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The U.S. Forest Service and Alaska Department of Fish & Game remind Southeast Alaskans to use extra caution when recreating outdoors at this time of year. A decrease in natural food sources leads to a greater likelihood of encounters between bears and humans. Rarely, these encounters can be aggressive. When in bear country, always be aware of your surroundings and keep pets under control. Avoid surprising a bear by being bear aware: be observant of bear sign and consider limited sight distances on trails. Remember to make noise while traveling...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Commercial fishing vessels operating more than three miles from the territorial sea baseline will have to complete a mandatory Coast Guard dockside safety examination by Oct. 16. The Coast Guard says the free exams are a regulatory change stemming from the passage by Congress of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010. The Coast Guard says if discrepancies are found, vessel owners will be issued a work list and a deadline to correct them....
ANCHORAGE (AP) — The Mat-Su Borough's fast ferry is going up for sale. The $80 million ferry was supposed to transport commuters from Anchorage to the Valley, but that never happened. In fact, the Anchorage Daily News says the ferry has never docked at the borough or sailed in Cook Inlet. And, Anchorage and the borough do not have the special docks needed for a ferry that could carry vehicles. In the meantime, the borough has been responsible for the cost of maintaining the ferry at $88,000 a month. Borough planner Emerson Krueger is working w...
Salmon season is winding down and it’s still a guess if the statewide catch will reach the 132 million fish forecast. Achieving that all comes down to those hard to predict pinks, whose catch makes up more than half of the total harvest. “I think it’s going to be close. It all depends on what happens with the pink salmon runs in the three major producing areas: Prince William Sound, Kodiak and Southeast,” said Geron Bruce, assistant director of the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game’s commercial fisheries division. This summer a catch of 70.2 mill...
Jobs are being put on the fast track in Bristol Bay, with a focus on careers that go hand in hand with the region’s culture and economy: commercial fishing and seafood processing. “The fishery is our largest industry; it’s the backbone of the economy here,” said Patty Heyano, Program Development Director for the Bristol Bay Native Association in Dillingham. “So it made a whole lot of sense to concentrate on that. It seemed like we could make the biggest impact in the shortest amount of time because the industry is already here.” Heyano is r...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — A vessel suspected of illegal driftnet fishing on the high seas was transferred to China by the U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday. A Honolulu-based Coast Guard cutter assigned to Alaska encountered the 177-foot (54-meter) fishing ship in late July about 850 miles (1,369 kilometers) east of Tokyo. Coast Guard personnel boarded the ship and found 30 metric tons — more than 66,000 pounds — of albacore tuna. They also found 6 metric tons of shark bodies and fins on board. Coast Guard officials said Chinese citizens were operating the v...
Alaska has more coastline than all of the other US states combined, but unlike all those other states, Alaskans have no say in how their coasts are managed or developed. If Outside and foreign corporations have their way, that’s how it will remain. A successful coastal zone management program has been in place since the 1970s, but the program expired last year when lawmakers and Governor Parnell failed to agree on its extension. Despite constant criticism of “the feds” always trying to butt into Alaska’s business, the state surrendered authori...
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...
Water ways - With 82% of Alaska’s communities unreachable by roads, water is the way to go. Businesses that serve the marine industry, including ports and harbors, are a lifeline for coastal communities. State economic specialists want to highlight the importance of the marine trade sector, and the jobs it provides, which are often overlooked. In March they launched an online Business Retention and Expansion questionnaire hoping to get feedback from coastal residents on how their marine businesses are faring. “Ship building and repair bus...
The OceansAlaska Marine Science Center has barely opened its doors and tiny oysters are already growing out at the new floating facility at George Inlet in Ketchikan. The 28-acre site was granted to the non-profit by the state and Ketchikan borough in 2006. The Center houses the first home grown source of oyster ‘seed’ for Alaska growers, and aims to be the go to place for mariculture research and training. There are 29 shellfish farms producing in Alaska so far in Southcentral and Southeast regions. The main crop is oysters, with sales val...
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...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish announced July 11, a closure to sport fishing in Blind Slough to ensure adequate brood stock collection at the Crystal Lake Hatchery (CLH) necessary for future releases of king salmon in the Petersburg area. The closure includes all waters of Blind Slough upstream of a line between Blind Point and Anchor Point, from Friday July 13 through Sunday August 5th, 2012. The king salmon regulations for the marine waters of the Wrangell Narrows Terminal Harvest Area (THA), will be the same...
Marine debris trackers are taking to the air any day to get a better idea of where and what is washing ashore from last year’s devastating tsunami in Japan. Best ‘guesstimates’ claim at least 1.5 million tons of debris are afloat on and under the current driven waters that routinely cover Alaska coastlines. The State has funded a $200,000 systematic aerial survey by Airborne Technologies, Inc. of Virginia that will span waters and beaches from Cold Bay to Ketchikan to get a more complete view of the debris problem. “That should give a good pi...
Senator Lisa Murkowski visited Petersburg Monday, July 2, and discussed issues and concerns in regards to fisheries. “I am here to listen to issues that impact your ability to make a living and raise a family here,” Murkowski said. “Give me your concerns on subjects that we need to work closer with you on.” Many of the members of this fishery centered round-table discussion made mention of a problem with the sea otter population. “Sea otters eat everything,” co-owner of Tonka Seafoods We...
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...
Petersburg seiners heading through Chatham Straits at sunrise last Sunday....
If you had your life to live over again, would you choose a career in commercial fishing? That is one question in a survey circulating around Kodiak that aims to reveal a more social view of the fishing life, and how the occupation and lifestyle have changed over two decades. The survey, being sent to a random sample of 700 permit holders and 400 crewmen in all fisheries, is part of a two year project by Dr. Courtney Carothers, an assistant professor at UAF’s School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. Carothers said the project came about d...
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...
Local fisherman, Ed Wood, spied a bright yellow growth on one of the pilings at the minus tide of the North Harbor Thursday morning. “I went to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and brought Becky Knight to look at the growth,” Wood said. “While she was taking photos, I crawled down and got a sample of it with my knife.” One of the bigger fears of fishermen in these waters is the growth called Didemnum vexillum, also called D. vex, which was found in Sitka a few years ago. D. vex, also known...
Sea otters are expanding throughout Southeast Alaska and dining on crab, sea cucumbers, geoduck clams and more as they go. An ongoing study aims to track the otters, what they’re eating and where they are going – and researchers hope to get ‘grounds truth’ from Southeast residents. For the past two years, Sea Grant marine advisory agents have spearheaded a project to learn more about the region’s sea otter diets and behaviors. The US Fish & Wildlife Service has provided aerial surveys and otter tagging to track their movements around Kupreono...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced last week the following information concerning the District 8 and District 11 drift gillnet fisheries: District 8: The second inseason estimate is projecting a terminal run size of 21,000 Stikine River Chinook salmon. This forecast is well below the preseason forecast and results in no U.S. allowable directed harvest. District 8 will remain closed until the start of the sockeye salmon fishing season. The sockeye salmon fishing season will begin in both Districts 6 and 8 on Monday, June 18, 2012....
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish announced that the liberalized king salmon sport fishing regulation that have been in effect in the salt waters of District 8 near Petersburg and Wrangell will be rescinded. As of Monday, June 4, the king salmon sport fishing regulations for the waters of District 8 will be the same as those in effect for the entire Southeast region. These regulations are as follows: Alaska Residents — The resident bag and possession limit is three king salmon; 28 inches or greater in length; N...
The Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) said that its Port Efficiency Policy will go in effect June 1. The new policy states that an AMHS ferry will bypass a port call if there is no scheduled traffic destined into or out of that particular port. Scheduled traffic is defined as a reservation in place 24 hours in advance of the scheduled departure time from the port in question. Travelers are encouraged to make reservations in advance....
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...
