Alaska

USDA official visits Alaska

Published

11 months ago

June 2, 2023

PALMER, Alaska (KTUU) – The USDA’s Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis M. Taylor stopped in Alaska on her way to Japan for an agricultural trade mission.

While in Alaska, Taylor learned more about the unique agricultural exports Alaska has to offer in the international market, from fish to flowers.

“I really wanted to understand what Alaska agriculture looks like, what the export potential for those food and agricultural businesses are and understand how we at USDA can continue to support Alaskan agriculture overseas,” Taylor said.

One of the main exports that Taylor mentioned was peonies.

“Peonies are being shipped apparently to 100 countries. And really learning and understanding how the programs that we have at USDA via the Foreign Agricultural Service can help support Alaskan peony farmers in those overseas markets,” Taylor said.

Peonies are a type of flower that require special conditions for it to be able to grow, such as needing snowfall in the winter followed by full sun, making Alaska one of the only places in the world that can grow peonies during the summer months.

“There’s an opportunity for those who grow the flowers to fill that demand for peony flowers during the peak wedding season to the world in July and August, and we can do it right here from Alaska,” Alaska Division of Agriculture Director Bryan Scoresby said.

Taylor also visited a seafood processing facility in Copper River, which she says has been useful in learning about Alaska’s seafood exports before heading to Japan.

“Being able to have just visited with the industry, and talk about with Japanese buyers what Alaska is actually doing, how important sustainability is, and why our fisheries in Alaska are the most sustainable in the world, yet not compromising on that high quality that they’re also looking for,” Taylor said.

Source link

Related Topics:Agriculture alaska peonies Featured peonies peony seafood Under Secretary USDA where do they grow peonies

Click to comment

Alaska

3 fishermen accused of illegally transporting Alaska crab to Seattle for better prices

Published

3 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Press Room

3 fishermen accused of illegally transporting Alaska crab to Seattle for better prices

By Tess Williams

Updated: 32 seconds ago Published: 10 minutes ago

Federal prosecutors say Tanner crab like this one were part of a large catch illegally transported outside of Alaska waters. (NOAA Fisheries)

Three Alaska fishermen are facing federal charges after being accused of illegally transporting more than 7,000 pounds of crab harvested in Southeast Alaska to Seattle in hopes of getting better prices there.

Instead, federal prosecutors say, much of the haul was wasted upon arrival in Washington state because the crab had either died or were suspected of being diseased.

Corey Potter, Justin Welch and Kyle Potter were indicted last week on charges they violated the Lacey Act. The law makes it a federal crime to break the wildlife laws of any state, tribe or foreign country, and then move or trade the wildlife across U.S. borders.

Corey Potter owned the two crab boats involved in the scheme, and his son, Kyle Potter, and Welch worked as captains, according to a brief proposing conditions of release filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Brickley. Federal prosecutors identified the boats as the Arctic Dawn and the Gambler.

The two boats harvested over 7,000 pounds of Tanner and golden king crab during February and March in Southeast Alaska, the brief said. Corey Potter directed the captains to take the crab to Seattle, where they planned to sell it at a higher price than they could get in Alaska, it said.

Alaska law requires crab boats to land at a port within the state and record harvests on a fish ticket. One purpose of the law is to detect bitter crab syndrome, a common disease caused by a parasite that’s fatal to crab, and salvage any that are not infected. By avoiding Alaska ports, the men evaded that process, according to an indictment filed in the case.

By the time the two boats arrived in Washington, more than 1,200 pounds of king crab had died and was no longer marketable, according to the brief. Another 4,200 pounds of Tanner crab — the entire harvest — was destroyed upon arrival because some of the crab were found to have bitter crab syndrome, the brief said.

“This type of conduct has a direct impact on the future viability of the crab fishery in Alaska and steals crab from the pots of law-abiding fishermen,” Brickley wrote in the brief.

Alaska crab harvests in general have crashed in recent years as populations dwindle in warming waters.

All three men are scheduled for a first court appearance in early May.

Source link

Alaska

Two feared dead in Alaska cargo plane crash – authorities

Published

10 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Press Room

Two feared dead in Alaska cargo plane crash – authorities

Site of a previous plane crash in Alaska dated August 2010 (File photo only from AFP /Alaska Department of Public Safety State Troopers)

Two people were feared dead after a rare cargo plane crashed in the far north of the United States on Tuesday, troopers in Alaska said.

The Douglas DC-4, one of just a handful left in the world, came down just after leaving Fairbanks International Airport in the middle of the vast state.

Alaska State Troopers said the plane had taken off shortly before 10:00 am (1800 GMT) and crashed near the Tanana River moments later.

“The aircraft slid into a steep hill on the bank of the river where it caught fire,” the state’s Department of Public Safety said.

“No survivors have been located.”

Unconfirmed pictures on social media showed a large fire engulfing trees.

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) said it would be involved in a probe into the incident.

“The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate,” a statement said.

“The NTSB will be the lead agency and provide any updates.”

The Douglas DC-4 was originally built during World War II.

Some of them were used in the Berlin airlift in 1948 and 1949 when Soviet forces cut off supplies to parts of the German city under Allied control.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.

Your subscription has been successful.

Source link

Alaska

Plane crashes into river in Alaska

Published

17 hours ago

April 23, 2024

Press Room

SAN FRANCISCO: A Douglas DC-4 airplane has crashed into a river in Fairbanks in US state of Alaska on Tuesday, authorities said.

First responders were conducting an “active rescue” Tuesday after the plane crashed in the area of the Tanana River in Fairbanks, according to local officials, reported Xinhua.

Clint Johnson, Alaska chief of the National Transportation Safety Board, said it was not clear how many people were on the Douglas DC-4 when it crashed around 10.30 am shortly after departure south of Fairbanks International Airport.

“We acknowledge the ongoing situation involving the Douglas DC-4 aircraft on the Tanana River near Kallenberg Road,“ the airport said in a statement. “Alaska State Troopers are actively leading the response and we are cooperating with them.”

A spokesman for Fairbanks International Airport urged the public to avoid the area.

Alaska State Troopers, along with local, state and federal agencies, were responding to the crash near Kallenberg Road on Tuesday morning.

A witness said he heard a loud explosion and saw a plane overhead with an engine on fire, according to a report by the Anchorage Daily News. – Bernama, Xinhua

Source link