Amid Adak Plant Delays and Law Suit Against AM 113, Pacific Cod “A” Season Closes Today We clarify a story from last week that said Adak's cod and pollock processing plant was not taking cod deliveries because of a lawsuit over the Amendment 113 regulation requiring mandatory cod deliveries to the plant. However, the plant has actually been out of commission since a severe 2015 winter storm-damaged portions of the roof. The city sent a letter to NMFS, according to Amendment 113 protocol, notifying them they would not be buying cod this winter and last fall. The lawsuit, meanwhile, was filed by The Groundfish Forum claiming it violated national standards and other laws. But the lawsuit itself is not responsible for the current lack of cod processing at the Adak plant."There are trawl catcher vessel owners, who have delivered a fair amount of cod to the Adak plant over the years when it was operating, that would be willing to deliver to another renovated shore plant if it was in operation," said Brent Paine, executive director of the United Catcher Boats, a plaintiff in the suit. "They just want an option to deliver their catch to multiple markets, onshore or offshore." Russian investigators suspect federal fishing authorities at Rosrybolovstvo are involved in a corruption ring to fix a fishery quota auction scheduled to take place next month. The auction will distribute fishing quotas to Russian producers at 700 new sites. Authorities had already arrested a consultant on the suspicion that the person was involved in a criminal scheme to fix the outcome of certain quota auctions. Reports suggest Ilya Shestakov, the current head of Rosrybolovstvo, may be suspended or even fired for his alleged involvement in the scandal that is still under investigation. The Hawaii Longline Association opposes a bill that would change the rules for how fishing licenses are issued to foreign crew members that make up the majority of the state's commercial fleet. The bill would require anyone seeking a commercial fishing license in Hawaii to appear in person. "It could lead to the use of no foreign crew in the fishery, which would be very devastating," said Jim Cook, a member of the association's board of directors. "It would be similar to having no immigrant people in agriculture in Hawaii or any other part of the United States." In other news, Thai Union Group reported a 7.3 percent rise in sales last year. Chief executive Thiraphong Chansiri said the US market accounted for 39 percent of its total sales. "Despite challenging costs for raw materials and economic volatility in various markets around the world, we delivered a stable bottom line," said Chansiri. Finally, Ecuador’s SONGA was awarded four-star certification against the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices Program for its shrimp production operation. SONGA is one of the top four white shrimp producers in Ecuador. In 2015 and 2016, SONGA was the top Ecuadorian exporter to mainland China, South Korea and the United States.