Cutter Mustang exits

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mustang, photographed here in 2009 in Seward, was decommissioned Tuesday during a local ceremony honoring nearly 40 years of service. The 110-foot Mustang was stationed in Seward her entire career. She responded to more than 200 search and rescue cases and completed more than 2,000 law enforcement sorties, the Coast Guard said. The service is replacing aging Island-class patrol boats such as the Mustang with Sentinel-class fast-response cutters. Wesley Loy photo

Seafood truck involved in traffic fatality

The Alaska State Troopers report a Pacific Star Seafoods truck was involved in a fatal traffic accident Friday on the Seward Highway.

A major COVID-19 outbreak in Seward

Here's the press release.

Two deaths reported

From the Alaska State Troopers:

Location: Seward
Type: Death investigation
The U.S. Coast Guard notified the Alaska State Troopers of a death on a fishing vessel. The F/V Lady Angela was located near Shelikof Strait. Crewmembers aboard the vessel reported the captain, David Duarte, 62, of Seward, had passed away. Troopers met the vessel when it arrived in Seward on 5/12/17 at approximately 0946 hours. The investigation revealed Duarte was last seen alive in the early morning hours on 5/11/17. Duarte was found deceased in his stateroom at approximately 1930 hours on 5/11/17. The state medical examiner's office was contacted and released the body to the family. There are no signs of foul play. Duarte's next of kin was notified.

Location: Twin Hills
Type: Death investigation
On 5/10/17 at 1825 hours, Alaska State Troopers received a report of a body found on the beach near the Togiak Fisheries cannery. Investigation revealed cannery worker James Schneider, 56, of Warrenton, Ore., was found facedown in mud after apparently falling approximately 15 feet from the cannery dock during low tide. Coworkers attempted CPR for 20 to 30 minutes before he was eventually pronounced deceased on scene by Kanakanak Hospital medical staff, Dillingham. The Togiak village public safety officer responded to the scene via boat while Alaska State Troopers arrived a short time later via chartered aircraft. No foul play is suspected at this time. His remains are en route to Anchorage for autopsy. Investigation also revealed that Schneider had an active $1,000 misdemeanor warrant for his arrest out of King Salmon for the original charge of DUI, failure to appear. Next of kin have been notified.

Hubbards win, state loses

Word out of Seward is Jim and Rhonda Hubbard, a prominent local commercial fishing couple, have been cleared at trial of all charges brought against them last year.

Injured seine boat crewman needs medevac

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter today hoisted an injured crewman off the F/V Beverly Ann about 50 miles southeast of Seward.

The call for help was that deck equipment had struck the 22-year-old crewman in the head, the Coast Guard said.

The Beverly Ann is a 54-foot purse seiner out of Cordova.

Prominent Seward fishing couple indicted

Jim and Rhonda Hubbard have been indicted on commercial fishing and other charges.

Here's a press release from the Alaska Department of Law.

Looking back on the election

Here are a couple of observations from last week's general election.

First, it appears state Rep. Bill Thomas, who calls himself the only commercial fisherman in the Alaska Legislature, might have lost his seat.

The Haines Republican currently stands 43 votes behind Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, Democrat from Sitka.

State election officials still must tally absentee and question ballots.

Even if Thomas somehow rallies past his young challenger, he won't keep his powerful post as co-chair of the House Finance Committee. That's because the House majority leadership on Thursday installed Rep. Alan Austerman, R-Kodiak, as committee co-chair, with Rep. Bill Stoltze, R-Chugiak, continuing as the other co-chair.

In other action, Alaska voters handily approved a $453 million bond issue for port and other transportation projects statewide.

The bonding package includes $10 million toward a proposed expansion of the Seward Marine Industrial Center.

This is of great interest to Coastal Villages Region Fund, a fishing company operating under the federal Community Development Quota program.

Coastal has amassed quite a fleet of fishing vessels, from salmon tenders right up to the 341-foot factory trawler Northern Hawk.

Coastal wants to "Alaskanize" its operations, which would involve basing its vessels not in Seattle but in an Alaska port, specifically Seward.

But $10 million doesn't get the job done. Recent studies have shown it would take several times that much to expand Seward's port sufficiently to accommodate Coastal's full fleet.

It would appear Coastal is working to woo as large a public subsidy as possible for its fleet relocation.

And why does Deckboss make such a remark?

Here's a press release from Coastal, issued on election day last week, that includes supportive comments from Alaska's entire congressional delegation, as well as state Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer.

Worker killed in Seward dock accident

The Anchorage Daily News is reporting a worker died this morning in Seward when an Icicle Seafoods boom truck he was operating tipped over while loading a seine net onto a vessel.

Where does fish stand in governor's budget?

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell yesterday rolled out his proposed budget for fiscal year 2013.

Naturally, Deckboss was eager to see how the Department of Fish and Game fared in the spending plan, which has some cutbacks compared to the current budget, the governor says.

Here are a few highlights:

• The proposed Fish and Game operating budget, including all state and federal funds, is $209.3 million, a 5.1 percent increase.

• The proposed operating budget for commercial fisheries, the department's most expensive unit, is $70.5 million, a 4.4 percent increase.

• The proposed operating budget for sport fisheries is $49.7 million, a 2.7 percent increase.

• The department is slated to trim 13 full-time positions, a 1.4 percent reduction, and 46 part-time positions, a 6.1 percent cut.

• Along with his budget, the governor also proposed a bond package that includes $10 million for the city of Seward's homeport project for the Community Development Quota fleet.

You can find much more information on the Fish and Game budget here, including complete details on a number of proposed capital projects.

The Alaska Legislature opens its 2012 session on Jan. 17.

Legislature ponders oil-fueled spending spree

Only five days remain in the legislative session, and we're getting down to the really fun part — consideration of the capital budget.

The capital budget is essentially a long list of earmarks for state and local projects, everything from airport upgrades to zoo equipment.

Legislators fund this annual spendorama with Alaska's vast surplus oil revenue.

Yesterday the Senate Finance Committee rolled out a $2.8 billion capital budget. You can see it here.

Deckboss took a look and found lots of interesting items including $400,000 for a "CDQ Fishing Fleet Relocation Study."

For the background on this, click here.

'Historic opportunity'

The Northern Hawk coming to roost in Seward? CVRF photo

Steady followers of Deckboss know we pay a good bit of attention to the federal Community Development Quota program, which allocates shares of Bering Sea fish and crab to six companies for harvest on behalf of Western Alaska villages.

Since the program started in 1992, the companies have acquired numerous fishing vessels.

Many are based in Seattle, long the traditional home port for the bigger boats working in Alaska.

Now one of the CDQ companies, Coastal Villages Region Fund, is seriously looking to move its fleet to Alaska, including its 341-foot flagship, the Northern Hawk.

Coastal is working with the city of Seward, which is stoked at the prospect of landing a new fleet to support jobs and local businesses.

The company and Seward say they have a "historic opportunity" to base Alaska's fishing fleet here, where it belongs.

Naturally, Seward officials are now doing what people do when pursuing big dreams in Alaska — hit up the state Legislature for money.

The city envisions a major port project at its Seward Marine Industrial Center, on the eastern shore of Resurrection Bay, and is asking legislators for $400,000 to conduct preliminary engineering and other studies.

In a rousing letter to Seward's mayor, Coastal touts its "quarter of a billion dollar balance sheet" and supposes that the other five CDQ companies just might follow Coastal's lead in relocating their fleets to Alaska.

The letter and other interesting documents are in this packet of papers obtained from the city of Seward.