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The proposal would modify the Upper Cook Inlet plan to close specific areas to drift gillnets regardless of run strength, in order to aid escapement in the Susitna drainage. The board contends that the proposal brings the management plan in line with its intent at the last round of Upper Cook Inlet meetings in February of 2008.
Critics said pushing it through out of cycle was a back-door way to accomplish something that has been a pet project for board member Howard Delo, which is to establish a "conservation corridor" up the middle of Cook Inlet.
United Cook Inlet Drift Association Board President Drew Sparling says that efforts from UCIDA probably at least helped the Board of Fisheries in its decision not to pursue an out-of-cycle hearing on the issue.
"We did talk to several board members, and sent several letters," Sparling said.
He said UCIDA worked through Jim Marcotte, the director of Boards and Support.
"I think he was very instrumental in talking to people and saying 'you know, this is inappropriate to deal with this any place except during the Cook Inlet cycle,'" Sparling noted.
To read the proposal and submit public comment, visit the Boards Support Web site at www.boards.adfg.state.ak.us.
The U.S. Coast Guard has issued a safety notice alerting mariners that someone is making and selling counterfeit hydrostatic releases for life rafts and EPIRBs. Hydrostatic releases automatically release the safety equipment in case of a sinking if the crew is unable to manually release it before the vessel sinks.
The water pressure at a certain depth causes a razor device to cut the line holding the equipment, deploying it and letting it come to the surface.
The Swedish manufacturer, Hammar, reports that it has tested several of the fake copies, and not one has worked according to Safety Of Life At Sea specifications. To the untrained eye, the fake Hammar H2O hydrostatic release looks just like the original, with Hammar's logo and address on the labels.
Hammar suggests always buying the equipment from an approved distributor, and looking for the bilingual product manual that comes with it. The company also has photos of some specific manufacturing marks that can determine the authenticity of the device on the United States Coast Guard District 17 Web site, www.uscg.mil/D17, under the News/Press Release link.
Italian authorities seized 160 metric tons of spoiled or mislabeled seafood in a sweeping raid during the two weeks leading up to the Christmas and New Year's holiday, a period when Italians typically eat lots of fish, according to Agricultural Ministry officials.
The operation involved 2,000 officials from the Italian Coast Guard and regional port authorities conducting nearly 6,600 raids in 14 ports. Most of the seizures involved frozen seafood that was either expired or poorly conserved. A small portion involved cheap, foreign-caught fish that was mislabeled as more expensive, locally caught fish.
Seven people were arrested for clashing with police during the raids, and other importers and distributors were assessed nearly $1 million in fines.
Cristy Fry has commercial fished in Homer since 1978. She also designs and builds gear for the industry. She currently longlines for halibut and gillnets salmon in upper Cook Inlet aboard the F/V Realist. She can be reached at cristy-fry@excite.com.
The board originally had agreed at an October work session to hear proposal 379, which addresses changes to the Upper Cook Inlet Management Plan, at the March meeting, which takes place in Anchorage and deals mostly with shellfish issues. It will now be heard during the regular Cook Inlet meeting cycle, which takes place in February of 2011.
