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New Zealand’s Stabicraft Marine has delivered nine custom 659 Wheel House vessels to Alaska where they will be used as observation boats to monitor the gill net fishery and the fishery’s interaction with sea mammals and sea birds.
The vessel orders came at a special request from Saltwater Inc, a private organization that gathers data on wild life and fish stocks for the Alaskan Department of Fish and Game and by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The order is a coup for New Zealand based Stabicraft Marine, as the vessels had to meet stringent US criteria. Stabicraft as a manufacturer came under intense scrutiny for being a non US company as well as having to have an independent Marine Surveyor assess Stabicraft’s design - ultimately endorsing their design and build.
"Saltwater, Inc. located in Anchorage, Alaska, has ordered the vessels as part of a US federal government contract with national marine fisheries. It will last for the next two summers and will be located in the Petersburg-Wrangell area of southeast Alaska,” says Stabicraft Marine Managing Director, Paul Adams.
Each boat will have an operator and observer onboard, some days the vessels and their operators will need to travel a total of 80 miles in all conditions and will be observing fishing vessels in the gill net fishery.
The vessels will be used in a variety of roles, mainly based around rivers and estuaries and offshore work.
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