Tag Archives: St. Paul Island
The snow crab vanishes
My small turboprop plane whirred low through thick clouds. Below me, St. Paul Island cut a golden, angular shape in the shadow-dark Bering Sea. I saw a lone island village — a grid of houses, a small harbor, and a road that followed a black ribbon of coast. Some 330 people, most of them Indigenous, live in the village of St. Paul, about 800 miles west of Anchorage, where the local economy depends almost entirely on the commercial snow crab business. Over the last few years, 10 billion snow crabs have unexpectedly vanished from the Bering Sea. I was traveling there to find out what the villagers might do next. Photos, >click to read< 15:54
Scientists point to climate as likely cause for snow crab decline
Even as scientists are still trying to figure out why the Bering Sea snow crab stock crashed in 2021, federal managers are working on a plan to help rebuild it. Data from last year’s survey at this point seems to confirm that there was a massive decline in the number of young snow crab in the Eastern Bering Sea—something like 99% fewer female snow crab showed up in the survey from 2021. Jaime Goen, Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, told the council that the crab industry is reeling from the revenue loss both in the snow crab fishery and the complete closure of the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery this year. What hurt was the suddenness — a few years ago, the crab stocks were looking hopeful and like a good investment, and many businesspeople and crew members bought in with the hopes those investments would pay off, she said. “Now those same people are facing bankruptcy,” >click to read< 22:00
Kodiak Coast Guard aircrews medevac injured Fisherman 300 miles northwest of St. Paul Island
Two Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak C-130J Hercules aircraft and two MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews coordinated efforts to perform a long-range medevac of an injured fisherman who was approximately 300 miles northwest of St. Paul Island, Alaska, Monday. The man was safely transferred to awaiting emergency medical services personnel in St. Paul, who further transported him to Anchorage for further care. At approximately 1:00 a.m. Monday, District 17 Command Center watchstanders received a call requesting a medevac of an injured 31-year-old fisherman aboard the 196-foot fishing vessel Baranof. Video, >click to read< 17:26
