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The Alaska Board of Fisheries began its six-day review process for crab, shrimp and miscellaneous shellfish policies in Southeast and Yakutat yesterday at Wrangell’s Nolan Center. Public testimony on the policy changes being proposed began Wednesday morning and will continue today. Part of the regulatory arm of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the board’s main role is to conserve and develop the fishery resources of the state, by setting seasons, bag limits, methods, means and other regulations for Alaska’s subsistence, comme...
Alaska seafood marketers are facing some strong headwinds heading into 2015, notably, for sockeye salmon and crab. Snow crab is Alaska’s largest crab fishery, underway now in the Bering Sea. The fleet has a slightly increased 61 million pound catch quota; boats also are tapping on a hefty bairdi Tanner crab catch, the larger cousin of snow crab. A 25% increase in snow crab, the unexpected 15 million pound Tanner fishery, a weak Japanese yen, plus several million pounds of Russian snow crab from a new fishery in the Barents Sea, (not to mention...
The Alaska Board of Game will convene its Southeast Region meeting tomorrow at the Westmark Baranof Hotel in Juneau, wrapping up on Jan. 13. The board will examine 40 proposals regarding hunting and trapping regulations for the region. Members will today also be holding a one-day work session for the purpose of hearing various reports and to address board business. Proposals scheduled for the Southeast meeting have been submitted by the Department of Fish and Game, local fish and game advisory committees and the general public, seeking...
Kicking things off with a new borough manager in Jeff Jabusch, 2014 for Wrangell was not only a period of changes, but also one of building and continued development. Pavement was poured at the Marine Service Center, a number of roads were resurfaced or due to eventually see improvement, and the city was able to showcase itself to other regional communities by hosting several prolific functions. January Wrangell Cooperative Association collected 210 registrations for Tlingit-Haida members at...
On Dec. 18 Wrangell’s advisory committee to Alaska Department of Fish and Game held the last and lengthiest of its public meetings to discuss Board of Fisheries proposals for the 2014-15 meeting cycle. This 12-person committee let the public review and discuss new finfish management proposals, providing their recommendations to the state board of Fisheries. Consulting them on management policies were Troy Thynes and Patrick Fowler from Petersburg’s ADFG office. Among the policies the committee supported, it voted ten to two in favor of cre...
Wrangell's advisory committee to Alaska Department of Fish and Game held the second of several public meetings at the Fire Hall Dec. 11, to discuss Board of Fisheries proposals for the 2014-15 meeting cycle. This committee provides a forum for fishing and game management issues, allowing the public to review and discuss new proposals and to provide recommendations to both state boards of Fisheries and Game. To consult with them on crab, shellfish and shrimp management policies were Joe Stratman and Troy Thynes from Petersburg's ADFG office....
Local bird-watchers were pleased to see a specimen of White-winged Dove on the island this month, a species native to the Southwest United States, Central America and the Caribbean. Although it has been expanding into new habitat ranges, it is an unusual sight so far north. This is only the bird's third recorded appearance in Alaska; the first was in Skagway in 1981, and again in Wrangell in 2007. "It is rare," Bonnie Demerjian said. "Among birders, it's pretty exciting." Demerjian first spotted...
PETERSBURG – The Southeast Alaska Drift Gillnet and Purse Seine task forces met in Petersburg on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, to review the 2014 season and discuss the 2015 season. On Tuesday, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) biologists from districts around Southeast presented a review of the 2014 season for various salmon species harvested by gillnetters. Justin Breese, ADFG biologist from Ketchikan, reported District 1, Tree Point, had an above average harvest for cohos and pink salmon and a below average harvest for sockey...
SITKA, Alaska (AP) _ The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced the preliminary guideline harvest level for the 2015 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery is 8,712 tons. That’s just over half of last year’s quota of 16,333 and the lowest expected GHL in more than 10 years. The preliminary harvest level is based on a 19.7 percent harvest rate of a mature biomass forecast of 44,237 tons, said Dave Gordon, area management biologist. The preliminary GHL is quite a bit below the 10-year average of 13,500, and far below the 2014 catch of 16,...
Wrangell's advisory committee to Alaska Department of Fish and Game held the first of several public meetings at the Fire Hall Monday, to discuss Board of Game proposals for the 2014-15 meeting cycle. The committee provides a forum for fishing and wildlife issues, allowing the public to review and discuss new proposals and to provide recommendations to Alaska's boards of Fisheries and Game. A variety of local fishermen, hunters, trappers and subsistence users stopped in to review 38 new policies and changes to management practices being...
A news release from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) released Nov. 13 outlines an estimated 2015 pink salmon harvest of 58 million fish. “ An actual harvest of 58 million pink salmon would be well above the recent 10-year average of 41 million pink salmon and a harvest of that magnitude would be in the top ten harvests since 1960,” according to the release. The release states that the annual forecast was produce in two steps, “ 1) a forecast of the trend in the harvest, and 2) the forecast trend adjusted using 2014 juvenile pink...
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. November 5, 1914: The Wrangell Fire Department held their regular meeting at the City Hall last Monday evening. The feature of the evening was the thorough discussion of a baseball park for Wrangell. The idea is one that should be thoroughly worked out and it is certainly possible for Wrangell to have good ground and with the rest of Alaska enjoy the national game. Several persons have already come forward with the promise of financial assistance if the fire boys can get the ground. The fire boys...
PETERSBURG – With a crew working six days a week, construction at the Crystal Lake Hatchery facility is moving along on schedule. “We’re basically on schedule, which is a little bit surprising for a construction project,” Bill Gass said with a laugh. Gass is the production manager for Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (SSRAA), which is contracted to operate the Crystal Lake facility by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Sport Fish Division. The incubation building and generator shed at the facility, along with some 1.2...
Some changes to the federally-administered subsistence fisheries were recommended by the Southeast Alaska Subsistence Regional Advisory Council (RAC) at its three day meeting at Wrangell's Nolan Center last week. Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Robert Larson explained the meeting's agenda featured an uncommon mix of proposals from the state boards of Game and Fisheries, since the regulatory cycles of both synchronized with each other this year. “It doesn't happen very often,” he noted. Of particular concern for Wrangell's sub...
The big, predominately green, bear-stymying garbage receptacles ubiquitous to the island may be soon partnered up with a blue variety as Wrangell weighs the benefits and costs of investing in a curbside recycling program. Members on the Borough's Economic Development Committee were abuzz with the idea at their Thursday night meeting following a public presentation for a solid waste recycling management plan submitted by consultants Richard Hertzberg and Chris Bell the previous evening. The bigge...
November 5, 1914: The Wrangell Fire Department held their regular meeting at the City Hall last Monday evening. The feature of the evening was the thorough discussion of a baseball park for Wrangell. The idea is one that should be thoroughly worked out and it is certainly possible for Wrangell to have good ground and with the rest of Alaska enjoy the national game. Several persons have already come forward with the promise of financial assistance if the fire boys can get the ground. The fire boys appointed a committee to look into this and...
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) confirmed Tuesday that the 2014 moose harvest was the second-best on record for the Wrangell-Petersburg area. “The harvest of 104 moose this fall ranks as the second highest on record for the local RM038 moose hunt,” ADFG biologist Rich Lowell reported. Of this year's harvest, 36 were killed near the Stikine River, its highest harvest since 1990. Another 35 were taken on Kupreanof Island, which Lowell explained tends to see the largest numbers in the area. Thirteen were also harvested on Mitkof Isl...
It appears to have been a successful month for moose hunters as the season came to an end yesterday. As of Tuesday morning, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) biologist Rich Lowell reported it likely to be the second-best season on record. A total of 97 bull moose were harvested from the Petersburg-Wrangell area, better than last year's 92. The highest recorded figure was 109 moose in 2009. Of this year's harvest, 36 were killed near the Stikine River, its highest harvest in 24 years....
As the third week of this year’s moose hunt came to a close this past Sunday, the current harvest is still slightly ahead of last year’s numbers. According to Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Rich Lowell, a total of 72 moose were reported killed for the Petersburg-Wrangell area, compared to 71 last year. With a few more reported taken Tuesday, the number stands at 74. Twenty-five have so far been taken on the Stikine River, and another 27 on Kupreanof Island. There were also six harvested on Mitkof Island, five at Thomas Bay, thr...
Crab harvests in southeast Alaska this year won't feature the state's historic cash crops of Red King Crabs, as historically low population levels persist in the region, according to Alaska's Department of Fish and Game, which announced the pre-emptive closure of the 2014/2015 fishing season on Oct. 3. The Southeast Alaska Red King Crab Management Plan directs the department to manage the Southeast Alaska red king crab fishery in accordance with the Alaska Board of Fisheries' "Policy on King and...
Despite the rough weather and Monday opener, it’s been a good season so far for area moose hunters. According to Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Rich Lowell, it’s better even than average. Fifty-two moose have been reported killed in the first two weeks, compared to 49 at this time last year for Unit 3, the Petersburg-Wrangell area. A total of 92 were gathered in 2013. Nineteen have so far been taken on the Stikine River, better than the 15 noted for this time last year. A further 16 were reported had on Kupreanof Island. The...
In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. October 8, 1914: Miss Durkey, president of the Alaska Garnet Mining & Manufacturing Company who are operating at the garnet ledge at the mouth of the Stikine, was a passenger up on the Mariposa the first of the week. Miss Durkey states that the Company will ship some twelve tons of garnets south on the Dolphin next trip. The company has secured a selling concession from the government to sell their garnets in the Manufacturer’s Building at the San Francisco Fair and this shipment will be the f...
PETERSBURG – Fishermen are ending this summer’s pink salmon season 10 million over the projected harvest. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s (ADFG) harvest forecast was 22 million pinks and fishermen hauled in 32 million. Sitka-based ADFG biologist Dan Gray said, “Just in terms of straight numbers, we had a pretty good year.” This year’s harvest pales in comparison to last year’s record-breaking pink harvest where fishermen brought in some 85.5 million pinks. But a more apt comparison would be to past even-year harvests, since harvest...
PETERSBURG – Efforts by the Canadian agency Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to relocate salmon across a barrier created by a landslide in late May are helping sockeye salmon reach escapement goals. DFO began relocating sockeye and Chinook salmon via helicopter across the barrier in early July. As of July 20, nearly 4,000 sockeye and over 1,000 large Chinook salmon were successfully transported over the slide area and released into the upper Tahltan River. Water levels in the Tahtan River had receded by the end of July making it possible f...
Seafood is by far Alaska’s top export and as it heads overseas, global politics play a big role in making sales sink or swim. That dynamic took center stage last week when Russia banned imports of foods for one year from the US, Canada, Europe, Norway and Australia in retaliation for sanctions imposed due to its aggressive actions in Ukraine. It is a direct hit to Alaska, which last year exported nearly 20 million pounds of seafood to Russia, valued at more than $60 million. The primary product it hurts is pink and chum salmon roe; Russia is a...