News

A new report on the Alaska Public Radio Network says former crew members aboard the commercial fishing vessel operated by Arne Fuglvog had tried for years to turn Fuglvog in for illegal fishing but felt they were ignored. Meanwhile Fuglvog gained a good reputation in the nation’s capital as fisheries aide to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and was among the top nominees to head the National Marine Fisheries Service.Murkowski has said she was unaware of such accusations and that she never would have hired anyone on her staff that was the subject of an investigation.The report by APRN’s Libby Casey notes that Fuglvog eventually pulled his name out of consideration for the NMFS post, saying the process was taking too long, but he was in fact under investigation for the agency he would have run...

Registration is free and open online for the North Pacific Research Board’s 2012 Alaska Marine Science Symposium, set for Jan. 16-19 at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage. Log on to www.alaskamarinescience.org and click on the registration option.Abstracts for the symposium may also be submitted via this website through Oct. 3. The symposium is built around regional themes, including the Bering Sea, Arctic Ocean and the Gulf of Alaska. Within each theme, the symposium will include talks on climate, oceanography, lower trophic levels, the benthos, fisheries and invertebrates, seabirds, marine mammals, local and traditional knowledge, and socioeconomic research. The 2012 conference will open with keynote speakers for all three regions on Jan. 16, and include an evening reception for the Arc...

By Margaret BaumanSeptember 2011Veteran commercial fisherman Arne Fuglvog, former fisheries aide to US Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, faces sentencing Nov. 18 on a misdemeanor violation of the Lacey Act involving falsifying sablefish individual fishing quota records.Fuglvog made a plea deal with federal authorities, in which he pleaded guilty to charges that he harvested 63,000 pounds of sablefish from an area near Yakutat in 2005, more than twice the amount of sablefish that his permits authorized him to catch there.The plea bargain called for a 10-month prison sentence, a fine of $50,000 and a community service payment of $100,000.The bigger news still to come about this case is who else will find themselves in big trouble over federal fisheries violations. In a sealed document, part of ...

Ballots sent out in mid-September to 1,192 registered voters in Alaska’s Lake and Peninsula Borough are asking them to decide by Oct. 4 whether they favor or oppose a campaign to halt development of the Pebble Mine in Southwest Alaska. The initiative on the ballot, if approved by voters, would change borough law to forbid granting of permits for any large mine that would have “significant adverse impact” on salmon streams. While the initiative does not mention Pebble, its sponsors in the “Save our Salmon” campaign are clear that Pebble is the focus of the initiative.To be counted in this mail-in only election, the ballots must be properly completed and postmarked by Oct. 4, and returned to borough offices by Oct. 14. Borough officials plan to count them on Oct. 17 and release unofficial re...

Washington State Sen. Marie Cantwell is asking the US Environmental Protection Agency to block any large development project in Bristol Bay if the EPA finds that such development would harm salmon and the livelihood of those who depend on salmon.Cantwell sent a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson expressing her support of the EPA’s decision to conduct a thorough scientific analysis of the effect of a large-scale development project on the Bristol Bay watershed. Cantwell said Bristol Bay salmon populations are “economic lynchpins” for commercial fishermen not just in Alaska but also in Washington State.She said thousands of Washington state jobs, from processing to the restaurant industry, depend on healthy, sustainable salmon populations. In 2008 alone, Bristol Bay yielded over $113 m...

Kodiak fisherman Terry Haines told participants in the 27th annual Lowell Wakefield Fisheries Symposium in Anchorage this past week that an entity is needed for community participation in catch shares.Haines, representing a group known as Fish Heads, an advocacy group to preserve the vitality of Alaska’s fishing communities, said that Kodiak would be the perfect community to take the lead. Processors, fishermen, communities and local businesses could all be members of the regional fisheries association, which would report to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council on issues related to specific fisheries and propose rules and regulations, Haines said.“Everyone has legitimate things to bring to the council,” he said. “There are ways we can sit down and talk to each other like human bein...

(revised Sept. 22, 2011)Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, says the state’s fisheries benefitted from funding decisions and a number of cost-effective adjustments made in language in an appropriations bill that cleared the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee on Sept. 14 in a bipartisan vote. The CJS Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2012 is now before the full Senate Appropriations Committee.Murkowski said the measure includes $9.6 million to fund Pacific Salmon Treaty-related activities and compliance with the 1985 accord with Canada. Those funds will help maintain stock and monitor fishery activities, and also ensure compliance with treaty conservation and harvest sharing commitments.In addition, the Pacific Salmon Treaty Fund saw a nearly $1 million increase in fundi...

Come and Celebrate Astoria's Bicentennial at the Astoria Commercial Fishermen's Festival at Tongue Point, in Astoria, Oregon this weekend.Come cheer your favorite fisherman at the Viking Safety Equipment Survival Suit Races and watch the Snagagim Axasniikangin "Dream Dancers" perform.Bring your family and take part in the family Dover Sole Relay Race or the Pacific Seafoods Oyster Spitting Contest. Watch the Captain Phil Harris Highliner Competition, where the highliner of the year will take home a $1,000 cash prize, trophy and industry prizes.Or, enter the Crab Line Coiling Competition, get an autograph from the Deadliest Catch stars and watch the Crab Pot Stacking Contest, first annual Fisher Girls Competition and the Alaska Airlines AxMen vs. Fishermen Tug-o-War Challenge.The festival s...

Applications are being accepted through Nov. 1 for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s marine debris program, which engages communities in debris prevention and cleanup operations.Typical grant awards range from $15,000 to $150,000, and may be used for prevention and debris removal projects that benefit coastal habitat, waterways and wildlife, including migratory fish. Up to $2 million is expected to be available for community-based marine debris removal projects in fiscal 2012.NOAA officials said these projects involve removal of marine debris and derelict fishing gear, plus activities that offer social benefits for residents and their communities, and long-term ecological habitat improvements for NOAA trust resources.Spokesmen for the Marine Conservation Alliance, with ...

The Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program and the Fishery Industrial Technology Center announced plans Sept. 14 to cohost the Alaska Seafood Processing Leadership Institute from October through March of 2012. The program is designed for mid-level managers, production foremen, plant supervisors and quality assurance leaders who want to advance their careers in seafood processing. Large and small processors are welcome.The application deadline is Sept. 20.The Alaska Seafood Processing Leadership Institute is accepting up to 20 students for the three training sessions, each in a different location.Hands-on technical training in seafood processing and visits with local processors will take place at Kodiak from Oct. 31 through Nov. 10. Leadership training, human resource development, busines...