News

Commercial fisheries veteran Arne Fuglvog, who rose to prominence on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and as an aide to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has been fined and sentenced to prison for violation of federal fisheries regulations.Under the initial plea agreement, he could have been sentenced to up to 10 months in prison for the misdemeanor offense, but federal attorney Aunnie Steward and Fuglvog’s attorney, Jeff Feldman, asked the court for the five-month term, since Fuglvog is aiding prosecutors in another case.US District Court Judge H. Russel Holland listened intently in an Anchorage courtroom on Feb. 7 as Fuglvog, at times almost tearfully, apologized to the court for falsifying 2005 records about how much sablefish he caught and where he caught it.Holland then sente...

Federal fisheries manager have made a final decision on collection of crab fishery economic data reports, one that leaves out use of crew contracts and settlement sheets as part of the data.The decision reached by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council at its February meeting in Seattle to approve a modified version of alternative 3 for EDR data collection came after extensive testimony.Those opposed to use of crew contracts and settlement sheets expressed concern for possible accidental disclosure of personal crew information, and the cost and time involved in collecting these forms of data.Among them was Mark Gleason, executive director of the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, who said his group wanted to limit data collection to that which can be reported by the industry and can be done...

A massive new environmental baseline document unveiled by backers of the Pebble mine is billed by mine proponents as information characterizing the physical, biological and social environments of the Bristol Bay and Cook Inlet regions.Initial reaction to the release from commercial and sport fishing interests, as well as an environmental group based in Dillingham, Alaska, has been one of skepticism.The document, online at www.pebbleresearch.com, is some 27,000 pages, nearly 2 gigabytes long, too large, the Pebble Limited Partnership acknowledges, to be made available as a single download. Instead, it is suggested visiting the individual chapters to download PDFs of the 53 individual chapters.Copies of a DVD of the document are available upon request from the Pebble Limited Partnership, whi...

Seventeen western Alaska villages within the region of the Norton Sound Economic Development Corp. will share in nearly $1 million in funds whose distribution was announced by the community development quota group in early February.NSEDC officials said the projects funded range from new safety equipment for whalers at Savoonga to renovation of a teen center at Shaktoolik.NSEDC has provided grants to regional entities since the mid-1990s and has formally operated its outside entity funding program for nearly a decade, providing grant funds to municipal governments, federally recognized tribal governments, non-profit organizations, and local, state and federal agencies located in NSEDC member communities. The program is currently under the jurisdiction of the Western Alaska Community Develop...

Alaska Ship and Drydock Inc. (ASD) and Vigor Industrial yesterday jointly announced their intent to make ASD a Vigor company.ASD will transition its business and assets to Vigor pending approval of the transfer of ownership by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), the owner of the Ketchikan Shipyard where ASD is based. The private companies hope to finalize their agreement on or before March 1st.ASD would operate the Ketchikan Shipyard (KSY) as the Alaska Ship & Drydock LLC subsidiary, in continuation of its thirty year AIDEA operating agreements.“The purchase of ASD by Vigor will increase the capacity and competitiveness of the Ketchikan Shipyard in many ways, positioning Ketchikan and the State of Alaska to not only continue our high level of service to exis...

By Terry DillmanFebruary 2012A long-debated groundfish management system that officially weighed anchor last January remains controversial as everyone involved tries to adjust to new relationships and managers continue to tinker with and tweak procedures.The Northwest Regional Office of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service inaugurated what’s known as a catch share or quota system for groundfish trawlers who harvest off the coasts of Oregon, Washington and California on Jan. 11, 2011. The overall aim, according to NOAA officials, is to “increase individual fishermen’s accountability, fully harvest the quota the trawl fishermen are granted, increase the economic and biological stability in the fishery, and sustain fishing jobs and fishing communities.”Managers say the fishery – which inc...

The International Pacific Halibut Commission wrapped up its 88th annual meeting in Anchorage on Jan 28, with recommendations for combined Canadian-US catch limits in 2012 of 33,540,000 pounds, down 18.3 percent from 41,070,000 pounds in 2011.The cut was no surprise to those in attendance, who expressed growing concern over the declining resource. The IPHC itself expressed concern over continued declining catch rates in several areas and took aggressive steps to reduce harvests.The North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which is meeting today through Feb. 7 in Seattle, has set aside eight hours for an initial review of a fishery management plan amendment to set Gulf of Alaska halibut prohibited species catch limits.A number of halibut fishermen also would like to see the council place fu...

Southeast Alaska harvesters are gearing up for the start of the golden king and tanner crab fisheries, which open concurrently at noon on Feb. 16. The guideline harvest level for the golden king crab fishery is 625,000 pounds. Adam Messmer of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game notes that the quotas are set on a three-year basis and this is the third year for that quota allowance.For the golden king crab fishery, vessels are limited to 100 pots; for the tanner crab fishery, 80 pots. Vessels fishing for both harvests are limited to 10 pots.The registration deadline for both fisheries was Jan. 17 and there is a $45 late fee for registration after that date. Last year a total of 35 vessels were registered for the golden king crab fishery, which is about average, Messmer said.In some areas...

Final action on Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands crab economic data reports revisions is scheduled this week during the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s meeting at the Renaissance Hotel in Seattle. In advance of the meeting, council staff prepared a regulatory impact review and initial regulatory flexibility analysis, which is online at www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc/PDFdocuments/catch_shares/Crab/CrabEDR212.pdfStaff note in their report that, as part of the crab rationalization program which went into effect in 2005, the council developed an economic data collection program to provide information to analysts to assess effects of the program and future amendments to the program.The nine crab fisheries managed under the rationalization program include Bristol Bay red king crab, Bering sea Ch...

The second session of the 27th Alaska Legislature now underway has before it several measures dealing with fisheries related issues, including Senate Bill 152, to require legislative approval for operation of a large scale metallic sulfide mining in Southwest Alaska.The measure by Sen. Hollis French, D-Anchorage, does not name the Pebble Mine. It states simply that the legislators would have to approve operation of such a mine that could aversely affect the waters of the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve. The measure is specific that it would not apply to existing mining operations in Alaska or mines that do not affect the waters of Bristol Bay. The bill has been referred to the Senate Community and Regional Affairs Committee chaired by Sen. Donny Olson, D- Golovin.House Bill 184, sponsored by...