The Coast Guard suspended its search Wednesday night for a Juneau man missing in Bristol Bay after the fishing vessel he was aboard capsized Wednesday morning.
“Ending a search is never easy, especially when working alongside so many people dedicated to finding the missing person,” said Coast Guard Lt. Stephan Nolan, the District 17 command duty officer, in a press release. “Our condolences go out to this man’s family and friends during this time of hardship.”
John Phillips, 59, of Juneau, is the only person unaccounted for after the fishing vessel Pacific Knight capsized. Two other men were rescued from the water.
However, Alaska State Troopers are continuing their search. Troopers said the cause of the accident is still under investigation.
Meanwhile, the vessel located near Clark’s Point is leaking fuel. It reportedly had 800 gallons of diesel fuel and 300 gallons of hydraulic fuel on board. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has closed the entire Nushagak commercial fishing district due to concerns that diesel in the water could contaminate fish and fishing gear.
Fish and Game received reports that fuel was leaking from the vessel Thursday morning. In response, the department issued an advisory to fishermen to move away from the site of the accident.
Area management biologist Tim Sands then flew a survey of the area.
“We saw quite a bit of fuel in the water, what I would call kind of large patches of rainbow sheen heading southwest from where the vessel was. And we flew over it for over 3 miles,” Sands said. “My concern was, I don’t know where it’s going to go and how fast it’s going to break up.”
At 1 p.m., Fish and Game closed the entire district to commercial fishing and cautioned subsistence users on Dillingham beaches that their nets and fish are also at risk of contamination.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we decided to close the fishery until we could more thoroughly evaluate the situation. I flew again this afternoon, things looked better,” Sands said. “There are hopefully going to be some salvage people come in, plug the vents so the vessel stops leaking. We do want to get people back in the water, but we just can’t afford to have contaminated fish in the product stream.”
So far, there have been no reports of contaminated fish. Sands said that eventually the fuel will disperse, but how quickly depends on weather and water conditions. Right now temperatures in the area are in the mid-50s and drizzly rain is forecasted to continue through the weekend.
“With the weather conditions we have, it’s not ideal,” Sands said. “You know, if it was a hot summer day, it would go away a lot quicker than on a cold rainy day. But eventually, it will go away.”
It’s not clear when fishing will open again in the district. While the sockeye run to the Nushagak is winding down, some fishermen were still participating. Sands also said that numbers of pink and coho salmon in the area are picking up.
“I’m hopeful that we can do some partial openings as soon as tomorrow,” Sands said. “Especially, you know, for Igushik beach and whatnot. But I just want to be sure.”
