ÒWe are just getting started,Ó said Poppy Benson, of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge office in Homer. ÒIf we can succeed in decreasing the rats on boats, it will help wildlife, boats and free towns of rats.Ó

Benson was on hand at a booth at the recent Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle, handing out flyers on how to protect the commercial fishing fleet and nearly 50 million seabirds in Alaska from rats.

She listened to fishermen telling stories of what the damage rats did to their vessels and encouraged visitors to become informed and create rat control programs.

ÒThe Pribilofs are a shining example of prevention,Ó Benson said. ÒSt. Paul and St. George have created their own programs of rat prevention. They have killed eight rats in 14 years.Ó

The Pribilof Islands, famed for their birds, have a particular interest in keeping rats away. Rats are voracious predators on eggs, chicks and even adult birds as large as albatrosses. Most of the more than 40 million breeding seabirds in Alaska, about half of all seabirds in North America, nest on islands within the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, which includes the Pribilofs.

Eight rats stopped in 14 years may not seem like a lot, unless one considers that a female rate can breed from the age of three months, and produce new litters of about nine babies every three weeks.

ÒTwo rats can equal 15,000 rats in one year,Ó said Art Sowls, another U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist, who works with Benson at the national wildlife refuge. ÒOne pregnant female (rat) getting off at the Pribilofs could be the end of it for a lot of wildlife.

ÒMarine mammal people in the Pribilofs are concerned that the rats could bring in diseases that people or marine mammals could get. The rats also have fleas that carry disease.

ÒThe Black Plague that spread through Europe back in the mid-14th century was caused by fleas that came to Europe from Southeast Asia on the spice trade boats,Ó he said.

ÒWe are trying to prevent rats from spreading in the state, and a lot of what we are trying to do is make people aware of the problem. It is up to the communities to do the prevention,Ó he said.

The federal fish and wildlife officials are, however, currently offering rat prevention kits free to vessels using Alaskan waters, since rats can do extensive damage onboard a ship even before debarking to breed on shore. Each kit contains instructions, 12 rat traps, six mouse traps, six rodent sticky board traps, a rodent ID poster and an educational DVD. Information on how to get a kit is available from the national wildlife refuge at alaskamaritime@fws.gov.

Stopping rats from getting off ships at Alaska is the key, Sowls said. ÒIf we didnÕt have rats on ships, we wouldnÕt have to worry about them getting to a lot of new places. WeÕd like to see better rat control in harbors where there are heavy infestations.Ó

While the Port of Anchorage does not have any current issues with rats, according to port spokesman Kevin Bruce, some other ports, like Kodiak and Dutch Harbor do.

Kodiak Harbormaster Marty Owen said he doesnÕt feel KodiakÕs problems are any worse than anywhere else in Alaska, although he said last year seemed worse than normal.

A few years ago, Owen said he had Benson ship him a pallet of rat prevention kits and put one on every boat heading west out of Kodiak.

ÒWe are just trying to keep them under control to the extent we can,Ó Owen said. ÒI support PoppyÕs program. They provide the kits to put on the boats.

ÒYou can never get rid of rats. All you can hope to do is keep them under control,Ó he said.

At the International Port of Dutch Harbor, harbormaster Scott Brown said the port does have rat traps in use, and that Benson wants to set up a citywide program. ÒShe has some fancy tools IÕd like to get, rat traps that would handle conditions out here better.Ó

How bad is the rat problem at Dutch Harbor? Brown said he canÕt recall the last time heÕs actually seen one, Òbut IÕm not saying theyÕre not there.Ó

ÒAt one time, they sent us a pallet about six feet tall of rat traps and prevention video tapes,Ó he said. The port tried to be sure every boat got one, but it was like talking about sexually transmitted disease; nobody wanted to admit having a problem, he said.

ÒNobody wanted to take them. We had a hard time getting rid of them. We started using them in warehouses and on the docks and handing them out to people who would take them.

ÒWe hear small-boat people saying they had a rat on board and it chewed through the wiring, but they (users of our facilities) arenÕt lining up at the door with concerns about rats.Ó

Still, Brown said, he wants to help eliminate the rat problem any way he can.

ÒWe are trying to do our part,Ó he said.

Margaret Bauman can be reached at