Southeast Alaska: Wrangell Rises; Wrangell finds economic health in fishing fleet By PAULA DOBBYN - When an Alaska timber town evolves into something new, a few dead giveaways tell the story. The boatyard overflows, a new harbor immediately fills up, marine-oriented businesses sprout, fish processing plants expand, and the local chatter revolves around a 300-ton vessel hoist arriving from northern Italy.

Wrangell’s 150-ton lift soon will be complemented by a 300-ton lift.
Photograph By Paula Dobbyn ©2013

This place would be Wrangell, population roughly 2,300.  Located in Southeast Alaska about 155 miles south of Juneau, the island community of Wrangell is surrounded by the 17-million-acre Tongass National Forest, the country’s largest. It’s a place where the forest products industry long reigned, employing hundreds of loggers, mill workers, longshoremen and others in support jobs. But the days of large-scale timber production have waned and Wrangell is diversifying its economy in a post-logging era. Some steps are paying off. The fishing, seafood processing and maritime industries have all been growing, breathing life and energy into what has been a moribund local economy.

“It’s saved their bacon,” said Juneau seiner Bruce Wallace. “I’d guess about 60 percent of the money coming into Wrangell these days are fish dollars.”

Wallace bases his vessel out of Wrangell. Between dock fees, lift fees, storage and accommodation costs for crew members, and money paid to contractors, Wallace spends tens of thousands of dollars each year in Wrangell getting his vessel ready for the fishing season. He still needs to go to the Puget Sound area to get specialized hydraulic and electrical work done. But most of his vessel maintenance is done locally in Wrangell because of new investments in boat infrastructure and repair, Wallace said. 

“The maritime sector is booming,” said harbor master Greg Meissner. Showing a visitor around the crowded docks and waterfront, Meissner points to the myriad signs of Wrangell’s emergence as regional maritime hub. One of the most obvious is the sheer number of boats visible from downtown. Seiners, trollers, gill netters, yachts – all types of working vessels and pleasure crafts dot the waterfront.

“I never remember there being anywhere near this number of boats when I was young,” said Jean Gamache, an Anchorage resident whose mother is from Wrangell. She visited Wrangell this past summer for a clan house rededication.

Meissner, who grew up in Wrangell, confirmed Gamache’s observation that the town is undergoing a maritime renaissance.. With his job managing the city’s harbors, he sees evidence of it every day.

He drives his white pickup truck around a ship yard and boat haul out that formerly housed the Alaska Pulp Co. sawmill. Once the town’s dominant employer, Alaska Pulp Co. quit Wrangell amid a region-wide industry downturn in 1994, throwing the blue-collar community into economic turmoil. The recovery remains a work in progress, city officials say. But with multi-million-dollar investments from the public and private sectors, Wrangell has decidedly entered a new chapter – one largely built around the ocean and fish, particularly salmon.

Besides the visual clues that Wrangell is changing, taxes collected by the city underscore where things are headed. In 1990, Wrangell collected $55,483 in raw fish taxes. By 2012, the figured had more than quadrupled to $265,498. - More...
Saturday - August 10, 2013

Ketchikan: Multiple search warrants lead to arrest - Friday afternoon, the Alaska Bureau of Investigation's Southeast Alaska Cities against Drugs task force with the assistance of the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Ketchikan Police Department served multiple search warrants at a residence in Ketchikan.

The investigation revealed the Dakota Langstaff, age 25, of Ketchikan, was found to be in possession of over a pound a of marijuana, items related to the commercial distribution of marijuana, and $3,097 in US currency. - More...
Saturday - August 10, 2013

Fish Factor: Pink salmon catch could break record By LAINE WELCH - Alaska salmon catches are poised to blow past the pre-season forecast of 179 million fish due to a plug of pinks that is coming in stronger than expected.

“We are going to be short on sockeyes by five million or so, and we’re probably not going to make the chum salmon numbers either. So we’ll have to go over with pinks, but at the rate things are going that is entirely possible,”   said Geron Bruce, deputy director of Fish and Game's Commercial Fisheries division.   

As of Friday the total pink salmon catch had surged to nearly 114 million (the forecast was for 118 million pinks, 73% higher than last year) – and catches were still coming on strong.

Three regions provide the bulk of Alaska’s pink pack:  Southeast, Prince William Sound and Kodiak.  At Southeast, where 15 million humpies were taken in a single week, the catch had reached 43 million and it’s likely to exceed the 54 million forecast.

“The next two weeks are typically the peak, so if catches stay at that level, that’s another 30 million pink salmon,” Bruce said.

At Prince William Sound, the pink returns were so strong fishermen were put on trip limits due to a lack of tender capacity. Still, they took 10 million pinks in a matter of days and the total PWS catch was approaching 57 fish (the forecast was just over 38 million).  

Kodiak’s pink catch had topped 9 million out of a 17 million pink forecast with steady catches coming in. Even the Alaskas Peninsula was yielding larger catches than usual, topping 5 million pink salmon so far. - More...
Saturday PM - August 10, 2013

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