F/V Incentive Crew and Unalaska City Council

Some of the Crew of the F/V Incentive, at the Eagle, That you will be seeing for Opie season!! They were there stocking up before heading back out for their last 100,000lbs. Great guys one and all, you will be laughing your A$$'s Off!!! (I hope some of the Deck Boss's Poetry makes it in too, he is the one on the right. His 9-11 poem made me cry in the bar one night. Really Good)

There was a really big turnout for city council this week, as the Smoking Ban was again up for debate, as well as water, sewer and trash rates.


There was one person missing however!!! Missed you Katherine!!!

David Gregory, one of the Councilmembers, recieved an award from the Health Clinic for all his work introducing new people to the island by taking them out on his boat to go fishing for King Crab.

The Libray was presented with a piece of the Original Alaskan Flag, from back when it was still a territory, in recgonization for all it's hard work. Especially for the fact that it recieved a 4 Star Rating from the American Library Association and Library Journal, given to only 256 Libraries in the entire United States., and one of only 3 in Alaska. Great work Library Staff!! (Laurie from Life on the Rock blog works there, Check out her site)

Alot of people left after the smoking ordinance was discussed but plenty of us stayed for a while after that, to listen to all the other items.

Our Fantastic Mayor kept the meeting on track when plenty of people tried to veer it off course, and I think I helped by interjecting a bit of Humor into the proceeding during the comments on the smoking ban...........

One of the MAJOR presentations on Tuesday was The Kloosterboer Project(Check Out their Site at http://www.kloosterboer.nl/ ) being built on Ballyhoo Road. This $150 Million Dollar (Yes, $150 MILLION) Automated Cold Storage Facility, is to be built in phases over the next 5 years. This shows a real belief in Dutch Harbor/Unalaska's Future and Sustainability, especially with the World Economy the way it is!!

News Release (Translated poorly from Dutch)

02-02-2009 A new Reefer service for frozen fish from Alaska to Zeehaven IJmuiden

Kloosterboer loads cold store for shipment from IJmuiden to Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Kloosterboer will, in cooperation with Dutch Harbor Ports LLC, build a number of new cold stores in “Dutch Harbor” in Alaska . The leading fishing companies in Alaska, such as Glacier Fish Company and American Seafoods Company are among the companies who will store their goods in the new Kloosterboer cold store in Dutch Harbor. Kloosterboer announced that the first completed part of the cold store will have a capacity of 120,000m3 with a storage surface of 20,000 m2 and will accommodate Alaska pollock, cod, King crab, salmon and other fish species. Dutch Harbor known from the programme “Deadliest Catch” on Discovery Channel is the primary fishing port in Alaska and is situated in close proximity to the major fishing grounds of the Bering Sea in which yearly 2 million tons of fish are caught. Kloosterboer has also announced that the company will be opening an office in Seattle, Washington (USA). The new office will provide full administrative support to the cold store customers in Alaska. The Seattle office will also provide logistic services to customers who would like to use the global network of cold stores and temperature controlled facilities. As part of this logistic service, a new reefer regular service will be sailing from Dutch Harbor to IJmuiden once the cold store is completed this summer. Kloosterboer explains that this regular service will give its customers the opportunity to store their frozen fish products in IJmuiden before distributing it to customers in France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Great-Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Scandinavia and various countries in Eastern Europe. The whole operation will start with a return voyage from IJmuiden to Alaska. The panels for the walls, floors and roof insulation for the cold store have been purchased in Poland and will shipped from IJmuiden to Dutch Harbor in Alaska. Further building materials for the cold store are steel, which will be shipped from Korea, concrete and machinery which will be delivered by suppliers within the United States. This summer the cold store might be officially opened by the governor of Alaska, Mrs. Sarah Palin. By joining strengths Kloosterboer and Zeehaven IJmuiden N.V. have succeeded increasing the volume of frozen fish using IJmuiden as a hub. The transport chain will eventually increase up to 75,000 to 100,000 ton per year in 2010-2011. This is an increase of 15-20% of the in IJmuiden processed frozen fish in comparison to the current volume. IJmuiden is a key player in the frozen fish market because it locates a number of leading companies and has a large number of available transport facilities. The world wide growth in fish production and consumption creates great opportunities for IJmuiden to develop into a central hub for fish in Europe. In the strategy outlook of Zeehaven IJmuiden (Haven in Zicht 2007 -2012 – page 14) it states that provisions have to be made to increase the yearly growth with approx. 5%. (www.zeehaven.nl)

ANyway though. A certain Boat has docked so I am off to get some pictures.

See you all later

CB