Fishing

Commercial fishing boats are lined up at the dock at Seward’s harbor on June 22. Numerous economic forces combined last year to create a $1.8 billion loss for the Alaska seafood industry, and related losses affected other states, according to a new report. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska’s seafood industry lost $1.8 billion last year, NOAA report says

A variety of market forces combined with fishery collapses occurring in a rapidly changing environment caused Alaska’s seafood industry to lose $1.8 billion from 2022… Continue reading

 

The author with a brown trout caught on the Frying Pan river in Colorado, a favorite river of writer John Gierach who passed away Oct. 3. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: A tribute to The Trout Bum

I never met John Gierach, but I feel like I know him as well as you can know anyone from their books and he had… Continue reading

 

The F/V Liberty, captained by Trenton Clark, fishes the Pacific near Metlakatla on Aug. 20, 2024. Over the last few years, the $6 billion Alaskan wild seafood market has been ensnared in a mix of geopolitics, macroeconomics, changing ocean temperatures and post-Covid whiplash that piled on top of long-building vulnerabilities in the business model. (Ash Adams/The New York Times)

For generations of Alaskans, a livelihood is under threat

Something is broken in the economics of state’s fishing industry. Can Washington come to the rescue?

  • Aug 31, 2024
  • By Lydia DePillis, ©2024 The New York Times Company
  • NewsFishing

 

A king salmon during the 67th annual Golden North Salmon Derby at the Don D. Statter Memorial Boat Harbor in August 2013. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

Sportfishers can’t keep king salmon caught in Southeast waters under emergency order starting Monday

Ban in effect until Oct. 1 unlikely to affect fishing tours since few kings being caught, operators say.

A king salmon during the 67th annual Golden North Salmon Derby at the Don D. Statter Memorial Boat Harbor in August 2013. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
A large primnoid coral loaded with brittle stars, a marine relative of sea stars. The underwater image was captured on the Dickins Seamount during a 2004 research cruise in the Gulf of Alaska. A new lawsuit claims fishery managers have failed to adequately protect Gulf of Alaska corals and sponges. (Photo provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

Lawsuit claims fishery managers have failed to adequately protect Alaska’s coral gardens

Environmental group seeks stronger limits to bottom trawling in the Gulf of Alaska.

A large primnoid coral loaded with brittle stars, a marine relative of sea stars. The underwater image was captured on the Dickins Seamount during a 2004 research cruise in the Gulf of Alaska. A new lawsuit claims fishery managers have failed to adequately protect Gulf of Alaska corals and sponges. (Photo provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
The Douglas Harbor weighing station is quiet on Saturday morning as the 78th Golden North Salmon Derby begins its second day. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

78th Golden North Salmon Derby starts slow due to flood cleanup, fishing conditions

23.3-pound king leads after first day; weekend weather forecast is for a chance of rain.

The Douglas Harbor weighing station is quiet on Saturday morning as the 78th Golden North Salmon Derby begins its second day. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Alysha Reeves, a nine-year Golden North Salmon Derby official, validates a fisherman’s ticket at the Auke Nu weigh station on Friday morning, the first day of the three-day derby. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)

78th annual Golden North Salmon Derby offers a nibble of normalcy in wake of record flood

Occasional rain, a few stray trees in the waters near Juneau expected as three-day event begins.

Alysha Reeves, a nine-year Golden North Salmon Derby official, validates a fisherman’s ticket at the Auke Nu weigh station on Friday morning, the first day of the three-day derby. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)
Trawlers are seen in Unalaska on Sept. 24, 2013. Trawlers use nets to harvest pollock and other groundfish species in the Bering Sea; the ships’ incidental catch of river-bound salmon puts the pollock industry in conflict with commercial and subsistence fishermen in Western Alaska. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Biden administration rejects top Inslee choice for Alaska fish commission, reappoints trawl ally

The Biden administration has rejected a nominee for a key Alaska fisheries management post who could have tipped decisions toward the interests of tribes and… Continue reading

Trawlers are seen in Unalaska on Sept. 24, 2013. Trawlers use nets to harvest pollock and other groundfish species in the Bering Sea; the ships’ incidental catch of river-bound salmon puts the pollock industry in conflict with commercial and subsistence fishermen in Western Alaska. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Fly fishing for salmon in the saltwater might reduce the opportunity to get quick limits, but there’s nothing like it. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: Silvers on the fly

A school of a few dozen fish moved slowly through the teal water in front of the skiff. They maintained their trajectory and tolerated my… Continue reading

Fly fishing for salmon in the saltwater might reduce the opportunity to get quick limits, but there’s nothing like it. (Photo by Jeff Lund)
Commercial fishing boats are lined up at the dock at Seward’s harbor on June 22. Federal grants totaling a bit over $5 million have been awarded to the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute to help Alaskans sell more fish to more diverse groups of consumers. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Federal grants to state agency aim to expand markets for Alaska seafood

More than $5M to help ASMI comes after Gov. Dunleavy vetoed $10M for agency.

Commercial fishing boats are lined up at the dock at Seward’s harbor on June 22. Federal grants totaling a bit over $5 million have been awarded to the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute to help Alaskans sell more fish to more diverse groups of consumers. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Tim Berry, a Michigan resident visiting Juneau, fishes on a dock Monday near the Douglas Island Pink and Chum Inc.’s Macaulay Salmon Hatchery. A ban catching king salmon near the hatchery and some other Juneau waters is in effect until Aug. 31. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Local king salmon ban not expected to have big impact on summer fishing, but long-term concerns remain

Ban due to 2020 landslide that caused hatchery pipeline break, disrupting multiyear spawning cycle

Tim Berry, a Michigan resident visiting Juneau, fishes on a dock Monday near the Douglas Island Pink and Chum Inc.’s Macaulay Salmon Hatchery. A ban catching king salmon near the hatchery and some other Juneau waters is in effect until Aug. 31. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Buck Laukitis’ boat, the Oracle, sits in Homer in May before unloading its catch of halibut. (Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)

As salmon season kicks off, some Alaska fishermen fear for their futures

Some signs of recovery for $6 billion industry a year into crisis, but major threats persist.

Buck Laukitis’ boat, the Oracle, sits in Homer in May before unloading its catch of halibut. (Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)
A king salmon is laid out for inspection by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game at the Mike Pusich Douglas Harbor during the Golden North Salmon Derby on Aug. 25, 2019. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file photo)

Emergency order bans king salmon fishing in many Juneau waters between June 24 and Aug. 31

Alaska Department of Fish and Game says low projected spawning population necessitates restrictions

A king salmon is laid out for inspection by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game at the Mike Pusich Douglas Harbor during the Golden North Salmon Derby on Aug. 25, 2019. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file photo)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters during a news conference Feb. 7. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Gov. Dunleavy picks second ex-talk radio host for lucrative fish job after first rejected

Rick Green will serve at least through Legislature’s next confirmation votes in the spring of 2025.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters during a news conference Feb. 7. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Low clouds hang over Kodiak’s St. Paul Harbor on Oct. 3, 2022. Kodiak is a hub for commercial fishing, an industry with an economic impact in Alaska of $6 billion a year in 2021 and 2022, according to a new report commissioned by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Report portrays mixed picture of Alaska’s huge seafood industry

Overall economic value rising, but employment is declining and recent price collapses are worrisome.

Low clouds hang over Kodiak’s St. Paul Harbor on Oct. 3, 2022. Kodiak is a hub for commercial fishing, an industry with an economic impact in Alaska of $6 billion a year in 2021 and 2022, according to a new report commissioned by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Compromise isn’t always possible, but when it is Alaskans benefit greatly when posturing is replaced with good-faith negotiations that yield results that help Alaskans. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: The future of fish

The Forest Service cabin was a sauna so I went outside, stood at the edge of the lake and listened. We had hauled in some… Continue reading

Compromise isn’t always possible, but when it is Alaskans benefit greatly when posturing is replaced with good-faith negotiations that yield results that help Alaskans. (Photo by Jeff Lund)
Fishing boats are lined up on Oct. 3, 2022, at a dock at Kodiak’s St. Paul Harbor. Alaska’s fishing industry is being battered by competition from vast quantities of Russian fish, inflation that has reduced seafood demand and other factors. State legislative leaders are proposing a task force to come up with some policy responses to help the industry and those who depend on it. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Leading Alaska legislators propose task force to help rescue a seafood industry ‘in a tailspin’

Russian fish flooding global markets and other economic forces beyond the state’s border have created dire conditions for Alaska’s seafood industry. Now key legislators are… Continue reading

Fishing boats are lined up on Oct. 3, 2022, at a dock at Kodiak’s St. Paul Harbor. Alaska’s fishing industry is being battered by competition from vast quantities of Russian fish, inflation that has reduced seafood demand and other factors. State legislative leaders are proposing a task force to come up with some policy responses to help the industry and those who depend on it. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Deckhands stack nets on a boat before heading out to sea to fish salmon on Thursday, June 22, in Kodiak. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Commercial fishermen need more support for substance abuse and fatigue, lawmakers say

Sullivan among congressional members seeking changes, more funding for occupational safety program.

  • Dec 11, 2023
  • By Patrick Whittle Associated Press
  • NewsFishing
Deckhands stack nets on a boat before heading out to sea to fish salmon on Thursday, June 22, in Kodiak. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Strips of chum salmon hang on a drying rack on Aug. 22, 2007. A new study by federal and state biologists identies marine heat waves in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska as the likely culprit in the recent crashes of Western Alaska chum salmon runs. (Photo by S.Zuray / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Study points to concurrent marine heat waves as culprit in Western Alaska chum declines

Successive marine heat waves appear to have doomed much of the chum salmon swimming in the ocean waters off Alaska in the past year and… Continue reading

Strips of chum salmon hang on a drying rack on Aug. 22, 2007. A new study by federal and state biologists identies marine heat waves in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska as the likely culprit in the recent crashes of Western Alaska chum salmon runs. (Photo by S.Zuray / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Greg Bowen on the back deck on the crab hold of the fishing vessel Trinity, captained by Nick Nelson and owned by Norval Nelson and Barbara Cadiente-Nelson. The family, who worked with Bowen for 25 years, described him as a highly skilled “skiff man,” setting the seine net and keeping the seiner off the bottom, off of rocks, and from rolling over when filled with salmon. (Photo courtesy of Barbara Cadiente-Nelson.)

Murder conviction brings closure to commercial fisher’s neighbors, family, friends

Greg Bowen is remembered as an adopted tribal member, basketball player, father and friend.

Greg Bowen on the back deck on the crab hold of the fishing vessel Trinity, captained by Nick Nelson and owned by Norval Nelson and Barbara Cadiente-Nelson. The family, who worked with Bowen for 25 years, described him as a highly skilled “skiff man,” setting the seine net and keeping the seiner off the bottom, off of rocks, and from rolling over when filled with salmon. (Photo courtesy of Barbara Cadiente-Nelson.)