Vol. 28, No. 5
May 2008
Alaska Sea Grant director Brian Allee has announced he will retire on May 30, 2008. Allee served as director for the past five years, leading the program into new areas such as the Alaska King Crab Research, Rehabilitation and Biology (AKCRRAB) Program.
In addition Allee built a 25-member advisory committee of Alaska marine resource leaders, led Alaska Sea Grant through a federal review process that resulted in a ranking among the nation’s top Sea Grant Programs, established a research partnership with BP to restore native sedges on reclaimed drill pads on the North Slope, took on an effort to prioritize management-critical research needs in the Aleutian Islands, launched the Alaska Seas and Rivers project to update the Sea Week Curriculum books, and led efforts to build communication between fisheries interests and the oil and gas industry regarding proposed oil and gas lease sales in the North Aleutian Basin.
SFOS Dean Denis Wiesenburg will conduct a national search for a new director. He has appointed Paula Cullenberg as interim director and David Christie as interim associate director for Alaska Sea Grant.
NOAA Assistant Administrator Richard W. Spinrad recently emphasized that the North Aleutian Basin Energy-Fisheries Workshop, organized by Alaska Sea Grant in March, is a good example of the kind of role Sea Grant programs nationwide should be taking on.
"The fact that the potential drilling is so controversial makes it just the kind of problem that Sea Grant should be addressing. Whether or not the drilling activity is eventually approved, it is important to begin the discussion of how (and whether) concerns of all stakeholders could be accommodated. As with any effort of this kind it is necessary to be as inclusive as possible, and I believe this effort has been planned and carried out with that concept in mind," said Spinrad.
Alaska Sea Grant will publish a proceedings book based on the workshop by the end of 2008. Twenty-four informative PowerPoints, presented at the workshop, were recently posted on the Web at http://seagrant.uaf.edu/conferences/2008/energy-fisheries/agenda.html.
Don Kramer, Alaska Sea Grant MAP seafood specialist, will retire on July 18, 2008. He was awarded the rank of UAF Professor of Fisheries Emeritus, and will be attending the UAF commencement ceremony to receive the award. Kramer’s recent kudos also include the Elizabeth Stier Humanitarian Achievement Award for outreach work in Alaska, from the Institute of Food Technologists. In addition he was made an IFT Fellow, the highest distinction that IFT members can achieve based on leadership and service in their field and to IFT.
Kramer began work with MAP as a marine extension agent in 1980, and served as MAP director from 1985 to 2003. In the past five years he has been the MAP seafood specialist, focusing on teaching HACCP and other seafood instruction classes. He also authored two of Alaska Sea Grant’s best-selling books, Guide to Northeast Pacific Flatfishes and Guide to Northeast Pacific Rockfishes, among other publications.
Resiliency of Gadid Stocks to Fishing and Climate Change, edited by G.H. Kruse, K. Drinkwater, J.N. Ianelli, J.S. Link, D.L. Stram, V. Wespestad, and D. Woodby, is a new product published by Alaska Sea Grant. The peer-reviewed articles shed light on the effects of fishing pressure and climate on the largest fisheries in the Northern Hemisphere. Papers on cod, haddock, and pollock emphasize that healthier fish stocks in Alaska are associated with conservative catch limits.
This Wakefield symposium proceedings is a must-have for scientists studying fisheries management and climate-driven changes in groundfish fisheries worldwide. 375 pp., price $50.00; see http://seagrant.uaf.edu/bookstore/pubs/AK-SG-08-01.html.
Alaska Sea Grant produced a new placard, Preventing Whale Entanglement, a project coordinated by Sunny Rice, MAP agent in Petersburg. Fishermen can use the 8.5- by 11-inch plastic-coated card to learn how to prevent entangling whales in fishing gear, and what to do if they encounter an entangled whale.
The effort was sponsored by Alaska Sea Grant, Petersburg Marine Mammal Center, Petersburg Vessel Owners Association, SEAFA, State of Alaska, United Southeast Gillnetters Association. and others. For more information contact Rice at 907-772-3381.
Alaska Sea Grant is organizing the 25th Wakefield Fisheries Symposium on the Biology and Management of Exploited Crab Populations under Climate Change. The symposium is slated for March 2009, in Anchorage. On the organizing committee are Gordon Kruse (chair), Robert Foy, Diana Stram, and Doug Woodby. For more information see http://seagrant.uaf.edu/conferences/2009/wakefield-crab.
Gary Freitag, MAP agent in Ketchikan, has been appointed to a two-year term on the North Pacific Research Board advisory panel, to represent Southeast Alaska. Freitag joins a team of 12 who provide a mechanism for community involvement in planning, oversight, and review of the NPRB science program. NPRB recommends marine research initiatives to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, who makes final funding decisions. NPRB supports about $9–12 million in research each year based on interest earnings on the Environmental Improvement and Restoration Fund.
Gary Freitag, Ketchikan MAP agent, is working with Chela Zabin, of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, to expand an invasive tunicate project farther south in Alaska. In March, Freitag recovered and redeployed research plates that had been in the water since December 2007; they showed one questionable sign of the invasive tunicate.
Freitag is also working with Linda Shaw, of NOAA Protected Resources, to develop Ketchikan’s invasive European green crab monitoring program. He is running GIS programs to pinpoint likely areas of introduction of the species to Alaska.
Alaska Sea Grant is a partner in the Salmon in the City Festival, to be held in Anchorage June 6–15. Paula Cullenberg will present a talk on commercial salmon fishing, as part of the event, and a promotional ad about Alaska Sea Grant products will appear in the Anchorage Press. The festival is an educational effort to highlight the importance of salmon to the community, economy, and the environment. Organizers emphasize stewardship and appreciation of salmon.
Aware that increased numbers of Alaska salmon fishermen are chilling fish immediately after catching them, Torie Baker and Sunny Rice organized the course Marine Refrigeration: Safety, Maintenance, and Troubleshooting, in Cordova and Petersburg last month. Three instructors from Integrated Marine Systems taught 50 fishermen how to service their own chilling systems onboard.
Baker and Rice, who see a strong need in Alaska for this kind of training with technicians, are already developing a proposal with IMS to teach the course in three Alaska ports in 2009. Participants said they would recommend the course to fellow fishermen.