Unalaska, AK – A fishing vessel stranded south of Saint George Island since Thursday night will be towed to Dutch Harbor.

The Zenith, a 107-foot freezer longliner based out of Seattle, began drifting about 25 nautical miles southwest of Saint George after an engine failure. The Coast Guard cutter Jarvis arrived on scene this morning at about 3 a.m., and at first light began preparing a tow line to bring the vessel to Dutch Harbor.

Unalaska, AK – Four days after the Bristol Bay red king crab season opened, the entire crab fishing fleet is finally on its way out of Dutch Harbor. Harvesting cooperative negotiators say they reached a resolution on king crab prices with the last two seafood processing companies earlier today.

Most of the crab fleet had been refusing to fish until processors raised the advance prices they were offering. The co-ops initially asked for $3.65 a pound for king crab, a price that only two of the seven major processors, Alyeska Seafoods and Westward Seafoods, agreed to in time for the start of the season on Sunday. The other five have now bumped their prices up to similar numbers. UniSea, Inc. and Icicle Seafoods were the last to do so, after talks with the co-ops this morning.

Kodiak, AK – The names of two people who died when the fishing vessel Ocean Challenger capsized Wednesday have been released, but the search continues for Kodiak resident Steve Esparza, who was a crewmember of the boat.

The deceased are listed as 51-year-old David Hafflequist of Hoonah, the skipper of the Ocean Challenger, and 26-year-old Walter Foster of Westport, Washington, a crewmember aboard the boat.

Unalaska, AK – Two more processors have reached agreements with fishermen on a king crab price this afternoon, sending more boats out to the Bering Sea fishing grounds.

Negotiators for the crab harvesting cooperatives say that Trident Seafoods and Peter Pan Seafoods have both offered a price that they consider reasonable. Although that price hasn't been posted yet, the three other processors who met the co-ops' terms are paying an advance price of $3.65 a pound for Bristol Bay red king crab.

Unalaska, AK – The U.S. Coast Guard is looking for a missing crew member from a fishing vessel that capsized 60 miles south of Sand Point in the North Pacific this morning.

A Coast Guard cutter, C-130 aircraft and helicopter are still searching the area where the Ocean Challenger went down, and three of the four crew members have been recovered. Petty Officer Eric Chandler said that few further details were available at the moment.

Unalaska, AK – An Unalaska man's truck had to be lifted out of Iliuliuk River with a crane after its brakes failed yesterday afternoon.

The Ford Bronco rolled into the river opposite the Alyeska Seafoods processing plant at 3:45 in the afternoon and was completely submerged. The driver managed to climb out the window and flag down a nearby state trooper, who was checking fishing licenses along the river. Alyeska employees were able to pull the truck back onto dry land using a crane.

Unalaska, AK – Most Bering Sea crab fishermen are still refusing to leave Dutch Harbor to drop pots, as negotiations between their harvesting cooperatives and crab processors made little headway today.

Although most processing company representatives were either unavailable or unwilling to comment on the negotiations this afternoon, co-op representatives said that a third processing company, Ocean Beauty, agreed to raise their advance price to $3.65, which Alyeska and Westward Seafoods have already offered. But four processors are still asking for a lower price, which the co-ops say they won't accept.

Unalaska, AK – Crab processors and crab harvesting cooperatives failed to reach an agreement on a fair Bristol Bay red king crab price Monday afternoon, prolonging a stand-down by most of the Bering Sea crab fleet. KIAL's Charles Homans has the story in Unalaska.

Unalaska, AK – Although the Bering Sea king crab season opened at noon on Sunday, most of the fishing fleet still hasn't left Dutch Harbor. That's because, as of this afternoon, crab harvesting cooperatives and crab processors haven't agreed on the price of king crab. KIAL's Charles Homans has the story in Unalaska.