THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 27, 1995 TAG: 9502270055
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ANCHORAGE, ALASKA LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Federal managers have closed Alaska waters to scallop fishing after authorities said a Hampton-based boat near Cordova had harvested more scallops on its own than the region's commercial fleet had taken in a 16-day season.
One state manager said there was a chance overharvesting could lead to no scallop season next year in the Kayak Island region.
Federal waters beyond Alaska's three-mile zone were closed by emergency order at 1:04 p.m. Friday, the state said. The 90-day closing may be extended another 90 days.
The patrol vessel Walstad planned to pull beside the 168-foot catcher-processor Mr. Big, to ensure the scallop boat moved on.
Ron Berg, a fisheries management chief with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Juneau, said that preliminary figures from a Coast Guard boarding this week showed that Mr. Big had harvested 52,000 pounds.
Alaska's season closed Jan. 26 when the area's quota of 50,000 pounds was reached.
Jeff Koenings, a state Fish and Game commercial fisheries director, said if Mr. Big's catch brought the total to twice the state's goal, managers would be reluctant to hold another opening, now scheduled for January.
``We'll have to assess. It probably won't open,'' Koenings said.
``I think everyone was outraged,'' Gov. Tony Knowles said Thursday, ``that this bandit fishing boat was just literally vacuuming and dredging the bottom of our ocean.''
The Coast Guard has said the boat was fishing legally. The vessel, which delivered its product to Seattle, was not licensed in Alaska and not subject to state rules.
And since there are no scheduled scallop seasons in federal waters off Alaska, the vessel was legal as long as it stayed beyond Alaska's three-mile zone.
The loophole infuriated some Alaska fishermen. Owners of the scallop boat said they believed a smaller Alaska vessel - envious and unable to make the Seattle haul - had first reported Mr. Big to authorities last week.
Those reports, along with a request from Knowles, triggered an emergency meeting Friday of the North Pacific Management Council, which called for closings in federal waters.
The family-run Wanchese Fish Co. of Hampton has said it was not exploiting the fishery since scallops were so abundant that the boat's dredges were filled after dragging the bottom only a few minutes.
Koenings said Mr. Big's owners for years have challenged the quota fishery, and have unsuccessfully sought to increase the harvest. He said managers were eager to see the vessel's log, to learn where the scallops had come from and exactly how much had been taken. by CNB