Department of Commerce
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
NOAA Fisheries Service
- Alaska Regional Office
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 23, 2000
CONTACT: |
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Carol Tocco,
PAO
(907) 586-7032
Susan Auer, GCEL
(907) 586-7414
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HIGH SEAS DRIFT NET VESSEL SOLD FOR $226,500
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of
General Counsel in Juneau announces that on October 16, 2000, the
F/V ARCTIC WIND was sold at auction to the highest bidder. The
amount bid for the vessel was $226,500 and the successful purchaser
was Price, Waterhouse/Pacific Island Resources.
The F/V ARCTIC WIND, approximately 177 feet in length and registered
in Honduras, was sighted with approximately 4 miles of nets in
the water by a Coast Guard C130 on May 1, 2000. The Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act implements a United Nations'
resolution imposing a global moratorium on large-scale driftnet
fishing beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone of any nation. On May
7, the United States Coast Guard Cutter SHERMAN intercepted the
vessel, and after a lengthy chase, boarded the vessel and directed
the ARCTIC WIND to return to the location where she had deployed
the drift nets to retrieve those nets.
The vessel, along with the approximately 3 metric tons of frozen
salmon on board, was seized for violation of the Magnuson-Stevens
Act prohibition of high seas drift net fishing and escorted to
Adak, Alaska. A team of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service
Enforcement personnel then took over custody of the vessel and
sailed the vessel on to Seward, Alaska. The Immigration and Naturalization
Service coordinated with NOAA Fisheries Enforcement to repatriate
the vessel's Russian crew. Prior to the sale, more than 40 miles
of drift net were removed from the vessel.
The salmon on board the vessel were predominately of chum, sockeye
and chinook salmon. Samples of those fish were analyzed by the
NOAA Fisheries Auke Bay Laboratory (Juneau) to determine their
region of origin using genetic stock identification, otolith marks,
and parasite analysis. Based on the analysis, the chum salmon samples
originated in Russia, 63%; Japan, 14%; western Alaska, 11%; Alaska
Peninsula and Kodiak, 6%; Prince William Sound/southeast Alaska,
4%, and British Columbia, 1%. The origins of the sockeye salmon
sample were Russia, 24%; Alaska/northern British Columbia, 75%;
and southern British Columbia/Washington, 2%. The origins of the
chinook salmon sample were Russia, 44%; western Alaska, 23%; southcentral
Alaska, 6%, and California/Oregon/Washington, 27%. No chinook salmon
were detected from southeast Alaska or British Columbia. The remainder
of the salmon not analyzed were donated to the Foodbank of Alaska.
NOAA Fisheries conducts scientific research and provides services
and products to support domestic and international fisheries management,
fisheries development, trade and industry assistance, enforcement,
and protected species and habitat conservation programs.
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