Angela Denning, CoastAlaska
Officials Hesitant To Open Commercial Chinook Fishery On Lower Kuskokwim
The Chum and Sockeye salmon are running strong in the Lower Kuskokwim River, but state fish managers are reluctant to call a commercial fishery as they normally would. There are too many coveted Chinook salmon still running, and protecting that species is this year’s priority.
Salmon Fishing Restrictions Down
As the Sockeye and Chum runs pick up on the Kuskokwim River, salmon fishing restrictions have eased for lower river fishers.
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Officials Monitoring Subsistence Closures
The poor King run and subsistence closures in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Rivers have State and Federal officials monitoring the situation from afar.
Officials Issue 33 Citations For Illegal Fishing On Kuskokwim
Alaska Wildlife Troopers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seized 21 nets and more than 1,000 pounds of salmon along the Kuskokwim River yesterday. They also handed out 33 citations to fishermen protesting the subsistence King salmon closures. KYUK’s Angela Denning-Barnes got out on the river and spoke with some residents as they fished.
Subsistence Users Protesting Kuskokwim Closures
Subsistence fishing for King salmon is happening on the Kuskokwim River to protest the closures currently in place.
Kuskokwim Hit With Another Salmon Fishing Closure
Kuskokwim subsistence fishermen are getting hit with a double whammy. Another emergency salmon fishing closure has been announced, extending the current closures to 12 days. The fishing restriction is controversial and was not approved by a regional advisory group of fishers.
Subsistence Salmon Fishing Closed For Week On Kuskokwim
Week long salmon fishing closures went into effect Sunday for subsistence fishers on the Kuskokwim River. It’s the second year in a row that subsistence fishing during the King salmon run has been restricted on the river.
Calista Corporation Reschedules Shareholder Meeting
Calista, the Native Corporation for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, has canceled its annual shareholder meeting this month and re-scheduled it five months later.
Subsistence Restrictions Likely On Kuskokwim River
The salmon season has started in the Kuskokwim River area with the first Chinook salmon caught near Quinhagak Thursday morning. Over the past two years, the Kuskokwim River has experienced the lowest King salmon numbers in history. There could be more restrictions on subsistence fishing this year.
Kuskokwim River Breakup Less Extreme Than Expected
Although dozens of people were evacuated, breakup on the Lower Kuskokwim River was a lot less eventful than what experts had expected.
Breakup Proving Tough On Kwethluk
Breakup has been harder on the Lower Kuskokwim than the Upper River this year. Fifteen miles upriver of Bethel, the village of Kwethluk is flooding in all low lying areas. It has been for a few days now. Thirty-one elderly and chronic care patients were evacuated to Bethel before waters closed off the airport road.
BLM Meeting With Kuskokwim Communities About Red Devil Mine Contamination
The Bureau of Land Management is meeting with communities along the Kuskowkim River to talk about contamination leftover from the Red Devil mercury mine.
Hooper Bay Man Get s $500,000 For Tasering
A man from the Bering Sea village of Hooper Bay has been awarded a half million dollars for being excessively tasered by village police officers.
Bethel Court Struggles With Judge Vacancies
The Bethel Court House serves more than 50 communities in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta. Now, it is struggling with judge vacancies with three out of its four judgeships soon to be empty.
Federal Agencies Meeting With Alaska Tribes
Multiple federal agencies are planning to meet with Alaska’s tribes on a government to government basis. Regional meetings are being planned all over the state but the first one is in Bethel Friday at the Yupiit cultural center. It includes tribal delegates from the region’s 56 villages.
Bethel Judge Removed From Bench
For the first time in Alaska history, there is a recommendation to remove a judge from the bench, permanently.
Bethel Residents Consider the Merits of Hydro Electricity
Hydropower is common in some parts of state, but there are no such projects in western or southwest Alaska. That could change though as oil prices, and in turn energy prices, continue to rise.
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New VPSO Class Graduates From Training Academy
Twenty-eight new Village Public Safety Officers graduated from the Sitka training academy March 9. That’s one of the largest lasses in history. As Angela Denning-Barnes reports from KYUK in Bethel, students completed 10 weeks of intensive training and testing.
Bethel Jury Sides With School District Over Hooper Bay Fire
A Bethel jury sided with a regional school district in a five-year trial about the devastating Hooper Bay fire of 2006.
High Heating Costs Plague Bethel
Whenever oil prices are high, the effect is immediately felt in Rural Alaska. Prices for everything from groceries to building materials go up because they are all shipped in by fuel-run planes or barges.