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Preliminary harvest and value figures for the 2017 commercial salmon fishery indicate the season was a step up above the previous year's disastrous harvest. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reported a 66.7-percent increase in exvessel value between the two years, with 224.6 million wild salmon worth around $678.8 million brought in by the state's fishing fleet. Chum salmon saw the biggest boon of the year, breaking records with 25.2 million fish, worth about $128.3 million. The haul...
Cases appearing before Judge Magistrate Burrell: Oct. 10 — James Donald Polwarth was charged with making false statement on license or application. The court found the defendant did not meet State residency requirements and sentenced him to a $300 fine with $200 suspended plus a $10 surcharge. Probation was imposed for six months. Donald Peeler appeared on a charge of over limit pots for Dungeness crab. After entering a no contest plea, the court sentenced Peeler to a fine of $1,500, $10 surcharge and ordered forfeiture of his fish ticket. The...
Sept. 18 — Thomas McKeowen III was arraigned on a charge of criminal trespass. The defendant entered a not guilty plea before Judge Magistrate Burrell and was released OR with conditions, including seeking counseling with PMHS. Sept. 20 — Sebastian Lima appeared before Judge Magistrate Burrell on a charge of assault in the 4th degree domestic violence. After entering a not guilty plea, the defendant was released OR with conditions. Sept. 25 — Jason Ratliff entered a not guilty plea before Judge Carey on a charge of criminal mischief in the 3...
Alaska’s salmon season is nearly a wrap but fall remains as one of the fishing industry’s busiest times of the year. For salmon, the catch of 213 million has surpassed the forecast by nine million fish. Highpoints for this season are a statewide sockeye catch topping 50 million for the tenth time in history (37 million from Bristol Bay), and one of the best chum harvests ever at more than 22 million fish. The total 2017 salmon catches and values by Alaska region will be released by state fishery managers in November. Hundreds of boats are now f...
Aug. 10 — Judge Magistrate Burrell granted an exparte protective order against Thomas McKeon. Darci Lin Cook was granted a stalking petition against Samuel Jackson. A long-term hearing date was set for Aug. 25. Aug. 11 — Superior Court Judge Carey granted third party custody of Kenneth L. Birch, 36, to James Birch, the defendant’s father, on a 24/7 basis. Birch is charged with two counts of sexual assault. Aug. 16 — Beth Moreland entered a not guilty plea to charges of assault in the 4th degree. Judge Magistrate Burrell released the defenda...
WRANGELL — One of Wrangell’s two seafood processors has drawn down production early for the season due to lower than expected returns this summer. Updated twice daily, on Tuesday the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Blue Sheet reported just over 143 million salmon have been harvested statewide, though numbers were not available for the Bristol Bay, Kuskokwim and Aleutian Islands districts. Seventy-four percent of these are pink salmon, with over 106 million already reported in. Coming off of last year’s season – declared a “disaster...
While that may sound like a bad thing, it’s great news for Alaska seafood and anyone doing business overseas. “It’s a good thing for Alaska seafood producers because roughly two-thirds of the value of our seafood comes from export markets. So when our currency is less valuable, the prices are not as high for foreign buyers,” said Andy Wink, senior fisheries economist with the McDowell Group. It’s a turn-around for a strong dollar that has for several years made Alaska seafood very pricey for prime customers of Japan, Europe and the UK. Now t...
PETERSBURG — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced August 15, that the 2017/2018 commercial Dungeness crab fall fishing season in Registration Area A (Southeastern Alaska) will be reduced in duration. All waters open to commercial Dungeness fishing in SE Alaska will open at 8:00 a.m. on Sun., October 1 and will close at 11:59 p.m. on Tues., October 31, 2017. In accordance with the Southeastern Alaska Dungeness Crab Management Plan [5 AAC 32.146(3)], the department has completed an analysis of the incidence of legal-size male s...
July 27 — Judge Magistrate Burrell recommended the Superior Court grant a default divorce for Thimothy A. and Tierra L. Nichols. Davis Dondi Estes entered a not guilty plea to charges of theft in the 4th degree. The defendant was released OR with conditions. Aug. 3 — Courtney Alexander Brown was arraigned before Judge Magistrate Burrell on a charge of Failure to Appear. $250 bail was imposed. Brown was originally charged with Disorderly Conduct. A summons was issued to Hassen Roodwan for Failure to Appear for an Aug. 1 court hearing. A $250 arr...
“It’s time for a checkup from the neck up” – meaning an industry time out to evaluate fishing operations and behaviors, advises Jerry Dzugan, director of the Sitka-based Alaska Marine Safety Education Association for over 30 years. Dzugan was speaking in response to the 11 fishing deaths that have occurred in Alaska so far this year. It’s the most in 13 years and follows a 76 percent decrease in commercial fishing fatalities since the 1980s. “The causes are still capsizing, sinkings, swampings and man overboards (MOBs). They haven’t cha...
It’s been a fairly good start to the summer for king salmon fishermen. The first opening of that troll season started on July 1, abruptly ending by emergency order just before midnight on July 4. The order was based on preliminary catch rate and effort data. “It looks like we did take the target harvest,” reported Grant Hagerman, ADFG’s region troll management biologist in Sitka. That target is 63,000 non-Alaska hatchery fish, as laid out by the Pacific Salmon Treaty signed with Canada. A total of approximately 26,000 Chinook and 550 landings h...
Robots are cutting up snow crabs in Canada, a sign of things to come in the seafood processing industry. Overall, seafood processing has a relatively small robotic involvement compared to other sectors. Robots have yet to make it into any of Alaska’s 176 fish processing shops, but the lure of reduced production costs, increased fish quality and crews of worker-bots is turning the tide. The CBC reports that the world’s first crab plant robot began work this spring in a plastic chamber about the size of a shipping container in remote Newfoundland...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced June 29 that the 2017/2018 commercial Dungeness crab summer fishing season in Southeastern Alaska will be reduced in duration. In accordance with the Southeastern Alaska Dungeness Crab Management Plan, the department has projected total season harvest based on landings and effort data from the first full week of fishing. The projection indicates that total season harvest will not exceed 2.25 million pounds, but will fall near the lower end of the range. The commercial Dungeness crab summer...
A panel of marine mammal specialists fielded questions last week on how fishermen should interact and deter endangered species like whales and sea lions. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Juneau gave a presentation that included law review under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and different strategies to take when around humpback whales, sperm whales and steller sea lions. The underscored theme of the presentation was to stress that laws created under the MMPA are not to...
Want a fishing license to crew on a salmon boat this summer? Got friends or family visiting who want to wet a line for a prized Alaska catch? Don’t count on it. If the Alaska legislature continues to defy its constitutional obligation to pass a budget, those opportunities will be lost because there won’t be any state workers to issue fishing licenses. Layoff notices went out on June 1 to thousands of state employees who will be off the job at the July 1 start of the fiscal year. That’s just one of the lesser impacts of the legislative impasse,...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that the 2017/2018 commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Southeastern Alaska will be opening as scheduled at 8 a.m. on June 15. Dungeness crab fishermen must register their vessels and applicable gear with the department. The holder of a valid 2017 Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission permit for Southeastern Alaska Dungeness crab must be onboard the vessel during fishing operations and the permit holder’s name must be listed on the vessel registration. Buoy tags must be purchased prior to f...
Puppy Love will soon be putting more people to work in Seldovia, a town of less than 300 people at the tip of the Kenai Peninsula. The love comes in the form of salmon pet treats, formerly made in Anchorage and now ready to come home, thanks to funding from the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. “The goal was always to come back to Seldovia,” said Brendan Bieri, Chief Operating Officer ofSeldovia Wild Seafoods. “It’s a value-added product, so it’s not like we’re processing and putting it on ice and shipping it...
It was a rough salmon season at most Alaska regions this summer, with Bristol Bay being the big exception. While sockeye catches exceeded expectations, all other species came up short. But salmon stakeholders can take heart that the fish is moving swimmingly to market. “The demand is there. The world still recognizes that this is the best place to go for the highest quality salmon, including pinks,” said Tyson Fick, Communications Director for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. “Sales have been brisk this fall,” added Tom Sunderl...
Aug. 24 Pamela Stewart appeared before Magistrate Judge Burrell for arraignment on a DUI. Stewart entered a not guilty plea, and a trial call is set for Nov. 8. Aug. 25 Magistrate Judge Burrell issued a bench warrant for Charles Sterling. Sterling was charged with multiple crimes in July, including domestic violence, and violating the conditions of release. Patrick O”Brien appeared before Magistrate Judge Burrell for a representation hearing. O”Brien is charged with two counts of assault with a weapon in the third degree, and one count of mis...
It surprises many people across the state that fall is one of the busiest times for Alaska”s fishing industry from the Panhandle to the Bering Sea. As salmon season gets tucked away, hundreds of boats of all gear types are still out on the water, or gearing up for even more openers in just a few weeks. Here”s a sampler: Longliners have taken 82 percent of their 17 million pound halibut catch quota with three million pounds left to go by the November 7 close of that eight month fishery. Homer, which bills itself as the nation”s top halibut port,...
Two big fish stories have been spawned so far by the 2016 Alaska salmon season: 1) sockeyes save the day; and 2) colossal pinks. A larger than expected sockeye salmon catch that has topped 50 million will salvage a summer that has seen lackluster catches of other salmon species, notably, those hard to predict pinks. “I think if you’re a Bristol Bay fisherman, you’re probably pretty happy, and if you fished anywhere else in the state, it probably hasn’t been a great season for you,” said Forrest Bowers, deputy director of commercial fisheries...
Salmon takes center stage each summer but many other fisheries also are in full swing from Ketchikan to Kotzebue. For salmon, total catches by July 8 were nearing 28 million fish, of which 10 million were sockeyes, primarily from Bristol Bay. Last week marked the catch of the two billionth sockeye from the Bay since the fishery began in 1884. Other salmon highlights: Southeast trollers wrapped up their first Chinook opener in just five days on July 5, with the preliminary catch estimated at around 80,000 fish. Fish tickets are still being...
Petersburg entrepreneur Mindy Anderson won $40,000 in the Path to Prosperity competition that aims to promote local business and sustainability across Southeast Alaska. Anderson, who's been operating The Salty Pantry out of her home selling homemade artisan breads, sea salts and other dry goods, will soon open a restaurant cafe and is currently looking at a commercial space downtown. Anderson, along with 11 other Southeast Alaskans, participated in a "business boot camp" last September in... Full story
No oil revenue, what are we to do...taxes coming soon? We'll have to plow the roads ourselves, but not all's doom and gloom The IFA will come someday and maybe a pretty new jail For now we'll use the drive down dock or hike up the Raven's Roost Trail! Where'd the salmon go? Who'll buy Icicle? What a season here Plenty of halibut, where's the dungeness, lots of shrimp appeared Pass those pickled herring 'round, let's all be merry and bright For Hobart Bay is ours today 'cause Brennan beat...
Alaskans are being asked to weigh in on two tough issues: budgets and halibut bycatch. First off, the state Boards of Fish and Game are asking for ideas on cutting costs within their annual meeting cycles, as well as for the state agencies involved with providing all of the backup information to the boards. Both boards include seven members which are appointed by the governor and approved by the Alaska legislature for three year terms. The Fish Board’s role is to conserve and develop the fishery resources for the state’s subsistence, com...
