Ken Coons, Seafood Industry Advocate and Long Time Associate Editor of Seafood News, Passes Away  We are sad to report that Kenelm W. Coons passed away on February Friday, 3, 2017 after a three-month illness. Ken was a well known advocate for the US seafood. His long career in the industry started at Doxsee, marketing clam products. He later helped found and was named the Executive Director of the New England Fisheries Development Foundation, which was eventually renamed the New England Fisheries Development Association (NEFDA). He held this position in Boston for two decades. While at NEFDA Ken partnered with the Canadian Consulate in Boston to found the Boston Seafood Show. Later on, Ken worked with John Sackton as an Associate Editor for Seafood News. “It was truly a gift that in the last 13 years Ken was able to contribute to SeafoodNews. His broad experience, commitment to the industry, and wide range of seafood interests was a perfect fit," said John Sackton. In lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor Ken's memory may contribute to the Kenelm W. Coons Marine Affairs Scholarship at the University of Rhode Island. The year’s first round of seafood refusal data from the FDA showed a decline in the volume of rejections but that filth is still on the Administration’s radar. A decline in snapper rejections is mostly why January refusals were down overall and specifically for filth. Still, filth accounted for the bulk of the month’s rejection, responsible for 40 percent of January’s refusals. Mahi, which was last year’s most rejected seafood item of the year, was the fifth most refused item in January all because of filth. In other news Trident and Alaska Airlines are actively planning to build an airport terminal on Akun Island to increase the number of charter flights available for its employees. Many seafood workers change planes in Anchorage, after flying in from the south 48 states and other countries, going from big jets to the smaller planes that fly to rural Alaska. The Unalaska airport saw fewer Trident Seafoods workers this year as the company chartered flights directly to their Akutan plant, with the planes landing at the 5-year-old state airport on Akun Island and then taking a short hop in a helicopter across the bay. Akutan is about 40 miles east of Unalaska. Meanwhile, proposed legislation wants to allow non-Texas shrimpers to sell their catch in the state. State Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, recently filed House Bill 1260 that would allow non-Texas commercial shrimpers to obtain an occupational license in order to unload their catches in Texas. If passed, out-of-state shrimpers who trawl federal waters would be able to pass through, come to port and unload at Texas docks thus giving Texas the economic value. The bill would not allow the fishermen to harvest in state waters. Finally, the Monterey Bay's Seafood Watch program downgraded Washington state's geoduck fishery in Puget Sound from "best choice" to "good alternative" because of the industry's use of plastic gear. “Any sort of plastic in the environment is not the best choice,” said Ryan Bigelow, a Seafood Watch program manager. “Plastics tend to break down, and that works its way into fish and shellfish. Eventually, all that ends up back in us.”