Unalaska, AK – In a last-ditch effort to keep his House seat, Representative Carl Moses of Unalaska may run as a write-in candidate in next month's general election.
Moses says he's planning on making an announcement Thursday night about whether or not he's going to run against Republican candidate Ron Bowers and Democrat Bryce Edgmon, who defeated him after a drawn-out primary battle in August and September. Moses declined to comment further before he announces his decision.
Unalaska, AK – A record number of voters turned out to the polls for yesterday's Unalaska City Council election, electing three new council members. Rocky Caldero beat Augie Kochuten for council seat B, 359 votes to 237. Juanita Lewis beat Donna Rahn for seat F 359-221, and Dick Peck beat Tino Castaneda and Valarie Lemas for seat G, 255-136-173.
According to City Clerk Debra Mack, about 640 ballots were cast on Tuesday, beating the previous record of 626. That was ten years ago, when a proposition to increase sales tax by one percent was on the ballot.
Unalaska, AK – Rocky Caldero, Juanita Lewis and Dick Peck won today's City Council election. Caldero defeated Augie Kochuten 359 votes to 237, Lewis defeated Donna Rahn 359-221, and Peck defeated Faustino Castaneda and Valarie Lemas 255-136-173, according to preliminary results from the City Clerk's office. Melanie Magnusen also won an uncontested School Board seat.
Sixteen absentee ballots remain to be counted, but none of the races are close enough for them to change the outcome.
Washington, DC – President Bush has directed the secretaries of State and Commerce to step up U.S. efforts to promote and protect sustainable fisheries. He's calling for an end to destructive fishing practices, such as unregulated bottom trawling, in American waters and elsewhere in the world.
In a memorandum drafted Tuesday, Bush instructed the two Cabinet officials to work with regional fishery management organizations, such as the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, and similar bodies to set up science-based rules to conserve fish and end destructive harvesting practices. And the President wants new arrangements to cover high seas areas not currently protected. Bush says fishing should not be allowed in certain areas until rules and regulating regimes are set up to manage them.
Unalaska, AK – As of 4:55 this afternoon, 435 voters had cast ballots at City Hall in this year's City Council election, according to City Clerk Debra Mack.
Running for Council Seat B are Augie Kochuten and acting city councilman Rocky Caldero. Running for Council Seat F are Donna Rahn and Juanita Lewis. And running for Council Seat G are Dick Peck, Faustino Casteneda and Valerie Lemas.
Unalaska, AK – Fishermen won't be able to take as many red king crab from Bristol Bay this season as they did last year. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game released its total allowable catch numbers for the 2006-2007 Bering Sea crab fisheries on Friday, and the quota for red kings is lower than it was in the 2005-2006 season.
ADF&G shellfish biologist Wayne Donaldson says several factors contributed to the agency's decision. Newly legal crabs, known as recruits, are about half a pound smaller than they were the previous season. ADF&G also believes that the 2005 crab stock was lower than initially projected in the agency's models.
Unalaska, AK – Unalaskans want to know what a federal plan to develop oil and gas resources in Bristol Bay could mean to the Bering Sea fishing industry. Community members said so at a public hearing in Unalaska on Monday, hosted by officials from the Minerals Management Service, a division of the Department of the Interior.
Frank Kelty, the former mayor of Unalaska and currently the city's natural resource analyst, noted that the drilling for oil could bring economic opportunities to the region, but he also urged the MMS officials to keep in mind the importance of the fisheries resources of the region.
Unalaska, AK – Crab rationalization has harmed coastal communities and the environment, and left publicly owned resources almost exclusively in the hands of a few large companies, according to a report issued today by a consumer watchdog group.
The report by Washington, DC-based Food & Water Watch slams the individual fishing quotas instituted last year by the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council. It argues that rationalization amounts to privatizing the public resource of the fisheries, and calls on Congress to place a moratorium on new IFQs, including the one under consideration for Alaska's groundfish fisheries.
