Send this article to Promobot

In Brief

July 6th 2:27 pm | Staff Print this article   Email this article   Create a Shortlink for this article

After a recent tour of certain parts of Alaska's coastline, Senator Lisa Murkowski has called out for White House action in regards to an ever-encroaching threat of tsunami debris from Japan's devastating March 2011 tsunami.

She asks that federal agencies and the white house work together, forming a working relationship around problem-solving the debris issue.

"I have already seen the impacts of this debris in Alaska while touring coastal areas and can confirm that more action is needed," Murkowski said in a release. "It is essential that your Administration establish a plan on how the United States will prepare for and recover from this debris as it reaches our waters and shores."

She suggested agencies with debris removal experience tackle the issue with an inter-agency task force. Agencies suggested were the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, Interior, State and others.

Appointments made to NP Fishery Management Council

Two Alaskans, Dan Hull and Ed Dersham, have been reappointed to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council by the U.S. Commerce Department. A new appointment, Washington's Craig Cross, is a former Alaskan, having lived previously in Akutan.

Golden king crab harvesters create science foundation

Harvesters in Alaska's most far flung crab fishery are banking on science to help make sure the golden king crab stocks remain productive, and to guide potential expansion of the fishery.

Golden king crab from the Aleutian Islands have been Alaska's most stable crab stock for over 30 years. The annual harvest, which begins in mid-August, has increased over the years from 5.7 million pounds and will top six million pounds this season.

To help scientists and managers learn more about Alaska's most remote crab stock, harvesters have formed the Aleutian King Crab Research Foundation. Its crabber members will partner with state and federal scientists to better assess the size of the region's golden crab stock, and its distribution throughout the entire Aleutian area.

"More information should result in better management and higher sustainable catch rates," said Denby Lloyd, Science Advisor for the Foundation. Lloyd is a biologist with over 30 years of statewide fisheries management experience, and former chief of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Fewer than 10 boats fish for golden crab in the deep waters surrounding the 1,200 miles of islands that make up the Aleutian chain, a part of the Pacific Ring of Fire and the westernmost region of the United States.

 

Contact us about this article at editor@thearcticsounder.com

Copyright 2013 The Arctic Sounder is a publication of Alaska Media, LLC. This article is © 2013 and limited reproduction rights for personal use are granted for this printing only. This article, in any form, may not be further reproduced without written permission of the publisher and owner, including duplication for not-for-profit purposes. Portions of this article may belong to other agencies; those sections are reproduced here with permission and Alaska Media, LLC makes no provisions for further distribution.