Vol. 28, No. 7
July 2008
It’s time again to update the strategic plan for the Alaska Sea Grant College Program. As a recipient of Fishlines with a good understanding of our program, you are among the key people from whom we seek advice on coastal and marine needs and issues that we ought to address through our research, education, and extension. To provide your advice, we invite you to complete a short online questionnaire. If you return the questionnaire to us by August 30, 2008, and provide your email address or phone number, you will qualify to win your choice of $100 worth of Alaska Sea Grant books, posters, and videos. To view the 200+ publication titles to choose from, visit our bookstore. We look forward to receiving your help in plotting the course for Alaska Sea Grant.
Eleven Alaska teachers participated in a two-week workshop held at Kasitsna Bay Lab in June, coordinated by Marla Brownlee. In addition to increasing their knowledge of current marine research in Alaska, the teachers drafted three units of instruction for middle school students. The units are Exploring the Ocean, Ocean in Motion, and Our Changing World. Guest presenters included Nora Deans, outreach manager for the North Pacific Research Board; Kris Holdereid, codirector of Kasitsna Bay Lab; Lisa Munger, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Megan Murphy, SFOS graduate student in Homer; researcher Michelle Ridgway; Marilyn Sigman, director of the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies; and Tania Spurkland, SFOS graduate student.
After the new units of instruction are edited, they will be posted online for teachers to pilot. To view the richly multifaceted lessons that are now being tested by teachers, see http://seagrant.uaf.edu/teachers. The final product will be a new online curriculum, to replace the 1980s Sea Week books published by Alaska Sea Grant.
The Alaska Seas and Rivers project is funded by a three-year grant from the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, to update and expand the Alaska Sea/River Week curriculum for grades K-8. The online guides are designed to meet the demands of education in the 21st century, align with the Alaska Science Content Standards and Grade Level Expectations, and incorporate sophisticated Web-supported delivery systems. Project partners include Alaska Sea Grant, Alaska Ocean Observing System, NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, Alaska Science Consortium, Juneau School District, Lower Kuskokwim School District, and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District.
Alaska Sea Grant posted a new fuel efficiency Web page, including tips for boaters on saving fuel by Terry Johnson, a press release, and a PDF of Greg Fisk’s article in the Clean Boating issue of Alaska Seas & Coasts. Soon after the page was posted, Arne Fuglvog of Sen. Murkowski’s office notified Alaska Sea Grant that he was pleased with the page and linked to it from the senator’s Web site. Sea Grant also will produce a brochure and poster on how boaters can save on fuel.
Two booklets in the Steps to Success for Rural Entrepreneurs series, published by the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development, are available from the Alaska Sea Grant bookstore. Steps to Success for Rural Entrepreneurs: Starting an Ecotourism Business in Alaska, by Terry Johnson, is a 94-page book that tells how to identify ecotourism opportunities nearby, recognize pros and cons of starting a business, locate business development aids, and identify needed equipment, permits, and insurance. In addition the reader can learn how to write a business plan, get financing, develop a marketing plan, and ensure customer satisfaction.
A Village Fish Processing Plant: Yes or No?, by Gunnar Knapp and Terry Reeve, is a 125-page, easy to read book that gives advice about planning a fish processing plant in an Alaska village. While it focuses on small, locally owned fish processing operations in western Alaska, much of the information is useful to fish processing operations in any location. Order paper copies or download PDFs at http://seagrant.uaf.edu/bookstore/.
Biology and Management of Exploited Crab Populations under Climate Change is the title of the 25th Lowell Wakefield Fisheries Symposium, to be held in Anchorage, March 10–13, 2009.
International crab fishery scientists and managers are invited to the symposium to discuss mechanisms of fluctuations and collapses of crab stocks and fisheries around the world. A comparative approach is encouraged, across marine ecosystems, in the face of climate change and variable exploitation rates. Submissions from the Arctic to the tropics are welcome. The deadline for submitting an abstract for an oral or poster presentation is November 14, 2008. For more information see http://seagrant.uaf.edu/conferences/2009/wakefield-crab.
Earlier this spring Torie Baker assisted John Hawkins, Coast Guard chief in Valdez, and Charlie Medlicott, of the Unalaska Coast Guard, in a massive preseason fishing vessel safety inspection of the Copper River gillnet fleet. Along with five other examiners, they inspected 146 vessels over a two-week period. The MAP office was the central clearinghouse for arranging pre-event advertisement, inspection appointments, and publication and placard distribution. It is estimated that of the 534 vessels in the fleet, well over 70% are now in compliance with Fishing Vessel Safety Exam standards.
Baker also hosted two Kodiak Coast Guard helicopter rescue pilots, a rescue swimmer, and flight mechanic in a community presentation on helicopter marine rescue procedures. This was the first time Cordova residents have met with the Kodiak rescue crews stationed at the Cordova Coast Guard hangar during the summer fishing season. Twenty-five people attended the talk.