News

Amidst divide between set net and seiner fleets, Board of Fisheries passes gear changes for both

Set-netters pick a sockeye out of the net in June, 2022. (Sabine Poux/KDLL)

Alaska’s Board of Fisheries approved small changes for the local salmon set net and purse seine fleets at its meeting in Kodiak last week, January 9th – 12th, while opting to keep the status quo overall for the westside of the island’s management strategy. But as KMXT’s Davis Hovey reports, the growing divide between the two gear groups was on …

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Midday Report – January 18, 2024

UAF photo by JR Ancheta Matthew Wooller, a professor in the UAF College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, sits among mammoth tusks in the collection at the University of Alaska Museum of the North.

On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Scientists at University of Alaska Fairbanks say a prehistoric mammoth spent her life near human hunting camps. Following an emotional 6-day trial, a Ketchikan Superior Court closed the book on a 30-year cold case that had haunted the city. And North Slope oil production is projected to rise significantly in the coming …

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Subsistence markers to be put up in Danger Bay, closing specific section to all subsistence fishing

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An important spawning area for salmon outside of the mouths of Danger and Cold creeks on Afognak Island will be closed to subsistence fishing. The Board of Fisheries announced its decision to put up subsistence markers at the head of Danger Bay during their finfish meeting in Kodiak last week, January 9th – 12th. Proposal 58, brought forward by longtime …

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Midday Report – January 17, 2024

A snow cloud over the Behrends neighborhood during an avalanche on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024 (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Whitcomb)

On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Dillingham police say the man accused of firing a shotgun at the local hospital on Sunday had also allegedly set fire to his girlfriend’s bedroom that same morning. Avalanche activity was high in Juneau yesterday after more than 30 inches of snow fell over the weekend. And debates over education funding dominated as …

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Traditional Knowledge report formally incorporated into Board of Fisheries finfish meeting in Kodiak

For the first time in Alaska Board of Fisheries history, a portion of the finfish meeting in Kodiak last week, January 9th – 12th, was dedicated to traditional knowledge. As KMXT’s Davis Hovey reports, the discussion covered a variety of topics, including equitable fishing for rural Kodiak Island residents. Four people testified during the first-ever traditional knowledge report at Kodiak’s …

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Midday Report – January 16, 2024

Point Thomson is on state land 60 miles east of Prudhoe Bay. (ExxonMobil photo)

On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: Brent Sass claimed a second win in the Copper Basin 300 Sled Dog Race in Glennallen yesterday. There was a pipeline leak on the North Slope over the weekend. And Petersburg’s Borough Assembly will look at signing letters of support for fisheries across the state, in the face of years of hardship. …

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Kodiak Tanner crab season starts on schedule

Kodiak’s Tanner crab season started Jan. 15 at noon.  The Kodiak Crab Alliance Cooperative, which represents the fleet, agreed to ex-vessel prices between $3.50 and $3.70 per pound with the island’s processors over the weekend, according to fishermen.  Several boats left the harbor on Sunday ahead of the season to prepare for the January 15 Tanner crab opener. (Brian Venua/KMXT) …

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Midday Report – January 15, 2024

Skiffs sit on shore in the Southwest Alaska fishing town of King Cove. (James Brooks via Flickr under Creative Commons license.)

On today’s Midday Report with host Terry Haines: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in November proposed one of the largest changes to lead pipe regulations in three decades. Seafood processor Peter Pan announced that it will not operate its King Cove facility until spring. And Alaska’s sole U.S. Representative Mary Peltola says FEMA needs more resources. Skiffs sit on shore …

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