Superior Court Judge Christina Rankin, in an order issued May 19, said the department’s decision to shoot bears earlier this month in violation of a previous court ruling justified her decision to keep the temporary restraining order in place beyond the 10 days that is standard in Alaska law.

Thousands of rainbow smelts arrived in Bethel on the evening of May 21 on their annual migration up the Kuskokwim River to spawn. But for some smelts, the last stop on their journey was a dipnet.

The management strategy for waters within the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge (YDNWR) is nearly identical to that seen in 2024. Through mid-June, that will include three set net-only opportunities followed by a pair of drift and/or set gillnet openers.

An emergency declaration by the Alaska Board of Game does not change the fact that the program is unconstitutional and the state failed to do required fixes, the judge ruled.

Both harvesting and egging for Emperor geese are closed this season. Black Brant geese can be harvested, but egging is not permitted.

If the state Department of Fish and Game predator control takes place, it would be the third year of a program that has so far killed 180 bears and 19 wolves.

The board’s action allows the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to continue killing bears and wolves for a third season in the range of the shrunken Mulchatna caribou herd.

A predator-control program in Western Alaska, recently ruled unconstitutional, is needed to boost the ailing Mulchatna caribou herd, state game managers say.

The bill would require designated seats on the seven-member board to represent commercial, sport, and subsistence sectors, along with one representing scientists.

AVCP and Tanana Chiefs Conference, along with the City of Bethel, claimed that recent groundfish harvest management in the Bering Sea wasn’t properly taking into account major changes to the ocean ecosystem, including fisheries collapses on the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers, and thus violated federal law.