Background Articles

First frosts are already arriving later in some parts of the state, allowing growers to keep their crops in the field longer. Research done at the University of Alaska Fairbanks predicts the growing season could be weeks or even months longer by 2100. A new training program in the Interior aims to help Alaska Native communities grow more of their own food.

Alaska's largest sockeye salmon run exceeded expectations in numbers but featured the smallest fish on record, posing challenges for commercial harvest.

Moose hunting in Alaska's Game Units 22C and 22D was closed after hunters quickly reached the quota, with a record 40 moose harvested in 22C in just two days.

A family with a 70-year history of setting nets in Cook Inlet has observed significant changes in salmon size and population, with a notable decrease in average earnings for fishermen.

Climate change is affecting nearly every aspect of life, said Gwich’in Council International board member Evon Taa’ąįį Peter, who is Neetsaii Gwich’in and Koyukon Athabascan. For one thing, he told ICT, more than 60% of the forest lands of the Alaskan Gwich’in nation have burned in wildfires in the past 10 years. As of July 10, 582,000 acres had burned this year in 328 wildfires in Alaska. “I couldn’t open the windows of my house for seven days straight, I think, because it would just let smoke billow into my home, which was already too unhealthy for us to be outside. So most of us just had to remain indoors…so there’s definitely very real dramatic and in-our-face impacts from climate change across the state, even in (an urban area like) Fairbanks,” Peter said.

Mattilsynet has rejected Ode's request to double the size of their cod farming facility due to unacceptable infection risks to wild cod populations.

A new federal program expedites the repair of Alaska's mining-damaged waterways, incorporating a streamlined environmental assessment process to restore up to 5 miles of habitat annually over 25 years.

The National Park Service has banned sport hunters from baiting bears in Alaska's National Park Service-managed Preserves, citing safety and wildlife conservation concerns.

Adult abundance “well below” fishery thresholds on both beaches. This outcome was not unanticipated, as the department said when opening the fishery in Ninilchik last year that adult abundance met necessary thresholds for allowing harvest — at least meeting or exceeding 50% of the historical average — but juvenile abundance was low, meaning there would likely not be enough adult clams this year or next.

Applications for relief funds from Alaska's 2019 and 2020 crab fisheries disasters are now open, with $13 million allocated for the Bering Sea Tanner crab fishery.

Juneau's king salmon fishery will be closed this summer due to low hatchery returns caused by a 2020 landslide that disrupted the freshwater supply and forced premature salmon release.