Alaska Board of Fisheries

Fish board opens comment on Cook Inlet drift gillnet rules it adopted in March

The Board of Fisheries wants comments on Cook Inlet drift fleet limits it passed in March, which never took effect. A second vote is likely in January.

by Bill AlaskaNews22h ago2 min read

State cuts Craig and Klawock herring harvest limit 28% as forecast drops

Fish and Game cut the Craig and Klawock herring harvest limit 28% this season, to 5,135 tons, after forecasting fewer spawning herring than last year.

by Walter AlaskaNews1d ago2 min read

Kodiak's salmon catch fell a third below average, but the season paid more than usual

Kodiak's salmon fleet caught a third fewer fish than usual this summer but was paid more than average. Westside king runs missed their goals again.

by Walter AlaskaNews2d ago2 min read

Area M's June chum catch was near average as fish board moves to reconsider voided limits

Area M caught nearly 500,000 June chum this year with no cuts, after the state voided limits on the fishery. Now the fish board is moving to reconsider them.

by Walter AlaskaNews2d ago4 min read

Fish board to weigh resident-first kings, Homer Spit nets and helicopter anglers

Alaska Board of Fisheries meets Dec. 1-4 in Seward on 50 Lower Cook Inlet proposals: resident king salmon priority, Homer Spit closures, helicopter limits and hatchery plans.

by Bill AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read

Fish board plans a second vote on Cook Inlet drift limits that never took effect

The fish board voted in March to rein in Cook Inlet's drift fleet. The rules never took effect, and now it'll vote on them again, likely in January.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read

Fish board agrees to reconsider Area M salmon limits the state voided in May

The fish board voted 4-3 to reconsider Area M salmon limits the state voided in May. The member whose ethics violation led to that voted yes each time.

by Alaska News2w ago3 min read

Alaska Board of Fisheries picks Bethel and Dillingham for 2028 regional finfish meetings

The Board of Fisheries will take its 2028 AYK and Bristol Bay meetings to Bethel and Dillingham, after some debate over hotel rooms and winter dining.

by Alaska News2w ago2 min read

Fish board member found in ethics violation makes the order public before Area M vote

The state found fish board member Curt Chamberlain's ethics disclosure incomplete and voided five Area M rules. He released the order Wednesday and disputes it.

by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read

Fish board adds eight Upper Cook Inlet king stocks and Little Susitna coho to concern list

The fish board added eight Upper Cook Inlet king runs and Little Susitna coho to its worry list, bringing the inlet's troubled king stocks to 13.

by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

Chignik tribal coalition sues the state months after its Area M salmon rule was voided

The Chignik Intertribal Coalition sued the state in Dillingham. The record doesn't say why, but the state voided the coalition's Area M salmon rule in May.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read

Alaska Board of Fisheries urged to add a second vote on the final text of fishing rules

Alaska fishing rules become law before the board sees their final text. The Department of Law wants a second vote on it, after 30 days of public comment.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago3 min read

Follows: Board of Fisheries committee weighs how to let the public weigh in on last-minute rewrites

Trawl briefing leaves state board asking about its own waters

Fish board members asked if federal trawl science covers state waters. Not the state-run fisheries, it turns out. Trident showed a net that touches bottom less.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago4 min read

Board of Fisheries will weigh Homer Spit net closures and a Kodiak trawl ban

Homer Spit nets, Kodiak trawlers and who gets the last Cook Inlet king are all on the Board of Fisheries' winter menu. Public comments are open now.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago3 min read

Fish and Game lets tenders into Kodiak's herring B season with less than two weeks left

Kodiak's summer-to-fall herring season is finally letting tenders in, with less than two weeks to go. The B season opened July 1 and closes Oct. 25.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Three governor candidates lay out rural energy and subsistence plans at Tanana Chiefs forum

Three governor candidates pitched rural energy and subsistence fixes at a Tanana Chiefs forum. • Kreiss-Tomkins vowed to protect PCE funding and drop federal subsistence lawsuits. • Taylor pushed a constitutional amendment for state fish and game control. • Bronson proposed river roads like Fairbanks to Galena to cut costs.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Board of Fisheries committee to take up remote testimony and process changes Oct. 21

A Board of Fisheries committee meets Oct. 21 on remote testimony and process recommendations. Its chair has "struggled with" virtual participation.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Southeast winter troll king season opens Oct. 11, with five inside areas closed

Southeast's winter king troll season opens Oct. 11 and runs to March 15 or a 45,000-fish cap. Five inside areas stay closed to protect wild fish.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Board of Fisheries takes written comments through Oct. 13 for its October work session

The Board of Fisheries meets in Anchorage Oct. 28-29 to decide which off-cycle proposals to take up. Want a say? Written comments only, due Oct. 13.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Follows: Board of Fisheries committee weighs how to let the public weigh in on last-minute rewrites

Trawl meeting in Anchorage Oct. 16 will take no remote testimony

Fishery managers will spend a day in Anchorage on trawl nets touching the seafloor. No votes, no remote testimony, and written comments close Oct. 9.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Board of Fisheries committee weighs how to let the public weigh in on last-minute rewrites

ishermen say the fish board rewrites proposals after they've testified. A committee chewed on it Friday and changed nothing yet. Round two comes in October.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Fish and Game proposes flagging struggling salmon runs a year earlier so the public can weigh in

Alaskans often get the state's plan for a struggling salmon run too late to weigh in. Fish and Game wants to flag troubled runs a year earlier instead.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Fishery managers will meet on trawl seafloor contact, with no power to recommend

The Board of Fisheries took 51 seconds on three trawl proposals. Its follow-up meeting can't recommend anything and won't take testimony by phone.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readFrom Mar 20

Follows: Board of Fish Defers Trawl Gear Restrictions, Opts for Federal Coordination

Nonresident rockfish retention stays closed in Ketchikan waters

Nonresident anglers in Ketchikan cannot keep yelloweye, quillback, canary, China, copper, tiger or rosethorn rockfish through year-end, though Alaska residents may keep one a day.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Fish board committee to review Traditional Knowledge report process Sept. 25

Fish board members will review how Traditional Knowledge reports are handled Sept. 25. The notice proposes no change to Traditional Knowledge's place in regulation.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Ten sockeye a day holds through December in the Wood and Nushagak

Anglers can keep 10 sockeye a day in the Wood and Nushagak through December, double the usual. The kings in the same water are a stock of concern.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Bristol Bay's Nushagak opened late this year to protect its king salmon

Bristol Bay's Nushagak District opened weeks late this season to protect its struggling king salmon, delaying the fleet's access to the sockeye run.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Gubernatorial candidates split on Board of Fisheries overhaul

Proposals range from expanding the board to nine or eleven members to stricter recusal rules and industry-conflict guidelines.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

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

Southeast seiners get one 15-hour opening, in Sitka Sound

Southeast seiners get one 15-hour opening in Sitka Sound this week and nothing else. The fleet has thinned to 75 boats from 121 a week earlier.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Southeast's sea cucumber divers get a smaller catch this fall

Southeast Alaska's sea cucumber dive fishery opens Oct. 5 with a 1.4 million pound harvest cap, down 18 percent from last season.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 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

Kodiak salmon fishing extended again, running through Wednesday evening

Kodiak boats get a second 48-hour extension, running through 6 pm Wednesday. The Chinook nonretention rule stays in place across the whole area.

by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Subsistence coho fishing closes on the middle and upper Kuskokwim

Subsistence coho fishing closes Friday on the middle Kuskokwim and a week later upriver. Sonar counts are running about a third below average for the date.

by Bill 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

Fall chum and coho fishing is closed across the Tanana drainage

Fall chum and coho fishing is closed across the Tanana drainage through year's end, a precautionary move after chum was listed as a stock of concern.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Yukon fall salmon fishing closes at the peak of the season, not for a weak run but to meet Canada's share

Yukon fall salmon fishing closed at the peak of the season for Interior households — not for a weak run, but because Canada's treaty share has to pass first.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Upper Koyukuk and Innoko villages can keep every salmon again starting Monday

Six Koyukuk River villages and Shageluk can keep all salmon they catch starting Monday after Fish and Game confirmed local chum are a different stock than Canadian-protected fall chum.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Cook Inlet razor clam permit holders must file a harvest report or lose next year's permit

Cook Inlet razor clam permit holders have to file a harvest report by Dec. 31 — even if they never dug a clam — or lose eligibility for a permit next year.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read