Navy Says It Doesn’t Plan to Use Many of the Weapons Allowed Part 2 of 2

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Northern_Edge_2017__Yellow_Box_Defines_Training_Area_TMAAMaggie Wall/KMXT

For nearly two weeks beginning May 1, the U.S. Navy plans a training exercise in the Gulf of Alaska that will use a number of heavy metal laden explosives. The timing and location of the navy’s portion of this year’s Northern Edge 2017 has many fishermen concerned about the possible effects on the fisheries.

Let’s start by using our imagination to create a roughly rectangular space the size of Virginia which we are going to superimposed over a map of the northern Gulf of Alaska.

Now give our rectangular shape a yellow outline and set it so it sits northwest to southeast. Line it up so that one of the top corners is about 24 nautical miles from Seward and the other top corner about 45 nautical miles from Kodiak Island. That puts the bottom east corner roughly 130 nautical miles from Yakutat. The bottom left corner is out in the open waters of the Gulf.

Our mostly rectangular space of ocean is what the officials with the military training Northern Edge 2017 call the Temporary Maritime Activity Area (TMAA).

This is where the navy plans to conduct its portion of the war training exercises.

Rear Admiral John Korka with the U.S. Pacific Fleet was in Kodiak last week for ComFish where he explained to a group of fishermen and local residents the plans for the navy’s plans for training inside the TMAA.

It is the near coastal areas of the TMAA that has prompted fishermen and community leaders to ask the navy to reschedule the training and shift the yellow rectangle farther out to sea away from critical salmon habitat areas.

While Northern Edge itself will include roughly 5,000 military personnel from all branches of the military the navy’s plans call for just three vessel, two destroyers and a tender.

Despite having anti-submarine warfare ships, Korka says no submarines will be involved in the training, though several Kodiak fishing boats will play a role.

Shooting guns and other weapons is another concern expressed in fishing communities near the training. The use of large amounts of ordinance, explosives, bombs, torpedoes, and other hazardous materials is included in the Environment Impact Statement for the exercise. Alternative 2 lists a whole armory full of materials, including 360 bombs, 66 missiles and more than 26,000 gun shells, among others. It would be reasonable to conclude that if they are asking to use a lot of materials that they plan to use a lot of materials.

But Korka and Alex Stone, a navy environmental specialist, both said the navy requested large amounts of various weaponry to ensure flexibility for future war games.

Stone said the EIS covers a period for five years out, not just the current training. Therefore it needs to include any materials or weapons they may want to use in future years, and who knows what might be necessary in the future.

While Northern Edge 2017 is set to run from May 1 to May 12 in various areas of the state.

The Eyak Conservation Council has initiated a letter writing campaign asking to move or reschedule the navy’s portion until fall as well encouraging coast communities to write similar letters or resolutions.

The conservation council has stated repeatedly that it is not opposed to the navy training, it is opposed to the timing and location.

LINK to Navy Slide Show with Interesting Detailed Graphics of Exercise Plans (Samples Below)

Northern_Edge_2017_Naval_Training_AreaNorthern_Edge_2017__Yellow_Box_Defines_Training_Area_TMAA  Northern_Edge_2017_Fish_Hearing_and_Naval_SonarNorthern_Edge_2017_Mitigation_Zones_and_Procedures

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