Last Friday, March 13, 2020, two sites that had been down for over 120 days were brought back to operational. As of Monday, March 16, 2020, sites that the U.S. Coast Guard is unable to receive VHF communications are: Bede Mountain, Cape Fanshaw, Deception Hills, Sukkwan Island, Althorp Peak, Tuklung Mountain, and Duffield Peninsula. The Coast Guard has experienced various VHF outages in Southeast and Southcentral Alaska. Extra caution is advised in areas serviced by the VHF towers listed below. Repairs are ongoing, but due to extreme weather and remote locations, intermittent outages are expected to continue in various locations in both Southeast and Southcentral Alaska. Mariners are reminded that due to mountainous terrain, and limited VHF coverage, even with fully operational VHF Read more…
Month: March 2020
Rockfish Required Retention in Federal Waters
As a result of the North Pacific Council action taken in December of 2019, beginning March 23, 2020, NMFS has new rockfish retention requirements. This action contains two main provisions: requiring full retention and landing of rockfish by CVs using hook-and-line, pot, or jig gear while fishing for groundfish or halibut in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the BSAI or GOA, even if the species of rockfish is closed to directed fishing or on prohibited species status. limiting the amount of rockfish that can enter commerce, the maximum commerce allowance (MCA). The MCA would limit the amount of rockfish allowed to enter commerce through barter, sale, or trade. Rockfish in excess of these limits could not be sold but could be kept for personal use, donated, processed into fishmeal, Read more…