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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...
Want a fishing license to crew on a salmon boat this summer? Got friends or family visiting who want to wet a line for a prized Alaska catch? Don’t count on it. If the Alaska legislature continues to defy its constitutional obligation to pass a budget, those opportunities will be lost because there won’t be any state workers to issue fishing licenses. Layoff notices went out on June 1 to thousands of state employees who will be off the job at the July 1 start of the fiscal year. That’s just one of the lesser impacts of the legislative impasse,...
Home grown shellfish and kelp are gaining momentum in Alaska, spurred on by growing markets and the steadfast push by Governor Walker’s visionary mariculture task force. Applications for more than 1,000 acres of oyster and kelp farms were filed with the Department of Natural Resources by the April 30 deadline, far more than usual. Fifteen are for new farms in the Southeast, Southcentral and Westward regions of which seven plan to grow kelp exclusively. Two farms at Klawok also are adding kelp to their current oyster growing operations. ...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that the 2017/2018 commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Southeastern Alaska will be opening as scheduled at 8 a.m. on June 15. Dungeness crab fishermen must register their vessels and applicable gear with the department. The holder of a valid 2017 Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission permit for Southeastern Alaska Dungeness crab must be onboard the vessel during fishing operations and the permit holder’s name must be listed on the vessel registration. Buoy tags must be purchased prior to f...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish announced the bag and possession limit of king salmon in the Wrangell Narrows-Blind Slough terminal harvest area, effective June 1 through July 31. Under the regulations, king salmon bag and possession limits for residents and nonresidents will be two fish for those 28 inches or greater, and two fish less than 28 inches in length. Additionally, king salmon caught by nonresident anglers in the terminal harvest area do not count toward...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced Tuesday king salmon sport fishing regulations have changed for the marine waters adjacent to the Stikine River in District 8, near Petersburg and Wrangell. From May 25 through July 15, sport fishing for king salmon is closed for the Grey's Passage area. This area is defined by all waters encompassed by a line from Babbler Point to Hour Point; Point Highfield to an ADFG regulatory marker located at the eastern entrance of Blind Slough; a...
The 36th Annual Petersburg Chamber of Commerce King Salmon Derby gets underway this Friday at 7 a.m. The derby continues through the Memorial Day Weekend and ends Monday at 5 p.m. The Derby hopes to tag and release two fish worth $10,000 and $5,000 prior to the start of the Derby. The $10,000 prize is sponsored by Alaska Marine Lines and the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce. The $5,000 tagged fish is sponsored by Hammer and Wikan. Volunteers fished all morning on Wednesday for the tagged fish and, weather permitting, will continue trolling on Thu...
Alaska salmon managers are hoping for the best and planning for the worst as lawmakers extend into a third special session to try and agree on a state budget. It is the third year in a row they have not finished their legislative session on time due to budget differences. The haggling, which could last up to 30 days, means pink slips could go out to all state workers in less than two weeks in advance of job layoffs. “It’s similar to what happened last year. Pink slips go out on June 1 and then we have to start getting people out because they ca...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – King salmon fishing crews in Southeast Alaska have fallen short of catching their limit for the winter season. This year’s commercial harvest total is down from the previous two winters, KFSK-FM reported Monday. Crews have caught about 43,000 king salmon this season after catching more than 45,000 in each of the past two years. The winter had been looking even bleaker four weeks ago before a late surge, said Grant Hagerman, Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s troll management biologist. “So a down year,” Hagerman said. “A...
The U.S. seafood industry’s contribution to the nation’s economy sank a bit, while Alaska’s output increased slightly and dollar values held steady. An eagerly anticipated annual report released last week by NOAA Fisheries measures the economic impacts of U.S. commercial and recreational fisheries. It highlights values, jobs, and sales for 2015, along with a 10 year snapshot of comparisons. A second report provides the status of U.S. fish stocks for 2016. The Fisheries Economics Report shows that including imports, U.S. commercial fishi...
Numerous studies over the past decade have highlighted Alaska’s “graying of the fleet” (the average age of permit holders is 50), and the lack of opportunities for younger people to launch a career in commercial fishing. State data show that between 1975 and 2014, more than 2,300 limited entry permits (nearly 28 percent) migrated away from Alaska’s rural fishing communities to non-residents. A new measure gaining steam in the Alaska legislature aims to reverse that trend by creating fisheries trusts in which communities could buy permits...
PETERSBURG (AP) – A group of volunteers from five southeast Alaska communities is working to document bats as part of a program aimed at combating a deadly virus caused by the animals. Volunteers from Petersburg, Juneau, Haines, Sitka and Wrangell are participating in this year’s program, which is coordinated through the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Over the last three years, the program has helped gather data to prevent White Noise Syndrome. The fungal disease has killed off more than 7 million bats in the Lower 48 since it was discover...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game released its forecast for commercial salmon harvests this year, projecting a strong run of pinks for Southeast in 2017. If panning out as projected, the news should come as a relief to the region's fishermen after a disappointing 2016 harvest. The report details last year's commercial salmon season, which had come in about 30 percent lower than forecast. Alaska fishermen caught 112,500,000 salmon in 2016, of which 52.9 million had been sockeye and 39...
