A group of 360 scientists from the United States, Canada and Europe commended the US Environmental Protection Agency this week for its Bristol Bay watershed assessment and urged use of the Clean Water Act to protect the bay from mining.
Proponents of the controversial Pebble mine in Southwest Alaska are not expected to determine until later this year when they will submit their permit applications, but opponents are asking the federal government to put a halt to it now.
The International Pacific Halibut Commission has recommended to the governments of Canada and the United States a 27.5 million pound halibut catch limit for 2014, down some 3.5 million pounds for 2013.
The Alaska Fisheries Conservation Alliance says it has filed suit in Alaska Superior Court in Anchorage, challenging a state decision to reject a proposed statewide initiative to ban commercial shore gillnets and setnets in non-subsistence areas.