Aleutians

Unalaska's harbor rebuild came in $10.6 million over, and the city is paying cash

Unalaska's harbor rebuild came in at nearly double the 2023 estimate. The city is paying the $10.6 million gap in cash and says it could not do it twice.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 8

Managers want to double a halibut cap. Their own analysis warns against it.

Federal managers want to roughly double a halibut vessel cap in the Bering Sea, though their own analysis says it helps a few big boats at the fleet's expense.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readFrom Sep 3

Unalaska raises nonprofit grant audit threshold to $300,000

Unalaska's small nonprofits no longer need a costly annual audit to keep their city grants — one group said audits ate about 13% of its award.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 25

Eight Unalaska roofs have failed, including the high school and water plant

Eight Unalaska roofs have failed or are failing, including the high school and the water plant. Fixing all 27 city roofs starts at $22 million.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 8

Unalaska wants the state to look at a ferry from Cold Bay during pollock season

Unalaska wants the state to look at running a ferry from Cold Bay during pollock season. The ferry system is short on boats and the dock has pile damage.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 8

Unalaska council awards $21.9 million contract to replace Storrs Harbor floats

Unalaska is spending $22 million on new harbor floats. The acting city manager says the harbor may have to close before long if it does not.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 8

Unalaska will spend $200,000 deciding what to do about its pool

Unalaska's 40-year-old pool has failing systems and a leaking roof. The city is paying $200,000 to find out whether to fix it, rebuild it or move it.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 8

Resident accuses Kodiak Island Borough Assembly of illegal poll on remote-meeting rules

A Kodiak resident challenged the borough assembly's survey on remote-meeting rules as violating the Open Meetings Act, though the borough attorney cleared it as preparation for public discussion.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Nine new deep-sea sponge species confirmed in Gulf of Alaska and Aleutians

Scientists found nine sponge species new to science off Alaska, one so strange it needed its own genus. Alaska now claims 232 kinds of sponge.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Three Aleutians dams could be reclassified as threats to life downstream

Three Aleutians dams could be reclassified "high hazard," meaning their failure would threaten lives downstream, under a draft open for public review.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Retention of Aleutian rougheye and blackspotted rockfish closed for rest of 2026

Vessels working the Central and Western Aleutian districts can no longer keep blackspotted and rougheye rockfish.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Aleut Ventures opens Frosty Fuels crew and fueling facility at Cold Bay Airport

Aleut Ventures opened a crew facility at Cold Bay Airport this September, adding lodging and ground support as part of a $1.25 million investment in North Pacific aviation infrastructure.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Unalaska wants $5 million to pave the road serving America's busiest fishing port

The country's largest fishing port by poundage is served by a gravel road. Paving it is now Unalaska's top request of Congress, at $5 million.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Feb 10

Unalaska makes its failing airport terminal a top funding priority

Unalaska made a failing airport terminal its top request for state money next year, moving it from last on the list to first.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Feb 10

Unalaska eases yearly audit requirement for its small nonprofit grantees

Unalaska's small nonprofits won't have to pay for a yearly audit to keep their city grants anymore — a cost that ate up about 13% of one group's award.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Aug 25

Sand Point salmon fishery gets 131-hour opening in Stepovak sections

Sand Point salmon fishery opens for 131 hours Thursday through Tuesday in five Stepovak sections for purse seine and set gillnet permit holders.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

State proposes 55-year Adak Airport lease, competing bids due Oct. 8

Alaska wants to lease airport land at Adak, a remote island now drawing military and space interest, for 55 years — one of the longest terms it allows.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Bering Sea halibut boats would get a catch cap double the rest of Alaska

Bering Sea halibut boats have gone five years with no catch limit. Regulators want to fix that, at roughly double what the rest of Alaska lives with.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 3

A tiny Bering Sea tribe runs its own healing court, from the island to Anchorage

A tiny tribe in the Bering Sea runs its own healing court for people facing addiction, and a federal grant will extend it to members who've moved to Anchorage.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

NMFS closes directed perch fishing in the Western Aleutian district

Federal fisheries closed directed Pacific ocean perch fishing in the Western Aleutian district through year-end Friday after the trawl fleet's 214-metric-ton annual allowance was reached.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

NOAA will stop briefing Alaska tribes before every council meeting

NOAA Fisheries will stop briefing Alaska tribes before every North Pacific council meeting, citing a substantial drop in staff since 2025.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

NOAA would let one boat take far more western halibut to get anyone fishing it

Alaska's halibut is not getting caught. NOAA wants to let a single boat take much more of the western quota to get somebody out there fishing it.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Magnitude 6.3 quake off Nikolski sets off dozens of Aleutian aftershocks

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck offshore in the central Aleutians early Thursday, setting off dozens of aftershocks — but no tsunami and no expected damage.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A court struck down a fishery council's power. Alaska's council has the same one.

A court found a Gulf fishery council's veto unconstitutional — and Alaska's council holds the same power, behind the CDQ program and other fishing regimes.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

The paperwork behind 65 villages' share of the Bering Sea is up for renewal

Sixty-five Western Alaska villages hold a share of the Bering Sea. Keeping the paperwork current takes 36 hours a year, and it is up for renewal.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Dozens of earthquakes struck one patch of seafloor near Nikolski

Three dozen quakes struck one patch of seafloor southwest of Nikolski in about a day. No tsunami danger, and the Aleutians are not in Alaska's warning system.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A judge let Alaska start 2.8 miles of the King Cove road with the land swap vacated

A judge will not stop Alaska from starting 2.8 miles of the King Cove road, even though the land swap for the full route has been thrown out.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

Follows: Judge vacates 490-acre Izembek land swap, reopening the fight over the King Cove road

Unalaska raises the audit threshold for its nonprofit grant recipients

Unalaska has raised the audit threshold for nonprofit grantees to $40,000, after one grantee said audit costs ate roughly 13 percent of its city award.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Unalaska is paying $800,000 to keep its emergency room open around the clock

Unalaska City Council adopted new grant guidelines on Aug. 25, but the exact changes remain unclear because city records do not include the full resolution text.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Four quakes off Nikolski, largest magnitude 5.3; no tsunami danger

Four earthquakes struck offshore southwest of Nikolski late Monday, with the largest at magnitude 5.3, but the National Tsunami Warning Center said there was no tsunami danger.

by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read

Unalaska keeps awarding more grant money than its formula produces

Unalaska's grant program keeps awarding more than its funding formula produces. The council eased the audit rules and left the formula alone.

by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Unalaska approves airport gate power line, with the state covering the cost

Unalaska City Council approved a power line extension to supply new airport access gates, with work due by August 2027 at an estimated cost of $1 million to $2.5 million.

by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 2mo ago1 min read

A $2.5 million geothermal training grant for Unalaska sits 3 percent spent

Unalaska abandoned its Makushin geothermal project in May 2025, but a $2.5 million federal training grant tied to it remains open and largely unspent with only $75,000 spent so far.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

A health center's request to Unalaska grew nearly six-fold in a year

A health center's grant request to Unalaska grew from $180,000 to more than $1 million in a year, pushing the city's grant program past its own guideline.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 25

Unalaska paid for library internet for three years before the council approved it

Unalaska ran a library internet contract for three years without the council vote its code required. The council approved it this month, going back to 2023.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Small cod boats return Sept. 1 in the Bering Sea and Aleutians

Small cod boats get their Bering Sea fishery back Sept. 1 after seven months out, with quota shifted from two fleets that will not catch theirs.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Central Aleutian perch fishery closes early for a second straight year

Central Aleutian trawlers lose Pacific ocean perch at noon Thursday, four months early — the second straight year the fishery has closed ahead of schedule, and faster than last year.

by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read

A little Unalaska park keeps its tax break one last time before the lease runs out

A small community park in Unalaska keeps its property tax exemption one last time before the city's lease runs out, joining the tax rolls in 2027.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

New EU seafood paperwork lands Sept. 3, and it is not the only change

New EU seafood export certificates take effect Sept. 3. For Alaska's wild-caught fish and crab, the bigger change is a separate catch-documentation overhaul.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Sand Point salmon fishery opens Wednesday for 109 hours, the longest window of the string

Sand Point's salmon fishery opens for about 109 more hours this week, shaped by a strategy that protects immature salmon in the Shumagin Islands.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Follows: Sand Point fishermen get 61 hours on the water — in a fishery the rest of Alaska watches closely