Sorted by date Results 601 - 625 of 931
It was fast and furious for Alaska’s premiere crab fishery with the fleet catching the nearly eight-million pound red king crab quota at Bristol Bay in less than three weeks. The overall take was down 15 percent from the 2015 fishery and will likely fetch record prices when all sales are made. “The only price we have is an advance price so fishermen can pay fuel, bait and other trip expenses. The final price will be determined from now to January,” said Jake Jacobsen, executive director of the Inter-Cooperative Exchange, which represents 70 pe...
Fees for the state’s sport fishing, hunting and trapping licenses, and tags will increase at the start of the new year. The Department of Fish and Game made the announcement last week in a media release, citing approval of House Bill 137 by the Alaska State Legislature last session as cause for the changes. It notes the hike came with the approval of user groups, and marks the first time in 24 years that hunting license and tag fees have increased. Sport fishing licenses last increased a decade ago. “Alaska’s new prices are in line with other...
A changing climate is altering rain and snowfall patterns that affect the waters Alaska salmon call home, for better or worse. A first of its kind study now details the potential changes for Southeast Alaska, and how people can plan ahead to protect the fish. One third of Alaska’s salmon harvest each year comes from fish produced in the 17,000 miles of streams in the Tongass rainforest. More than 50 species of animals feed on spawning salmon there, and one in 10 jobs is supported by salmon throughout the region. “Global climate change may bec...
October 21, 1916 – Sixty-eight boxes of halibut were shipped south on the City of Seattle, Wednesday, for the Glacier Fish Company. The Seattle also took from this port 227 barrels of herring and other salt fish, three tierces of mild-cure salmon, and 22 boxes of dried shrimp. October 24, 1941 – Following the lately adopted policy of discussing projects which are the most needed in the city, the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce held its meeting Wednesday evening at the Council Chambers. A fair representation of the membership was present to joi...
Area hunters brought in a bumper harvest this fall, with 112 moose reported at the end of the month-long 2016 season on Saturday. The total ended up being the largest on record, besting the 109 harvested in 2009. That year, antler restrictions were loosened to allow the harvest of bulls with two brow tines on both antlers, allowing for better yields. Alaska Department of Fish and Game area biologist Rich Lowell noted returns on the Stikine River were well below the long-term yearly average of 26...
It was a rough salmon season at most Alaska regions this summer, with Bristol Bay being the big exception. While sockeye catches exceeded expectations, all other species came up short. But salmon stakeholders can take heart that the fish is moving swimmingly to market. “The demand is there. The world still recognizes that this is the best place to go for the highest quality salmon, including pinks,” said Tyson Fick, Communications Director for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. “Sales have been brisk this fall,” added Tom Sunderl...
October 14, 1916 – Bids will be received by the council for the installation of a sewer system. It is the purpose of the council, if a favorable bid is made on material and work, to put the matter up to property owners through circulation of a petition for the improvement, and, if favorably received, to rush the work through at once. It is proposed to meet the cost of the improvement by assessment of the property benefited, the charges against each lot being made on the basis of number of square feet therein. October 17, 1941 – In response to...
The end of the RM038 moose season is in sight, and as of noon Tuesday the total stood at 97 moose taken, including 11 illegal kills. The season total is on track to exceed 100 moose for the third year in a row, according to Rich Lowell, area wildlife biologist for Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). The number of moose illegal kills was low during the first half of the season, but they recently increased and now represent 11 percent of the total harvest. Nine of the 97 moose harvested...
Fish on! The lure of reaching a statewide radio audience has once again attracted a full slate of political hopefuls to Kodiak for its popular fisheries debate. On Wednesday, October 12, five candidates for U.S. Senate will travel to the nation’s #2 fishing port to share their knowledge and ideas on a single topic: Alaska’s seafood industry. “It’s a great service to Kodiak, to our fishing communities and to Alaska in general,” said Trevor Brown, director of the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce, host of the event. “Fishing is the state’s lar...
The moose season is past the halfway point, with harvest totals appearing nearly on par with last year’s. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reported 50 moose had been harvested by Sept. 30. The season began Sept. 15, and is set to wrap up next weekend on Oct. 15. At the halfway point last year hunters in the Wrangell, Petersburg and Kake areas had put away 54 moose, which at the time led ADFG to anticipate an average season. An unexpectedly solid last couple of weeks ended up bringing the season total to the third-highest on record, howeve...
SITKA – Authorities are warning Sitka residents to be on alert after numerous bear encounters around the city, including one involving a bicyclist who was chased by a bear down a bike path. Police have recently received several calls about problem bears, and they think it may just be one animal causing all the fuss. Reports have varied from a bear getting into a garbage container to one breaking into a parked pizza delivery car, The Sitka Sentinel reported. “This bear has been giving our community a lot of trouble,’’ said Sitka police Lt. Lan...
The second full week of moose hunting in RM038 will come to a close on Thursday. The count concerning illegal kills remains low with three of 51 moose deemed illegal. Those figures could quickly change with the five-day required check in period, according to Rich Lowell, area wildlife biologist for Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). Lowell says since 2009, when the moose antler restrictions were altered to allow the harvest of bulls with two brow tines on both antlers, the annual moose...
Governor Bill Walker has officially requested that the federal government declare a disaster for four Alaska regions hurt by one of the poorest pink salmon returns in decades. In a September 19 letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Walker said fishery failures that occurred this summer at the Kodiak, Prince William Sound, Lower Cook Inlet and Chignik management areas are having a “significant impact on those who depend on the fishery for their livelihood” and asks for the “soonest possible review” due to the economi...
ANCHORAGE - A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of a state commercial fishing organization that challenged a decision to move several southern Alaska salmon fisheries from federal to state management. The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday overturned the decision by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. The ruling means the case will go back to U.S. Alaska District Court and that federal fisheries policymakers will have to work with state managers on a new management plan, The Alaska Journal of Commerce reported....
September 23, 1916 – It is reported that the Pacific Net and Twine Company's power schooner Zella May was engaged last week in saving the San Juan Fish Company's halibut schooner San Jose, which went on the rocks several weeks ago at Puffin Bay. It is said the first report, to the effect that the San Jose had gone to pieces, was not correct; that the schooner is sunken, but, aside from a hole punctured in her hull, is not materially damaged. September 26, 1941 – The Brown Bear, Game Commission boat, was in Petersburg early this week, bri...
So far the moose season for the Petersburg, Wrangell and Kake area is looking much better than last year when it comes to illegal kills, according to Rich Lowell, area wildlife biologist for Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). “We’re at two right now, two out of 23,” he said of total illegal kills. “But that could change in a heartbeat.” Lowell said hunters have five days to check in a harvested moose, so there’s still a chance the total for the first week of the season could increase. In 2015, 34 moose were taken during the first week...
Cordovans are hoping to revive a long lost Tanner crab fishery in Prince William Sound as a step towards keeping the town’s waterfront working year round. The crab fishery produced up to 14 million pounds in the early 1970s and had declined to about half a million pounds by the time it was closed after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. State managers believe the Tanner stock remains depleted and cannot provide for a commercial fishery, but locals believe it’s time to take a closer look. “It’s largely the opinion of the people around here th...
September 16, 1916 – Two bids were submitted to the council for the south end bridge and street improvement work, the lowest being that of A. W. Willard. He offers to furnish the labor and piling for the job for $1,125. The bid will be accepted. The town is to furnish the necessary lumber – 75,000 feet. The second bid was considerably higher than Mr. Willard”s. September 12, 1941 – With dramatic suddenness, the fishing season, which was scheduled to run until September 15, ended when the order went out that Wrangell Narrows was to be closed...
Bering Sea crabbers were stunned last week when the outlooks for the upcoming fall and winter fisheries were revealed. Results of the annual summer surveys by state and federal scientists showed that numbers of mature male and females dropped sharply across the board for the big three: opilio (snow crab), their larger cousins, bairdi Tanners, and red king crab. “I don’t think anybody was expecting the numbers to be as low as they ended up. That was a shock,” said Ruth Christiansen, science adviser and policy analyst for the trade group, Alask...
The month long moose hunting season is ready to begin next week, opening on September 15 and lasting until October 15. For the Wrangell, Petersburg and Kake game unit, last year’s moose season turned out being the third best on record according to Alaska Department of Fish and Game harvest data. Area hunters had a 13-percent success rate, with 103 males harvested by 772 participating hunters. A total of 1,061 permits had been issued. After a reasonably mild winter, the moose population appears to be doing well. An aerial survey of the S...
With the seasonal peak behind it, Alaska’s commercial fishing industry is expecting one of the worst shortfalls for salmon in recent memory. As of last Tuesday, Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s in-season blue sheet summary estimated just over 102,245,000 salmon had been caught statewide, with less than a quarter of that caught in Southeast. Despite a fair showing for sockeye, the state’s fishermen would be fortunate enough to harvest half the 263,463,000 salmon estimated caught last year. The news has not been good for the local comme... Full story
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Gov. Bill Walker is holding off on implementing an administrative order that was recently at the center of a lawsuit between the state and a commercial fishing trade association. A release issued Thursday by Walker’s office says he is putting a moratorium on the order to allow more time for public input, The Juneau Empire reported. The order, issued in February, called for the transfer of several functions of the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The move is expected to sav...
Alaska’s 2016 pink salmon fishery is set to rank as the worst in 20 years by a long shot, and the outlook is bleak for all other salmon catches except sockeyes. “Boy, sockeye is really going to have to carry the load in terms of the fishery’s value because there’s a lot of misses elsewhere,” said Andy Wink, a fisheries economist with the Juneau-based McDowell Group. The historical peaks of the various salmon runs have already passed and the pink salmon catch so far has yet to break 35 million on a forecast of 90 million. That compares...
When it comes to the low voter turnout of last week's primary election, House District 35, Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tompkins says it might be an all time record. "If so, it's kind of shocking," he says. He believes some of the reasoning is the lack of initiatives on the ballot, while the last cycle had multiple initiatives drawing high interest like marijuana and minimum wage. Kreiss-Tompkins visited Petersburg last week to attend the funeral services of Al Dwyer. Kreiss-Tompkins is seeking...
The pink salmon season is starting to hit its peak, but the numbers are looking below recent averages, according to Troy Thynes, area management biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “Going into the season our preseason forecast was for a harvest of 34 million, which is below the recent 10 year average of 38 million,” he says. “Currently our harvest estimate is right around 11 million.” Pink salmon are the largest harvest in Southeast, and this year the strongest run is showing up south of Petersburg, with limited opening... Full story
