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The Fishermen’s Fund Advisory and Appeals Council currently has two vacancies on its board. The board consists five members appointed by the Governor from five specific districts listed in statute and the Commissioner of the Department of Labor, or the commissioner’s designee, who serves as the chair. The council consults with the Commissioner (or designee) regarding negative decisions on appeals filed in relation to care of sick and disabled fishermen and advises the department on administration of the fund.  The current vacancies are from District 2 (areas north of Wrangell to include include Yakutat) and District 5 (Areas north of cape Newenham, including Kuskokwim, Yukon, Kotzebue, and the Arctic).  The board meets 2x per year and standard travel and per diem is covered. To be Read more…

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is proposing to list the sunflower sea star as a “threatened” species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) based on the findings of a recently published population status review. The ESA defines a threatened species as likely to become endangered in all or a portion of its range within the foreseeable future.  The status review was triggered by a 2021 petition from the Center for Biological Diversity.  The ESA does not allow listing of smaller, discrete population units for invertebrates, unlike vertebrate species. As such, even though sunflower sea star declines are less severe in Alaska, a listing for the species will cover its entire range. The NMFS status review focused on the wide-spread population declines following a large outbreak Read more…

In an effort to provide more specific marine weather information, the National Weather Service Forecast Offices in Alaska have realigned Alaska’s marine forecast zones, due to be implemented March 8, 2023.   The planned changes will result in more geographically-representative forecasts, advisory, watch and warning products. This will be achieved with the creation of a ‘nearshore’ forecast zone that will cover areas from the coastline out to 15 Nautical Miles (NM), a ‘coastal’ forecast zone which will then exist 15 NM out to 100 NM, and the creation of new zones that will pair down very large geographic areas, including to areas in the eastern Gulf of Alaska, Prince William Sound, along the Aleutians, and within the Bering Sea. Due to the scope of these changes, most marine Read more…

The second draft of the spend plan for the 2020 Norton Sound, Yukon River, Kuskokwim River, Chignik, Southeast Alaska; and 2021 Yukon River salmon disaster declarations has been posted for a two week review period. You can view the latest draft here: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/fishing/pdfs/2020-21_salmon_disaster_second_draft_spend_plan.pdf Comments must be submitted by Wednesday, February 15th. Comments can be submitted by email to: [email protected]  or by mail to: ADF&G, Attn: Karla Bush PO Box 115526 Juneau, AK 99811-5526 Here are some changes from the previous draft relevant to Southeast AK: To simplify the information used for determining eligibility, the criteria for the SE commercial fisheries are proposed to be based on the salmon species Read more…

The USCG will be in Petersburg February 4th-7th conducting dockside exams before the start of the king and tanner fishery. You can sign-up for an exam at the Harbor Master office.

In December Congress also expanded the Capital Construction Fund (CCF) program. The program is designed to encourage owners of U.S.-flag vessels to accumulate sufficient capital to acquire additional U.S.-flag vessels by offering tax incentives. The program works like a combination of a traditional IRA and Roth IRA. Like a regular IRA, an income tax deduction is available when funds are set aside and deposited into a CCF account and, like a withdrawal from a Roth IRA, withdrawals for approved vessel expenditures are tax free. Earning on a deposit in a CC account also grow tax free. Here is an article with more details. Read more…

Southeast Alaska Pilot’s Association provided this flier on avoiding collisions with cruise ships and the following charts of cruise ship track lines through gillnet fishing areas: Sumner tracklines Eldred Rock tracklines Little Island tracklines Stephens/Grand Island tracklines