Federal firings hit National Weather Service, fisheries research

Alaskans were among the hundreds of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employees who began receiving firing notices last week, a blow to an agency that provides everything from weather forecasts to fisheries management to cutting-edge climate science in Alaska.

The cuts - part of a broader effort by the administration of President Donald Trump to drastically slash the federal workforce - came after other agencies, including the National Park Service, had abruptly fired probationary workers in recent weeks.

Nationally, more than 800 people across NOAA, an organization of 13,000 staff members, were fired, The New York Times reported Feb. 27.

In Alaska, it was not immediately clear how many had lost their jobs, but they included NOAA employees working on fishery research and weather monitoring, among other functions.

Alaska has roughly 450 NOAA employees, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management. In Alaska, NOAA responsibilities include a broad range of Earth- and ocean-based science, including the National Weather Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, climate monitoring, marine commerce support and coastal restoration, among a long list of other programs, with operations and employees across the state.

The three members of Alaska's all-Republican congressional delegation did not appear to know how many employees were fired.

The firings appeared to include at least some probationary-status meteorologists with the National Weather Service who had hoped to be spared because they are considered essential workers for public safety, even in cases when the government shuts down and some employees are sent home.

Cuts to weather forecasting will have direct and potentially dire impacts on Alaskans, said Rick Thoman, a climate researcher affiliated with the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Staffing at National Weather Service offices is already stressed, Thoman said. On Feb. 27, the service sent out a notice that upper air observations in Kotzebue were being terminated, which Thoman said will result in less accurate weather forecasting. Staffing was cited as a reason.

After the firings - and departures of people who resigned - those issues will become even more serious, Thoman said.

"It's unclear to me, from the outside, how some of these offices will continue," he said. "I don't know if they have enough human beings left to run 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week operations."

It's already hard to get employees to come to Alaska, work for the weather service and stay long-term, he said.

With the firings, "you're gonna have less eyes on the weather," he said. "You're going to lose a lot of that expertise."

During a joint press conference earlier in February, members of Alaska's congressional delegation acknowledged that even prior to workforce reductions, Alaska's weather stations were regularly inoperable. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said at the time that of Alaska's 150 automated weather observing systems, maintained by NOAA, 50 weren't functioning that day.

Separate from the Weather Service, NOAA scientists conduct a broad variety of fisheries-related functions, including observation programs for commercial fisheries, as well as stock assessments that set sustainable harvest goals.

Alaskans who lost their jobs included Juneau and Kodiak residents working for the Alaska Fisheries Science Center and NOAA regional office.

Losing even some of NOAA's services will have an impact on major federally managed fisheries, said Curry Cunningham, an associate professor affiliated with the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

"The impact is really large," he said. "We're a commercial fishing state, and so when we think about federally managed fisheries, we're talking about crab, we're talking about pollock, we're talking about research that is attempting to mitigate the impacts of bycatch from other fisheries on key resources like chinook salmon and chum salmon. It's a big deal."

The impact on Alaska's already ailing commercial fishing industry could be significant, according to Kinsey Brown, a Cordova-based fisherman and researcher.

"When it comes to the federal fisheries, we are relying on NOAA for reliable stock assessments that keep our business running and that keep the overall business long-term sustainable," said Brown, who operates a commercial fishing vessel with her husband. "As commercial fishermen, we're using NOAA weather data and data from buoys to keep us not only safe but efficient in our operations on a day-to-day basis."

"Fishermen these days are using a lot of technology to make the best decisions, to keep them safe but also profitable," Brown said. "Losing reliability in data - a small disruption - could really have unintended consequences."