The Metlakatla Indian Community tribal government argues that a 1891 law gives its modern-day members unfettered rights to commercially fish around Ketchikan and Prince of Wales Island.
Subsistence
Sitka Tribe’s shellfish lab honored for safeguarding traditional foods
The lab tests samples from 17 communities in Southeast, as well as from tribes on Kodiak Island.
Dunleavy administration loses lawsuit over Kake subsistence hunt
The Southeast tribal government in Kake had organized the deer and moose harvest early in the pandemic out of concerns about food security.
Alaska without ANCSA? Look to Metlakatla.
Metlakatla Indian Community is the only federal reserve in Alaska and is not a part of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
Alaska author’s new book follows life among Arctic caribou herds
In the last several years, Seth Kantner has gathered images and stories from the caribou herds that live near his home on the south side of the Brooks Range.
Bering Sea survey finds Yukon River chinook populations are low and staying closer to shore
Like chinook salmon, NOAA researchers observed chum salmon almost exclusively near Alaska’s shores.
Dunleavy administration announces formation of bycatch task force
Federal bycatch data shows trawl fisheries in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska this year have caught tens of thousands of chinook salmon, millions of pounds of halibut and hundreds of thousands of crabs.
Biden administration begins Roadless Rule do-over for Tongass
On Friday the Biden administration announced Nov. 23 as the start date for its formal process to reinstate the Roadless Rule for the Tongass National Forest.
Kuskokwim River working group tackles trawler salmon bycatch
It is still a mystery to state biologists why king and chum salmon numbers are decreasing in Western Alaska. But ask any local fishermen on the Kuskokwim, and they’ll likely tell you commercial fishing trawlers in the Bering Sea are the problem.
November sea ice extent in the northern Bering is the best since 2012
Based on current forecast models, the entire Norton Sound could be covered in ice by the end of November.