27 questions on Kenai king management

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has posted an interesting set of frequently asked questions on Kenai River king salmon management.

The concise, four-page FAQ focuses on the 2013 season, and delves into issues such as escapement policies, how fish are counted, and research projects.

Of course, low king returns to the famed Kenai have caused a lot of angst for all user groups in recent years.

The department's FAQ comes in advance of the state Board of Fisheries meeting on Upper Cook Inlet finfish, starting Jan. 31 in Anchorage. That could be a brawl.

Deckboss himself learned a lot from the FAQ, and highly recommends you read it.

As a sample, here are a couple of questions from the report:

Q23: How many late-run Kenai River king salmon were harvested inriver in 2013?

A23: Inriver sport fishing mortality was 1,620 late-run Kenai River king salmon, including 1,578 fish harvested and 42 fish from release mortality.

Q24: How many late-run Kenai River king salmon were harvested commercially in 2013?

A24: An estimated 2,256 late-run Kenai River king salmon were harvested in the Upper Subdistrict set gillnet commercial fishery in 2013. This estimate is based on the total harvest of king salmon in the fishery and genetic stock identification data collected from harvested king salmon. A total of 426 king salmon were harvested in the Central District drift gillnet commercial fishery.

Kookesh back on hook in subsistence fishing case

The Alaska Court of Appeals has reinstated charges of subsistence salmon overharvest against former state Sen. Albert Kookesh and two others.

Here is the court's opinion.

It's not funny, but damn!

Following orders on deck is a fact of life in commercial fishing. So is the possibility of serious injury.

Here is a recently filed lawsuit that combines both those realities in bizarre fashion.

The gist of the matter is on page 5 of the suit.

Greg Blakey crosses the bar

Greg Blakey has passed. Friends tell Deckboss he died in a motorcycle accident in Mexico.

Here's a death notice with guestbook.

Blakey was chief executive of Snopac, a seafood processing company with a long history of Alaska operations.

Icicle Seafoods acquired Snopac in 2012.

Sharing the wealth

Coastal Villages Region Fund has approved a second round of funding for its People Propel initiative.

Coastal is an Anchorage-based company operating under the federal Community Development Quota program. It manages commercial fish harvests on behalf of a group of Bering Sea villages in the area of the Kuskokwim River delta.

With People Propel, Coastal offers village residents substantial subsidies for the purchase of boats, motors and nets.

Coastal evidently is doing great, certainly well enough to help buy some outboard boats and fishing gear.

Coastal's executive director, Morgen Crow, drew a $475,000 salary plus a $420,000 bonus in 2012, the company's latest annual report shows.

Six other staffers received in excess of $205,000.

Seeking answers for Chinook decline

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell's proposed fiscal year 2015 budget contains $10 million for ongoing research on Chinook salmon, returns of which have been low in recent years.

One research project involves a planned juvenile Chinook survey in the northern Bering Sea.

The Department of Fish and Game is looking to charter a trawl vessel for the survey, to be conducted next September. For more specifics, see page 5 of this invitation to bid.

Coast Guard loses one of its own

The U.S. Coast Guard says Petty Officer 3rd Class Travis Obendorf has died from injuries suffered during a November response to a disabled fishing vessel in the Bering Sea.