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The start of 2017 marks the 26th year for this weekly column that targets news for and about Alaska’s seafood industry. The goal is to make all readers more aware of the economic and cultural importance of our state’s first and oldest industry. Today, Alaska fishermen and processors provide 65 percent of our nation’s wild-caught seafood; it is also Alaska’s most valuable export to more than 100 countries around the world. The seafood industry puts more people to work throughout Alaska than oil/gas, mining, timber and tourism combined. The bul...
WRANGELL – The governments of Alaska and neighboring province British Columbia initiated their first bilateral working group on transboundary mining and water quality concerns earlier this month. In a statement from his office released last week, Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott expressed his appreciation for the meeting, which was one of the measures outlined in a statement of cooperation the two governments signed in October. The agreement was a next step in the process of addressing concerns among Southeast Alaskan communities about the e...
December 27, 1916 – The Firemen's masquerade ball last Saturday night was a big success, with a big and jolly crowd in attendance. There were so many good costumes and impersonations that the judges – John Allen, Captain Grindrod, and C. E. Clure – found it a difficult job decide on the prize-winners. Miss Florence Johnson and Luther Thorvilson were awarded the first prizes and Mrs. John Jensen and Chris Grunseth second prizes. The total receipts from sale of tickets was eighty dollars, and after paying all expenses incurred about fifty dolla...
Dashing through the mud, the Democrats did find Two million votes ahead, but yet they’re far behind Trump and Pence on top, with Russia’s help we fear Oh what fun we all can have in an election year! Oh, tweet all night, tweet all day, try to make some sense We better hope those briefings will be read by Michael Pence! Dashing to the bank, with Alaska’s budget holes Our account has tanked, the legislature’s toast Warning bells have rung, the PFD has shrunk Revenue is needed or the ferries will be sunk…. Oh, sales tax, income tax, tax those oil...
The borough assembly held a short meeting, lasting less than an hour, but covered multiple topics on Monday. The assembly passed an ordinance in its third and final reading to rezone a parcel located at 919 Sandy Beach Road. “It’s to be rezoned from public use to single-family residential,” Mayor Mark Jensen said as he finished reading the ordinance. There was no discussion on the matter, and assembly member Nancy Strand made a motion to adopt the resolution and Bob Lynn offered a second. The assembly passed the resolution 6-1, with vice mayor...
YWCA Alaska presented Petersburg resident Kris Norosz with a statewide award last month for her dedication to supporting the organization's mission of eliminating racism and empowering women. She is one of 10 women statewide receiving the 27th Annual Women of Achievement award. Norosz began working for Alaska Department of Fish and Game in 1979 and a decade later she found herself the executive director of the Petersburg Vessel Owner's Association. Her career and experiences took off from there...
BETHEL – A University of Alaska Fairbanks study says climate change is having significant impacts on subsistence hunting and travel in communities across Alaska. Assistant professor Todd Brinkman led a team of researchers who collected data and gathered information from residents in four Alaska villages: Fort Yukon, Venetie, Wainwright and Kaktovik. Brinkman said the residents reported challenges in accessing subsistence resources brought on by changing weather patterns starting in 2010, KYUK-AM reported. According to the study, 60 percent o...
Bering Sea fish stocks are booming but it’s a mixed bag for groundfish in the Gulf of Alaska. Fishery managers will set 2017 catches this week for pollock, cod and other fisheries that comprise Alaska’s largest fish hauls that are taken from three to 200 miles from shore. More than 80 percent of Alaska’s seafood poundage come from those federally-managed waters, and by all accounts the Bering Sea fish stocks are in great shape. “For the Bering Sea, just about every catch is up,” said Diana Stram, Bering Sea groundfish plan coordinator for the N...
Alaska Department of Fish and Game held its fall regional planning team (RPT) meeting in Juneau on Wednesday and unanimously supported releasing 40 million stock chum salmon in Thomas Bay north of Petersburg. The chum would come from Hidden Falls hatchery, and the request is coming from the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (NSRAA). The issue was tabled last year in early-December so NSRAA could partner with ADF&G to complete a small study this summer. The study looked into investigating feeder king bycatch among other...
December 2, 1916 – Halibut reached record figures in Petersburg this week, the highest price paid by local buyers being 12 ½ cents per pound and the lowest 11 ½ cents. Seventy boxes of halibut and two barrels of shrimp were shipped south during the week by the Glacier Fish Company. L.C. Berg shipped eight boxes of halibut, two of salmon and six of black cod. The Gardner Shrimp Company shipped two boxes of shrimp to Ketchikan and three boxes of shrimp and one of crabs to Juneau. There was also one shipment of fifty barrels of herring. Dec...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and Southeast King and Tanner Task Force (KTTF) will meet between 1:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Friday, December 2, 2016. The meeting will be hosted at the ADF&G Southeast Regional office in Douglas and connected via web conferencing at the following locations: Douglas – ADF&G Southeast Regional office, 802 3rd Street Petersburg – Tides Inn Conference Room, 307 1st Street Sitka – ADF&G Sitka Area office, 304 Lake Street, Room 103 Wrangell – ADF&G Wrangell Area office, 215 Front Street Agenda items f...
Alaska’s university system is ramping up programs to train the next generations of fishery and ocean specialists - and plenty of jobs await. Since 1987, the College of Fisheries and Ocean Science (CFOS) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has offered undergraduate and graduate degrees in Fisheries Science, complete with paid internships to help prepare them for positions in the state’s largest industry. “It’s a degree path preparing students for what I call fish squeezers – they’re going to go to work for the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game, o...
Bill Neumann spent 20 years teaching shop in Petersburg and smoke houses built by his students can still be seen around town. Neumann's oldest students might be reaching retirement age, but they still remember him, even if he doesn't always remember them. "I'll go to the post office and some guy will come up and shake my hand and what I have to say is, 'The face is familiar but I can't put a name on it,'" he says. "But I love that, and I'm so thankful that I've stayed in Petersburg. So many...
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...
