Shell’s Noble Discoverer drill rig is docked in Unalaska and the Kulluk is on its way after a series of delays.
Popular Mechanics reports that detaching the Kulluk from its mooring system and getting it under tow was delayed. The drilling season ended last week, but because of deteriorating weather conditions in the Beaufort Sea, the company hadn’t been able to refuel the Aiviq - an icebreaking tug that will tow the Kulluk - and below-zero conditions were keeping helicopters grounded.
For the second year in a row, the Bristol Bay red king crab season echoed the derby days. In just three weeks fishermen have caught 95 percent of the 7.9 million pound quota.
Fish and Game area management biologist Heather Fitch says the quick season can be attributed to several factors. Preliminary numbers show boats pulling up an average of 30 legal crab per pot, compared to a 5-year average of 24. The average weight of the crab is also significantly significantly higher than the 5-year trend at 6.9 pounds, compared to an average of 6.4 pounds.
Shell Oil wrapped up its exploratory drilling season in the Arctic today. As promised, not a drop of oil was spilled in the process -- but not a drop was drilled either.
Shell only started drilling in early September, which limited the numbers of wells the company was able to complete this season.
“We drilled a top hole at our Burger prospect in the Chukchi Sea and one at our Sivulliq prospect in the Beaufort Sea,"says spokesperson Curtis Smith.
The two top holes extend only 1500 feet below the seafloor, stopping well short of the oil reserves that Shell is trying to access.
Illegal fishing in Russian waters could negatively impact crab prices this year.
The advance price for Bristol Bay red king crab was set last week at $7.25 per pound, putting the early value of the fishery at $57 million. Last year, the advance price was slightly higher and was revised to more than $10 a pound. Meanwhile, the advance price for St. Matthew Island blue king crab is $3.75 per pound. It was $4.25 in 2011.
Jake Jacobsen is the director of the Inter-Cooperative Exchange, which represents much of the Bering Sea crab fleet. He says that the 2012 dockside prices aren’t expected to exceed last year’s record levels, even though the quota is roughly the same. About half of the Bering Sea’s king crab is exported to Japan, and Jacobsen says that even though currency conditions are favorable the prices there are lower because of shady competition.
It will be at least another month before Akutan’s new airport gets scheduled service and probably longer. The latest round of bids on the federally-subsidized flight route turned up one proposal, but it’s unlikely that the government will accept it.
Grant Aviation is asking for an $800,000 annual subsidy to provide 12 round-trip flights per week from Unalaska to the new airport on Akun Island. That’s slightly more than what PenAir is being paid to fly its World War II-era Grumman Goose seaplane to the community and it doesn’t include transporting mail, freight or passengers from Akun to the village of Akutan.
The Bristol Bay red king crab season opened today, and the quota is 7.8 million pounds – a small increase from last year. As of Monday, no pricing information was available. Eighty-four vessels pre-registered, but just 42 have gone out so far, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. About 60 vessels usually participate in the fishery.
Also opening today is the St. Matthew blue king crab fishery. The quota there is 1.6 million pounds. The Bering Sea snow crab fishery also technically opens today, but fishermen usually wait until January to begin harvesting that species.
Akutan’s new, $77 million runway has been open for a month, but residents and their mail are still making the trip to town on PenAir’s World War II-era Grumman Goose seaplane. A dispute over transporting the mail is holding up the process of bringing scheduled service to the new airport.
Bids were due last Thursday from airlines wanting to take over the federally-subsidized flight route between Unalaska and Akutan. But when the deadline rolled around, instead of bids, the Department of Transportation posted a notice of extension. It said Grant Aviation had requested additional time to complete their proposal.
The Aleutian Chain already gets a serious amount of vessel traffic, and the shipping route is set to get a lot busier as the Arctic warms up and as Canada prepares to increase oil exports to Asia.
That opens Unalaska up to the risk of maritime disasters, like the Selendang Ayu spill that happened in 2004. One of the ways to cut that risk is to make sure distressed vessels can be towed safely in rough and remote conditions. That’s where the emergency towing system comes in.
After a major surge last year, the Bering Sea snow crab quota has dropped back down again. Fish and Game announced an allowable harvest of 66.4 million pounds on Friday, a 25 percent decrease over last season.
This year’s harvest is still larger than most years since 1999, when scientists determined the stock was overfished. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared it officially rebuilt earlier this year.
