The Highliner : Report: Crewman leaps to death in Bering

The Highliner

Commercial fishing is a bedrock industry in Alaska, and has been for more than a century. Every year scores of fishermen net millions of migrating salmon, challenge the icy Bering Sea to trap king crabs, lay miles and miles of baited hooks for halibut, and scoop up enough pollock for a zillion fish sticks. And when fishermen aren't out fishing, they're usually talking about fishing. That's what this blog by Wesley Loy has been all about for the two years he has written it.

Report: Crewman leaps to death in Bering

Posted by The Highliner

Posted: January 30, 2009 - 10:53 am

Here’s a press release from the U.S. Coast Guard about a crewman who deliberately jumped off a Bering Sea fishing boat yesterday and was lost.

I’m expecting more information later today from the Alaska State Troopers in Dutch Harbor.

U.S. Coast Guard, 17th District

Jan. 29, 2009

Coast Guard investigates report of man jumping from fishing vessel into Bering Sea

JUNEAU, Alaska – Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment Unalaska is investigating a report of a 39-year-old male jumping into the Bering Sea 11 miles northeast of Unalaska from the 58-foot fishing vessel Arctic Fox while en route to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, at 11:36 a.m. today.

Arctic Fox crewmembers reported the man, not wearing a survival suit, refused to swim toward a life ring thrown to him and swam away from a fellow crewman who donned a survival suit and went in to rescue him. The man then reportedly dove and was not seen again.

A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak H-65 Dolphin helicopter, forward deployed in Cold Bay, launched at 1:22 p.m. and searched 16 square miles with visibility less than 1 mile in blowing snow and fog. The seas were 6 feet, winds at 16 mph and a water temperature of 37 degrees.

The search was suspended at 4:25 p.m. today.

The fisherman's name has not been released pending next of kin notification.