Tragedy that left five dead or missing puts spotlight on safety in Alaska charter fishing industry
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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) -- Morgan Robidou posed next to the bright aluminum hull of his prized new vessel, a 30-foot (9-meter) fishing boat that he could use to take friends, family or tourists out after salmon or halibut in the bountiful waters of southeast Alaska.
"Official boat owner," he wrote when he posted the photo on social media last October, to congratulatory responses from friends.
Seven months later, the boat he named Awakin -- "like a boat waking someone" -- was found partially submerged off an island west of Sitka in a tragedy that left Robidou and four customers dead or lost at sea and put a spotlight on the safety of the region's vibrant charter fishing industry.
"I can't remember when we had any kind of fatality in our industry, so this is shocking for us," said Richard Yamada, who sits on various industry boards, including the Alaska Charter Association and the Southeast Alaska Guides Organization. "We're really curious to see what happened."
Robidou, 32, was working with Kingfisher Charters, which operates a lodge in Sitka, a small port city on Baranof Island with a backdrop of a stunning volcanic mountain. The region is a legendary fishing destination, with myriad inlets, islands, bays and passages that can offer shelter from wind and waves when the open sea is too rough.
"Sitka is nestled right along the Alaska coast, with the ocean on one side, and the Inside Passage on the other," Kingfisher says on its website. "On days where the weather cooperates we generally head offshore into the ocean, but on days where the winds and waves make the journey less desirable we go fishing in the protected bays and passageways of the inside waters."
Over Memorial Day weekend, eight members of the Tyau family, from Los Angeles and Hawaii, traveled to Sitka for a three-day trip with Kingfisher, where rates typically run $3,295 per person, according to prices listed on the company's website.
The Tyau clan chartered two boats -- the Awakin, captained by Robidou, and another called the Pockets -- and set out Friday amid rough conditions. Michael Tyau said his sisters and wife spent the day's voyage seasick in the two boats' cabins and skipped Saturday's trip to recover on land.
When Sunday dawned, their last vacation day before Monday flights home, the women rejoined the boats, which headed to different fishing spots. Aboard the Awakin were Tyau's sisters, Brandi Tyau, 56, and Danielle Agcaoili, 53, along with Brandi's partner, Robert Solis, 61, and Danielle's husband, Maury Agcaoili, 57.
Michael Tyau, who was aboard the Pockets, said the conditions where that boat fished that day did not concern him. He "in no way felt in jeopardy, like this wasn't safe for us to fish in," he said.
It's unclear where the Awakin went or what might have happened to it, but it was last seen near Sitka on Sunday afternoon and was found partially submerged around 7 p.m. Sunday off Low Island, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of Sitka, the Coast Guard has said.