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The call is out for products to compete in Alaska’s most celebrated seafood bash, and another new category has been added to the mix. For the 23rd year, the Symphony of Seafood in 2016 will showcase innovative new products that are entered both by major Alaska seafood companies and small ‘mom and pops’- such as last year’s top winner: Pickled Willy’s of Kodiak for their smoked black cod tips. All entries are judged privately by a panel of experts in several categories, based on the product’s packaging and presentation, overall eating expe...
There are a couple of rules anyone living under Marketa Ith's roof must follow, and one at the top of the list is–you must play a sport or be in an activity. David Chytil, 16, found this out when he moved in, but instead of getting upset, he jumped at the opportunity and began running cross country. Chytil is currently attending Petersburg High School on a 90-day student visa and living with Ith and her daughter Izabelle, until he returns home in mid-November. "It's quite short, maybe half a y...
If you have traveled past Farragut Bay during the past couple of years, you have probably noticed the white, almost ghostly looking trees heavily peppered among what was once healthy forest. Those are dead yellow cedar, and the remarkable thing about the dead trees-also known as snags-is they can remain standing for up to 100 years. The decline in yellow cedar came on the radar of the US Forest Service (USFS) in the 1980's, but USFS research plant pathologist Paul Hennon says the problem was...
Bering Sea crabbers are again facing the possibility of a delayed fishery as Congressional Republicans threaten to shut down the government, this time over federal funding of Planned Parenthood. A shutdown two years ago stalled the crab opener by two days, costing the fleet more than $5 million in food, fuel and other fees as the boats stood idly by for a week or more awaiting an outcome. “It was a huge mess last time,” said Mark Gleason, executive director of the trade group, Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers. “We have a very tight time frame – whe...
Preserving the local bounty harvested from the sea or the land, from the wild or from one's garden, is a great way to ensure you eat well over the winter months when markedly less is growing and the waters grow less enticing for a day out fishing. Much knowledge-from smoking salmon to canning berry jellies and jams-is passed on through friends and family who treasure and guard their secret recipes. For those wanting to try their hand at food preservation, there's another resource available to...
Student registration is well underway for the Petersburg School District, and so far the number of students signing up is encouraging for the Aug. 31 start of classes. "We've registered 18 new kids in the elementary that we weren't necessarily counting on," said Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter. "Upwards of 15 or 16 in high school, so that's great, it's great for the schools and the community." For Kludt-Painter, it marks her first year full year as Superintendent, and having 15 years of...
JUNEAU (AP) — The University of Alaska plans to eliminate or suspend a number of majors this year to deal with an ongoing budgetary squeeze on the state’s public universities. The university system has slated 31 academic programs for removal, including 21 at the University of Alaska Anchorage, the Juneau Empire reported. “Sometimes having three of something isn’t as good as having one strong something,’’ UA president candidate Jim Johnsen told the Juneau Empire. The university system has $15 million less to work with this fiscal year. The legis...
“Upcycling” seafood byproducts is the business model for Tidal Vision, a Juneau-based company of five entrepreneurs who are making waves with their line of aquatic leather and performance textiles. The start-up is making wallets, belts and other products from sheets of salmon skins using an all-natural, proprietary tanning formula from vegetable oils and other eco-friendly ingredients. “We can produce the same quality and durability products with no formaldehyde, no chrome based tanning chemicals or EPA regulated chemicals to dispose of. And we...
JUNEAU (AP) — Congress is picking up a bill that would create corporations for residents of five southeast Alaska communities left out of a landmark land settlement decades ago. The bill authored by U.S. Rep. Don Young went before the House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Wednesday, the southeast Alaska radio network CoastAlaska reported. The Alaska Republican chaired the hearing. Earlier this year, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, introduced similar legislation. Haines, Petersburg, Wrangell, Ketchikan and Tenakee were e...
University of Alaska Southeast Krissa Davis has been named to the Chancellor's List for Spring Semester 2015 at the University of Alaska Southeast....
It's a frustrating plant when out fishing, but the prickly devil's club won Petersburg's Sunny Rice second in a statewide Salmon Haiku Contest. Sponsored by The Salmon Project, a group focused on exploring the deep relationship Alaskans have with wild salmon, the second annual Salmon Haiku Contest ran from May 1 to May 15 and encouraged participants to express their understanding of salmon habitat through poetry. This year, over 1,000 entries submitted across Alaska were judged, said Emily...
WRANGELL - The next steps have been taken on an agreement between the University of Alaska Southeast and Wrangell Public School District, with the establishment of an office for the university's technical preparation program. The tech prep program is offered for college credit through the university, and courses are taught by approved instructors using UAS syllabi. Enrolled students earn high school credits needed for graduation as well, and school superintendent Patrick Mayer explained the...
Despite a mild winter, LeConte Glacier really hasn't receded or advanced much. Six Petersburg High School (PHS) students traveled by skiff and helicopter to survey the glacier on May 12 and mapped the data on May 18. "What we discovered this year, is the same as it's been the last four or five years," PHS science teacher Vic Trautman said. But the ice pack is thinning, according to University of Alaska Fairbanks studies. Trautman said they've seen a reduction in the serac, a block of glacial...
If you spend lots of time out on the water, you may, sooner than later, be seeing dolphins and porpoises you wouldn’t normally see this far north. Marine Mammal Specialist Kate Wynne, with the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program, went over common and upcoming cetacean species in Southeast Alaskan waters during the Petersburg Science Series Tuesday evening at the Public Library, speaking to a crowd of about 15. “Things are changing so much out in the ocean that I want to get you alerted to the fact that there are these other species tha...
Petersburg High School shop teacher Nick Popp took eight students to Sitka for a three-day welding performance exam April 15-17. All eight students passed at least two of three positions tested as part of the American Welding Society's steel plate credential. "It's a real-world test that a welder would take if they're going to work in a shipyard or work construction," Popp said. "It's not a written test, it's all just welding skills." Students were assessed on flat, vertical and overhead steel... Full story
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has proposed removing the majority of humpback whale populations from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing. The announcement came Monday when NOAA officials stated protection and restoration efforts over the past 40 years have led to an increase in numbers and growth rates for the mammals in many areas. The animal was first listed as endangered in 1970. "I'm extremely excited about it," said Fred Sharpe, a scientist for the Alaska...
Comments are still being accepted for the proposed Southeast State Forest Management Plan that has raised some concerns among Petersburg residents. The plan applies to lands designated by the Legislature in 2010 and 2011 as the Southeast State Forest, which has the primary purpose of timber management. It’s meant to guide long term management of the lands and identify policies to be followed. The plan includes a total of 4,467 acres in the Petersburg Management Area: 664 in the Rowan Bay Unit on Kuiu Island, 890 in the Frederick Point Unit, 1...
Chelsea Tremblay and Mary Koppes will have work featured in this year's edition of Tidal Echoes, a literary journal that showcases writers and artists in Southeast. Chelsea Tremblay's piece is titled “Home,” and Mary Koppes' piece is titled “The Shrinking Girl.” The journal is published by the University of Alaska Southeast....
It's a great opportunity to work with scientists and see what peers from other parts of the state are doing: four students from Petersburg High School are heading to the Alaska Statewide High School Science Symposium this weekend. The "fabulous four," as their AP (Advanced Placement) biology teacher Joni Johnson referred to them, have each completed their own experiments and made presentations based upon them. They presented their hypothesis and findings to an audience at the Petersburg Public L...
Lovers choose lobster as the top Valentine's Day dish to share with that special someone. Crab legs and shrimp also get the nod as 'romantic meals' on Feb. 14 - one of the busiest dining out days for U.S. restaurants. In a national survey by Harris Interactive, chefs called lobster an "exotic delicacy that results in an intimate moment because it is hand-held and shareable." In fact, respondents called all shellfish 'a catalyst for connection like no other food.' The links between seafood and...
Alaska still has its share of naysayers who will quibble about the seafood industry’s importance to our great state. They dismiss the fact that fishing was Alaska’s first industry and was fish that spawned the push to statehood. “The canned salmon plants started in the 1870s and by the early 20th century, canned salmon was the largest industry and generated 80% of the territorial tax revenues. It had a position in the state economy that oil enjoys today,” said fisheries historian Bob King. The fisheries that Alaska inherited from the federal...
January More than 600 Petersburg residents signed up for the borough's recycling program. The Petersburg Land Selection Committee requested the borough pursue legislative action regarding the State's calculation of land entitlement for the Petersburg Borough after the committee's determination that the State's selection of land was inadequate. The Petersburg School Board approved a $2.3 million exterior wall renovation project for the Rae C. Stedman Elementary School. Petersburg School District... Full story
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht gave the following report to the Assembly at Monday’s regular meeting: Power and Light is proposing the addition of a new capital project to add a high voltage switch immediately upstream of PFI. This will improve reliability and aid in power restoration after an outage. The project would include replacement of the overhead primary metering installation which is very close to school property. The Harbor Security/Fire Vessel electrical upgrade was successful bid out to Bear Electric Inc., which came in as the app...
Alaska seafood innovators are getting serious about ‘head to tail/inside and out’ usages of fish parts, and they see gold in all that gurry that ends up on cutting line floors. Fish oils, pet treats, animal feeds, gelatins, fish scales that put the shimmer in nail polish – “almost anything that can be made out of seafood byproducts has increased in value tremendously in the last few years,” said Peter Bechtel, a US Dept. of Agriculture researcher formerly at the University of Alaska. In today’s climate of planet consciousness “co-product...
Alaska is poised for some big fish stories next year based on predictions trickling in from state and federal managers. For the state’s (and nation’s) largest fishery - Alaska pollock - the Eastern Bering Sea stock has more than doubled its ten year average to top nine million tons, or 20 billion pounds. And the stock is healthy and growing, according to annual surveys. “It is one of the most stunning fisheries management successes on the planet,” exclaimed global market expert John Sackton when the pollock numbers were released by the (Seattl...
