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JUNEAU, AK - The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is announcing the reopening of the Southeast Alaska and Yakutat sport fishery for king salmon. The following regulations will be effective 12:01 a.m. Sunday, October 1, 2017 through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, March 31, 2018. The regulations are: Alaskan Resident • The resident bag and possession limit is two 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 three...
October is National Seafood Month, a distinction bestowed by Congress 30 years ago to recognize one of America’s oldest industries. Alaska merits special recognition because its fishing fleets provide 65 percent of the nation’s wild caught seafood, more than all of the other states combined. Ironically, there is little to no fanfare in Alaska during seafood month. My hometown of Kodiak, for example, (the #2 U.S. fishing port) never gives a shout out to our fishermen and processors, nor do local restaurants celebrate seafood on their Oct...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — Hungry bears seeking garbage have been seen in much larger numbers than normal this year and five have been killed so far in 2017, officials said. The number of bears killed is a 15-year high for the area, The Ketchikan Daily News reported Wednesday, quoting Alaska Department of Fish and Game Biologist Boyd Porter. Police killed one of the bears and officers have received constant calls from residents about bears wandering in the city, said Ketchikan Police Chief Joe White. “I’d say at least two or three calls a day p...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) will be conducting a Bowhunter Education Course if enough individuals are interested. An NBEF / IBEP bowhunter certificate is required in Alaska to hunt in “Bowhunting Only” areas of the state. Many drawing permit hunts near urban areas are for bowhunting only and hunters may not apply for the permit unless they have successfully completed a bowhunting certification course approved by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The Alaska Bowhunter education program meets the National Bowhunter Edu...
PETERSBURG, Alaska (AP) — Two nuisance black bears that were lurking around Petersburg have been captured and relocated. A 200-pound (91-kilogram) bear was caught Sept. 3 near downtown Petersburg after a slightly smaller bear was captured in August, KFSK-FM reported Monday. The bears were dropped off near Farragut Bay and Thomas Bay. A poor berry crop, reduced fish runs or fish not being accessible to the bears could be causing the bears to look for food near populated areas, said Rich Lowell, a state Fish and Game wildlife biologist. ...
September 7, 1917 – When the period for military registration in Alaska closed, 189 men between the ages of 21 and 31 had received cards from Registrar Otness. A summarization of the cards show that of the 145 citizens and declarants who registered, 101 ask no exemption, 33 have dependent relatives, and ten, including officers of the geodetic survey, indicate occupational exemption. The remaining 44 of the total are aliens, two of whom are from enemy countries. So far as reported, all residents of Petersburg subject to registration are b...
The 2017 moose season is set to begin next week, with the monthlong harvest opening on September 15. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has already seen an increase in permits being issued as the season approaches. Last year's harvest for District 3 – encompassing Wrangell, Petersburg, and surrounding islands – had seen 110 moose taken, according to ADFG harvest records. It was the district's best on record, surpassing 109 harvested in 2009. "Everything's pretty much the same," Pet...
August 31, 1917 – The Petersburg public schools open for the new term next Tuesday morning. Miss Burke, of Seattle to set to fill the vacancy left by Miss Murphy, of Montana. She is expected to arrive on the City of Seattle, together with Miss Kirchiem, from Tacoma. Miss Edna Miller, who has been attending the State Normal School at Bellingham for the summer term, has arrived back home on the Al-Ki. Miss Taylor, who has been here since early summer is the fourth member of the teaching corps. Arrangements as to grades to be taught by each w...
Richard Lowell of Alaska Department of Fish and Game said he received a text message on Tuesday that read "this is why we have bears in town." Along with the text was a photograph of salmon carcasses sprawled across the center of Mill Slough in Petersburg. Reports of discarded salmon bodies near the city are common, unfortunately, and a significant driver of increased bear activity in residential areas, said Lowell. Those who get rid of fish on public or private land and along roads can see...
There are new species of squid near Petersburg, and determining their population is like measuring fog, according to one researcher who has defied Alaska squid assumptions for years. In a presentation at the Public Library on Tuesday, Stephanie Hayes, a PhD student in Marine Biology, which she has refined to squid research, described the Armhook species. New to the Petersburg area, the Armhook Squid has increased in prevalence, despite being told that it hadn't been the case, Hayes said....
Alaska’s salmon season is winding down and while catches have made the record books in some regions, the statewide take will fall a bit short of the 204 million fish forecast. “We are within about 10 percent of the forecast, so that’s very positive and overall it’s been a pretty good season,” said Forrest Bowers, deputy director of the commercial fisheries division of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The statewide salmon catch through Friday topped 191 million. The shortfall, Bowers said, again stems from the arrival of fewer pink salmon...
Alaska department of Fish & Game trapped a black bear on Howkan Street Monday evening, which comes as officials are ratcheting-up outreach to residents about securing garbage cans in residential areas. The Police Department retrieved the trap at about 11:00 p.m. on Monday. Inside the cylinder cage was a roughly 175-pound, "medium-sized" bear, said Captain John Hamilton. The bear will be transported to mainland Alaska and released at the north side of Thomas Bay, he said. This appears to be one...
WRANGELL — One of Wrangell’s two seafood processors has drawn down production early for the season due to lower than expected returns this summer. Updated twice daily, on Tuesday the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Blue Sheet reported just over 143 million salmon have been harvested statewide, though numbers were not available for the Bristol Bay, Kuskokwim and Aleutian Islands districts. Seventy-four percent of these are pink salmon, with over 106 million already reported in. Coming off of last year’s season – declared a “disaster...
While that may sound like a bad thing, it’s great news for Alaska seafood and anyone doing business overseas. “It’s a good thing for Alaska seafood producers because roughly two-thirds of the value of our seafood comes from export markets. So when our currency is less valuable, the prices are not as high for foreign buyers,” said Andy Wink, senior fisheries economist with the McDowell Group. It’s a turn-around for a strong dollar that has for several years made Alaska seafood very pricey for prime customers of Japan, Europe and the UK. Now t...
Alaska aims to get in on the growing popularity of Home Meal kits that will deliver seafood directly to American kitchens. The kits typically offer a subscription based service where customers order weekly meals based on how many people they plan to feed and their food preferences. The kits include portioned, high quality ingredients with foolproof cooking instructions and can be delivered within hours or overnight to nearly all locations. Many grocery stores also are providing in-store options that don’t involve delivery. The kits typically c...
PETERSBURG — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced August 15, that the 2017/2018 commercial Dungeness crab fall fishing season in Registration Area A (Southeastern Alaska) will be reduced in duration. All waters open to commercial Dungeness fishing in SE Alaska will open at 8:00 a.m. on Sun., October 1 and will close at 11:59 p.m. on Tues., October 31, 2017. In accordance with the Southeastern Alaska Dungeness Crab Management Plan [5 AAC 32.146(3)], the department has completed an analysis of the incidence of legal-size male s...
Chinook Salmon A total of 66,000 non-Alaska hatchery origin (treaty) Chinook salmon were harvested by trollers during the first summer opening and mark select fishery, leaving an estimated 31,000 treaty Chinook salmon remaining from the annual troll allocation. However, with many of the Chinook salmon stocks from Alaska, Canada, and Washington that contribute to Southeast Alaska/Yakutat commercial troll fishery exhibiting poor production and not meeting escapement goals or objectives in 2017, conservation measures are necessary to reduce...
JUNEAU – The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced today that the retention of king salmon is prohibited in all Southeast Alaska salt waters, king salmon may not be retained or possessed; any king salmon caught must be released immediately and returned to the water unharmed. These regulations will be effective 12:01 a.m. Thursday, August 10 through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, September 30, 2017. The Southeast Alaska king salmon sport fishery is managed under the directives of the Southeast Alaska King Salmon Management Plan (5 AAC 47.055). T...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Wildlife biologists say all indications point to a good season for deer hunters in the Juneau area. During surveys this spring, biologists counted an increase in pellets, and as such, they're expecting an increase in successful hunts. Biologists count “pellet groups” — piles of droppings —to assess the health of deer populations in different areas around the southeast region of the state, the Juneau Empire reported. Alaska Department of Fish and Game regional supervisor Ryan Scott said the amount of pellet groups ca...
King Salmon King salmon fishing is nearing the end of the season although catch rates remain strong in those areas where Alaska hatchery king salmon are returning. Fishing in the Blind Slough/Wrangell Narrows Terminal Harvest Area and near the outlet of City Creek has continued to be good. These locations provide shoreline fishing opportunity as well as marine boat fishing opportunity. The restrictive action which closed king salmon fishing in the Grey’s passage area along with the reduced bag and possession limits in district 8 have now expire...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska Fish and Game officials euthanized a massive black bear that had been causing problems in an Alaska mobile home park area for several years. The bear was euthanized Tuesday morning after an incident Saturday in the Switzer Village Mobile Park area in Juneau, where it became trapped in the arctic entry area of a trailer. Resident Leoni Johnson said her husband had just left for work and she was in the back of their home where her two dogs, Buttons and Rocky, “started going nuts.” “I heard this ‘bang bang,’” she said....
As state lawmakers mull ways to update permitting laws to protect salmon habitat, a dual sweepstakes is using text messaging and social media as the means to keep more fishermen informed. “One of the things we’ve learned over the past two years is that most fishermen are getting almost all of their information on their phones,” said Lindsey Bloom, program manager for United Fishermen of Alaska’s Salmon Habitat Information Program (SHIP). “Since the start of this program we have heard from thousands of Alaska fishermen who say they care deep...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced June 29 that the 2017/2018 commercial Dungeness crab summer fishing season in Southeastern Alaska will be reduced in duration. In accordance with the Southeastern Alaska Dungeness Crab Management Plan, the department has projected total season harvest based on landings and effort data from the first full week of fishing. The projection indicates that total season harvest will not exceed 2.25 million pounds, but will fall near the lower end of the range. The commercial Dungeness crab summer...
Sitka — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) announced this week the winners of the annual tag recovery incentive drawing for sablefish tags returned in 2016. The winners are: 1st - Jonathan Fuhrer Goleta, CA $1,000 2nd - Mary Murray-Jenkins Sitka $500 3rd - Tony Guggenbickler Wrangell $500 4th - Frank Balovich Sitka $250 5th - Stan Savland Hoonah $250 6th - Paul Sorenson Kenai $250 7th - Aaron Phillips, Petersburg $250 All persons who return an ADF&G sablefish tag receive a tag reward (i.e. T-shirt or fishermen’s knife). Tag returns...
The Borough Assembly chose a new member on Monday after four out of five voted to appoint Jeff Meucci to the vacancy. In his letter of interest, Meucci wrote: "In the event that a young person new to the process of Borough politics applies for the vacant seat, I will likely remove my name for consideration." Jeigh Stanton Gregor, a current assembly member, wouldn't disclose whom he voted for but did say he liked to see Meucci encourage young people to become involved. "I like that he wants...
