Nature & Outdoors
RSSAlaska News covers outdoor recreation, trails, parks, wildlife viewing, fishing closures, and safety in Alaska's natural areas.
Small cod boats return Sept. 1 in the Bering Sea and Aleutians
Small cod boats get their Bering Sea fishery back Sept. 1 after seven months out, with quota shifted from two fleets that will not catch theirs.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago1 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Yukon families get chum back, but only in the tributaries
Yukon families can take chum again, but only in the tributaries. The mainstem carries the Canadian-origin run, projected far below its border goal.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
A Hoonah oyster farm wants to grow to about 10 acres
A Hoonah oyster farm wants to add two parcels and renew its state lease for 20 years, bringing the site to about 10 acres. Comments close Sept. 28.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Central Aleutian perch fishery closes early for a second straight year
Central Aleutian trawlers lose Pacific ocean perch at noon Thursday, four months early — the second straight year the fishery has closed ahead of schedule, and faster than last year.
by Alaska News1mo ago1 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 1mo 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 News1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 1mo ago2 min read
A Situk River king salmon closure is extended as returns fall short
A Situk River fishing closure protecting weak king runs is extended through Aug. 31 — one of several 2026 restrictions on a key Yakutat subsistence river.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
New EU seafood paperwork lands Sept. 3, and it is not the only change
New EU seafood export certificates take effect Sept. 3. For Alaska's wild-caught fish and crab, the bigger change is a separate catch-documentation overhaul.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Sand Point salmon fishery opens Wednesday for 109 hours, the longest window of the string
Sand Point's salmon fishery opens for about 109 more hours this week, shaped by a strategy that protects immature salmon in the Shumagin Islands.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
The federal government wants to lift roadless protections, including in the Tongass
USDA wants to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule across 58.5 million acres, including the Tongass. Alaskans have until Sept. 21 to weigh in on it.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
A Kenai hunter education class opens for sign-ups this fall
Alaska Fish and Game is offering a hunter education class in Kenai this fall through its women-focused "Becoming an Outdoors-Woman" program, open to men too.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Moose in Gates of the Arctic are up 48 percent, and researchers point to shrubs
Moose in the Gates of the Arctic survey area are up about 48 percent since 2015. Researchers tie the Arctic's moose expansion to taller shrubs.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Juneau's king crab fishery closes Monday after a three-crab season
Juneau's personal use king crab season closes Monday at 4 p.m. after a strong stock assessment allowed a three-crab limit instead of last winter's one-crab opening.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
AFN holds a subsistence listening session in Fairbanks on Aug. 31
The Alaska Federation of Natives holds a subsistence listening session in Fairbanks on Aug. 31, gathering harvesters' and elders' input on the future of subsistence.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 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 1mo ago2 min read
Teller waits until 2027 for results of tank site testing on Grantley Harbor
Teller won't have results until 2027 from testing at a shoreline tank site where the community suspects petroleum leaked into soil near Grantley Harbor.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks would keep its 11.2 million gallon Tanana discharge cap
Fairbanks' wastewater plant would keep its 11.2 million gallon daily discharge cap on the Tanana, unchanged since 2022. It currently uses less than half.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Prince William Sound's seine fishery stays closed, its next opening tied to hatchery returns
Prince William Sound's purse seine fishery stays closed with no opening set. Its next opening now depends on salmon returns to the hatcheries, not a fixed date.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
A miner wants to run a cable across the Koyukuk and camp on its bank for five years
The public can comment through Sept. 2 on a plan for a supply cable across the Middle Fork Koyukuk River and a six-person mining camp on its bank for 5 years.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
A Fortymile caribou hunt closed after just 48 hours as the quota filled fast
A Fortymile caribou hunt near the Steese Highway closed after just 48 hours as its quota filled fast, drawing a complaint over the short window.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago1 min read
One goat closes the Point Windham goat hunt for the year
A single goat filled the quota for Southeast Alaska's Point Windham zone, closing it to hunters for the year — one of several goat closures this summer.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago1 min read