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Alaskans saw salmon die offs last summer across the state when water temperatures soared into the mid-70s to above 80 degrees in some regions. But what about threats to salmon from the accompanying global gorilla - increased acidity? It’s a shock to learn that while extensive studies for years have been underway by Alaska scientists on impacts to major fish and shellfish stocks, there’s been none done in Alaska for salmon. In fact, only two lab studies have been done on Alaska salmon, both out of state, which showed acidity impairs coho sal...
Following is the Wrangell Sentinel's news review for January through June of 2019. Next week the review will include events from July through December. January Jan. 13 - The Fairbanks Arts Association opened their 24th annual statewide poetry contest for submissions this December. Each year, the association picks a new judge for the contest. This year will be judged by Wrangell resident Vivian Faith Prescott. Prescott is the author of numerous works, including The Hide of My Tongue and The Dead...
Hundreds of fishery stakeholders and scientists will gather in Anchorage next week as the state Board of Fisheries (BOF) begins its annual meeting cycle with a two-day work session. The seven-member BOF sets the rules for the state’s subsistence, commercial, sport and personal use fisheries. It meets four to six times each year in various communities on a three-year rotation; this year the focus is on Kodiak and Cook Inlet. The fish board and the public also will learn the latest on how a changing climate and off kilter ocean chemistry are a...
In the past year, at least four citizens from Petersburg and Wrangell have sought and gained their U.S. citizenship to be with their families and for peace of mind. Elisa Teodori originates from Italy, but moved to Petersburg after she met her husband, Tor Benson, while working in Ecuador. Laura Davies first came to the US from Canada to work as a recreation therapist in Georgia, but eventually moved to Wrangell to take a job working with Alaska Crossings and met her husband. Gilda Barkfelt...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Add salmon to the list of species affected by Alaska’s blistering summer temperatures, including the hottest July on record. Dead salmon have shown up in river systems throughout Alaska, and the mortalities are probably connected to warm water or low river water levels, said Sam Rabung, director of commercial fisheries for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The department has not quantified past heat-related fish deaths because they tended to be sporadic and inconsistent, Rabung said. But department scientists this...
August 21, 1919 Major Jack Hamilton, “soldier of fortune” and veteran of the late war, who has been travelling through Alaska for the past ten weeks on a lecture tour, arrived here from Petersburg last evening accompanied by Madame Hamilton. He will lecture in Wrangell tomorrow night. Since coming to Alaska Major Hamilton has received considerable publicity through the press of the Territory, and there is probably not a person in Wrangell who is not already familiar with the story of his life and adventure. “Major Hamilton touched on other...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Biological oceanographer Sonia Batten experienced her lightbulb moment on the perils of too many salmon three years ago as she prepared a talk on the most important North Pacific seafood you'll never see on a plate zooplankton. Zooplanktons nourish everything from juvenile salmon to seabirds to giant whales. But as Batten examined 15 years of data collected by instruments on container ships near the Aleutian Islands, she noticed a trend: zooplankton was abundant in e...
As the District 36 Representative, my primary assignment now in the Legislature is to serve as the Vice-Chair on the House Finance Committee. In that duty, I traveled to Juneau, Anchorage, Wasilla, and Fairbanks between July 15-18 in order to hear Public Testimony on HB 2001, the special session budget bill. During those three days of testimony, we heard over 600 people testify in person. During the month of July, we had over 2,300 Alaskans provide testimony to the House Finance Committee. Over 85% of the testifiers were in support of...
Fisheries fare better than most people in terms of Governor Mike Dunleavy’s budget cuts. Just under one million dollars was cut from the commercial fisheries division of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, leaving it with an $85 million budget, half from state general funds. “To give the governor credit, he recognized the return on investment,” said Doug Vincent-Lang, ADF&G Commissioner. “It’s a theme I had all the way through the legislature that we take a $200 million budget of which about $50 million is unrestricted general funds and...
State Representative Dan Ortiz (I) held a teleconference with constituents in Ketchikan and Wrangell Monday, July 8, to hear public opinions on the state budget, the PFD, and other items. Monday was the start of a second special session of the state legislature, one that has appeared to be just as divisive amongst legislators and Alaskan residents as the previous sessions. One of the hot topics of this session, when it was announced, was whether or not to overturn Governor Mike Dunleavy’s l...
Salmon dominates the summer fishing headlines but it’s among many other fisheries going on throughout the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea. Alaska’s salmon season has gotten off to a mixed start, with strong catches in some regions over the past month and dismal hauls in others. Good harvests have continued at the Copper River and more recently throughout Prince William Sound. That’s not been the case at Kodiak, Cook Inlet and Chignik where fishing is off to a very slow start. Trollers are targeting Chinook salmon in Southeast, and other salmo...
Meredith Sykes, 79, passed away on May 12, 2019 in Washington State. She was a small-town girl from Fargo, North Dakota, who traveled the world, with adventures in Asia, Europe, and Africa. She braved the wilds (and not-so-wilds) of Alaska for 32 years before moving to Gig Harbor, Washington in 1993. She and her family lived in Wrangell from about 1961 to 1972 and her children were born in Wrangell. She was an excellent cook and baker and instilled that passion and talent in all three of her daughters. She belonged to gourmet groups in Anchorag...
Aminda Skan, the daughter of former Wrangell resident Mercedes Angerman, is a second-year pharmacy student with Doctor of Pharmacy program that is jointly organized by the Idaho State University and the University of Alaska Anchorage. She received her bachelor's degree in biological science from UAA in May 2017. Her doctorate program has ISU's name on it, but as she explained in an email, it allows her to remain in Alaska to achieve her degree. Recently, through her work to increase the number...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – During Republican Mike Dunleavy’s successful run for governor last year, he offered few specifics for his vision of limited government but was clear that Alaska residents should get a full payout from the state’s oil-wealth fund. Lawmakers and Dunleavy’s predecessor capped the annual checks at $1,600 or less the past few years as they struggled to address a budget deficit that has persisted amid low to middling oil prices and is now estimated at $1.6 billion. Dunleavy’s call for paying the full amount this year, around $3...
David Charles (Chuck) Oliver, 90, passed away peacefully March 17, 2019, in Anchorage, Alaska. He was born September 30, 1928 in Fall Creek, Oregon, to David and Dorothy Oliver and raised by Dorothy and Lloyd Williams. On September 29, 1947, Chuck married his high school sweetheart Alice Irene Rice. He attended Oregon State University before joining the U.S. Army and served during the Korean conflict. He was honorably discharged as a First Lieutenant. He returned to Oregon where he and Alice sta...
Push that pasta aside. Noodles made from Alaska pollock are poised to become a center of the plate favorite. Alaska Pollock Protein Noodles from Trident Seafoods swept the awards at the 26th annual Alaska Symphony of Seafood new products competition in Juneau. The low carb, "flavor neutral" noodles contain 1O grams of protein per serving and can be swapped with any pasta favorites. The ready to eat item drew raves from judges and samplers from Seattle to Southeast who gave the noodles quadruple...
Students from Stikine Middle School returned from their trip to Anchorage on Jan. 24. The trip, hosted by the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program, let the students get a taste of college life by staying on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus and participating in numerous STEM projects. Winston Davies, teacher and chaperone for the trip, said it was a terrific experience for the kids. "It went really well. The kids, all 13 of them, had a blast," he said. "It was a neat experience....
Eating seafood can save lives. Premature birth is the leading cause of death for children under 5 years old worldwide, accounting for nearly one million deaths annually. Now there is proof that eating seafood or marine oils can significantly reduce that number. The lifesaving ingredient? Omega 3 fatty acids. The conclusion of a new Cochrane Review of 70 studies worldwide on nearly 20,000 pregnant women stated that omega’s from marine sources reduces early premature birth by a whopping 42 percent. “The effect really has to be strong to see it...
Kids from Stikine Middle School left for Anchorage on Jan. 11, to attend an ANSEP STEM camp. They're being chaperoned by teachers Winston Davies (top right) and Brian Ashton, and are scheduled to return on Jan. 24. ANSEP, the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program seeks to improve academic outcomes and promote a strong background in STEM for Alaskan students. The students attending the camp will get to live on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus and get a small taste of college...
At a Nov. 3 dinner at the Hilton in Anchorage, Letitia "Tisha" Benson was named 2018's March of Dimes Nurse of the Year. She received the award of excellence for public health and ambulatory care. Benson said that the nurse of the year award is given to nurses in all 50 states by March of Dimes, a nonprofit that works to improve health for mothers and babies. According to her, there were 109 nominations for the award in Alaska, and the top 65 were invited to the Hilton dinner. Simply being nomin...
An Alaskan sisterhood of sorts is advancing a line of tundra botanicals mixed with the sea to create potent anti-aging skin care products bearing the best of both. A wild salmon Skin Serum is the first wellness product the Salmon Sisters have added to their popular line that features original designs on clothing and other ocean-themed goods. "We love how smooth and light it feels. There are beautiful notes of crowberries, which we picked throughout our childhood on the tundra behind our...
More shipping containers filled with plastic fishing nets, crab lines and other gear left Dutch Harbor last week for recycling plants in Europe, and two more will soon follow from that port and Kodiak. “We’re accepting trawl and crab line and halibut gear and all of it is going to Bulgaria to be sorted,” said Nicole Baker, founder of Net Your Problem and the force behind the recycling effort that began loading and shipping gear last year. “I expect that three more containers from Dutch will be going to Europe in the next few weeks, so we shou...
Richard Robert McCormick, "Dick", slipped peacefully from this life on November 6, 2018 at age 89. At the time of his death, he was residing in the Anchorage Pioneers Home and was surrounded by family. He was born January 06, 1929 in Juneau, Alaska, the son of Richard McCormick II and Kathleen Pellascio. He was raised in Douglas, Alaska with his 3 brothers, Jim, Bob and Tony. He was one of the last graduates from the old Douglas High School. He stayed in contact with childhood chums and...
Catches for next year’s groundfish fisheries reflect ups and downs for Alaska’s key species - pollock and cod – and the stocks appear to be heading north to colder waters. The bulk of Alaska’s fish catches come from waters from three to 200 miles offshore with oversight by federal fishery managers. Their advisory arm, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, reviews stock assessments for groundfish each October and sets preliminary catches for the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea and updates them as new data become available. If the propose...
