From Wesley Loy in Anchorage --
Friends, this is my final post to The Highliner, a blog we launched on March 2, 2007, to cover Alaska's commercial fishing scene.
It's been one of the most exciting things I've done in my more than two decades in journalism.
You've surely heard the news business [...]
From Laine Welch in Kodiak –
Falling overboard is a leading cause of death in the most dangerous job — commercial fishing.
“It doesn’t make the big headlines, like when a boat goes down with all hands lost. But these ‘one bys’ really add up,” said Jerry Dzugan, director of [...]
From Laine Welch in Kodiak --
Aquatic farming could give a boost to Western Alaska economies, but no one has ever applied. Every two years the state accepts applications for aquatic farm sites from January through April. Sixty-six farms have permits (not all are active), dotting Southeast and Southcentral waters. [...]
From Laine Welch in Kodiak --
First Alaskans, Bristol Bay commercial and sport fishermen, and business owners are off to London to meet this week with top Anglo American mining officials at the global conglomerate’s annual meeting.
Anglo American is the developer behind the proposed Pebble Mine in Southwest Alaska. Mining [...]
The Coast Guard has sent two 37-foot fishing vessels back to port after finding their life rafts hadn't been serviced since 1993, among other safety problems.
Life rafts need to be repacked annually, the Coast Guard said.
The boats had been working in Icy Straight near Hoonah.
Here's the Coast Guard announcement:
Office of' [...]
Sportfishermen aren’t too keen on Gov. Sarah Palin’s choice of Cook Inlet commercial salmon gillnetter Brent Johnson for a seat on the Board of Fisheries.
He’s a press release from the Kenai River Sportfishing Association:
Kenai River Sportfishing Association
April 2, 2009
Kenai River Sportfishing Association (KRSA) Opposes Johnson’s Appointment to Alaska Board of [...]
This just in from the governor:
Sarah Palin
Governor
April 1, 2009
Governor Palin Announces Board Appointments
JUNEAU – Governor Palin appointed Brent G. Johnson, and reappointed Karl S. Johnstone, to the Board of Fisheries.
Johnson, of Clam Gulch, is a lifelong commercial fisherman who has been a salmon setnetter for most of his life. [...]
Looks like Trident Seafoods Corp. has resumed its pursuit of the troubled Wrangell Seafoods Inc. processing plant.
How do I know?
Because a bunch of lawyers were to convene at 9 a.m. today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Anchorage to consider this amended order approving a $4.35 million sale to Trident.
The [...]
Looks like we're getting another fisherman legislator.
Sarah Palin
Governor
March 29, 2009
Governor Names Grussendorf to Senate Seat
JUNEAU, Alaska – Governor Sarah Palin today named Tim Grussendorf as her designee to replace Kim Elton as the state senator from District B, representing the City and Borough of Juneau.
Grussendorf has worked as a' [...]
Lawyers are preparing to distribute two more chunks of the $383 million in punitive damages Exxon Mobil Corp. has paid so far for the 1989 oil spill.
With a judge’s permission, $31.3 million will go to 2,521 commercial fishermen and others in these 12 claim categories:
• Prince William Sound herring seine
[...]
My thanks to Laine Welch down on Kodiak for an e-mail yesterday waking me up to the fact that the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery has begun.
This is a feisty and lucrative fishing event, and someday I hope to see it in person.
According to the latest hotline update from [...]
Here’s a letter confirming where Trident Seafoods Corp. now stands on its proposed $4.35 million purchase of troubled Wrangell Seafoods Inc.
The deal is off.
Trident president Paul Padgett seems to blame WSI representatives for the purchase falling apart.
His letter to WSI chairman Douglas Roberts says certain labor-related allegations weren’t disclosed [...]
This came in late Monday night:
U.S. Coast Guard, 17th District
March 23, 2009
JUNEAU, Alaska – The Coast Guard is responding after receiving a call that a 23-year-old crew member aboard the 310-foot fishing vessel Northern Eagle, homeported in Seattle, suffered a head injury at 7:11 p.m. Monday northeast of Dutch Harbor, [...]
Here’s a press release from state Rep. Alan Austerman, R-Kodiak.
For background, see my March 11 post titled, “Cod fishing in Juneau.”
House Majority
March 23, 2009
AUSTERMAN’S HJR 21 PASSES HOUSE
Resolution would keep Pacific cod fisheries open without endorsement
JUNEAU, Alaska – The Alaska State House today passed House Joint Resolution 21, sponsored by [...]
Just got off the line with the U.S. Coast Guard, and I’m told the crab boat Early Dawn waved off a planned medevac of an ailing crewman this morning.
The crewman was suffering from abdominal pain as the boat was transiting the Gulf of Alaska to Seattle.
His condition improved and the [...]
The U.S. Coast Guard this morning plans to airlift an ailing crewman off a crab boat crossing the Gulf of Alaska en route to Seattle.
A Coast Guard spokesman tells me the vessel is the Early Dawn, one of the crabbers featured on the popular Discovery Channel show “Deadliest Catch.”
The [...]
The halibut season opened at noon today.
Let's wish everybody good luck out on the water, and a safe return!
Looks like Trident Seafoods Corp. might not be buying Wrangell Seafoods Inc. after all (The Highliner, March 11).
Trident objects to a National Labor Relations Board position that any new owner be subject to a "successor collective bargaining obligation."
The prospect of the plant not running this salmon season has local officials [...]
Frozen spray partially cloaks [...]
Got salmon? NMFS photo
If you’re looking for something to get your hooks into this weekend in Anchorage, you might check out a new film making its local premiere, “Icy Killers: Secrets of Alaska’s Salmon Shark.”
It’ll show at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Wild Berry [...]
Commercial fishermen are expected to catch nearly 175 million salmon this year, a 20 percent jump from last season's 146 million.
The reason for the big increase: a larger return of pink salmon, say biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
If the forecast proves accurate, this year’s salmon haul [...]
A 19-page lawsuit seeks a federal takeover of Alaska’s salmon fisheries.
The plaintiff is Herbert T. Jensen, who identifies himself in the suit as a salmon purse seiner and drift gillnetter living in Cordova.
The suit alleges that state officials are violating federal law in the way they’re managing the state’s [...]
Down in Juneau, the House Special Committee on Fisheries has a couple of interesting hearings scheduled today and Thursday.
From 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. today, the committee will hear from a panel of witnesses on “The Changing Arctic – Issues on the Horizon for Coastal Communities in Western Alaska.”
Witnesses include:
• [...]
Here’s a press release from Alaska Airlines touting “a new quality control program at Alaska Air Cargo designed to keep seafood shipments cold.”
Sounds pretty interesting, though I wish we had a few more details here about how this works.
Alaska Airlines
March 16, 2009
ALASKA AIR CARGO ENHANCES SEAFOOD SHIPMENT SERVICES
Alaska Airlines implements [...]
The big skate – better with lemon? NMFS photo, Duane Stevenson
A new commercial fishery for longnose and big skates is set to open March 21 in Prince William Sound.
Bob Berceli, a biologist [...]
Looks like Trident’s processing empire in Alaska is growing again.
An Anchorage bankruptcy judge this week signaled he’ll approve the sale of financially troubled Wrangell Seafoods Inc. to Seattle-based Trident Seafoods Corp. for $4.35 million.
According to this sale memorandum, the price isn’t nearly enough to cover WSI liabilities exceeding $12 million.
But [...]
Do state legislators have any business dabbling in the often absurdly complex world of federal fisheries management?
That question seemed to drown out an otherwise thoughtful hearing yesterday on House Joint Resolution 21.
The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Alan Austerman of Kodiak, would have the Legislature weigh in on an arcane [...]
Gov. Sarah Palin today said she intends to replace a member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
Palin nominated Dan Hull, an Anchorage resident who fishes commercially for salmon and halibut out of Cordova, to replace Gerry Merrigan of Petersburg.
Merrigan has been on the council since August 2006 and did [...]
According to my calendar, today marks the start of a major symposium in Anchorage on “Biology and Management of Exploited Crab Populations Under Climate Change.”
Looks like dozens of U.S., Canadian, Russian and Australian scientists will present talks, papers and posters on a slew of topics.
Here are a handful that caught [...]
Members of the U.S. Coast Guard's National Strike Force [...]
Remember the Icy Mist? That’s the boat that ran aground on Akutan Island last week (The Highliner, Feb. 25).
According to a situation report we just received from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, salvage outfit Magone Marine Services is making plans to pull the boat off the boulder-strewn beach.
The first [...]
This just in from the Alaska Sea Grant folks:
Alaska Sea Grant Program
March 6, 2009
Facing hard times, South Carolina shrimpers look to Alaska for help
Alaska fishermen and business experts share secrets to success
PETERSBURG, Alaska – While Americans consume ever increasing quantities of imported farmed shrimp, shrimp fishermen in places like South [...]
St. George city officials just sent me these images of the trawler Mar-Gun, hard aground on the north side of the island. The crew has abandoned ship safely.
Photos by Andrew R. Philemonof
Here's an update we just received from the U.S. Coast Guard:
U.S. Coast Guard, 17th District
March 5, 2009
Mayday call off St. George Island, Coast Guard rescues 5
JUNEAU, Alaska – A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter crew safely hoisted five crewmen from the commercial fishing vessel Mar-Gun at 7:53 a.m. after [...]
A well-known commercial fishing boat, the Mar-Gun, is aground off the north side of St. George Island, the U.S. Coast Guard reports.
The vessel was taking on water just after 4 a.m., then went aground, said Petty Officer Sara Francis.
The five crewmen aboard donned survival suits, and a Coast Guard Jayhawk [...]
This classified ad ran in our newspaper today:
VALDEZ FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION, INC.
Is requesting proposals for the construction of the foundation and site preparation work for a 200,000 lbs. Cold Storage Facility located at 1815 Mineral Creek Loop Road in Valdez, Alaska 99686. All inquires should be made to Dave Cobb [...]
The Board of Fisheries has rejected Proposal 209, which would have divided the Sitka sac roe herring harvest equally among the 50 seiners holding permits for the fishery (The Highliner, Feb. 23).
It means competitive fishing, not cooperative, will prevail at Sitka, though seiners are free to voluntarily join forces – [...]
Icy Mist aground on Akutan. U.S. Coast Guard photo
This just in from the U.S. Coast Guard on a pretty dramatic rescue today out on Akutan Island involving the beached fishing vessel Icy Mist:
U.S. Coast Guard, 17th District
July 25, 2008
Coast [...]
This just in from the U.S. Coast Guard:
U.S. Coast Guard, 17th District
Feb. 24, 2009
Coast Guard terminates commercial fishing vessel
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Coast Guard terminated the voyage of the 40-foot commercial fishing vessel Resolution for a safety violation during a boarding Tuesday in Marmot Bay near Kodiak city.
A Coast Guard [...]
Here’s some news from Jim Browning at the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation about an interesting conference later this week down in Portland, Ore.
Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation
Feb. 23, 2009
Alaskans aim for more jobs, profits from fish byproducts
Alaskans are taking the lead to derive more jobs and profits from fish [...]
The state Board of Fisheries is meeting this week in Sitka. As usual in those parts, herring is the hot topic.
Proposal 209 is of particular interest to The Highliner. It would convert the Sitka Sound sac roe herring harvest from derby fishing to equal shares for each of the 50 [...]
Lawyers overseeing money collected from the Exxon Valdez oil spill are asking a federal judge to approve more payments to a range of commercial fishermen including Bristol Bay salmon gillnetters.
This is darned complicated, but it appears this payout involves money from something called the Alyeska Qualified Settlement Fund, as well [...]
We’re a third of the way through this year’s 90-day Alaska legislative session, and lawmakers are nibbling on a few fish-related items.
Here’s some bits and pieces:
• From noon to 1 p.m. tomorrow, the Fish Caucus will hear a presentation from Wanetta Ayers on the Community Development Quota program, a federal [...]
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has just released its Bristol Bay sockeye processor capacity survey for the upcoming season.
As usual, the packers are telling the state they can handle the full forecasted commercial catch of 24 million fish. And then some.
Hmm. Does this mean frustrated fishermen won’t [...]
Federal Judge H. Russel Holland has ordered more payments to commercial fishermen and other claimants in the Exxon Valdez oil spill case.
This will be the second payout of punitive damages from the case. Lawyers overseeing the money asked for the distribution last month (The Highliner, Jan. 20 and 22).
These payments, [...]
Top officials in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game were to brief state legislators this morning on the department’s budget for next year.
In a nutshell, they’re seeking a budget about even with the current year spending plan.
That would be an achievement, considering the fact that state oil revenue is [...]
Here’s a heads-up from the office of state Rep. Alan Austerman, R-Kodiak:
The Alaska Legislative Fish Caucus will meet at noon Thursday, Feb. 12, in the state Capitol, Room 106. This is a brown bag luncheon. Light refreshments will also be provided. Participation by members of the public is welcome.
The subject [...]
Federal fishery regulators today approved an unprecedented plan to ban U.S. commercial fishing in the Arctic Ocean.
The Anchorage-based North Pacific Fishery Management Council spent two years developing the Arctic plan in response to climate change and the rapid retreat of sea ice in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas along Alaska’s [...]
