Alaska harvesters aid Gulf counterparts

Published on June 30th, 2010

By ALASKA NEWSPAPERS STAFF

The Alaska Fishing Industry Relief Mission, established to help fishing family victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, is back at work again, helping seafood industry victims of the Gulf of Mexico offshore oil disaster.

Mark Vinsel, AFIRM chairman and executive director of United Fishermen in Alaska, said June 23 that the nonprofit organization is sending a $10,600 donation to Louisiana to help underwrite an industry effort to create a citizen advisory committee to oversee the Gulf of Mexico oil industry.

If adopted by Congress, the Louisiana committee would be similar to those which already operate in Alaska's Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet, where regional citizens' advisory committees were established after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Those committees are mandated to monitor terminal and tanker operations, conduct research and provide advice to ensure industry operations are in accordance with environmentally sound practices.

Gulf fishing and oil industries have coexisted for many years. Now the continuing disaster of BP's Deepwater Horizon well blowout, which may be gushing as much as 60,000 barrels of oil per day, made it clear more oversight is needed, Vinsel said.

"We believe the RCAC systems in Alaska have been instrumental in keeping marine oil operations as safe as possible," Vinsel said. "They are an excellent example of cooperation and collaboration to bring very different interests together for their joint benefit."

The Alaska RCACs are funded by contributions from the oil industry, and include members representing a variety of interests.

According to Ewell Smith, the New Orleans-based executive director of the Louisiana Seafood Marketing and Promotion Board, the Louisiana industry would like to craft a similar arrangement, perhaps including measures to ensure adequate numbers of local commercial fishing vessels are committed to be immediately available for cleanup and other necessities, if needed. The AFIRM donation will go to the South Central Planning and Development Commission of Louisiana, which will handle disbursement of the funds.