whether the city will receive the federal funding, administrator John Leach said he wanted to proceed with the haulout project as if no additional money was coming in.

“I think if if the RAISE grant does turn out to be a reality, then we come back and talk about how this plugs in,” he said. “We’re giving them a bit by bit chance to get there. And if this grant doesn’t happen, we’re still committed to work with this group to push this boatyard forward.”

Both Behnken and GPIP director Garry White said the project timeline was “aggressive.” And if the boatyard doesn’t meet goals, the city has the ability to cancel the lease and take over the project. But Member Valorie Nelson said she’d heard some concerns and wanted to make sure the assembly would get another stamp of approval on the final lease. 

“I have had concerns from fishermen in the community that maybe you know, we’re rushing because we feel this is a crisis,” she said. “But we do have to make sure we’re making the best decision for the community as a whole.”

The assembly unanimously voted to direct the city administrator to draw up a lease based on the Sitka Community Boatyard Proposal.  A final lease will come before the Assembly for final approval at a future meeting.

In other business, the Sitka Assembly…

• Rejected a proposed ballot question to levy a 5% marijuana sales tax and indefinitely postponed a ballot question to levy a $0.03 per gallon fuel excise tax.
• Approved a $1 million dollar appropriation for the Lincoln Street Paving Project. The money will come from the $1 million dollar donation from Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. Read more here.
• Discussed and amended a letter of non-objection to the issuance of a permit for 10-year aquatic farm site lease of of state tidelands in No Thorofare Bay. The amendments included language asking the state to assume responsibility for prevention and mitigation of potential invasive species, and asked for an extension on the state’s comment period for the project and allow all Sitka residents to give comment. It passed on a 4-1 vote with Member Valorie Nelson opposed.
• Approved the City and Borough of Sitka funding priorities from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021.
• Approved the Sitka Community Hospital (SCH) building sale request for proposals (RFP) evaluation and selection team on a 4-1 vote with Member Valorie Nelson opposed.
• Approved a temporary lease between the City and Borough of Sitka and Secon, Inc. for municipal property at Granite Creek Lease Area Site 7.

Natalie Sattler from ALFA discusses the Crewmember Training Program that is now taking applications. Also, ALFA’s Mid-Winter Fishermen’s is coming up on February 22. Register here.