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Cuts affecting Alaska’s fisheries will be spread across all regions and species, depending on the final budget that is approved by state legislators. As it stands now, the total commercial fisheries budget for FY 2017 from all state and federal funding sources is about $64 million, a drop of $10 million over two years. “With cuts of that magnitude, everything is on the table,” said Scott Kelley, director of the Commercial Fisheries Division at the Dept. of Fish and Game. Last year 109 fishery projects were axed, and another 65 are on the cut l...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game earlier this month released this year’s regulations regarding sport and commercial King salmon regulations. The resident bag and possession limit is three King salmon, 28 inches or greater and the non-resident limit is one King, 28 inches or greater except during May and June when non-residents are allowed two King’s 28 inches or greater. The non-resident annual limit is six Kings at those same length restrictions. Those regulations are in effect from 12:01 a.m. April 12, 2016 through 11:59 p.m. May 1,...
Increasingly corrosive oceans are raising more red flags for Bering Sea crab stocks. Results from a first ever, two year project on baby Tanner crabs show that higher ocean acidity (pH) affects both their shell production and the immune systems. Bairdi Tanner crab, the larger cousins of snow crab, are growing into one of Alaska’s largest crab fisheries with a nearly 20 million pound harvest this season. “We put mom crabs from the Bering Sea in a tank, and allowed her embryos to grow and hatch in an acidified treatment,” explained project leade...
JUNEAU (AP) — Students and teaching assistants have arrived back in Juneau from a remote mountaineering class that was cut short when one of their professors was mauled by a brown bear. They said Tuesday night that they were tired and not yet ready to talk about Forest Wagner, 35, who was teaching the class on Mount Emmerich near Haines when he was attacked by the brown bear sow on Monday. The mountain is near Kicking Horse River in Alaska's panhandle. A student hiked into cellphone range on the mountain and called Haines police, who r...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is looking for citizen scientists to track bat local bats in an effort to track the development of a deadly fungus affecting bats known as 'white nose syndrome.' ADFG's Fish and Wildlife technician Steve Lewis gave a talk at the Petersburg Public Library Saturday where he provided a bat primer and informed locals on how they can help ADFG better understand local bat populations. Lewis said no one knows where white nose syndrome came from but that it's prese... Full story
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced the first opening of the Southeast Alaska drift gillnet fishery will begin Monday, May 2, 2016. This opening is directed at returns of Stikine River king salmon and will occur in the following area: District 8: will be open from 8:00 a.m., Monday, May 2 - 8:00 a.m., Tuesday, May 3, with some restrictions at the Stikine River, Beacon Point/Point Frederick Area, Bear Creek and Wrangell Harbor Area. Gillnet Gear Restrictions: The gear allowed will be the standard length and depth (300 fathoms and...
Clare Painter has always liked a little adventure in her life, and she recently undertook a challenge she never saw coming–reality TV. She will appear on Fox Network's new reality show "American Grit" on Thursday, April 14, at 5 p.m. local time. Painter moved to Petersburg in 1986, and spent two summers working salmon and black cod at Cold Storage, then spent the next 20 years working on fishing boats. "Fishing was always challenging, it was always changing," Painter says. One of the biggest p...
Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan has scored seats on nearly every Congressional committee that deal with issues on, over and under the oceans. That fulfills a commitment he made to Kodiak when he ran for office two years ago, he said at a ComFish town meeting during a two day stay on “the Rock.” Sullivan ticked off a list of fishery related actions he’s had a hand in getting accomplished over the past year: passage of an enforcement act that combats global fish pirating and seafood fraud; adding language to bills that lifts pricey class...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — Commercial fishermen in Alaska are expected to harvest fewer salmon this year. The Ketchikan Daily News reports that according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's run forecast and harvest projections, this year's salmon harvest is expected to catch about 161 million statewide, more than 100 million less than in 2015. Fish and Game officials say the decline is due to fewer pink salmon, which are the backbone of Southeast Alaska's annual commercial salmon landings. Southeast Alaska's commercial fleets, mostly p...
The Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery closed for the season a little sooner than expected last week, without meeting the quota set by Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG). The preliminary total harvest for the season is approximately 10,000 tons, which leaves about 4,700 of the guideline harvest level (GHL) unharvested, according to a ADFG news release. The reason for the early closure on March 29 was test samples showing an increasing mix of smaller herring. The result of smaller herring is a decreased value of addition harvest. On...
JUNEAU (AP) — A House fisheries committee advanced a rewrite of Gov. Bill Walker's fisheries tax bill on Tuesday, diverting half of the potential revenue into a seafood marketing fund. The bill, one of six proposed taxes on industries from Walker, could raise an additional $18 million in revenue by adding a one percent tax increase to portions of the commercial fishing industry. The new language requires that one-half of the tax increase to be deposited into a newly created Alaska Seafood Marketing Fund. The legislature is also given the o...
Alaska’s 2016 salmon harvest will be down by 40 percent from last year’s catch, if the fish show up as predicted. The preliminary numbers released by the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game call for a total catch of 161 million salmon this year; the 2015 harvest topped 268 million fish. The shortfall stems from a projected big decrease for pink salmon. A humpie harvest forecast of 90 million would be a drop of 100 million fish from last summer. Here’s the statewide catch breakdown for the other salmon species: for sockeye, the forecast calls for a...
Herring seiners from Petersburg headed to Sitka Sound last week after the sac roe herring fishery went on two-hour notice. The notice was released last Thursday morning at 11 a.m. Prior to the notice, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) was busy sampling herring and conducting aerial surveys of the area waiting for the sac roe to reach the right maturity to open the fishery. The guideline harvest level (GHL) for the fishery this year is over 14,500 tons, which is a significantly larger target than last year’s GHL of 8,712 tons. In 2...
SITKA —The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery will be on 2-hour notice effective 11:00 a.m., Thursday, March 17. This means that a fishery could be expected with a minimum of two hours notice after the effective time. Today, two test samples were taken from a large aggregation of herring near Eastern Bay. The results of those samples were as follows: Eastern Bay: 50 tons, mature roe – 4.9%, immature roe – 2.9%, average weight – 97 grams; North Siginaka Islands: 200 tons, mature roe - 9.9%,...
Students from Petersburg High School's National Ocean Sciences Bowl team headed to Seward last weekend to compete against teams from around Alaska. The team is comprised of nine students who make up two squads, and they have been preparing for the event since the beginning of the school year. Their efforts paid off with a good team showing. The competition is very much like a sporting event. The teams pick names, they have a team captain and the event has rounds and brackets. The event features...
Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced Feb. 29 the final guideline harvest level (GHL) for the 2016 Sitka Sound herring fishery will be 14,941 tons. This is based on a 20% harvest rate of a forecast mature biomass of 74,707 tons. It is expected that 200 tons will be harvested in the winter bait test fishery which will be subtracted from the GHL resulting in a target harvest of 14,741 tons for the Sitka herring sac roe fishery. Test fishery samples taken in early February showed average weight at age for all age classes were less than the...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced the non-pelagic rockfish bag, possession, and the retention rules for the sport fishery during 2016 in the Southeast Outside Waters and Southeast Inside Waters. Nonresident angler annual limits of yellow-eye rockfish have also been established for the 2016 season. The following regulations are effective 12:01 a.m. March 2, 2016: All Southeast Waters: All non-pelagic rockfish caught must be retained until the bag limit is reached. Persons sport fishing from a charter vessel when releasing...
The Basic Hunter Education Course will be offered in Petersburg later this month, and hunters 12 to adult are welcome to get signed up with Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG). Brent Akers has been volunteering as an instructor for the program for around 10 years. "Normally the course is focused on students that haven't had much hunting experience," Akers says. "But it's open to everybody." The program is based on a 12-year-old reading level, but experienced hunters looking to freshen...
JUNEAU (AP) — Fishing industry and lawmakers on Thursday puzzled over the origins of a proposed one percent tax increase in fisheries business taxes and fisheryresource landing taxes. During a hearing on the bill by the House fisheries committee, fishermen testified that they did not understand the origins of the increase. It is expected to raise $18 million in new revenue for the state annually, according to the Department of Revenue. It is one of six proposed industry taxes from Gov. Bill Walker, including increases to mining, motor fuels, a...
The Sitka black-tailed deer hunting season is now closed in Southeast Alaska. All hunters who obtained deer harvest tickets, even those who did not hunt or harvest a deer, must now return completed hunt reports to Fish & Game. If you haven’t submitted your hunt report for last fall, please do so immediately. Hunt reports may be submitted by mail, in person at a Fish & Game office, or online at hunt.alaska.gov. The information provided in hunt reports helps biologists estimate changes in area-specific deer harvest and hunting effort, monitor p...
The Petersburg Science Series presented a talk on the "Steelhead of Petersburg Creek," last week at the library, drawing an audience of around 30 people to the event. Petersburg area management biologist Patrick Fowler gave a short presentation and then answered audience member questions about the unique life history and management strategies of steelhead, which includes snorkeling the creek annually to count the species. Fowler is part of the Alaska Department Fish and Game Division of Sport Fi...
A single Chinook salmon is worth more than a barrel of oil. The winter kings being caught by Southeast Alaska trollers are averaging 10 pounds each with a dock price of $7.34 a pound, according to state fish tickets. That adds up to $73.40 per fish, compared to less than $25 per barrel of oil. Those who depend on fishing for their livelihoods want to make sure that budget cuts combined with any new fishery taxes, don’t cut core services that result in missed fishing opportunities. “Not all cuts are equal, and if there are cuts that int...
Fishing issues will take a back seat to budget cutting when the Alaska legislature convenes on January 19 for its 90-day session, but two early fish bills (and one hold-over) already are getting attention. One new measure aims to stop the migration of fishing permits outside of the state. We lost over 50 percent of our permits over the 1973 original issuance of permits,” said Robin Samuelsen of the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation (BBEDC), speaking at a two day Alaska Sea Grant workshop last week in Anchorage titled Fisheries Access...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) announced Wednesday that the District 8 commercial beam trawl shrimp fishery will be closed effective 11:59 p.m., Saturday, January 23, 2016. Effort levels and harvest data obtained from fish tickets and call in information indicate that the upper bound of the 25,000 - 250,000 pound guideline harvest range for the fourth fishing period in District 8 will be reached at the time of the closure. Shrimp tickets must be submitted to an ADF&G office within seven days of the closure. The District 8...
WRANGELL — On Jan. 4 a federal judge imposed fines on two Wrangell fishermen for falsifying Individual Fishing Quota records over a three-year period. Charles Petticrew Sr., 70, and son Charles Petticrew Jr., 42, had on Oct. 16, 2015 pleaded guilty to charges brought against them by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Alaska, and agreed to pay fines totaling $100,000. The two admitted to submitting IFQ reports falsely specifying statistical areas in the Gulf of Alaska where they caught nearly 4,000 pounds of halibut, valued at $23,375. The rep...
