Issue: June 2024

Lack of experience in building icebreaking ships, as well as the overall cost of the program were cited by a congressional subcommittee chairman last week as key factors in delay of construction of the vessels to replace a nearly 50-year-old heavy icebreaker. “The demand for Coast Guard services is increasing and will continue to increase in the future,” Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez, R-Florida, chair of the House Homeland security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security, said. Gimenez noted in opening remarks at the May 7 subcommittee meeting that the Coast Guard has not commissioned an icebreaker of any kind since 2006. He cited concerns over the Coast Guard’s failure to accurately estimate the cost of its shipbuilding programs. Testimony given during the hearing stated that a...

A new analysis of multiple international high seas salmon surveys, led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), is building on an extensive body of work on the marine component of the salmon life cycle, the university said in mid-April. According to Joe Langan, who led the study as a post-graduate fellow at UAF, the research is establishing a baseline from which to view salmon distributions and temperature preferences, allowing other researchers to have a better foundation from which to build and answer more detailed questions. “The goal was to generate a baseline, quantitative understanding of the broad-scale, average distribution patterns of salmon species across the North Pacific,” Langan stated. “While past efforts have produced schematic representations of salmon distributions...

A commercial fishing vessel sank just west of Henry Island, Wash. in early May, leading to a response by the U.S. Coast Guard, Washington Department of Ecology and San Juan County, Wash. officials. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound received a report around 6 a.m. on May 3 that the 48-foot commercial fishing vessel Chief Joseph was taking on water with one person and a dog aboard. Sector watchstanders directed the launch of an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles, a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Bellingham and the crew of Coast Guard cutter Adelie to respond to the reported distress. The person and dog managed to depart the vessel aboard a life raft and reached the shore of Henry Island aboard the raft. Th...

The financial woes of Peter Pan Seafoods continue to grow. On April 26, King County Superior Court in Washington state granted a petition by Wells Fargo Bank to put the seafood processor into receivership, with Los Angeles-based Stapleton Group to manage Peter Pan’s financial affairs. The petition, filed in late April by Wells Fargo Managing Director Gary Harrigian, asked the court to appoint Stapleton Group as controller of Peter Pan’s assets. In the petition, Harrigian said that appointing a receiver was necessary “to protect, preserve and maximize the value of the business and assets, including, without limitation, the collateral, and its revenue-producing potential to avoid further loss, injury and impairment.” Stapleton Group declined any initial comment on the receivership. Acco...

Officials with the NOAA Marine Debris Program say that the program’s expected to soon complete a mission to Midway Atoll, also known as Kuaihelani, to clean up derelict fishing gear and other debris from the shoreline. The plan, announced May 2, is supported through a five-year grant to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), using $5.8 million in funds provided by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This 1,350-mile stretch of small, uninhabited atolls, reefs and shoals is home to unique wildlife and incredible historical sites. The atoll is also known as Kuaihelani, which means “the backbone of heaven,” and describes a mythical floating island in the sky, possibly originating from the large lagoons that reflect the sky. Despite their significance and remote location...

Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) officials have signed an agreement with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) regarding recovery of Chinook salmon in the Yukon River drainage that implements a suspension of directed Chinook salmon commercial fisheries in the mainstem Yukon River and Canadian tributaries for one full life cycle, a total of seven years. The agreement, which was announced April 1, is focused on rebuilding those stocks to a level that they can once again support  subsistence, sport, commercial and personal-use fishing opportunities. “After hearing from people living along the river, it is time to look beyond single-year management,” ADF&G Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang said. “This agreement looks to rebuild over a life cycle of the Chinook salmon, seven years....