Background Articles

Representatives from several Indigenous-led organizations discussed co-management strategies at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention panel.

Researchers have relocated 20 Atlantic catfish to artificial kelp forest units in Melkøy Sound, Northern Norway, to test if reintroducing sea urchin predators can help restore kelp forests overgrazed by booming sea urchin populations.

A prolonged heatwave this summer reduced greenhouse cucumber yields in Finland—particularly in Närpes and Seinäjoki—leading to empty shelves nationally, though supply is expected to normalize by early September.

Mike Shouldice of Rankin Inlet reports this summer’s caribou migration patterns have shifted, with far fewer animals passing through traditional routes and fewer visible signs such as hanging skins.

A Pictou County farmer reports that many crops have failed after an irrigation pond and well dried up amid a prolonged dry spell, costing producers thousands in lost sales.

Alaska DEC tests of mussels from Kachemak Bay found no domoic acid toxin associated with amnesic shellfish poisoning, though mussels can quickly expel the toxin so its presence in other species remains uncertain.

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority returns to Vittersjön near Ockelbo to conduct updated measurements of radioactivity in fish 35 years after Chernobyl, urging anglers to submit summer catches for analysis.

Researchers are finding the poisonous toxin throughout the year, and in animals away from the ocean.

The measure would open up new opportunities for oil and gas development in the 23-million-acre NPR-A, which is home to an estimated 8.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

The spring hunt of any waterfowl except scoters will be closed beginning May 30 at 12:01 a.m. through midnight on June 29. Scoter harvest will be closed between June 4 and July 4.

The total recommended salmon catch for all types of fishing this year amounted to 1300.2 tons, which is 29% more than last year. Of these, 346 tons of pink salmon, 498.8 tons of chum salmon and 455.4 tons of sockeye salmon.

Sitka had an early bloom that led to high shellfish toxins in April, and there is currently a paralytic shellfish toxin advisory across Southeast for recreational and subsistence harvest.

A staple fish that fills freezers in Northwest Arctic could be expanding its habitat

The Knik Tribe's monitoring program for paralytic shellfish poisoning was paused in April as the federal government investigates its legitimacy for funding.

Newspaper of record for Nunavut, and the Nunavik territory of Quebec

The Far Eastern Scientific and Fishery Council (FESPC) in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, supported a possible increase in the number of fishing days for representatives of indigenous peoples in the river basin of the Anadyr estuary from the first week of July until the end of the fishery.

The Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Council and the Pacific Flyway Council have closed harvesting and egging of Emperor geese and restricted egging of Black Brant geese for the 2025 hunting season due to declining populations.

A Unesco report warns that unprecedented glacier melt driven by the climate crisis threatens the food and water supply for two billion people worldwide, with major impacts on irrigated agriculture and mountain communities.

While the U.S. grapples with an egg shortage caused by avian flu, eggs remain plentiful and affordable in Canada. There are reasons for that, including that egg farms there tend to be smaller.

"The amount we could export would not solve their egg shortage," says the head of the Finnish Poultry Association.