Ghost crabber going away

The derelict Ocean Clipper. MCA Foundation photo

The Marine Conservation Alliance Foundation, a Juneau-based nonprofit that's cleaning up old fishing gear and other debris off Alaska beaches, has won $1 million in federal economic stimulus money for its work.

Part of the money will go toward removing an old crab vessel, the Ocean Clipper, laid up for many years on a rocky St. Paul Island beach.

The wreck is considered a hazard to a fur seal rookery there, especially pups that might wander into the broken hull and become trapped, said MCA Executive Director David Benton.

The hope is that a salvage company — most likely Magone Marine Service out of Dutch Harbor — can pull the wreck off the beach either this fall or next spring.

"It's going to be a real challenge," said Benton, as salvors will have to work around bad weather as well as the fur seals.