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The mask requirement for all persons aboard fishing vessels still stands and Alaska’s U.S. Senators are adding their clout to have it removed. A Coast Guard Marine Safety Information Bulletin issued on March 22 states its authority to restrict vessel access to ports and operations if they fail to follow the rules as defined by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). “Vessels that have not implemented the mask requirement may be issued a Captain of the Port order directing the vessel’s movement and operations; repeated failure to impose the mask...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is predicting an increase to the total statewide salmon harvest this year thanks to a pink salmon run expected to bring in 63.5 million fish over last year's harvest. According to an ADF&G report, the total commercial salmon harvest in Alaska is projected to be 190.1 million fish. In 2020, 118.3 million fish were harvested statewide. The report states the increase to the state harvest is due to a larger pink salmon harvest compared to last year. ADF&G is pr...
The overall 2020 salmon harvest in Southeast Alaska was down by about 56 percent compared to 2019, as all five commercially harvested salmon species runs came in below recent and long term averages. About 14.6 million salmon were harvested in Southeast Alaska last year, which was down from the 33.5 million salmon harvested in 2019, according to a season report by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Statewide, salmon harvests were down by 14.4 million from the preseason forecast, with 118.3...
Alaska’s salmon harvest for 2021 is projected to be a big one, with total catches producing a haul that could be 61% higher than last year, due mostly to an expected surge of pinks. Fishery managers are predicting a statewide catch topping 190 million fish compared to 118.3 million in 2020. The breakdown by species includes 46.6 million sockeye salmon (203,000 increase), 3.8 million cohos (1.4 million higher), 15.3 million chums (6.7 million more), 296,000 Chinook (up by 4,000) and 124.2 million pink salmon (a 63.5 million increase). In its r...
Each year the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) rewards all persons who return an ADF&G sablefish tag with a tag reward (e.g., hat or t-shirt). Additionally, each tag returned to the department with complete recovery information (fisherman’s name, date of recovery, and latitude and longitude) are entered into a random drawing for a cash prize. A total of 1,183 tags qualified for this year’s drawing. The following people were randomly selected from the list of qualified tags as the winners of the 2021 annual sablefish tag recovery inc...
(Juneau) - The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is announcing the 2021 sport fishing regulations for king salmon in Southeast Alaska and Yakutat. These regulations will be effective 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, March 3, 2021 through 11:59 p.m. Thursday, March 31, 2022. The regulations are: Alaskan Resident • The resident bag and possession limit is three king salmon, 28 inches or greater in length; Nonresident • The nonresident bag and possession limit is one king salmon, 28 inches or greater in length; • The nonresident annual limit is four king...
The Borough Assembly unanimously approved an ordinance in its first reading that reestablishes user fees at the Parks and Recreation Center and allows anyone under the age of 18 to use the facility for free. Ordinance #2021-03 groups all users into two categories and establishes three types of fees. Those under the age of 18 are free to use the facility without payment, according to the ordinance. Those over the age of 18 either pay $5 per visit, $300 for an annual pass or $48 for a punch pass...
SITKA — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announces that under Chinook salmon management provisions of the 2019–2028 Pacific Salmon Treaty Agreement (treaty), the annual all-gear allowable catch limit for Southeast Alaska/Yakutat (SEAK) is 201,100 treaty Chinook salmon (non-Alaska hatchery-produced Chinook salmon). This year’s all-gear catch limit includes a 2% reduction that will serve as a buffer to avoid exceeding the all-gear limit and payback provisions within the treaty. The resulting preseason troll treaty harvest allocation for 2...
Pacific halibut harvesters got some rare good news last week: increased catches in 2021 along with a longer fishing season. At its annual meeting that ended on January 25, the International Pacific Halibut Commission boosted the coastwide removals for 2021to 39 million pounds, a 6.53% increase over last year. It includes halibut taken in commercial, sport, subsistence, research, personal use and as bycatch for fisheries of the West Coast, British Columbia and Alaska. A total of 278 individual Pacific halibut stakeholders attended the meeting...
Is it a coincidence that one of the world’s largest mineral deposits is located near the world’s largest sockeye salmon spawning grounds at Bristol Bay? And if the likes of a Pebble Mine removed the bulk of those deep deposits that also create the world’s magnetic field, could it disrupt the salmons ability to find their way home? A study, funded by Arron Kallenberg of Homer, founder/CEO of Wild Alaskan Company and a third generation Bristol Bay fisherman, aims to find out. “It’s not even been 10 years since we’ve discovered that salmon, sea...
Southern Southeast Alaska Aquaculture Association hopes to secure $200,000 to make up for a loss in funding for Crystal Lake Hatchery (CLH) following the expiration of a sport fishing license surcharge SSRAA General Manager David Landis told the Borough Assembly at their Monday meeting. The sport fishing license surcharge needed to be renewed before Dec. 31 by the state legislation, but the COVID-19 pandemic prevented lawmakers from acting before the deadline, said Landis. The most recent...
WRANGELL - Between state budget cuts, a mainline vessel engine breakdown, a halt to port calls in Prince Rupert, B.C., and COVID-19 travel restrictions, the Alaska Marine Highway System has struggled the past year to provide service to Wrangell and the rest of Southeast. Under the governor's proposed budget for the state fiscal year that starts July 1, the ferry system would have even less money to provide service. "Woefully inadequate," Ketchikan Rep. Dan Ortiz, who also represents Wrangell,...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish announced today that opportunity for slope rockfish species will continue through January 31, 2022. Resident and nonresident anglers: • The daily bag and possession limit is one slope rockfish. No annual limit. • When releasing any rockfish, anglers must use a deepwater release mechanism to return the fish to the depth it was hooked or to a depth of at least 100 feet. • All vessels must have at least one functional deepwater release mechanism on board and readily available for u...
This year marks the 30th year that the weekly Fish Factor column has appeared in newspapers across Alaska and nationally. Every year it features “picks and pans” for Alaska’s seafood industry - a no-holds-barred look back at some of the year’s best and worst fishing highlights, and my choice for the biggest fish story of the year. Here are the choices for 2020, in no particular order - Best little known fish fact - Alaska’s commercial fisheries division also pays for the management of subsistence and personal use fisheries. Biggest fishing t...
January The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration proposed establishing critical habitat areas for humpback whales in three distinct population segments located off Mexico, Central American and the Western Pacific. The Petersburg Borough sent a letter of disapproval to the National Marine Fisheries Service regarding the proposed critical habitat for humpback whales after residents spoke out against the proposal. The Petersburg Borough authorized the hire of Josh Rathmann to fill the...
As Alaska faces its toughest budget squeeze ever, the state’s commercial fisheries are set to get a bit of a breather. But it is due more to fund swapping than lawmakers’ largess. For the commercial fisheries division, the largest within the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the preliminary FY2022 budget released by Governor Dunleavy reflects a slight increase to $72.8 million, compared to nearly $68 million last year. “I think we did really well this year,” said Sam Rabung, commercial fisheries division director, speaking last week at a Unit...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is predicting an average pink salmon harvest of 28 million fish in 2021, according to an advisory announcement. While the point estimate for the harvest is 28 million fish, the range of the forecast is between 19 to 42 million fish. Andy Piston, Fish and Game Southeast Alaska pink and chum salmon project leader, said that such a wide forecast range is a reflection of the uncertainty in the forecast. "Twenty-eight million sounds pretty good compared to...
Alaska coastal communities will get a bit of an economic boost in 2021 from increased catches of Pacific cod. The stock, which crashed after a multi-year heat wave starting in 2014 wiped out several year classes, appears to be rebounding throughout the Gulf of Alaska. No cod fishery occurred at all this year in federally managed waters (from three to 200 miles out) where the bulk of the harvest is taken, and a catch of under six million pounds was allowed in state managed waters (out to three miles). For 2021, the North Pacific Fishery...
After an anxious three months, the rocky mountain goat Kaleb Baird shot with a bow and arrow on the Cleveland Peninsula has been certified by Pope and Young, a conservation club, as the largest billy ever taken down with a bow in the world. "It was a killer animal and a great goat," said Baird. "It's neat that he gets to be recognized as number one." The mountain goat had a final score of 53 1/2 inches, according to Pope and Young. Baird said an official scorer took ten different measurements...
The Wild Alaskan Company based in Homer has taken “mission based” seafood e-commerce to a whole new level. While many Alaska fishermen and groups sell boxes of seafood directly to customers and can claim several hundred monthly customers, Wild Alaskan has notched more than 140,000 seafood regulars since 2018 and since Covid hit, the company is adding 100 to 200 customers every day. The average order for their subscription service is $160 per month. Founder Arron Kallenberg calls it a “three generation overnight success,” referring back to 1926...
Frozen sockeye salmon strips bring tasty nutrition and relief to teething babies. The lightly seasoned salmon strips, made mostly from Bristol Bay reds, are the third product made by Bambino’s Baby Food of Anchorage that is aimed at getting more seafood into the mouths of babes. “I always kind of giggle because it’s not going to be just for the little ones. I’m sure mom and dad and elder brother or sister are going to be gnawing on those as well,” said Zoi Maroudas, Bambino’s founder and operator. “I also wanted to honor our indigenous fa...
YAKUTAT, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska Airlines jetliner struck a brown bear while landing early Saturday evening, killing the animal and causing damage to the plane, officials said. None of the passengers or crew members on board the plane were injured during the accident at the Yakutat Airport in southeast Alaska, The Anchorage Daily News reported. The Boeing 737-700 killed the brown bear sow, but a cub thought to be about 2 years old was uninjured, Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities spokesman Sam Dapcevich said. Airport c...
Tamped down prices due to toppled markets caused by the Covid virus combined with low salmon returns to many Alaska regions added up to reduced paychecks for fishermen and will mean lower tax revenues for fishing communities. A summary of the preliminary harvests and values by the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game shows that Alaska’s total 2020 salmon catch came in at just under 117 million fish, a 44% decrease from last season’s haul of 208.3 million fish, and the 13th lowest on record. The statewide salmon value of $295.2 million is a who...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has released preliminary data on state salmon harvests for 2020. Information for Southeast Alaska shows that only half as many fish were hauled in this year compared to last year. 2020 data shows that 14,301,964 salmon were harvested this year, totaling a little over 74 million pounds. The estimated ex vessel value for this harvest is about $50 million. This is a major decrease from 2019 numbers, reported at about 32 million fish, 163 million pounds, and...
The number of boots on deck in Alaska has declined and most fisheries have lost jobs over the past five years. Overall, Alaska’s harvesting sector ticked downward by 848 jobs from 2015 through 2019. A snapshot of fish harvesting jobs is featured in the November edition of Alaska Economic Trends by the state Dept. of Labor. The findings show that after hitting a peak of 8,501 harvesters in 2015, fishing jobs then fell to around 8,000 for the next two years before dropping again in 2018 to about 7,600. In 2019, average monthly fishing e...
