KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska

Jay Barrett/KMXT While communities in much of mainland Alaska are enjoying a record rainy summer, Kodiak is so far largely below average in rainfall and above average in temperature – but not by much, according to National Weather Service records. For the month of July, it rained just over two-and-a-half-inches, which is half the norm. It was, however more than …

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT Last week KMXT told you about a collision between a humpback whale and the state ferry Kennicott. The incident sent a team of scientists to Kodiak to perform a necropsy – a full body, internal examination of the carcass. Veterinarians determined the mammal died from a massive trauma and had injuries similar to those of whales that have …

Jay Barrett/KMXT It was a busy weekend for Air Station Kodiak helicopter rescue crews. On Friday they were called upon to transport a woman from Saltry Cove who was injured in an accident, and on Sunday, they brought an ailing fisherman into town from near Village Islands. Midday Friday the Coast Guard received a call from the Kodiak Police Department …

Marina Cummiskey/KMXT Hi, I’m Marina Cummiskey, an intern here at KMXT as part of the station’s summer archiving project. This week I listened to an Alaska Fisheries Report, produced in November of 1993 by Laine Welch. One of the stories on the reel was about a way to put Alaskan by-catch to good use. “It’s no secret that the amount …

Brianna Gibbs/KMXT Threats made toward some Borough Assembly members in recent days prompted a small police presence during last night’s borough work session. The presence consisted of a single officer, not dressed in uniform, who only identified themselves as a member of law enforcement when directly asked by Assemblyman Mel Stephens. Upon learning that an officer was indeed present, Stephens …

Jay Barrett/KMXT More results have come in from on-going studies looking for radiation in different fish from Alaska waters, and they continue to show no evidence of contamination from the Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown in Japan. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released results from samples of four kinds of important food fish, and none had any trace of …

The necropsy crew poses in front of the beached humpback whale on Puffin Island earlier this week. Back row, from left to right: Nia Pristas, Glenn McKenney, Nesie Smith, Julie Matweyou and Dana Wright of the Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center, Brent Pristas and Joe Sekerak from NOAA and Lei Guo from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Front row: …

Coming up this week, a judge says the Kenai River sportsfishing industry can go ahead with its attempt to end commercial setnet fishing in parts of Alaska. It’s a banner summer for Southeast crabbers, but are the days numbered for Alaska’s crustaceans? All that, and sometimes fishy news happens after we go to press, coming up on the Alaska Fisheries …