Over 100 commercial fishing vessels turned out today to raise awareness and speak out against the U.S. Navy's upcoming trainings in the Gulf of Alaska. Vessels paraded from Cordova's harbor to the local fuel dock where they rafted up in a peaceful protest against the Navy's "war games."
In a chant led by James Mykland, a Prince William Sound Area E commercial fisherman, protestors shouted "No Northern Edge. No Northern Edge."
Scheduled to begin in June, Northern Edge is an Alaska-wide training involving between 6,000 to 14,000 personnel from the U.S. Armed Forces, state of Alaska, federal and local agencies, allied nations and nongovernmental organizations.
"The harm & long lasting detrimental effects to millions of salmon and marine species by the US Navy exploding bombs, shooting missiles & deploying sonar buoys in the Gulf of Alaska is not worth whatever ultimate goal the Navy is striving for." said Mykland in an earlier statement. "Our oceans cannot be healthy if we keep dumping toxic chemicals into them. Tell the US Navy they are not welcome in the Gulf of Alaska."
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