“I just wish I had more time”: Friends and family remember fisherman who died in an accident in Bristol Bay

Fishermen in Bristol Bay are mourning the death of one of their own fishermen who was killed Friday while fishing for sockeye salmon using gill nets. Alaska State Troopers reported in an online report that 21-year-old Corwin Wheeler became entangled in the gear and fell overboard.

Wheeler was working as a deckhand on the gillnetter Anna Joy in Kvichak Bay when he fell overboard. Another deckhand, Jackson Wilder, said Wheeler was throwing out a hook to haul in their net when it became tangled in the line.

Wilder said crew on deck tried to free Wheeler, but he fell overboard. Wilder said it’s possible Wheeler was already unconscious when he fell.

Wilder said he jumped into the water in full rain gear and boots and swam 20 feet to Wheeler. He tried to keep Wheeler’s head above water but had to let go because he quickly tired. Neither Wilder nor Wheeler were wearing life jackets at the time, which is not uncommon in commercial fishing.

The crew pulled Wilder to shore with a line and then threw buoys and floats overboard so that Wheeler would have something to hold on to if he regained consciousness. It was only when they pulled up the net that they were able to get Wheeler back on board. Wilder and the boat’s captain performed CPR until police arrived and took over.

Wilder called the death a freak accident and said no one did anything wrong. He said it was a normal day and the crew was well rested.

Wheeler’s father, Jeff Rowe, spoke to KDLG. He said Wheeler was a wonderful kid and he was growing up to be an incredible man.

“I just wish I had more time,” Rowe said.

Wheeler’s mother, Leah Wheeler-Riggazi, said her son will be greatly missed by his sister Zoe and his entire family, as well as the friends and relatives he met while fishing in Alaska and at home in Wisconsin.

He grew up in Trevor, Wisconsin, and then attended high school in Round Lake, Illinois. Wheeler had fished in Alaska for several years for Alaska Leader Fisheries, a fishing company. According to his grandmother Denise Rowe, this was his first year as a commercial sockeye salmon fisherman.

Rowe said Wheeler started fishing in Alaska when some friends went there.

“And Corwin stayed out there. And he went for it. And he loved it,” Rowe said. “He made a lot of friends. They, you know, they had really good times. And he was happy.”

The family described Wheeler as intelligent, outgoing and a dedicated friend.

“He was just so smart. And he was quick-witted and made friends easily. It was like you’d known him forever,” Rowe said.

Rowe said she hopes the other crews on the water will do everything they can to stay safe this season. She hopes “these young people and family members are being careful. And looking out for each other.”

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, about one in 10 commercial fishing deaths is due to entanglement in fishing gear. This was the first commercial fishing fatality on the water in Bristol Bay since 2021.