Background Articles

King crab legs for $199 a pound? There’s a reason for that.

As chum and chinook salmon numbers dwindle in Western Alaska, salmon bycatch in the pollock industry was a main concern addressed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, or NPFMC, from Jun…

A newly published study shows the presence of chemical pollutants in marine mammals and reindeer hunted by St. Lawrence Island villagers.

Birds that USFWS sent in from the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) for testing for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have tested positive. Sabines gulls, glaucous gulls, and black brant all tested positive for HPAI.

The vast majority of callers at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting last week called for a reduction in bycatch limits, which they said would help reverse a dramatic trend of salmon declines on the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers.

A study by the University of Alaska Southeast found larger butter clams in Alaska contain higher concentrations of toxins causing paralytic shellfish poisoning, posing risks to harvesters.

It's become the norm in recent years — the closure of the once-popular recreational salmon fishery on the Yukon River. And it's happening again this summer, for both chinook and chum salmon.

It is egg hunting season in many rural Alaska communities, and harvesters want to know if they should be concerned about eating eggs from wild birds. According to guidance from the State of Alaska and USFWS, the risk from avian flu for people is very low.

The advice to hunters, don’t shoot or harvest game that appears sick. If you found an animal injured or dead, just leave it there. When processing, wear rubber gloves and washing the area the game was cleaned on. You should also cook game to an internal temperature of at least 165°F.

While the risk to human health is low, Gerlach has said that avian influenza could pose a threat to not only the state’s domestic birds but also wild birds, including geese, shore birds, vultures and eagles. There’s no treatment for birds that are infected, and the mortality rate for poultry and raptors like hawks, eagles or owls is especially high. Possible signs of infection includes the “sudden death of multiple birds in the flock, nasal discharge, sneezing, and coughing, or respiratory distress."

News of avian flu outbreaks in dozens of states in the lower 48 have wildlife managers and bird hunters on edge as the spring migration gets underway in Alaska.

On Thursday, for the first time, the sheen was reported in Krestof Sound, an area where Pacific herring are known to spawn in the spring.

High water temperatures were measured at Chilkat Lake weir in Alaska, raising concerns for the salmon population, although no harm to the fish has been reported so far.

With marine heat waves helping to wipe out some of Alaska’s storied salmon runs in recent years, officials have resorted to sending emergency food shipments to affected communities while scientists warn that the industry’s days of traditional harvests may be numbered. Salmon all but disappeared from the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) Yukon River run last year.

By Seth Borenstein | The Associated Press FILE - A kayaker paddles in Lake Oroville as water levels remain low due to continuing drought conditions in

The dam altered the subsistence gathering patterns of the Tagish Kwan, the Daḵká Kwa’an and the Kwanlin Dün people. Residences, cabins and fish camps along the Whitehorse rapids were dismantled, gatherings at M’Clintock stopped, and many people dispersed to Fish Lake and Whitehorse.

Fourteen Alaska fisheries have been declared federal disasters by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Gina Raimondo issued the declarations on Jan. 21. The announcement includes Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta salmon fisheries, and could lead to federal funding for fishermen.

The Skagway Traditional Council is asking harvesters to avoid blue mussels until the population rebounds.

Restrictions exist for East and West Mackey, Sevena, Union, Derks and Stormy lakes in 2022

On Dec. 8 and 9, U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young held a Zoom meeting between salmon researchers, tribes, and managers. Their goal was to unite these groups’ efforts to determine the cause of the ongoing Chinook declines and the sudden chum crash in Western Alaska. After two days of meetings, the groups are still at odds over what’s causing the declines, and what the best way to move forward is.