A new study from Kodiak’s NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center links ocean acidification to a significant decline in red king crab populations in the Bering Sea, challenging the view that warming is the primary stressor.
The 2024 Pacific halibut fishing season has ended with below-average catches and fish sizes across Alaska's fisheries. The decreasing size of halibut poses a threat to their population, as smaller females produce significantly fewer eggs, raising concerns for future stock sustainability.
Skippers in Prince William Sound and Kodiak say this year's pink harvest is one of the worst they’ve ever seen. “I wake up every morning and I try to apply for a different job," one said.
The snow crab harvest in Alaska has been canceled for the second year in a row due to concerns about population sustainability, but red king crab and Tanner crab will be available for commercial fishermen this season. Last year was the first time in history the U.S. snow crab fishery was closed. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game said the harvests were closed over concerns about long-term conservation and the sustainability of crab stocks.
The sunken scallop boat, Saint Patrick, remains a pollution hazard off the coast of Kodiak, Alaska, decades after sinking in 1989, bringing up memories of a devastating fishing disaster in 1981 that claimed nine lives.
Researchers say warmer waters themselves aren’t killing crabs, but they may be allowing predators to move in and disease to spread more easily.
The fallout from the closure of the central Gulf of Alaska pollock fishery, in response to the salmon bycatch, continues. Afterward, a number of readers responded with similar questions: What happened to those salmon? Were they sold? Donated? Thrown back into the water? The short answer, according to a federal management official: The salmon were “discarded.”
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