Around the state, biologists are unsure of what led to the lowest pink salmon harvest since the 1970s in a season that led Gov. Bill Walker to seek a disaster declaration from the federal government to bail out beleaguered pink fishermen. “We caught 39 million pinks this year,” said Forrest Bowers, the Commercial Fisheries Division director for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The department forecasted a harvest of 90 million fish between. Bowers said he had to comb records back to 1977 to find a year that bad.
Large numbers of salmon straying from hatcheries in Southeast Alaska, as well as a low river flow, helped create lethal environments for wild salmon, according to a new report.
If Alaska expands how many pink salmon its hatcheries — such as the one in Tutka Bay — produce, will there be unintended consequences that harm Kachemak Bay?
It's open season on Atlantic salmon as the public is urged to help mop up a salmon spill from an imploded net pen holding 305,000 fish at a Cooke Aquaculture fish farm near Cypress Island.
Some are concerned about the farmed Atlantic salmon coming to Alaska and bringing unwelcome competition for native species.
On June 19, some kids spotted an unrecognized creature the size of a large whale offshore near the Alaska village of Iliamna. Other accounts followed.
Residents who have long depended on chinook salmon to fill drying racks and smokehouses are worried about their food for next winter.
Kachemak Bay has witnessed massive die-offs of sea stars, murres and razor clams. Whats going on?
Saltwater fishery officials are reporting a resurgence of a mysterious condition that's bound to turn the stomachs of anglers -- mushy halibut syndrome. Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Barbi Failor said the department is receiving more reports of mushy fish caught by sport fishermen all over Cook Inlet.
Since Les Anderson landed a 97-pound Kenai king in 1985, the prized fish has been harder to find and smaller. Is there something we all can do to help reverse the trend?
Local Indigenous community says the invasive species could devastate fishing industry in the area
Voracious predator could be big threat to native aquatic populations
The sale of fishing permits has been suspended for two sites where water temperatures have risen to critically high levels, especially for salmon.
They detect the presence of the 'Devil Fish' in Sinaloa; a threat to fishing and ecosystems
The grounding ruptured one of the tug’s fuel tanks, which can hold around 13,000 gallons of diesel fuel.
Scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks have observed an increase in chum salmon spawning in North Slope rivers, potentially indicating a shift in their population and a signal of climate change. Elizabeth Lindley, a Ph.D. student working on the project, says that while evidence of spawning in a new region may be a positive for salmon, the impact on important subsistence resources including Arctic char and Dolly Varden is uncertain.
Amid severely restricted fishing on the Kuskokwim River, one bright spot has been abundant sockeye salmon runs at 30,000 fish daily near Bethel.
For more than five years, Southeast’s iconic king salmon have been returning in fewer and fewer numbers. Managers with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are recommending Chilkat, Unuk and King Salmon River Chinooks become official “stocks of concern.” Listen now
The Alaska Board of Fisheries faces some tough decisions this week. One of those is how to conserve dwindling king salmon stocks in a way that won’t financially cripple Southeast salmon fishermen.
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