Fire reported at Peter Pan facility in Sand Point

Peter Pan Seafood provided the following statement regarding a fire at its Sand Point location.

Early this morning Wed., Feb. 7, the Peter Pan Sand Point Facility warehouse and nearby stock room were involved in a fire. We are grateful to report that there were no injuries.

We have staff on the ground in Sand Point and teams en route from King Cove to continue assessing the situation and gathering information on the incident.

We want to express our deepest gratitude to our friends at Trident and to the public safety office in Sand Point for their support and assistance during the fire.

Trident penalized $297,000 in EPA settlement

Here's the press release.

Trident's warning

A recent federal summary of enforcement actions for the first half of 2017 said a written warning was issued to Trident Seafoods.

Deckboss obtained a copy of the written warning through a Freedom of Information Act request. Read it here.

Injured man hoisted off seiner near Sand Point

The U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday airlifted an injured man off a fishing vessel near Sand Point.

The 28-year-old patient was reported to have a head injury. He was aboard a 48-foot boat listed in state records as the Capt'n Jay, a purse seiner.

Here's a video of the rescue.

Icy Mist crewman needs medevac

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter yesterday hoisted an injured crewman off the fishing vessel Icy Mist about 150 miles southeast of Sand Point.

The crewman was hurt "after a crab pot fell on him during loading operations," the Coast Guard said.

Update on man overboard

The U.S. Coast Guard says it suspended the search at 4:42 p.m. for a crewman lost off the fishing vessel Glacier Spirit near Sand Point.

Coast Guard aircraft spent about six hours searching more than 40 square miles without any sightings of the missing crewman.

The Coast Guard said it received a call at 10:26 a.m. from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game requesting assistance in searching for the crewman.

"My thought and prayers are with the victim's family and friends," said Capt. Daniel Travers, 17th Coast Guard District chief of incident management. "Suspending a search without finding the person you're looking for is one of the hardest decisions for the Coast Guard to make."

The Coast Guard hasn't yet released the victim's name.

State records list the owner of the 47-foot Glacier Spirit as Richard Eastlick of Sand Point.

Search on for man overboard near Sand Point

The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a man reported overboard from the fishing vessel Glacier Spirit near Sand Point.

A Coast Guard helicopter and a C-130 airplane are involved in the search.

Weather conditions include winds of 25 mph and 12-foot seas.

'Politically dangerous'

Salmon seiners along the south Alaska Peninsula are sacrificing early fishing time rather than risk high chum bycatch while in pursuit of sockeye.

Here's a press release from the Aleutians East Borough.

Marketing magic

Fishermen organized under a regional seafood marketing banner called Aleutia are making a big splash this month at Whole Foods Market, the big natural and organic grocery chain.

The Aleutia brand of sockeye salmon is being promoted with flyers, banners and oversized posters in 30 Whole Foods stores in the Rocky Mountain states. The promotion lasts all through December.

Aleutia involves quality-minded salmon, crab and halibut fishermen from Sand Point, King Cove, Nelson Lagoon, False Pass and Akutan.

They're apparently out to prove that Copper River salmon producers don't have a lock on marketing magic.

Click here to see a poster of a Sand Point fishing family whose smiles are greeting Whole Foods customers.