Unalaska, AK – Last week, the Marine Stewardship Council recertified the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands pollock fishery as sustainable.

MSC first certified pollock as sustainable in 2005, allowing the fish and products made with it to carry a blue "eco-label" when sold. The certification is for a five-year period, and pollock underwent a reevaluation in 2009 to ensure that the fishery was still being managed appropriately.

Unalaska, AK – This week, the body of a male elephant seal washed up ashore near Summer Bay Road. While whales and Steller sea lions are a fairly common sight in Unalaska, the elephant seal is a bit more rare. Marine Advisory Program agent Reid Brewer talks with KUCB about finding and studying the seal.

Unalaska, AK – This week, Congress passed legislation that would rationalize the Pacific cod fishery in the Bering Sea and Aleutians Islands.

The "Longline Catcher Processor Subsector Single Fishery Cooperative Act" will create a Bering Sea cooperative for freezer longline fleet. The legislation will result in a slower season for the fleet, and it has been endorsed by industry groups such as the Freezer Longline Coalition.

Unalaska, AK – The Alaska Department of Fish and Game today announced the harvest levels for the Aleutian Islands black rockfish management areas. The guideline harvest level has been set at 90,000 pounds, and maximum bycatch of black rockfish in other fisheries has been set at five percent.

The management area is divided into three sections, labeled as the Unalaska, Akutan, and Western portions. The Unalaska area is further divided into five subsections. The Unalaska Bay and Wislow subsection, Beaver Inlet and Sedanka Island subsection, and Cape Kalekta and Unalga Island subsections each have allocations of about 3,000 pounds. Meanwhile, the South Unalaska subsection and the West Unalaska subsection each have allocations of about 12,000 pounds.

Unalaska, AK – On Wednesday, Gov. Sean Parnell released his preliminary budget, which the state legislature will use as a starting point for discussion. The budget lists two items for Unalaska.

Included in the budget is $25.7 million in expected federal funding for airport maintenance. That project involves pavement rehabilitation and improvements to the runway safety area.

The governor's budget also includes over $3 million for the water treatment plant, which would come from the state's general fund. That project is estimated to cost $6 million, and must move ahead because of EPA compliance rules.

Unalaska, AK – About 20 community members gathered at the Father Gromoff Senior Center on Wednesday to hear about the status of Office of Children's Services position based in Unalaska.

The position has been vacant since 2009, and there have been four attempts to fill it. However, weather and travel challenges have driven some candidates for the position off.

Tim Bolles, who is the Children's Services Manager for the South Central region, answered questions from the group about the likelihood of filling the position and solicited ideas from Unalaskans on how to keep an OCS field office here. He says that the Aleutians region position is the most expensive one for OCS to maintain and also includes the fewest cases. He says it's unclear that the position will continue to be based in Unalaska if there continues to be difficulty filling it.

Unalaska, AK – Last week, Jason Neil Downard, 29, was found guilty of assault in the second degree.

The case centered around an alleged sexual assault that took place in False Pass in 2008. The case was initially to be tried in Sand Point, but because of difficulty selecting a jury, the trial took place in Unalaska. He was charged with three felonies: assault, attempted sexual assault, and rape.

Unalaska, AK – Last night's city council meeting was focused on financial review.

The work session opened with a presentation of the city of Unalaska's audited financial report for Fiscal Year 2010 by Dan Rozema of KPMG. Finance director Tonya Miller also answered questions about the city's expenditures and revenue.

Expenditures were higher this year, going up 27% to $44.1 million. The city generated $31.1 million in revenue, a 20% drop from the previous year. In 2009, it generated $38.8 million. The drop in revenue was in part attributable to the aftershocks of the recession and to a lower pollock quota.

Unalaska, AK – The state of Alaska has filed suit against the National Marine Fisheries Service in an effort to overturn a rule that would limit fishing in the western Aleutian Islands. The rule is set to take effect on January 1, and has been put in place in order to protect the endangered western stock of Steller sea lions.

The decision to close the Atka mackerel and Pacific cod fisheries in the Western Aleutians so that the sea lions would have more fish available to them was announced last week by NMFS, and has come under fire from the fishing industry. These fisheries may employ as many as 900 people according to the state, and their closure could have an economic impact of upwards of $66 million. The state of Alaska is concerned that the research done on the decline of Steller sea lions does not justify these restrictions.