Juneau watch

Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, will chair the House Special Committee on Fisheries.

Copper River forecast is out!

A commercial harvest of 987,000 sockeye salmon is expected this year, according to the forecast from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Helping fishermen in need

Deckboss is aware of at least three fundraising campaigns for seriously injured commercial fishermen:

Joel Brady-Power

Maddison Crothamel

Sara Gering

Robert Otto crosses the bar

Robert Otto, 76, of Kodiak, died over the holidays, according to an obituary in the local newspaper.

Best known as a crab scientist, Otto formerly was director of the Kodiak Laboratory, part of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

Here's an article marking his retirement in 2005.

Thwarting whales

The International Pacific Halibut Commission is planning experimental fishing with devices "intended to reduce marine mammal depredation of catch from longline gear."

Here's a media release with more details.

Feeling hopeful, and crabby, in Kodiak

Unless delayed by weather, the Kodiak commercial Tanner crab season will open at noon tomorrow, and the harvest could be the biggest in many years.

But word out of Kodiak is that crabbers want higher prices than processors are offering, so the fleet might strike.

The Kodiak District Tanner crab quota is 5.8 million pounds, more than five times last season's quota. Kodiak hasn't seen a harvest this large since the nearly 9 million pounds taken in 1986.

Far larger harvests came in the 1970s, when the Kodiak District twice produced seasonal catches in excess of 30 million pounds.

As for price negotiations, one crabber a couple of days ago wrote Deckboss: "Kodiak fishermen are asking $5 a pound. The processors are not budging and are still at $2.50. Options are being explored to tender the crab west where the starting price is $3.70."

'An economic catastrophe'

In a court filing this week, the state of Alaska strenuously opposes a shutdown of troll Chinook fisheries, arguing it would be "an economic catastrophe for Southeast Alaska fishing towns for no reason."