Unalaska, AK – Divers have found the body of a fisheries observer who was reported missing yesterday in Unalaska.

The body of 25-year-old Jay Alderman was recovered in Captains Bay near the Westward Seafoods processing plant dock this morning.

"He was off the Westward dock, in approximately the same location as his boat was docked on the morning of the 19th, when he was last seen," said Sgt. Matt Betzen of the Unalaska Public Safety Department.

Alderman was an observer onboard the Westward I, a 126-foot fishing boat owned by Westward Seafoods. The boat reported him missing Wednesday, and Betzen said that by about 9:30 Wednesday night officers had concluded that he had most likely fallen into the water sometime that morning. Divers were dispatched to Captains Bay at sunrise today.

Betzen said he hadn't seen any indication of foul play, but emphasized that officers are still asking questions.

"Our investigation is far from complete, so I don't really have any speculation on that one way or the other yet," he said.

Alderman worked for TechSEA International, a Seattle-based contractor that supplies fisheries observers to boats in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. A boat the size of the Westward I is required by law to have an observer on board for thirty percent of its fishing trips.

A TechSEA representative couldn't provide any further information on Alderman today but did confirm that he worked for the company. Westward plant executives didn't return repeated calls for comment today.

Alderman is only the second observer to die while working on a boat in Alaskan waters. Observer Robert McCord died along with eight crewmembers of the Aleutian Enterprise when the ship sank in 1990.