Imagine that you are enjoying a wonderful day along Alaska’s rocky shores when suddenly you see something strange in the water. Is that an orca? You look through your binoculars and realize it is a Steller sea lion. You see its flipper in the air, and it only surfaces its head to breathe once in […]
A series of fortunate events recently led to a happy ending for a harbor seal. It had gotten its canine teeth stuck in the steel grated walkway at the hatchery in Valdez. NOAA Fisheries received a call the morning of May 7 about an entangled seal at the Solomon Gulch Hatchery on Dayville Road. […]
There’s a new 2020 Charter Halibut Permit annual registration requirement. NOAA Fisheries doesn’t want Alaska charter halibut operators to be caught off-balance by a new requirement to register their Charter Halibut Permit(s) (CHP). The new requirement begins in 2020. The new regulation only applies to the guided sport halibut fishery in International Pacific Halibut Commission Regulatory Areas 2C […]
Today, NOAA Fisheries released its biennial abundance estimate for endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales. Scientists estimated that the population size is between 250 and 317, with a median estimate of 279. The population is estimated to be smaller and declining more quickly than previously thought. Abundance estimates can vary from year to year due to a […]