Alaska's kings are down almost everywhere — here's the picture
From the Yukon to Kodiak to Prince William Sound, Alaska is closing or tightening king salmon fishing nearly statewide — a slow-motion decline now measured in decades, not seasons.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read
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 AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Kodiak fire department moves to fix a staffing crunch
Kodiak's Fire Protection Area No. 1 is short-handed enough that its board told the chief to build a new position — a people problem, not a money one, as volunteers get harder to find.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
A remote Kodiak village tries tp fix its water
Karluk — a village 88 miles from Kodiak city, ringed by refuge — is replacing its failing water system, closing a gap most of America never has to think about.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Kodiak Borough weighs tax on recreational harvest
Kodiak Borough is exploring a flat fee on fish boxes and game containers from recreational harvests, modeled on Sitka's $10 per box tax, and could adopt it by ordinance without a public vote.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Kodiak eyes 3% marijuana tax
Kodiak Assembly members proposed a 3% marijuana tax that would raise roughly $135,000 to $150,000 yearly for health, housing, and childcare programs if voters approve it in October.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Federal migratory bird subsistence rules take effect across Alaska
Alaska's spring subsistence bird harvest is older than the U.S. — and a 1916 treaty effectively banned it until 1997. This week's update continues a hunt Native communities never gave up.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
How Kodiak lives safely among the world's biggest bears
Kodiak shares its island with the biggest bears on Earth — up to 1,300 pounds — and a free Saturday Q&A teaches the skills that keep maulings remarkably rare.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Departing Kodiak assemblyman warns: prepare for the Coast Guard boom
Kodiak Assemblyman Dave Johnson resigned with a warning to prepare for incoming Coast Guard icebreakers and fix housing. The Assembly will appoint his replacement July 16.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
NPFMC sets Alaska weathervane scallop harvest limits for 2026
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council set 2026 catch limits for Alaska's weathervane scallop fishery, a four-boat operation where each vessel's annual revenue hinges on the council's decision.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Kodiak seiners back Kreiss-Tomkins for governor
A Kodiak seiners' group endorsed Kreiss-Tomkins for governor on a fisheries platform — though "restore balance to the Board of Fish" means very different things to different fishermen.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Kodiak's Easiest Sockeye River Shuts Down
Kodiak's road-system sockeye river is closing on a dismal 988-fish count — while Litnik, just across the island, is cruising past 15,000.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Kodiak Anglers Can Now Keep 10 Sockeye at South Olga Lakes
Kodiak anglers can keep 10 sockeye per day at South Olga Lakes starting Friday, June 26, through July 15, after the run exceeded its escapement goal.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
A Record Alaska Defense Bill Clears Its First Hurdle
A Senate panel advanced a bill teeing up $2.6 billion for Alaska's military — though "authorized" is Washington for "don't spend it yet," and the number tends to shrink on the way to law.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Kodiak River closes to sockeye fishing
Alaska closes Buskin River sockeye sport fishing from June 24 through year-end after only 916 fish passed the weir by mid-June, versus a typical 3,200 at this date.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Kodiak held its tax rate down — and split over what it means for schools
Kodiak's assembly held the line on taxes for squeezed residents. Whether that quietly cost the schools $500K depends on which member you ask.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
Kodiak Set Its Taxes — Now It Has to Send the Bills
Kodiak Island Borough must send property tax bills by July 1 but its new Tyler Technologies system may not be ready, leaving staff ready to fall back to the old one.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
Kodiak Borough OKs Water Upgrade for Village of Karluk
Kodiak Island Borough Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a water treatment upgrade for the Native Village of Karluk, adding storage and lines for year-round drinking water.
by Walter 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
Kodiak's Adjust Your Altitude summit challenge begins June 15
Discover Kodiak opens registration June 15 for Adjust Your Altitude, a five dollar summit challenge running through Sept. 1 that sends hikers to seven Kodiak peaks with over two thousand dollars in prizes.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Coast Guard to station three icebreakers in Kodiak, Seward
The Coast Guard will station two Arctic Security Cutters in Kodiak and one in Seward once infrastructure is built, adding a fourth icebreaker to Alaska's fleet with first delivery expected in 2028.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
Coast Guard to homeport four icebreakers in Alaska
Coast Guard will homeport four icebreakers in Alaska, with two Arctic Security Cutters in Kodiak by 2028 and a third in Seward, following $3.5 billion in federal funding.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
Coast Guard to homeport four icebreakers in Alaska
Coast Guard will homeport four icebreakers in Alaska by 2028, with two in Kodiak, one in Seward, and a fourth location to be named, funded by $3.5 billion in federal legislation.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
Kodiak planners advance Karluk water system overhaul
Kodiak Island Borough planners advanced a conditional use permit to replace Karluk's entire water treatment system, which would provide year-round potable water to the Alaska Native village.
by Alaska News4mo ago1 min read
Coast Guard to homeport four icebreakers in Alaska
The Coast Guard will homeport two Arctic Security Cutters in Kodiak and one in Seward starting in 2028, funded by $3.5 billion in the 2025 Working Families Tax Cuts Act.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
A federal expansion of hunting and fishing access on national wildlife refuges would land most heavily in Alaska
They're making changes to national wildlife refuges? We got a lot of them.
by Alaska News4mo ago2 min read
Fish and Wildlife lost quarter of staff, faces questions on refuge management
Fish and Wildlife Service lost a quarter of its staff, including 530 biologists. Nine percent of refuges now lack on-ground management. Alaska holds 16 refuges covering three-quarters of the system's acreage, but the agency has not disclosed which Alaska refuges are shuttered or how many Alaska staff were cut.
by Alaska News4mo ago2 min read
Kodiak prepares for 2,578 cruise passengers in one week
Two cruise ships will bring 2,578 passengers to Kodiak in late June, with Crystal Symphony docking June 21 and Noordam on June 23, each staying nine hours while local tourism organizes downtown welcome events and vendor markets.
by Alaska Newsadded 4mo ago1 min read
Kodiak seafood permit bars waste deposits on seafloor
Alaska's new seafood processing wastewater permit for Kodiak bans dumping waste on the seafloor starting June 2026, ending a practice unique to Alaska that has left massive piles of bones and shells creating dead zones underwater.
by Alaska News4mo ago2 min read
ADF&G opens six Kodiak sections to commercial fishing, bans large Chinook retention
Alaska Department of Fish and Game opened six Kodiak commercial salmon sections to purse seine fishing June 9 but banned retention of Chinook salmon 28 inches or larger, citing low king salmon runs in the Karluk and Ayakulik river systems.
by Alaska News4mo ago2 min read
Kodiak Alutiiq Dancers honor late elder at Celebration 2026 performances
Kodiak Alutiiq Dancers honored late elder Margaret Roberts at Celebration 2026, performing traditional and newly written pieces that document ancestral knowledge and cultural revival across Alaska and Hawaii.
by Lucas Brownadded 4mo ago2 min read
Kodiak Assembly sets mill rate at 8.75, rejecting school increase
Kodiak Assembly set the fiscal year 2027 property tax mill rate at 8.75, with Assembly Members Johnson and Smiley voting against the lower rate.
by Lucas Brown4mo 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 News4mo ago2 min read
Kodiak king salmon bag limit cut to one fish as Karluk runs collapse
Alaska cut Kodiak king salmon bag limit to one fish per day and closed west side salt waters through June after only 93 kings returned to Karluk River in 2025, far below recovery targets.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Kodiak Lands Committee directs staff to study housing development at youth baseball field
Kodiak Island Borough Lands Committee directed staff to study converting the 16-acre Killarney Hills youth baseball field into at least 30 residential lots to address housing shortages.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Kodiak Lands Committee directs staff to study housing development on youth baseball field
Kodiak Island Borough Lands Committee directed staff to study converting the 16-acre Killarney Hills youth baseball field into at least 30 residential lots to address housing needs.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
DOT&PF cuts Chiniak Highway to 50 percent axle load during fishing season
Alaska DOT&PF cut Chiniak Highway to 50 percent axle load from milepost 20.1 to 33.39 effective May 27 to protect pavement during spring thaw and fishing season truck traffic on Kodiak Island.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago1 min readKodiak Borough advances FY27 budget with 8.91 mill rate to hearing
Kodiak Borough Assembly voted unanimously Wednesday to hold the property tax rate at 8.91 mills, a decision that keeps the rate flat but will result in higher tax bills for most homeowners as assessed property values increase.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Alaska House passes bill requiring human operators in commercial autonomous vehicles
Alaska House passed HB 217 requiring a human operator in certain commercial autonomous vehicles, sending the bill to Senate State Affairs Committee despite opposition from industry groups and the state transportation department.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min readKodiak Island Borough Assembly approves $13.8M for schools, $836K below district request
Assembly approved 13.7 million dollars for schools, 836 thousand less than requested. • District already cut 2.7 million and warned more cuts mean losing aides, nurses, and counselors. • Federal COVID aid and education grants have ended, leaving borough to fill the gap. • State funding unlikely to improve until Alaska depletes its constitutional budget reserve.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 5mo ago2 min read