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A disturbing video has gone viral around Petersburg.
The video is of people seemingly driving into deer on purpose and laughing about it. The video is taken from inside the vehicle and shows the vehicle approaching and then hitting two deer with a third one further up the road.
It takes place in broad daylight in a residential neighborhood. The video is short, about 5 seconds long.
[This video could be disturbing to some viewers because of its violent nature.]
A male voice says, “We got two of the [explicative].”
Alaska State Wildlife Troopers in Petersburg are investigating but have released no other information at this time.
Petersburg has a population of deer that are habituated to town.
They raise their young around houses and yards. They are regularly seen walking on the roads.
The 110-foot island class cutter Anacapa docks near Petersburg’s South Harbor and the state ferry terminal. (File photo by KFSK)
Fresh off a meeting with U.S. Coast Guard officials in Washington D.C., Petersburg’s mayor is not optimistic that the Coast Guard cutter Anacapa will be stationed in Petersburg after 2022.
The 110-foot cutter conducts commercial fishery law enforcement patrols, search-and-rescue and life-saving missions.
Nationwide the Coast Guard is replacing the older island class cutters with 154-foot sentinel class fast response cutters.
Local officials have been hopeful one of the new ships would be stationed in Petersburg.
Mark Jensen met with Coast Guard officials on a recent trip to the nation’s capital in hopes of convincing them to station the newer boats in Petersburg or some other option to keep Coast Guard personnel and their families in town.
“I asked the question if they took into consideration the financial impact of taking an asset like that out of a community and they said that wasn’t part of their mission,” Jensen told the borough Assembly during a meeting this month.
The Coast Guard has not yet announced plans to move the Anacapa from the community.
In lieu of a new fast response cutter, local officials are still hoping a smaller buoy tender or some other Coast Guard vessel would be moved to town to replace the Anacapa.
Jensen said he heard a more hopeful response from U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young.
“The next day we met with our Congressional delegation and Sen. Sullivan was adamant about getting something to backfill that spot,” Jensen said. “I’m not sure what it will be but we’ve got four years to work on that process. And Sen. Sullivan and Congressman Young felt the same way.”
The Anacapa was built in 1989 and overhauled in 2009.
It’s manned by a crew of 16; the fast response cutters have a crew of 24.
Two of the new larger ships are stationed in Ketchikan.
Four more are expected to be deployed somewhere else in the state.
The cruise ship Bremen anchored near Petersburg’s Sandy Beach in July of 2017. (Photo by Joe Viechnicki/KFSK)
Petersburg is close to passing a new fee for passengers on cruise ships visiting the borough.
It’s based on a similar charge for cruise passengers in Juneau, which has prompted a lawsuit from the industry.
Some of the cruise companies that stop in Petersburg are not opposed to the idea but would like to see changes.
As drafted, the new ordinance would have the borough billing cruise companies based on their passenger manifest, each time a ship docks in Petersburg’s harbors.
The new fee would be $5 per passenger per visit. It won’t be charged to ships with fewer than 20 passengers or those without overnight accommodations.
During the second reading of an ordinance to create the new fee, the Assembly agreed to change the name of it.
It will now be called a marine infrastructure fee, instead of a marine passenger fee.
“I know it’s just a name but sometime semantics makes a difference and perhaps the industry would prefer infrastructure fee instead of fee assessed for each of their passengers,” said Assembly member Eric Castro, suggesting the change after hearing from local residents.
The name change wasn’t popular with the borough’s finance director Jody Tow.
“I know Juneau uses a lot of their marine passenger fee money to beef up their police department in the summers when they get so many people and use it for their fire department and their ambulance services and their hospital,” Tow said. “We need to be careful about the wording. I do agree that marine passenger fee is not probably the best title but I’m not sure infrastructure is either but I really don’t like marine infrastructure.”
Nevertheless, that change passed on a 4-3 with Kurt Wohlhueter, Mark Jensen and Jeff Meucci voting against the amendment.
Castro also suggested charging the fee based on the length of a vessel instead of the number of passengers but the Assembly didn’t vote on that change.
Assembly members want to use money from the fee for infrastructure projects that help cruise boats or their passengers.
The ordinance passed in second reading with Jensen and Wohlhueter voting no.
As drafted it would take effect in January 2019.
A similar fee in Juneau has prompted a lawsuit from the cruise industry, which is contesting how the money is spent along with the constitutionality of a tax on shipping.
KTOO radio reports the case is headed to trial and Juneau has spent more than $600,000 to defend the lawsuit.
Whatever it’s called at the local level, industry representatives still call it a head tax.
Among the companies that bring ships to Petersburg there is not opposition to the new fee but there are some concerns.
UnCruise Adventures CEO Dan Blanchard has three issues.
“One the timing,” Blanchard said. “Two are the funds actually dedicated to the general fund or are they actually going to the need, and then I think lastly is making sure you don’t discriminate against boats that might wanna come there and make Petersburg their home, which brings a lot more income to the community.”
As far as timing, Blanchard said his company has had 2019 prices out for about a year already and can’t absorb the additional $5-a-head fee. He says they are coming out this winter with prices for 2020 and will factor in the proposed Petersburg fee.
He also said UnCruise plans to base a boat in Petersburg, with passengers spending more money in lodging and restaurants and shops and thinks that should not be discouraged.
“Juneau typically doesn’t discourage boats that are based out of Juneau, in other words they want the hotel revenue and the taxes that brings,” Blanchard said. “They want the fuel purchased there, they want the food purchased there, they want the boats repaired, so they don’t penalize companies that choose to make Juneau their home by adding a head fee to each passenger. However, what they do do which I think is totally legitimate is they, any vessels that are stopping by for a port call they certainly charge the $5 fee for and I would suggest Petersburg look at that as well.”
UnCruise is basing its ship the Safari Quest this year and next year in Petersburg.
UnCruise offers high end cruises on smaller ships to Alaska and other destinations.
Another company, Lindblad Expeditions also has cruise stops in Petersburg on several National Geographic boats.
“We support a fee that is fair, reasonable and allows time for us to budget,” Lindblad’s chief expedition officer Trey Byus wrote in an email from the company.
“While we have already priced 2019, a $5/head fee would not prevent us from visiting Petersburg.”
Another company, Alaska Dream Cruises did not respond to requests for comment on the fee.
As drafted, the fee will only be charged to boats docking in Petersburg harbors.
Other ships that bring passengers ashore in Kupreanof, Thomas Bay or other parts of the borough but don’t dock in the harbors wouldn’t be charged.
The money would be put in a special revenue fund with the Assembly deciding on how to spend it each year.
But the ordinance spells out the types of projects or programs that the money should be used for.
Because a limited number of passengers stop in Petersburg each summer on smaller vessels, it’s only expected to generate at most about $35,000 a year for the borough.
The new fee needs one more approval by the Assembly before it takes effect next year.
Whether homemade or a commercial design, every sport fishing boat in Southeast Alaska must have a deep-release mechanism on board Jan. 1, 2020. (Photo by Robert Woolsey/KCAW)
In two years, anglers sport fishing from a boat in Southeast Alaska will be required to have a device on board for releasing rockfish well below the surface, which is already a requirement for the charter boat fleet.
Alaska Board of Fisheries made the change during their January meeting in Sitka.
Rockfish are a common catch in Southeast, often while sport fishermen are jigging bait on the ocean floor for halibut or other species. Sometimes they’re released back into the water.
But pulled from the ocean depths they don’t often survive the trip to the surface.
The difference in pressure expands a swim bladder in the fish and can burst organs.
Often the fish are left too buoyant, splashing around on the surface and an easy target for a passing eagle.
But a simple device with a big name, a deep water release mechanism, can boost the chances for survival.
Craig Schwanke is the department’s sportfish biologist for the Prince of Wales Island area.
“The department has documented increased voluntary use of deep water release mechanism by non-chartered anglers and prefers the use of deep water release mechanisms by non-chartered anglers continued to be promoted through outreach rather than required by regulation,” Schwanke told the board.
Release mechanisms simply take the rockfish back down to deep water and let them go.
The devices can be as simple as a weighted jig or milk carton that can be pulled off the fish once they’re down deep enough.
Other devices look like a large weighted paper clip that can pulled open once they’re on the bottom.
Research by Fish and Game has found that using a deep water release can increase the chances of survival for yelloweye rockfish by 20 to 95 percent.
Board member Robert Ruffner of Soldotna thought the devices should be required gear.
“I kinda considered this as like OK it’s just going to be another piece of gear like your flares and all your other safety equipment,” Ruffner said. “You just have to have the thing on board. I do think it will result ultimately in additional conservation of some very long lived species.”
Some species of rockfish can live more than 100 years.
An average of nearly 60,000 are caught in the Southeast sport fishery every year. More than 4,800 are let go by anglers every year.
Fishery managers says sport harvests have exceeded allocations in recent years.
Other board members agreed the devices should be required for all sport fishing from a boat in salt water in Southeast.
But they disagreed on how quickly the change should be implemented. The proposal originally before the board was for this year.
Board members talked about one year lag time.
Former state wildlife trooper and board member Alan Cain of Anchorage wanted two years before requiring the devices.
“I do think more education is needed and I do this in an effort to reduce the number of warnings and citations that might be written to a very minimum through educating the public and getting the information out there that the department has diligently done over time up till now and is going to continue to do and I think it’s just a more reasonable approach,” Cain said.
The rest of the board, except Ruffner, went for that change.
The amended proposal then passed unanimously.
The change will require the devices onboard any boat sport fishing in salt water in Southeast beginning Jan. 1, 2020.
Tanner crab (Photo courtesy of Alaska Department of Fish and Game)
Commercial crabbers in Southeast Alaska will have some opportunity to fish in offshore waters for king and Tanner crab fishing following decisions by Alaska’s Board of Fisheries in January.
The board didn’t go for other changes to those fisheries proposed by crabbers though.
A couple proposals sought to expand the boundaries of king and Tanner crab fishing areas into federal waters beyond three miles offshore.
The Southeast Alaska Fishermen’s Alliance’s Kathy Hansen said other crab fisheries were not limited to 3 miles from shore.
“This would just bring us consistent with the rest of the state and possibly give somebody an opportunity to try something a little different,” Hansen said.
With no federal management plan in place for crab stocks in those waters, the state can manage fisheries there instead.
The board approved that change with no one opposing it, opening the door for several other proposals.
Some were proposals to change Southeast’s red king crab fishery, which opened in 2017 for the first time in six years.
The commercial fishery is only opened when Fish and Game determines there’s a guideline harvest level of at least 200,000 pounds. This proposal and others sought some fishing opportunity when that minimum level is not reached.
Crabbers wanted to create an exploratory fishery in southern Southeast waters, along with offshore waters in years of low abundance.
Yancey Nilsen of Petersburg was one of the four who signed on to that proposal.
“And we’re just looking to kinda do what was done before with an experimental fishery,” Nilsen said. “I know there was some problems with it before but we’d just like a chance again.”
The board amended the proposal to allow for commissioner’s permits for king crab in waters from three miles to 200 miles offshore but did not include the near shore waters of the southern panhandle.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game could issue such a permit but could require set seasons, pot limits, onboard observers and catch reporting.
“This is very analogous to what you did in the Prince William Sound Tanner crab fishery,” said Scott Kelley, director of Fish and Game’s division of commercial fisheries. “You know recall that you adopted similar language to fish out in the outer part of Prince William Sound for Tanner crab under very similar if not identical stipulations.”
Board member Alan Cain of Anchorage said he’d support the potential new fishing opportunity.
“However, I just wanna state I do get nervous when other fisheries are closed, the regular commercial fishery is closed, to send folks off into areas with very little other vessel traffic in it,” Cain said. “There is a potential for abuse which makes me nervous but hearing what I’ve heard I’m gonna support this.”
The board was unanimous in supporting the commissioner’s permit for offshore king crab.
Another proposal sought an equal share fishery for red king crab when the guideline harvest level is between 50,000 and 200,000 pounds. That would mean dividing the target harvest evenly between all the permit holders.
The Petersburg Vessel Owners Association sought that change.
“The price of king crab keeps rising and we get red king crab seasons about once every six years right now,” executive director Megan O’Neil said. “We’re looking to be able to capitalize on lower years of abundance. This season I think the lowest price was $10.50 a pound. They’re just a very valuable crab.”
Fish and Game staff opposed the change and said it would likely result in over-fishing of king crab stocks.
Board member Robert Ruffner of Soldotna agreed.
“I clearly understand the desire to provide some opportunity and have some crab on the market but I just don’t see chasing down lower GHLs given our track record with shellfish,” Ruffner said. “I’m not going to be in support of this.”
The vote was 6-0 against that equal share fishery for red king crab, with board chair John Jensen sitting out that vote.
Likewise, the board also unanimously voted down a proposal to change the Tanner crab fishery to an equal share fishery.
However, the board did make a change to allow exploratory fishing for two weeks in the offshore waters for Tanner crab, which would happen after the opening in both the most popular core areas and less-fished non-core areas.
Fleet members and seafood processors sought additional Tanner fishing opportunity in some parts of the inshore waters of Southeast but that did not pass as part of the proposal.
The state ferry Columbia is out for the week due to damage to its bow thruster. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)
Sailings on the state ferry Columbia are cancelled this week. The vessel remains in Bellingham, Washington, with a broken bow thruster.
A bow thruster is used to turn the 418-foot ship when it docks and also for navigating narrow waterways of Alaska’s Inside Passage, like the Wrangell Narrows near Petersburg.
“When the Columbia was approaching the dock in Bellingham last week the bow thruster broke,” said Aurah Landau, spokesperson for the Alaska Marine Highway System. “The bow thruster is a propulsion device that makes it more maneuverable.”
Landau said the vessel was able to dock in Bellingham on Friday despite losing that propulsion. She doesn’t know why the bow thruster broke.
The ship, the largest in the Marine Highway fleet, was built in 1974. It can carry up to 499 passengers and 133 vehicles. Last year it was in an Oregon shipyard for extended repairs to a propeller after striking an unknown submerged object in 2016.
Landau said a team of technicians has been on board since Friday. They hope to finish repairs by the end of the week, but they’ll know more by midweek.
“We’re hoping to have the vessel back online next week,” Landau said. “And this case there were about 77 passengers with a light vehicle deck load who had to be rescheduled. We are accommodating people as best we can with the LeConte for the sailing that was cancelled.”
If repairs are successful, the Columbia would next head north from Bellingham on Jan. 26 with service to Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau, Haines and Skagway.
With that ship down, the 235-foot day boat LeConte is the only ferry operating in Southeast Alaska this week. It makes stops in some communities in the northern panhandle.
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