Bad-boy commercial fisherman Freddie Joe Hankins won't have to wear an ankle bracelet, but he will be electronically monitored when fishing off Alaska for the next several years.
U.S. District Court Judge H. Russel Holland on Thursday ordered that for three years the fishing activities of the 47-year-old Oregon man be recorded by the federal, electronic Vessel Monitoring System. Hankins was also ordered to pay a $25,000 fine and a $75,000 fine for illegally catching 31,000 pounds of halibut he sold in Kodiak in 2007.
Fishermen were getting about $4 per pound for halibut at the time, making the catch worth as much as $120,000. According to testimony at Hankins's trial, the fish were caught in an area for which he lacked Individual Fishing Quota, but then reported to have been caught in a faraway fishing area for which he did have quota.
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Callifornia crabbing: Here's a fun video shot on the decks of the Majestik while catching Dungeness crab off the coast of northern California.
Over 500 lots of seafood processing equipment formerly owned by Adak Seafood will be sold at auction on Tuesday, June 18, starting at 10 a.m. Hawaiian-Aleutian Daylight Time at the Hilton Garden Inn in Anchorage Alaska.
The equipment is located in a recently updated 250,000 square foot state-of-the-art processing facility in Adak, Alaska. Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Hilco Industrial, which conducts 75 machinery and equipment auctions in a wide range of industries annually, will conduct the auction.
Adak Seafood opened originally as Ada Fisheries in Anchorage in 1986. The facility, updated in 2005, is located on the island of Adak, the southernmost city in Alaska near the western end of the Aleutian Islands. The facility processed cod primarily, as well as halibut, blackcod, crab and pollock, Hilco says.
Alaska fisherman and commercial fisheries activist Kevin Adams was elected chairman at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute board of directors meeting on May 9 in Anchorage.
The governor-appointed board consists of seven members: five seafood processors and two industry representatives actively engaged in commercial fishing. Adams was appointed to fill a harvester seat by Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2004.
With 38 years of fishing experience in Bristol Bay, Adams has long been an active member in the Alaska fishing industry, ASMI says. He has worked for both the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation and the Bering Sea Fisherman's Association, and represents Alaska fishermen on numerous boards.
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