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Alaska seafood harvesting jobs decline as fish crashes, pandemic and other factors take toll
Alaska fish-harvesting employment declined in 2022, a continuing yearslong slide caused by a variety of factors, according to an analysis by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Employment for people harvesting seafood dropped by about a quarter from 2015 to 2022, according to the analysis, published in the November issue of Alaska Economic […]
Salmon runs in Alaska’s Kuskokwim River show some positive signs, but totals remain low
In Western Alaska’s Kuskokwim River, site of devastating salmon crashes and federal-state management disputes in recent years, fish returns showed some positive glimmers this year, according to preliminary summaries released by a Tribal organization and by the state. For chum salmon, long a mainstay in local people’s diets, returns were better this year than last […]
Extreme flooding on Alaska’s Arctic highway caused thaw-induced sinking in later years
The extreme flooding that forced a weeks-long closure of Alaska’s only highway to the North Slope in the spring of 2015 also had longer-term effects on permafrost thaw, according to newly published research. Radar measurements made through satellite imagery revealed that four years after the Dalton Highway flooded at its north end, some areas of […]
Alaska Federation of Natives conference: Dignitaries, dances, reunions and art displays
The largest Alaska Native organization gathered this week in Anchorage, filling the downtown Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center with meetings, speeches by high-ranking federal dignitaries like Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, dance performances, an arts and crafts fair and impromptu hallway reunions. The occasion was the Alaska Federation of Natives annual convention, typically the largest annual […]
Alaska Native leaders call for legal overhaul to protect traditional fish harvests
The crash of salmon stocks in Western Alaska’s Kuskokwim River has sparked a bitter court fight between the federal and state governments, and now Alaska Native leaders are calling for congressional action to ensure that Indigenous Alaskans have priority for harvests when stocks are scarce. The conflict has gripped this year’s Alaska Federation of Natives […]
Alaska vital statistics show declines in both deaths and births in 2022
Dangers from COVID-19 may be gradually fading in Alaska, with fewer deaths caused by the infectious disease that gripped the world in an historic pandemic, according to data within the state’s newly released vital statistics report. The Alaska Vital Statistics 2022 Annual Report showed that COVID-19 was recorded as the fourth-leading cause of death in […]
Alaska development agency sues federal government over canceled oil leases
Alaska’s industrial development agency on Wednesday sued the Biden administration in an attempt to revive its Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil and gas leases. The lawsuit filed by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority alleges that the Department of the Interior violated federal laws and its own regulations when it canceled refuge leases last […]
As the once-lucrative Bering Sea crab harvest resumes, Alaska’s fishers face challenges
In the short term, Alaska crab fishers and the communities that depend on them will get a slight reprieve from the disastrous conditions they have endured for the past two years, with harvests for iconic red king crab to open on Sunday. In the long term, the future for Bering Sea crab and the people […]
Alaska syphilis case numbers drop a bit after years of increases, but concerning signs remain
Alaska last year had a slight decrease in its number of reported syphilis cases, marking the first year without an increase since an outbreak was detected in 2018, according to a new bulletin issued by the Division of Public Health’s epidemiology section. In all, 424 cases were recorded in 2022, a decrease from the 447 […]
Alaska offering royalty-free lease terms to try to stimulate new Cook Inlet natural gas development
To try to entice investment in new natural gas development in Southcentral Alaska’s Cook Inlet basin, state officials are trying something new: a waiver of royalties in the upcoming annual lease sale. The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas last week announced five upcoming lease sales that include the unusual terms in the Cook Inlet […]
Chum salmon are spawning in North Slope rivers, University of Alaska researchers find
Chum salmon, a species that has faltered in the Interior Alaska river systems, are now reproducing farther north in some North Slope rivers, researchers have confirmed. A University of Alaska Fairbanks team last month found about 100 chum salmon that were spawning or had just spawned in the Anaktuvuk and Itkillik rivers. The rivers are […]
Yukon River salmon runs remain low, but chum improvements allow for some fishing
Salmon runs on the Yukon River continued to be anemic this year, federal and state agencies reported, and there are far too few fish reaching Canada to meet goals set in a treaty between that nation and the United States. The ongoing fall chum salmon run is the fifth lowest on record for the nearly […]