Look out for the ladder cops

A fishing vessel owner tells Deckboss he was surprised a few days ago when a U.S. Coast Guard boarding team issued his skipper a ticket for lack of a pilot ladder onboard.

The owner shared a copy of the ticket with us.

The ladder regulation hadn't been enforced previously — boarding teams never asked for a ladder during numerous boardings, he said, and no one ever asked to see one during dockside exams.

The boat involved in the Jan. 21 boarding was a 58-footer fishing cod in the Bering Sea out of False Pass. The boarding team was from the Coast Guard cutter Alex Haley.

The boarding team told the skipper they were "starting now" to enforce the ladder requirement, the fishing vessel owner said.

A pilot ladder is a flexible ladder lowered over the side of a vessel to aid people coming aboard.

Such ladders are helpful, as it's always perilous to climb from boat to boat.

This recent enforcement action begs the question: Are we seeing a crackdown on the pilot ladder requirement?

The vessel owner noted that pilot ladders are bulky, and expensive.

Scott Wilwert, the Coast Guard's fishing vessel safety program manager for Alaska, told us he was not aware of any big enforcement push on pilot ladders.

But fishermen should be aware that if their vessel has more than 4 feet of freeboard, federal regulations require a boarding ladder to assist law enforcement personnel and fishery observers, Wilwert said.

Freeboard can change considerably depending on whether the fishing vessel is tanked down, he noted.

The False Pass vessel had a freeboard of 5 feet, 6 inches, the ticket said.

Seattle sinking

A venerable fishing vessel, the Quaker Maid, sadly has sunk at Fishermen's Terminal in Seattle. We don't have any details on how this happened, nor do we know much about the vessel's history. The 72-foot wood boat, a Hanson make, was built in 1935, according to the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission database. The boat was registered for many years with CFEC as a fish tender, with 2020 being the last year. Her homeport is listed as Excursion Inlet, and the owner is Quaker Maid Fisheries, of Lynnwood, Wash. Note the "for sale" sign on the wheelhouse. Jeff Pond photo

Here's your Copper River salmon forecast

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game predicts an uninspiring commercial harvest this year of 728,000 sockeye.

Juneau watch

The House Special Committee on Fisheries has introduced House Joint Resolution 29 supporting continued prohibition of Russian seafood imports.

Halibut catch limit goes lower, but only a little

The International Pacific Halibut Commission, meeting this week in Bellevue, Washington, set this year's coastwide catch limit at 29.33 million pounds.

That's a decrease of 1.3 percent from last year, says this IPHC press release.

Notably, the entire cut comes in Canada, Area 2B.

The commission set a commercial fishing season of 6 a.m. local time March 26 to 11:59 p.m. Dec. 7.

Congressman Begich draws a fisherman challenger

Independent Bill Hill, a Bristol Bay salmon driftnetter and former teacher, says he'll run against U.S. Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska.

Here's his announcement, and here's his bio.

Two hoisted from boat in distress off Kodiak

Details and a photo in this press release from the U.S. Coast Guard.

An update on the F/V Arctic Sea grounding

The fishing vessel Arctic Sea remains hard aground on the rugged north coast of St. George Island in the Bering Sea.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation today issued situation report No. 2 on the shipwreck, including some new photos and details on efforts to recover fuel and capture any rats that might be aboard.

Unfortunately, it sounds like tough weather is preventing much progress on salvaging the vessel.

Commercial group takes aim at sport bag limit

This proposal is stirring debate as the International Pacific Halibut Commission holds its annual meeting this week in Bellevue, Washington.

Juneau watch

Rep. Jeremy Bynum, R-Ketchikan, is sponsoring House Bill 253 titled "An Act relating to the fisheries enhancement loan program."

Mary Peltola announces U.S. Senate bid

Former Congresswoman Mary Peltola, a Democrat, today announced she'll challenge incumbent U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska.

Peltola, in an email blast from the Democratic National Committee, declared: "My agenda for Alaska will always be: fish, family, freedom."

She further said: "Multinational companies are trawling our waters and decimating our fish stocks."

Sullivan has served in the Senate since 2015 and likewise has shown considerable interest in fisheries, often referring to Alaska as a "superpower of seafood."

How long is too long in Bristol Bay?

The Alaska Board of Fisheries is set for a six-day meeting starting Tuesday in Anchorage to consider regulatory proposals for Bristol Bay, home to Alaska's richest salmon fishery.

The proposals cover a wide range of concerns, but we're particularly interested in this raft of 10 proposals addressing the bay's longstanding 32-foot length limitation for drift gillnet boats.

Proposals to increase the length limit, which many fishermen feel is outmoded and overly confining, have come before the board and failed regularly since 1991.

Now, we see more proposals. For example, Proposal 83, from fisherman Abe Williams, would extend the length limit to 36 feet. Proposal 84, from fisherman Matt Marinkovich, would extend it to 34 feet, 2 inches.

A major objective for fishermen offering the 10 proposals is clearing up confusion over whether certain attachments may somewhat exceed the 32-foot limit. Attachments include anchor rollers, fish dropout baskets, gillnet rollers, outdrives and outdrive guards, trim tabs, transom coolers and more.

In a letter to the Board of Fisheries, Alaska Wildlife Troopers Capt. Derek DeGraaf said the agency doesn't have an opinion on vessel length, but believes allowing no exceptions is best for enforcement.

"Having a maximum distance from the most forward extremity to the aft extremity eliminates all confusion on what is allowed," DeGraaf wrote.

Relaxing the vessel length limitation in Bristol Bay would be a big deal. Proponents argue bigger boats would be safer with more space aboard to produce better quality products. Others, however, raise concerns about the costs involved and potential for creating competitive mismatches in the fishery.

Could be a lively discussion at the Board of Fisheries.

AMCC is changing its name to ... AMCC

The Alaska Marine Conservation Council says that, come Jan. 15, it will be known as the Alaska Marine Community Coalition.

Here's a press release explaining the name change.

Juneau watch

State Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, has prefiled Senate Bill 199 titled "An Act repealing the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Limited Entry Commission and transferring its duties to the Department of Fish and Game and the office of administrative hearings."

The title is an apparent reference to the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission.

The prefiled bill comes in advance of the next legislative session, which begins Jan. 20.

Bycatch Reduction and Research Act introduced

Here's a press release from the Alaska congressional delegation.

Southeast Chinook run forecasts released

See the numbers in this advisory announcement from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

9 reportedly rescued from grounded boat in Bering

The Anchorage Daily News has the story.