Gov. Bill Walker Asks Feds to Declare Alaska's 2016 Pink Salmon Season a Disaster  Governor Bill Walker has officially requested the federal government to declare the 2016 pink salmon season a disaster for four Alaska regions. "After consulting with the Dept. of Fish and Game and the Dept. of Commerce, Community and Economic Development I am making a formal request to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce for a declaration of fishery disaster in the Kodiak management area, Prince William Sound, the Chignik management area and the Lower Cook Inlet management area," Gov. Walker said in a letter. The total Alaska pink salmon catch to date is 38.2 million on a 90 million harvest forecast. A federal disaster declaration would qualify Alaska's fishermen to receive disaster funds. Alaska received nearly $8 million in federal money in 2012 due to low king salmon runs on the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers and in the Cook Inlet region. In other news Alaskan salmon news, Bristol Bay's sockeye run was the second best season in the last 20 years. A report from the ADF&G said the commercial harvest was 26 percent above the preseason forecast. “The 2016 inshore Bristol Bay sockeye salmon run of 51.4 million fish ranks 2nd out of the last 20 years (1996–2015) and was 46 percent above the 35.1 million average run for the same period,” according to a season summary from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. At the same time, the ADFG estimates the ex-vessel value of the haul at $156.2 million, which is 40 percent above the 20-year average of $111 million. Meanwhile, Pacific Aquaculture International officially launched its North American headquarters near Saltery Bay in British Columbia this week. The company plans to expand its land-based operation into one of North America’s largest shellfish hatcheries within its first four years. Pacific Aquaculture will start by harvesting scallops, but also has a federal commercial fishing licence for 23 other shellfish species, including clams, geoducks, oysters and mussels. Target says it has nearly met its goal to source all of its fresh and frozen seafood from fisheries that are either certified sustainable or on their way toward achieving sustainability certification. “Today, we’re proud to say we’ve made it 97 percent of the way to our goal, and that we’ve already achieved it for 100 percent of our owned-brand seafood products. And we’re still pushing ahead to achieve full compliance across the remaining products later this year,” Target said in a blog post on its website. Target partnered with FishWise to develop its sustainability policy and buys seafood rated Green or Yellow by the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program. Finally, Vietnam's seafood exporters warned pangasius producers in the Mekong to dial back plans to expand production for the time being. VASEP issued the warning since pangasius sales to China have been in decline. Remember to download or stream our podcast content to your iPhone or Andriod device using iTunes, Google Play or SoundCloud.  Have a great weekend.