Tag: alaska

Alaska Statewide Salmon Harvest Now Tops 5M Fish
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Alaska Statewide Salmon Harvest Now Tops 5M Fish

Commercial fisheries harvests are increasing from Bristol Bay to the westward region fisheries of the Alaska Peninsula and the Kodiak area, with over five million salmon already delivered to processors. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game put the preliminary harvest totals through Monday, June 26 at 2.8 million sockeye, more than two million chum, 182,000 pink and 29,000 Chinook salmon. The total preliminary catch for the central region, including Bristol Bay, Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound, stood at nearly 3.6 million fish. Prince William Sound had 2.7 million fish, including 1.8 million chum, 833,000 sockeye, 19,000 pink and 7,000 Chinook, mostly from the Copper River drift district. Bristol Bay, where commercial fishing officially opened on June 1, had some 819,000 ...
Alaska Files Criminal Charges for Illegal Trawling Near Kodiak
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Alaska Files Criminal Charges for Illegal Trawling Near Kodiak

On May 12, criminal misdemeanor charges were filed by the state of Alaska against a vessel operator for allegedly operating non-pelagic trawl gear within the Kodiak, Alaska groundfish registration area. U.S. Coast Guard officials said trawl gear used in the area had chafing gear attached to it and chain rib lines suitable for fishing in contact with the seabed, all of which are not authorized for legal pelagic trawl gear. The Coast Guard did not identify the boat or operator other than to say it was an 88-foot fishing vessel and that a boarding team determined that it was in violation for trawling in the Barnabas closure are while having a non-pelagic trawl on board. Alaska Wildlife Troopers Sgt. Josh Boyle said the violation is significant in the potential it has for negatively effec...
Copper River Commercial Salmon Fishery to Open May 15
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Copper River Commercial Salmon Fishery to Open May 15

Commercial fishing for Alaska’s famed Copper River sockeye and Chinook salmon is now set to open May 15 in the state’s Copper River and Bering River districts. Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials announced this past week (Friday, May 5) that the two districts’ 12-hour openers would begin at 7 a.m. Alaska time. For the Copper River District, waters within the expanded Chinook salmon inside closure area will be closed for that initial opener.  During the commercial fishing season, subsistence harvest may occur in the Copper River District concurrently in time and area with commercial fishing periods until the Copper River District is closed at the end of the season. “Everyone is excited about it,” Cathy Renfeldt, executive director of the Cordova Chamber of Commerce, said. “Th...
NMFS, Others to Appeal Decision Halting SE Alaska Salmon Troll Fishery
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NMFS, Others to Appeal Decision Halting SE Alaska Salmon Troll Fishery

A commercial salmon troll fishery in Southeast Alaska that contributes millions of dollars to the regional economy is uncertain, with federal fisheries managers and harvesters pitted against an environmental group that contends endangered orca whales need those fish more. The state of Alaska on May 3 served notice of its intent to appeal a two-page ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Jones to close the salmon troll fishery to provide more food for endangered Southern Resident killer whales in Puget Sound. A day earlier, the judge ruled in favor of the plaintiff, the Washington State-based Wild Fish Conservancy, in its three-year-old battle to secure more Chinook salmon for the Southern Resident killer whales in Puget Sound. Emma Helverson, executive director of the Wild Fis...
Northern Edge War Games Underway in Gulf of Alaska
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Northern Edge War Games Underway in Gulf of Alaska

Thousands of U.S. military service members, five ships and over 150 aircraft are in Alaska for Northern Edge 2023 (NE23), war games in the Gulf of Alaska and elsewhere in the state to enhance combat readiness. They are being joined for the Indo-Pacific Command exercise by other service members from the United Kingdom and Australia to provide opportunity for joint, multinational and multi-domain operations designed to offer high-end, realistic war fighter training. Commanding officers describe NE23 as an example of their strong relationship with the state of Alaska and one that demonstrates the U.S. commitment to the region by building interoperability, and a commitment to U.S. allies and partners in ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Northern Edge got under way on May 4. For...
SeaBank Report Quantifies Economic Importance of Fisheries to Southeast Alaska
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SeaBank Report Quantifies Economic Importance of Fisheries to Southeast Alaska

A new economic report issued in early May by the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust (ASFT) in Sitka underscores the importance of coastal ecosystems, fisheries, forests, waterways and wildlife to the economy of Southeast Alaska. The report focuses on recent research related to climate change impacts on Southeast Alaska, including projections for much warmer temperatures under different greenhouse gas emissions scenarios, and identifies mitigation measures that would prove helpful in protecting the SeaBank’s green and blue carbon. The term “SeaBank” was coined by ASFT to describe Southeast Alaska’s diverse coastline, stretching 500 miles from Metlakatla to Yakutat, an interconnecting network of land, water, vegetation, wildlife, resources, economies and culture. ASFT launched the SeaBa...
ADF&G Sets 2023 Annual Harvest Allocation for Chinook Troll Fishery
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ADF&G Sets 2023 Annual Harvest Allocation for Chinook Troll Fishery

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) on March 30 set the 2023 all-gear allowable harvest limit for Southeast Alaska/Yakutat (SEAK) under Chinook salmon management provisions of the 2019-2028 Pacific Salmon Treaty Agreement at 201,900 treaty Chinook salmon. The 2% reduction from last year’s allocation is to serve as a buffer against exceeding the all-gear limit and payback provisions within the treaty. The resulting 2023 troll harvest allocation for this year will be 149,100 Chinooks, which is 44,100 fish less that the preseason limit that was available in 2022. ADF&G also said annual catch limits for the SEAK Chinook fishery would be established using measures of Chinook abundance, using the catch per unit effort from the winter power troll fishery in District 113 dur...
Southeast Alaska Tribes Want Voice in BC Mines Permitting
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Southeast Alaska Tribes Want Voice in BC Mines Permitting

An umbrella entity for 15 Southeast Alaska Native tribes seeking better protection of transboundary watersheds of the Taku, Stikine and Unuk rivers is asking for a seat at the table whenever British Columbia processes permits for new mines. The request from the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC) on March 20 referenced a letter from Alaska legislators sent to British Columbia Premier David Eby on March 13. Legislators told Eby in that correspondence that the U.S. and Canada federal governments, as well as indigenous peoples on both sides of the border have a responsibility and opportunity to better managed their shared watersheds in a constructive and cooperative manner. The letter notes that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (...
Report Contends that Alaska’s Fisheries are Collapsing
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Report Contends that Alaska’s Fisheries are Collapsing

A report in the online publication Politico contends that while nearly 250 trawl boats continue to have banner seasons, harvesting between 3-4 billion pounds of fish annually, the Alaska fisheries overall are collapsing. The report, produced in partnership with Type Investigations – where the article’s author, Adam Federman, is a reporting fellow – states that what makes this inequity especially jarring is that the trawlers are dragging huge nets long the sea bottom, scooping up millions of pounds of species they don’t want and most of that catch is thrown overboard, no matter its value. That undirected bycatch includes roughly two-thirds of the total halibut caught in the Bering Sea since 2006, most of which is dumped back in the ocean, Federman said. In 2021, while subsistence fishe...
Fisheries Board Votes to Limit Restrictions on Area M Commercial Chum Harvest
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Fisheries Board Votes to Limit Restrictions on Area M Commercial Chum Harvest

Alaska’s Board of Fisheries has voted against a proposal to reduce significantly commercial fishing times and areas in the South Alaska Peninsula region known as Area M. Instead, the board this past weekend approved another measure to reduce fishing times in early June for salmon also sought by the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim (AYK) region to the north. The board’s decision on the intercept fishery of Chinook, sockeye and chum salmon came after several days of emotional testimony from fishermen and residents of Area M and the AYK, with both sides speaking out on the socioeconomic and cultural significance of chum salmon to their region. Proposal 140 would have amended the South Unimak and Shumagin Islands June Salmon Management Plan, written by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, to redu...