Petersburg Pilot -

Alaska fishermen displaced by the Covid pandemic are being recruited for seafaring jobs aboard U.S. cargo barges, tankers, towboats, military support vessels, research and cruise ships and more. The Seafarers International Union (SIU) is searching...

The mask requirement for all persons aboard fishing vessels still stands and Alaska’s U.S. Senators are adding their clout to have it removed. A Coast Guard Marine Safety Information Bulletin issued on March 22 states its authority to restrict...

It’s “back to the future” for Alaska canned salmon as more Americans choose it for its health benefits and as an easy-to-use ingredient for sandwiches, salads and more. Salmon canning in Alaska started in the 1870s and by the early 20th...

Halibut prices for Alaska fishermen for 2021 have started out significantly higher than last year, despite sluggish demand and transportation logjams in some regions. The Pacific halibut fishery opened on March 6 and two weeks later only 80...

Alaska’s salmon harvest for 2021 is projected to be a big one, with total catches producing a haul that could be 61% higher than last year, due mostly to an expected surge of pinks. Fishery managers are predicting a statewide catch topping 190...

It’s likely that no other fishing regions of the world reach out for stakeholder input as much as Alaska does to gather policy-shaping ground truth by state and federal managers and organizations. That’s demonstrated by two new surveys – one...

The Pacific halibut fishery opens on March 6 and increased catch limits combined with a cautiously optimistic outlook for the near future have fanned interest in buying shares of the popular fish. In January, the International Pacific Halibut...

Alaskans are preparing for another salmon season of poor to average runs to most regions. The big exception once again is at Bristol Bay where another massive return of more than 51 million sockeyes is expected. Managers predict that surge will...

Fishermen must wear masks while they are underway, even while sleeping, and the Coast Guard intends to enforce it. That’s an edict issued as a public health emergency by the Center for Disease Control in a Marine Safety Bulletin issued on Feb. 1....

SITKA — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announces that under Chinook salmon management provisions of the 2019–2028 Pacific Salmon Treaty Agreement (treaty), the annual all-gear allowable catch limit for Southeast Alaska/Yakutat (SEAK) is...

Seafood sales “are on fire” in America’s supermarkets and one king salmon from Southeast Alaska is worth the same as two barrels of oil. ($116.16 for a troll caught Chinook salmon averaging 11 pounds at the docks vs. $115.48 for 2 barrels of...

Pacific halibut harvesters got some rare good news last week: increased catches in 2021 along with a longer fishing season. At its annual meeting that ended on January 25, the International Pacific Halibut Commission boosted the coastwide removals fo...

New ocean-related jobs, investments and opportunities will be seeded by an ambitious Blue Pipeline Venture Studio that connects marine business entrepreneurs with the technology, contacts and finances they need to grow.  “The state's blue economy...

Is it a coincidence that one of the world’s largest mineral deposits is located near the world’s largest sockeye salmon spawning grounds at Bristol Bay? And if the likes of a Pebble Mine removed the bulk of those deep deposits that also create...

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish announced today that opportunity for slope rockfish species will continue through January 31, 2022. Resident and nonresident anglers: • The daily bag and possession limit is one slope...

This year marks the 30th year that the weekly Fish Factor column has appeared in newspapers across Alaska and nationally. Every year it features “picks and pans” for Alaska’s seafood industry - a no-holds-barred look back at some of the...

As Alaska faces its toughest budget squeeze ever, the state’s commercial fisheries are set to get a bit of a breather. But it is due more to fund swapping than lawmakers’ largess. For the commercial fisheries division, the largest within the Alas...

Alaska coastal communities will get a bit of an economic boost in 2021 from increased catches of Pacific cod. The stock, which crashed after a multi-year heat wave starting in 2014 wiped out several year classes, appears to be rebounding throughout...

The Wild Alaskan Company based in Homer has taken “mission based” seafood e-commerce to a whole new level. While many Alaska fishermen and groups sell boxes of seafood directly to customers and can claim several hundred monthly customers, Wild...

Fish factor will return next week....

Frozen sockeye salmon strips bring tasty nutrition and relief to teething babies. The lightly seasoned salmon strips, made mostly from Bristol Bay reds, are the third product made by Bambino’s Baby Food of Anchorage that is aimed at getting more se...

Tamped down prices due to toppled markets caused by the Covid virus combined with low salmon returns to many Alaska regions added up to reduced paychecks for fishermen and will mean lower tax revenues for fishing communities. A summary of the prelimi...

The number of boots on deck in Alaska has declined and most fisheries have lost jobs over the past five years. Overall, Alaska’s harvesting sector ticked downward by 848 jobs from 2015 through 2019.  A snapshot of fish harvesting jobs is featured...

After a salmon season that successfully fished its way through a pandemic and upturned markets, the value of Alaska salmon permits is ticking up in two regions while toppling in others. Permit values are derived by the state Commercial Fisheries...