Sorted by date Results 1 - 22 of 22
NSRAA is forecasting a total run of 222,000 chum salmon in the Thomas Bay fishery. This year’s return will be the second return for this project and will be comprised of 3-year and 4-year old fish. A portion of the run may be harvested in common property fisheries in Chatham Strait and Frederick Sound....
Steve Reifenstuhl, manager of the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association, spoke at the annual Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Banquet on Saturday on the organization's presence and activities in the Northern Panhandle. NSRAA is a non-profit organization that was established by commercial fishermen in 1978 to restore and rehabilitate Alaska's salmon stocks. Salmon produced by NSRAA's enhancement programs are a public resource and have contributed millions of dollars to the commercial...
The general manager of Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association will be speaking about the hatchery programs throughout Southeast Alaska this Saturday at the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Banquet at the Sons of Norway Hall. As general manager, Steve Reifenstuhl leads NSRAA in its mission to restore and rehabilitate Alaska's salmon stocks. The non-profit organization also has a program that enhances commercial fisheries. "It's very vital to Southeast to have those programs for...
A joint Regional Planning Team (RPT) meeting was held on Thursday between the Northern Southeast Regional Planning Team (NSERPT) and the Southern Southeast Regional Planning Team (SSERPT) to discuss and vote on items regarding fisheries and salmon eggs in Southeast Alaska. “I want to give you a perspective on how unique and successful this enterprise is,” said an RPT representative at the meeting. One vote that hits close to Petersburg was the approval of Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association, Inc.’s (NSRAA) permit alter...
Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association Inc., (NSRAA) will hold its Fall Board of Directors meeting November 14-15, starting at 9:00 a.m. in the NSRAA conference room at 1308 Sawmill Creek Rd. in Sitka. Meetings are open to the public.... Full story
The purse seine fleet set a single day chum salmon catch record for the entire state with a haul of over 980,000 chum salmon taken at Crawfish Inlet south of Sitka on Thursday, Aug. 30 according to Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (NSRAA) manager Steve Reifenstuhl. Seiners took 1.13 million fish in two openings. In a year where the pink salmon catch has been said to be the worst since 1976, Reifenstuhl said Tuesday many boats doubled their season income in one day. The...
The Petersburg Rotary Club at its meeting last week was told that Petersburg needs success in salmon, black cod and halibut and added that market forces and resource returns have kept Petersburg facing numerous challenges over the past few years. Last year’s impressive and unexpected chum returns show the oceans can continue to produce fish. There is also a market demand for local seafood. Halibut: Halibut prices took a dump this year because for a second year in a row frozen halibut inventory carried over and once again held pricing lower t...
PETERSBURG, Alaska (AP) – A hatchery in a small southeast Alaska community that closed down under a mountain of debt in 2014 has been purchased by a nonprofit organization that plans to produce chum and Chinook salmon at the site. The state had foreclosed on the Gunnuk Creek hatchery’s $22 million debt and put it up for sale. The Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association bought the facility in Kake for an undisclosed price this month, KFSK-FM reported. The regional group was the only bidder on the property formerly owned by the Kake N...
Set the record straight To the Editor: Just to set the record straight, you really should have checked the accuracy of the statement made by Eric Castro in the April 20 edition of the Petersburg Pilot. Every single pound of seafood we process at Coastal Cold Storage is charged the 6% sales tax, as required by the Petersburg Borough (previously the City of Petersburg), unless it qualifies for a Senior exemption or Resale exemption. I can assure you that if Mr. Castro's uncle comes in the door with three fish to be filleted, vacuum packed and/or...
Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association Inc., (NSRAA) will hold its spring board of directors meeting on March 8 – 9, starting at 9:00 a.m. The meeting will be in the NSRAA conference room at 1308 Sawmill Creek Rd., Sitka and is open to the public...
An application for an Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) permit alteration to release 40 million chum salmon in Thomas Bay brought forth by the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (NSRAA) has been approved. The application process has taken just over a year to secure the location, north of Petersburg, for the release but the change is something NSRAA general manager Steve Reifenstuhl has been thinking about for a while now. “I looked at Thomas Bay approximately 20 years,” he says. “Had temperature probes out there to ev...
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...
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...
IFQ violations To the Editor: I am writing this letter in regards to the October 27 article “Two Petersburg vessels charged with IFQ violations.” I am the current owner/operator of the F/V Lone Fisherman. It is common for NOAA enforcement reports to only note the date citations were issued, not the date the violation occurred. I understand that this can cause confusion when reporting on information found in the enforcement reports. The violation mentioned in this article occurred prior to my becoming the owner/operator of the F/V Lone Fis...
Scholarships earned by this year's graduates Elks National MVS Scholarship Stuart Medalen Elks Nat'l Foundation Legacy Award Adanna Kvernvik Elks Scholastic Award Kylie Wallace, Stuart Medalen, Chauncy Sandhofer Elks Lodge Technical Grant Award Kirk Evens State Elks Vocational Grant Kirk Evens, Ben Johnson Supreme Emblem Club Tucker Hagerman Moose-Mary Anne Greseth Memorial Kylie Wallace Moose-Ginny Clark Memorial Hannah Pfundt Moose-W.T. Snyder Memorial Chauncy Sandhofer Petersburg Pilot Cody S...
Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association Inc., (NSRAA) will hold its annual Board of Directors meeting on March 2 and 3 starting at 9:00 a.m. on both days. The meeting will be held this year at the NSRAA Boardroom, 1308 Sawmill Creek Rd, in Sitka. The agenda will include operational plans, and consideration of the FY ’17 Budget. Copies of the agenda will be available in the NSRAA office, and online atwww.nsraa.org. Meetings are open to the public....
A plan to release millions of chum fry in Thomas Bay, a popular sport fishing area for Petersburg locals, was put on hold in early December until more information on the potential affects of the proposal can be gathered. The request from the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (NSRAA) was tabled by the Northern Regional Planning Team with a unanimous vote of 6-0. NSRAA General Manager Steve Reifenstuhl says concerns from local sport fisherman and multiple unknown factors motivated the decision of the planning team. Now NSRAA is... Full story
Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association, Inc., (NSRAA) will hold its Fall Board of Directors meeting at 9 am on Nov. 12 – 13 in the NSRAA conference room at 1308 Sawmill Creek Rd., Sitka. Meetings are open to the public. Copies of the agenda will be available in the NSRAA office....
July 24, 1915 – The Glacier Fish Company, which was organized by a number of substantial Tacoma business men about six months ago, has engaged Nels Nelson as buyer for this vicinity. Joseph Maddock, manager for the company, was a passenger for the north on the Admiral Watson last Monday evening. He was en route to Icy Straits, where the company has “The Glory of the Seas” stationed and fitted up as a cold storage plant. Mr. Maddock plans to stop over in Petersburg on his return south. The Tacoma company expects to do a considerable busin...
Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association Inc., (NSRAA) will hold its Annual Board of Directors meeting on March 11 and 12 starting 9 a.m. both days at DIPAC, 2697 Channel Drive, Juneau. The agenda will include operational plans and consideration of the FY'16 Budget. Copies of the agenda will be available in the NSRAA office in Sitka, on the website nsraa.org and on the two days of the meeting at DIPAC. Meetings are open to the public....
There has been an ebb and flow of boats in the harbor as the summer salmon season presses on. The Southeast drift gillnet fishery opened on July 6 with the challenge of overcoming a landslide on the Tahltan River in late May that caused a barrier to salmon passage. The Tahltan is a tributary of the Stikine and a major contributor to the Southeast gillnet fishery for sockeye, and the landslide there was thought to have caused a complete blockage to salmon passage, said Troy Thynes, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) biologist. To address... Full story
The Crystal Lake Hatchery began operation in Petersburg in 1973 and is one of the oldest operating hatcheries in southeast Alaska. “This hatchery was started as a sport fish hatchery,” Crystal Lake Hatchery Manager Loren Thompson explained. “It still is, it’s the only one in southeast Alaska.” According to the Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association, the facility was first stocked with Chinook from the Columbia River. Andrews Creek fish were used at the hatchery and spread from ther...
