Vol. 29, No. 4
April 2009
Marine Advisory agents Sunny Rice and Glenn Haight hosted five commercial shrimpers, accompanied by Amber Van Harten of South Carolina Sea Grant Extension, in Petersburg and Juneau in March. In search of new avenues to success for their faltering shrimp industry, the fishermen spent two days learning leadership skills and tactics that have brought good results to Alaska salmon fishermen.
The southerners got what they came for. They took away fresh business knowledge and motivation for working with their legislature and local councils to create programs similar to those in Alaska. And some made viable seafood buying connections.
The shrimpers met with ADFG biologists who manage the beam trawl and pot shrimp fisheries, and local trawlers. In addition they consulted with Gerry Merrigan, fisherman and member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, to learn how to work with the federal management process. MAP consultant Greg Fisk and MAP assistant Cynthia Wallesz taught a workshop on direct marketing, with help from Petersburg shrimper and direct marketer Dennis Sperl.
Rice taught the shrimpers how to present commercial fishing issues effectively and led them in a practice testimony session. While in Juneau, the group met with Alaska Department of Commerce and United Fishermen of Alaska representatives, talked to Gov. Palin’s fisheries advisor Cora Crome, toured shrimp handling equipment, and attended business and leadership workshops.
The USDA Trade Adjustment Assistance program funded the project through a grant to Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service and South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium.
SFOS faculty member Gordon Kruse chaired the steering committee for the 25th Wakefield Fisheries Symposium on Biology and Management of Exploited Crab Populations under Climate Change, held last month in Anchorage. About 75 people from six countries participated in the symposium. SFOS was well represented, with faculty and students coauthoring 11 oral presentations and three posters. Best student oral presentation was awarded to SFOS graduate student Jodi Pirtle, and best poster presentation went to Miranda Westphal.
Alaska Sea Grant will publish a peer-reviewed proceedings of the symposium in 2010. Alaska Sea Grant meetings coordinator Sherri Pristash organized the meeting, and ADFG, NMFS, and NPFMC were partners in sponsoring the symposium.
Alaska Sea Grant recently published the proceedings of an Alaska workshop on offshore oil and gas development near Bristol Bay, and how it might affect the fisheries there. North Aleutian Basin Energy-Fisheries: Workshop Proceedings, edited by Brian Allee, is available at http://seagrant.uaf.edu/bookstore/pubs/AK-SG-09-03.html.
In March 2008 the workshop gathered Aleutian stakeholders—fishermen, community leaders, state and federal officials, Alaska Natives, environmentalists, and oil-gas industry experts—to exchange information and gain a better understanding of impacts of oil and gas exploration and development.
The book presents a broad spectrum of viewpoints, both for and against offshore development. Contributions are included from those who say oil and gas development would damage the region’s important commercial and subsistence fisheries, and others who welcome development to provide jobs where commercial fishing is fast disappearing, causing the region’s younger people to leave for urban areas. City leaders express concern that infrastructure needs significant improvements to support an influx of people, equipment, and services that would come from large-scale development, and that jobs and job training should be part of any development plan.
About 240 people attended the workshop last year, and 80% of those who completed evaluations said the workshop helped energy and fishing interests understand each other. Survey responders were unanimous in their desire to see dialogue continue.
Enclosing the Fisheries: People, Places, and Power, a new book on worldwide community impacts of restricted access fisheries management, will be highlighted at the UAA Campus Bookstore in Anchorage on April 15, 5-7 pm. Ethnographic research will be discussed by book contributors—Alaska Sea Grant–funded researchers Marie Lowe, Institute of Social and Economic Research and UAA Anthropology Department; Courtney Carothers, SFOS; and Steve Langdon, UAA Anthropology Department.
The book addresses challenges facing Alaska residents and others around the globe, who are affected by fisheries access restrictions, as well as changes that are needed to improve the lives of people tied to the fishing industry. Edited by Lowe and Carothers, the book was published by the American Fisheries Society. For more information see http://www.iser.uaa.alaska.edu/profiles/faculty/marie_lowe.html.
Legal scholars who successfully encouraged the State of Alaska to enact oversight measures in the wake of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) were reunited in Alaska March 19-24 by Alaska Sea Grant, to mark the spill’s 20th anniversary and discuss steps still needed to protect Alaska’s seas and coasts. Zyg Plater, Harry Bader, Alison Rieser, and others met for discussion panels, seminars, and a reception to revisit their work.
Immediately following the 1989 spill, Alaska Sea Grant convened the legal team, which made recommendations to the Alaska Oil Spill Commission (AOSC) to help the state exercise greater regulatory authority and influence the content of the federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990. According to Plater, professor at Boston College Law School, the team was involved in every implementation decision made by the AOSC.
Before EVOS and formation of the legal team, Alaska Sea Grant MAP agent in Cordova, Rick Steiner, had outlined to the oil industry and to Sen. Frank Murkowski the urgent need for citizen oversight bodies. The Prince William Sound Citizens’ Advisory Council and the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council can find their roots in Steiner’s work, coupled with the legal team’s recommendations adopted by the AOSC and eventually codified by the State of Alaska. Oil spill contingency plans are also part of the current state and federal regulatory process, thanks in large part to Steiner’s urgings and the team’s recommendations adopted by the AOSC.
Harry Bader, private consultant and former UAF professor, lauds the post-EVOS grassroots process and result, but believes citizens are less involved now. “In the decade after EVOS, Alaska became the nation’s gold standard on how to incorporate public interaction in resource development decision making, review, and oversight, but now Alaska is the copper standard,” said Bader. “I think that Sea Grant is an incredible resource in helping the public make an educated decision,” he said.
For more information on the anniversary events, supported by Alaska Sea Grant and the National Sea Grant Law Center, see http://seagrant.uaf.edu/conferences/2009/evos-anniversary/index.html.
Alaska Sea Grant sent out the first issue of News Flash, a monthly mini-newsletter for the Alaska King Crab Research, Rehabilitation and Biology Program. The electronic missive updates an audience of researchers, industry, and agencies on the progress AKCRRAB is making in understanding early life history, ecology, and the enhancement potential of some species of king crab in Alaska. Please see http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/kingcrab/newsflash/0903akcrrab.html.