Dunleavy proclaims August 4th Coast Guard Appreciation Day in Alaska

Gov. Mike Dunleavy proclaimed Tuesday Coast Guard Appreciation Day, honoring the roughly 2,500 active-duty, reserve, auxiliary and civilian members of the service's 17th District, which covers Alaska, and their families.

The Coast Guard was established Aug. 4, 1790, the nation's oldest continuous seagoing service, and President Harry Truman set the date aside as Coast Guard Day in 1948. A video marking the 236th anniversary highlights the 1980 rescue of 520 people from the burning cruise ship Prinsendam in the Gulf of Alaska.

The service's role is heaviest in Alaska's fishing fleet. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health puts the commercial fishing fatality rate at more than 40 times that of the average U.S. worker, and the institute works with the Coast Guard to lower it. Some smaller-vessel operators view Coast Guard inspection and enforcement as burdensome, according to safety researchers and the service's own journal.

Nearly three-quarters of Alaskans live along the state's coastline.