October 2023 – Page 2 – Fishermens News

Coast Guard Cutter Healy Embarks on Arctic Ocean Mission

The Coast Guard cutter Healy and a team of researchers have embarked on a months-long mission to gain insight on how warmer water from the Atlantic Ocean is being introduced into the Arctic at the shelf water level, deep basin interior and upper ocean. The mission was announced by the U.S. Coast Guard on Aug. 26. According to the USCG, researchers from the National Science Foundation and International Arctic Research Center will service the Nansen and Amundsen Basins Observational System (NABOS), in hopes of developing an understanding of water circulation in the region and will sample the water column in areas normally inaccessible due to pack ice. Research findings would be of interest to the Crab Plan Team of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which has ongoing studies o...

Coast Guard Medevacs Fisherman 93 Miles Off San Diego Coast

A Coast Guard helicopter aircrew medically evacuated a 50-year-old male from the sport fishing vessel Spirit of Adventure about 93 miles west of Point Loma, on Aug. 16. Crew aboard the Spirit of Adventure contacted Coast Guard Sector San Diego Joint Harbor Operations Center at about 1:40 p.m. requesting assistance for a passenger who was displaying symptoms of a heart attack. Watchstanders launched a Coast Guard Sector San Diego MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew, including a San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Special Tactics and Rescue (STAR) Team paramedic, to assist. Once on the scene, the helicopter crew recovered the patient and transported her to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. The patient was later reported to be in stable condition.

Coast Guard Cutter Returns After 57-Day Arctic Ocean-Bering Sea Patrol

The Coast Guard cutter Alex Haley returned to its homeport of Kodiak, Alaska on Labor Day following a 57-day patrol in the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea. The Alex Haley is a 282-foot Medium Endurance Cutter that performs search and rescue, fisheries law enforcement and vessel safety inspections across Alaska and has been homeported in Kodiak since 1999. Nicknamed the “Bulldog of the Bering,” the vessel supported multiple strategic-level objectives for the Seventeenth Coast Guard District and the U.S. Northern Command during its 57-day mission, including providing presence along the U.S. Maritime Boundary Line and supporting U.S. Navy assets during a transit through the Bering Sea. The cutter also navigated the Bering Strait into the Arctic Ocean, and crewmembers aboard the Alex Haley fu...

Coast Guard Cutter Munro Visits Japan, South Korea

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Munro visited Yokosuka, Japan and the Republic of Korea during international port visits conducted in July and August. In Japan, the Munro conducted training and engagements with the Japan Coast Guard; in Gwangyang, South Korea, the cutter conducted several days of engagements and exchanges with the Korea Coast Guard. The Munro arrived Aug. 6 while deployed in the Indo-Pacific and hosted several members of the Japan Coast Guard for professional exchanges, including showcasing the Munro’s small boat and aerial capabilities and search-and-rescue operations. The visit allowed members of both services to discuss their dual mission objectives and share maritime security challenges. The Munro’s commanding officer, Capt. Rula Deisher, said it has been a privile...

New Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commissioner Named

Mike Porcaro, a radio talk show host and advertising consultant, has been appointed by Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy to serve on the state’s Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC), which oversees the state’s commercial fishing permits. The Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) is a two-member agency that’s independent from the state’s executive branch. Its mandate is to provide due process hearings and appeal processes for disputes related to limitations on fishery participation. The commission was established in the 1970s after Alaska voters approved a constitutional amendment to limit access to the state’s commercial fisheries—a right that had previously been guaranteed to all residents. Porcaro’s appointment occurred in August, but no formal announcement was made at the...

Alaska Gov. Challenges Roadless Rule Over Tongass National Forest Impact

Litigation filed in the U.S. District Court in Anchorage in early September seeks to have the 2020 Alaska Roadless Rule reinstated as soon as possible. The complaint filed Friday, Sept. 8, maintains that the state is defending its right to protect the economic and socioeconomic development of Southeast Alaska, which includes Tongass National Forest. The Tongass, at 17-million-acres, surrounds Alaska’s capital city of Juneau. Each year, an abundance of wild salmon return from the ocean to streams in the Tongass to spawn and die, bringing with them nutrients from the productive North Pacific Ocean to a much less nutrient-rich land. Currently the Roadless Rule, which prohibits new road construction and reconstruction in inventoried roadless areas on National Forest System lands, protect...

Study: Coastal Fisheries Show Resilience to Marine Heatwaves

New research published in the journal Nature finds that despite the devastating impact marine heatwaves may have on marine ecosystems, that these heatwaves generally have not had lasting effects on the ocean waters that are home to many of the world’s most robust fisheries. The study by a team of researchers funded through FISHGLOB, an international consortium of scientists who collect, curate, share and use date from scientific bottom trawl surveys, looked at how fish biomass and community composition was affected in the year following a marine heatwave. Researchers found that in general, these marine heatwaves do not have a major impact on regional fish communities. “This is the year of marine heatwaves, which now cover nearly half of the world’s ocean,” said Malin Pinsky, a study c...

NTSB Releases Report on Alaska Grounding, Capsizing of Fishing Vessel

The grounding and capsizing of the fishing vessel Challenger last year was likely due to human error on part of the vessel’s captain, according to a report on the incident released Aug. 17 by the National Transportation Safety Board. “We determined that the probable cause of the grounding of the fishing vessel Challenger was the captain’s decision to navigate close to shore in an area known to him to have an uncharted rock,” the report states. Contributing to the capsizing of the vessel, according to the NTSB, was the lack of a watertight collision bulkhead and subdivision or compartmentalization below the main deck, which allowed for progressive flooding. The incident occurred around 7 a.m. Alaska time on Aug. 7, 2022. While transiting the northwestern shore of Kodiak Island, Alaska,...

UW-FRI Preliminary Forecast Predicts 2024 Run of 38.9M Bristol Bay Sockeyes

The University of Washington’s Fisheries Research Institute (UW-FRI) on Aug. 18 issued a preliminary preseason 2024 forecast run of 38.9 million Bristol Bay sockeye salmon, with a harvest of 26.4 million fish. The forecasted run would be 32% below the 2013-2022 10-year average, with the fish weighing an average of 5.5 pounds, according to the forecast. The UW-FRI report is based on 2023 daily in-season data from Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports. The preliminary preseason forecast suggests that 63% of the total 2024 Bristol Bay run will be 2-ocean sockeye and 37% 3-ocean sockeye. The standard UW-FRI Preseason Forecast, slated for release in November, is to include abundance estimates by age class for all nine rivers in Bristol Bay, plus anticipated 2024 harvest in numbers and...

Earthjustice, Tribes Petition EPA to Halt Manufacture of Tires Toxic to Salmon

Three Washington tribes are seeking to outlaw the manufacture of tires using chemicals that break down into a toxic chemical that flows from roads into waterways, killing salmon within hours. The nonprofit Earthjustice petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in early August on behalf of the Yurok, Port Gamble S’Kallam and Puyallup tribes, to prohibit the manufacturing, processing, use and distribution of 6PPD in and for tires. 6PPD is an antioxidant and antiozonant that helps prevent the degradation and cracking of rubber compounds caused by exposure to oxygen, ozone and temperature fluctuation. It’s used industry-wide to help tires resist degradation and cracking, which is considered vital for the safety of those riding in vehicles equipped with them. Studies have shown t...