salmon

Photos by Delcenia Cosman/Homer News Salmonfest-goers crowd in front of the Ocean Stage during Blackwater Railroad’s performance on Saturday, Aug. 2, at the Kenai Peninsula Fairgrounds in Ninilchik.

Celebrating salmon, art and culture

Salmonfest was held in Ninilchik last weekend, featuring music, community and advocacy

 

Photo by Chloe Anderson / Juneau Empire A spawning chum salmon is seen in Salmon Creek in Juneau on July 24.

Weekly Wonder: Running toward destiny

Salmon Creek in Juneau recently became a war zone for chum salmon

 

Two spawning pink salmon head upstream in shallow water in Cove Creek in Whittier on Aug. 5, 2024. While last year’s pink salmon runs and harvests were weak, big increases are expected this year. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska officials forecast improvements for the state’s commercial salmon harvest

Total catch is projected to be twice the size of last year’s weak harvest.

 

A Chinook salmon is seen in an undated photo. (Photo by Ryan Hagerty/USFWS)

Conservation group lawsuit seeks to speed listing of Alaska king salmon under Endangered Species Act

Lawsuit asks a judge to order national fisheries service to “promptly issue” decision on petition

A Chinook salmon is seen in an undated photo. (Photo by Ryan Hagerty/USFWS)
Chum salmon are delivered to Alaska Glacier Seafoods on July 25, 2017. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

Chinook harvest limits to be almost 40% lower than ‘24

Allocation is “the lowest chinook harvest limit on record” for Southeast, ADF&G official says.

  • Apr 10, 2025
  • By Anna Laffrey, Daily Sitka Sentinel
  • Newssalmon
Chum salmon are delivered to Alaska Glacier Seafoods on July 25, 2017. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Spawning sockeye salmon returning from Bristol Bay swim in 2013 in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve’s Tazimina Lake. Sockeye salmon, also known as red salmon, accounted for about two-thirds of the value to commercial fishers of this year’s total Alaska salmon catch. (D. Young/National Park Service)

Alaska’s total commercial salmon harvest this year was ultra-low in both quantity and value

State: Number of fish harvested third lowest since 1985, value to fishers third lowest since 1975.

Spawning sockeye salmon returning from Bristol Bay swim in 2013 in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve’s Tazimina Lake. Sockeye salmon, also known as red salmon, accounted for about two-thirds of the value to commercial fishers of this year’s total Alaska salmon catch. (D. Young/National Park Service)
Robert Sisson (left), former commissioner of the International Joint Commission, presides over a panel discussion Wednesday during the third annual Transboundary Mining Conference at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Transboundary mining conference sees fears after natural and man-made disasters, hope after pacts

U.S., Canadian and tribal leaders gather in Juneau to seek way forward on decades-old disputes.

Robert Sisson (left), former commissioner of the International Joint Commission, presides over a panel discussion Wednesday during the third annual Transboundary Mining Conference at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
A king salmon during the 67th annual Golden North Salmon Derby at the Don D. Statter Memorial Boat Harbor in August 2013. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

Sportfishers can’t keep king salmon caught in Southeast waters under emergency order starting Monday

Ban in effect until Oct. 1 unlikely to affect fishing tours since few kings being caught, operators say.

A king salmon during the 67th annual Golden North Salmon Derby at the Don D. Statter Memorial Boat Harbor in August 2013. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
A king salmon. (Photo by Ryan Hagerty/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Federal appeals court ruling eliminates — for now — legal threat facing Southeast Alaska fishers

A three-judge panel at 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a lower-court decision that could have temporarily halted troll fishing for salmon in… Continue reading

A king salmon. (Photo by Ryan Hagerty/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Mike Bethers and his wife, Astrid, turn over two fish to Alysha Reeves, dock chair at the Auke Nu weighing station during the final day of the 78th annual Golden North Salmon Derby on Sunday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Slow fishing at 78th Golden North Salmon Derby still reels in heavier winning catch than last year

27.7-pound king salmon turned in by Karie Sims tops the scales as three-day event ends Sunday.

Mike Bethers and his wife, Astrid, turn over two fish to Alysha Reeves, dock chair at the Auke Nu weighing station during the final day of the 78th annual Golden North Salmon Derby on Sunday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
The Douglas Harbor weighing station is quiet on Saturday morning as the 78th Golden North Salmon Derby begins its second day. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

78th Golden North Salmon Derby starts slow due to flood cleanup, fishing conditions

23.3-pound king leads after first day; weekend weather forecast is for a chance of rain.

The Douglas Harbor weighing station is quiet on Saturday morning as the 78th Golden North Salmon Derby begins its second day. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
A crew member aboard a Prince William Sound works with the operator vessel’s skiff, which is used to maneuver the net into position. (Photo courtesy of Megan Corazza)

‘Huge disaster’: Historically weak pink salmon runs strain Alaska’s seine fishermen

Skippers in Prince William Sound and Kodiak say this year’s harvest is one of the worst they’ve seen.

A crew member aboard a Prince William Sound works with the operator vessel’s skiff, which is used to maneuver the net into position. (Photo courtesy of Megan Corazza)
Alysha Reeves, a nine-year Golden North Salmon Derby official, validates a fisherman’s ticket at the Auke Nu weigh station on Friday morning, the first day of the three-day derby. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)

78th annual Golden North Salmon Derby offers a nibble of normalcy in wake of record flood

Occasional rain, a few stray trees in the waters near Juneau expected as three-day event begins.

Alysha Reeves, a nine-year Golden North Salmon Derby official, validates a fisherman’s ticket at the Auke Nu weigh station on Friday morning, the first day of the three-day derby. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)
Spawning chum salmon swim in 1990 in Kitoi Bay near Kodiak. A newly released task force report says research should be conducted in a holistic way that considers the complete life cycles and geographic ranges of salmon runs. (David Csepp/NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center)

Task force report identifies research needs to better understand Alaska salmon problems

Fishery managers overseeing Alaska’s faltering salmon runs should be able to rely on a more comprehensive and holistic approach to science that considers all habitat,… Continue reading

Spawning chum salmon swim in 1990 in Kitoi Bay near Kodiak. A newly released task force report says research should be conducted in a holistic way that considers the complete life cycles and geographic ranges of salmon runs. (David Csepp/NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center)
Tim Berry, a Michigan resident visiting Juneau, fishes on a dock Monday near the Douglas Island Pink and Chum Inc.’s Macaulay Salmon Hatchery. A ban catching king salmon near the hatchery and some other Juneau waters is in effect until Aug. 31. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Local king salmon ban not expected to have big impact on summer fishing, but long-term concerns remain

Ban due to 2020 landslide that caused hatchery pipeline break, disrupting multiyear spawning cycle

Tim Berry, a Michigan resident visiting Juneau, fishes on a dock Monday near the Douglas Island Pink and Chum Inc.’s Macaulay Salmon Hatchery. A ban catching king salmon near the hatchery and some other Juneau waters is in effect until Aug. 31. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Buck Laukitis’ boat, the Oracle, sits in Homer in May before unloading its catch of halibut. (Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)

As salmon season kicks off, some Alaska fishermen fear for their futures

Some signs of recovery for $6 billion industry a year into crisis, but major threats persist.

Buck Laukitis’ boat, the Oracle, sits in Homer in May before unloading its catch of halibut. (Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)
A king salmon is laid out for inspection by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game at the Mike Pusich Douglas Harbor during the Golden North Salmon Derby on Aug. 25, 2019. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file photo)

Emergency order bans king salmon fishing in many Juneau waters between June 24 and Aug. 31

Alaska Department of Fish and Game says low projected spawning population necessitates restrictions

A king salmon is laid out for inspection by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game at the Mike Pusich Douglas Harbor during the Golden North Salmon Derby on Aug. 25, 2019. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file photo)
A king salmon. (Ryan Hagerty/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Biden administration advances bid to list Gulf of Alaska king salmon as endangered or threatened

Experts say request could restrict activity affecting river habitats such as road, home construction

A king salmon. (Ryan Hagerty/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Pink salmon are seen in an undated photo. (NOAA Fisheries photo)

New salmon study adds to evidence that pink salmon could be crowding out sockeye

A new analysis of nearly 25,000 fish scales offers more evidence that the millions of pink salmon churned out by Alaska fish hatcheries could be… Continue reading

Pink salmon are seen in an undated photo. (NOAA Fisheries photo)
An underwater image captured in 2016 shows sockeye salmon swimming up the Brooks River in Alaska’s Katmai National Park to spawn. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is buying about 50 million pounds of Alaska fish — pollock, pink salmon and sockeye salmon — to use in its food and nutrition-assistance programs. (Photo provided by the National Park Service)

Agriculture Department commits to big purchase of Alaska salmon and pollock for food programs

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will purchase about 50 million pounds of Alaska seafood to use in national food and nutrition-assistance programs, state officials said… Continue reading

An underwater image captured in 2016 shows sockeye salmon swimming up the Brooks River in Alaska’s Katmai National Park to spawn. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is buying about 50 million pounds of Alaska fish — pollock, pink salmon and sockeye salmon — to use in its food and nutrition-assistance programs. (Photo provided by the National Park Service)