Gazing into my Aleutian crystal ball

We could see two interesting developments soon with respect to the seafood industry in the Aleutian Islands.

First, some commercial fishing companies are likely to seek intervenor status in support of the state's lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service on the Steller sea lion issue. The state and industry players hope to block restrictions, set to take effect Jan. 1, to curtail harvests of Aleutian fish the endangered Stellers rely upon for food.

Second, the troubled processing plant on Adak Island soon might have a new tenant. The leading candidate looks to be Icicle Seafoods Inc., which flew a team out to Adak in recent days to look things over. Icicle, you might recall, once was a partner in the plant. The big question is whether the plant can be readied in time for the upcoming Pacific cod season.