MRAG Fishery Observer Reported Missing Off Panama Coast While Working on Chinese Vessel  Keith Davis, a marine biologist and fishery observer for MRAG, has been reported missing off the coast of Panama. The 42-year-old Norwood, Massachusetts resident was working on the Victoria No. 168—a Chinese vessel—for about 22 days when he was reported missing on Thursday. The vessel reported no suspicious activity in their distress alert about Davis’ disappearance. MRAG said it is sending senior staff members to Panama to inspect the Victoria when it arrives at port. "We're all very upset about Keith's disappearance. He is a long standing and very well respected member of the international fisheries observer community. We are doing everything we can to support the search for Keith and the investigation into his disappearance," said Marcia Malone, MRAG project administrator. We run a letter from Jon Williams, President of the Atlantic Red Crab Company, who attended the public meeting held by NOAA to discuss the proposed Marine Sanctuaries in Cashes Ledge. According to Williams, the meeting was a blatant end-around of the fishery management council’s public process. “If this passes, which it appears to already be a done deal, the fishery management system as we know it will have been given a death blow,” Williams writes in his letter. In more news about the recent flurry of executive actions to create national monuments and marine sanctuaries, Peggy Parker writes about how widespread Marine Protected Areas (MPA) have become under the current framework of fishery management. Parker’s analysis looks at Alaska’s 45 MPAs and the rigorous, science-based but public approach required to designate each of the areas. Over 2,000 enslaved fishermen have been rescued in Southeast Asia in the last six months since the Associated Press's initial investigation into slave-caught seafood. Since the report, a multi-million dollar crackdown on trafficking by Thai and Indonesian authorities has resulted in the closure of dubious fishing businesses and the arrest of several individuals linked to trafficking rings. Finally, a massive 8.3 magnitude earthquake that struck of the northwest coast of Santiago, Chile last night did not affect fresh salmon production or exports for US buyers. Traders told Urner Barry it was already a slow week for the industry due a work stoppage and a couple of holidays. Operators were generally far enough from the epicenter to avoid damage.