Edgecumbe Pinnacles Marine Reserve Movie
Southeast Alaska & Yakutat Commercial Fisheries

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has been using the occupied submersible “Delta,” equipped with lights, video, and still cameras, to monitor rockfish in the eastern Gulf of Alaska since 1989. We have made over 450 dives through the eastern Gulf. This work has allowed us to explore the Edgecumbe Pinnacles and appreciate the richness of its habitat.

The footage of the Pinnacles Reserve in this movie was compiled from some of the many dives made over the past ten years. It will take you from the top of the Pinnacle, down to the base, and back to the top again.

This movie was created in 2004 because of increased public interest in our work, and to give others an opportunity to learn about, and view the pinnacles from “the little yellow submarine.”

The Edgecumbe Pinnacles Marine Reserve was created in 1998 and is the first no-take groundfish reserve in Alaska. Although the area is relatively small in total area (8.1 sq. km.), it encompasses a wide range of depths and is rich in diversity and density of fish and invertebrate species. The margins of the closed area occur in water depths between 180 and 150 meters. Two volcanic pinnacles occur in this area, one rises to a depth of 70 meters and the other to 40 meters. To protect the fragile nature of this rare habitat the reserve is closed to all bottomfish and halibut fishing including commercial, sport, charter and subsistence. This movie is intended to give you an opportunity to learn about and view the pinnacles from the "little yellow submarine."

This movie is available in either VHS or DVD format for schools or non-profit organizations through the Sitka office of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Sitka

304 Lake Street, Room 103
Sitka, AK 99835-7671

Commercial Fisheries Information
Phone (907) 747-6688
FAX (907) 747-6239