Cook Inlet

The Kenai coho limit stayed at two when it was supposed to go to three

Kenai River anglers expected the coho limit to rise to three fish on Sept. 1. It stayed at two instead, and will stay there through November.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

More than 200 coho counted at Bear Creek weir near Seward

More than 200 coho have passed through Bear Creek weir near Seward, with freshwater fishing expected to improve over the next few weeks.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Follows: More than 100 coho have passed Bear Creek weir near Seward

Southcentral is 3 Bcf short this winter, and producers told lawmakers the gas runs out in 2029

Southcentral Alaska faces a natural gas shortage by winter 2029 unless it imports liquefied natural gas or taps North Slope supplies, Hilcorp and Chugach told lawmakers Thursday.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

West Coast halibut catch falls to a fifth of June's rate as NOAA adds a sixth period

The West Coast halibut fleet can't catch its full allocation — a sign of strain in a coastwide stock, near 40-year lows, that Alaska also depends on.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Southcentral's gas storage is two-thirds full with winter coming

Southcentral's gas storage is two thirds full heading into winter, and one field shuts down for maintenance starting Monday.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Three Cook Inlet gas storage plans pending for winter demand

Mat-Su moves to lease Port MacKenzie land to an antimony company

Mat-Su is moving to lease 42.78 acres of port land to an antimony company. The commission that recommended it published no minutes or vote count.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min readFrom Sep 1

Massachusetts firm seeks study permit for a 66-pod undersea data center in Cook Inlet

A Delaware company formed in January wants to put 66 data center pods and 350 tidal turbines on the floor of Cook Inlet. Comment closes Nov. 2.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 4

Kamishak Bay pink and chum escapement runs preliminarily below goals

Pink and chum escapement in Kamishak Bay finished below their spawning targets as the Lower Cook Inlet commercial salmon season closed.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Kamishak District closed to seining after survey found fewer pinks

Razor clam permit still required on Cook Inlet as September digging season runs on

Cook Inlet razor clam diggers need a subsistence permit, not the new household permit, to harvest legally this season, and east side beaches stay closed through 2027.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

HEX plans to triple its gas deliveries, enough to cover a tenth of demand

HEX plans to triple its contracted gas to ENSTAR by 2027. Even so, it would cover roughly a tenth of Southcentral demand as Cook Inlet keeps declining.

by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read

Hilcorp wants to plug five Cook Inlet wells for good

Hilcorp asked the state to dissolve a Cook Inlet unit and permanently plug five of nine wells at an offshore platform, as the basin runs short of gas.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Purse seining is finished for the year in Lower Cook Inlet

Purse seining ended for the year in Lower Cook Inlet. The Outer and Eastern districts closed at 10 pm Monday, and the advisory gives no reason.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Matanuska Electric's next CEO inherits a gas contract that expires in 2029 and years of rising bills

Clay Koplin takes over as Matanuska Electric CEO on Jan. 7, 2027, as the cooperative braces for rising natural gas costs that could push member bills up 5% yearly for three years.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Kelp that washes up on Cook Inlet beaches can now be harvested and sold

Kelp that washes up on Cook Inlet beaches can now be harvested and sold, up to 86,000 pounds. Beachcombers are still capped at 10 gallons a day.

by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read

Cook Inlet Housing Authority chief backs Anchorage housing code changes his projects use

Cook Inlet Housing Authority's chief backed Anchorage's housing code changes Tuesday, crediting them for enabling his organization's Nest project.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage Assembly to vote Tuesday on $6.7 million wastewater bleach contract with lone bidder

Anchorage Assembly votes Tuesday on a $6.7 million bleach contract with the only bidder, raising the price from $7.96 to $9.96 per gallon for wastewater disinfection.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Cook Inlet Housing Authority asks Anchorage Assembly to make design-standard pause permanent

Anchorage paused its multifamily design rules in 2025. A housing developer wants the pause made permanent; neighborhood councils want it narrowed inste

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Tom Begich withdraws his campaign and endorses Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins

Tom announced he's withdrawing from the race for Governor and endorses JKT.

by Cale Green2mo ago3 min read

Anchorage developer says fire lanes cost his 58-unit project 15 homes

Fire lane requirements cost an Anchorage developer 15 potential homes. The city faces pressure to ease building rules to meet housing goals.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

NMFS closes Central Gulf cod for hook-and-line vessels 50 feet and up

On Sept. 1, Alaska's largest hook-and-line boats lose Central Gulf cod for the year, while smaller boats gain new cod access in state and Bering Sea waters.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

More than 100 coho have passed Bear Creek weir near Seward

More than 100 coho salmon have passed Bear Creek weir near Seward, signaling that freshwater silver fishing in the Resurrection River should improve within the next week or two.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Silvers are slow in Resurrection Bay, but the best coho fishing is just outside it

Anchorage weighs selling city land for housing by units built, not just the highest bid

Anchorage would rank housing density and affordability over sale price when selling city land, prioritizing multifamily projects and permanently affordable housing over highest bidder.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Coho must go back in the water on the Susitna and Little Susitna

You can still fish for coho on the Susitna. You can't keep them. The Little Susitna is projected at 2,104 fish against a goal of at least 9,200.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Kenai anglers won't get the extra coho they were expecting this fall

Kenai River anglers won't get the usual bump to three coho on Sept. 1 — the limit stays at two through November as silver runs look weak across Cook Inlet.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Federal Judge threw out Trump's offshore drilling without deciding the question

A judge dismissed the challenge to Trump's offshore reopening on standing, without ruling on whether he had the authority. The groups can refile.

by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Chugach wants another cent for the gas it sells to itself

Chugach wants to raise the price it charges itself for its own gas to $8.14. It was $2.73 in early 2021, and surcharges are driving the climb.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Ninth Circuit upholds federal Cook Inlet salmon management against drift fleet challenge

Cook Inlet drift fishermen lost again in federal court. The fight over who actually gets the fish moves back to the Alaska Board of Fisheries.

by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

East Cook Inlet clam beaches stay closed; the west side is the option

The razor clam beaches Alaskans could drive to are still closed. What's left this season is across Cook Inlet, reachable only by boat or plane.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A young weaver 3D-printed his own form to make a cedar bark hat

A Bartlett High grad wove himself a cedar bark hat using a form he designed and 3D-printed at a tribal lab — work that led to an internship and a paid job.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Kodiak's one-king limit runs three more weeks

Kodiak saltwater anglers can keep one king a day through Sept. 15, then two. Kings have been steady, with several over 20 pounds in the past week.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage weighs a $6.7 million bleach contract for its wastewater

Anchorage may spend up to $6.7 million on bleach to disinfect wastewater it discharges into Cook Inlet under a treatment waiver that expired 20 years ago.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Cook Inlet pot boats get back into state-waters cod on Sept. 1

Cook Inlet's jig-only Pacific cod season closes Sept. 1 and reopens to all legal gear, leaving 339,000 pounds of unharvested quota available to pots, jigging machines, and troll gear through year-end.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Knik Tribe awarded $5 million to design fish passage fixes on Talkeetna Spur Road

Eight culverts on the Talkeetna Spur Road block salmon from more than 66 miles of stream. The Knik Tribe got $5 million to design the fixes.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Enstar tells legislators it's 18 days short of gas for winter

Enstar told legislators it's 18 days, about 3 Bcf, short of gas for a normal winter after two supplies fell through, with deals underway still leaving a gap.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

If you pulled an Upper Cook Inlet dipnet permit, you have until Aug. 31 to file, even if you never fished

Pulled an Upper Cook Inlet dipnet permit? File your harvest report by Aug. 31, even if you never fished, or you lose personal-use fishing privileges next year.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Silvers are slow in Resurrection Bay, but the best coho fishing is just outside it

Silvers are slow in Resurrection Bay with few coho past the weir, but the best coho fishing is just outside it toward Montague Island and Harris Bay.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska managers open some salmon fisheries and close others as runs diverge

Alaska fishery managers opened some salmon fisheries and closed others the same week, each call turning on how the fish are running in that particular place.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Three Cook Inlet gas storage plans pending for winter demand

Cook Inlet's gas problem isn't only supply, it's winter. Alaska is weighing three plans to bank gas underground and draw it down in the cold months.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska tells BlueCrest to produce Cook Inlet gas by 2027 or give up the lease

Alaska ordered BlueCrest Energy to begin producing gas from its Cook Inlet lease by March 2027 or forfeit it, as the region's gas supply shrinks and the company has sat idle for years.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

There's a narrow window to ask Alaska's fish board to take up new topics

A narrow window closes Aug. 28 to ask Alaska's fish board to take up new topics, but the bar is high: it accepted just two of nine such requests last year.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read