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Salmon can pack tops 11 million

This year’s count of cans of salmon packed in Petersburg was down a little over two million cans from 2009. Cannery employees packed the equivalent of 11,191,957 cans. The can pack count was announced Saturday during the annual Humpy 500 go cart race in front of the Icicle Seafoods Petersburg plant. Seafood processing companies and the Chamber of Commerce sponsor an annual contest to guess the can pack.
The $2,000 first place prize this year goes to Sherlita Eusebio. Her winning guess was 11,181,980, less than ten thousand off the actual can pack.
The second place $1,000 cash prize goes to Paul Walters. Eusebio’s winning guess was 566 cans closer than Walters’s second place guess.
Icicle Seafoods was the only participating cannery this year. The can pack has been as high as 34 million in 2003 and hit a low of just under six million cans in 2008. This summer’s pink salmon run turned out better than forecast with larger than average fish boosting the pounds of pinks canned. Petersburg Fisheries also processed pinks from a record setting run in Prince William Sound.

NPFMC recommends fishery observer restructuring

New observer requirements and fees for Alaska’s halibut fleet and smaller groundfish vessels are a step closer to approval. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council unanimously passed a recommendation for restructuring the federal observer program last week.

Go cart racers add color to rainy Saturday

Eight teams raced their 55-gallon drum go carts down the hill by Petersburg Fisheries on North Nordic Drive Saturday in the 15th running of the Humpy 500 race. Drivers and their teams won gift certificates worth several thousand dollars at local businesses for cart design, costumes and fastest cart. The "Silver Swordfish” finished the course in the fastest time of 19.84 seconds and also took the top prize for the best costumes. "Salmon Wars" and "The Killers" took second and third in the costume category. "Red October" and "Jigging Time" were second and third fastest carts. Best design went to the "Afognak," with "Red October" and "Jigging Time" also taking second and third in that category. Joe Viechnicki spoke with some of the contestants along with Icicle Seafoods Petersburg plant manager Randy Lanteigne just before the race.

City starts gathering signatures for borough petition

Petersburg’s signature gathering effort to form a new borough government is underway. A newly formed committee of local residents along with staff from the city of Petersburg met for the first time Thursday.

Advocacy group discusses veterans needs, membership

A key veteran’s advocacy group is hoping to attract more volunteers in Alaska. Leaders of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Ladies Auxiliary have been travelling the state to increase membership and raise awareness about the needs of veterans and troops still overseas. The Ladies Auxiliary includes mothers, grandmothers, daughters, sisters, wives and widows of veterans. Alaska Ladies Auxiliary president Penny Mosher of Eagle River and past president Zona Gregg of Juneau recently visited Petersburg. They spoke with Matt Lichtenstein about the group and its work on behalf of the men and women who have gone to war for the United States.