Vol. 28, No. 1
January 2008
In December Alaska Sea Grant introduced a shopping cart program for its online bookstore, bringing the bookstore in line with today’s world of e-commerce. The new program allows customers to conveniently purchase educational products. Dave Partee wrote most of the code for the shopping cart software, with other staff also putting in many hours.
Plans to implement a shopping cart system had been discussed for several years at Sea Grant, but we wished to avoid high expenses and the chore of revamping the 275-product Web listing. Last summer, after Partee looked at resources on the Web, he set out to write the code himself. Starting with a basic template, Partee created a MySQL database to store the publication information and customer orders, and customized the shopping cart’s operation and interface using the PHP programming language. In addition to Partee’s efforts, Adie Callahan and Kathy Kurtenbach worked on marketing and distribution details; Carol Kaynor, Callahan, and Partee converted publication pages for the shopping cart; and John Haverlack of SFOS set up the secure server.
Alaska Sea Grant has offered online ordering for more than 15 years, but it involved many steps for the customer, such as manually entering title, price, and shipping charges. The new automated shopping cart provides convenience for the customer, as well as efficient order processing for Sea Grant. In addition, customer credit card information is more secure and is deleted after the order is processed. Alaska Sea Grant fills orders for 36,000 products per year, with 15% online orders. We expect that percentage to increase with the new, easy-to-use shopping cart.
Seanbob Kelly will work in the NMFS Office of Sustainable Fisheries, Domestic Fisheries Division, in Washington, D.C., for one year as a Knauss Fellow. He will start the new position February 1. Kelly earned an M.S. in fisheries oceanography at SFOS, working with Brenda Norcross as his advisor.
Developing Cooperatives for the Alaska Seafood Industry is a new Alaska Sea Grant book by Glenn Haight, Andrew Crow, and Hans Geier. Cooperatives offer a business model for Alaska seafood producers to open new markets and pool purchasing power. This book tells about the step-by-step procedure to start a seafood cooperative, how to manage a cooperative, federal taxation, and new generation cooperatives. The authors have expertise in private business, economic development, law, commercial fishing, natural resource development, and cooperative management. This book is part of the Alaska Fisheries Business Assistance Project, providing resources to Alaska’s fishermen, processors, and marine-related businesses.
Alaska Sea Grant produced and mailed out the fall 2007 Charter Log newsletter in December, edited by Terry Johnson. Handsome T-shirts featuring Ray Troll’s art that appears on the cover of Field Guide to Sharks, Skates, and Ratfish of Alaska are being offered for sale for $20.
Clint Atkinson, UA and Alaska Sea Grant fisheries consultant in the 1970s and early 1980s, passed away in May 2007. Atkinson guided the university's involvement as the U.S. took over fisheries in the 200 mile zone. His main emphases were fisheries economics and aquaculture. Atkinson had a long and distinguished career in fisheries at the International Salmon Commission (1938–1948); Bureau of Commercial Fisheries/U.S. Fish and Wildfire Service (1948–1956); Biological Laboratory, Seattle (1957–1965); fishery attaché, American Embassy, Tokyo, Japan (1966–1973); and consultant (1974–2002). He received numerous awards and his publications span more than seventy years.
The Alaska Young Fishermen’s Summit II, a two-day leadership symposium, was held in December. Coordinated by Angela Camos, MAP program coordinator, the summit featured training in business management, global seafood markets, and how to affect fishery policy and management. Aimed at young and new Alaska fishermen, it was attended by 65 fishermen from 26 communities.
Cora Crome, fisheries policy advisor to Governor Sarah Palin, spoke at a reception, as did the Governor’s husband, Todd Palin. Robin Samuelsen, CEO/president of Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation, and Arne Fuglvog, fisheries advisor to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, gave keynote addresses. The audience was exposed to a perspective from the other side of the globe during a talk by Roy Cunningham of Young’s Seafood, Edinburgh, Scotland. Cunningham spoke about buying fish from Alaska, fishery sustainability in Europe, and carbon footprint concerns.
Among the speakers from Alaska and worldwide were Don Kramer, Glenn Haight, and Jerry Dzugan of MAP. Alaska Sea Grant Advisory Committee members Jim Balsiger and Dorothy Childers served on the science, fishermen, and management panel. Organizing committee members are Sunny Rice (chair), Torie Baker, Eric Olson, Greg Fisk, Glenn Haight, Casey Campbell, and Quentin Fong.
Many summit participants were able to attend through generous travel scholarships provided by fishing associations and Alaska fishermen. In addition, support from about 20 fishing and processing groups allowed conference organizers to reduce registration fees. For more information on the summit, including photographs, visit the summit home page.
As part of International Polar Year (IPY) 2007–2009, MAP and the UAF Northwest campus have launched a speaker series in Nome. This series provides an unusual and welcome opportunity for experts to interact with local residents. The series is videoconferenced to rural communities and schools through the Bering Strait School District.
Series speakers include
Sherri Pristash is helping to organize the Marine Debris in Alaska workshop, to be held in conjunction with the Alaska Forum on the Environment next month. AFE will be at the Egan Convention Center the week of February 11, with the 2-day Marine Debris Workshop on February 14–15. The goals of the workshop are to coordinate and prioritize statewide marine debris removal, education, and outreach, and form a strategy for prevention and cleanup efforts. A proceedings book that will summarize the strategy and the workshop will be published by Alaska Sea Grant. The workshop is sponsored by Alaska Sea Grant, the Marine Conservation Alliance Foundation, and the NOAA Marine Debris Program.
Alaska Sea Grant will host a community meeting on energy/fisheries March 21, 2008, 10–12:30, at the Kodiak High School, in conjunction with Comfish. A summary will be presented of the March 18–19 North Aleutian Basin Energy-Fisheries Workshop that immediately precedes it, by David Holt, Bodø University, Norway. Dan Sharp, from Minerals Management Service, will describe the permit process; Gregg Nady, Shell Exploration and Production Company, will speak about oil and gas development potential; and a panel of Kodiak stakeholders will be convened.