Sorted by date Results 76 - 100 of 944
December 27 – Gabriel Volk was arrested for allegedly violating conditions of release. An officer spoke with individuals regarding a civil issue. A protective order was served. Petersburg Police Department (PPD) received a report of icy road conditions at 3.9 mile Mitkof Highway. The Department of Transportation (DOT) was notified. An officer responded to a reported disturbance on South 2nd Street but was unable to locate the noise. Officers responded to a report of a vehicle in the ditch along Mitkof Highway. An officer provided lockout assist...
Trekking up the harbor ramp as the sun set at North Harbor, scores of film production crew members geared up to their chins and strapped with various pieces of equipment made their way back to the Tides Inn after a long day at Little Duncan Bay. A Netflix reality television show called "Outlast" recently filmed its second season on National Forest System lands in the Petersburg Ranger District, around Little Duncan Bay on Kupreanof Island. The series follows 16 individuals as they "survive off...
Between April 2019 and December 2021, State and Federal Investigators conducted a lengthy investigation of Rocky Point Resort and its fishing guides and owners after receiving a complaint alleging that Rocky Point owners and guides committed a number of sport fishing violations including not reporting halibut under the Guided Angler Fish (GAF) program, and taking over limits of fish, according to charging documents filed by the Alaska Attorney General’s office at the Petersburg District Court on November 14, 2023. This investigation resulted i...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced it expects Southeast Alaska commercial fishermen next year will harvest around 19 million pink salmon — close to an average number based on 63 years of commercial harvest data collected since Alaska became a state. The department’s forecast, released in November, predicts a pink salmon catch of between 12 million and 32 million fish. Pink salmon harvest varies greatly from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, and the commercial catch in the 10 most recent even years has averaged 21 mil...
WRANGELL - State officials have released the names of the four people killed and two others still missing from the Nov. 20 landslide that hit just past 11-Mile Zimovia Highway. As of Monday, Nov. 27, searchers had found the bodies of Timothy Heller, 44, his wife, Beth Heller, 36, and their daughters, Mara, 16, and Kara, 11. Mara was a high school junior and Kara was in fifth grade. Searchers found Mara's body the night of the slide, during the initial search operations by first responders able...
A Haines man says a mix of ignorance and bad luck on a recent mountain goat hunt led to his killing of a brown bear in self-defense and potentially $1,500 worth of fines. On Sunday, Oct. 29, 33-year-old Ethan Julian of Haines was issued three citations by the Alaska Wildlife Troopers for failure to salvage all edible meat from a goat, failure to salvage the hide and skull of a brown bear and unlawful possession and transportation after he took two claws off the brown bear as a trophy. Each citation was paired with a $500 fine. All are...
Now in its 15th year, the applied fisheries program at the University of Alaska Southeast draws students from across the state and across the country. Not just ocean states like Florida, but the Great Lakes state of Wisconsin, and even landlocked Wyoming and Kentucky this semester. “Our enrollment has been increasing,” said assistant professor Lauren Wild, who has taught in the program since 2020. Students attend online or, she said, if they live in an area without adequate and reliable high-speed internet service, the school will send the...
“The Municipal Harbor Facility Grant is the single most significant funding tool available to Alaskan Harbormasters to plan, maintain, and recapitalize port and harbor infrastructure,” states the resolution passed at the Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting on Nov. 6. The assembly voted in support of the resolution to urge the Governor and Alaska Legislature to increase the amount of money made available to municipalities in the state’s harbor match grant program in order to adjust for inflation. According to the Alaska Department of Trans...
WRANGELL — Members of the Wrangell Fish and Game Advisory Committee are concerned about the future of commercial salmon fishing as Alaska’s tourism industry continues to expand, bringing in more non-resident fishers on charter trips. The advisory committee supports amending state regulation to prevent the Southeast sport fishery from exceeding its 20% share of the Pacific Salmon Commission’s annual harvest ceiling for king salmon. The committee voted Nov. 7 to support a proposal calling for tighter state regulation of the charter catch and q...
After recent years of record or near-record runs and harvests, Bristol Bay sockeye salmon numbers are expected to return to more average levels next year, according to state biologists. The 2024 Bristol Bay sockeye salmon run is expected to total 39 million fish, with a predicted range between about 25 million and 53 million fish, according to a preliminary forecast released Friday by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. That is 35% lower than the average over the past 10 years but 6% higher than the long-term average for Bristol Bay, the... Full story
Derek Gibb, a 1999 PHS graduate, traveled last month back to his alma mater, Auburn University in Alabama, to be recognized along with his team for their NCAA title for swimming in 2003. He hadn't seen most of his teammates in 15 years, but the majority of them were there. There was a reception for the alumni, then a recognition ceremony on October 28th at the Auburn football game in front of 88,000 people. "It was cool to see everyone after so long . . . they're all successful with families."...
October 18 – An alarm accidentally activated on South 2nd Street. A protective order was served. An officer was unable to locate a dog reported to be wandering around the North 2nd Street area. An officer responded to a report of a fawn having been struck by a motor vehicle on South Nordic Drive, but upon arrival was informed the fawn had left the area with a doe. An officer conducted a welfare check on South 2nd Street. An officer searched and secured a business on Fram Street after finding an unlocked door. An officer conducted a welfare c...
The first thing to know about the mariculture industry in Alaska is how much money and effort are going into making it a major economic driver for years to come. The second thing is that, aside from oysters, it isn’t profitable — yet. That’s kind of the point. A collective $110 million in public investment for mariculture in Alaska is flowing into the state, a federal Build Back Better wager based on the core assets of the region, predictions about future demand — particularly for kelp — and the general need for more sustainable food sources....
Hunters harvested a total of 141 moose in the 2023 RM038 moose hunt, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. This overall number is much higher than the 118 total in 2022 and exceeds the high 2021 harvest, as well. "This was a high for the RM038, 141 is a high. The previous high was 132 and it was in 2021," said ADF&G Wildlife Biologist Frank Robbins. The RM038 moose hunt began mid-September and ended October 15. Twelve of those 141 total moose were harvested illegally. Kupreanof...
An unusual white raven has been seen repeatedly around Anchorage in recent days, captivating birders, photographers and amateur wildlife enthusiasts. "It looks like a leucistic bird, so a bird that's lacking melanin in its feathers," said Lisa Pajot, a volunteer with a local avian rehabilitation organization, Bird TLC, who spent 20 years working as a bird biologist. The condition is slightly different from albinism, marked by full white cover and red eyes. The raven spotted in Midtown Anchorage...
Bystanders in downtown Petersburg watched through the windows of Petersburg IGA as wildlife troopers and police captured a young bear inside the grocery store on Tuesday afternoon. Alaska State Wildlife Trooper Sgt. Cody Litster told the Pilot that he received an urgent call from staff at the downtown grocery store and left promptly, notifying the Alaska Department of Fish and Game along the way, with the Petersburg Police Department following close behind. Trooper Josh Spann and Sgt. Litster...
October 11 – Petersburg Police Department (PPD) received a report of a bear trying to access a chicken enclosure on North 4th Street. The complainant ran the bear off the property. PPD received a report of an injured deer, believed to have been hit by a vehicle at Mitkof Highway and Hungerford Hill Road, leaving the area. It was not located. An officer assisted a citizen on South 2nd Street. PPD received a report of a runaway dog on Mitkof Highway. An officer conducted additional patrols on Lumber Street in response to reported bear s...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska fishermen will be able to harvest red king crab for the first time in two years, offering a slight reprieve to the beleaguered fishery beset by low numbers likely exacerbated by climate change. There was no such rebound for snow crab, however, and that fishery will remain closed for a second straight year, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced earlier this month. “The Bristol Bay red king crab fishery for the prior two seasons were closed based on low abundance and particularly low abundance of mat...
October 12, 1923 – Work has been started on the erection of a Catholic Church on the recently purchased property on Third Street, opposite the little school house. The new structure will cost between three and four thousand dollars when completed, according to a statement made by Father Gallant, of Skagway, who is here overseeing the work of the erection. Arrangements for the erection of the building were completed some time ago and the lumber arrived last week from Wrangell. Father Gallant stated that, for the time being at least, the work o...
Commercial salmon fishing in Southeast is mostly finished for the year and the volume of salmon caught far exceeded expectations, but due to low prices, the value of the harvest fell short of recent years. Troy Thynes, Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s (ADF&G) regional management coordinator for commercial fisheries, told the Pilot that this season was “actually a pretty good year” in terms of total number of fish. The preliminary total estimated number of fish currently stands at 65,737,799 salmon for the region, most of that being 47,64...
Local fishing industry representatives met with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) in Petersburg last week looking for a Golden King Crab compromise. The department acknowledged frustrations voiced by the fishermen this year regarding management hindering the golden king harvest. King and Tanner Task Force (KTTF) meetings were organized to brainstorm and come to a common understanding. In the latest KTTF meeting held at the Petersburg Public Library on Sept. 28, the industry and the...
WRANGELL — The Stikine Sportsmen Association is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the conviction of whoever illegally killed a cow moose and left the carcass to rot in the woods south of Wrangell. A hiker discovered the kill and reported it Sept. 24, said Chadd Yoder, the state wildlife trooper in Wrangell. After inspecting the carcass, he estimated it had been dead five to 10 days. The moose was “human killed,” and all of the meat left at the site, Yoder said Friday, Sept. 29, declining to share too many details about the o...
As of Oct. 3, hunters have harvested a total of 70 moose in the 2023 RM038 moose hunt, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Six of the 70 harvested were illegal, with the remaining 64 considered legal game. The total number of moose harvested at this point falls slightly short of the 77 moose harvested last year by Oct. 5 2022. Hunters have harvested 29 legal moose —and two illegal moose— on Kupreanof Island, more than any other area Fish and Game tracks. The Stikine River has seen 14 legal moose harvested so far. The hig...
The numbers are in from the summer season of the Southeast Alaska commercial Dungeness crab fishery which closed in mid-August. Over the two months that the season was open, 2.58 million pounds of Dungeness crab was harvested in Registration Area A, with 148 permit holders reporting landings. Joseph Stratman of the Department of Fish and Game says the department estimates another 1.3 million pounds will be harvested once the fall season opens Oct. 1. The Department of Fish and Game does not conduct surveys for Dungeness crab stock, instead the...
Golden king crabs appear to have returned to Frederick Sound en masse after years of low commercial harvests, but it remains to be seen how much crab will be up for grabs for fishermen next season. The commercial golden king crab fishery in Southeast, which typically opens in mid-February, is regulated by an annual recommended harvest strategy developed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). Under the harvest strategy, the department establishes a guideline harvest level (GHL) and a...
