Spy-hopping?
Clover Pass area: Breaching Humpback
Front Page Photo by JIM LEWIS

Southeast Alaska: Further Review Announced for Halibut Catch Sharing Plan - After conducting a preliminary review of thousands of public comments received on the proposed rule to implement a halibut catch sharing plan (CSP) in Southeast and Southcentral Alaska, NOAA Fisheries has announced a delay in the implementation of the plan.

According to the announcement by NOAA Fisheries, the public comment process elicited comments that raised a number of policy and technical issues which may require additional input from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council before NOAA Fisheries can proceed to a final rule. Specifically, numerous commenters raised concerns about:

1. the evaluation of the management implications at lower levels of abundance;
2. economic impacts of the CSP under all levels of potential combined catch levels; and
3. methods for calculating the average weight for guided angler fish that may be leased from commercial IFQ operators and the specific means for tracking and reporting guided angler fish.

U.S. Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) said in a prepared statement, “Announcement of a delay in the implementation of the halibut catch sharing plan will please some Alaskans and disappoint others but in the end there’s a lot more work to be done on this longstanding, divisive issue and some tough decisions to be made in the interim."

Begich said, “In my comments to NOAA Administrator Lubchenco, I said the public raised some legitimate issues which need further consideration.  This includes the adequacy of economic analysis of the impact of the rulemaking, a general concern I have raised about other NOAA actions.  I also share concerns about the fairness of the formula which would set the charter halibut quota below the sector’s previously set Guideline Harvest Levels."

“On complex resource management issues such as this, I rely on the appropriate regulatory bodies like the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to weigh the scientific data, impacts on the various user groups and communities, comments of the public and other relevant information," said Begich.  "I support ongoing work by the Council to examine management options during times of low halibut abundance, the efforts by charter operators to explore pooling options to allow more flexibility within their sector, and the needs for more biological research to better understand the current low abundance and diminished size of the halibut," he said.

 Sen. Begich said, “Both the commercial and charter halibut sectors are important to Alaskans and the state’s economy.  Years of divisiveness between these sectors need to be resolved with a plan which fairly sets allocations, clarifies the rules, addresses each sector’s unique needs, and allows flexibility for changing times.  I hope the continued review of this important matter will lead to development of a plan which is fair to all users and works to grow Alaska’s economy and ensure the sustainability of our halibut stocks.” - More...
Wednesday PM - September 28, 2011

Southeast Alaska: NOAA Ship Rainier returns to Alaska to conduct sea floor surveys in support of safe navigation - NOAA Ship Rainier has begun a month long survey of the sea floor near Alaska’s Prince of Wales Island as part of a multi-year effort to update nautical charts for the area. In addition to supporting marine navigation, data acquired by the 231-foot hydrographic survey vessel will also support marine ecosystem studies and improve inundation models for areas vulnerable to tsunamis.

NOAA Ship Rainier.
Photo courtesy NOAA

“We are pleased to return to Alaska to continue these important surveys, which will ensure the safe navigation of mariners who rely on the area’s waters for fishing, cargo delivery and recreational uses,” said NOAA Corps Capt. Donald Haines, commanding officer of NOAA Ship Rainier and the ship’s chief scientist.

NOAA’s survey effort in the area began in 2006 with the Gulf of Esquilbel and has continued south over recent years. Rainier’s sophisticated sonar systems enable precise measurement of ocean depth and the creation of 3-D digital terrain models of the sea floor that reveals details about the underwater landscape and potential hazards to navigation. The first surveys of the area took place in the early 1900s. Depths were acquired with lead lines, a method that was accurate at the point of the sounding, but lacked information about the surrounding area.

Commissioned in 1968, Rainier is one of three ships in the NOAA fleet that conduct hydrographic surveys in support of the nautical charting mission of NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey. Rainier last visited the area in 2009 before undergoing a year-long, $13.1-million major repair period during which the ship was outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment to conduct its survey missions with even greater efficiency and accuracy.

Equipped with five 29-foot survey boats and high precision sonar and positioning equipment, Rainier is one of the most productive survey platforms of its type in the world. Rainier’s crew of 50 is comprised of NOAA Corps officers and civilian wage mariners, both licensed and unlicensed. The ship typically operates eight to nine months of the year in the coastal waters of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. - More...
Wednesday PM - September 28, 2011

Alaska Science: In the company of moose for 32 years By NED ROZELL - On a late autumn day, as naked stems of dwarf birch nod away from a warm breeze, a distant flash of antler reveals the object of our search.

Most bull males don’t live beyond the age of 13 in Denali National Park and Preserve, according to Vic Van Ballenberghe.
Alaska Division of Tourism photo.

“The hunters would love to see him,” Vic Van Ballenberghe says as he pulls his pickup to the side of the park road and grabs his binoculars. “He’s a trophy bull.”

The giant moose strolls over a brownish slope that waits for snow. The creature pauses at times, steering with massive antlers one of the cows that orbit him.

“He’s got seven with him,” Van Ballenberghe says of a group of blondish female moose.

The sight of eight moose is a treat for me, Van Ballenberghe’s guest for the day, but the 67-year old biologist has stood close enough to smell the musk of these moose every spring and fall since 1980. That’s the year he first visited the park and knew he had found the perfect place to study the behavior of this iconic large mammal.

He noted how the Denali Park road cuts right through great moose habitat, enabling him to drive within hiking distance to observe them. He saw plenty of moose along the road in 1980, animals that weren’t spooked by people. The bulls were large there, too, in part because the park’s ban on hunting. - More...
Wednesday PM - September 28, 2011

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