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)

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 statewide, according to a November report, as… Continue reading

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)
In this September 2017 photo, pink salmon swim up a drainage ditch at Beluga Slough in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer 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 local stocks — in some streams, up… Continue reading

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

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 develop a management plan for the area’s… Continue reading

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)
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)

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 Alaska Department of Fish and Game released… Continue reading

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)
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.

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 recipe for the catch. This summer’s bounty… Continue reading

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.
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)

UFA names new executive director

The biggest commercial fishing organization in the state will have a new executive director in January. The United Fishermen of Alaska, a statewide umbrella trade… Continue reading

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)
Southcentral commercial fishing jobs inched up in 2016

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 catch declined. Salmon harvesting jobs fell in… Continue reading

Southcentral commercial fishing jobs inched up in 2016
Study reviews potential climate impacts on Kenai River salmon

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 climate change-influenced factors could threaten them in… Continue reading

Study reviews potential climate impacts on Kenai River salmon
Study reviews potential climate impacts on Kenai River salmon

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 climate change-influenced factors could threaten them in… Continue reading

Study reviews potential climate impacts on Kenai River salmon
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)

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 with only one king salmon caught and… Continue reading

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)
Sockeye salmon caught in a set gillnet wait to be set to the a processor on July 11, 2016 near Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Board declines request to cap Kodiak sockeye harvest

Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct an error about the sampling area of the Kodiak Management Area sockeye salmon genetic study. The… Continue reading

Sockeye salmon caught in a set gillnet wait to be set to the a processor on July 11, 2016 near Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

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 to consider that when making regulations. The… Continue reading

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)

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 2020. The members of the fisheries regulatory… Continue reading

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)
A boat is tethered to the shore of Skilak Lake on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska on Oct. 11, 2017 during a fly fishing trip. (Photo by Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)

Two out of three ain’t bad

With perfect weather and great company on a recent fly fishing trip on the Upper Kenai River, it was hard to complain about the lack… Continue reading

A boat is tethered to the shore of Skilak Lake on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska on Oct. 11, 2017 during a fly fishing trip. (Photo by Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)
Anglers try their luck for sockeye salmon on the Kenai River near the Russian River confluence in this June 2016 photo on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Fish and Game looks to simplify sportfishing regs

Sportfishing regulations in Alaska are complicated and sometimes confuse anglers, but the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is taking steps to make them clearer.… Continue reading

Anglers try their luck for sockeye salmon on the Kenai River near the Russian River confluence in this June 2016 photo on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Assembly, councils ask fish board to meet on peninsula

Local government bodies on the central Kenai Peninsula really want the state Board of Fisheries to hold a meeting here. The board, which meets to… Continue reading

Dale Prechel of Minnesota poses for a picture with Ruth and Bob Knorr of Funny River in this undated photograph. The Knorrs helped Prechel when he showed up on their porch after falling off the bluff in the middle of the night in July 2014. (Photo courtesy Jackie Prechel)

Funny River couple rescued man after harrowing tumble off bluff in 2014

A fishing trip to Soldotna in July 2014 turned to a long nightmare for a Minnesota man, ending only with kindness from a Soldotna couple.… Continue reading

Dale Prechel of Minnesota poses for a picture with Ruth and Bob Knorr of Funny River in this undated photograph. The Knorrs helped Prechel when he showed up on their porch after falling off the bluff in the middle of the night in July 2014. (Photo courtesy Jackie Prechel)
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)

Smallest sockeye harvest in last 10 years; late runs made openings complex

Sockeye salmon were scarcer in Upper Cook Inlet this year, but coho, chum and pink salmon were more plentiful than expected. Commercial fishermen in Upper… Continue reading

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)
A drift gillnet fishing vessel makes its way into the Kenai River on Friday, July 28, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Supreme Court says no to hearing UCIDA case

The lawsuit over whether the federal government or the state should manage Cook Inlet’s salmon fisheries won’t get its day in the U.S. Supreme Court… Continue reading

A drift gillnet fishing vessel makes its way into the Kenai River on Friday, July 28, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Upper Cook Inlet commercial fishing to close for 2017

Commercial fishing will be done for the 2017 season in Upper Cook Inlet effective Oct. 6. The east side set gillnet fishery in Upper Cook… Continue reading