Nature & Outdoors
RSSNature and Outdoors in Alaska is the state's wildlife, public lands and waters, and the activities Alaskans pursue in them. It tracks hunting and fishing seasons, wildlife management decisions, and access to trails, parks, refuges and fisheries statewide.
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Wednesday, Sep 16
Fish board committee to review Traditional Knowledge report process Sept. 25
Fish board members will review how Traditional Knowledge reports are handled Sept. 25. The notice proposes no change to Traditional Knowledge's place in regulation.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Low water slows Seward's youth coho fishery, open through Oct. 5
Kids have four more weeks to catch a silver at Seward Lagoon, where low water has been holding the fish outside waiting on enough rain to get in.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Fish and Game suspends ice house registration in the Copper Basin
Ice anglers in the Copper Basin won't have to register their fishing shelters this winter, after the state found there's no way to do it online.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Prince William Sound noncommercial shrimp fishery will not reopen in 2026
Prince William Sound shrimpers got about five weeks this year and the commercial fleet got none. The state hasn't published a reason for the closure.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
House committee advances bill treating hatchery fish as wild under Endangered Species Act
House committee voted to require federal agencies to consider hatchery fish alongside wild ones in Endangered Species Act consultations, a shift with major economic implications for Alaska's salmon industry.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago3 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
State approves 183-acre Heceta Island clearcut with 300-foot beach buffer
Alaska approved clear-cutting 183 acres on Heceta Island with a 300-foot beach buffer, rejecting the state's own habitat biologist's recommendation for 1,000 feet to protect winter deer habitat.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read
Tuesday, Sep 15
Copper River Delta moose hunt closes six weeks early at 24 of 25 bulls
Bull moose hunting on the Copper River Delta closes Wednesday night, six weeks early, after hunters took 24 of the 25 bulls the state allowed.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
More from Nature & Outdoors
Wrangell-St. Elias subsistence commission meets next month in McCarthy
The commission advising on subsistence hunting in Wrangell-St. Elias meets in McCarthy next month, with time set aside for public testimony.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Bear Mountain goat zone on Baranof closes Sept. 18 after quota fills
Bear Mountain is the fourth Baranof goat zone closed this season — on quotas built from surveys the state hasn't flown island-wide since 2023.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
State Parks tells Homer hikers to avoid new Kachemak Bay trails near moose kill
Alaska State Parks is warning Homer hikers to avoid new trails in the Cottonwood Eastland section of Kachemak Bay State Park because a moose kill near the construction site may attract predators.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago1 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
About Nature & Outdoors
Nature and Outdoors in Alaska takes in the state's wildlife, public lands and waters, and the hunting, fishing and recreation Alaskans pursue in them. It spans sport, subsistence and commercial fishing, hunts for moose, caribou, elk and sheep, and access to parks, refuges and trails.
Decisions come from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the Board of Fisheries, the Board of Game, federal fishery managers and the National Park Service. Seasons open and close as harvest limits fill, and stocks of concern, salmon limits in contested fisheries and halibut shares between charter and commercial fleets are recurring questions. Fishing fleets and seafood plants also depend on federal relief and loan programs and on export paperwork that NOAA explains to sellers.
More from Nature & Outdoors
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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago5 min read
Monday, Sep 14
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 AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readFrom 
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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom 
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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Sunday, Sep 13
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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom 
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 AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom 
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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readFrom 
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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 News2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Saturday, Sep 12
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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom 
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 AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Friday, Sep 11
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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
