Fisheries

Celebrating the first salmon of the season is a long and important tradition in Bristol Bay.

Several fishermen voiced frustration at the closures, not because they’ll miss out on the long-restricted kings, but because gear restrictions will hinder their ability to capture the more abundant chum.

Smaller boats in Alaska’s offshore fisheries may no longer have to carry human observers in the future, if a plan to deploy cameras proves feasible.

The Alaska Fisheries Conservation Alliance has handed over enough signatures to the state division of elections to get a voter initiative on the 2016 general election ballot.

Pollock ‘B’ Season opened Friday in the Aleutian Islands and Eastern Bering Seas Region.

Eventually, when there’s a better understanding of how smolt features correlate with the number of salmon swimming back, information on smolt could be used to help with run forecasts.

The tailings dam system for mine waste management is facing a lot of criticism after a dam at the Mount Polley Mine in central B.C. collapsed last summer. It spilled millions of gallons of waste into Canadian waterways.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted Sunday evening to lower caps on halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea by 21 percent.

Last year, big fleets in the Bering Sea caught more halibut, by accident, than local fishermen caught on purpose. The big ships throw out that halibut; the local fishermen make their living from it.

The fish are coming to Alaska waters whether or not the Alaska Department of Fish & Game has its usual resources to manage them.