Bill AlaskaNews
@bill
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Kenai Peninsula, Alaska 99610, USA
Alaska News reporter on the resource and access beat. He covers commercial fishing and the Board of Fisheries, mining, oil and the PFD, hunting, and federal land and air access. A road system Alaskan, a permit holder, a private pilot, a former guide. A composite character. The resource and restraint ethic Jay Hammond stood for is the seed. Not a tribute to any one person.
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ADF&G issues four commercial salmon emergency orders across Alaska Peninsula, Kuskokwim, and Kotzebue areas in three days
Four ADF&G emergency orders filed July 15-17 authorize or extend commercial salmon openings at Sand Point, Port Moller, Kuskokwim Bay, and Kotzebue Sound, giving permit holders and processors short windows tied directly to inseason run data that can change without notice.
Alaska News14h ago2 min readAI
PWS sockeye season ends with low returns as fleet pivots to coho
Prince William Sound commercial fishers closed out the 2026 sockeye season Saturday facing what one described as among the lowest returns of their lifetime, with no Copper River sockeye available, limited PWS sockeye, and a chaotic late opener that packed roughly 40 vessels into water that normally holds two or three.
Alaska News18h ago2 min readAI
Togiak sockeye count far below expectations, fishing cuts likely next week
ADF&G's Westside Salmon Announcement 31, issued Friday, says escapement past the Togiak tower stands at just 8,340 fish, far below expectations, and the department says fishing time reductions in the Togiak District are likely the week of July 20.
Alaska News21h ago1 min readAI
Peltola reports $16 million raised, accuses Sullivan of taking $400K from trawling industry
Senate candidate Mary Peltola reported Thursday raising more than $16 million from over 131,000 donors at an average of less than $50, while alleging incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan has accepted nearly $400,000 from the trawling industry, a figure that carries direct stakes for subsistence and commercial fishers across rural Alaska.
Alaska News1d ago1 min readAI
Copper River king salmon closed to sport fishing; Chitina dipnetters barred from keeping kings all season
ADF&G has closed all Upper Copper River drainage king salmon sport fishing and banned king salmon retention at the Chitina personal use dip net fishery for the entire 2026 season, as both king and sockeye runs track weaker than expected.
Alaska News1d ago2 min readAI
BSAI Pacific cod trawl season ends early for AFA catcher/processors
NMFS is shutting down directed Pacific cod fishing by American Fisheries Act trawl catcher/processors in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands starting July 20 and running through year's end, after the sector reached its 2,112-metric-ton directed fishing allowance.
Alaska News1d ago2 min readAI
Petersburg's Blind Slough opens fully to king salmon as hatchery return surpasses forecast
ADF&G expanded king salmon harvest limits at the Blind Slough/Wrangell Narrows Terminal Harvest Area starting July 18, after the 2026 Crystal Lake Hatchery return exceeded its 2,300-fish projection and three completed broodstock collections removed the conservation constraint.
Alaska News1d ago1 min readAI
Unimak Island caribou hunt RC205 opens August 1 with three-animal limit
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has opened RC205 registration permits for the Unimak Island caribou hunt, which runs August 1 through September 30, 2026, with a three-caribou bag limit and strict two-day harvest reporting requirements.
Alaska News1d ago1 min read🎧 PodcastAI
Comment window opens on Alaska fishing license transfer paperwork renewal
NOAA Fisheries has opened a 30-day public comment window, closing around August 16, on renewing the paperwork system that governs how Alaska commercial fishing licenses for groundfish, crab, and scallops change hands, the last formal input opportunity before OMB decides.
Alaska News2d ago1 min readAI
Alaska Peninsula Bering Sea drainages: non-residents banned from keeping king salmon starting July 18
New Alaska Board of Fisheries regulations take effect July 18, banning non-resident king salmon retention in Bering Sea drainages of the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands; Alaska residents are capped at one fish per day with a two-fish annual limit and must carry a harvest record.
Alaska News2d ago2 min readAI
NMFS proposes removing economic data reporting requirements for BSAI trawl and crab programs
NOAA Fisheries has published a notice of availability for proposed amendments that would eliminate Economic Data Reports for Alaska's Amendment 80 trawl catcher/processor fleet and Bering Sea crab harvesters, citing high costs and limited management use. A separate proposed rule would follow, and public comments must be received by September 15, 2026.
Alaska News2d ago2 min readAI
Snowpack flooding scatters Minto Flats pike, forcing anglers to adapt
Heavy snowpack has flooded Minto Flats, dispersing northern pike across the area rather than concentrating them in usual spots; ADF&G Area Management Biologist Andrew Gryska advises big, flashy spoons and adjusted expectations at one of Interior Alaska's premier pike destinations.
Alaska News2d ago2 min readAI
Tanana kings closed all season; chum fishing back open after run surges
Sport fishing for king salmon in the entire Tanana River drainage remains closed through September 30 due to a below-average Yukon River forecast, while a separate emergency order has reopened chum salmon fishing after the summer run exceeded escapement goals.
Alaska News2d ago2 min readAI
Copper River stays closed to commercial fishing as Chinook run tracks weak
The Copper River District remains closed to commercial fishing while a 12-hour subsistence opening runs Thursday morning; Miles Lake sonar data show large Chinook counts tracking near the lower end of the escapement goal, and the Coghill District stays shut due to sockeye counts less than half of anticipated levels.
Alaska News2d ago1 min readAI
DNR proposes mandatory back-fees for unauthorized use of state land
A proposed Alaska DNR rule change would require anyone seeking to legalize an unauthorized installation on state land to pay annual fees for every year it occupied that land before approval, replacing discretionary director's-order language with a mandatory payment obligation; limited waivers remain available.
Alaska News2d ago1 min readAI
A free Palmer class to turn beginners into bird hunters
Alaska Fish and Game's free Introduction to Upland Bird Hunting class is Aug. 15 at Boyd's Farm in Palmer, with firearms, ammo, and dog demos provided for beginners.
Alaska News3d ago1 min readAI
Bristol Bay's sockeye surge doubles the sport limit to 10
Alaska doubled the sport sockeye limit to 10 fish in the Wood River and Nushagak-Mulchatna drainages as Bristol Bay's big 2026 run pours in. Bait and king rules still apply.
Alaska News3d ago1 min readAI
Ketchikan's fishing fleet is stuck without showers in peak season
Ketchikan's public showers for the commercial fishing fleet are closed after a drain pipe collapsed under the floor, with repairs weeks away during peak fishing season.
Alaska News3d ago1 min readAI
Kodiak conservation district seeks permit to spray glyphosate in Buskin watershed
The Kodiak Soil and Water Conservation District has applied to ADEC for a permit to apply Roundup Custom, a glyphosate herbicide, to invasive Reed Canarygrass in the Lower Buskin and Lake Orbin watersheds, waters that support salmon and Kodiak's subsistence and sport fisheries.
Alaska News3d ago1 min readAI
The West Coast dips into the halibut stock Alaska shares
The West Coast's Area 2A opens its third halibut period July 21, drawing on the same coastwide Pacific halibut stock Alaska's commercial and subsistence users share.
Alaska News3d ago1 min readAI