Yakutat
RSSNews from Yakutat, Alaska
Yakutat set gillnetters get another opening, but still can't keep king salmon
Yakutat set gillnetters get another opening starting Sunday. Other salmon are fair game. Kings still aren't, in any size, whether for sale or for dinner.
by Bill AlaskaNews2d ago1 min read
Prince William Sound faces a winter without ferry service as the Aurora is overhauled
Prince William Sound faces a winter with little or no ferry service while the 1977-built Aurora is overhauled. New docks are the fix, and they're years away.
by Walter AlaskaNews4d ago2 min read
The West Coast's halibut fleet needed six openings to near its small quota
The West Coast's commercial halibut season is over after six openings to catch a small quota — from the same stock Alaska fishes, near 1970s lows.
by Bill AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Yakutat wind advisory expires; top gust 37 mph
Yakutat braced for gusts of 60 mph this weekend. The airport topped out at 37. Nobody in town is complaining that the forecast turned out wrong.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Yakutat gillnetters must donate Chinook found dead in Situk nets
Yakutat set gillnetters open Sunday. Any king that dies in the net gets its dorsal fin cut off and handed to somebody in town who needs it.
by Bill AlaskaNews1w ago1 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 AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Alaska got early frost and a heat advisory in the same week
Alaska's first week of September brought early frost to Anchorage and Yakutat and a heat advisory to Prince of Wales Island, where Friday hits 80 degrees.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
A Situk River king salmon closure is extended as returns fall short
A Situk River fishing closure protecting weak king runs is extended through Aug. 31 — one of several 2026 restrictions on a key Yakutat subsistence river.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Yakutat scallop fishery closes as harvest reaches 145,000-pound cap
Yakutat's commercial scallop fishery closes Wednesday as the fleet hits its 145,000-pound limit — a small statewide fishery worked by just two boats.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Tlingit law student Gloria Wolfe wins the Judson L. Brown Leadership Award
Tlingit law student Gloria Wolfe won the 2026 Judson L. Brown Leadership Award and $5,000 scholarship for her work leading Indigenous organizations and founding a consulting practice.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Yakutat opened a short sockeye gillnet fishery, with kings still off-limits
Yakutat opened a short sockeye gillnet fishery in mid-August, but king salmon stayed off-limits as the Situk River's king run keeps declining.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Situk River's Nine Mile Bridge stretch stays closed to all fishing through Aug. 31
Alaska Fish and Game extended the Situk River Nine Mile Bridge fishing closure to Aug. 31 after the Chinook run fell to 219 fish, less than a quarter of the forecast.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
The Situk's Rodeo Hole reopens Wednesday, the kings already gone upstream
The Situk's Rodeo Hole reopens to sport fishing Wednesday after five weeks closed, once surveys showed the king salmon had already moved upstream.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Situk River sockeye fishery has all but ended, ADF&G says
Situk River sockeye runs have collapsed to their lowest in five years, forcing ADF&G to tell anglers the sport fishery has ended even though the daily limit stays at three fish.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Pacific halibut hit a 40-year low as Alaska absorbs the deepest cuts
Pacific halibut are at a 40-year low, and Alaska's waters took the deepest 2025 cuts, including 22% in the Central Gulf, hitting commercial, charter and subsistence fishing alike.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Mountain goat area west of Harlequin Lake closes tonight after a long population slide
The mountain goat area west of Harlequin Lake closes to RG170 hunters tonight — goat numbers there crashed from 122 to a dozen over the years, and a recent rebound hasn't convinced the state.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
A routine Yakutat fishing closure lands on a shrinking fleet
Yakutat's dusky rockfish season closed on schedule — routine, except for a shrinking small-boat fleet counting the ways left to make a living.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Yakutat's Pacific ocean perch season closes after filling its quota
Yakutat's Pacific ocean perch season closed Wednesday after filling its 1,923-ton quota — the second West Yakutat rockfish fishery to wrap in a week.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Yakutat's dusky rockfish season closes after filling its 150-ton share
Yakutat's dusky rockfish season is done for the year — 150 metric tons and out, right on the same July schedule as last year. Bycatch retention still allowed.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Glacier Bay cuts eastern Lower Bay speed limit to 13 knots to protect feeding humpbacks
Glacier Bay National Park cut the speed limit to 13 knots on the eastern Lower Bay starting Friday to protect humpback whales actively feeding there.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Salmon River near Hyder still rising; road to Canada at risk
A glacial outburst flood is pushing the Salmon River higher near Hyder, threatening the community's only overland road out. Crest timing remains uncertain.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A glacier-dammed lake is emptying into the Salmon River near Hyder
A glacier-dammed lake above Hyder is draining out the bottom of the Salmon Glacier, swelling the Salmon River and threatening the Premier road — like it has almost every summer since 1961.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Yakutat's king run is coming up short, and the closures keep stacking up
Yakutat's Situk River king run is coming in too weak to open, so the state has kept the fishery closed to keeping Chinook three straight weeks — another lean year.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
In Alaska, the adult takes the ticket for a kid's line
A visiting grandfather got the ticket when his grandson fished closed waters at Crooked Creek — in Alaska, the supervising adult is on the hook, and intent doesn't matter.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
The West Coast halibut fleet left most of its quota for the July 7 opener
The West Coast halibut fleet caught just 27% of its quota in the first opener, so about 191,000 pounds are still up for grabs when boats head back out July 7.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
NOAA Sets West Coast Halibut Season Opening June 23 With 261,211-Pound Cap
NOAA opened the 2026 commercial halibut season for West Coast waters June 23 with a 261,211-pound catch cap, a fraction of Alaska's much larger allocation under international management.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Gale-force winds, 15-foot seas forecast for Yakutat waters this weekend
Gale-force winds and 15-foot seas will hit Yakutat waters Friday night through Sunday, with heavy rain expected to bring 2 to 4 inches to the area.
by Alaska News3mo ago1 min read
Yakutat braces for gale-force winds, 10-15 ft seas this weekend
Gale-force winds and 10 to 15 foot seas will hit Yakutat's coastal waters starting Friday night through the weekend, with 2 to 3 inches of rain expected.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min read
ADF&G opens Copper River drift gillnet fishery Thursday for 24 hours
Alaska Department of Fish and Game opens Copper River drift gillnet fishery for 24 hours starting 7 a.m. Thursday, June 26, targeting sockeye salmon while monitoring Chinook conservation limits of 21,000 to 31,000 fish.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
King salmon sportfishing slows in Yakutat marine waters after strong week
King salmon fishing slowed in Yakutat marine waters over Memorial Day weekend after a strong week earlier in May, though residents can keep two fish and nonresidents one under 2026 rules.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Cold Spring Delays Situk River Steelhead Spawning, Extends Fishing Season
Cold spring water has delayed steelhead spawning in the Situk River, keeping spring-run fish in the system longer and extending the fishing season through at least next week.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Thorne Bay certifies mayoral election with 47 percent turnout
Thorne Bay certified its May 12 mayoral election on May 18 with 235 ballots cast, a 47 percent turnout of 500 registered voters.
by Alaska News4mo ago1 min read
Yukon Premier Warns of Near-Blackouts, Scales Back Electric Vehicle Push
Yukon nearly faced blackouts during extreme cold, forcing premier to drop EV mandates and subsidies to ease grid strain. • Territory will add 15 megawatts of diesel or LNG this summer, then 45 more over five years. • Isolated 150-megawatt grid relies on three aging dams and cannot tap neighboring regions for power. • Electrification paused as near-term priority until capacity expands.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Alaska manufacturers have 11 days to enter state's top award
The Made in Alaska program has opened nominations for its 2025 Manufacturer of the Year award with a May 29, 2026 deadline, offering winners a custom bowl, state publicity, and Alaska Manufacturing Association membership.
by Alaska News4mo ago2 min read
Mat-Su Job Center Offers Free Digital Literacy Help Twice Weekly
The Alaska Literacy Program is providing free, no-appointment drop-in computer skills tutoring twice weekly at the Mat-Su Job Center to help job seekers gain digital literacy skills.
by Alaska News4mo ago1 min readNew rockfish rules require Yakutat anglers keep fish intact longer
New Alaska regulations effective May 7, 2026, require Yakutat sport fishers to keep rockfish, lingcod, and king salmon identifiable and measurable until offloading, preventing immediate filleting on boats.
by Alaska News4mo ago2 min read