President Barack Obama has designated the bulk of U.S.-owned waters in the Arctic Ocean and certain areas in the Atlantic Ocean as indefinitely off limits to future oil and gas leasing.
Oceans
Walker proposes stable Fish and Game budget
Gov. Bill Walker proposed cutting about 45 positions and $3.5 million from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s 2018 budget last week, significantly smaller than the $11.5 million in cuts over the last two years.
Southeast’s Dungeness harvests lower than expected
The Dungeness crab fall harvest for Southeast Alaska was about 150,000 pounds lighter than managers expected and it’s far below the five-year average.
Atlantic Ocean Area The Size Of Virginia Protected From Deep-Water Fishing
Coral in an area in the Atlantic Ocean stretching from Connecticut to Virginia has been protected from deep-sea commercial fishing gear, by a new rule issued this week.
China Seizes U.S. Underwater Drone From International Waters, Pentagon Says
U.S. officials say an unmanned underwater vehicle was seized by a Chinese ship on Thursday, about 50 nautical miles from the Philippines, before the Navy ship operating the drone could retrieve it.
Report: 2016 was Arctic’s warmest year on record, effects are cascading down into ecosystem
This year was 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than 1900. Also, water temperatures in the Arctic were 9 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the recent average.
New network of tribes expands toxic shellfish testing
A new lab in Sitka tests regularly for shellfish toxins and now is teaching more than a dozen tribes in the region to do the same. Global warming could increase the level of toxins, so tribes are working fast to take the mystery out of what’s blooming on their shores.
Beth Kerttula returns to Juneau with a message: It’s time to plan for ocean’s future
Kerttula helped two regions write the country’s first marine plans, and worked on some issues particularly important to Alaskans.
Obama draws fury and joy with Bering Sea protection
For 64-year-old Harry Lincoln, a subsistence hunter from Tununak, this isn’t a case of the president imposing his will on distant seas.
Obama creates ‘climate resilience area’ in Bering Sea
President Obama today issued an executive order creating the “Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area” of 112,300 square miles.