Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard Seventeenth District
  United States Coast Guard
News Release Date: July  13, 2009
Contact: Petty Officer 3rd Class Richard Brahm
Phone: (907) 321-4503

Coast Guard recovers body of fisherman in Togiak Bay
Video available below

SAR C-130 Togiak

KODIAK, Alaska - A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft crew from Air Station Kodiak and several good Samaritan vessels
search for a man overboard from his fishing vessel near Togiak, Alaska, July 13, 2009. (Coast Guard video/PA3 Charly Hengen)

 Editors note: Please click on the images above for high resolution photos and to download video.

KODIAK, Alaska - The Coast Guard recovered the body of a 56-year-old fisherman who fell overboard from his skiff in Togiak Bay north of Bristol Bay Monday.

The Coast Guard received a call at 9:04 a.m. Monday from a local fisherman reporting Steve Luhrs and his two daughters were pulling fishing nets into his 18-foot skiff when they fell overboard without life jackets on. The two daughters were able to pull themselves back into the skiff.

Good Samaritans aboard approximately 15 fishing vessels in the area immediately began searching for Luhrs while Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak launched a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and an HC-130 Hercules airplane.  The daughters were removed from the skiff by Good Samaritans aboard a nearby fishing vessel.

Both aircraft arrived on scene at about noon and searched for about an hour. The body was then located on a nearby beach by Good Samaritans, the Coast Guard rescue helicopter landed, recovered and transferred the body to authorities in Togiak.

Accidents in Alaska can happen without warning in all weather conditions.  The Coast Guard would like to remind boaters to carry all required and recommended safety equipment.

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