The herring industry has not rebounded since Exxon Valdez spilled an estimated 11 million gallons of crude oil into the Prince William Sound.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Drenched from the persistent rain, Christopher Platt, 22, who has never fished for herring, laughs as he sets the net for salmon on the Prince William Sound. The season has been a bountiful for salmon but the herring industry suffers.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Salmon flutter in the net as they are hauled aboard The Westerly in Prince William Sound.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
John Renner prepares for a trip to his seiner in Prince William Sound.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Levi Morgan, 21, left, walks the net in as John Platt pounds the water to keep the salmon from escaping. Platt was 28 when the Exxon Valdez spill happened. Now pushing 50, he has no health insurance and can't help his kids pay for college.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Christopher Platt, 22, and his dad, John, make their way to fish in Prince William Sound.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Dawn settles on the sound as Levi Morgan, 21, gets ready for a day of fishing.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
John Platt, left, and John Renner chat across the water. Both have struggled to make a living from fishing after the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Snow-capped mountains lend a picturesque scene as a boat floats by in Prince William Sound.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Nancy Machado, left, and Rosina Philippe, of Grand Bayou, La., react to a sight of a whale breaching in the distance on Prince William Sound.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Russell Dardar, a fisherman from Montegut, La., takes a moment to relax on the ferry ride from Whittier to Cordova, Alaska. A small delegation traveled from the Gulf Coast to Alaska to learn from the Exxon Valdez oil spill 21 years ago.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Childs Glacier calves dive into the water treating the Gulf Coast visitors to a spectacular sight during a visit to Cordova.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Amanda Johnson, Rosina Philippe, center, of Grand Bayou, and Roy Robertson, Project Manager with Regional Citizen's Advisory Council (RCAC) in Valdez, react as Childs Glacier calves dive in Cordova, Alaska.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Local fisheries are visible in the foreground in Cordova, Alaska.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
A statue of a fisherman looms over the bay where plaques dedicated to deceased fisherman line the rail in Cordova, Alaska.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Harbor seals bask in the sun on a patch of land in Prince William Sound, Alaska.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Vessels sit in strategic points around Prince William Sound. In the event of an oil spill, equipment and vessels will be ready to respond quickly.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
John Christensen, of Chenega Bay, Alaska, seen with his daughter Meadow Dermer and granddaughter Lea, 8, still resents the glare of the spotlight after the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Jennifer Gibbins, of Cordova, Alaska, chats with Tim Kerner, mayor of Jean Lafitte in Louisiana, about life after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Cordova.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
A team of workers with the TCC Native Corp. check the integrity of booms to make sure ready to respond in the event of an oil spill emergency in Cordova, Alaska.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
April 17, 1989
At the Prince William Sound, Alaska, oil clean-up workers prepared to vacuum up crude oil on the shoreline of Block Island in efforts to clean up oil from the spill of the Exxon Valdez.
John Gaps III-AP
Another dead sea otter was added to the daily count as Cordova fisherman Tim Tirrell brings it to his boat from the oily shore of Johnson Bay. Crude oil from the spill of the tanker Exxon Valdez continues to kill local wildlife as it washes up on beaches.
An oil-covered bird was among the victims in Prince William Sound.
Jack Smith-AP
A group of seals bobs in the oil-fouled waters of Prince William Sound as crude oil from the spill of the Exxon Valdez continues to move through their southern Alaska habitat. Shifting winds pushed the course of the main body of oil toward Kodak Island, the nation's No. 1 fishing port.
The Exxon Baton Rouge, a smaller ship, attempts to offload crude oil March 26,1989, from the Exxon Valdez. The ship ran aground in the Prince William sound, spilling more than 270,000 barrels of crude oil. At the time, experts called it the worst U.S. oil spill.
AP
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