A boat seizure and arrest in Southeast

State troopers have seized the commercial fishing vessel Silver Surfer and arrested a Ketchikan man following a "remote operation" in Southeast Alaska. More details in this press release.

Dungeness crabber found dead off Kodiak Island

The Alaska State Troopers posted the following on July 3:

Location: Kodiak
Type: SAR/death investigation
On 7/3/20 at approximately 0623 hours, Alaska Wildlife Trooper Seward received a call that the U.S. Coast Guard was transporting a deceased subject later identified to be 22-year-old Cole Rutzer. Investigation revealed Rutzer was commercial Dungeness fishing off Tugidak Island located at the south end of Kodiak. Yesterday afternoon, Rutzer and Dylan Furford used a Zodiac skiff to go beachcombing on Tugidak Island. Rutzer and Furford did not return later that evening, so USCG was notified and started to search the area via helo. The USCG found the Zodiac skiff capsized and Rutzer deceased on the beach. A second helo was deployed to search for Furford. Members of KISAR participated in search efforts. The USCG has suspended the search. Next of kin for both men were notified.

Move over, salmon, here come the Dungies!

Somebody pass the butter, please? ASMI photo

Commercial salmon fisheries are now open all along the coast, from Southeast Alaska to the Copper River to Lower Cook Inlet to Kodiak to Chignik to Bristol Bay.

But salmon isn't the only game in town.

At noon tomorrow, the 2011-12 Dungeness crab season opens in Southeast. Here's the announcement.

Adam Messmer, a state fishery manager in Juneau, tells Deckboss 126 permit holders have signed for the Dungeness harvest so far.

Dungeness, like salmon, long has been a target of Alaska commercial fishermen. The crab was first commercially canned at Seldovia in 1920, an Alaska Department of Fish and Game species profile says.

Dungies typically are caught in circular pots baited with herring, squid or clams.

Commonly served whole, the Dungeness crab is "treasured for its beautiful orange shell color, distinctive sweet flavor and tender flaky white meat," the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute says.

Southeast Dungeness is quite a valuable crop.

The 2010-11 season produced a harvest of nearly 3.25 million pounds, worth more than $5.5 million at an average price of $1.78 per pound.

Most of the catch comes in the summer segment of the fishery, which is the part that opens tomorrow. A fall segment opens Oct. 1.

The Dungeness stock is in good shape in Southeast, Messmer says.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said up the coast at Yakutat. The Dungeness fishery there has been closed for the past 11 seasons due to weak stocks, and it'll remain closed this season.

Make way for crab

Salmon isn't the only lure for commercial fishermen this time of year.

Halibut season also is open, and in some places crab!

Take Norton Sound, for example, where the summer red king crab fishery opened today with a quota of 400,000 pounds.

The fishery begins with a special harvest for the federal Community Development Quota program, which reserves 7.5 percent or 30,000 pounds for CDQ crabbers.

A general fishery for the remaining 370,000 pounds "will open later at a time to be announced, pending buyer interest," the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said.

Elsewhere, fishermen in Southeast Alaska have been stalking Dungeness crab since the fishery opened on June 15. The total season's catch is expected to exceed 2.25 million pounds, meaning crabbers will enjoy "a normal season length," Fish and Game announced today.

A tragedy in Haines

The victim in this apparent case of fatal shellfish poisoning was a Southeast salmon drift gillnetter and held other types of commercial fishing permits as well.

Dungie dispute

Here's a story the AP picked up out of Ketchikan about a new Dungeness crab fishery set to open Monday in Southeast Alaska despite a legal challenge from a local tribal government.