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Commercial red king crab fishermen in Southeast Alaska are getting a competitive fishery this year, the state Department of Fish and Game announced last week. The fishery starts Nov. 1. It’s the second year in a row that the fishery will open, after several years of not having one. Adam Messmer, regional shellfish biologist for the department, said it’s the first time since 2001-03 that the region is getting a consecutive fishery. “So, you know, 20-plus years since we’ve had fisheries back to back,” Messmer said. There needs to be at least 200...
"Great news," said Anna Belback, a natural resource technician with the U.S. Forest Service Wrangell Ranger District. Surveyors have not found any invasive European green crabs in their shoreline walks and traps on the northwest coast of Etolin Island. Even more good news: None of the destructive crabs have been found around Anan Bay either, reported Paul Robbins, public affairs officer for the Tongass National Forest. "It was really good habitat in general for crabs that like intertidal areas,"...
Summer is coming to a close, the kids are back in school, the Xtratufs are on and September has arrived. That can mean only one thing: The moose hunting season is upon us. The season for the Wrangell and Petersburg area kicks off Sept. 15 and will run until Oct. 15. So hunters will have exactly one month to bag their moose. Those looking to participate must get a valid hunting permit for the area they’ll be hunting. “First off, they want to get an RM 038 permit that covers Unit 3 and 1B for most people going up the Stikine River,” said Wrang...
WRANGELL — Crab fishing is practically synonymous with Alaska, but in recent years the Dungeness crab fishery has become less reliable. Many say that recovered sea otter populations are responsible for the decline. Now, after the summer commercial Dungeness season closed 20 days early, the borough is seeking solutions to support fishermen and push for more otter management. At its Aug. 25 meeting, the Wrangell Borough Assembly voted unanimously to declare a local disaster as a result of the early closure of the summer Dungeness fishery. This i...
Heath Whitacre was at home chopping wood when he noticed he had a bunch of missed calls. Whitacre is a trained volunteer for the Petersburg Marine Mammal Center, a local volunteer-run nonprofit that helps rescue and respond to distressed wildlife. His teammates were trying to get a hold of him because there was a two-year-old whale entangled in a gillnet in Frederick Sound near Petersburg. It was about 11:00 a.m. on July 28. "A lot of the members of the team work during the daytime," he said,... Full story
Pink salmon - the backbone of Petersburg's seine fleet - have finally started to show up last over the past week, after what state biologists were comparing to the poorest early returns on the books. "Pink salmon's been, up until this last week - in particular Sunday - pretty poor so far," Troy Thynes, the Southeast Alaska management coordinator for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, told the Pilot. He described strong escapement and harvest in District 13 near Sitka, and a dramatic jump in...
Jake and Bailey Quigley are an adventurous couple. Seasoned mountain bikers and former van lifers, they have a strong history with the outdoors. One of their travels brought them to Whistler, Canada, where the coastal views wowed them. They wondered if people traveled these waters. "[The trip] just kind of sparked a little bit of research online. We were in Whistler Village when I had found [Susan Marie Conrad's] book, and picked it up and read it right away, and that just clicked a switch that...
Coho: Coho salmon fishing is just beginning, with coho catches being recorded in the area. Each week we expect to see more. The dry weather has left the streams low. A good shot of rain would help to bring the coho into freshwater. Now is a good time to troll for coho in saltwater. Sumner Strait has seen more coho than Frederick Sound so far, but this could change quickly. Communities on the outside waters have started seeing coho in numbers, which means we should see them here on the inside waters soon. If you are a land-based angler, there...
After a few hours, a volunteer group freed a humpback whale that was entangled in a gillnet near Petersburg around 6:30 p.m. A humpback whale was entangled in a gillnet in the Wrangell Narrows near Petersburg. A local response team on the water said the whale is likely two years old and was first spotted yesterday in Frederick Sound, with the net attached to its fluke. The nonprofit Petersburg Marine Mammal Center worked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to coordinate a... Full story
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish, is opening the entirety of Blind Slough to king salmon retention and increasing harvest opportunity. The following regulations will be in effect for the Blind Slough/Wrangell Narrows Terminal Harvest Area from 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 18, through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, August 15, 2026: Resident Anglers: 3 king salmon per day, 3 in possession, any size, no annual limit; Nonresident Anglers: 2 king salmon per day, 2 in possession, any size, no annual limit; the area upstream of a...
July 9, 2026— King Salmon: King salmon fishing in the Wrangell Narrows/Blind Slough Terminal Harvest Area (THA) has gone quite well. If you have not given it a try, you should get out there as the king season is winding down. While we are past the peak fishing time, there are still bright kings moving into the system. The area open to king salmon retention outside of the THA has also seen decent catches. If looking to target wild king salmon, an angler in the Wrangell could fish Steamer Pt, Earnest Sound, or Bradfield Canal. If starting from P...
Invasive European Green Crabs first showed up in Alaska on July 19, 2022, and have been slowly but surely advancing north, with Etolin Island just south of Wrangell being their northernmost sighting. Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program Agent Sunny Rice and her Community Engaged Fellowship intern Bergen Kludt-Painter checked traps kept on Mitkof Island on July 2, 2026 to see if any European Green Crabs had arrived. To their relief, there were no Green Crab in the traps at Woodpecker Cove....
HAINES — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game last week increased the king salmon take allowed for non-resident anglers this summer, in response, department officials say, to lower-than-expected harvest. Previously, non-residents across Southeast had been permitted to keep one king salmon from July 1 onward. With the new regulations, non-residents will be permitted two, with king salmon caught before July 1 counted toward that limit. The new regulations make no changes to other user groups; resident anglers may keep two king salmon per day w...
Southeast Alaska's summer commercial Dungeness crab season will close three weeks early, after Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Dungeness harvest estimate came in the lowest in at least 25 years. ADF&G announced Monday, June 29, that the 2026/27 summer season will close at 11:59 p.m. Saturday, July 25, after allowing a total of 40 days of fishing. Crab gear must be removed from the water entirely by 11:59 p.m. Aug. 1, though pots may be stored in closed waters for up to seven days if all...
Jane Smith reeled in this hefty king salmon this week off the coast of Prince of Wales Island. It weighed in at 42 pounds and was caught from the Helmisu, a boat once owned by Petersburg fishing legend Gordon Jensen. Jane Smith and Scott Roberge bought the vessel from Sue Paulson, daughter of old-time Petersburg icons Gordon and Helmi Jensen....
King Salmon King salmon fishing in the Wrangell Narrows/Blind Slough Terminal Harvest Area (THA) is going well, with many anglers reporting early catches. We have creel technicians both on the docks and out at Blind Slough. A few minutes of your time may be asked for to record your catch and effort. If you caught a fish, it may be sampled by one of our technicians. This information helps support healthy and sustainable fisheries. Harvest should increase over the next few weeks throughout the THA, usually peaking around the third week in June....
King Salmon: King salmon fishing began on May 15 in the Wrangell Narrows/Blind Slough Terminal Harvest Area (THA), where Alaska hatchery-produced king salmon are returning. We will have a creel technician on the docks starting this weekend, asking anglers about their catch and taking biological samples. I have heard of king salmon being caught in the saltwater portion of the THA. I have not heard of a king salmon being caught in the freshwater portion (Blind Slough), where we have a creel technician this summer, but I have heard the trout...
Sport fishing on a popular slough south of Petersburg is open to all anglers this summer. Recreational anglers can harvest hatchery-produced king salmon in the Wrangell Narrows-Blind Slough Terminal Harvest Area from May 15 to Aug. 15. The area includes a stretch of the Wrangell Narrows saltwater and the Blind Slough freshwater that the salmon travel through when instinctually returning to the Crystal Lake Hatchery upstream. Resident anglers can harvest up to two king salmon a day of any size.... Full story
The federal government has rejected a request to list three populations of Gulf of Alaska king salmon as endangered, according to a public notice scheduled for publication on Thursday. The listing was requested in 2024 by a Washington state conservation group amid long-term declines in king salmon numbers in Alaska. If the listing had been approved, it could have resulted in new limits on development in Alaska as well as major restrictions on commercial, sport and personal-use fishing in the state. State officials opposed the listing, and in a... Full story
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish, announced the sport fishing regulations for Alaska hatchery-produced king salmon in the areas near Petersburg and Wrangell. Anita Bay Terminal Harvest Area, described as the waters of Anita Bay south and west of a line from Anita Point to 56° 14.26' N. lat., 132° 23.92' W. long. The following regulations will be in effect Monday, June 1, through Sunday, June 14, 2026: Residents: Bag and possession limit of two king salmon greater than 28 inches in length; Nonresident: Bag and p...
Steller sea lions are an everyday sight on "the red can" navigation buoy at the north end of the Wrangell Narrows, but seeing a newborn sea lion pup on the can, like this one observed around a week ago, is very unusual. Typically sea lions whelp their pups on land at rugged remote sites known as rookeries where they can more easily avoid predators and human disturbance....
Sport anglers in Southeast Alaska can fish more Chinook (king) salmon this year than last year, with a daily bag limit of two fish for residents. Any wild king salmon harvested by sport anglers must be at least 28 inches in length. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game this week announced updated sport fishing regulations for the region that went into effect April 1. Jeff Rice, a state biologist for the Petersburg/Wrangell area, said the updated regulations in place for the fishery are "more...
The Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery remained open Monday in the south end of Sitka Sound, although fishing has slowed to a standstill, the Department of Fish and Game announced. Spawning activity also appear to have slowed, with 30.6 nautical miles of spawn measured as of this morning, biologists said. No commercial harvest was recorded for Friday, Saturday or Sunday, and the total caught to date remained at 6,555 tons. Fish and Game opened the fishery over the weekend in Deep Inlet, and from Cape Burunof to Cape Aspid, on the southernmost...
The 2026 regionwide harvest limits for Chinook salmon announced Tuesday by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game represent a rebound from the rock bottom limits set in 2025. This year, all fishermen in Southeast Alaska can catch a total 205,300 treaty Chinook salmon – fish that didn’t originate in Alaska hatcheries – the department said in the announcement. State fishery managers use their harvest target for treaty Chinook to set catch limits for treaty Chinook in the sport and commercial fisheries. This year's harvest target for South...
