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Silver Bay Seafoods and Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation (BBEDC) jointly announced Tuesday a partnership they say "will increase stability for Alaskan fishermen and communities reliant on seafoods processing operations," with Silver Bay acquiring Icicle Seafoods' 50% ownership stake in OBI Seafoods. The acquisition affects many processing facilities throughout Alaska, including Petersburg's OBI plant, one of the community's largest employers. According to the March 18 announcement, S... Full story
WRANGELL — Though it was important to pinpoint the exact location and extent of damage to the community’s wastewater outfall pipeline into Zimovia Strait, officials also discovered that the 12-inch plastic pipe and the seabed around it have become home to hundreds of sea cucumbers. “Over the years and years, wildlife has figured it out,” Tom Wetor, the borough’s Public Works director, said Sept. 26. Sea cucumbers, a bottom-dwelling invertebrate, proliferate around the nutrient-rich waters near the diffuser end of the outfall line, he said. “I...
April 3, 2024 At arraignment, defendant Samantha Mable Bean entered a not guilty plea to the misdemeanor charge of Assault in the fourth degree. Defendant was release on own recognizance. April 5, 2024 At a change of plea proceeding, Jessie Roundtree entered a guilty plea to Assault in the third degree and a guilty plea to Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the fifth degree. On July 26, 2024 he was sentenced to 730 days in jail with 695 days suspended and five years of probation. At a change of plea proceeding, Clyde Forest Brown...
Earlier this month the Alaska Department of Fish and Game notified the public of the verified expansion of invasive European green crab distribution in Alaska waters after finding 11 molted carapaces on the shore of Bostwick Inlet, Gravina Island on June 13. First found in Alaskan waters in July 2022, green crab are considered one of the top 100 worst invasive species globally by the International Union for Conservation and Nature due to their predatory tendencies and their rampant destruction...
Rodney Lee Anderson was born on el Día de los Muertos, November 2, 1965, in Davenport, Iowa, to Ronald Gene and Victoria Lee (Dawson) Anderson. His lifelong best friend and brother, Ronnie, was 21 months old and with Rodney's birth the family was complete. As a little boy Rodney showed an affinity for all animals, but he especially loved birds. He was mesmerized by them. Perhaps all those quiet hours of observation were the genesis of Rodney's unique sense of time. He was never in a hurry and... Full story
In January The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously voted to award the construction contract for the Blind Slough Hydroelectric refurbishment project to McG/Dawson Joint Venture for an amount not to exceed $5,744,000. The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved an ordinance in its first reading that would rezone a lot located at 10 N. 12th Street for commercial use. The rezoning was requested by the Petersburg Indian Association ahead of their prospective purchase of the lot, which h...
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...
Carl Edward Crome passed away on September 8, 2023 at United General Medical Center in Sedro-Woolley, Washington. Officially, he died of complications from Alzheimer’s-related dementia and heart disease. But really, he died of a broken heart because he couldn’t fish anymore. Carl is survived by his wife, Judy, his brother Donnie, his children Carl Hensen, James Hensen, Julie Bartholoma, Linda Jackson, Lara Stark, and Daniel Crome, as well as many, many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Car... Full story
After serving 44 years as plant manager, Dave Ohmer retired last Friday. Dave's grandfather, Earl Ohmer, co-founded Alaskan Glacier Seafood Co. in 1916. When Earl died in 1955 Dave's father, Dave P. Ohmer, continued the business, and in 1979 when his father passed away, the responsibility fell to Dave. Though it turned out to be his destiny, it hadn't been his plan. "I wanted to be a teacher," said Dave, when he sat down with the Pilot the day after his retirement. "My dad always wanted me to...
June 23, 2023 Superior Court Judge Katherine Lybrand presided over a change of plea proceeding in State of Alaska v. Gordon Lyons. The defendant entered a guilty plea to the charge of Assault 4 and was sentenced to 90 days jail with all but time served suspended, a fine of $1,500 with $1,000 suspended, police and jail surcharges, two years probation, orders not to consume or possess alcohol, orders to obtain a behavioral health evaluation, and have no contact with victim. The state has 90 days to file for restitution. June 27, 2023 Magistrate...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced last week that the length of the 2023-24 commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Southeast would not be reduced, following its calculation of the full season harvest estimate. Based on landing and effort data from the first week of the summer fishery, which opened on June 15, the department is projecting a preliminary full season harvest estimate of 3.39 million pounds of crab. That estimate exceeds the 2.25 million-pound threshold required to have a complete season. “I'm not hearing a lot from fish...
Metlakatla Indian Community Mayor Albert Smith wants everyone to spread the word-the invasive European green crab has arrived on the shores of Annette Island and their arrival spells trouble. Southeast Alaska's abundant estuaries and tidal salt marshes are ideal for the predatory and destructive little crabs to become established, as they have along much of the Pacific Northwest's coast. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the number of green crabs caught in the Pug...
Less than five years ago, prospects appeared bright for Bering Sea crab fishers. Stocks were abundant and healthy, federal biologists said, and prices were near all-time highs. Now two dominant crab harvests have been canceled for lack of fish. For the first time, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in October canceled the 2022-2023 harvest of Bering Sea snow crab, and it also announced the second consecutive year of closure for another important harvest, that of Bristol Bay red king crab. What has happened between then and now? A sustained... Full story
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced last Thursday that the commercial Dungeness crab fall season in Southeast Alaska will have a normal length. The length of the fall season was determined after an analysis revealed that an above-average proportion of male legal-sized soft-shelled Dungeness crabs discarded in the first week of the summer season contributed to the full season harvest projection failing to meet the management plan threshold according to Region I Lead Shellfish...
This summer's commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Southeast was cut short by about two weeks due to low harvest projections and is set to end this Saturday according to Joe Stratman, a shellfish biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The season length is determined by a full season harvest estimate based on pounds landed and permits fished during the first week of the current season along with what percentage of the previous season's total harvest was taken within the first week...
Shellfish hatcheries could be in Alaska's future, under legislation recently signed into law. The measure allows the Department of Fish and Game to manage shellfish enhancement and restoration projects. Restoration projects are designed to bring a struggling stock back to a self-sustaining level, while enhancement projects would boost the stock to allow for commercial harvest. The new laws give the department another tool to address declining shellfish stock, such as red and blue king crab, sea...
Claira Sallenbach had talked with friends about making her first hunting trip to caribou country this fall, but when her long-lining season continued into November she thought the opportunity had passed. Then a second chance arose when a friend and her friend's husband, Mark, invited Sallenbach to come for Thanksgiving and try to chase caribou in Cold Bay. A couple weeks prior, Mark had gotten into a small herd and had taken a nice bull. Okay, that's an understatement, the bull's antlers were bi... Full story
January The assembly approved of a COVID-19 dashboard which tracked cases in the community. Local businesses received a total of $15.08 million in aid in the first round of COVID-19 aid released through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. PMC vaccinated approximately 350 residents aged 65 or older at a vaccine drive in the community gym. PMC was given permission by the borough to apply for a second PPP loan totaling $1.8 million. PMC applied and received a loan of...
It’s hard to believe, but Dungeness crab in the Gulf of Alaska is now Alaska’s largest crab fishery – a distinction due to the collapse of stocks in the Bering Sea. Combined Dungeness catches so far from Southeast and the westward region (Kodiak, Chignik and the Alaska Peninsula) totaled over 7.5 million pounds as the last pots were being pulled at the end of October. Ranking second is golden king crab taken along the Aleutian Islands with a harvest by four boats of about 6 million pounds. For snow crab, long the Bering Sea’s most product...
Salmon season in Southeast Alaska is wrapping up in a year that has seen an estimated 58 million fish harvested according to Troy Thynes, regional management coordinator for commercial fisheries with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The final numbers for fish tickets are still preliminary, but, of the estimated harvest, pink salmon was the clear leader with 48.2 million fish. It was also 41% higher than the recent 10-year average. "The main thing is the pink salmon run came in a lot stron...
The 2021-2022 Dungeness crab harvest is predicted to total 4.23 million pounds, over two million less than the last harvest, according to Joe Stratman, the lead shellfish biologist for region one with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Numbers released so far include the harvest data for the 2021 Dungeness crab summer season in Registration Area A, which is comprised of the inside waters of Southeast Alaska. The commercial Dungeness fishery summer season totaled 3.09 million pounds...
Aug. 3 – Benjamin Berkley, Jr. was arraigned on charges of trapping out of season. The defendant entered a no contest plea and was fined $500 with $250 suspended, a $20 surcharge and the traps were forfeited to the State. Michael E. Nissell was arraigned on charges of violating conditions of release. The defendant entered a not guilty plea and was released O.R. with conditions. Aug. 27 – A no contact order was lifted against Robert Erickson and he was permitted to return to his residence. An SL2 device was ordered and activated. Aug. 31 — Paul...
Unlike in the Bering Sea, there's good news for crab in the Gulf of Alaska. A huge cohort of Tanner crab that biologists have been tracking in the Westward region for three years showed up again in this summer's survey. "We were optimistic and we did find them again. Pretty much all the way across the board from Kodiak all the way out to False Pass we found those crab and in good quantity," said Nat Nichols, area manager for the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game at Kodiak. The bairdi Tanners are...
Alaska's Bering Sea crabbers are reeling from the devastating news that all major crab stocks are down substantially, based on summer survey results, and the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery will be closed for the first time in over 25 years. That stock has been on a steady decline for several years and the 2020 harvest dwindled to just 2.6 million pounds. Most shocking was the drastic turn-around for snow crab stocks, which in 2018 showed a 60% boost in market sized male crabs (the only ones...
Breakthrough COVID-19 cases found in Alaska April 30 Between Feb. 1 and March 31, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services identified 152 positive cases of COVID-19 among people in the state who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a report from DHSS. About 74 percent of the vaccine breakthrough cases, or 112 individuals, were among people who had received the Pfizer vaccine, according to the report. Thirty-eight percent of the breakthrough cases had received the Moderna... Full story
