Nature & Outdoors
RSSAlaska News covers outdoor recreation, trails, parks, wildlife viewing, fishing closures, and safety in Alaska's natural areas.
Sullivan's bycatch bill reaches its first Senate committee test
Sullivan's bycatch bill gets its first committee test Wednesday. It mandates gear changes and monitoring, but doesn't ban trawling or set catch caps.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Alaska sets 25 online-only permits for Raspberry Island cow elk
Twenty-five Raspberry Island elk permits go out online Sept. 24, first come first served. Sixteen more go only to whoever shows up in two Kodiak villages.
by Bill AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Kodiak's silver limit drops as its king limit rises
Kodiak's silver salmon limit dropped to one a day this week, while the king limit rose back to two after a spring of tight restrictions.
by Bill AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Seafood exports to Türkiye are frozen, though little Alaska product moves there
U.S. seafood can't be certified for export to Türkiye because American plants aren't on its approved list. The blocked edible trade is about $160,000.
by Bill AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
NOAA funds Alaska work on what stranded marine mammals ate
A stranded Alaska killer whale died of sepsis after swallowing three kinds of fishing hooks. NOAA is paying the state to keep examining these animals.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min read
Two Southeast geoduck beds stay closed until biomass recovers past 30% threshold
Two Southeast geoduck beds stay closed after surveys found less than a third of the clams left. Sea otters are eating them, and the quota fell 40 percent.
by Bill AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Federal board extends FM1106 subsistence moose hunt by two days
Federal officials added two days to a Copper Basin moose hunt and closed 1,300 square miles of Interior river corridors to outside hunters. One group objects.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
The state's analysis of Alaska's first crab hatchery says it would add little
Alaska's first crab hatchery wants a permit. The state's own analysis says the crab it releases would likely make no measurable difference to the fishery.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago5 min read
State moves to permit an antimony ore crusher near Port MacKenzie
The state tentatively approved an air permit for an antimony ore crusher near Port MacKenzie, without publishing any estimate of what it would put into the air.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
A bill would guarantee vehicle access for the village inside Gates of the Arctic
A national park was drawn around Anaktuvuk Pass in 1980 without asking. A bill would guarantee the village the right to drive out and go hunting.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago2 min read
Managers want to double a halibut cap. Their own analysis warns against it.
Federal managers want to roughly double a halibut vessel cap in the Bering Sea, though their own analysis says it helps a few big boats at the fleet's expense.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 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 AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
A Tanana company will dig diesel out from under old BIA school sites
The government left diesel in the ground under old BIA schools in Western Alaska. It is paying a Tanana company $247,786 to dig some of it out.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
The any-bull option closes in Unit 13C after three moose filled the quota
The any-bull option closes in Unit 13C at midnight Tuesday after three bulls filled the quota. The subunit's allotment dropped from five last year.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
BLM Rule Would Cut NPR-A Pad Approvals to 60 Days, Limit Hunting
The BLM's own analysis found a proposed drilling rule would significantly restrict subsistence hunting for three North Slope villages. Hearings begin Monday.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago3 min read
Four Southeast shrimp areas open Oct. 1, including one the department had ruled out
Fish and Game told District 15-East in July that its shrimp season was over. It opens Oct. 1 after all. Two areas it said might reopen will not.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago2 min read
Southeast's shrimp season opens small as the harvest keeps shrinking
Four Southeast shrimp pot areas open Oct. 1 with little quota left, as the region's overall shrimp harvest keeps shrinking and young shrimp fail to appear.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago1 min read
Katmai superintendent reports more bear cubs at Brooks Camp than in years
Katmai's superintendent says there are more bear cubs at Brooks Camp than in years, an observation with no published count behind it.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
NOAA awards Bristol Bay fishermen's group $499,400 to push sockeye into restaurants and schools
NOAA awarded Bristol Bay's fishermen's group $499,400 to market sockeye salmon to restaurants and schools, though some fishermen question if demand campaigns raise dock prices.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Southeast king crab quota rests on a figure the state's own report gives two ways
The assessment gives two rates for unsurveyed water. One clears the opening threshold; the other does not, and the report does not explain which was intended.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 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 AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
In Kodiak, Sullivan and Peltola agreed on the problems and fought over the fix
Sullivan and Peltola agreed on nearly every fisheries problem in Kodiak and split on what fixing one looks like: laws passed, or fish in the river.
by Alaska News2w ago3 min read
Kaktovik flushes millions of gallons of glycol-tainted water after plant mistake
Kaktovik is flushing glycol-tainted water after a plant error. The borough calls the level low-risk for adults; it topped every federal guideline.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Southeast king crab registration closes Oct. 2 ahead of a Nov. 1 opening
Southeast Alaska crabbers have until Oct. 2 to register for the red and blue king crab season, which opens Nov. 1 with a quota of about 213,000 pounds.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Wrangell-St. Elias weighs 10 more days of subsistence moose hunting
Rural subsistence hunters in the Wrangell-St. Elias area could get 10 more days to take a moose this fall, with the park set to decide Monday.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Three Alaska National Guard wetland surveys go out to bid, with proposals due Sept. 21
Alaska Army National Guard is buying wetland surveys at three aviation facilities in Kotzebue, Bethel and Nome, budgeted at $45,000 to $50,000 each, with proposals due 2 p.m. Sept. 21.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
The Kenai coho limit stayed at two when it was supposed to go to three
Kenai River anglers expected the coho limit to rise to three fish on Sept. 1. It stayed at two instead, and will stay there through November.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Moose hunting closes early west of the Darby Mountains
Moose hunting west of the Darby Mountains closes Sunday, a day early, as the last of several quota-driven closures around Nome this season.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Rabies is climbing among wildlife across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta
Rabies is rising among Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta wildlife. Foxes come in to den in village landfills in late winter, and rural dogs live outdoors.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
More than 200 coho counted at Bear Creek weir near Seward
More than 200 coho have passed through Bear Creek weir near Seward, with freshwater fishing expected to improve over the next few weeks.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Sitka loses coho fishing as weak returns leave the hatchery short
Sitka anglers lose coho fishing in Bear Cove and Deep Inlet through October after this year's silvers came back too weak for the local hatchery to spawn.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Draft permit would let Fairbanks discharge 11.2 million gallons a day into the Tanana
Fairbanks could keep discharging up to 11.2 million gallons of treated sewage a day into the Tanana River under a draft state permit.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Wrangell calls the Dungeness crab decline a disaster; the state calls it the plan
Wrangell declared a local disaster over Dungeness crab and asked for federal relief. The state cut the season by formula and did not use the word.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago2 min read
Funny River hunter cited after self-reporting sub-legal moose kill
A Funny River hunter self-reported killing a bull moose that didn't meet Unit 15B legal size requirements and was cited to appear in Kenai Courthouse.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Three Kodiak westside sections now open until further notice; 54-hour period ends 6 p.m. Saturday
Three Kodiak sections are open to salmon seining until further notice. The period covering much of the rest of the area closes Saturday evening.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago1 min read
Prince William Sound seine season ends Monday, after Friday's Cannery Creek opening
Prince William Sound seining closes for the year Monday night. The last openings reached hatchery waters that are usually off-limits to the fleet.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Unimak Bight scallop grounds close tonight with the season's 7,500-pound quota filled
Alaska closed Unimak Bight to commercial scallop fishing for the rest of the 2026/27 season effective Thursday after catch reports showed the 7,500-pound guideline would be met.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w 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
Prince William Sound anglers still limited to one king salmon a day
Anglers in most of Prince William Sound are held to one king salmon a day — half the usual — through Sept. 15, under a restriction over low king numbers.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Sitka takes household hazardous waste free for two days next month, but not lithium-ion batteries
Sitka opens free household hazardous waste collection Saturday and Sunday at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, accepting oils, paints, antifreeze, and batteries except lithium-ion types.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read