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Joint board of fish, game considers meeting

The two boards regulating fisheries and game in the state are considering a joint meeting next spring. The…

Halibut hang from the display rack at North Country Charters on the Homer Spit on Sunday, June 25, 2017 in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Commission to consider cutting halibut catch quotas

Halibut fishermen may see a reduction in the total amount of fish they’re allowed to catch in 2018.…

The Kenai River flows by the newly restored riverbank of Dow Island on Saturday, May 27, 2017 in Funny River, Alaska. A group of four property owners banded together this spring to install the extensive project to protect the bank of the island in the Kenai River from rapid erosion. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Hearing officer orders fines, removal of rock in Dow Island gravel case

A state hearing officer has decided that the two men accused of illegally dumping gravel in the Kenai…

This map shades in red the 7.5 miles of the Kenai River upstream of the Warren Ames Bridge that the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation seeks to classify as an impaired water body because of its high turbity, or levels of suspended sediment. (Courtesy the Kenai Peninsula Borough)

Environment

State, feds to determine next steps after turbidity report

The state must now address the fact that excessive motor boat traffic in July has made a section…

Jim Butler, a Kenai attorney and Cook Inlet commercial setnet fisherman, addresses a question during a forum on salmon habitat policy at Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association’s headquarters Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. A group of panelists discussed the merits of the current salmon habitat permitting process, contained within Title 16 of the Alaska Administrative Code, and a proposed ballot initiative that would significantly tighten restrictions on permitting for projects that impact salmon streams. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Panel opens up conversation on salmon habitat policy reform

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to clarify that the two commercial fishermen on the panel did…

Gary Dawkins, owner of Gary’s Auto Electric, removes an old headlight from a customer’s van Monday, Dec. 11, 2017 at his shop near Soldotna, Alaska. After more than 30 years in the business, Dawkins will close Gary’s Auto Electric on Friday with one additional clearout opening scheduled for Jan. 15. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

News

After 3 decades, Gary’s Auto Electric to close

A mismatched collection of items welcomes visitors to Gary’s Auto Electric. A dog the size of a black…

A smartphone user interacts with the Dipnet Kenai app — created by the city of Kenai for the 2017 dipnet fishery — on Wednesday, Dec. 13 at the Peninsual Clarion office in Kenai. In its debut year, the app had 8,474 downloads. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Dipnet Kenai app looks back on debut year

Kenai is shifting the emphasis of how it manages the roughly 20,000 personal-use dipnet fishermen who come to…

News

Kenai reviews 2017 dipnet

Editor’s note: This story has been changed to correct the number of dipnet transactions in 2013. When the…

Clayton Hamilton is one of five fishermen in the inaugural class of Fishing Fellows sponsored by the Alaska Marine Conservation Council in partnership with the Alaska Young Fishermen’s Network. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

News

Pushing back against the greying of the fleet

The average age of an Alaska fisherman today is more than 50 years old. That number is growing…

In this September 2017 photo, pink salmon swim up a drainage ditch at Beluga Slough in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

News

Data shows Prince William Sound pink salmon in Homer streams

The wash of pink salmon that showed up in streams across Lower Cook Inlet this year weren’t all…

Commercial fishing vessels wait at anchor in the mouth of the Kenai River before a Saturday fishing period Friday, July 28, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file) Commercial fishing vessels wait at anchor in the mouth of the Kenai River before a Saturday fishing period July 28 in Kenai. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

News

As council looks to public for Cook Inlet salmon plan, UCIDA stays wary

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is looking for input from Cook Inlet fishermen on how it should…

A pair of personal-use dipnet-caught sockeye chill out in a cooler on the Kenai Beach before being packed off for the day Tuesday, July 11, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

News

Forecast predicts another below-average sockeye year

Next year’s sockeye salmon forecast for Upper Cook Inlet looks only slightly rosier than this year’s forecast. The…

Top: Trisha Whitney, an employee of Tustumena Smokehouse, stands just past the doorway between the smokehouse and the office, which features a wall lined with trophies of summer’s past.

News

Summer’s bounty, winter’s feast

Just like a fisherman with his perfect spot, it’s easy to fall into a trap of the perfect…

Frances Leach, pictured here in this undated photo, has been named the new executive director of the United Fishermen of Alaska, effective Jan. 5, 2018. (Photo courtesy the United Fishermen of Alaska)

News

UFA names new executive director

The biggest commercial fishing organization in the state will have a new executive director in January. The United…

Southcentral commercial fishing jobs inched up in 2016

News

Southcentral commercial fishing jobs inched up in 2016

More people worked in commercial salmon fishing in Southcentral Alaska in 2016 than in 2015, even as total…

Study reviews potential climate impacts on Kenai River salmon

Environment

Study reviews potential climate impacts on Kenai River salmon

Though the Kenai River’s salmon populations are still healthy compared to other Pacific salmon populations, a number of…

Study reviews potential climate impacts on Kenai River salmon

Environment

Study reviews potential climate impacts on Kenai River salmon

Though the Kenai River’s salmon populations are still healthy compared to other Pacific salmon populations, a number of…

Ninilchik Traditional Council employees Daniel Reynolds (left) and Darryl Williams (right) remove a sockeye salmon from the tribe’s subsistence gillnet in the Kenai River in August 2016 near Soldotna, Alaska. The tribe first fished its subsistence gillnet, for which all rural residents of Ninilchik are qualified, in 2016 and completed its second season in September 2017. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

News

Ninilchik fishes Kenai gillnet for second year

The gillnet operation in the Kenai River run by the Ninilchik Traditional Council this summer concluded its season…

News

Alaska Wildlife Troopers do more with fewer officers

The Alaska Wildlife Troopers are spread thin across the state and asking the boards of fisheries and game…

Dozens of people from around Alaska turned out for the Board of Fisheries’ worksession to comment on fisheries issues Oct. 17, 2016 in Soldotna. The board members decided Thursday not to host its 2020 Upper Cook Inlet meeting in Soldotna, opting instead for Anchorage, despite repeated requests from local governments and residents. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

News

Board of Fisheries again refuses peninsula meeting

The Board of Fisheries has again snubbed the Kenai Peninsula for its Upper Cook Inlet regulatory meeting in…