The U.S. Coast Guard will conduct operations with a couple of smaller boats for a few months between Wrangell and Petersburg, with an emphasis on safety checks.
From June until August, two 29-foot Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security boats will patrol the region for search-and-rescue missions, vessel inspections and protecting marine life.
The two smaller vessels will be handling operations since Coast Guard Cutter Anacapa, which usually patrols the area, is being relocated to Washington state. There will be a gap in coverage until Anacapa’s replacement, the 87-foot Cutter Pike, arrives from San Francisco.
The patrol vessels will focus mainly on inspections of federal fisheries, including commercial halibut and sablefish vessels, said Lt. J.J. Cestero. Crews will board vessels to make sure they have the proper safety equipment and permits.
The inspections will depend on what fisheries are open, Cestero said. The Coast Guard is working with various agencies to determine where commercial and charter vessels will be fishing the most at any given time, then will conduct inspections in those areas.
From May 17 to May 20, crews were inspecting vessels in Petersburg to make sure operators had the proper permits and safety equipment, like life jackets and flares. Cestero said 40 fishing vessels were examined during that time. “We didn’t want to roll into a community and start handing out violations,” he said.
Though crews will be headquartered in Petersburg during the summer, Cestero said they will definitely be coming to Wrangell, since there is an emphasis on both communities.
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