Scientists recently announced they had found an Asian tapeworm species in pink salmon caught off the coast of the Kenai Peninsula. Listen now
Catch limits for fishermen are often based on where fish have been most abundant in the past. But they have failed to keep up with geographical changes.
Kachemak Bay has witnessed massive die-offs of sea stars, murres and razor clams. Whats going on?
Around the state, biologists are unsure of what led to the lowest pink salmon harvest since the 1970s in a season that led Gov. Bill Walker to seek a disaster declaration from the federal government to bail out beleaguered pink fishermen. “We caught 39 million pinks this year,” said Forrest Bowers, the Commercial Fisheries Division director for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The department forecasted a harvest of 90 million fish between. Bowers said he had to comb records back to 1977 to find a year that bad.
Special report: A huge disruption to California's coastal ecosystem is under way after several years of unusually warm ocean conditions and drought.
Saltwater fishery officials are reporting a resurgence of a mysterious condition that's bound to turn the stomachs of anglers -- mushy halibut syndrome. Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Barbi Failor said the department is receiving more reports of mushy fish caught by sport fishermen all over Cook Inlet.
“The exact reasons why the return fell at the lower end of the forecast range are unknown at this time, but poorer than average marine survival is a leading candidate.”
Over the past few months, a massive toxic bloom of the marine diatom Pseudo-nitzschia, stretching from central California to the Alaska Peninsula, has resulted in significant impacts to coastal resources and marine life. NOAA has been working closely with federal, state, tribal, academic, and other partners to respond to this unprecedented harmful algal bloom (HAB).
Science has confirmed what fishermen in Clyde River, Nunavut, have been saying for decades: Atlantic salmon do make their way to the hamlet on Baffin Island north of the Arctic Circle.
This season's pink salmon were slightly bigger, but southern Panhandle runs fizzled.
Scientists and fishermen have reported more unusual species in Alaska waters, including the subtropical mola mola, or ocean sunfish. It's likely because of warming sea surface temperatures.
Yukon subsistence fishermen face challenges with gear restrictions, closures, and reports of salmon potentially infected with ichthyophonus, impacting their summer fishing activities.
The so-called 'warm blob' of water in the North Pacific has brought unusual plankton, which lack the nutrients wild salmon and other marine animals count on.
Biologists suspect climate change and mild winters may have prompted April's early out migration from Auke Creek.
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