salmon

Coho salmon and Arctic char aggregate while feeding on sockeye salmon eggs. While coho derive much of their summer growth from invertebrates, char may rely entirely on sockeye salmon eggs, fry, and smolt. (Photo by Jonny Armstrong)

Where the coho go: Study shows river systems behave like financial investments—diverse portfolios get better returns

Turns out finance and salmon survival have something in common: the importance of diversification. As a PhD student with the University of Washington’s Alaska Salmon… Continue reading

Coho salmon and Arctic char aggregate while feeding on sockeye salmon eggs. While coho derive much of their summer growth from invertebrates, char may rely entirely on sockeye salmon eggs, fry, and smolt. (Photo by Jonny Armstrong)
Chum salmon swim beneath the surface of Salmon Creek on Monday afternoon, Aug. 3, 2015. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire file)

Ballot measure opponents get financial boost

Some of Alaska’s biggest mines are putting more money into their fight against a pro-fisheries ballot initiative scheduled for this fall’s general election. According to… Continue reading

Chum salmon swim beneath the surface of Salmon Creek on Monday afternoon, Aug. 3, 2015. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire file)
A participant in the Kenai River Junior Classic holds up a silver salmon she caught Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017 near Soldotna, Alaska. The event, organized by Soldotna-based sportfishing organization the Kenai River Sportfishing Association, brings kids from all over Southcentral Alaska to learn about fishing and boating safety followed by a fishing trip with professional guides on the Kenai River. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

UAF launches center focusing on salmon, society

The University of Alaska is diving into broad social issues tied to salmon, with the hope of finding solutions to longstanding conflicts and future challenges.… Continue reading

A participant in the Kenai River Junior Classic holds up a silver salmon she caught Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017 near Soldotna, Alaska. The event, organized by Soldotna-based sportfishing organization the Kenai River Sportfishing Association, brings kids from all over Southcentral Alaska to learn about fishing and boating safety followed by a fishing trip with professional guides on the Kenai River. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
Pink salmon mill in the shallows of Resurrection Creek near its confluence with Cook Inlet on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017 in Hope, Alaska. Pink salmon can return to the river in large numbers in the late summer and early fall. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

A look at the salmon habitat ballot initiative

The deadline for a ballot initiative to revise Alaska’s salmon habitat permitting laws is approaching, with deep divides remaining even among fishermen. The Stand for… Continue reading

Pink salmon mill in the shallows of Resurrection Creek near its confluence with Cook Inlet on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017 in Hope, Alaska. Pink salmon can return to the river in large numbers in the late summer and early fall. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
At the close of the first day of Kenai’s Silver Salmon Derby, Kenai mayor Brian Gabriel spins one of the two wheels that generate the “magic weight,” allowing the catcher of the fish closest to that weight to win a percentage of the day’s derby earning, on Wednesday, September 13, 2017 at Three Bears grocery store in Kenai, Alaska. The wheels settled on a magic weight of 7.85 pounds. Of the 43 silver salmon brought to Three Bears to be weighed and entered on Wednesday, the winner was 8.13 pounds. The Kenai silver derby is a new promotional event in its first year, put on by the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Kenai’s city government. Complete rules can be found on the Kenai Chamber of Commerce website or at Three Bears grocery. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Wheel of Silvers

Editor's note: This article has been corrected to show the magic weight on Wednesday was determined to be 7.85 pounds. At the close of the… Continue reading

At the close of the first day of Kenai’s Silver Salmon Derby, Kenai mayor Brian Gabriel spins one of the two wheels that generate the “magic weight,” allowing the catcher of the fish closest to that weight to win a percentage of the day’s derby earning, on Wednesday, September 13, 2017 at Three Bears grocery store in Kenai, Alaska. The wheels settled on a magic weight of 7.85 pounds. Of the 43 silver salmon brought to Three Bears to be weighed and entered on Wednesday, the winner was 8.13 pounds. The Kenai silver derby is a new promotional event in its first year, put on by the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Kenai’s city government. Complete rules can be found on the Kenai Chamber of Commerce website or at Three Bears grocery. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)
An angler fillets his sockeye salmon caught on the Kenai River near the confluence with the Russian River on June 11. Many successful fishermen can their catches to preserve them for the winter. The Cooperative Extension Service has some helpful suggestions to ensure the process is done safely. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Canning your catch

If the fishing is good, it’s important to keep in mind how to preserve salmon for when the fishing is bad. Canning provides a good… Continue reading

An angler fillets his sockeye salmon caught on the Kenai River near the confluence with the Russian River on June 11. Many successful fishermen can their catches to preserve them for the winter. The Cooperative Extension Service has some helpful suggestions to ensure the process is done safely. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
Annie Cromwell of Anchorage brings in a sockeye salmon Sunday, June 23, while dipnetting on the north beach in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)

Word on the beach: Red run is slow but steady

No matter where they travel from, what their technique is or if they have fish in the cooler or not, one thing all the dipnetters… Continue reading

Annie Cromwell of Anchorage brings in a sockeye salmon Sunday, June 23, while dipnetting on the north beach in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)
Steve Flick, one of the property owners on Dow Island’s north bank, relaxes in Natalie and Chad Smyre’s cabin on the island Saturday, May 27, 2017 in Funny River, Alaska. Flick, a professional construction contractor in Missouri, worked with the Smyres and two other property owners to install an extensive bank restoration project on the island to preempt the Kenai River’s erosion that has been washing away feet of their properties each year. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion) Steve Flick, one of the property owners on Dow Island’s north bank, relaxes in Natalie and Chad Smyre’s cabin on the island Saturday, May 27, 2017 in Funny River, Alaska. Flick, a professional construction contractor in Missouri, worked with the Smyres and two other property owners to install an extensive bank restoration project on the island to preempt the Kenai River’s erosion that has been washing away feet of their properties each year. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Landowners band together to restore Dow Island bank

For the past several years, property owners on Dow Island have been watching their land disappear into the Kenai River multiple feet at a time.… Continue reading

Steve Flick, one of the property owners on Dow Island’s north bank, relaxes in Natalie and Chad Smyre’s cabin on the island Saturday, May 27, 2017 in Funny River, Alaska. Flick, a professional construction contractor in Missouri, worked with the Smyres and two other property owners to install an extensive bank restoration project on the island to preempt the Kenai River’s erosion that has been washing away feet of their properties each year. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion) Steve Flick, one of the property owners on Dow Island’s north bank, relaxes in Natalie and Chad Smyre’s cabin on the island Saturday, May 27, 2017 in Funny River, Alaska. Flick, a professional construction contractor in Missouri, worked with the Smyres and two other property owners to install an extensive bank restoration project on the island to preempt the Kenai River’s erosion that has been washing away feet of their properties each year. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
Kaden Bessette, a Soldotna Elementary school student, carefully carried his trout to Johnson Lake to be released during the Salmon Celebration on Thursday, May 11, 2017 in Kasilof, Alaska. (Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)

Students celebrate salmon after year of learning about them

Students lined up to carry a bucket with a flopping, splashing rainbow trout down to the bank of Johnson Lake before releasing the juveniles into… Continue reading

Kaden Bessette, a Soldotna Elementary school student, carefully carried his trout to Johnson Lake to be released during the Salmon Celebration on Thursday, May 11, 2017 in Kasilof, Alaska. (Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)