Alaska Department of Fish & Game

Norton Sound summer crab harvest reaches 111% of quota

Norton Sound's summer king crab fishery landed $3.5 million worth of unusually big crab this year, even as the overall harvest limit fell 65 percent from 2025.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Necker Bay's goat zone closes after two billies fill the quota

Two billies filled the quota and closed Necker Bay's mountain goat zone for the season, the second Baranof Island zone to shut this year.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Fortymile caribou Zone 2 closes Sept. 5 as fall quota nears

Hunters in the roadless Fortymile range have until Sept. 5 to take a bull before Zone 2 closes — the fall quota of 100 is nearly met. Zone 3 stays open.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska districts have three weeks to apply for hunter education money

Alaska school districts have until Sept. 18 to apply for hunter education grants of up to $50,000, with $500,000 available statewide.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 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

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

Haines woman seriously injured by bear on Mt. Riley Road

A Haines woman was seriously injured in a bear attack on Mt. Riley Road early Saturday, Aug. 29, after the animal may have been drawn by dumped food waste nearby.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Tanana subsistence chum fishing reopens while coho stays closed

Tanana subsistence fishers can take chum around the clock again. Coho stay closed, with the run projected near a third of its historical average.

by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Kodiak salmon fishing ends Monday evening in Eastside and Northeast districts

Kodiak's east side closes Monday while the west and north hold through Wednesday. Karluk's king escapement last year was the second lowest on record.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Deep Inlet closes to common property salmon fishing for broodstock

Alaska closed Deep Inlet to commercial salmon fishing Monday to let a hatchery collect broodstock, with no reopening date set, cutting off Sitka fishermen from a key fishing ground.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Follows: Deep Inlet reopens to the commercial fleet after the hatchery takes its cut

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

Bear mauls dog walker in Haines, animal not located

A bear attacked a dog walker in Haines early Saturday, striking from behind, but the animal remains unfound despite search efforts by troopers and police.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Kodiak seiners got four more days, or one, depending where they were

Kodiak seiners on the west and north sides got four more days Saturday. Four Alitak sections got one. The order gives no reason for the split.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Follows: Kodiak salmon fishing extended again, running through Wednesday evening

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

New Potter Marsh boardwalk and ice-skating ramp open Saturday

Potter Marsh opens a 200-foot boardwalk, viewing platform, and ADA-accessible ice-skating ramp Saturday, Aug. 29, giving visitors a dedicated alternative to using narrow highway shoulders.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

One-fish king limit holds in most Prince William Sound salt waters

One king salmon in most of Prince William Sound through Sept. 15. The terminal harvest areas still allow two, and the coho are the better bet anyway.

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

Ship Creek coho slowing as the six-fish limit stays through December

Ship Creek anglers can still keep six salmon a day, but the coho run behind that limit is winding down and the fish are getting harder to find.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Fairbanks's chum salmon fishery reopens on the Tanana on Friday

Fairbanks-area households can fish for chum salmon on the Tanana again starting Friday, after a strong Yukon run — but coho must be released and limits apply.

by Bill 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

Two of Juneau's most accessible coho streams close to fishing to protect weak runs

Two of Juneau's most accessible coho streams, Montana and Peterson creeks, close to coho fishing Sept. 1 through Dec. 31 to protect weak salmon returns.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Eshamy District stays closed as sockeye run behind target

A rule capping set gillnetters at 36 hours a week in the Eshamy District took effect in July. The district has been closed to fishing all season.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Southeast wolf hunters will be asked to leave a little of the animal behind

Southeast wolf hunters will be asked to leave a strip of hide, a bit of muscle, and on Prince of Wales, the foreleg bones. Season opens Sept. 1.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Juneau loses two months of fishing to a 2020 landslide

Juneau loses the north end of Gastineau Channel to all fishing for two months. A 2020 landslide cut hatchery production and the coho aren't returning.

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

Hunters near Nome have one last day for a bull moose before the season closes early

Hunters near Nome have one last day for a bull moose before the season closes more than two weeks early, with the area's 17-bull quota set to fill.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Resident king salmon limit near Petersburg is three a day in state waters

Anglers around Petersburg can keep more king salmon now after a low harvest and strong hatchery return — but the fish are few and far between.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Three Afognak sections close as Kodiak gets a 102-hour opening

Three Afognak sections closed Wednesday evening while the rest of Kodiak got periods of up to 102 hours. The Chinook nonretention rule still stands.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Follows: Kodiak salmon fishing extended again, running through Wednesday evening

As the Chena's king salmon collapse, Fairbanks debates how wide a riverfront buffer to require

Fairbanks is rewriting its Chena riverfront plan, weighing how wide a streamside buffer to require — as the river's kings collapse and property owners watch.

by Maggie 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

Montana man charged with 37 counts in Bethel hunting residency case

A Montana man faces 37 criminal counts in Bethel for claiming Alaska residency to hunt while living out of state, a violation that affects license costs and permit eligibility.

by Alaska News2mo ago2 min read

Nonresidents can't keep yelloweye around Prince of Wales anymore

Nonresidents can't keep yelloweye or other demersal shelf rockfish around Prince of Wales as of Wednesday. Alaska residents still get one a day.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Petersburg-area gillnetters get one more day before the fishery closes

Drift gillnet fishermen near Petersburg get one more day before Districts 6 and 8 close Thursday — the second short extension this month for the fishery.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

With monitoring down, the state is using a commercial opening to gauge coho

Norton Sound gillnetters get one 24-hour coho opening this weekend. With monitoring projects mostly down, the state is using it to gauge abundance.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

The Fortymile road hunt lasted 48 hours, exactly as predicted

The road-accessible Fortymile caribou hunt opened Aug. 20 and closed 48 hours later, exactly as the state biologist predicted before it began.

by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago1 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

Fish and Game teams up with Arctic Entries for a night of wildlife storytelling

Alaska Fish and Game is teaming up with Arctic Entries for a night of true wildlife stories in Palmer. Alaskans have until Sept. 7 to submit or nominate.

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

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