Commercial wild salmon harvesters in Alaska are picking up speed, with the catch in Bristol Bay alone jumping from about 10 million fish a week ago to nearly 25 million, while the preliminary numbers statewide rose from 26 million to nearly 50 million. As of July 9, initial harvest figures compiled by the Alaska […]
Photo: U.S. Senators Warren Magnuson (D-WA) and Ted Stevens (R-AK). Courtesy of Ted Stevens Foundation Washington, D.C. – Thursday, Congressman Don Young (R-AK) and Congressman Jeff Van Drew (D-NJ) introduced H.R. 3697, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act. This bipartisan legislation reauthorizes the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery and Conservation Management Act […]
$53 Million for Fishermen & Stakeholders Affected by 2016 Gulf of Alaska Pink Salmon Fishery Disaster WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young, (all R-Alaska), today welcomed an announcement by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that the agency approved $53.8 million to restore losses for Alaska fisheries […]
Alaska’s 2019 wild salmon harvest season, which began in mid-May with the Copper River openers, Is now expanding through the state’s central, southeast and western regions. Preliminary estimates of the harvest compiled by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game through June 25 put the catch to date at some 15 million fish. According […]
Alaska State Troopers report that a search is ongoing by MAT-SAR, troopers, park rangers, and Helo-3 for an elderly sport fisherman in thhe Willow Creek State Recreational area after he was reported overdue on Thursday evening. AST reports that a family member of 76-year-old William “Bill”Hartlage called in to report Hartlage overdue at approximately […]
With the commercial salmon season already under way in Alaska many vessel owners are suddenly finding out about a new law effective on January 1, 2019 requiring them to register their vessels with the state Department of Motor vehicles. Under Senate Bill 92, the Derelict Vessel Act, passed by the Alaska Legislature in 2018, […]
This week marked the second observance of the International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing. This day was declared by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2017 to raise awareness about this global problem. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, IUU fishing and related activities are responsible for the […]
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — An Alaska Army National Guard Soldier died Saturday morning around 2 a.m. when he was swept away by the water current while fishing in Copper River. Sgt. 1st Class Russell Anthony Hepler, 35, was dip-netting with his wife, Shandra Hepler, in Copper River near O’Brien Creek, south of the […]
The U.S. Attorney’s office announced sentencing of a Bellingham skipper on Wednesday to Clean Water Act violations for unlawfully dumping a pollutant into Sumner Strait in southeast Alaska on June 15th, 2017 while enroute to Petersburg from Wrangell. According to court documents, 32-year-old Brannon Finney was fined $8,000, must pay a community service payment […]