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Alaska’s salmon industry is ready to get corked by the inability of state lawmakers to pass a budget. More than 20,000 state workers are bracing for 30 day layoff notices, meaning they’ll be off the job when the new fiscal year starts on July 1. The timing couldn’t be worse for Alaska’s salmon managers who are nearing the peak of a season that could set new records. “There is some budget, about 27 percent of our normal amount for us to work in the field, and do our management responsibilities. But how we proceed from July 1 is what we’re wor...
Anglers of all ages took to the water over the Memorial Day weekend, hoping to land a salmon fit for the special first prize awarded during Wrangell’s 63rd Annual King Salmon Derby. Chad Smith won the $2,500 weekend prize with a 42.7-pound specimen, and propelled himself to first place in the derby bracket. Ending June 7, this year’s first-place fish earns its captor a $6,000 prize. Thirty-seven fish were weighed in between Friday and Monday, though it is likely many more were caught. Derby par...
Alaskans will have to wait until fall to learn if salmon habitat prevails over a coal mine proposed at Upper Cook Inlet. A decision due earlier this month by the state Department of Natural Resources has been delayed until after a public hearing later this summer, said Ed Fogels, DNR Deputy Commissioner. At issue is competing water rights claims filed in 2009 by the Chuitna Citizens Coalition and PacRim Coal of Delaware and Texas. The Coalition wants to protect spawning tributaries of the salmon-rich Chuitna River, dubbed the Kenai of the West...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Nearly 50 commercial fishing boats linked together with line, creating a massive flotilla to draw attention to their protest of the Navy’s planned exercises in the Gulf of Alaska. The linked vessels were part of a group of more than 100 boats that set out from Cordova onto Orca Inlet, which opens onto the Gulf of Alaska, on Saturday. “I’ve never seen anything like it on my life,” said organizer Emily Stolarcyk, program manager for the Eyak Preservation Council. “We had boats rafted five boats deep.” Fishermen and...
The Alaska Board of Game proposes to consider changes to Title 5 of the Alaska Administrative Code, Chapter 92, dealing with lawful methods for Dall sheep hunting. The Board will have a teleconferenced special meeting at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 28, 2015, to discuss and vote on whether or not to rescind action on Proposal 207, as amended, related to aircraft restriction during sheep hunting seasons. In addition, the Board will discuss the need to establish a sheep working group and will review public and agency agenda change requests for the...
The community of Wrangell will be one step closer to having an Alaska Wildlife Trooper (AWT) again, following news that the Department of Public Safety (DPS) has reversed its January decision to cut the position. Citing budgetary constraints, the position was to be cut along with around 60 others across the state. “My understanding is the position itself is not going to be removed, but it’s going to be a vacant position,” explained Tim Despain, public information supervisor for DPS. “It could be some time before the actual position is filled....
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. May 13, 1915: From the looks of the action of the town council last night, it is practically assured that Wrangell is going to have a baseball park and that we will be able to play the national game before the season is over. At a meeting last night the council set aside a section of town property in the eastern part of town, back of the dairy ranch, to be used as a town recreation park. Mr. William Lewis and F. Stanhope were given permission to build a ball diamond on the property if ways and means...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced the 2015 sport fishing regulations for king salmon for Southeast and Yakutat. The regulations took effect last Friday and last through May 1, 2016. Alaska residents are allowed to bag and possess three king salmon, 28 inches or greater in length. Nonresidents are limited to one king, 28 inches or longer, except during May and June when they are allowed up to two. The nonresident annual limit is six king salmon. From October 1 through March 31, 2016, sport anglers may use two rods when fishing...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) announced Tuesday that retention of lingcod bycatch in commercial longline fisheries closed in the entire Southern Southeast Internal Waters (SSEIW) Sector at 11:59 p.m. yesterday evening. The 2015 lingcod guideline harvest level for SSEIW longline fisheries is 2,080 round pounds. By Tuesday, 2,076 round pounds had been landed from this area. The lingcod bycatch season remains open for longline fisheries (excluding sablefish) of the Eastern Gulf of Alaska Area in the Icy Bay Subdistrict, East...
By Dani Pa;mer Sentinel writer PETERSBURG – The 2015 spring troll fishery got its early start this week. The fishery opened in select locations at 12:01 a.m. today, Thursday. Last year, the first spring troll fishery opened on May 1. Frederick Sound, Ernest Sound, the Neets Bay Terminal Harvest Area and the Hidden Falls Terminal Harvest Area opened and will remain so through April 30, according to an Alaska Department of Fish and Game press release. “Frederick Sound has always been a good area,” Sitka Troll Fishery Biologist Pattie Skannes...
Residents have been invited to become “citizen scientists” this summer, tracking bats and collecting data for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG). A good-sized group of Wrangellites flocked to the Forest Service’s final chautauqua for the season, where ADFG wildlife biologist Michael Kohan delivered an introductory presentation on our winged mammalian friends. She is one of two researchers for the program in Southeast, which began in 2011. Several approaches are used to track local bats, gathering data on population as well as new i...
Caribou instead of corn dogs…salmon instead of Trout Treasures… seal meat in place of spaghetti – all could soon be available to more Alaskans if traction continues on a new bipartisan bill before the Alaska legislature. The bill - HB 179 - allows schools, senior centers, hospitals, child care centers and other facilities to accept and serve fish, game, plants and eggs that are donated by subsistence and sport users. Currently, well-meaning state laws intended to prevent the commercial sale of wild game make the practice illegal if a progr...
Anglers near and far away are gearing up for next month’s 63rd annual King Salmon Derby, held in Wrangell from May 9 to June 7. Last year over 930 tickets were sold to participants coming from around the world. The derby’s planning committee met late last month to approve changes to this year’s rule book. Among the new policies taking effect this year, salmon being weighed will be subject to random opening at stations to ensure no additional weights are being used. “Probably the one biggest...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is warning Alaskans to take precautions against bears emerging from winter dens. Anchorage wildlife biologist Dave Battle says he's heard unconfirmed reports of bears around Anchorage and Eagle River. The Kodiak Daily Mirror newspaper reports a bear that raided garages or chicken coops in two neighborhoods was shot and killed last weekend. Department officials say it's time to take down bird feeders that could attract bears and to secure trash, livestock feed and pet food. The d...
Laura Nan Johnston, 82 died on January 19, 2015. Born to Wendell and June Abell, on February 26, 1932 in Chama, N.M. Laura's mother taught for The Bureau of Indian Affairs moving them to Sitka, Alaska where she lived through high school. She attended Oregon State University (OSU) as a Delta Zeta and with a Major in Science she became a Medical Technician. She met Norman Dale Johnston whose major was Fisheries Biology, they both graduated in 1955, were married in 1956 and by 1959 Norman had...
PETERSBURG – Those looking to work at Petersburg’s fish processors will have a good chance to jump onboard with this summer’s pink salmon season predicted to be a big one. “The 2015 harvest forecast of 58 million pink salmon is well above the recent 10-year average harvest of 41 million pink salmon, and a harvest of that magnitude would be in the top ten harvests since 1960,” according to a guide put out by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Andy Piston, pink and chum salmon project leader in Ketchikan, and Steve Heinl, Ketchikan r...
Seven times is the charm for building some momentum on a measure that aims to give personal use (PU) fisheries a priority over commercial and sport users. As it stands now, the three fisheries all are on equal footing in the eyes and actions of state managers. The priority shift has been introduced during each of the last seven legislative sessions by (now) Senator Bill Stoltze (R-Chugiak), but has never made it past a first hearing – until now. “It only took Sen. Stoltze, the bill sponsor, chairing the hearing committee himself,” quipp...
Print your licenses at home and go fishing. The Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game’s revamped Online Store is the go to place for all fishing (and hunting) licenses and it now offers two new features. “Fishermen, both sport and commercial, can now print their licenses at home. They can purchase it online, immediately print it and go out fishing,” said Michelle Kaelke, Financing and Licensing Supervisor for the department. “They can buy it before they go out to the fishing grounds, or if they’re traveling from Seattle or wherever, they can have ever...
The Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery opened at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday under a cooperative model. Dave Gordon, area management biologist at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said the decision was made by permit holders to eliminate competition and lower costs to “make it worthwhile to go after the product” as the market is poor. It wasn’t a popular decision among tenders, however. “There’s a lot less boats here,” said Tanner Mackiewicz, president of the Alaska Independent Tendermen’s Association. “A lot of people without jobs.” He said the...
As legislators in Juneau prepare a budget for the state's next fiscal year, Alaska residents have been urged to contribute their say as cuts are considered. Since the Legislative session began on Jan. 20, lawmakers have been weighted with the task of finding ways to address a more than $3.6 billion deficit. To that end, the State House was looking at making a nearly 10 percent, or about $240 million, cut from state spending over the previous fiscal year. Among areas affected by the cuts would be capital improvements, education, transportation,...
Convening for its last regular meeting of the year, the dozen members of Wrangell’s Fish and Game Advisory Committee recapped recent regulatory changes and looked ahead to future challenges. Advisory committees are locally-organized groups of resource users and other stakeholders that meet to discuss fishing and wildlife issues, providing recommendations to the Alaska boards of Fish and Game. On Wrangell’s horizon: moose brow tines, Canadian mining and getting another Alaska Wildlife Trooper assigned to the area. Scott McAuliffe had represented...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska lawmakers have moved a bill to extend the licensing program for sportfishing guides. The program, through which the Alaska Department of Fish and Game licenses and regulates sportfishing guides and operations, expired at the end of 2014. The House special committee on fisheries moved a bill Thursday that would re-establish the program beginning in 2016. That was introduced by Reps. Cathy Tilton and Cathy Munoz. This year, Fish and Game is issuing temporary licenses without a fee. Operators still must provide i...
A number of concerned residents appeared Tuesday night at the public hearing for an ordinance amending Title 10 of the Municipal Code, specifically dealing with concealed-carry and weapons misconduct in the City and Borough of Wrangell. The Assembly had the proposal before them on its second reading, and during oral presentations at the hearing and later in their regular meeting itself, half a dozen people expressed their dissatisfaction with some provisions of the ordinance. Local resident Charles Hazel felt the rules omitted allowing the...
Meeting in Wrangell last week, the Alaska Board of Fisheries elected to maintain the current Southeast Alaska Area Dungeness Crab Fisheries Management Plan. A trio of policy proposals would have repealed the plan and its early closure thresholds, returning management of the fishery to size, sex and season, as used elsewhere. “I understand the reason this proposal was put forward,” board member John Jensen said of Proposal 58. “Size, sex and season has been a very good way to manage fishe...
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. January 28, 1915: According to information given out by the local cable office, the Government has seen fit to place in service a new night letter rate, which will take effect February 1st. The new rating will help in several ways, by taking part of the load off the wires at the busy time and make the charges much cheaper, the new rate being 12 cents per word for a ten word message as to 16 cents by the present day rate. Messages can be filed at any time but will not be sent until the day work is...