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Monday
May 12, 2014
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New Decks
The new pedestrian observation decks and walkway as photographed looking up from the Stedman Street bridge from Thomas Basin.
Front Page Photo By CINDY MOODY ©2014
(Please respect the rights of photographers, never republish or copy
without permission and/or payment of required fees.)
Fish Factor: Biggest Economic Punch, Commercial or Recreational Fishing? By LAINE WELCH - The debate over which sector – commercial or recreational fishing – provides the bigger economic punch can finally be put to rest.
The annual ‘Fisheries Economics of the US’ report by the Dept. of Commerce shows once and for all that in terms of values, jobs, sales and incomes the commercial sector far outscores recreational fishing. A breakdown of the extensive report by market analyst John Sackton shows that in 2012, commercial fishing had $140 billion in sales compared to $58 billion for sport fishing. And for the value contributed to the national economy, commercial fishing added nearly $60 billion, double the recreational sector.
In terms of jobs, the seafood industry employed 1.27 million people compared to 380,000 for sports anglers. The most striking difference, Sackton said, is in where those people are employed. For sport fishing it was building boats and engines, representing 82% of both employment and sales and it is very regionally concentrated. The NOAA report added that less than 20% of the jobs in the sport industry come from guides, boat operators, tackle shops and various rentals.
For the commercial fishing industry, the value and jobs created are spread throughout the entire country; for the recreational sector, they are concentrated in a few states and industries. For example, Florida accounted for 30% of all US recreational fishing jobs; add in the Gulf States and N. Carolina and the number jumps to nearly half the national total.
The economic benefits of the commercial seafood sector also penetrate all parts of the US and the economy. Unlike its sport counterparts, a fisherman in Alaska is in fact supporting dozens of other US jobs in retail, wholesale, distribution and import sectors. In short, the facts negate the argument that recreational fishing has a greater or more direct economic impact than the commercial fishery.
The Economics report also breaks down information by region. In terms of prices, it shows that of 10 key US species, sea scallops, Pacific halibut and sablefish received the highest ex-vessel (dock) prices in 2012 at $9.83, $4.48 and $3.42 per pound, respectively.
Menhaden and pollock had the lowest ex-vessel prices in 2012 at $0.07 and $0.12 per pound. However, landings of both species were the largest in the US at 1.77 billion pounds of menhaden and 2.87 billion pounds of pollock. - More...
Monday PM - May 12, 2014
Southeast Alaska: Free Health Insurance for Alaska Natives, American Indians - Through a collaboration between SouthEast Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC), Alaska Natives and American Indians may be eligible for free additional health insurance coverage through a new trial program.
This program, known as Tribally Sponsored Health Insurance Program (T-SHIP), is available to those that meet specific criteria. Applicants must not be currently covered by Medicaid, Medicare, VA, or other private insurance, nor can they be eligible for insurance through an employer. Eligibility also requires applicants to be Alaska Native or American Indian living in Alaska and enrolled in a federally recognized tribe, have an income between 100-300% of the federal poverty level, or require complex care (estimated health care expenses exceeding $20,000 this year). - More...
Monday PM - May 12, 2014
Alaska: Unusual Mortality Event closes for Pacific walruses due to lack of new cases; Investigation remains open for Alaskan ice seals - The Working Group on Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Events made the determination late last week that Pacific walruses will be removed from the list of animals currently being affected by a disease that has impacted several seal species across the North Slope and Bering Strait regions of Alaska since 2011. The Northern Pinniped Unusual Mortality Event (UME) will remain open for ice seals (ringed seals, ribbon seals, bearded seals and spotted seals) - based on continued reports of ice seals with disease symptoms from the Bering Strait region of Alaska. Monitoring for signs of the still unknown disease in Pacific walruses will continue through existing biological monitoring programs in Alaska.
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Beginning in July 2011, elevated numbers of sick or dead ice seals were reported across the North Slope and Bering Strait regions of Alaska. Most affected seals had skin lesions and patchy hair loss. Some also exhibited lethargy and labored breathing. In September, 2011, several walrus carcasses with unusual skin lesions were also reported at a walrus haulout site on the Chukchi Sea coast of Alaska near the community of Point Lay. - More...
Monday PM - May 12, 2014
Northwest: Researchers discover ocean acidity is dissolving shells of tiny snails off West Coast - A NOAA-led research team has found the first evidence that acidity of continental shelf waters off the West Coast is dissolving the shells of tiny free-swimming marine snails, called pteropods, which provide food for pink salmon, mackerel and herring, according to a new paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Researchers estimate that the percentage of pteropods in this region with dissolving shells due to ocean acidification has doubled in the nearshore habitat since the pre-industrial era and is on track to triple by 2050 when coastal waters become 70 percent more corrosive than in the pre-industrial era due to human-caused ocean acidification.
The new research documents the movement of corrosive waters onto the continental shelf from April to September during the upwelling season, when winds bring water rich in carbon dioxide up from depths of about 400-600 feet to the surface and onto the continental shelf.
"Our findings are the first evidence that a large fraction of the West Coast pteropod population is being affected by ocean acidification," said Nina Bednarsek, Ph.D., of NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, the lead author of the paper. "Dissolving coastal pteropod shells point to the need to study how acidification may be affecting the larger marine ecosystem. These nearshore waters provide essential habitat to a great diversity of marine species, including many economically important fish that support coastal economies and provide us with food. - More...
Monday PM - May 12, 2014
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People & Society: Not just the poor live hand-to-mouth By MICHAEL HOTCHKISS - When the economy hits the skids, government stimulus checks to the poor sometimes follow.
Stimulus programs — such as those in 2001, 2008 and 2009 — are designed to boost the economy quickly by getting cash into the hands of people likely to turn around and spend it.
But sending cash to just the very poor may not be the right approach, according to researchers from Princeton University and New York University who analyzed information on the finances of U.S. households from 1989 to 2010.
"What we found is that households that have the lowest liquid wealth — where liquid wealth is defined as basically anything other than housing and retirement accounts — tend to spend a large part of their stimulus checks, but many of those households aren't the poorest in terms of income or net worth," said Greg Kaplan, an assistant professor of economics at Princeton. "That's the group we call the wealthy hand-to-mouth."
Thirty to 40 percent of U.S. households live hand-to-mouth, consuming all of their disposable income. Two-thirds of those households fall into a category described as the "wealthy hand-to-mouth," according to the work by Kaplan, Giovanni Violante, the William R. Berkley Term Professor of Economics at New York University, and Justin Weidner, a graduate student in economics at Princeton.
The median income of "wealthy hand-to-mouth" households is middle class — roughly $40,000 a year — and they have a median illiquid wealth of about $50,000. But because they have little cash on hand, they react to swings in income more like the poor than like the wealthy, Kaplan said. The poor hand-to-mouth, in contrast, have little cash on hand and little illiquid wealth.
Kaplan said the research has at least two significant implications for economic stimulus programs. - More...
Monday PM - May 12, 2014
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Columns - Commentary
 Jeff Lund: A nostalgic trip to town - I’ve always loved field trips.
They were the highlight of elementary school days. In high school, being on the ferry with just about every school in Southeast on the way to Music Fest in Juneau was awesome. Since cell phones were still the size of briefcases and only rich kids like Zack Morris had them, we talked to each other in person.
#WhatShouldISay? #WhatsAText?
One Thursday night in college, my roommate and I decided to take a field trip from Tucson to San Diego and rather than wake up early, we drive through the night and caught up on our rest at the beach.
Even now I get excited for field trips. It’s Friday, and tomorrow I’m headed to Ketchikan for the weekend to stock up on goods and civilization to make it through the summer.
It’s not a big deal, because Ketchikan isn’t Cancun, but there are certain pleasures in changing your setting every once in a while, even if it is just a trip across the strait.
I know residents have a love/hate (leaning more toward hate at times) relationship with tourists but Lower 48ers provide excellent people-watching opportunities and you can shape Alaskan impressions. Give them a friendly smile and eye contact and you could find yourself the Ambassador of the Great North, called upon to verify what they’ve heard regarding igloos, household penguins, king crab in the Bering Sea, aliens in Nome, vampires in Barrow, views of Russia and man-eating wolves. You can also be helpful too, directing them to businesses and attractions not in cahoots with the cruise ship company.
Over the last 27 years I’ve spent as little as a few hours and as much as a few days in Ketchikan. I once spent eight straight hours in the mall on a cross country trip pricing cargo pants at Bon Marche, cheap suits at Jay Jacobs, dominating the basketball game in the video arcade, and of course, buying CDs and Big Macs. - More...
Monday PM - May 12, 2014
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Viewpoints
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the editor at editor@sitnews.us or call 617-9696
Sitnews reserves the right to edit.
 THE TIME VALUE OF MONEY,
Or How the Rich Are Destroying the American Middle Class By David G. Hanger - For the past several months I have conducted a simple, one-question test that I have presented to dozens of local individuals, all but two of whom answered extremely inaccurately. What this test has demonstrated is a clear disconnect that most of you have in understanding the value of money. The consequences of this lack of cognition are fundamental and quite serious. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 13, 2014
AN OPEN LETTER TO CITY COUNCIL By Teri J. Wilson - I am sick to death of anti-smoking laws, expecially those making smokers unwelcome. In Ketchikan, I am now recduced to eaing at Cape Fox, since all other restaurants have chosen to go non-smoking. Since these business owners have chosen this, as is their right, it's entirely up to them, and no doubt is a boon for the non-smokers. I, however, also choose not to patronioze a place that makes me unwelcome, that is MY RIGHT.. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 13, 2014
Ferry Fare for Lituya By Norma Lankerd - This letter is in regards to the ferry Lituya that runs between Metlakatla (Annette Bay) and Ketchikan on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I know when they put in the road the plans were to make trips 3 to 4 times a day (7 days a week) so people from here can seek employment in Ketchikan and travel back to Metlakala at the end of the day. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 13, 2014
FACT: Marijuana does cause violence! By Marvin Seibert - I have seen comments that Marijuana does not cause violence. Just look to Denver Colorado where it is not legal. One example is the Headline Denver man accused of killing wife after eating marijuana candy formally charged with murder The last I checked killing your wife is an act of violence. - More...
Tuesday PM - May 13, 2014
Sexual Assault Charges Always Merit Rapid Response By Bill Walker - As a municipal attorney representing local governments across the state for over thirty years, I deal with complaints of sexual harassment and improper behavior. These cases are investigated post-haste. Sound judgment, if not the law, requires nothing less. Governor Parnell's four year failure to take command of his Alaska National Guard subordinates' sluggish response to dozens of rape and assault reports is inexcusable. No prosecutions have resulted from this torrent of assault claims. Parnell did recently write a letter calling for a federal investigation that may not be concluded until this fall. - More...
Wednesday PM - May 06, 2014
“Choose Respect” is Meaningless in this Administration By Bob Williams - Throughout my campaign, I have met and spoken with so many people whose backgrounds are as varied as Alaska’s landscape. Earlier this year, I will not forget a women I spoke with, and her hesitancy as I thanked her for her service in the Alaska National Guard. - More...
Wednesday PM - May 07, 2014
IRS Employees Treated Differently By James R. Donnell - Time magazine published an article recently exposing the fact that $1 million dollars in bonuses was paid out to IRS employees who owed back taxes. I'm pretty sure if I owed back taxes the IRS would be knocking on my door and threatening to garnish my wages. - More...
Wednesday PM - May 07,
2014
Herring Cove Speed Limit By Marlene Steiner - I was raised and have property in Herring Cove... I would like to know WHY the State of Alaska DOT has to put in their 2 cents on the speed limit from the Hole-in-Wall out to Herring from the speed limit of 45 down to 35 and when you get to Wood Road it goes down to 25. I have never seen it that low. There is no where out of town that the speed limit is 25. I really don't care about these tourist that comes out and disrupt our peaceful area for 6 months for the bears and humpies that comes of the creek. Of all of my years living out there I consider this my home not a tourist trap that comes and goes. Let these bears and humpies live and eat in peace. - More...
Wednesday PM - May 07, 2014
Legalizing Pot By Duane Hill - Consider this: Back when I smoked, I spoke with several friends about legalizing pot. They were opposed. Why? They would make less money selling weed if it was legal. - More...
Wednesday PM - May 07, 2014
Re: Consequences of legalization of marijuana By W Craig DeBoer - Once again I am writing in response to what is in my opinion an uneducated letter about the legalization of marijuana. Marijuana does not make you violent. Anybody who has smoked some reefer or has a friend who does, knows this. If that was the case, we would have ten times the amount of marijuana smokers in prison. Colorado and Washington would not have passed the bill to legalize and, medical marijuana would not be legal anywhere. If that was the case then the president of Uruguay would not have been nominated for the Nobel Piece Prize due to the fact that he legalized weed completely. You can argue that it makes you lazy but, that's not the case. It all depends on you. There are plenty of pot smokers who function just fine on a regular basis because they do not let the pot control them, in the same sense that drinkers who can drink a few beers every night and not become an alcoholic. - More...
Wednesday PM - May 07, 2014
HASH OIL EXPLOSIONS RISE WITH LEGALIZED MARIJUANA By Marvin Seibert - An unintended consequence of legalization are the vast increase of hash oil explosions injuring the guilty party as well as innocence bystanders. Here in Colorado in 2012 we had only 1 injury from an explosion in 2013 that jumped to 11 severely burned and already in the first four months of 2014 that number stands at 10. With that rate we ought to hit 30 burned people by the end of 2014. I guess we should count ourselves lucky since only 10 were injured in 30 hash oil explosions! - More...
Wednesday PM - May 07, 2014
Ethanol - is this an unseen plague that will wipe out a city? By Joey Garcia - My topic recently on the ethanol outburst in San Carlos City in Negros Occidental, Philippines, has gathered momentum when nearly 90 percent of the inhabitants signed a manifesto in a never ending quest for a clean air program format. - More...
Wednesday PM - May 07, 2014
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