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From right, Alaska Department of Fish and Game geneticist Sam Rabung, Fish and Game Commissioner Sam Cotten, Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Andy Mack and Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation Acting Director Matt Weideke listen to concerns from Homer and Tutka Bay residents about a permit that would authorize Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association to move its net pens in Tutka Bay from the lagoon to the head of the bay at a meeting at the Islands and Ocean Visitor Center on May 15 in Homer. (Photo/Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Park users, commercial fishermen clash over Tutka Bay net pens

HOMER — The debate over whether a Cook Inlet hatchery operator can move some net pens out into a Homer-area bay is tangled up with… Continue reading

From right, Alaska Department of Fish and Game geneticist Sam Rabung, Fish and Game Commissioner Sam Cotten, Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Andy Mack and Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation Acting Director Matt Weideke listen to concerns from Homer and Tutka Bay residents about a permit that would authorize Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association to move its net pens in Tutka Bay from the lagoon to the head of the bay at a meeting at the Islands and Ocean Visitor Center on May 15 in Homer. (Photo/Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
A sockeye salmon makes its flight into the back of a truck on a set gillnet site on July 11, 2016 near Kenai, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

While other species increase, salmon, herring landing values drop

The total value of commercial fisheries landings in Alaska didn’t change much between 2014 and 2015, but by species, salmon have been the millstone around… Continue reading

A sockeye salmon makes its flight into the back of a truck on a set gillnet site on July 11, 2016 near Kenai, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
Participants in a streambank rehabilitation workshop at the Donald E. Giman River Center unwrap bundles of felt willow to install as reinforcement along a damaged section of the Kenai River’s bank Wednesday, May 10, 2017 in Soldotna, Alaska. The free two-day annual workshop, hosted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, teaches people how to properly repair damaged fish habitat along streams in Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion) Participants in a streambank rehabilitation workshop at the Donald E. Giman River Center unwrap bundles of felt willow to install as reinforcement along a damaged section of the Kenai River’s bank Wednesday in Soldotna. The free two-day annual workshop, hosted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, teaches people how to properly repair damaged fish habitat along streams in Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Peninsula residents get hands-on with streambank restoration

A sunny, warm Wednesday in Soldotna found about 40 people busily digging trenches and mounting willow boughs into the banks of the Kenai River, all… Continue reading

Participants in a streambank rehabilitation workshop at the Donald E. Giman River Center unwrap bundles of felt willow to install as reinforcement along a damaged section of the Kenai River’s bank Wednesday, May 10, 2017 in Soldotna, Alaska. The free two-day annual workshop, hosted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, teaches people how to properly repair damaged fish habitat along streams in Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion) Participants in a streambank rehabilitation workshop at the Donald E. Giman River Center unwrap bundles of felt willow to install as reinforcement along a damaged section of the Kenai River’s bank Wednesday in Soldotna. The free two-day annual workshop, hosted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, teaches people how to properly repair damaged fish habitat along streams in Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
Workers at Alaska Salmon Purchasers sort sockeye salmon caught in a set gillnet in this July 2016 photo near Nikiski, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

2017 sockeye forecast weak for Cook Inlet

Upper Cook Inlet’s commercial salmon fishermen are predicted to have another slow season, if the forecast proves accurate. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s… Continue reading

Workers at Alaska Salmon Purchasers sort sockeye salmon caught in a set gillnet in this July 2016 photo near Nikiski, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
Borough to restore bank behind River Center

Borough to restore bank behind River Center

A heavily trafficked stretch of the Kenai River’s southern bank will get some restoration work in time for the sockeye season. Fishermen who have visited… Continue reading

Borough to restore bank behind River Center

Bill would authorize individuals to get fish enhancement permits

Individual Alaskans, private companies and nonprofits could jump into the world of incubating and releasing salmon under a bill being discussed in the Legislature. House… Continue reading

Governor’s bill would cut CFEC commissioners’ pay

Gov. Bill Walker has introduced a bill to trim the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission. The CFEC, the state agency that manages commercial fishing limited entry… Continue reading

In this undated photo, crew members haul scallops up onto the deck of a fishing vessel from a dredge. Alaska Department of Fish and Game staff have been researching the increasing incidence of a condition called “weak meats” in Alaska scallops, which makes the product unmarketable. (Photo courtesy the Alaska Department of Fish and Game)

Researchers identify widespread parasite in Alaska scallops

A lot of Alaska’s scallops are sick, and scientists are trying to figure out why. Alaska’s scallop fishery is a small one — in recent… Continue reading

In this undated photo, crew members haul scallops up onto the deck of a fishing vessel from a dredge. Alaska Department of Fish and Game staff have been researching the increasing incidence of a condition called “weak meats” in Alaska scallops, which makes the product unmarketable. (Photo courtesy the Alaska Department of Fish and Game)
In this July 2016 photo, the Russian River rushes under a bridge along the Russian River Trail near Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

HB 199 gets hearing, won’t pass this year

The push a group of fisheries activists made to get a section of Alaska law overhauled is making its way through the Legislature, but won’t… Continue reading

In this July 2016 photo, the Russian River rushes under a bridge along the Russian River Trail near Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
Daniel Reynolds, an environmental technician with the Ninilchik Traditional Council, prepares to place the buoy marking the tribe’s subsistence gillnet on the Kenai River on Aug. 14, 2016 near Soldotna. On April 3, the Federal Subsistence Board granted the Ninilchik Traditional Council’s special action request for the gillnet to operate again in 2017. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Ninilchik gets approval for Kenai gillnet in 2017

The Ninilchik Traditional Council officially has permission to put a gillnet in the Kenai and Kasilof rivers again this summer, but with a few changes.… Continue reading

Daniel Reynolds, an environmental technician with the Ninilchik Traditional Council, prepares to place the buoy marking the tribe’s subsistence gillnet on the Kenai River on Aug. 14, 2016 near Soldotna. On April 3, the Federal Subsistence Board granted the Ninilchik Traditional Council’s special action request for the gillnet to operate again in 2017. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

North Pacific council eases into salmon FMP

A lot of new faces are coming to the table at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, and not a lot of them are happy… Continue reading

North Pacific council to take up Cook Inlet salmon plan

Editor's note: This article has been corrected to show that UCIDA is no longer asking the court to vacate Amendment 12 and that the group… Continue reading

In this August 2016 photo, an angler lands a pink salmon on the docks at Centennial Park in Soldotna, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Pink salmon forecasts look up for 2017

After last year’s disastrously low pink salmon runs to drainages all across the Gulf of Alaska, the forecasts offer a little more hope for the… Continue reading

In this August 2016 photo, an angler lands a pink salmon on the docks at Centennial Park in Soldotna, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Without both commercial and sport funding, UAF declines research donation

The University of Alaska Fairbanks turned down an offer for funding for research on Kenai River king salmon because it would only come from one… Continue reading

In this May 2016 photo, harvested eulachon float in a personal use fisherman’s bucket on the north bank of the Kenai River in Kenai, Alaska. Eulachon, also called hooligan, are a type of smelt that returns in schools to rivers all over Southcentral Alaska each spring. The state Board of Fisheries recently approved a measure doubling the quota a small comercial fishery in Upper Cook Inlet takes from 100 tons to 200 tons each year, a small fraction of the total estimated biomass of about 48,000 tons, according to a Feb. 9 memo from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Board of Fisheries doubles commercial smelt quota

Every spring, a few commercial fishermen jump out of their boats and net for eulachon by hand in the lower Susitna River. Eulachon, a type… Continue reading

In this May 2016 photo, harvested eulachon float in a personal use fisherman’s bucket on the north bank of the Kenai River in Kenai, Alaska. Eulachon, also called hooligan, are a type of smelt that returns in schools to rivers all over Southcentral Alaska each spring. The state Board of Fisheries recently approved a measure doubling the quota a small comercial fishery in Upper Cook Inlet takes from 100 tons to 200 tons each year, a small fraction of the total estimated biomass of about 48,000 tons, according to a Feb. 9 memo from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Path forward after Kodiak sockeye genetic study unclear

A revelation that a large portion of sockeye harvested by Kodiak commercial seine fishermen originate in Cook Inlet may change the way the fisheries are… Continue reading

Sockeye salmon caught in a set gillnet wait to be set to the a processor on July 11, 2016 near Kenai. On Tuesday, the Alaska Board of Fisheries discussed proposals for Northern District setnetters. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

No change for northern district setnets

Despite a suite of requests for both further restriction or liberalization of the commercial set gillnet fishery in the northern district of Upper Cook Inlet,… Continue reading

Sockeye salmon caught in a set gillnet wait to be set to the a processor on July 11, 2016 near Kenai. On Tuesday, the Alaska Board of Fisheries discussed proposals for Northern District setnetters. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Board passes sweeping change for early run kings

Early run Kenai River king salmon will now have more protection in the middle river and management will be more conservative after the Board of… Continue reading

Matthew Dollick, of Wasilla, untangles a sockeye from his dipnet on July 11, 2015 in Kenai. The state Board of Fisheries discussed proposals affecting the Kenai and Kasilof personal-use fisheries over the weekend. (Peninsula Clarion file photo)

On Kenai dipnet, a call for cooperation

Although people debate the value of the Kenai and Kasilof personal-use dipnet fisheries, they all find at least one thing that could be or is… Continue reading

Matthew Dollick, of Wasilla, untangles a sockeye from his dipnet on July 11, 2015 in Kenai. The state Board of Fisheries discussed proposals affecting the Kenai and Kasilof personal-use fisheries over the weekend. (Peninsula Clarion file photo)

Lack of coho data complicates fish board discussions

Although coho salmon populations have played an important role in many of the decisions made at the Board of Fisheries’ Upper Cook Inlet meeting so… Continue reading