Background Articles

A federal appeals panel issued a last-second ruling Wednesday that will allow this summer’s Southeast Alaska troll chinook salmon fishery to open as scheduled July 1.

The Bureau of Land Management, in partnership with the Salcha-Delta Soil and Water Conservation District and Trout Unlimited, are restoring mining-impacted streams along the upper Yukon River watershed. Projects will improve water quality and fish habitat along Nome and Wade Creeks.

A group of Indigenous communities from Alaska and B.C. has declared a state of emergency related to Pacific salmon populations, and says First Nations need to be more involved in managing traditional resources. 

Chinook (king) and chum are the major salmon species on the Yukon and Kuskokwim. They’ve been at historically low numbers in both rivers for years. The coho (silver) returns have also dropped.This will be the fourth year subsistence fishing has been closed or severely restricted on both rivers. The region is bracing for another dismal subsistence harvest.

The highly pathogenic disease circling the globe stands out for its effects on wild birds, and experts say Alaskans should be on the lookout for cases.

Following a thaw slump, the water becomes cloudy and full of sediment, potentially suffocating the eggs of spawning sheefish. Scientists are concerned that permafrost thaw could lead to declines in the sheefish population, a staple food for many Alaskans.

The Icelandic puffin population has shrunk by 70% in the last thirty years. The Managing Director of the Icelandic Travel Industry Association (SAF) has stated that this is bad news for the ecosystem and for companies within the tourist sector, who have marketed the puffin as a kind of national symbol. Decline much worse than […]

When you see a wild bird such as a duck or seagull, think bird flu. Because it’s actually more likely than not they’re infected with the virus. And many species of wild birds are asymptomatic, meaning that they don’t show any symptoms.

Ireland’s major contribution to the study of whales comes from an accidental stranding off the coast of Wexford.

This summer, Kenai Peninsula beaches from Ninilchik to Kenai will be empty of setnets and buoys. Family-run commerial fishing businesses, a major economic force in the Cook Inlet region since territorial days, have been shut down and may not be coming back.

Such a large, sudden die-off and a lack of sea ice were a red flag for scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Climate change is knocking some Pacific salmon out of alignment with the growth of the ocean plankton they eat to survive, new research says.

With geese and other wild birds returning to the region every day, New Brunswick dog and cat owners should be aware of the risk of avian influenza, says the registrar of the New Brunswick Veterinary Medical Association.

A caddisfly was reportedly seen circling a Haines light bulb. A large mosquito was observed landing on a pile of wood. Armstrong says nowadays he sees fewer insects than in past years. Studies around the world confirm this observation.

Three cases of H3N8 detected in China since 2022 as WHO says strain doesn’t appear to spread easily between humans. First case resulting in death occurred in China.

Arctic species are currently under multiple pressures and several are red-listed. Adaptive ecosystem-based monitoring and management applied to the critically endangered arctic fox in Finnmark, illustrates how such pressures can be uncovered and potentially mitigated.

Alaska researchers will continue a controversial study this year on a parasite in Yukon River chinook salmon that requires killing hundreds of fish, a move that’s drawn sharp criticism from Canadian experts. 

First Nations groups in the Yukon Territory and Alaska GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy's administration are advancing discussions about whether hatcheries could help stem a steep crash in salmon populations on the Yukon River.

Across Canada, an estimated seven million birds and counting have been infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza during a devastating global outbreak that shows no signs of winding down. Now, as millions more migrate north, scientists warn it’s yet another opportunity for this virus to spread and evolve.

Engineers struggled to keep snow geese away from Montana’s deadly Superfund site, but ecologists have a new plan.