The number of northern fur seals in the Bering Sea has dropped by around 70% since the 1970s.
Subsistence
As low Chignik salmon runs continue, people worry their communities will disappear
The salmon runs are central to people’s lives in many ways. The economy has developed around the commercial fishery, and fish also provide food for the winter.
Budget bill in Congress could derail ANWR drilling
Democrats in the U.S. House want to use the budget process to reverse the 2017 law requiring oil lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Dead seabirds are washing ashore in Western Alaska for the fifth straight summer
Subsistence users across the region are feeling the impacts of the die-off.
Subsistence users, scientists seek answers for chum salmon declines
For Yukon River families, chum is particularly important. Chinook salmon have been low for decades, but chum were the fish they could depend on.
Declining sea ice in Kotzebue Sound is shortening subsistence hunt for seals, study finds
Seal meat makes up a good portion of what’s in subsistence hunters’ freezers in Kotzebue. But the sea ice the seals haul out on is diminishing, and new research shows that’s shortening the window to hunt seals.
How low chum runs changed the lives of these Western Alaska fisheries workers
With salmon runs low and commercial fishing closed, the Yukon River’s only fish processor is offering few jobs this summer.
With chum runs crashing, Yukon River fish processor pivots to greenhouses
To keep up local employment, Kwik’pak Fisheries pivoted last summer when the chum runs started dropping. If workers couldn’t catch food, they could grow it.
Why is Bristol Bay’s sockeye run breaking records while other areas struggle?
Ocean waters are a few degrees warmer in the Gulf of Alaska, and that slight difference has challenged fish populations south of Bristol Bay.
Yukon subsistence users go to new lengths for food after massive salmon decline
Subsistence fishing on the lower Yukon River is closed for both king and chum salmon. Residents who usually depend heavily on the fish are pivoting toward other ways to get meat.