U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski speaks at the Kenai Classic Roundtable at Kenai Peninsula College on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022 near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Bycatch stirs debate at fisheries roundtable

Bycatch was the issue du jour at Wednesday’s annual Kenai Classic Roundtable on Fisheries. Hosted at Kenai Peninsula College by the Kenai River Sportfishing Association,… Continue reading

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski speaks at the Kenai Classic Roundtable at Kenai Peninsula College on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022 near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Sockeye salmon return to Steep Creek to spawn. Alaska’s overall commercial salmon harvest across all species is currently up 15% from 2021 (2020 for pinks) with Bristol Bay and the Prince William Sound largely carrying the weight while other regions lag, according to data from the most recent Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute weekly salmon harvest update. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Statewide salmon harvest on the upswing compared to last year

Bristol Bay and Prince William Sound are mainly pulling the weight

Sockeye salmon return to Steep Creek to spawn. Alaska’s overall commercial salmon harvest across all species is currently up 15% from 2021 (2020 for pinks) with Bristol Bay and the Prince William Sound largely carrying the weight while other regions lag, according to data from the most recent Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute weekly salmon harvest update. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
Raymond Bradbury preserves his salmon while dipnetting in the mouth of the Kenai River on Saturday, July 10, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)
Raymond Bradbury preserves his salmon while dipnetting in the mouth of the Kenai River on Saturday, July 10, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)
Raymond Bradbury preserves his salmon while dipnetting in the mouth of the Kenai River on Saturday, July 10, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion file)

Personal use harvest reports due Monday

Northern Kenai fishing report

Raymond Bradbury preserves his salmon while dipnetting in the mouth of the Kenai River on Saturday, July 10, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion file)
Children ride a fishing boat onto the Kenai River during the Kenai River Junior Classic in Soldotna, Alaska, on Aug. 10, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Kids take to the river

Approximately 100 kids participated in the Kenai River Junior Classic to learn about water safety and fishing

Children ride a fishing boat onto the Kenai River during the Kenai River Junior Classic in Soldotna, Alaska, on Aug. 10, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nick Varney
Nick Varney
Raymond Bradbury preserves his salmon while dipnetting in the mouth of the Kenai River on Saturday, July 10, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai River dipnetting closed; Kasilof to close Sunday

The Kasilof River dipnet fishery is reportedly slow, but fish are being caught

Raymond Bradbury preserves his salmon while dipnetting in the mouth of the Kenai River on Saturday, July 10, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)
Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang, right, listens to east side setnet fisherman at the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association building on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022, near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

ADFG commissioner to setnetters: Take up closures with fisheries board

The closure was triggered when the state closed the Kenai River drainage to king salmon fishing

Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang, right, listens to east side setnet fisherman at the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association building on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022, near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A fisherman walks along the Kenai River near Sportsman’s Landing in Cooper Landing, Alaska, on Sept. 8, 2018. (Clarion file)

Sockeye limits increased on Upper Kenai, Russian rivers

The change in regulations will be effective from 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 2 until 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 20.

A fisherman walks along the Kenai River near Sportsman’s Landing in Cooper Landing, Alaska, on Sept. 8, 2018. (Clarion file)
Nick Varney

Reeling ‘Em In: Fishing hole on the uprise

Mother Nature’s fiendish and sudden moves are vexing to the fishing enthusiast

Nick Varney
Raymond Bradbury preserves his salmon while dipnetting in the mouth of the Kenai River on Saturday, July 10, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
Raymond Bradbury preserves his salmon while dipnetting in the mouth of the Kenai River on Saturday, July 10, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
The project area is about 10.5 miles of the Seward Highway from Mileposts 36.6, near the turnoff onto the Sterling Highway, to Milepost 25.5,
The project area is about 10.5 miles of the Seward Highway from Mileposts 36.6, near the turnoff onto the Sterling Highway, to Milepost 25.5,
A sockeye salmon’s tail protrudes above the edge of a bin on a setnet site July 11, 2016, near Kenai, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file photo)

Kenai council calls for 2022 east side setnet fishery season

There are more than 400 permit holders in Upper Cook Inlet’s East Side Setnet fishery

A sockeye salmon’s tail protrudes above the edge of a bin on a setnet site July 11, 2016, near Kenai, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file photo)
Nick Varney
Nick Varney
Graphic by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion
Graphic by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion
Kristen Stearns fishes at North Kenai Beach on Tuesday, July 12, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai River personal use dipnet fishery to open 24 hours per day

The department increased the sport fishing bag and possession limits also

Kristen Stearns fishes at North Kenai Beach on Tuesday, July 12, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)

State announces new king salmon fishery closures

The closures affect the Kenai and Kasilof rivers, as well as Cook Inlet

A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
Fishermen young and old try their luck at the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon on June 4, 2020, on the Homer Spit in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Fishermen young and old try their luck at the Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon on June 4, 2020, on the Homer Spit in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Nick Varney

Unhinged Alaska: Sometimes it takes a kick in your ego

“When we moved to Alaska, I naively assumed that I probably knew just about everything there was to stalking fish”

Nick Varney
Raymond Bradbury rinses his salmon in the mouth of the Kenai River while dipnetting on Saturday, July 10, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)
Raymond Bradbury rinses his salmon in the mouth of the Kenai River while dipnetting on Saturday, July 10, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)