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52-545: Upper reaches of Bristol Bay experience some of the highest tides in the world. One such reach, the Nushagak Bay near Dillingham and another near Naknek in Kvichak Bay have tidal extremes in excess of 10 m (30 ft), ranking them — and the area — as eighth highest in the world. Coupled with the extreme number of shoals, sandbars, and shallows, it makes navigation troublesome, especially during

104-471: A captain that fully understood how to use the safety equipment. The oceans cover nearly two thirds of the Earth's surface, and are continuously threatened by human behaviors and practices. By taking so many fish from the seas, humans have managed to remove entire links from the marine food chain . This causes a chain effect, leading to an overall upset of the delicate ecological balance. Sharks are one of

156-410: A claim on the site in 2001 and with its partners, invested 500 million dollars into the project. The mining company lost all of its partners in 2011 due to increasing government regulations and distrust by its partners. Because of the estimated 10 billion tons of mining waste that must be permanently stored in the area, which is an active earthquake zone, and Rio Tinto's environmental track record, which

208-403: A crew member is caught in a line and pulled into a winch on deck. The installation of a readily accessible emergency stop switch on the winch can potentially prevent these kinds of injuries. Injury data collection systems have begun tracking fishing-related injuries (fatal and non-fatal), using publicly available reports such as news media. The U.S. Coast Guard has primary jurisdiction over

260-522: A large body of water in the eastern Bering Sea north of the Alaska Peninsula . It is home to the area's largest city, Dillingham , and the bay hosts one of the world's last great sustainable sockeye salmon fisheries. Bristol Bay residents have historically valued the estuary resources for both subsistence gains and commercial profits. However, given the estuary's importance, there have been few comprehensive scientific studies conducted in

312-476: A large profit. Many people working in commercial fishing are self-employed, with some or all of their pay dependent on the proceeds from the sale of the fish caught. In the UK, the technical term for this is share fisherman, which refers to anyone working without an employment contract, on a boat crewed by more than one person, and relying for their livelihood at least partly on a share of the profits or gross sales of

364-487: A location in the Dillingham Census Area, Alaska is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit , mostly from wild fisheries . It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often pursue fish far into

416-413: A majority of fatal vessel disasters. The most frequent cause of death is falls overboard . Falling overboard specifically killed 182 fishermen in the period between 2000 and 2010. This fatality rate is 3 times that of the next most dangerous job in the U.S. and more than 25 times that of the national average across all workers. Most falls overboard went unwitnessed, and in none of the cases documented

468-888: A result of a combination of severe weather conditions, extreme fatigue because any one fisherman usually puts in a 21-hour shift, and dangerous equipment. Commercial fishing has been identified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as a priority industry sector in the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) to identify and provide intervention strategies regarding occupational health and safety issues. Common causes of fishing-related deaths include vessel disasters, falls overboard, and onboard injuries. Between 2000 and 2010, most vessel disasters often were initiated by flooding, vessel instability, and large waves, and that severe weather conditions contributed to

520-412: A worldwide catch of well over a million tonnes in 1999, with herring and sardines together providing a catch of over 22 million metric tons in 1999. Many other species are fished in smaller numbers. In 2016, of the 171 million tonnes of fish caught, about 88 percent or over 151 million tonnes were utilized for direct human consumption. This share has increased significantly in recent decades, as it

572-525: Is seen as poor by many environmental advocacy groups, fears have been raised about the potential impact on the Bristol Bay area and its wildlife and residents. In April 2003, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued an assessment of the impact of the proposed mining operations on fisheries, wildlife, and native Alaska tribes. Between 2014 and May 2017, Pebble sued the EPA several times. The company argued

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624-572: Is specifically designed and updated to avoid catching certain species of animal that is unwanted or endangered. Billions of dollars are spent each year in researching/developing new techniques to reduce the injury and even death of unwanted marine animals caught by the fishermen. In fact, there was a study taken in 2000 on different deterrents and how effective they are at deterring the target species. The study showed that most auditory deterrents helped prevent whales from being caught while more physical barriers helped prevent birds from getting tangled within

676-468: Is the model for international fisheries regulations today. Bristol Bay is home to the world's most abundant Sockeye (red) salmon fishery as well as strong runs of Chum (dog) salmon , Coho (silver) salmon , Chinook (king) salmon , and Pink (humpy) salmon , each occurring seasonally. Chinook return to their freshwater spawning grounds earliest in the summer, followed by Sockeye and Chum. Coho and Pink salmon swim to their spawning grounds last, later in

728-589: The Russian Navy conducted extensive surveys of the Bering Sea coastline into the mid-19th century, naming many of the geographical features commonly used today: Capes Constantine, Chichagof, Menshikof and Greig, Mounts Veniaminof and Pavlof , Becharof Lake , etc. In 1883 the first salmon cannery was open in Bristol Bay” (Source information from the cannery article to give context on the expansion of

780-406: The EPA unfairly assumed the scope of the mine before it formally filed mining plans. Northern Dynasty Minerals LLC. accused the government agency of colluding with anti-mine activists to reach its conclusions. In July 2019, the EPA withdrew their preemptive proposed determination to restrict use of the pebble deposit area as a disposal site. In September 2020, while posing as potential investors in

832-660: The Fisheries Bureau prohibited the use of motorized vessels, fish traps, and purse seines in Alaska. This was to ensure a 50% escapement of the spawning salmon, to guarantee their sustainability. The Japanese fleet was composed of diesel-powered steel vessels. The Japanese had a technological advantage over the American fisherman and dominated the bay that summer. In 1938, the United States agreed with Japan that

884-698: The Japanese would refrain from fishing in Alaskan waters. This agreement was honored until Japan and the United States entered World War 2. In the 1950s, Japan was strengthening its fishing presence in the Pacific; the US, Canada, and Japan passed the North Pacific Fisheries Treaty. This treaty managed the resources of the region jointly to preserve the future generations of fish. This agreement

936-471: The Pebble Mine would have unacceptable adverse affects to salmon fishery areas in the Bristol Bay watershed. 57°40′N 159°50′W  /  57.667°N 159.833°W  / 57.667; -159.833 Nushagak Bay Nushagak Bay / ˈ n uː ʃ ɪ ɡ æ k / is a large estuary covering over 100 km in southwest part of the U.S. state of Alaska . It opens to Bristol Bay ,

988-649: The Shannon Diversity values are H’=2.11 and H’=2.5, respectively. This lower diversity of Nushagak Bay is most likely due to its low salinity, high turbidity, and silty sediments. Nushagak Bay is downstream of the proposed Pebble Mine , whose tailings storage lake would sit at the headwaters of the Koktuli River , one of the Nushagak River 's tributaries. Villages on the Nushagak are among

1040-409: The United States, according to an economic report released by NOAA's Fisheries Service. Commercial fishing may offer an abundance of jobs, but the pay varies from boat to boat, season to season. Crab fisherman Cade Smith was quoted in an article by Business Week as saying, "There was always a top boat where the crew members raked in $ 50,000 during the three- to five-day king crab season—or $ 100,000 for

1092-582: The area between the Kuskokwim and Nushagak Rivers . The original Eskimo village at Naknek went through various names as recorded by the Russians after they arrived in the area in 1819 (1821-“Naugeik”; 1880- “Kinuyak”; and finally Naknek as named by Russian Navy Captain Tebenkov). Later, in 1819, an Aleut by the name of Andrei Ustiugov drew the first intensive charts of Bristol Bay. Additionally, ships of

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1144-451: The area to hard rock mining and oil and gas drilling. The largest community in the Bristol Bay area is Dillingham . Many other communities dot the coastline and rivers of Bristol Bay, including: All of these communities are primarily inhabited by Alaska Natives , except for Dillingham and King Salmon ; the former being influenced early-on by salmon-cannery employees from around the world including European and Asian people. King Salmon

1196-515: The area's frequently strong winds. As the shallowest part of the Bering Sea, Bristol Bay is one of the most dangerous regions for large vessels. In ancient times, much of Bristol Bay was dry and arable, along with much of the Bering Sea Land Bridge . More recently, its proximity to mineral, animal and seafood riches provided an incentive for human habitation along its shoreline. Early Russian and English exploration provided most of

1248-653: The associated canneries, sport fishing , hunting and tourism . The number of business lodges, hunting- and fishing-resorts and visitors to the nearby Katmai National Park and Preserve has grown exponentially in recent years. Sports fishing is another important local industry. Many lodges cater to sport fishermen targeting the salmon and trout populations in the freshwater tributaries. Freshwater species include humpback whitefish (Coregonus pidschianpp), Dolly Varden trout (Salvelinus malma), and Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).[18] The area has also experienced significant interest in oil and mineral development, most notably with

1300-564: The bay. Species diversity as measured through richness and total biomass is generally low with 16 macro invertebrate species encountered in a 2007 field study, including teleost fishes, isopods, amphipods, and crangon shrimps. During the summer 2007, Nushagak Bay was found to have a Shannon Diversity (H’) value of 1.54, ranking it below similar subarctic estuaries such as Ungava Bay, near Labrador (60°34’N, 67°35’W) and Lower Herring Bay in Price William Sound (60°30’N, 147°13’W) where

1352-628: The company is seeking a 20 year permit, Thiessen outlined how it could last another 160 years. After more than two decades of opposition by a majority of Bristol Bay residents and Tribes, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) used its authority under the Clean Water Act 404(c) to stop the proposed Pebble Mine project. The EPA released a Final Determination which declared that after extensive scientific and technical research and robust stakeholder engagement that

1404-418: The filthy environment. These can infect wild fish that swim near the enclosure, or whole colonies of fish if an infected farm fish escapes the enclosure. Overfishing occurs because fish are captured at a faster rate than they can reproduce. Both advanced fishing technologies and increased demand for fish have resulted in overfishing. The Food and Agricultural Organization has reported that "about 25 percent of

1456-441: The first 50 years of commercial salmon fishing in Bristol Bay, the fishing boats were restricted to sail power. When this restriction lifted in 1951, it took only seven short years to outfit all the boats (approximately 1,500) with diesel or gas engines. In the late 1920s another law was passed restricting the length of the boats to 32 feet. This law holds true even today. Bristol Bay is a remote part of Alaska. The canneries preserve

1508-430: The fishing boat's catch. Commercial fishing uses many different methods to effectively catch a large variety of species including the use of pole and line, trolling with multiple lines, trawling with large nets such as seine-netting, and traps or pots . Sustainability of fisheries is improved by using specific equipment that eliminates or minimizes catching non-targeted species. Fishing methods vary according to

1560-500: The food chain dynamics. Bycatch is the industry term for what they consider "unwanted or economically-worthless aquatic animals who are unintentionally caught using destructively indiscriminate fishing methods like longlines and driftnets , which generally target marketable marine creatures such as tuna and swordfish " There are also billions of other animals that are killed in this manner every year such as: sea turtles , marine mammals , and sea birds . Between 1990 and 2008, it

1612-719: The freshness of the salmon which are gutted, cleaned, and processed on site. These companies have established a presence in Bristol Bay. Canneries include North Pacific Seafoods, Togiak Seafoods, Bristol Bay Setnet, Friedman Family Fisheries, Peter Pan Seafoods, Ekuk Fisheries, Big Creek Shore plant, Coffee Point Seafood, Icicle Seafoods, Wild Premium Salmon, Seafood Enterprises of Alaska, Alaska General Seafoods, Alaska Salmon Wild, Da Kine Enterprise, Extreme Salmon, Great Ruby Fish, My Girl, Naknek Family Fisheries, North Pacific Seafoods, Ocean Beauty, Silver Bay Seafoods, Trident Seafoods, Tulchina Fisheries, Diamond Lodge Smokehouse, and Nakeen Homepack. Major industries are commercial fishing and

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1664-428: The longer snow crab season". That may be true, but there are also the boats who do not do well; Smith said later in the same article that his worst season left him with a loss of 500 dollars. The industry has had to adapt through the years in order to keep earning a profit. A study taken on some small family-owned commercial fishing companies showed that they adapted to continue to earn a living but not necessarily make

1716-463: The major opponents of the proposal. The bay runs primarily north–south from the mouth of the Nushagak River to Bristol Bay some 30 miles (48 km) southward. The bay is also fed by several additional rivers, including the Wood , Igushik , and Snake rivers. 58°37′20″N 158°35′28″W  /  58.62222°N 158.59111°W  / 58.62222; -158.59111 This article about

1768-456: The mine an environmental activist group secretly taped conversations with Ronald Thiessen, chief executive of Northern Dynasty Minerals, and Tom Collier, chief executive of Pebble Limited Partnership. During the conversations Collier and Thiessen detailed their plans to gain the favor of elected politicians from Juneau to Washington, D.C. to gain a favorable outcome for the approval of the mining operation. The conversations also revealed that while

1820-496: The net. During 2010–2014, 188 commercial fishing fatalities occurred in the United States, with fatality rates in different fishing fleets ranging from 21 to 147 deaths per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers (FTEs), which is many times higher than the fatality rate for all U.S. workers. During 1919 and 2005, 4111 fishermen died in fishing related accidents in the United Kingdom industry alone. These deaths are generally

1872-594: The non-native influences of the area. During his voyage through the area in 1778, the famed British navigator and explorer Captain James Cook named the area "in honor of the Admiral Earl of Bristol " in England. After establishing some temporary settlements in the late 1790s, The Russian American Company sent exploratory parties to document the coast and nearby inland areas of Bristol Bay. One of these charted

1924-517: The ocean under adverse conditions. Large-scale commercial fishing is called industrial fishing . The major fishing industries are not only owned by major corporations but by small families as well. In order to adapt to declining fish populations and increased demand, many commercial fishing operations have reduced the sustainability of their harvest by fishing further down the food chain. This raises concern for fishery managers and researchers, who highlight how further they say that for those reasons,

1976-446: The ocean's most threatened groups (see list of threatened sharks ) because they are mistakenly caught by vessels searching for fish, and end up getting tossed back into the ocean dead or dying Some Asian cuisines value shark fin as a delicacy , incentivizing excessive catching of sharks and even finning practice among unregulated fishermen . This disappearance of sharks has enabled prey animals like rays to multiply, which alters

2028-609: The proposed Pebble Mine on the north shore of Iliamna Lake , and auctioning of leases to tracts in the southern Bristol Bay area known as the North Aleutians Basin , an area which has been closed to offshore oil and gas development since a moratorium in 1998. The draft plan by the Bureau of Land Management (pending public comments until 2/5/2007), also proposes to open most of the BLM's 3,600,000 acres (1,500,000 ha) in

2080-424: The reefs more vulnerable to invasion by non-native species. Fish farming is the raising of fish for food in underwater enclosures, otherwise known as aquaculture . There are environmental hazards such as waste, damage to ecosystems, and negative effects on humans. Because they are so densely packed together, the fecal matter that accumulates can create algal blooms , or deadly parasites and viruses that thrive on

2132-583: The region, the species being fished for, and the technology available to the fishermen. A commercial fishing enterprise may vary from one man with a small boat with hand-casting nets or a few pot traps , to a huge fleet of trawlers processing tons of fish every day. Commercial fishing gears in use today include surrounding nets (e.g. purse seine ), seine nets (e.g. beach seine), trawls (e.g. bottom trawl ), dredges, hooks and lines (e.g. long line and troll line ), lift nets, gillnets , entangling nets, Pole and Line, and traps Commercial fishing gear

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2184-470: The safety of the U.S. commercial fishing fleet, enforcing regulations of the U.S. Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Act of 1988 (CFIVSA). CFIVSA regulations focus primarily on saving lives after the loss of a vessel and not on preventing vessels from capsizing or sinking, falls overboard, or injuries on deck. CFIVSA regulations require that commercial fishing vessels carry various equipment (e.g., life rafts, radio beacons, and immersion suits) depending on

2236-583: The salmon industry in Alaska and the history of growth. The influence of the Katmai Volcano Explosion in 1912 and the influenza epidemic in 1919 decimated the Naknek people and area. According to oral history, there were only about three original families left at that time. On July 7 1937, Alaskans witnessed conflict as Japanese fishing vessels entered the waters of Bristol Bay with 10,000-ton fishing trawlers to harvest salmon. At that time,

2288-405: The size of the vessel and the area in which it operates. Not all commercial fishermen follow safety regulations and advice. One study of Maine fishermen found that less than 25% of the fishermen interviewed had recent training in first aid or CPR, only 75% of the boats had survival suits and only 36% had a survival craft. Even the ships that did have the necessary equipment did not consistently have

2340-611: The summer. Fishing activity peaks for specific species during times of the highest concentration of salmon moving from the saltwater Pacific Ocean to the brackish Bristol Bay, then finally to their freshwater natal spawning streams at the headwaters of the many lakes and rivers in the Bristol Bay watershed. On an international scale, Sockeye salmon are a relatively rare creature. Like other wild salmon species, Sockeye harvests fluctuate but comprise 4 to 7 percent of global salmon production and 13 to 20 percent of wild salmon harvests. Between 2011 and 2014, Sockeye salmon accounted for 5 percent of

2392-405: The sustainability of the marine ecosystems could be in danger of collapsing. Commercial fishermen harvest a wide variety of animals. However, a very small number of species support the majority of the world's fisheries; these include herring , cod , anchovy , tuna , flounder , mullet , squid , shrimp , salmon , crab , lobster , oyster and scallops . All except these last four provided

2444-417: The world's captured fish end up thrown overboard because they are caught unintentionally (bycatch), are illegal market species, or are of inferior quality and size" It should not go unnoticed that overfishing has caused more ecological extinction than any other human influence on coastal ecosystems. The global environmental problem of oceanic microplastics is largely caused by plastic-made fishing gear that

2496-434: The world's salmon harvest by volume and 15 percent of the world's wild salmon harvest. Bristol Bay is home to the world's largest salmon run. All five Eastern Pacific species spawn in the bay's freshwater tributaries. Commercial fisheries include the world's largest Sockeye salmon fishery. The Kvijack drains from Lake Iliamna. Along with herring and other fisheries, salmon fishing accounts for nearly 75% of local jobs. During

2548-596: Was 67 percent in the 1960s. In 2016, the greatest part of the 12 percent used for non-food purposes (about 20 million tonnes) was reduced to fishmeal and fish oil (74 percent or 15 million tonnes), while the rest (5 million tonnes) was largely utilized as material for direct feeding in aquaculture and raising of livestock and fur animals, in culture (e.g. fry, fingerlings or small adults for ongrowing), as bait, in pharmaceutical uses and for ornamental purposes. The industry, in 2006, also managed to generate over 185 billion dollars in sales and also provide over two million jobs in

2600-472: Was estimated that 8.5 million sea turtles were fatally caught in nets or on longlines as bycatch. Coral reefs are biodiversity -rich ecosystems which provide habitat for millions of aquatic species such as sponges, star fish, jellyfish, sea turtles, etc. Reef ecosystems are highly sensitive to chemical, temperature, and population changes. There has been an increasing disappearance of large predators such as barracuda , Nassau groupers , and sharks This makes

2652-581: Was populated by military personnel stationed, primarily during Cold War years, at the King Salmon Air Force Station , and later by visitors and employees of the nearby Katmai National Park and Preserve . A mineral exploration project investigating a large porphyry copper , gold , and molybdenum deposit in the Bristol Bay region has been proposed and may be undertaken by British-Australian Rio Tinto Group and Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi . Northern Dynasty Minerals LLC staked

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2704-419: Was the victim wearing a personal flotation device (PFD) . Several institutions have tried to change the culture surrounding safety on commercial fishing boats, especially around wearing personal flotation devices. The Alaska Scallop Association mandates that every fisherman must wear a PFD while on deck of the boat, and other organizations have purchased more wearable PFDs. Onboard injuries often result when

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