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.
