Nature & Outdoors

Southeast pink seining closes at 19.8 million fish; hatchery areas stay open

Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed Southeast pink salmon seining Friday after the fleet caught 18.7 million fish at the best prices in years.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Volunteers are replanting a mining-scarred creek, and last year's willows lived

Volunteers replanted a mining-scarred creek near Fairbanks last year and the willows took. They are going back Sept. 26 to plant more for the grayling.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

NOAA proposes letting Seward cruise dock pile driving run into 2027

NOAA proposed extending Seward's cruise dock construction permit through September 2027 to finish pile driving that disturbs marine mammals in Resurrection Bay.

by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

State opens four-permit muskox hunt in Unit 26B as herd falls to 220

Alaska will issue four bull muskox permits in Unit 26B starting Oct. 1, even though the herd has crashed to 220 animals, well below the 300-animal management target.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

The Peninsula caribou hunt opens Dec. 1 without a quota set

Alaska residents can take two caribou in the Northern Alaska Peninsula hunt opening Dec. 1, though the quota will not be set until fall surveys finish.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

NOAA will stop briefing Alaska tribes before every council meeting

NOAA Fisheries will stop briefing Alaska tribes before every North Pacific council meeting, citing a substantial drop in staff since 2025.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 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

NOAA would let one boat take far more western halibut to get anyone fishing it

Alaska's halibut is not getting caught. NOAA wants to let a single boat take much more of the western quota to get somebody out there fishing it.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Two bulls close the bow-only moose hunt at Eklutna Lake, with hunters still out

Two bulls came out of the Eklutna Lake country and the bow hunt is over. That is roughly half a ton of meat taken off a herd of about seventy.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A court struck down a fishery council's power. Alaska's council has the same one.

A court found a Gulf fishery council's veto unconstitutional — and Alaska's council holds the same power, behind the CDQ program and other fishing regimes.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

Kodiak salmon fishing extended into Sunday across multiple districts

Alaska Department of Fish and Game extended Kodiak commercial salmon fishing into Sunday across multiple districts, with closing times varying by area between 6 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday.

by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

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

NOAA maps out how new tools enter Alaska's fish surveys

Bering Sea fish have moved 19 miles north since the 1980s. NOAA has published a plan for updating the surveys that set Alaska's catch limits.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Koyukon elder ties Galena swallow decline to Air Force mosquito spraying in TCC bird booklet

Elder Benedict Jones links Galena's 89 percent swallow decline since 1970 to Air Force pesticide spraying, documented in a Koyukon bird knowledge booklet published by the Tanana Chiefs Conference.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

The paperwork behind 65 villages' share of the Bering Sea is up for renewal

Sixty-five Western Alaska villages hold a share of the Bering Sea. Keeping the paperwork current takes 36 hours a year, and it is up for renewal.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska seafood headed to Europe needs a new certificate starting today

Alaska seafood bound for Europe needs a new health certificate as of today, declaring no antibiotics were used for growth and none reserved for human medicine.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Kodiak's landfill is out of compliance because bears keep getting in

Kodiak gave every household a bear-resistant cart. Bears keep getting into the landfill anyway, and the borough wants to talk about it privately.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Nonresident lingcod retention reopens at Prince of Wales; yelloweye stays closed

Nonresident anglers around Prince of Wales Island can keep lingcod again starting September 1, but yelloweye rockfish stays closed to them through year-end under federal harvest limits.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Charter halibut committee meets online Sept. 30; comment accepted beforehand

Federal regulators meet Sept. 30 to discuss charter halibut permit policy that affects Alaska's guided fishing industry, which accounts for most of the state's sport halibut catch.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Seward Lagoon youth-only coho fishery extended through Oct. 5

Kids 15 and under can fish coho at Seward Lagoon through Oct. 5, two months longer than usual, while adults stay out.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Copper River dipnet and subsistence fishing runs through Sept. 30

Copper River dipnetters have until Sept. 30 to fish, closing out a below-average sockeye year — and the river gauge is down, so check conditions first.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Southeast Alaska's king crab fishery will open, barely clearing the bar

Southeast Alaska's commercial red king crab season opens Nov. 1 with a 213,076-pound quota, the fourth opening since 2006 and the second in a row after years of closures.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage's wetlands plan describes a permit the city cannot issue

Anchorage's wetlands plan still assumes the city issues its own fill permits. It has not since 2021, and a patch goes to the Assembly Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Unit 22C bull moose season closes 12 days early, after two days

Bull moose season in Unit 22C on the Seward Peninsula closes Sept. 2, twelve days early, after hunters are expected to fill the 30-bull quota in just two days.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Strong chum run opens Tanana coho fishing and more gear this weekend

Fairbanks-area personal use fishers can now use gillnets and keep coho salmon starting Friday, Sept. 4, after the state projects a strong fall chum run above target escapement.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

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

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

The Forest Service approved logging it says may restrict subsistence hunting

The Forest Service approved Revillagigedo logging its own analysis says may significantly restrict subsistence deer hunting. A tribe and two groups sued.

by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

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

Norton Sound's commercial salmon season ends with the counting towers down

Norton Sound's commercial salmon season has ended early. With most fish counting projects down, managers say they cannot confirm a harvestable coho surplus.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

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

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