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July 2026
Comment window opens on Alaska fishing license transfer paperwork renewal
Alaska commercial fishers have until mid-August to comment on federal fishing license transfer forms, with the only change being that paperwork can now be submitted by email instead of by mail.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
NMFS proposes removing economic data reporting requirements for BSAI trawl and crab programs
Federal fisheries managers proposed eliminating economic reporting requirements for Bering Sea trawl and crab harvesters, citing limited usefulness and cost savings.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Alaska Peninsula Bering Sea drainages: non-residents banned from keeping king salmon starting July 18
Non-resident anglers cannot keep king salmon in Bering Sea drainages starting July 18, while Alaska residents get a one-per-day limit.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Too many young fish shut Sand Point's seiners out of the Shumagins
Sand Point's seine fleet is shut out of the Shumagin Islands — test nets found immature sockeye at triple the closure threshold — as a lawsuit over the rules plays out.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
King Cove finally gets its road, and the lawsuits are still coming
King Cove's long-fought road to the Cold Bay airport has its final federal permit, with construction due in 30 days. Three lawsuits over the refuge land swap are still pending.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Starlink claims 10 Gbps in Utqiagvik, but maybe... not so much
Starlink says it hit 10 Gbps in Utqiagvik — but that's the firehose into town, not what reaches your house. A rooftop dish still gets about 200 Mbps.
by Melinda Communities.News4mo ago1 min read
Rural Alaska contract workers lost a federal wage floor; the state stepped in
Rural Alaska's federal contract workers lost their $17.75 floor last year. What's saving their paychecks now? Alaska's own $14 minimum wage.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago1 min read
State opens bids for Chenega Bay airport maintenance contract
Alaska is seeking a new maintenance contractor for Chenega Bay Rural Airport in Prince William Sound, with bids due July 16 and award expected by July 28.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
More from Aleutians
NMFS creates rodent detection dog exception to Pribilof dog ban
NMFS lifted a 50-year dog ban on the Pribilof Islands to allow certified rodent detection dogs to inspect vessels, protecting seal rookeries and subsistence harvests from invasive rodents.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
AML resolution calls for protecting bypass mail to remote Alaska communities
Alaska Municipal League urged federal officials to protect bypass mail, which lets remote communities buy cheaper goods through the postal system.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Chukchi Sea ice runs above median for third straight late June
Sea ice off Wainwright sits thick and late for the third straight June, delaying walrus and whale hunts in an Iñupiat community where ice sets the hunt's terms.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min readFrom 
Sablefish fleet faces compliance gap as approved release rule sits in federal limbo until 2028
A federal rule allowing Alaska sablefish vessels to release undersized fish won't take effect until 2028, leaving crews facing fines for a nearly unavoidable practice.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
North Pacific council moves toward enforceable pelagic trawl gear standards
North Pacific Fishery Management Council ordered staff to draft enforceable standards for pelagic trawl gear bottom contact, moving past years of conflict between pollock trawlers and crab harvesters.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago3 min read
Council votes 8-3 to study halibut bycatch rules for Golden Fleece replacement vessel
Council voted to study stripping a replacement vessel of halibut bycatch exemptions granted to the Golden Fleece in 2007, citing historic lows in Gulf of Alaska halibut stocks.
by Alaska Newsadded 4mo ago2 min read
After decades, King Cove's road may finally be coming
Decades of fighting for a road to Cold Bay's all-weather airport — a lifeline in emergencies. Now $18 million in construction money puts it closer than ever.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
At The Aleut Corporation, a promotion is a window into how a Native corporation works
The Aleut Corporation promoted Theresa Cross to oversee operations across four subsidiaries — a look at how an ANCSA regional corporation works for its Unangax̂ shareholders.
by Melinda Communities.News4mo ago3 min read
Coming up
NPFMC Joint, BSAI and GOA Groundfish Plan Team Meetings
Alaska Fisheries Science Center, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Building 4, Seattle, WA (Joint and BSAI teams in the Traynor Room, 2076; GOA team in Room 2079), and Zoom (registration on the eAgenda)
Meeting
International Pacific Halibut Commission Interim Meeting
Meeting
North Pacific Fishery Management Council December Meeting
Meeting
Amendment 80 Trawl Fleet Permit Paperwork - Public Comment Deadline
Public notice
Comments close: Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Modify Groundfish Season Timing in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska Groundfish Fisheries
Public notice
About Aleutians
The Aleutian Islands, also called the Aleutian Chain, are an island chain in southwestern Alaska stretching from the Alaska Peninsula toward Russia. The region includes Unalaska and Dutch Harbor, Akutan, Sand Point, King Cove, Atka, Adak, Nikolski and the Pribilof Islands of St. Paul and St. George.
Commercial fishing in the Bering Sea and North Pacific drives the economy, with pollock, crab, rockfish and other groundfish landed and processed in ports such as Dutch Harbor. Federal fishery managers set catch limits, bycatch caps and closures, including protections for Steller sea lions, that shape the fleet's seasons. Strong earthquakes, high winds and Bering Sea storms are a regular part of life on the chain.
Unangan (Aleut) communities and their tribes, health programs and language work are central to the region. Local governments include the City of Unalaska and the Aleutians East Borough, which handle grants, facilities and hazard planning.
More from Aleutians
June 2026
Nearly $350 million to replace one ferry — Alaska's lifeline to the Aleutians
Alaska's about to spend nearly $350 million to replace one ferry — the 60-year-old Tustumena. A genuine Aleutian lifeline, but the low bid went to a Louisiana yard.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Nome is becoming America's first deepwater port in the Arctic
After nearly 20 years, work is underway to make Nome the first deepwater port in the American Arctic — a ~$600M project deep enough for Coast Guard icebreakers.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
North Pacific Fisheries Management Council limit golden king crab catch limits
We're you planning on eating all that crab on your plate? No no, I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be pushy or anything, I was just curious.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Aleutian Islands golden king crab quota rises 13% for 2026/27
One crab goes up, the other crab goes down.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
Sullivan's Bycatch Bill Wades Into Alaska's Hardest Fish Fight
Sullivan's sweeping bycatch bill targets trawl salmon catch — a real and raw grievance, even as federal science pins Alaska's river collapses mostly on a warming ocean.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago3 min read
FBI, Troopers Arrest Unalaska Man on Two Child Sex Abuse Counts
Arresting one Unalaska man on child sexual abuse charges took two teams and Coast Guard and FBI aircraft, landing on two Aleutian islands at once.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
A Plan to Reopen Rural Alaska's Armories — On Paper
Sullivan's bill to reopen rural Alaska's shuttered armories cleared committee — but for now it orders a study, and the price of running bases in roadless villages is the unanswered question.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Tidal energy permit application opens in Isanotski Strait near False Pass
Tidal energy permit in Isanotski Strait. Small ask. Alaska has the biggest U.S. tidal resource, and Cook Inlet gas is running down.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Anchorage Assembly to vote on $1.35M in supportive housing grants
Five Anchorage nonprofits would split $1.35M for supportive housing on June 23. The pandemic-era funding clock is still ticking.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
St. Paul Island artists retell Kipling's 'White Seal' from Unangan perspective
Kipling wrote "The White Seal" about the Pribilof without Unangan voices. St. Paul artists are fixing that.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Coast Guard seeks contractor for Kodiak rescue aircraft life-support gear
Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak is hiring a contractor to maintain life-support gear on rescue aircraft serving Alaska's deadliest fisheries, with proposals due June 29.
by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 4mo ago2 min read
ADF&G issues Sand Point commercial salmon fishery advisory #05
Alaska's acting attorney general voided five South Peninsula salmon rules adopted in February over ethics violations before they took effect. • Sand Point seine fleet now fishes under older rules while the Board of Fisheries decides whether to readopt the restrictions. • The voided rules would have cut fishing time and area for seine and gillnet gear in the Shumagin Islands and South Unimak.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Satellite Tags Track Pacific Cod Shifts in Warming Bering Sea
Satellite tags are tracking whether Pacific cod are permanently shifting north in the warming Bering Sea or temporarily moving, data that will shape management of Alaska's second-largest groundfish fishery.
by Bill AlaskaNews5mo ago2 min read
A House bill on NOAA workplace safety is built on data from Alaska — where a third of fisheries observers report harassment or assault
A House bill to strengthen sexual harassment protections at NOAA is built on data from Alaska's North Pacific Observer Program, where nearly one third of the roughly 400 annual observers report harassment or assault.
by Alaska News5mo ago2 min read
Federal highway chief commits to King Cove Road action
Federal Highway Administrator committed to finalize the Road, an 11-mile project connecting the community to Cold Bay's airport, and will visit Alaska in late June.
by Walter AlaskaNews5mo ago2 min read
May 2026
Unalaska Council advances FY27 budget, certifies tax roll
Unalaska City Council advanced its fiscal year 2027 budget ordinance and certified the 2026 property tax roll at its May 26 meeting, though final vote outcomes were not confirmed in available materials.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 5mo ago1 min readKetchikan Council selects Glenn Adams as new city manager
Ketchikan City Council voted 6–1 to hire Glenn Adams as city manager and utilities director. Adams has 26 years of military experience managing large facilities and previously led cities in Virginia and Texas.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 5mo ago1 min read
Mount Kupreanof shows signs of magma intrusion 50 miles from Sand Point
Mount Kupreanof, 50 miles from Sand Point, is showing magma movement for the first time in over 10,000 years, prompting the Alaska Volcano Observatory to raise its alert level on May 11.
by Alaska Newsadded 6mo ago2 min readUnalaska Council meets as city manages $50M fund, air travel crisis
Unalaska City Council meets Tuesday to manage a $50 million sustainability fund and address infrastructure needs in the remote Aleutian Islands fishing hub.
by Alaska News6mo ago1 min readUnalaska council to hear appeal in TSYS business dispute May 12
Unalaska City Council will hear a business appeal involving TSYS on May 12 at 6 p.m. at City Hall, with details available on the city website.
by Alaska News6mo ago1 min readNavy eyes return to Adak amid Arctic security concerns
The Navy is assessing whether to reestablish operations on Adak Island as China and Russia increase military activity near Alaska, with no formal decision yet made.
by Alaska News6mo ago4 min read
April 2026
Board considers trawl gear restrictions in Aleutian Islands state waters
The Alaska Board of Fisheries delayed a decision on banning large trawlers from Aleutian state waters to weigh habitat concerns against a potential 7 million dollar processing deal.
by Alaska Newsadded 6mo ago3 min readBoard of Fish Defers Trawl Gear Restrictions, Opts for Federal Coordination
Alaska Board of Fisheries unanimously deferred trawl restrictions, opting to coordinate with federal managers on gear standards instead.
by Alaska Newsadded 6mo ago3 min read
Senate panel advances fishing co-op bill with electronic monitoring
The Senate Resources Committee advanced a bill to legalize set gillnet cooperatives and mandate electronic monitoring on trawl vessels.
by Alaska News6mo ago3 min read