Background Articles

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.

Sockeye salmon returning to Bristol Bay this year were, on average, the smallest the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has ever seen. So far, the average weight of Bristol Bay sockeye was 4.2 pounds this year. Fish and Game biologist Stacy Vega said that’s the smallest average weight on record.

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.

These worms, present in halibut, cod, salmon and other saltwater fish, are increasing. If the worms are well frozen or cooked, they don’t pose a health threat.

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.

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.

An increase in chum salmon in the Canadian Arctic, potentially linked to climate change, may be the same fish missing from Western Alaska, raising ecological concerns.

Industry representatives assert that trawling near Kuskokwim Bay complies with regulations and does not impact salmon, despite local concerns about habitat damage and fish migration.

A petition to list king salmon as endangered in Alaska faces opposition due to concerns about its impact on local fisheries and management practices.

The EPA is pushing Alaska to update water pollution rules due to Alaskans' high seafood consumption, with state officials acknowledging the need for revised standards.

Experts decided that during the fishing season, red fish in the water area of the Anadyr estuary can be caught only two days a week. It was decided to introduce a large number of passing days to preserve the chum salmon population spawning in this basin.

The plant, formerly owned by Peter Pan Seafood Company, is the economic engine for the Alaska Peninsula community. 

Recent surveys reveal that chum salmon face challenges during winter in the Gulf of Alaska, with conditions like marine heatwaves affecting their diet and survival, leading to increased mortality rates.

The years-long debate is taking on increasing urgency as subsistence harvesting bans continue and the policy responses under consideration threaten to impose steep costs on the industry.

Canada and Alaska have agreed to a seven-year fishing moratorium on Yukon River chinook salmon to aid the species' recovery, following years of declining numbers.

Sea ice loss, warming waters and the northward expansion of fish species like pollock are all contributing to a pattern in the Bering Strait region known as “borealization.” That means the Arctic ecosystem is becoming more like the boreal region to the south.

Rep. Mary Peltola discusses the challenges facing Alaska's fisheries, including declining salmon populations and the impact on subsistence and commercial fishing, during her visit to Bethel for the Cama-i Dance Festival.

Alaska's Yukon River residents feel neglected by a new Canada-U.S. agreement aimed at rebuilding salmon stocks, as the pact requires a seven-year fishing halt that exacerbates their economic and cultural struggles.

Scientists are investigating the widespread presence of paralytic shellfish toxins in Alaska's marine food chain, which may explain recent species die-offs.