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WRANGELL SENTINEL —For the seventh year in a row, federal managers have closed the Stikine River chinook subsistence fishery to help preserve weak runs of the returning salmon. The U.S. Forest Service, under authority delegated by the Federal Subsistence Board, last week announced the closure to run May 15 through June 20. “The preseason forecast for the Stikine River is 11,700 large chinook salmon (greater than 28 inches in length), which is below the escapement goal range of 14,000 to 28,000 large chinook,” the Forest Service statement said....
(Petersburg) - Marine boat anglers returning to ports where and when on-site ADF&G creel surveys are conducted will be prohibited from filleting, mutilating, and de-heading sport caught lingcod, nonpelagic rockfish, and king and coho salmon at-sea. Marine boat anglers returning to any port on the road system of the communities listed below, during the times designated, may not fillet, mutilate, or de-head these fish until their vessel is tied up at a docking facility where the fish will be offloaded, unless the fish have been consumed or preser...
The long-term outlook is bright for Bristol Bay sockeye runs, source of a thriving commercial fishery that has enjoyed record-breaking returns and harvests in recent years, a salmon expert told a conference last month. Part of the credit goes to the warming climate in that southeast Bering Sea region, Daniel Schindler, a professor at the University of Washington's School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, said in a teleconferenced presentation on March 24 to the two-day Bristol Bay Sustainability... Full story
Bans on commercial fishing in U.S. and international Arctic waters have been lauded as admirable preemptive actions that protect vulnerable resources before they are damaged by exploitation. But now the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is preparing for a time when the 14-year-old moratorium on commercial fishing in federal Arctic waters is lifted. The department is seeking $1 million in state general funds and another $2 million in federal funds to work on research to better understand those Arctic waters in the event that commercial... Full story
A federal judge in North Dakota on Wednesday blocked in 24 states the Biden administration’s newly effective definition of waters that can be regulated under the Clean Water Act. U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland, a George W. Bush appointee on retired status in the North Dakota District, issued a preliminary injunction in a case two dozen Republican state attorneys general brought against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers. The ruling for now blocks enforcement of a rule to expand what the EPA could c...
˛ Alaska Department of Fish and Game has reduced this year’s non-hatchery Chinook catch limit for Southeast commercial trollers by 44,000 fish — about 23% lower than last year’s harvest quota. The catch limit for sportfishing, commercial seine and gillnet fleets also were set about 23% lower than last year. The largest salmon are the main moneymaker for many trollers. This year’s harvest limit, while down substantially from 2022, is about the same as was set for 2021 and 2020. It’s almost 50% higher than 2019, when several runs were not expect...
SEATTLE (AP) — People have taken many steps in recent decades to help the Pacific Northwest’s endangered killer whales, which have long suffered from starvation, pollution and the legacy of having many of their number captured for display in marine parks. They’ve breached dikes and removed dams to create wetland habitat for Chinook salmon, the orcas’ most important food. They’ve limited commercial fishing to try to ensure prey for the whales. They’ve made boats slow down and keep farther away from the animals to reduce their stress and to quie...
With large schools of herring located by sonar and desired quantities of mature roe detected in two test sets, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game opened the 2023 Sitka Sound sac roe fishery at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday in designated areas south of town in Leesoffskaia and Aleutkina bays and Deep Inlet. Fishing was closed by field order at 2:32 p.m. No figures were immediately available on the total catch in the hour and 17-minute opening. All told, 30 vessels are registered to fish this year. The...
With the announcement earlier this week that the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery would go on two-hour notice at 8 a.m. Thursday, Fish and Game held a virtual meeting Tuesday for permit holders, processors, subsistence harvesters and others involved in the annual herring harvest. Effective Thursday morning, Fish and Game can open a location for purse seining on as little as two hours of advance notice. More than four dozen individuals attended Tuesday’s virtual meeting. Fish and Game area management biologist Aaron Dupuis led the Zoom v...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has begun its herring surveys in the Sitka Sound this week ahead of the sac roe herring fishery opening. According to reports from Sitka Area Management Biologist Aaron Dupuis, no herring schools or spawn have been spotted from the air since surveys began on March 13. However, herring predators including humpback whales and sea lions have been repeatedly spotted in the area. Sea lions have been seen daily along the Kruzof Island shoreline between Inner...
CORRECTION made to the original article published on March 9, 2023. The 2023 Pacific halibut season is set to open statewide on March 10 though this year will see a lower catch limit for charters than last year according to a release from NOAA Fisheries. The regulations for this year were adopted during the annual International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) meeting in January. In Area 2C, composed of Southeast, charter anglers will be restricted to one halibut per day that must measure less...
The Alaska House of Representatives voted 35-1 on Wednesday to approve a letter urging state and federal officials to fight a lawsuit that could shut down a major king salmon fishery in Southeast Alaska. “This fishery has come under attack,” said Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, I-Sitka, and the sponsor of the letter, House Joint Resolution 5, which now goes to the Senate. The resolution has broad bipartisan support in the Alaska Legislature, where lawmakers view the issue as one about an outside group attacking Alaskans’ way of life. “This resolut... Full story
The Harbor and Ports Advisory Board held its first meeting of the year last Thursday where members voted to recommend raising the fine for wake zone violations, capping the amount of live-aboards in the harbors, and banning use of the harbors for vacation rentals. During the meeting, Harbormaster Glo Wollen presented an ordinance she plans on bringing before the assembly that would amend the live-aboard policy and prohibited acts in the harbors. The ordinance would limit live-aboard vessels to...
Juneau, AK — On Tuesday, the Alaska State Legislature’s House Special Committee on Fisheries received testimony and passed a resolution (HJR 5) that calls for state and federal agencies to defend Southeast Alaska’s troll fishery from a potential closure this year due to a lawsuit that a Washington-based organization, the Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC), has filed against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The lawsuit alleges that Alaska’s Chinook troll fishery imperils the Southern Resident Killer Whales and aims to shut the fishery...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved a resolution supporting the Southeast commercial Chinook troll fishery during Monday's meeting. The resolution of support comes in the wake of a judge's recommendation to suspend the fishery as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC), a Washington-based nonprofit conservation organization. Western District of Washington Magistrate Judge Michelle Peterson's report and recommendation concluded that the National Marine...
Organizers are creating programs to start using a $49 million federal grant and $15 million in matching funds to grow Alaska’s shellfish and seaweed farming industry. The money will go toward a statewide effort, though more permit applications were filed for new or expanded farms in Southeast than in any other region 2016 through 2022, according to state statistics. Southeast set a record last year with seven applications for seaweed and shellfish farms, Rachel Baker, deputy commissioner at the Alaska Department of Fish Game, said at last w...
WRANGELL — As the market continues to shift from canned salmon toward more frozen product, “the company wants more frozen pinks,” said Trident Seafoods Southeast regional manager John Scoblic. Which means Trident will freeze pinks along with chums at its Wrangell plant this summer. After a three-year closure due to weak chum returns, Trident plans to reopen its Wrangell plant, buying and freezing salmon in July and August. “We’ll be testing out some new things there,” Jeff Welbourn, Trident’s senior vice president for Alaska operations, s...
This summer's commercial Chinook trolling fishery is in jeopardy following the recent release of a judge's recommendation to suspend the fishery as part of an ongoing lawsuit, leaving Southeast trollers in uncertain waters. Western District of Washington Magistrate Judge Michelle Peterson's report, released in December 2022, concludes that the National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS), also known as NOAA Fisheries, violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Environmental Policy Act...
Wrangell — After a three-year closure blamed on weak chum returns, Seattle-based Trident Seafoods plans on running its Wrangell processing and cold storage plant this summer. “We’re going to operate in July and August,” focusing on chums and pinks, employing a little over 100 workers for the season, said Shannon Carroll, Trident’s director of public affairs, on Jan. 26. That would be a smaller payroll than in past years, he said. Chum salmon returns to Southeast have improved the past couple of years. In advance of running the processin...
After the heat wave-induced collapse of the Bering Sea snow crab fishery, some fishermen were looking, with hope, at the upcoming tanner crab harvest out of Kodiak. The nearly 6-million-pound quota was the highest in decades. And some people spent more than $100,000 to buy a permit to fish this year, said Kevin Abena, one of the leaders of the Kodiak Crab Alliance Cooperative. But fishermen’s hopes for a banner season are now in limbo, as the 130 boats in the Kodiak tanner crab fleet are on strike — holding out for higher prices from the sea... Full story
The South Harbor dredging is continuing to make progress as crews dig their way to the shore, having removed approximately 13,000 cubic yards of material as of Monday according to Harbormaster Glo Wollen. Western Marine is undertaking the project, which is being overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and plans to dredge a total of 83,000 cubic yards of material from the harbor. Crews are working 12-14 hours a day scooping out blue clay using a grab dredger on the dry cargo deck barge...
SITKA – After hearing comments Tuesday night on the “existential threat” facing the Southeast troll fishing industry, the Sitka Assembly gave unanimous approval to a resolution and a financial contribution to help the Alaska Trollers Association fight a lawsuit by a conservation group against a federal fisheries agency. “I hope we have a unanimous decision because if the resolution is going to have any effect, we have to have real solidarity,” Assembly member Thor Christianson said prior to the vote. ATA Request and Resolution The resolutio...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is currently seeking public comment on the draft of its 2023 Statewide Sport Fish Stocking Plan, which includes two programs affecting the Petersburg area-the Southern Southeast Chinook Salmon Enhancement and the Blind Slough Coho Salmon Enhancement. According to the stocking plan, Fish and Game is looking to release approximately seven million fish in hundreds of locations across the state annually over the next five years. Matt Catterson, a fishery biolog...
The Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA) will offer a Fishing Vessel Drill Conductor class in Petersburg, Alaska on February 4, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., in the Petersburg Parks and Rec Activities Room, 500 N. 3rd Street. This class is $125 for commercial fishermen and $225 for all others. Participants may receive up to $95 off the purchase of their next personal floatation device. Interested mariners may register online at www.amsea.org or call (907) 747-3287. The class will cover...
