Togiak herring fishermen are getting lots of chances to make a big set. They began fishing Saturday with a 12-hour seine opening, followed by a 12-hour seine and gillnet opening Sunday. Monday featured another dual 12-hour opening, but that was extended by four hours for seiners and three hours for gillnetters. Tuesday saw a seven-hour gillnet opening and a 16-hour seine opening. As of Monday, the total seine harvest was 5,804 tons and the gillnet harvest was 2,294 tons. The 2005 quota for Togiak herring was originally 19,206 tons, with a fixed allocation of 1,500 tons set aside for roe-on-kelp and 1,239 tons for the Dutch Harbor food and bait fishery in July. The seiners were to receive a quota of 11,527 tons, or 70 percent of the remainder, and gillnetters were allotted 4,940 tons, or 30 percent. However, there were no buyers available for the roe-on-kelp, so Alaska Department of Fish and Game fishery managers reallocated 50 percent of that quota to the seine and gillnet fleet. Also on Monday, managers increased the biomass estimate for the 2005 Togiak herring stock by 9,000 tons. This increase, as well as the spawn-on kelp reallocation, will increase the seine quota by 1,697 tons to 13,224 and the gillnet quota by 727 tons to 5,667 tons. This will also increase the Dutch Harbor food and bait fishery quota by 126 tons.

The unusually long fishing periods are in part due to a dramatically reduced fleet. This year only 37 seiners and 57 gillnetters showed up to fish, a tiny fleet compared to years like 1997 when 231 seiners and 336 gillnetters competed for the quota. Togiak is Alaska's largest herring fishery and the last of the open-access herring fisheries, unlike areas such as Sitka Sound which require a limited-entry permit in order to participate.

The crew of the Coast Guard cutter Naushon terminated the voyage of the 41-foot fishing vessel Zonta near Kake last week for failing to have the required safety equipment on board. During a routine marine safety inspection conducted by a Naushon boarding party, it was determined that the Zonta skipper was operating the vessel without a Coast Guard approved buoyant apparatus or life raft. The Naushon crew escorted the Zonta to Petersburg. While it is rare for a vessel to be returned to port for safety violations, the Coast Guard has that authority and uses it when they are concerned about the safety of the people on board. As the fleet enters the most active fishing months, the Coast Guard stresses that before a fishing vessel leaves port, its operator should ensure the vessel contains all required safety equipment. Commercial fishing vessel operators have an opportunity to prepare for at-sea boardings and to help ensure a safe voyage by participating in the voluntary dockside exam program. Coast Guard personnel will examine safety equipment and inform the skipper of what is right and what needs correcting, free of charge and free of penalty. Safety violations found in at-sea boardings can lead to fines.

A dockside examiner will check primary life saving equipment and verify the vessel is in compliance with applicable regulations. If deficiencies exist, operators receive a work list, rather than a citation, offering them the opportunity to correct their discrepancies before setting sail. After completion of the work list, skippers may contact the Coast Guard for a follow-up exam and issuance of a Coast Guard Dockside Examination Decal. Once a decal is issued, it is valid for two years, provided the safety equipment is maintained and remains on board. When a vessel has a decal, it is less likely to have a Coast Guard at-sea boarding, as the decal indicates that a vessel is in compliance with applicable regulations. When encountering a fleet of vessels, Coast Guard cutters will focus their boarding efforts on those vessels that don't have decals. A successful dock-side boarding may also reduce insurance costs.

To arrange for a dockside boarding in Homer, vessel operators can contact Ester Twomey with the Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment in Kenai at (907) 283-3292. Information about the availability of safety training classes and a series of safety videos is available through the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association at www.amsea.org or by calling (907) 747-3287. The U.S. Coast Guard District 17 Web site, which covers Alaska, also has numerous safety resources available, as well as regulations detailing what the safety requirements are for various sized vessels. It can be found at www.uscg.mil/d17/.

Cristy Fry has commercial fished in Homer since 1978, and has also designed and built gear for the industry. She currently longlines for halibut and sablefish, and gillnets salmon in Upper Cook Inlet aboard the F/V Realist.