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The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced today that Dungeness crab permit holders throughout Registration Area A (Southeast) will be required to call ahead and make an appointment with department staff prior to registering for the 2020/2021 Dungeness crab season. Due to safety measures put in place by State of Alaska Health Mandates, the department recommends permit holders bring a check or exact cash for payment of buoy tags, a pen to sign the vessel registration form, and to wear a fac...
Governor Mike Dunleavy signed the Fiscal Year 2021 budget into law on Monday, April 6, according to an April 7 press release from the governor's office. The budget, as enacted "maintains spending across various programs and components at a level consistent with FY 2020, and funds an incomplete Permanent Fund Dividend." In short, the approved budget has total revenues set at about $9.07 billion and expenses at about $10.03 billion. While adopting this budget, the governor also issued some line-it...
The State of Alaska wants input on plans to distribute nearly $24.5 million in federal disaster relief funds for stakeholders and communities hurt by the 2018 Gulf of Alaska cod crash. Better make it quick – the deadline to comment is April 10. Cod is Alaska’s second largest groundfish harvest (after pollock), but the Gulf stock dropped by 80% in 2018 following a three year heatwave that disrupted food webs, fish metabolism and egg survival on the ocean floor. It combined to push down cod catches to just 28.8 million pounds, compared to nea...
The U.S. seafood industry received a $300 million assist from the $2 trillion COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress on March 27, and a wide coalition of industry stakeholders is hoping for more. Fishery recipients in the relief bill include tribes, persons, communities, processors, aquaculture and other related businesses. SeafoodNews.com reports that those eligible for relief must have “revenue losses greater than 35 percent as compared to the prior 5-year average revenue, or any negative impacts to subsistence, cultural, or ceremonial f...
Trident Seafoods, one of the two main seafood processors in Wrangell, has decided not to operate during the upcoming salmon season. Stefanie Moreland, vice president of government relations, seafood sustainability, and corporate social responsibility with the Trident Seafoods Corporation, explained that this decision was made earlier this year. Predictions of a low abundance of salmon in Southeast Alaskan waters led them to the decision to not operate the Wrangell plant this season. However, Mor...
Alaska shellfish farmers and divers fear they won't be 'open for business' much longer if they're forced to pick up the tab for federally required lab tests as outlined in Governor Dunleavy's budget. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has proposed shifting the state cost to the harvesters which last year totaled almost a half million dollars. Geoduck clam divers in Southeast Alaska, for example, pay about $150,000 each year to collect samples that are sent to the single...
Thank you to everyone who spoke up during public testimony on the budget in House Finance last week. I need to hear from you in order to do my job, and I was incredibly impressed with the straight-forward, intelligent, and passionate comments that the residents of Wrangell provided. There were more people in Wrangell who testified than all other District 36 communities combined! You all have been the most effective political advocates for any community. The top three issues brought to our attent...
Petersburg - The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced the following closures for eulachon smelt (Thaleichthys pacificus) for the 2020 season. These closures will be in effect beginning 12:01 a.m., Thursday, February 27, 2020: District 1: will be closed to commercial, personal use, and subsistence eulachon smelt fishing in all waters. This includes all Revillagigedo Island and mainland drainages; District 7: will be closed to commercial, personal use, and subsistence eulachon smelt...
The Alaska House Finance Committee received public testimony from people across the state on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22. The state is currently in its budget season again, and the finance committee held the meeting to hear what the public felt was important. Several members from Wrangell called in from the local Legislative Information Office to give their perspective on the community's needs moving forward. Among the items Wrangellites voiced support for were the need for ferry...
Thank you to everyone who spoke up during public testimony on the budget in House Finance last week. I need to hear from you in order to do my job, and I was incredibly impressed with the straight-forward, intelligent, and passionate comments that the residents of Wrangell provided. There were more people in Wrangell who testified than all other District 36 communities combined! You all have been the most effective political advocates for any community. The top three issues brought to our attention were: staffing woes in the Office of Children...
Each session, the Legislature’s biggest responsibility is to pass a budget for the State of Alaska. The House Budget Subcommittees - which examine the details of each department budget - have finished their budget recommendations. I serve as Chair of three budget subcommittees, and we submitted the following budget actions to the House Finance Committee for further review. The subcommittee for the Department of Environmental Conservation restored the Ocean Ranger program and protected funding for commercial shellfish PSP testing. The s...
The Sitka black-tailed deer hunting season is closed in Alaska. All hunters who obtained deer harvest tickets, even those who did not hunt or harvest a deer, must return completed hunt reports to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. If you haven’t submitted your hunt report, do so immediately. Hunt reports may be submitted by mail, in person at a Fish and Game office, or online at http://hunt.alaska.gov....
Alaska gets a good return on investment from its commercial fisheries. And surprise! Commercial fisheries expertise also sustains Alaska’s subsistence and most of the personal use fisheries. “This is probably not well-known,” said Sam Rabung, director of the commercial fisheries division for the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game, at a presentation last week to the House Fisheries Committee. “Data collected by our division is shared across all divisions within the department as much as possible,” he explained to lawmakers. “We also share the cost of...
Wrangell's advisory committee for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game met last Thursday evening, Jan. 16, to cover several important topics. The first of which was the election of new officers to lead the committee. The committee is made up of six seats, along with two alternates. Bruce Eagle, the vice-chair of the committee, had opted to not seek re-election. Nominations for the seats, otherwise, were completely open. Many people were nominated, with Wrangell resident Mike Lockabey...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reminds anglers that the 2020 sport shrimp permits are now available online. The 2020 Subsistence and Personal Use permits are also available online at: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/Store/. 2019 permit holders are reminded that the 2019 permits must be returned either by reporting online at https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/Harvest/ or returning the printed permit to the nearest ADF&G office, even if you did not shrimp in 2019, before obtaining a 2020 permit....
The borough assembly and other city officials met Saturday morning, Jan. 11, to workshop future priorities for the city and to look at the upcoming budget process. A long list of state and federal legislative priorities was laid out for attendees to review and talk about. For state priorities for Wrangell, the first and foremost was the reinstatement of several state positions to the city. Over the past decade, according to the priority list, Wrangell has seen several state jobs taken away that...
Below is the second half of The Wrangell Sentinel's review of 2019, covering the months of July to December: July July 4 - Wrangell Police Chief Doug McCloskey was recognized for his service to the community at last week's borough assembly meeting. With his retirement at the end of June, McCloskey has closed out 38 years of police work. July 11 - The Fourth of July was a hot and sunny day in Wrangell, but that did not stop many people from getting out and having a good time. Like all previous...
Every year since 1991 Fish Factor has selected “picks and pans” for Alaska’s seafood industry - a no-holds-barred look back at some of the year’s best and worst fishing highlights, and my choice for the biggest fish story of the year. Here are the 2019 picks and pans, in no particular order - Best fish scientist – Dr. Bob Foy, director of science and research at NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center/Juneau – No one explains science better or with more passion. Biggest new business potential: Mariculture. Alaska is acting on plans to grow a $10...
Governor Mike Dunleavy's administration released a proposed budget for FY 2021 on Dec. 11. Total revenues for the state of Alaska would be about $8.77 million, and expenditures at $10.18 million. A press release from the governor's office highlights a few items of interest with the budget, such as fully funding K-12 education and the court system, as well as providing for a full PFD payment. This new budget would also fund 15 new State Trooper positions, and increases general fund spending on...
As the House Representative for District 36, I’m writing to update you on some of the issues currently before the Alaska State Legislature. The 2019 legislative sessions were challenging – we continued to grapple with creating the budget, implementing a long term sustainable fiscal plan, and address declining revenue. While we were able to hold fast on funding for departments like Fish & Game and Education, the Marine Highway System faced unprecedented cuts. During the interim, I have been focused on re-establishing the AMHS link to Prince Rup...
Alaska’s 2019 salmon season was worth $657.6 million to fishermen, a 10% increase from the 2018 fishery. Sockeye salmon accounted for nearly 64% of the total value, topping $421 million, and 27% of the harvest at 55.2 million fish. Those are the lead takeaways in a summary from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game that reveals preliminary estimates of salmon harvests and values by region. The final values will be determined in 2020 after processors, buyers, and direct marketers submit their totals paid to fishermen. Pink salmon were the s...
October 23, 1919 The merchants of Wrangell have been busy the past week outfitting loggers and trappers. In view of the shortage in many American furs, as well as in certain of the foreign pelts, it is expected that the prices of fur this coming season will be higher than at any time in the history of the fur business. October 20, 1944 After seven years as superintendent of Wrangell Institute, George T. Barrett, accompanied by his wife and three children, left this week. Since coming to Wrangell, Barrett increased the enrollment from 50...
As more Alaskans eye the lucrative opportunities in growing kelp, many others are heading to beaches at Lower Cook Inlet to commercially harvest the detached bunches that wash ashore. That practice is now getting a closer look by state managers and scientists and could result in new regulations by year’s end. Detached kelp harvests have occurred at Lower Cook Inlet under special permits since the 1970s but matters of who needs permits, for how much and for what purposes are not clearly defined. Currently, a special permit is needed for c...
October 16, 1919 Almost the entire town turned out Sunday to witness the launching of Walter Waters’ new boat, Princess Pat, which took place from William Fletcher’s boat shop. The boat was shipped knocked down from the De Foe Company of Grand Rapids, Mich. The frame is of oak and the planking of cypress, while the cabins and pilot house are of Alaska cedar. The boat is fitted with the latest Pullman berths. It will probably be a month before the Princess Pat makes her maiden voyage. Mr. Waters will continue to operate the Glenora, and with two...
The nation’s farmers of the sea are hoping for a helping hand from Uncle Sam to train future generations of fishermen. It would mirror programs in place for nearly 160 years for U.S. farmers and ranchers. Federal backing of training programs for entry level farmers and ranchers can be traced back to the 1862 Morrill Land-Grants Act. Beginning in 2009, Congress authorized $75 million for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) to “develop and offer education, training, outreach and mentoring programs to enhance the sus...
