The Baranov Museum recently opened an exhibit featuring the culture and history of Sami reindeer herders in Alaska. On today’s Talk of the Rock, host Kayla Desroches chats with Lois Stover, Esther Larson, and Cherie Biddle about the Sami people. Joining is Pearl Johnson, a board member of the Sami Cultural Center of North America.

Sea cucumbers in a store in Chicago. (Photo byJuan Carlos Martin / Flickr) Kayla Desroches/KMXT The sea cucumber fishery in Southeast opened for harvest in the beginning of October. It’s now half way through its season. And, much like salmon this year, it looks like the state’s sea cucumber harvest is also finding success on the global market. Out of …

Tanner crab. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia) Kayla Desroches/KMXT This year will be the first opening for Tanner crab the Kodiak management area has seen in a few years. Nat Nichols, Alaska Department of Fish and Game area management biologist for the Groundfish, Shellfish & Dive Fisheries, says the last opening was in 2013. He says ADF & G conducts an …

Alaska Aerospace Corporation launch facility in Narrow Cape. (Photo courtesy of AAC) Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Alaska Aerospace Corporation will establish a subsidiary to handle its out-of-state services. AAC conducts rocket launches from the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Narrow Cape and its corporate offices are in Anchorage. It’s contracted with both the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and private businesses. It’s also …

Salmon roe. (Photo by Ken Schwarz / Flickr) Kayla Desroches/KMXT It was a generally good salmon season for Alaska, except for one species. “It was a disastrous year for chinook harvest.” That’s Andy Wink, a seafood economist with the consulting firm McDowell Group. Wink says while king salmon may be the most famous salmon species among Alaskans, it also makes …

Reindeer on highway in Alaska. (Photo by JLS Photography / Flickr) Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Baranov Museum recently opened an exhibit that features the history and culture of Sami reindeer herders in Alaska. Collections Manager Michael Bach says Sami people are native to the northern regions of of Scandinavia, Finland, and Russia. He says in the late 1800s, the Department of …

Wormwood foliage. (A&M AgriLife Photo by Kathleen Phillips / Flickr) Kayla Desroches/KMXT The Alutiiq Museum just released a book about the traditional uses of Kodiak plants. Homer based ethnobotanist Priscilla Russell worked with museum staff to transform her research into the 181-page resource. According to a museum press release, Russell visited Kodiak villages in the 1990s and documented local knowledge …

Coming up this week, halibut sizes appear to be shrinking and the International Pacific Halibut Commission is considering a change to the minimum size limit for commercial fisheries. Also, we take a look at salmon numbers across the state. We had help from KBBI’s Aaron Bolton in Homer and the Alaska Energy Desk’s Zoe Sobel in Unalaska.

Norwegian bread, lefse. (Photo by Harald Groven / Flickr) Kayla Desroches/KMXT Kodiak will hold a Scandinavian festival next week. The multi-day event will include regional foods, folk tunes, and stories about local families. Filmmaker Stefan Quinth will screen some of the documentaries he’s recorded around the island. Quinth, who was born in Sweden, is part of a company called Camera …

Pink salmon. (Photo by Nicole Beaulac / Flickr) The Alaska Department of Fish and Game just released its first season summary for Kodiak area salmon fisheries. KMXT chatted with area management biologist James Jackson about the end of the season report.