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Citing COVID-19 concerns and weather-related transportation worries, the state has postponed the 12-day Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting that was scheduled to have started Tuesday at the civic center in Ketchikan. The meeting to consider more than 150 proposed changes to state management regulations for finfish and shellfish in Southeast Alaska and Yakutat already had been postponed from January 2021 because of COVID-19 issues. Last Friday, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that the 2022 meeting would proceed in Ketchikan with...
The first known case of the Omicron variant in Alaska was reported on Monday, according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. The variant case was identified in an Anchorage resident. “The case was identified today through genomic sequencing performed at the Alaska State Public Health Laboratory from a person who recently tested positive in Anchorage following international travel in November,” the statement read. “Alaska now joins at least 30 other states and more than 60 countries that have already identified the varia...
A new state advisory board intended to provide more public input over operations and investment decisions for the Alaska Marine Highway System is starting to gather up its members, with five of the nine positions filled. None of the board members named so far are from southern Southeast Alaska. The Legislature this year approved the new panel’s composition and advisory responsibilities to replace a board structure under an 18-year-old law that had been criticized as ineffective and often ignored by state officials. House Speaker Louise S...
The Ketchikan city council has decided to use the community’s $2 million gift from Norwegian Cruise Line to help cover lost revenue in the town’s ailing port fund. The city finance director reported to the council that port revenues fell by more than 99% when cruise ships stopped calling in 2020 — from more than $10 million in 2019 to roughly $82,000 in 2020. And it wasn’t much better this year: Revenue is expected to come in at about $1.35 million, as a limited number of ships operated in the shortened visitor season. Without an immediate cash...
The two unused Alaska fast ferries — which the state sold earlier this year as surplus — have been delivered to the Spanish Island of Ibiza, according to the Diario de Ibiza news website. Diario de Ibiza on Aug. 30 posted several photographs of the former ferries Chenega and Fairweather aboard a heavy-lift ship that left Ketchikan on July 4 and made its way to and through the Panama Canal before crossing the Atlantic Ocean and into the Mediterranean Sea. “The two ships arrived this morning on the island, specifically to the Calo des Moro area,...
Ketchikan's first cruise ship of the year canceled its visit due to a spike in COVID-19 infections in the community, UnCruise Adventures director of marketing and communications Liz Galloway said last Thursday. The Wilderness Legacy, carrying 55 passengers, was scheduled to arrive early last Friday morning and stay until about 6 p.m. Ketchikan broke two pandemic records last Thursday, recording a record-high case count of 20 new infections, and marking an all-time high of 102 active cases....
Alaskans know the importance of oil to the state’s economy and state government coffers. No question. Oil is huge. But with all the talk of oil, it’s easy to overlook other parts of Alaska’s economy. Commercial fisheries, for example. Fisheries anchored many Alaska communities years before the start of oil production. And they’ve continued to do so after oil began flowing through the pipeline. The continuing economic contribution of fisheries is perhaps more apparent in coastal Alaska communities, such as Ketchikan, than in the Railbel...
