Vol. 28, No. 12
December 2008
Senator-elect Mark Begich, Paula Cullenberg, and Jeff Stephen, chair of
the Alaska Sea Grant Advisory Committee.
Photo by Kurt Byers.The Alaska Sea Grant Advisory Committee met November 20-21 in Anchorage, with Sea Grant interim director Paula Cullenberg and other staff, faculty, and guests. UAF Chancellor Brian Rogers spoke to the group, and committed to help sustain MAP faculty positions. National Sea Grant deputy director Jim Murray highlighted the gathering as the best meeting he has attended in the last few years, and complimented Alaska Sea Grant for progress made on the Alaska King Crab Research, Rehabilitation and Biology project. U.S. Senator-elect Mark Begich stopped by as well, to briefly discuss fisheries and other marine issues.
Presentations were made by Ginny Eckert, SFOS; Meghan Wilson, Institute of Social and Economic Research, UAA; Seanbob Kelly, Alaska Sea Grant Knauss fellow; Daniel Julius, UA vice president for research and academic affairs; Dean Denis Wiesenburg, SFOS; and Sean Willison, BP-Alaska Sea Grant fellow. Sunny Rice and Torie Baker also talked about the success of the Alaska Young Fishermen's Summits.
Advisory Committee member Molly McCammon, director of the Alaska Ocean Observing System, will organize conference calls for a new public policy subcommittee every three months, to identify trends on state and federal issues and discuss Alaska Sea Grant strategy. The strong engagement of the Advisory Committee underscores Alaska's broad community and partner support for Alaska Sea Grant.
Alaska Sea Grant invites pre-proposals for research projects for the period February 1, 2010–January 31, 2012. We seek innovative proposals in the natural and social sciences that focus on the environmental and economic viability of Alaska's coastal communities. We are interested in proposals that address environmental change impacts on and adaptation strategies for coastal ecosystems and/or coastal communities; and improving economic viability of Alaska coastal communities by adding to the value of local resources. Pre-proposals are due January 26, 2009, and must be submitted online. For qualifying PIs, full proposals will be due April 17, 2009. The request for proposals is available at http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/rfp/2010/prelim-proposal10.php.
Alaska Sea Grant MAP, Ecotrust, North Pacific Fisheries Trust, Gulf of Alaska Communities Coalition, and others will cosponsor a workshop for coastal communities to help strengthen community quota entities (CQEs), February 17–18, 2009. Alaska communities establish CQEs as nonprofit organizations, to buy halibut and black cod shares and lease them to community members. With the goal of enhancing the success of the nonprofits, the workshop will provide technical support to CQE managers, on nonprofit governance, finance, regulatory issues, lease management, and accounting. Alaska Sea Grant will publish the proceedings of the workshop as a book.
In September–October 2008, Alaska Sea Grant MAP and United Fishermen of Alaska conducted a Web-based survey of Alaska commercial fishermen. During a season of very high fuel prices, we asked how increased prices had impacted their businesses, what their responses were, and what further information they could use to adapt. Responses came in from 126 people, broadly representing gear types and locations.
According to Alaska Sea Grant interim director Paula Cullenberg, the value of the survey will be in helping policy makers and lawmakers design programs to help fishermen weather tough economic times. The survey also provides Sea Grant with information to develop training workshops, publications, and other tools to help fishermen save money and improve efficiency.
"Many fishermen expressed an interest in getting help to compare different engines, and how to effectively use energy-saving devices like flow meters," said Sunny Rice, Petersburg MAP agent. "We will be looking at developing ways to give fishermen answers to their questions through new publications and workshops in their communities." Sixty-four respondents to the survey were considering adding or were already using a fuel flow meter to monitor consumption, and 74 were thinking about or had switched to more efficient engines.
About 88% of the fishermen said they had changed their fishing behavior in response to high fuel prices. The most common changes were less exploration, and fishing closer to home or not returning home as often. Over 70% "paid lots of attention" to maintaining their engine and fuel systems, as well as throttling back more when running. Over 60% planned routes and timing to minimize distance and tide effect.
Twenty-eight percent of fishermen said that their processors assisted with fuel costs. The practice is not unusual, according to Cordova MAP agent Torie Baker. "Fishermen routinely buy fuel from processors and their tenders," said Baker. "Processors, especially if they are a larger company in a remote location like the Aleutians or Bristol Bay, in many cases bring in barged fuel purchased at bulk rates."
The survey results provide a useful snapshot of fishermen's responses to increased fuel prices, even though the sample represents a small group of the 10,000 permit holders in Alaska. For more information see http://seagrant.uaf.edu/map/recreation/fuel-efficiency/survey/survey-results.html.
Former NOAA Fisheries fellow Dana Hanselman prepares to submerge in the Delta submersible.For Alaska graduate students interested in marine and aquatic sciences and policy, the Knauss Fellowship can be a springboard to an exciting career in resource policy, biology, and management. The deadline for applying for a 2010 fellowship, to Alaska Sea Grant, is February 20, 2009.
Early this December three UAF students joined 51 Knauss Fellows in Washington, D.C., for placement week, to select their positions for the coming year. SFOS graduate students Celeste Leroux, Erin Steiner, and Mary Bozza will begin fellowships February 1, 2009. UAF graduate Seanbob Kelly will soon finish his 2008 Knauss Fellowship with the National Marine Fisheries Service, where his focus is on implementing the congressional reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
The Knauss fellowship program began in 1979 and is run by the National Sea Grant College Program.
The deadline for applying for a NOAA Fisheries Sea Grant Fellowship, in population dynamics or resource economics, is January 20, 2009. As doctoral students, NOAA Fisheries Sea Grant Fellows spend the school year on campus and their summers doing research and training with a mentor at a NOAA Fisheries Science center or lab. NOAA fellowships begin summer 2009. For more information on Knauss and NOAA fellowships, see http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/fellowships.html.
The second annual Western Alaska Interdisciplinary Science Conference and Forum (WAISC) "Energizing Our Future," will be held April 6–10, 2009, in Nome. The UAF Northwest Campus and Alaska Regional Development Organization will host the event. The first WAISC conference, in April 2008 in Dillingham, brought together scientists, educators, rural leaders, and subsistence hunters and gatherers to discuss science and issues relevant to Western Alaska.
According to Nome MAP agent Heidi Herter, a member of the organizing committee, the 2009 conference will have sessions on energy, fisheries, subsistence, mining, freshwater quality, reindeer herding, ecology and wildlife, public health, Beringia, waste management, and education. Abstracts for oral and poster presentations, or workshops, should be submitted before February 1, 2009. For more information see http://www.uaf.edu/waisc/.