Marina Cummiskey/KMXT Kodiak’s handbell choir will be ringing in the spring with a unique performance this weekend. Isle Bells has been preparing for 2015’s Spring Ring concert for close to two years. Isle Bells director Ella Saltonstall participated in a 2013 workshop with David Harris, the current director of the Raleigh Ringers, and ever since, she has been working for …

  Coming up this week, will fisheries be affected if the humpback whale is removed from the endangered species list? There’s a big forecast for Togiak herring, but with the world glut and low prices, will anybody show up to catch them? All that, and quit complaining, that’s the smell of money! We had help from KMXT’s Kayla Desroches in …

Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska Despite last fall’s legalization vote, you’re still not allowed to get stoned on state ferries. The Alaska Marine Highway System recently announced new procedures for passengers with pot. The bottom line is — you can’t consume marijuana anywhere on a ship, including a stateroom or the solarium. But spokesman Jeremy Woodrow says crew members won’t actively search for …

The Alaska State Ferry Tustumena pulls into its homeport of Kodiak in this KMXT file photo. Lauren Rosenthal/KUCB Kodiak and Alaska Peninsula residents will have to wait a little longer for the Tustumena ferry to make its return to the region. The Tusty’s first trips in May — including a run down to the Aleutian Chain — have been canceled …

Coming up this week, the big salmon packers announce they want to rejoin the Marine Stewardship Council’s sustainability certification program, the North Pacific Council hands down some steep cuts on Chinook bycatch and sablefishermen in the Gulf will have a smaller catch this season. All that and more, coming up on the Alaska Fisheries Report. We had help from KDLG’s …

Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska Thousands of people have booked ferry sailings that will likely be cut due to budget reductions. But for now, the ferry system isn’t letting them know.  Alaska Marine Highway Chief Mike Neussl says more than 9,300 people are booked for sailings that probably won’t happen. About 2,500 vehicles are also scheduled for those sailings.  He says about 30 …

Coming up this week, Kodiak’s ComFish Alaska was jam-packed with info and toys for fishermen, and we find out how a tiny fish in Southeast is connected to the world economy. We had help from KMXT’s Kayla Desroches in Kodiak and KCAW’s Rachel Waldholz in Sitka.

Chinook salmon. NOAA photo  Lauren Rosenthal/KUCB This week, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council will decide whether to mount a new crackdown on salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea’s biggest fishery.  The pollock fleet could be asked to fish earlier in the year to avoid salmon. And they may face tighter limits on the number of salmon they can take …

A Rie Muñoz weaving hangs in the office of daughter-in-law Rep. Cathy Muñoz. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North) Casey Kelly and Lisa Phu/KTOO Alaska artist Rie Munoz passed away Monday night of a stroke at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau. She was 93.  Munoz was known for her colorful watercolor paintings of Alaska scenes, such as fishermen at work, children …

HB 179 would legalize the donation of fish and game, harvested through sport or subsistence, to non-profit meal programs, such as schools and senior centers. Robert Woolsey/KCAW photo Emily Kwong/KCAW Last Wednesday, Sitka Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins introduced a bill that would allow Alaskans to donate sport- and subsistence-harvested fish and game to non-profit meal programs. Under House Bill 179, schools, …