Sorted by date Results 326 - 350 of 362
“Thank you” to emergency responders To the Editor: The motto for Alaska’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is, ‘Neighbor Helping Neighbor’ and in the past several weeks, I’ve been able to witness communities walking the walk, not just talking the talk. Recently, a child was murdered in the village of Kake. Responding to the call for help, the Kake EMS and the community responded to one of the most dreadful scenes imaginable. In the wake of the event, resources flooded into Kake to help with the psychological and physical trauma surrounding...
Volunteers are needed to test drive some new money-saving methods for ‘do it yourself’ energy audits on fishing boats. “Just as with a home audit where you try and understand where your energy is going, you can learn how your vessel is consuming energy and find places where it might be wasted or not used as efficiently as possible, and frankly, most fishing vessels are not very energy efficient,” said Terry Johnson, a marine advisor with Alaska Sea Grant in Anchorage. Johnson is part of a team working on a three year project to find ways to red...
Halibut catches weren’t slashed as badly as people feared, although they still continue on a downward trend – and the outlook is grim. A coast wide catch of 31 million pounds was approved on Friday by the International Pacific Halibut Commission, a decline of 7.5 percent from last year, and far better than the 30% cut that was widely anticipated. Alaska’s share of the Pacific catch is 23 million pounds, down 2.5 million pounds across the board. The IPHC commissioners, three from the US and three from Canada, each said the 2013 annual meeti... Full story
Fishing groups, consumers and health organizations are launching a final push to prevent genetically modified fish from getting the nod for American dinner plates. During the holidays the Food and Drug Administration issued its environmental assessment concluding that the fish, tweaked to grow at least three times faster than normal, will not have any significant impacts on the human environment and is unlikely to harm wild stocks. The FDA’s environmental green light is the last step before AquaBounty, the creators of so called Frankenfish, c...
There’s lots of movement in Alaska’s salmon permit markets, but sales of catch shares are in a stall. Permit values are up and down depending on region, and interest reflects how the salmon runs have been coming in. For example at Bristol Bay, where sockeye runs for two years have been down and another lackluster season is expected this summer, salmon drift permit values have nosedived from a $165,000 high water mark in 2011 to around $90,000 now. “It’s hard to imagine they will go up a lot with a catch forecast of 16 to 17 million salmon...
Alaska’s seafood industry worked hard this year to ramp up its message to policy makers, especially those from rail belt regions who tend to overlook the industry’s economic significance. How important is the seafood industry to Alaska and the nation? At a glance: nearly 60% of all U.S. seafood landings come from Alaska and 96% of all wild- caught salmon. Seafood is by far Alaska’s #1 export, valued $2.4 billion last year. Alaska ranks 9th in the world in terms of global seafood production. The seafood industry is second only to Big Oil in re...
January An elderly man was hit by a vehicle while crossing the street at Gjoa and Nordic Drive. The gentleman was crossing inside the crosswalk and was grazed by the vehicle’s mirror as it passed. The victim was thrown approximately 20 feet. He was on crutches at the time. Rock-N-Road Construction was granted a contract to demolish the Romiad Building to make room for the new library. The building was demolished for $22,499. The Petersburg City Council discussed condemning LeConte RV Park for s... Full story
Making some easy changes to a boat’s deck lay out, or simply modifying knives and scrapers can reduce the strains, sprains and pains of fishing. Doing so is applying the science of ergonomics. “Ergonomics is the science of adapting your workplace, your tools, equipment and work methods to be more efficient and comfortable and error free by humans. It’s basically how a human body interacts with their work environment, ”explained Jerry Dzugan, director of the Sitka-based the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA). AMSEA is using a...
Ask an Alaskan what community is home to the most commercial fishermen and they will respond Kodiak or Dutch Harbor, or maybe Petersburg or Bristol Bay. Wrong Anchorage ranks #1 for total fishing participation, with 994 permit holders and another 1,216 crew license holders who fish year round. The Anchorage–based fishermen brought home an estimated $52 million from the fishing grounds last year. The Mat-Su Valley with 396 permit holders and 420 fishing crew also is home to more harvesters than many coastal regions. Those are just a few of t...
Halibut catches could be cut by 33 percent next year if proposed numbers get the nod by the International Pacific Halibut Commission next month. That would mean a coast wide harvest of just 22.7 million pounds for fisheries in California, Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alaska. Alaska’s share of the halibut catch would be 17.4 million pounds, down from about 25 million this year. Unlike past years, staff scientists are not making catch limit recommendations by separate areas. Instead, they are providing “assessment and advice framework...
Alaska’s salmon harvest and value for 2012 came in well below last year, dropping 21 percent and 30 percent, respectively. According to preliminary state tallies, the value of the salmon catch totaled nearly $506 million at the docks this summer on a statewide catch of 124 million fish. That compares to a 2011 take of 177 million salmon valued at just over $641 million. A breakdown shows that the 2012 Chinook harvest of 333,000 was worth $17.6 million; sockeyes came in at 35.2 million valued at nearly $246 million; the coho catch of 3 m...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — State researchers looking for answers to Alaska's diminishing king salmon returns were urged Tuesday to take a look at the critical days after smolt leave fresh water and to closely examine how humans may affect salmon in marine waters. “The two leading hypotheses for things that might cause declines of chinook salmon in the ocean are climate change and fishing,” said retired University of Washington fisheries biologist Kate Myers. She was part of a panel that spoke at the state's two-day Alaska Chinook Salmon Symposium, organ...
State fishery managers are asking for input from Alaskans to help solve the case of disappearing king salmon. A letter went out last week from Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Cora Campbell inviting stakeholders to a two day symposium in Anchorage later this month titled ‘Understanding Abundance and Productivity Trends of Chinook salmon in Alaska.’ The stated goal is ‘to increase understanding and develop the most complete research plan possible.’ A draft analysis by a newly appointed fisheries research team represents initial...
October is National Seafood Month – and it also marks the start of one of the busiest months for Alaska’s fishing industry. The state’s biggest crab fisheries get underway in the Bering Sea on October 15 – the Bristol Bay red king crab catch will hold steady at 7.8 million pounds, while the snow crab harvest has taken a dip to 66.3 million pounds, down from about 80 million pounds last season. The St. Matthew Island blue king crab fishery is also down a bit to 1.6 million pounds. Hundreds of divers in Southeast Alaska are plying the depths...
Dutch Harbor-Unalaska held onto the title of the nation’s top fishing port for the 15th year in a row, with over 700 million pounds of fish and crab crossing the docks there last year, a 36% increase from 2010. New Bedford, Massachusetts remained as the priciest port with landings, mostly scallops, worth nearly $370 million at the docks. Dutch Harbor ranked second again for seafood value at $207 million, an increase of $44 million The numbers come from the annual Fisheries of the United States Report just released by NOAA Fisheries. Overall, t...
Alaska fishermen are feeling the squeeze of lower prices at the same time that their operating costs continue to spiral upwards. For halibut, in a reversal of trend and fortune, prices have dropped by 70 cents a pound in recent weeks. Dock prices usually peak from September until the halibut fishery closes in November, but that is not the case this year -- overstocked freezers and resistance from buyers have put a downward press on fish prices. “Buyers simply aren’t buying,” said several Alaska fish processors. Prior to the start of the seaso...
As Alaska’s salmon season winds down, selling the bulk of the harvest gears up for seafood companies that purchased the pack. “This is the season for negotiations, you might say,” said salmon guru Gunnar Knapp, longtime fisheries economist at the University of Alaska/Anchorage. “You never know the price until the product is actually sold.” The salmon season runs on different tracks starting with sockeye, and fish sales have varying schedules and market patterns throughout the year. Plus, salmon markets depend on the species and how they are...
August 25, 1982- General Construction not only is dredging the new small boat harbor for almost $1 million less than the state had anticipated; but it expects to complete the dredging and construction of the parking lot in December-six months before deadline. Work began Monday morning on the first phase of the new small boat harbor construction. Approximately 420,000 cubic yards of material will be dredged from the Narrows in between Alaska Island Air’s float and the new boat harbor, then transported to Frederick Sound for disposal. General C...
Kodiak fishermen are a happy lot, but they are also anxious about the future of their industry. Those are some of the early findings of an ongoing survey that focuses on the social and cultural perceptions of the fishing life in Kodiak and how things have changed over two decades. The survey is part of a multiyear project titled Social Transitions and Wellbeing in Kodiak Fisheries and Communities by Courtney Carothers, an assistant professor UAF’s School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. Carothers lived for more than a year in Kodiak villages to...
The red salmon catch at Bristol Bay is on its way to 20 million fish and will very likely go higher, due to a strong run of more than 30 million fish. The reds were still surging into the region’s five big rivers and should serve to boost the harvest beyond the forecast of nearly 22 million fish. With all the salmon fisheries going on every summer all across Alaska, you might wonder why so much attention is focused on Bristol Bay? The answer can be summed up in two words: sockeye salmon. Bristol Bay’s rivers are home to the largest red sal...
A first ever accounting of bycatch in US fisheries has been achieved by federal scientists in a user friendly report that aims to set a baseline for the accidental takes of fish, marine mammals, seabirds, and other creatures by fishing gear. The National Bycatch Report, based primarily on 2005 data, shows fish landings and estimated bycatch ratios of nearly 400 types of sea creatures by gear type and region. It is part of an effort to track changes in bycatch over time, according to NOAA Fisheries, and to help managers meet mandates to...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Poor king salmon returns have state biologists limiting fishing throughout Alaska and biologists have their eyes on the ocean as the problem. “We're in a period of low abundance and low returns, statewide, and whether it's from Southeast, Copper River, Cook Inlet, Kodiak, Nushagak, Yukon, we're just in this period of low productivity in the ocean,” said Ricky Gease, a biologist and director of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association. The widespread failure indicates the problem is not in freshwater, said biologist Tom Vania...
Thanks to a nearly $3 million show of support from the state, high tech buoys will soon be measuring ocean acidity levels year ‘round, and Alaska fishermen will play an important role in the research. Basic chemistry proves that ocean waters are becoming more corrosive and it is happening faster in colder waters. The acidity, caused by increasing carbon dioxide emissions, can prevent shells from forming on crabs or oysters and tiny shrimplike organisms essential to fish diets. Alaska’s monitoring project will allow scientists to develop a “se...
Nobody wants to waste fish – least of all those who make their living from the sea. Fish harvesters want and need to be able to catch as much as they can to sustain their families and livelihoods. And as upstanding citizens, they obey the law when they discard “prohibited species” taken while they’re fishing for their “target catch.” When fishing seasons open, it’s impossible to not catch a mix of fish when they blanket the sea bottom, and fish of all kinds and sizes will go after a baited hook...
The value of Alaska fishing permits has see-sawed over the past year with Cook Inlet prices heading upwards and Bristol Bay on the down side. “Cook Inlet had a really good year last year, and they’re expecting another strong fishery this summer. Salmon drift permits have taken off with sales made at $80,000 compared to around $50,000 last year,” said Doug Bowen of Alaska Boats and Permits in Homer Prices have headed the other way in Bristol Bay. The Bay permits, are not so hot. They ran way up last year on expectations of good fish numbe...
