Tag Archives: Sitka
‘A friend to everybody’: Sitka man killed in bear mauling remembered by colleagues
Tad Fujioka was an avid outdoorsman whose love of fishing led him to trade the engineering field for the commercial trolling one. But Fujioka, whose body was found Wednesday north of Sitka following search and rescue efforts, the victim of a bear mauling, is being remembered less for what he did and more for the type of person he was. “I mean, everybody that knew him, liked him,” said longtime friend and colleague, Norman Pillen, president of Seafood Producers Cooperative (SPC) in Sitka. Fujioka was the board chair for SPC and a big advocate for the commercial fishing industry. He was a strong family man and man of many talents, Pillen said. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:04
A major fisheries advocate, Sitkan Tad Fujioka found dead in apparent bear mauling
The call that Tad Fujioka was overdue could not have come at a worse time. On the evening of October 29, Sitka and the outer coast of Southeast were being lashed by a windstorm, with some gusts in excess of 50 miles per hour. Fire Chief Craig Warren says Air Station Sitka launched a helicopter, nevertheless, equipped with Forward-Looking-Infrared (FLIR), to search an area about ten miles north of Sitka in Nakwasina Sound. Fujioka was believed to be returning to an area where he had shot a deer on Monday in much better weather and had cached part of the carcass. The shock reverberated quickly around Sitka. Norm Pillen is the President of Seafood Producers Cooperative, where Fujioka was board chair. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:47
Sitka mariner dies in engine room accident
A Sitka fisherman died on Monday (8-19-24), after an accident in the engine room of his boat. Alaska State Troopers report that 75-year-old Barry McKee was fishing aboard his troller Lisa Jean in the vicinity of Salisbury Sound, about 20 miles northwest of Sitka, when he became entangled in mechanical gear below decks and was killed. McKee’s crewman was uninjured in the incident. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:45
Battery-Electric Fishing Vessel Marks a Sea Change for Small Commercial Fishers
On a brisk morning this fall, a 46-foot commercial fishing boat will cruise into the cold waters of Sitka, Alaska, and cut the diesel engine. In that moment of near silence, an electric motor will whir to life. This moment will mark a sea change for Sitka’s small-boat commercial fishing industry: a transition to energy-efficient commercial fishing, powered by low- and zero-emissions propulsion systems. The boat in question, a small commercial salmon troller named I Gotta, will make history as one of the first low-emissions fishing vessels ever deployed in Alaska. Using a unique parallel hybrid battery-diesel system, the boat can travel at full speed using its diesel engine, then switch to a battery-electric motor when fishing. In this way, I Gotta’s captain, Eric Jordan, will be able to cut the boat’s fuel use by 80%. >click to read<
Sitka scallop fishery a test of one entrepreneur’s ingenuity and skill
On days when Evan O’Brien isn’t diving for pink swimming scallops or harvesting gooseneck barnacles off steep rock faces at low tide you can find him in a slip at Thomsen Harbor, working on the new diving boat he purchased from Oxnard, California earlier this year. The F/V Sinbad was purchased by O’Brien for his company, Merrick Shellfish, from a sea urchin diver, so the boat is equipped with everything he needs for a dive. So what does a typical dive for these scallops look like? “You’ll swim up to a boulder or something that’s covered with them,” O’Brien explains. “And in the winter like this, maybe, I don’t know, 10 to 20% of them will take off, start swimming,” he continues. “I just leave those, and I harvest the ones that stay, because they’re kind of dormant and they’re sort of hibernating, so they’re easier to harvest.” Video, >click to read< 16:45
Crews refloat boat that capsized near Crescent Harbor on Saturday
A fishing vessel that overturned just outside of a Sitka harbor this weekend was refloated early Monday morning. Around 1 p.m. on Saturday, the Coast Guard responded to a vessel that had capsized at the entrance to Crescent Harbor in downtown Sitka. Coast Guard Marine Science Technician Allysia Helton was at the scene. She said all four passengers on the F/V Ocean Cape managed to quickly get off the boat. No injuries were reported. “There were quite a few members of the community that were there on scene immediately after it happened, and they helped the crew get off the vessel and make sure everything was okay,” >click to read< 07:25
Alaska’s herring row
On a drizzly March afternoon in Sitka, Alaska, K’asheechtlaa “Louise” Brady hurries down a wooden ramp to the dock at Fisherman’s Quay, her gray-streaked hair spilling from the hood of her windbreaker. There, two small skiffs sit low in the water, heavy with 10-foot-long hemlock branches jeweled with yellow-white fish eggs. “Oh, they’re so beautiful!” “This is the taste of what it means to be Tlingit.” Jamie Ross stands on the deck of his seiner, F/V Anduril, next to a pile of dead herring, his shaggy white hair and mustache blowing in the wind. Ross, who’s from Homer, Alaska, has fished Sitka herring for 30 years. He’s one of the 47 permit holders, and one of the few who remember when herring fisheries lined the Alaska coast. Photos, >click to read< 13:29
Industrial park board backs proposal for spending Sitka hospital sale proceeds on marine haulout
The board of directors of Sitka’s Industrial Park has lent its unanimous support to a proposal to use proceeds from the sale of Sitka Community Hospital to construct a marine haul out. Directors of the Gary Paxton Industrial Park debated the issue for a half-hour at their monthly meeting on Monday (7-11-22), addressing many questions that are likely to be raised by the public if the question moves to the ballot this fall. Municipal administrator John Leach said the possibilities of growth were significant for hauling larger ships, possibly even Coast Guard Fast Response Cutters, which currently are serviced in Homer and in California. The idea was, “if we build it, they will come.” >click to read< 20:38
After boatyard plan falls through, assembly to reconsider haulout options
Sitka is without a working boat haulout, following the closure of the facility that served most of the fishing fleet at Halibut Point Marine. Last summer, the Sitka Assembly began working with the Sitka Community Boat Yard to develop a haulout at the Park. The group secured a lease with the city in July of 2021, but the plan has since fallen through. At an assembly meeting in early May (5-10-22), Linda Behnken, who was leading the boat yard project with a coalition of local fishermen said they’d been ready for liftoff when the cost of construction jumped. “We did, before we responded to the RFP, have sufficient funds to build a boatyard at GPIP,” Behnken said. “Then cost increased, almost doubled, on us. >click to read < 16:00
Skipper rescued by girlfriend on an air mattress after falling overboard off Sitka
A fishing boat reportedly departed Sitka’s Eliason Harbor northbound earlier in the morning, with the skipper at the wheel and the deckhand below asleep. Once clear of the breakwater, the skipper put the vessel on autopilot and stepped on deck to wash the windows. A few miles north of the harbor at Magic Island, the skipper’s girlfriend came down to the beach to wave. “His partner was waving him off on the beach there,” said Fire Chief Craig Warren, who responded to the accident. His partner had to go out with, it sounded like almost an inflatable air mattress, The fishing boat continued northbound under autopilot for about five miles before it ran aground in Eastern Bay. >click to read< 16:50
Sitka herring fishery opens for first time in 2 years
After a week on two-hour notice, the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery opened twice over the weekend. According to a release from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the fishery opened for 8 hours on Saturday. It re-opened on Sunday morning at 10:45 and closed at 6 p.m. Area management biologist Aaron Dupuis said seiners caught around 2,300 tons on Saturday, but he didn’t have data from Sunday’s harvest yet. He said the fleet is smaller this year, with around 20 seiners and four processors are participating. “It’s been pretty relaxed,” he said. “Just the size of the fleet. Everything is really tightly controlled. So it’s not the usual bumper boats, wild, shoot-out fishery a lot of people are accustomed to. It’s pretty relaxed out there.” >click to read< 13:30
Sitka man in an “aggravated and confrontational state”, charged with ‘terroristic threatening’ in harbor disturbance
Sitka police received a 9-1-1 call at about 8:15 P.M. that an intoxicated man was on a vessel, brandishing a knife and making threatening statements toward his fellow crew members and passersby. He may also have had a gun. On arrival, officers say they found Nicholas Bryant in an “aggravated and confrontational state.” >click to read< 10:32 Crewmember Arrested After Armed Confrontation in Sitka Harbor – Bryant refused to exit the vessel or to follow the officers’ instructions, but after they put a single round of pepper gas on deck, he came out and surrendered without further incident, the department reported. He was arrested and charged with two felony counts of “terroristic threatening in the second degree” and two felony counts of third degree assault. >click to read<10:32
Coast Guard, good Samaritan assist vessel taking on water near Sitka, Alaska
The Coast Guard and a good Samaritan assist a vessel taking on water near Sitka, Alaska, Saturday. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Sitka delivered a dewatering pump to the fishing vessel Tamarack, which was taking on water approximately 35 miles west of Sitka Saturday. The crew of Tamarack utilized the dewatering pump to prevent additional flooding. The good Samaritan vessel Pacific Bounty responded to the urgent marine information broadcast, arrived on scene and assisted in dewatering the vessel. Video, >click to read< 06:49
Proposed land trade may turn the tide for Sitka’s maritime industry
A private business has proposed building a new marine haulout in Sitka, in exchange for 17 acres of city-owned waterfront just north of its private cruise ship terminal. The deal was well-received by the board of Sitka’s industrial park at its latest meeting on Wednesday (12-4-19), and by the large number of Sitka’s commercial fishing fleet who attended. >click to read< 08:25
Seiners explain decision to stop test fishing
As of Tuesday evening, herring seiners in Sitka were standing down from further test fishing — but they weren’t calling it a strike.,,, Commercial fisherman Matt Kinney of Sitka has been involved with the sac roe herring fishery for the past 10 years and he says each year it’s exciting to take it all in. “It’s a big biomass out there that supports a lot of life whether it be sea lions or eagles or whales, but it’s pretty impressive to see on a grand scale.” So far this year, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has found a lot of fish,,, >click to read<17:06
With Sitka herring too small and too few, many seiners head home
Though the Sitka sac roe herring fishery has been on standby since March 20th, they’ve only caught a quarter of the quota. Many boats have left town in a fishery that was non-competitive this year and appears to be petering out. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will continue to survey for harvestable schools this weekend. Their research vessel, the R/V Kestrel, has returned to Petersburg. >click to read<14:56
Forum to examine politics behind Alaska’s chinook conservation problem
Southeast salmon fishermen are pushing back against deep restrictions in the king harvest this season, saying the problem is as much political as it is biological. The fishing advocacy group Chinook Futures Coalition is holding a forum in Sitka this Wednesday afternoon (3 p.m. – 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 21, Harrigan Centennial Hall) to shed light on how negotiations with Canada have disadvantaged Alaskan fishermen — even as the state works to address a serious conservation problem.>click to read< 21:19
Trollers call for chinook management ‘with a scalpel, not a sledgehammer’
Fishermen in Sitka are pushing back against a proposed king salmon conservation plan that could impose deep restrictions on fishing seasons in 2018. The local Fish & Game Advisory Committee instead has offered some strategies of its own for protecting chinook returning to three major Southeast river systems. They’re calling it “management with a scalpel, instead of a sledge hammer.” click here to read the story 16:53
In This Alaska Family, Life Lessons Are Passed Down On The Water
We’re on the Alexa K, a 45-foot steel-hulled troller, with captain Charlie Wilber, 69, and his 27-year-old daughter, Adrienne, “heading out into the briny deep!” as Charlie wryly tells us. Charlie has been fishing these waters for nearly 40 years. “I never would have imagined I’d end up doin’ this,” he says. Raised in Omaha, Neb., he came to Alaska fresh out of college. He had a job as a smoke jumper, fighting fires near Fairbanks. But once he went out fishing with a friend, he “got the bug,” as he puts it. He’s been fishing ever since. And it’s always been a family adventure. Charlie says he bought the Alexa K because the boat’s bulwarks were high enough that his daughters, Adrienne and her younger sister, Berett, couldn’t fall off. click here to read the story, view 11 images 11:04
Coast Guard rescues two fishermen near Sitka
A Coast Guard crew rescued two Sitka-based commercial fishermen from a sinking boat near the Fairweather fishing grounds early this morning (Tue 5-17-16). Westin Chavez and Nick Middleton were hauled out of the water by a rescue swimmer and helicopter, despite dicey weather conditions, and transported back to town in good condition, Coast Guard Commander Pete Melnick says. He says the two called for help around 2 AM, when they couldn’t steer the 47-foot F/V Rosalyn because it was taking on water. The Fairweather Fishing grounds are about 115 nautical miles northwest of Sitka. “It was some pretty sporty, pretty tough conditions out in the Fairweather grounds,” he said. “I would say that the seas were somewhere at 15 feet with swells pushing the seas to 20-25 feet and sustained winds at 40 knots out of the east. It was a very challenging hoist.” Video,,, Read the story here 09:35
Federally protected aggressive Steller sea lion harasses fishermen
A 2,500-pound terrorist has been surprising sport and commercial fishermen outside Sitka harbors. There’s one thing he’s after—fish — and the season is just ramping up. This federally-protected mammal is causing more trouble than his weight for the city. A Steller sea lion has been frequenting the Sealing Cove fish cleaning station for more than a month now. When anglers cruise into the floating dock to fillet their catch, the animal beelines toward them for what he hopes is an easy meal. Police Lt. Lance Ewers had his own run-in with the sea lion, after a day out on the water with his kids. He says he saw his friend cleaning fish by the runway on his way back into Sealing Cove and asked what was up. Read the rest here 20:03
Sitka Sound having another spawning wave
SITKA, Alaska — Herring are spawning again in Sitka Sound on the shores of Baranof and Kruzof islands. The second wave comes after a previous peak of spawning was observed about two weeks ago, around the time of the commercial sac roe openings. Dave Gordon, area management biologist for Fish and Game, said a second spawn is not unusual, and he is not looking at reopening the sac roe fishery. continued
Invasive species known as ‘marine vomit’ found at Drakes Estero – Santa Rosa Press Democrat
A newly discovered invasive species capable of blanketing shallow bay bottoms has turned up in Drakes Estero in the Point Reyes National Seashore, prompting calls for immediate action to curb the biological threat and entering the debate over the future of the commercial oyster farm there. A fast-growing sea squirt, Didemnum vexillum, is actually thousands of tiny animals that cluster under a common membrane. It is called “marine vomit” for its unappealing gelatinous mass and has been likened to “the Blob” for its capacity to smother other organisms, possibly including the estero’s $1.5 million-a-year oyster crop and its abundant eelgrass beds. The dispute over the farm’s fate erupted about five years ago, and legislation by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein granted Interior Secretary Ken Salazar sole discretion to renew for 10 years the permit that expires Nov. 30. http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_21777864/invasive-species-known-marine-vomit-found-at-drakes
