Anchorage Daily News

The U.S. Coast Guard today suspended its search for a crab fisherman who fell overboard from his vessel Tuesday about 22 miles northwest of Cold Bay.

Keith Criner, 43, of Stockton, Calif., was declared lost at sea after a daylong search that covered 132 square miles, the Coast Guard said. Criner got tangled in a crab pot line and was pulled off the 98-foot fishing vessel Seabrooke at about 9:50 a.m. Tuesday.

"The aircraft conducted 11 searches encompassing 132 square miles but unfortunately did not locate the fisherman," Petty Officer 1st Class Lee Goldsmith said in a prepared statement. "Suspending a search is one of the most difficult calls that we have to make. Our sincere condolences are sent to his family and friends."

Two Coast Guard helicopters from Cold Bay and a C-130 from Kodiak got on scene by about 11 a.m. and searched 107 miles throughout the day but held off overnight. An MH-60 Jayhawk returned to the search area at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday and covered about 25 square miles of ocean before the search was called off at 11:49 a.m.

The Seabrooke was fishing for Tanner crab in the Bering Sea when the accident took place, the Coast Guard said.

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.

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