Alaska fishermen can send an SOS call directly to the Coast Guard these days, but many of them are not hooking up to the new lifeline.
Digital Selective Calling (DSC) instantly signals a distress call over VHF radios to other vessels, and the feature has been a required part of the hand-held units since 1996. Just last year in Alaska, mariners gained the ability to hook up with the Coast Guard when transceiver and antenna "high sites" in the Southeast and Southcentral regions came on line (more are scheduled soon).
"There was a lot of rumor going around that DSC didn't work in Alaska. In reality, DSC does and has worked since the technology was introduced, but the Coast Guard couldn't hear it," said Mike Folkerts, a Coast Guard boating safety specialist based in Juneau. "And that's what we are in the process of improving now.
"Most mariners didn't realize they could actually use a DSC-equipped VHF radio and send a digital signal instead of a voice signal."
Safety training classes revealed that many fishermen are not hooking up the DSC systems properly, said Julie Matweyou, an Alaska Sea Grant marine advisor and trainer with the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association.
"So the distress button can't broadcast their location in the event they can't get off a full mayday," she said.
In fact, the Coast Guard learned, 90 percent of VHF radio distress calls they receive do not contain vessel-position information; 60 percent have no identity, either.
With that discovery, they launched Operation Distress Connect.
"We learned that many DSC/VHF radios are not connected to GPS," Folkerts explained, adding that it takes a simple two-wire fix.
Then, a Mobile Maritime Safety Information (MMSI) identification number must be obtained and registered with United States Power Squadrons, with the MMSI number entered into the VHF radio.
"It's like a personalized telephone number for your VHF radio, and when you press the distress button all the information on that MMSI form is automatically available to the Coast Guard, so they are not calling you every two minutes to find out your emergency information," Folkerts said.
Pushing the distress button on your DSC radio without having the GPS connected and MMSI registered results in an "uncorrelated" distress call, says a Coast Guard pamphlet. Without specific location information, the Coast Guard cannot launch a rescue.
"If we know where you are and who you are, we can come and get you," Folkerts said.
Overall, he added, DSC is a far better system.
"You can push that distress button and send out a DSC signal and your radio will continue to send out all the positioning and personal information," Folkerts said. "You're not hooked by the microphone umbilical cord; you can actually go about taking care of business if you have a boat fire or person overboard or you're taking on water. So it's a huge advantage in that regard alone."
Frankenfish lawsuit
A diverse coalition of environmental, consumer and fishing organizations has sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approving AquaBounty's genetically modified (GM) salmon.
The complaint, filed March 31 in a California district court, claims the FDA did not have proper authority to approve genetically modified salmon last November.
AquaBounty, which will grow man-made salmon in pens located in Canada and Panama, pushed for 20 years to get approval for the fish to be sold in U.S. markets. The larger and faster growing AquAdvantage fish is made by inserting genes from two fish – a chinook (king) salmon and an ocean pout – into an Atlantic salmon. It's the first animal approved for human consumption.
The lawsuit challenges the FDA's claim that it has authority to approve and regulate animals as "animal drugs" under the 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, said seafood market expert John Sackton.
"It argues that those provisions were meant to ensure the safety of veterinary drugs administered to treat disease in livestock and were not intended to address new genetically modified animals that can pass their altered genes to the next generation," he wrote.
The lawsuit also contends the FDA failed to protect the environment and consult wildlife agencies, as required by federal law.
"FDA's decision is as unlawful as it is irresponsible," George Kimbrell, a senior attorney for the Center for Food Safety, told SeafoodSource, an industry newsletter. "This case is about protecting our fisheries and ocean ecosystems from the foreseeable harms of the first-ever GM fish, harms FDA refused to even consider."
More than 1.5 million people wrote to the FDA in opposition to the so called Frankenfish, and 65 supermarkets so far have said they won't carry it.
Mariculture money
Loans up to $100 million are available from the federal government for businesses involved in fishing, aquaculture, mariculture or seafood processing for the purchase or improvement of facilities or equipment. The money comes from NOAA's Fisheries Finance Program in low-interest loans of five to 25 years.
"We can do loans for everything but building a new boat or activities that contribute to overfishing," said Paul Marx, NOAA Fisheries financial services division chief.
NOAA loans may be used to purchase a vessel as long as it is not new and does not increase overall harvesting capacity. Loans also can refinance existing debt under certain circumstances.
State loans for mariculture ventures, part of an initiative launched by Gov. Bill Walker, are also available to Alaskans.
In February, Walker created the Alaska Mariculture Task Force, 11 people with expertise in mariculture and business in remote areas. The group will meet this month and name other people to open seats.
The task force is chaired by Julie Decker, director of the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, which believes an Alaska mariculture industry can be worth $1 billion in 30 years.
Meanwhile, the state Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development has launched a $5 million Mariculture Revolving Loan Program aimed at helping start-ups or expanding mariculture businesses. Companies can borrow $100,000 per year with a $300,000 cap. Loans must be for the planning, construction and operation of a permitted mariculture business.
The state provides pre-approved tidal tracts for Alaskans interested in growing shellfish and seaweeds, and takes applications each year through April 30.
Laine Welch is a Kodiak-based commercial fishing columnist. Contact her at msfish@alaskan.com.