Alaska salmon fishermen can get rebates on pingers aimed at keeping baleen whales away from their gear. The 6-inch battery-operated tubes are tied into fishing nets and transmit animal-specific signals every five seconds.
"Pingers can be really helpful to alert the whales to something in front of them, so you have less entanglements," said Kathy Hansen, director of the Southeast Alaska Fisheries Alliance.
The alliance received a $25,000 Hollings Grant from the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation to fund the pinger program, which offers a rebate of $25 apiece for up to five pingers per permit per vessel on units purchased after May 1.
Pingers can retail for up to $100 each, a cost that can deter fishermen.
"A Southeast gillnet that is 200 fathoms (1,200 feet) long needs at least five," Hansen said, adding the rebates apply to any Alaska salmon fishery.
The pinger signal in this case is aimed primarily at preventing baleen whale entanglements.
"Baleen whales don't have sonar like people think all marine mammals have. They actually just hear," Hansen said. "So the pinger emits a noise at a frequency that is not harmful and doesn't scare the whales — it just lets them know something is there."
The largest animals on earth, baleen whales encompass 12 different species, including bowheads, right, fin and humpbacks. They are named for the long plates of baleen which hang like flexible teeth of a comb from their upper jaws, which strain huge volumes of ocean water through their plates to capture tons of zooplankton, crustaceans, and small fish. The whales also have blowholes; both features distinguish them from toothed whales.
Hansen said she has used pingers with her salmon driftnet gear for six years and swears by them.
"You must be sure they are not spaced too far apart or the whales think there is an opening between them," she advised.
Pingers do not act like a "dinner bell" for whales, she said. Nor do they scare away salmon.
Gear-whale encounters are rare in Alaska, with 130 large whale entanglement reports on the books since 1998, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Protected Resources Division.
Find rebate forms at the alliance website and wherever pingers are purchased. Hansen noted rebates are "first come, first served until the money runs out."
Kodiak pivotal to fisheries
Kodiak ranks second in the U.S. for volume of fish landings and third in terms of value — and a new economic report details why that's so.
Federal fishery managers are crafting a new management plan designed to give about 70 Gulf of Alaska trawlers better tools to reduce halibut and salmon bycatch in their groundfish hauls. It will include some form of catch shares for up to 25 different fish species, which together make up over 80 percent of Kodiak's annual landings.
To provide guidance, a new economic impact report breaks down how the seafood industry plays out throughout the Kodiak Island Borough, which includes six outlying villages and some 14,000 residents.
The draft report done by the McDowell Group gives a 10-year snapshot starting in 2005. Some highlights:
• Nearly 500 million pounds of seafood worth $150 million to fishermen was delivered to Kodiak Island in 2014.
• The seafood industry accounted for 38 percent of Kodiak Island employment.
• Kodiak's eight seafood processors handle year-round deliveries of fish caught by boats working the Gulf and Bering Sea, employing the highest percentage of local residents of any Alaska region.
• Kodiak fish landings have increased over the last decade, up 34 percent since 2005. Cod, rockfish and flounder landings have doubled, while pollock landings increased 162 percent.
• The value of salmon permits held by Kodiak Island residents fishing all over Alaska has increased substantially over the last decade, while permit ownership by locals has dropped. In 2005, 398 Kodiak residents owned permits worth about $11 million. Ten years later, local ownership was at 289 permits valued at $29 million.
Fish tech training by iPad
Fish Tech courses have gone mobile with iPads that allow students to start training anywhere.
Waterproof iPads are the latest tool offered by the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau to prepare students for jobs as fish culturists, hatchery operators, field technicians and managers.
"You don't need accessibility to the internet because all the lectures, videos, readings and exams are preloaded on the iPad. So you could be out at sea and still have access to your classes," said Ashley Burns in Kodiak, one of six UAS outreach coordinators. Others are in Bethel, Valdez, Petersburg, Homer and Dillingham.
The first iPad course is an introduction to Alaska fisheries, and other classes will be added throughout the year. Each course earns credits toward occupational endorsements, certificates and other degrees.
Fish Tech fields are readily available due to a shortage of trained workers in Alaska, a trend expected to persist for at least a decade.
"Our program works heavily with the industry to make sure that our classes … are exactly what they are looking for in potential employees," Burns said. New student registration is open now.
Laine Welch is a Kodiak-based commercial fishing columnist. Contact her at msfish@alaskan.com.