Aleutians

Unalaska is preparing to start monitoring for European green crabs. That’s after the invasive species was first found in Alaska last July.

The crabs could cause a big problem. They destroy habitat and outcompete native species.

Biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game say the monitoring program is crucial in the nation’s largest fishing port. They’re preparing to deploy traps later this summer.

“We don’t have any reason to believe that European green crab are here or established in the region, but we’re also not currently doing any monitoring,” said Ethan Nichols, the assistant area manager for shellfish with ADF&G in Dutch Harbor. “With European green crab steadily moving up the West Coast, through British Columbia, and into southern Southeast Alaska as of last year, I think it’s important that we start monitoring here in the Port of Dutch Harbor, given the amount of international ship traffic that we have.”

In much of the state, scientists have had their eyes on the species for years. In communities around Kachemak Bay and Prince William Sound, they’ve been setting traps for about two decades.

Tammy Davis is the invasive species program coordinator with the Department of Fish and Game in Juneau. She says European green crabs — which are native to coastal Europe and North Africa, and were introduced to the Atlantic coast through ballast water in the early 1800s — are so concerning, because although they’re small, they’re incredibly aggressive.

They reduce eelgrass (important nursery habitat for juvenile fish) and populations of clams, oysters, mollusks and other invertebrates that live on or in the seafloor. They can also prey on juvenile native crabs, like Dungeness — something that could impact Aleutian Island fisheries down the line, if their habitats overlap.

“Green crab are considered one of the top 100 invasive species globally,” Davis said.

Like anywhere else, Davis said, they would have impacts on the nearshore environment, putting organisms that rely on that intertidal and subtidal habitat at risk.

“They behave differently in different environments,” she said. “There’s, of course, some sort of general parameters of temperature triggers for reproduction, and tolerance for temperatures and so forth. But they’re very hardy organisms, and we don’t know what the potential impacts are in an environment like Dutch Harbor at this point.”

Davis said biologists are concerned the species could be introduced into Dutch Harbor through ballast water discharge, or by currents carrying larvae out the Aleutian Chain.

She said they hope to identify coastal areas with high-value commercial, recreational and subsistence harvests and use intensive trapping as a way to monitor and control green crab populations as they start to spread across the state.

Setting traps also helps them understand what species use these areas and are at risk of green crab predation, according to Davis.

“Whatever ends up in our traps also uses this part of the nearshore. Those are the species that are at risk from green crab,” she said.

Davis said although it’s not likely they’ll be able to get rid of green crabs if they establish themselves in the Aleutians, early detection is crucial.

“You’re keeping the population of green crab low enough that the negative impact they have on the native species and the native habitat is not greater than the native species can handle,” she said.

ADF&G plans to launch the monitoring program in the Port of Dutch Harbor this summer. Five traps are on their way to the island now.

If you find what you think might be a European green crab, you can call ADF&G’s invasive species hotline at 1-877-INVASIV or visit their website.

While many Bering Sea crab populations are in freefall, Dungeness crab is breaking records in regions that hardly used to see them.

The North Peninsula District in the eastern Bering Sea opened as a commercial Dungeness fishery in the early ‘90s. In those early days, it was common for just one or two boats to fish there — many seasons, there were none.

The numbers increased modestly over the ensuing decades — but that growth has recently become exponential.

“The pots that we’re seeing coming out of this fishery are absolutely stuffed with crab,” said Ethan Nichols, who works for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “Like, you don’t even know how many crabs can fit in a pot.”

Nichols is Fish and Game’s assistant area manager for groundfish and shellfish in Dutch Harbor. He said the fishery boomed last year and became the largest Dungeness crab fishery in Alaska — bringing in 35% of the state’s total Dungeness landings.

So why are populations of this one particular species increasing, while red king crab and snow crab are decreasing?

The answer may be the same for both questions: climate change.

“We think it’s likely that the recent warming conditions in the Bering Sea are creating conditions more favorable for Dungeness crab,” Nichols said.

The same warming trend that is likely pushing king crab farther north could be bringing Dungeness crab to the eastern Bering Sea. But Nichols said the trend is too new to have any definitive answer.

“I’m hoping that as we have more years of consistent harvest in the fishery, we’ll have a better idea of the full distribution of crab in the area,” he said. “And if this is just a fluke for a couple of seasons, or if this can be a more consistently large Dungeness fishery.”

What is certain is that crabbers have taken notice. Last year, the fleet harvested 3 million pounds of Dungeness crab, breaking the highest record in the district.

That boom has some people concerned. In January, an Unalaska fisherman introduced an emergency proposal to ADF&G, warning that the sudden increase in vessel participation could lead to over-harvesting.

“The person who put this in was worried about some really big boats coming out from down south with like 3,000 pots apiece,” Nichols said.

In response, the department set a Dungeness pot limit — the first time they had ever done so in the district. The regulation limits pots to 500 or 750 per vessel, depending on how many boats have registered. This year, it’s 500.

The department said this season is starting slower than last year, with around 33,000 pounds of Dungeness crab caught since opening May 1.

The fishery will remain open until October 18, or until pot limits are met.

The Okeanos Explorer docked in Unalaska last month after finishing its first of six expeditions mapping out the deep seafloor around the Aleutian Islands. It was almost June, and the weather was starting to calm down from the winter season — making it safer for research boats to head out to the Bering Sea.

Sam Cuellar is with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and works as the expedition coordinator on the 224-foot research vessel. While on the Okeanos Explorer in May, Cuellar and his crew discovered three seeps bubbling gas through the seafloor in the Aleutian Trench.

According to NOAA, the discovery is crucial because these gas seeps can create unique surrounding habitats and provide potential sources of alternative energy and biopharmaceuticals. But to Cuellar and his crew, it was just another day at work.

“You’re in that kind of routine,” he said. “It’s not exciting because it’s not important — it’s just part of your job. And it’s really cool to note, but you just keep going on with your job and keep looking for more.”

According to Cuellar, finding these gas seeps wasn’t a total surprise. That’s because there’s research from the U.S. Geological Survey that predicts where gas seeps could be in Alaskan waters. And now, with more advanced machinery, there can be more advanced data collection from the seafloor.

“Now that you’re seeing the different technologies catch up with being able to more properly and economically extract resources from the deep seafloor,” said Cuellar. “We need to better understand [resources] for protection, but also to understand what kind of resources are here.”

Alaska’s waters are predominantly unexplored. Cuellar said it’s partially due to the state’s remoteness from the rest of the country and the environmental difficulties that come with being so far north.

But, he said, retracting ice sheets make areas more accessible than ever before.

“And so, there’s a renewed push by the U.S. government to better understand what is in those types of waters now that they’re accessible,” Cuellar said.

The Okeanos Explorer is out at sea until mid-October, mapping the deep waters around the Aleutian Islands, in the Aleutian Trench, and in the Gulf of Alaska. You can track the ship live online on NOAA’s website and the collected data will be accessible to the public during and after expeditions.

The Army Corps of Engineers is preparing to clean up Fort Learnard, a former World War II military outpost in Unalaska Bay.

The fort housed anti-aircraft and anti-ship artillery at Eider Point, on the western side of the bay.

The site was decommissioned after the war, and the artillery and munitions were exploded to dispose of them. But according to the corps, the explosion was not done in a controlled way.

“Fragments, and sometimes whole pieces of ammunition, were kicked out of the explosion,” said Ellen McDermott, who works with an engineering firm contracted for the cleanup. At a public meeting held in April, she said more than 200 munitions have been found in the area around Fort Learnard, most recently in 2016.

“The frequency with which items are found at the site suggests that there are a fair number of projectiles still out there, and we don’t know where they are,” McDermott said.

The corps plans to visit the site later in May for a preliminary survey, and the actual cleanup is slated for 2024.

The owners of a fishing boat featured in “Deadliest Catch” are suing the reality TV show’s producers after one of their deckhands claimed he did not get adequate medical care, resulting in serious complications.

The lawsuit was filed by the F/V Northwestern’s owners Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Alaska. It follows the deckhand’s own lawsuit, filed against the boat owners in Washington court in December.

That deckhand, Nick Mavar Jr., was a longtime cast member on the Discovery Channel show. His attorneys say that during a December 2020 voyage he suffered a rupture in his appendix, which contained a cancerous tumor he wasn’t aware of at the time.

Mavar’s attorneys fault the Northwestern’s owners for failing to have Mavar quickly and competently examined, and for failing to have a medical plan in place for treating crew members during the pandemic.

“The delay in competent and adequate examination, testing, and diagnosis caused (Mavar’s) appendix to rupture resulting in horrendous and chronic infections, surgeries, and cancer treatment that would not have occurred had the appendix been removed prior to rupture,” attorneys wrote.

Mavar is seeking $1 million in damages from F/V Northwestern’s owners.

Washington state records show that the vessel is owned by Hansen Enterprises, Inc. of Washington, which lists three members of the Hansen family – including skipper Sig Hansen – as governors.

In their lawsuit last week, the owners’ attorneys argue that “Deadliest Catch” producers, Original Productions, Inc., and the show’s medical provider, Trifecta Solutions, LLC, should be on the hook to pay any sort of damages to Mavar, as well as the owners’ attorneys’ fees.

According to the owners’ attorneys, Original created COVID protocols for the filming of the show, and the boat’s crew had to comply with them.

“These COVID protocols limited the exposure of the F/V Northwestern crewmembers to people who were not associated with the television show,” the owners’ attorneys wrote.

They claim a resident medic, subcontracted from Trifecta by the producers, examined Mavar for abdominal pain on “multiple occasions.” After a Dutch Harbor medic’s diagnosis of appendicitis, Mavar suffered a massive infection and spent a month in the hospital for cancer treatment and abdominal surgery.

“(Mavar) suffered and may continue to suffer in the future, great amounts of physical pain with resultant physical disability, disfigurement and mental suffering,” attorneys wrote.

A request for comment from Original Productions wasn’t immediately answered Tuesday.

At least part of Mavar’s medical issue aired on “Deadliest Catch.” A YouTube clip posted by Discovery from a 2021 episode of the show shows Mavar complaining of rib pain to the Dutch Harbor medic during a port visit.

“If I push on it I feel pain – I feel pain,” Mavar tells the medic as he lies in his bunk.

That medic tells Hansen that Mavar’s white blood cell count has tripled from normal levels, and he needs to be medevaced to Anchorage.

“You definitely need to go to the clinic, like, right now,” the medic tells Mavar.

Hansen soon agrees and must find a replacement crewman. The clip shows the Northwestern going to sea as Mavar’s LifeMed flight takes off from the local airport, with Hansen sounding the boat’s horn for his departing deckhand.

A proposed marine sanctuary in the Pribilof Islands has drawn major pushback from the commercial fishing industry, ever since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration accepted the nomination last June.

The Aleut Community of St. Paul — the tribal government for the Pribilof Island community of around 500 people — says the sanctuary designation would give it greater authority to protect the region’s vast ecosystems and resources, including rich fishing grounds and habitat for the federally protected northern fur seal.

The national marine sanctuary would be named Alaĝum Kanuux̂, or Heart of the Ocean — and if approved, it would be the first of its kind in Alaska, possibly creating a new precedent for resource management in the state.

Lauren Divine is the director for the tribe’s ecosystem conservation office. She said the sanctuary designation would make the tribe a co-manager for the region’s resources, which are currently managed by the State of Alaska and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

“That co-management aspect is really important because it’s a step towards self determination, sovereignty,” Divine said in an interview. “It really speaks to going back to Indigenous stewardship of lands and waters, which have operated successfully and sustainably since time immemorial.”

Divine also said the sanctuary would act as a spotlight, bringing tourism, research, and education dollars to the region.

NOAA accepted the tribe’s nomination last year, which set off panic bells in the commercial fishing industry. Many in the industry have voiced concerns that bringing in another co-manager could threaten the industry, even though NOAA and the tribe say the change would not affect fishing regulations.

Commercial fishing representatives railed against the proposed sanctuary during an April 6 meeting in Anchorage, which NOAA hosted to clear up confusion within the industry.

Todd Loomis is the director for Ocean Peace, a commercial fishing company that runs a half dozen catcher-processor boats in the area. After watching a presentation about the sanctuary nomination process, he told NOAA representatives that it was still confusing, and uncertainty was bad for business.

“I saw a lot of wiggle words in terms of the authorities, what applies and what doesn’t apply. And it did not provide any comfort,” said Loomis.

A big concern for opponents is the Alaska pollock fishery in the Bering Sea. It’s not only the largest fishery in the region; it’s the largest in the United States. NOAA valued the 2021 fishery at about $383 million.

Dennis Robinson is the president of the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska, where he is also the city’s vice mayor. He’s concerned the proposal will threaten a fishery that NOAA touts as a poster child of sustainability.

“These are the best managed fisheries in the world and you want to put a sanctuary in the middle of it,” said Robinson, commenting on behalf of the tribe. “We are opposed to it.”

The issue has caused so much rancor that both of Alaska’s U.S. senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, have chimed in. In February, they wrote a joint letter to NOAA asking the agency to revoke the nomination.

Despite the industry’s fears, supporters say the sanctuary would not create any new fishing regulations. Divine, from the tribe in St. Paul, said the designation would not prevent fishing in the region, and any new regulations would still have to go through the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, like they currently do.

“Sanctuaries, by legal definition, cannot exclude fisheries. That’s not an activity that they can prohibit,” said Divine. “Commercial fisheries will continue into the future. Subsistence fisheries will continue into the future.”

While the Bering Sea is incredibly rich and biodiverse, it is also experiencing vast changes, largely due to climate change. Seabirds, fish and marine mammals have all been affected.

George Pletnikoff is from the neighboring Pribilof community of St. George. He told attendees at the NOAA meeting that pushback against the sanctuary has been based on misinformation and scare tactics.

“It’s not a boogeyman,” said Pletnikoff. “It’s just an attempt to take care of our home. It’s dying, and you know it’s dying. And I don’t know other ways to do it.”

The sanctuary process is long and complicated. While NOAA has accepted St. Paul’s nomination, representatives from the federal agency said they have not made a decision about initiating the next step, which would be a multi-year designation process.