A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)

State releases northern Kenai fishing report

Kasilof River steelhead fishing is beginning and expected to improve over the next few weeks

A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
A beach on the eastern side of Cook Inlet is photographed at Clam Gulch, Alaska, in June 2019. (Peninsula Clarion file)

Board of Fisheries sets new shellfish regs

Fisheries for hardshell clams, both butter and littleneck clams, are closed in all Cook Inlet and North Gulf Coast waters

A beach on the eastern side of Cook Inlet is photographed at Clam Gulch, Alaska, in June 2019. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Andrew Marley, the 2021 Homer Winter King Salmon Tournament winner, at left, holds his prize winning 25.62-pound white king salmon on Saturday, April 17, on the Homer Spit in Homer. Helping him are his father, Jay Marley, center, and older brother Weston Marley, right. The family team included Erica Marley, not shown, all fishing on the Fly Dough. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Winter King postponed to Sunday

The 28th annual Homer Winter King Salmon Tournament has been postponed to Sunday

Andrew Marley, the 2021 Homer Winter King Salmon Tournament winner, at left, holds his prize winning 25.62-pound white king salmon on Saturday, April 17, on the Homer Spit in Homer. Helping him are his father, Jay Marley, center, and older brother Weston Marley, right. The family team included Erica Marley, not shown, all fishing on the Fly Dough. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
The commerical fishing fleet is seen from Pacific Star Seafoods in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 14, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Board of Fish votes no on Proposal 283

The proposal would have loosened restrictions for set gillnetters in a part of Cook Inlet

The commerical fishing fleet is seen from Pacific Star Seafoods in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 14, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Boats are moored near the Kenai boat launch in Cook Inlet on Friday, June 18, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

New processor enters Cook Inlet market

The move follows the exit of Copper River Seafoods

Boats are moored near the Kenai boat launch in Cook Inlet on Friday, June 18, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Michael Heimbuch attends a memorial service for the late Drew Scalzi on Aug. 5, 2005, at the Seafarers Memorial on the Homer Spit in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Heimbuch appointed to Board of Fish

Homer fisherman, former city council member appointed to Board of Fish

Michael Heimbuch attends a memorial service for the late Drew Scalzi on Aug. 5, 2005, at the Seafarers Memorial on the Homer Spit in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
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)

Salmon runs projected to be weaker than average

A run of around 4.97 million sockeye is projected to return to Upper Cook Inlet

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)
The City of Kenai Boat Launch into Cook Inlet is photographed May 14, 2020. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

Copper River Seafoods halting Kenai operations this salmon season

The company salmon cited the fisheries management plan, rising production costs and the poor forecast

The City of Kenai Boat Launch into Cook Inlet is photographed May 14, 2020. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
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)

Board of Fisheries meeting begins Saturday

Board members will not only discuss fishing issues in Cook Inlet, but also in Kodiak and Prince William Sound

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)
Doug Vincent-Lang is commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. (Courtesy Photo)

What is the state doing to address bycatch?

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has established the Alaska Bycatch Review Task Force

Doug Vincent-Lang is commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. (Courtesy Photo)
Shannon Martin is the new executive director of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association. (Courtesy/KRSA)

New KRSA director emphasizes watershed health

Martin was KRSA’s office and events manager for three years until she took on the director role in February

Shannon Martin is the new executive director of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association. (Courtesy/KRSA)
Image via Alaska Board of Fisheries

Board of Fish meeting scheduled for end of month

The Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting addressing issues affecting Cook Inlet will take placed March 26 through April 2, according to a press release from… Continue reading

Image via Alaska Board of Fisheries
Lucas Stumpf, a fishery biologist with the Division of Sport Fish, helps Aurora Borealis Charter School third grader Teagan Jorgensen, left, with her line while she ice fishes at Sport Lake in Soldotna as part of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s “Salmon in the Classroom” ice fishing educational program on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

‘Fish on!’

Kids cast lines and learn at ice fishing event

Lucas Stumpf, a fishery biologist with the Division of Sport Fish, helps Aurora Borealis Charter School third grader Teagan Jorgensen, left, with her line while she ice fishes at Sport Lake in Soldotna as part of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s “Salmon in the Classroom” ice fishing educational program on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
A fisher holds a reel on the Kenai River near Soldotna on June 30, 2021. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Restrictions on sport fishing announced

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced summer sport fishing regulations Wednesday

A fisher holds a reel on the Kenai River near Soldotna on June 30, 2021. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Upper Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone can be seen on this map provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Image via fisheries.noaa.gov)

Soldotna approves filing of EEZ lawsuit brief

The lawsuit seeks to reopen commercial salmon fishing in the Upper Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone

Upper Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone can be seen on this map provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Image via fisheries.noaa.gov)
Alan Parks is a Homer resident and commercial fisher. (Courtesy photo)

Voices of the Peninsula: HB 52 would hurt commercial fishing and community

Upper Cook Inlet fishing families have been hit hard by ongoing politics

Alan Parks is a Homer resident and commercial fisher. (Courtesy photo)
Image via Alaska Board of Fisheries

Statewide shellfish meeting rescheduled

This comes after the board bumped back its Southeast and Yakutat shellfish meeting

Image via Alaska Board of Fisheries
The Homer Harbor, as seen on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Locals appointed to state bycatch task force

The mission of the task force will be to better understand the unintended bycatch of fish caught in both state and federal waters.

The Homer Harbor, as seen on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Pike prey on rearing salmon. (Alaska Department of Fish and Game)

Fish retention at some peninsula lakes restricted in 2022 due to pike impacts

Restrictions exist for East and West Mackey, Sevena, Union, Derks and Stormy lakes in 2022

Pike prey on rearing salmon. (Alaska Department of Fish and Game)
A beach on the eastern side of Cook Inlet is photographed at Clam Gulch, Alaska, in June 2019. (Peninsula Clarion file)

High clam mortality rate forces closure on east Cook Inlet next year

The closure prohibits harvesting any clam species from the mouth of the Kenai River to the southernmost tip of the Homer Spit.

A beach on the eastern side of Cook Inlet is photographed at Clam Gulch, Alaska, in June 2019. (Peninsula Clarion file)