Alaska Fishing Fatalities Down, Fed Data Shows

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Category: State News

Created on Monday, 10 April 2023 15:59

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By YERETH ROSEN

Alaska Beacon

Commercial fishing in Alaska, long notorious as a dangerous and potentially deadly occupation, is getting safer, according to data presented this week to federal regulators.

Alaska fishing-related fatalities declined at a rate of 57% from 2013 to 2022, according to the presentation made on Thursday to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which is meeting in Anchorage.

Alaska, with 88 fishing fatalities from 2013 to 2022, accounted for slightly over a third of the nation’s fishing-related deaths during the period, according to the presentation, made by Samantha Case and Richie Evoy, epidemiologists with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The decline in Alaska fatalities mirrors a national trend, Evoy told the council. Although there are year-to-year fluctuations, nationally the rate of fishing fatalities has declined by about 42% since 2009, he said.

“Since 2009, you’ve seen a gradual decline in the rate of fatalities, which is pretty promising. But one thing to keep in mind is that commercial fishing continues to experience fatality rates at a much, much higher rate than a lot of other occupations in the U.S.,” Evoy said. “This essentially means that commercial fishing is still one of the most hazardous occupations in the country.”

Of the Alaska fishing fatalities recorded from 2013 to 2022, about a third resulted from vessel disasters, 28% from onboard accidents, 23% from falls overboard, 12% from onshore activity and 5% during dive fisheries, Evoy told the council. Nationally, there were 235 fishing fatalities during the period, Evoy told the council, and the breakdown was a bit different, with higher percentages attributed to vessel disasters and falls overboard.

Since vessel disasters are the leading cause of Alaska fishing fatalities, it is useful to consider risk factors associated with such disasters, Case said in the presentation.

She reviewed recent research that she led that investigated factors correlated with Alaska vessel accidents. The research, detailed in a study published in 2020 that examined Alaska fishing accidents and disasters from 2010 to 2015, found some risk patterns, she said.

Vessels that had a reported casualty in the prior 10 years were three times as likely to be involved in disasters, Case said. Vessels with expired safety decals were 2.4 times as likely to be involved in disasters, she said. The study also found that vessels with steel hulls were more than three times as likely to experience disaster, although that factor was likely less about the hull material than the types of fishing conducted, she said. Vessels with steel hulls tend to be bigger and operate farther offshore or in winter conditions, she said.

Case said her study did not find that ships’ age was a risk factor. The study found that vessels over 25 years old were not any more likely to be involved in accidents or disasters than newer ships, she said.

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https://alaskabeacon.com/yereth-rosen

House Readies Budget for Final Vote Monday

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Category: State News

Created on Friday, 07 April 2023 15:58

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By JAMES BROOKS

Alaska Beacon

One day after work in the state House was brought to a halt by an education funding dispute, members of the House of Representatives amicably finished work on budget amendments and tentatively scheduled a final vote Monday for a draft version of Alaska’s state operating budget.

The mood in the House on Thursday was 180 degrees different from the attitude on Wednesday, when members of the House’s predominantly Democratic minority caucus staged a walkout and disappeared from the Capitol for three hours.

Afterward, House Minority Leader Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage, pledged a “reset” would take place Thursday morning, and that prediction held true, even as lawmakers continued to hold disparate positions.

“I think that we just walked away from it for a little bit, and came back with fresh eyes and a new agreement,” said Speaker of the House Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla.

Schrage offered similar comments when asked about the walkout.

“We’re past that. We want to move forward and be productive for Alaskans and address those issues that we can, and an acrimonious and hostile relationship isn’t helpful to that end, and we want to get to work,” he said.

For the past two days, the House has tied itself into knots over a $175 million temporary funding increase for public schools. 

Members of the House voted 39-1 to approve that increase earlier this week.

On Wednesday, members of the House’s 23-person, predominantly Republican coalition majority voted to make the increase contingent upon a successful vote to spend money from the state’s Constitutional Budget Reserve.

The budget drafted by the House covers state spending for the 12 months that begin July 1, and it contains a deficit approaching $600 million.

Without cuts to services, the Permanent Fund dividend, or new taxes, spending from the budget reserve will be needed to balance the budget.

Three-quarters of the House and three-quarters of the Senate must agree in order to use the reserve, which has traditionally given legislative minority caucuses leverage in budget negotiations.

To reduce that leverage, majority lawmakers have repeatedly tied the reserve vote to budget items sought by the minority. When the House was controlled by a predominantly Democratic coalition, it was common to tie the amount of the Permanent Fund dividend to the reserve vote.

This year, members of the House minority have advocated increased funding for public schools and said they felt that requiring them to vote for the reserve vote in order to get that funding amounted to “hostage taking.”

They’ve advocated some combination of further cuts to this year’s Permanent Fund dividend and tax increases instead of spending from savings. 

They argue that the budget reserve, which is expected to stand at $2 billion on July 1, contains insufficient money to shield the state from fluctuations in oil prices.

The House voted against further dividend cuts this week, and tax increases have yet to advance from House committees, which leaves the reserve vote.

That could take place as early as next week, when the House is asked to vote on its final version of the budget. While nothing is certain, Schrage said he doesn’t believe the House minority will vote for spending from the reserve.

“As of right now, I don’t see a large willingness to spend from savings without a fiscal plan,” he said.

On its own, a failed reserve vote wouldn’t be a catastrophic failure. 

The Alaska Senate has yet to unveil its proposal for the operating budget, and that plan — after being passed by the Senate — must be combined with the House’s proposal in a compromise that will end the legislative session. 

Members of the Senate majority have indicated their preference for a budget more in line with the ideas of the house minority, and the result of final negotiations is still unclear.

Another budget reserve vote will follow those final negotiations.

Before the House adjourned for the day on Thursday, Rep. Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks, channeled a 1990 song by the artist Vanilla Ice.

“I hope that one day, we can learn to stop, collaborate and listen and get back with a brand-new invention, a long-term fiscal plan for the state of Alaska,” he said.

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https://alaskabeacon.com/james-brooks