Kodiak assembly hears bid to back national ocean and fisheries emergency declaration; members ask for more science

Robert Lindsay of OPR Alaska and ocean restoration advocate Russ George told the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly on June 26 they sought local support for a national presidential emergency declaration addressing perceived ocean and fisheries decline and to elevate federal attention to restoration projects.

Lindsay described local observations — seabird die‑offs, low gray whale calving counts and long‑term changes in forage availability — and said the group believes the nation’s ocean resources are at risk. “We think the resources of the ocean in general are in jeopardy and could well be declared a disaster and should be considered a disaster,” Lindsay told the assembly.

Russ George described an approach based on iron‑fertilization experiments (he cited the 2012 Haida Gwaii project) and said his proposal is for a meso‑scale, targeted application in ocean eddies; he said the Environmental Protection Agency…