Fishing

Meta Mesdag, owner of Salty Lady Seafood Co., works alongside sons Emmett, 16, and Kai, 13. A harmful algae bloom shut down the farm for half of the 20-week season, which means working into the winter. (Meredith Jordan/ Juneau Empire)

Pushing to expand mariculture in Alaska (Part 1): A day in the life of a Juneau oyster farming family

Salty Lady Seafood is working through the winter this year

Meta Mesdag, owner of Salty Lady Seafood Co., works alongside sons Emmett, 16, and Kai, 13. A harmful algae bloom shut down the farm for half of the 20-week season, which means working into the winter. (Meredith Jordan/ Juneau Empire)
Fishing boats line the docks in Kodiak’s St. Paul Harbor on Oct. 2, 2022. Fish-harvesting employment has been declining since 2015, with multiple factors at play, according to an Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development analysis. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska seafood harvesting jobs decline as fish crashes, pandemic and other factors take toll

Alaska fish-harvesting employment declined in 2022, a continuing yearslong slide caused by a variety of factors, according to an analysis by the state Department of… Continue reading

Fishing boats line the docks in Kodiak’s St. Paul Harbor on Oct. 2, 2022. Fish-harvesting employment has been declining since 2015, with multiple factors at play, according to an Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development analysis. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Crew members adjust the net as it releases fish aboard the Northern Hawk factory trawler on Saturday, Aug. 5 in the Bering Sea. (Photo by Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News)

With little movement on salmon bycatch, Alaska advocates look to Biden administration for action

Amid catastrophic shortfalls in salmon harvests in some of Alaska’s rural, Indigenous communities, advocates have pleaded for a crackdown on unintentional catch of those same… Continue reading

Crew members adjust the net as it releases fish aboard the Northern Hawk factory trawler on Saturday, Aug. 5 in the Bering Sea. (Photo by Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News)
A red king crab is seen in the water at Kodiak in 2005. Surveys this year indicated that stocks in the Bering Sea are strong enough to allow a small Bristol Bay red king crab fishery after two years of closures. (Photo by David Csepp/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

As the once-lucrative Bering Sea crab harvest resumes, Alaska’s fishers face challenges

In the short term, Alaska crab fishers and the communities that depend on them will get a slight reprieve from the disastrous conditions they have… Continue reading

A red king crab is seen in the water at Kodiak in 2005. Surveys this year indicated that stocks in the Bering Sea are strong enough to allow a small Bristol Bay red king crab fishery after two years of closures. (Photo by David Csepp/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Meredith Jordan/ Juneau Empire A manager at Alaska Glacier Seafood shows a filleted sea cucumber ready for further processing.

Sea cucumber season off to a good start

Divers seeing much better prices than last year to start

Meredith Jordan/ Juneau Empire A manager at Alaska Glacier Seafood shows a filleted sea cucumber ready for further processing.
A Chinook salmon is seen in an undated photo. (Photo by Ryan Hagerty/USFWS)

Salmon drift gillnet season ends with a hint at final numbers

King goals expected to be met in six of 11 index locations

A Chinook salmon is seen in an undated photo. (Photo by Ryan Hagerty/USFWS)
A person walks across the dock at St. Paul Harbor, Thursday, June 22, 2023, in Kodiak. Alaska fishermen will be able to harvest red king crab, the largest and most lucrative of all the Bering Sea crab species, for the first time in two years, offering a slight reprieve to the beleaguered fishery beset by low numbers likely exacerbated by climate change. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

Alaska fishermen will be allowed to harvest lucrative red king crab in the Bering Sea

Catch allowed after two canceled seasons; snow crab fishery to remain closed for second year.

A person walks across the dock at St. Paul Harbor, Thursday, June 22, 2023, in Kodiak. Alaska fishermen will be able to harvest red king crab, the largest and most lucrative of all the Bering Sea crab species, for the first time in two years, offering a slight reprieve to the beleaguered fishery beset by low numbers likely exacerbated by climate change. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)
Deckhands stack nets on a boat before heading out to sea to fish salmon, Thursday, June 22, 2023, in Kodiak, Alaska. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

As climate change and high costs plague Alaska’s fisheries, fewer young people take up the trade

KODIAK — Lane Bolich first came to work in Alaska for the freedom and excitement that comes with being a fisher. A self-described adrenaline junkie,… Continue reading

  • Sep 26, 2023
  • By Joshua A. Bickel Associated Press
  • NewsFishing
Deckhands stack nets on a boat before heading out to sea to fish salmon, Thursday, June 22, 2023, in Kodiak, Alaska. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Author Tele Aadsen performing at her first FisherPoets Gathering in 2012. Her book, “What Water Holds,” is a collection of essays she wrote for the annual festival over the next 12 years. (Photo courtesy Pat Dixon)

A commercial fisherman who knows her way around salmon and essays

Author Tele Aadsen signing book of essays at Hearthside downtown

Author Tele Aadsen performing at her first FisherPoets Gathering in 2012. Her book, “What Water Holds,” is a collection of essays she wrote for the annual festival over the next 12 years. (Photo courtesy Pat Dixon)
Doug Vincent-Lang, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, explains the state’s position on fisheries management on the Kuskokwim River during a press conference Friday in Anchorage. Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced during the event the state is seeking summary judgment in a lawsuit by the federal government that accuses the state of illegal subsistence management practices. (Screenshot from official video by the Governor of Alaska)

Dunleavy, Taylor push to get Kuskokwim case tossed

Jurisdictional battle with feds could have long-ranging implications

Doug Vincent-Lang, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, explains the state’s position on fisheries management on the Kuskokwim River during a press conference Friday in Anchorage. Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced during the event the state is seeking summary judgment in a lawsuit by the federal government that accuses the state of illegal subsistence management practices. (Screenshot from official video by the Governor of Alaska)
Norval Nelson, owner and operator of Star of the Sea, and his wife, Barbara Cadiente, clean and prep the boat in Aurora Harbor on Wednesday, the same day the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced commercial crab fisheries would remain closed again this year. (Meredith Jordan/Juneau Empire)

Commercial crab fishery closed for 2023-2024 season

News comes atop plummeting prices for chum and pink salmon for professional fishers

Norval Nelson, owner and operator of Star of the Sea, and his wife, Barbara Cadiente, clean and prep the boat in Aurora Harbor on Wednesday, the same day the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced commercial crab fisheries would remain closed again this year. (Meredith Jordan/Juneau Empire)
Fishing boats are lines up on Oct. 3, 2022, at a dock at Kodiak’s St. Paul Harbor. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska Gov. Dunleavy names ad consultant, talk show host Porcaro to Juneau-based fisheries agency

New appointee is one of two who oversees commercial fishing commission with about 20 employees.

Fishing boats are lines up on Oct. 3, 2022, at a dock at Kodiak’s St. Paul Harbor. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Steve Sanders and Estrella Acosta examine their catch aboard the Marilyn at the Auke Nu Cove station as Alysha Reeves, the events dock chair, awaits. Acosta, 11, turned in 11 scholarship fish and entered a 10.1-pound salmon on Friday evening, the first day of the 77th Annual Golden North Salmon Derby. (Meredith Jordan / Juneau Empire)

Salmon Derby feels the weather, but keeps on fishing

77th annual charitable competition nets more fish than last year

Steve Sanders and Estrella Acosta examine their catch aboard the Marilyn at the Auke Nu Cove station as Alysha Reeves, the events dock chair, awaits. Acosta, 11, turned in 11 scholarship fish and entered a 10.1-pound salmon on Friday evening, the first day of the 77th Annual Golden North Salmon Derby. (Meredith Jordan / Juneau Empire)
The F/V Tommy L II, co-owned by longtime Juneau resident Joe Emerson, sits berthed in Aurora Harbor in late May. On Wednesday a federal court decision allowed for the king salmon troll fishery in Southeast Alaska to begin July 1, a reversal of a lower court ruling in May. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)

Fishing is a go for Southeast Alaska troll fishery this summer

Ninth U.S. Court of Appeals reverses lower court ruling, allows season to begin July 1.

The F/V Tommy L II, co-owned by longtime Juneau resident Joe Emerson, sits berthed in Aurora Harbor in late May. On Wednesday a federal court decision allowed for the king salmon troll fishery in Southeast Alaska to begin July 1, a reversal of a lower court ruling in May. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Longtime Juneau resident Joe Emerson, co-owner of the F/V Tommy L II berthed in Aurora Harbor, smiles for a photo next to his boat in late May. Emerson is one of the hundreds of trollers in Southeast Alaska that will be directly impacted by a federal court order that may force the closure of the region’s king salmon troll fishery set to begin July 1. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Southeast trollers remain hooked in web of Washington lawsuit that could halt summer season

Juneau fisherman says he’s concerned about his livelihood and future of the fishery.

Longtime Juneau resident Joe Emerson, co-owner of the F/V Tommy L II berthed in Aurora Harbor, smiles for a photo next to his boat in late May. Emerson is one of the hundreds of trollers in Southeast Alaska that will be directly impacted by a federal court order that may force the closure of the region’s king salmon troll fishery set to begin July 1. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
The author's steelhead was not in the mood for pictures. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

I Went to the Woods: One good fish

Often it’s the thinking that supplies the proper amount of weight and gratitude.

The author's steelhead was not in the mood for pictures. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File In this Jan. 18, 2014, file photo, endangered orcas swim in Puget Sound and in view of the Olympic Mountains just west of Seattle, as seen from a federal research vessel that has been tracking the whales.

City takes step toward opposing lawsuit threatening closure of Southeast Alaska king salmon trolling

CBJ follows other Southeast Alaska cities which cite negative economic impacts

AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File In this Jan. 18, 2014, file photo, endangered orcas swim in Puget Sound and in view of the Olympic Mountains just west of Seattle, as seen from a federal research vessel that has been tracking the whales.
A fisherman holds a Dungeness crab caught during the 2021 season. (Courtesy Photo/ Joseph Stratman, Alaska Department of Fish and Game)

‘There are no bright spots’: Regionwide Dungeness crab catch rates see down season

“There are no bright spots.”

A fisherman holds a Dungeness crab caught during the 2021 season. (Courtesy Photo/ Joseph Stratman, Alaska Department of Fish and Game)
Anglers fish on the Kenai River on Tuesday, June 29, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Low early-run king numbers prompt restrictions

Off to a very slow start.

Anglers fish on the Kenai River on Tuesday, June 29, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Photos by Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire Members of the Yées Ku.oo multicultural dance group advance up the pier Saturday during the 12th Annual Maritime Festival. Below left, sailors strive against Juneau Docks and Harbors personnel in a tug-of-war. Below right, a swimmer drops out of a Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk during a rescue demonstration.

Visitors and sun greet 12th annual Juneau Maritime Festival

Hundreds came to the annual festival recognizing Juneau’s ties to the ocean.

Photos by Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire Members of the Yées Ku.oo multicultural dance group advance up the pier Saturday during the 12th Annual Maritime Festival. Below left, sailors strive against Juneau Docks and Harbors personnel in a tug-of-war. Below right, a swimmer drops out of a Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk during a rescue demonstration.