Alaska Department of Fish & Game

Southeast Alaska's commercial Dungeness crab season ends Saturday, a month early

Southeast's Dungeness crab fleet stops fishing Saturday after a fall season cut in half, capping a year with the weakest summer harvest estimate in 25 years.

by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read

Boats of any size can fish Chignik's last 229,000 pounds of state-waters cod from Oct. 31

Chignik pot boats caught nearly all of a cod limit the state raised by nearly half this year. The last 229,000 pounds opens to boats of any size Oct. 31.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

Group asks Alaska to close Western Arctic caribou hunting if herd falls to 75,000

A Western Arctic caribou group asks the state to close its hunting season if the herd, counted at 121,000, falls to 75,000. The Board of Game meets in January.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago5 min read

Four Kodiak mountain goat hunts open Nov. 1; four stay closed after high hunter success

Four Kodiak Island mountain goat hunts open to Alaska residents Nov. 1. Four others stay shut because hunters already hit the harvest goal in the drawing hunts.

by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

Geoduck divers get two more days near Ketchikan under a smaller Southeast harvest target

Geoduck divers get two more days near Ketchikan this week. Southeast's harvest target is about 40% below last year's, and two areas are still closed.

by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read

Fish board to weigh how Ninilchik River's kings are counted and caught

Six fish board proposals target Ninilchik kings. Some want anglers keeping more hatchery fish; one wants hatchery hens spawning and only big fish counted.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read

Follows: Board of Fisheries to weigh closing Homer Spit waters to commercial fishing

Fish and Game closes eastern Afognak elk hunt Wednesday as harvest nears objective

Hunters reported 15 elk on eastern Afognak against a harvest objective of 16, so Fish and Game is closing the late registration hunt there Wednesday night.

by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read

Fish and Game closes Kodiak's Ugak and Kiliuda herring waters a day before B season's end

Fish and Game shut Kodiak's Ugak and Kiliuda herring waters Saturday, a day before the B season's end, with about 30% of the season's harvest level caught.

by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read

Fairbanks advisory committee to elect seven, with Ambler no-hunting corridor on agenda

Fairbanks' fish and game advisory committee elects seven members Nov. 11, then turns to the Ambler Road no-hunting corridor it already voted 13-0 against.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read

Southeast charter halibut limit could shrink to 32 inches or less under 2027 options

Southeast charter anglers could keep halibut up to 34 inches this year. Regulators are now studying 32 or smaller for 2027. One operator calls 34 "rock bottom."

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read

Fish and Game sets second Shaped by Wildlife storytelling night Nov. 13 in Palmer

Fish and Game hosts its second Shaped by Wildlife storytelling night Nov. 13 in Palmer. Proceeds support the Outdoor Heritage Foundation of Alaska.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read

Fish and Game and Forest Service to hear public Nov. 2 on Prince of Wales wolf trapping

Fish and Game and the Forest Service want to hear from Prince of Wales residents Nov. 2 before this fall's wolf trapping season. Last year got 31 days.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

NOAA invites tribes to weigh in on Norton Sound red king crab limits

NOAA invited tribes to consult on next year's Norton Sound red king crab limits, after this year's catch ceiling was cut by about a third from 2025.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

December rockfish opening set for Southeast inside waters as outer coast stays closed

Southeast fishermen get a December shot at yelloweye and other bottom rockfish in inside waters. The outer coast stays closed for the rest of the year.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

State opens leftover South Alaska Peninsula cod to pot boats as jig catch falls short

Jig boats left 387,000 pounds of South Alaska Peninsula cod in the water, so the state is opening it to pot boats too Friday, then loosening the rules Oct. 31.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Kodiak herring food and bait fishery opens Oct. 26 with a 1,280-ton limit

Kodiak's herring food and bait fishery opens Monday with 1,280 tons up for grabs, 130 fewer than last year. Eastside still gets the biggest slice.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Fish and Game's women's outdoor program offers a Dall sheep and goat hunting clinic Nov. 7

Fish and Game will spend a November Saturday teaching women to hunt Dall sheep and mountain goats, for $55. It's one of BOW's last Anchorage classes of 2026.

by Alaska News3w ago2 min read

Fall hunters topped the Fortymile quota, but a 100-bull winter hunt still opens Oct. 27

Fall hunters took 577 Fortymile bulls, more than the whole year's 550 quota. The state still opens a 100-bull winter hunt Oct. 27, calling it sustainable.

by Alaska News3w ago2 min read

Fish and Game mails annual angler survey that sets the state's sport catch numbers

Fish and Game is mailing its yearly survey to 47,000 angler households. What they write down becomes the state's official count of fish caught and kept.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Troopers cite Nikiski man over out-of-season moose and missing harvest ticket

Troopers cited a Nikiski man over a spike bull moose they say he took out of season, without the free harvest ticket the state requires for general hunts.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read

Late elk hunt won't open on western Afognak after hunters near the harvest limit

Afognak elk hunters already reported 51 of the 54 elk Fish and Game planned to allow, so the late registration hunt won't open on the island's west side.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Goat hunt north of Port Valdez closes Wednesday night after harvest tops the limit

Hunters north of Port Valdez reported 9 goat points against a cap of 8, so Fish and Game is shutting the hunt Wednesday night, 10 days early.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Fish and Game offers 20 permits Wednesday for a Resurrection Peninsula goat hunt

Fish and Game opens 20 permits Wednesday for a November goat hunt on the Resurrection Peninsula. Take a nanny and you're out of goat hunting for five years.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Fish and Game names low bidder for $3.58 million Susitna Landing boat launch rebuild

Fish and Game picked Nodak Electric & Construction's $3.58 million bid to rebuild Susitna Landing boat launch on the Kashwitna River in Willow.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readFrom Jul 22

Gravina Island sea cucumber divers get two hours as the area's cap nearly runs out

Divers have nearly hit the sea cucumber cap off Gravina Island's west shore in two weeks, so the state is giving them two hours there Tuesday.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Follows: Southeast Alaska sea cucumber dive fishery opens with a 1.4 million-pound cap

Fish and Game closes Yakutat commercial set gillnet fishery for the rest of the season

Fish and Game closed Yakutat's commercial set gillnet fishery for the season on Oct. 15, matching the usual mid-October closing date.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Follows: Yakutat set gillnetters get another opening, but still can't keep king salmon

Troopers and fire crews pull duck hunter from the mud on the Palmer Hay Flats

Palmer Hay Flats mud 1, duck hunter 0. Troopers and fire crews had the hunter out a little over an hour after the call came in Friday morning.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago1 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

Yakutat-area moose hunt west of the Dangerous River closes after hunters reach 30 bulls

Thirty bulls down on the west side of the Dangerous River, and that's the limit. Moose hunting there, near Yakutat, ends Saturday at 11:59 pm sharp.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Norton Sound salmon season draws the fewest commercial permit holders since 2007

Just 72 permit holders fished Norton Sound salmon commercially this year, the fewest since 2007, and king salmon missed every escapement goal in the region.

by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read

State to survey Craig households on subsistence harvests for the first time since 1998

State researchers will survey 128 Craig households in February about what they hunt, fish and gather, the first full count there since 1998.

by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read

Fish and Game closes Hodzana Hills caribou hunt as Dalton snowmachine access opens

Winter snowmachine use opens on Dalton corridor trails Nov. 1, so Fish and Game is closing the small Hodzana Hills caribou herd's hunt the night before.

by Bill AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read

Three Northwest Alaska advisory committees elect members, weigh caribou cuts

Show up and you can help pick who speaks for your region on caribou, moose and wolf rules before the Board of Game meets in Kotzebue in January.

by Maggie AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read

Follows: Board of Game proposals would cut Western Arctic caribou limits further as the herd declines

Fish and Game opens registration Nov. 12 for $25 Trapping 101 class in Fairbanks

Fish and Game will teach you to trap for $25, which happens to be what a resident trapping license costs. Registration for the Fairbanks class opens Nov. 12.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 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

State commission again proposes letting Cook Inlet setnetters fish beach seines

The Board of Fisheries put Cook Inlet setnetters on beach seines. Their permits don't cover seines. The state's permit commission is trying to change that.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: East side Cook Inlet setnetters must prove recent fishing to stay in the fishery

Board of Game moves Ambler Road hunting closure up to a Nov. 20 web conference

The Board of Game shelved the Ambler Road hunting closure until its January meeting in Kotzebue. Now it's Nov. 20, online, with no testimony taken.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

State closes Unit 14A Chugach goat registration hunts Tuesday night, weeks early

Fish and Game is closing Chugach goat registration hunts in Unit 14A at 11:59pm Tuesday, cutting short a season set to run through Oct. 31.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Fish and Game offers women's concealed carry course in Fairbanks Oct. 24-25

Fish and Game's Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program holds a concealed carry course Oct. 24-25 in Fairbanks for $215.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Follows: Registration opens Oct. 1 for women's wilderness first aid class in Fairbanks

Board of Fisheries to weigh closing Homer Spit waters to commercial fishing

Two Board of Fisheries proposals would push commercial fishing back from the Homer Spit, by half a mile or a full mile. The board decides in Seward in December.

by Alaska News1mo ago1 min read