Longliner sustains fire damage at Unalaska

Lauren Rosenthal with KUCB in Unalaska has a report on a significant fire Wednesday aboard the freezer longliner Blue Pacific.

Council recommends Chinook cap

Here's the final motion the North Pacific Fishery Management Council passed to limit Chinook bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska non-pollock trawl fisheries.

The council is recommending a hard cap of 7,500 Chinook salmon.

As you can see, however, the motion includes a "uncertainty pool" provision that could give trawlers an additional 1,000 Chinook in some years. At least that's how Deckboss reads it.

Council decisions are subject to Commerce Department approval.

For more background on this, see our prior post.

Tough day

We had plenty of trouble on the water Monday.

At 7:30 a.m., police in Cordova received a 911 call from the purse seiner Esperanza reporting a man was lost overboard, had been recovered and was undergoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

The Alaska Wildlife Troopers patrol boat Churchill and a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter responded in heavy fog.

The victim couldn't be revived, and the body was transferred to the Churchill.

Troopers said the deceased, Cornell Perry Bean Jr., 40, of Kake, wasn't wearing a life preserver.

In a separate mishap, a crewman on the trawler Alaska Spirit needed an emergency airlift.

The crewman, who wasn't identified, had a crushed finger, the Coast Guard said.

The Alaska Spirit was located 58 miles southeast of Nunivak Island in the Bering Sea.

The victim initially was transferred by small boat to the cutter Boutwell, where the decision was made to medevac him via helicopter.

"Our health care professionals recommended getting the man to a higher level of care within seven hours to have the best chance of restoring functionality to his finger," said Lt. Bernard Auth, a Coast Guard search and rescue controller.

The Alaska Spirit is a 221-foot trawler belonging to Fishing Company of Alaska.

Togiak herring haul worth ho-hum $2.9 million

Here's the official summary of the recently concluded Togiak sac roe herring season.

As previously reported, the catch was impressive at 28,808 tons.

The estimated grounds price was not so impressive at $100 per ton for both seine and gillnet fish. That puts the ex-vessel value of the fishery at $2.88 million.

It's possible, of course, that post-season adjustments could improve the payoff for fishermen.

Farther north, the Norton Sound sac roe herring fishery opens at 6 this evening. Icy details here.

Chinook bycatch headlines council agenda

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is meeting this week in Juneau, and Chinook bycatch is heading the agenda.

The council is set to take final action on measures to control the incidental take of Chinook in Gulf of Alaska trawl fisheries targeting species such as Pacific cod, flatfish and rockfish.

The options include an annual limit, or "hard cap," of between 5,000 and 12,500 Chinook salmon.

Chinook bycatch, of course, is a very hot topic these days given the weak Chinook returns to many of Alaska's river systems.

The council has been working methodically to rein in this bycatch.

In June 2011, the council set a cap of 25,000 Chinook in the Gulf pollock fishery.

Regulators also have set caps in the giant Bering Sea pollock fishery.

Illicit halibut charter operator fined $15,000

An Anchorage resident who took customers fishing without the required halibut charter permit will pay a $15,000 fine to settle an enforcement action, federal authorities say.

Sidney Bouschor initially was assessed a $30,300 civil penalty following an undercover operation by NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement.

"Bouschor admitted the charge, but claimed an inability to pay the entire assessed penalty," says this press release. "After supplying the required financial documentation to NOAA, which was evaluated by a NOAA financial expert, NOAA's Office of General Counsel found it appropriate to settle the case for $15,000."

The press release, unfortunately, doesn't specify which port Bouschor was operating out of, or provide other details of the undercover operation.

NMFS to take action to stop 'scale fraud'

The National Marine Fisheries Service is planning to tighten regulations on scales used to weigh catches aboard factory fishing vessels operating off Alaska.

NMFS says it has "investigated several cases of potential scale tampering and fraud that may have resulted in large underestimations of catch" in the Bering Sea pollock fishery.

Federal authorities have levied more than $2.7 million in fines against American Seafoods, the largest operator of factory trawlers in the pollock fishery.

At-sea scales can provide very precise and accurate estimates of catch, NMFS says, provided the scales are not monkeyed with.

It's now apparent that regulatory changes are needed to stop scale fraud, the agency says.

This briefing paper lays out the possible changes. Among them:

• Require vessels to report scale tests daily

• Expand video monitoring of the scale area

• Have an observer present whenever scales are recalibrated

• Enhance the "audit trail" on scale adjustments.