Alaska Department of Fish and Game

A young adult brown bear walks in front of a forested area in Katmai National Park and Preserve on June 16, 2018. The Alaska Board of Game approved an emergency regulation allowing the Department of Fish and Game to conduct a third season of predator control to kill bears in the area of Western Alaska used by the ailing Mulchatna Caribou Herd. Critics of the program believe it puts Katmai bears at risk.

Alaska Board of Game approves petition for emergency predator control

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.

Salmon dries on a traditional rack on the beach in the Seward Peninsula village of Teller on Sept. 2, 2021. Salmon is a dietary staple for Indigenous residents of Western Alaska, and poor runs have created hardship.

Politics

Bill would change the makeup of the Alaska Board of Fisheries

Yereth Rosen, Alaska Beacon

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

Four brown bears line up at the top of the falls on the Brooks River on Sept. 6, 2021, to fish for salmon. Brooks Falls draws bears from around the region, as well as Katmai National Park and Preserve tourists who travel there to view the bear crowds.

Hunting & Fishing

Anchorage judge rules state’s brown bear killings are unconstitutional

James Brooks | Alaska Beacon

Alaska has killed more than 200 bears as part of its "intensive management" program intended to help a caribou herd.

Caribou from the Mulchatna herd cross a frozen pond near Eek Lake on November 11, 2021.

Science and Environment

Biologists focus on disease and nutrition to understand ailing Mulchatna caribou herd

Margaret Sutherland, KDLG

Once one of the states largest caribou herds, southwestern Alaska's Mulchatna caribou herds' low population has failed to recover. Researchers are examining disease and nutrition to understand why.

Hunting & Fishing

Moose hunting season set to kick off on the lower Kuskokwim Delta

Evan Erickson

Online registration for the RM615 hunt will remain open for both individual and proxy hunters until Oct. 15.

A drift net is seen piled on a skiff on the Kuskokwim River near Akiachak in 2023.

Hunting & Fishing

Fisheries managers announce Kuskokwim salmon openers

Evan Erickson

Salmon fishing with gillnets will open on the lower river for 12 hours on June 22, while gillnet fishing between the Kalskag Line and Aniak Box will open 24/7 starting the same day.

The lower Yukon River is seen several miles downriver of Russian Mission.

Hunting & Fishing

2-week Yukon gillnet closures announced for additional lower river communities and Innoko River

Evan Erickson

The upcoming closures are intended to protect the chinook salmon run and have been announced as far upriver as Holy Cross.

Petersburg troller Mark Roberts working on his fishing vessel, the Cape Cross, on May 24, 2024.

Hunting & Fishing

A petition to put king salmon on the endangered species list is raising alarm across Alaska

Shelby Herbert, KSFK - Petersburg

People across Alaska are reacting to a petition that would grant Gulf of Alaska king salmon Endangered Species Act protections.

The community of Nunam Iqua at the mouth of the Yukon River is seen in 2014.

Hunting & Fishing

Fisheries managers announce 2-week Yukon River gillnet closures

Evan Erickson

The upcoming closures are intended to protect the bulk of the chinook salmon run and apply to coastal communities as far upriver as Marshall.

A gillnet is used to harvest salmon on the lower Kuskokwim River in 2021.

Hunting & Fishing

State announces gillnet fishing opener in waters above federal refuge

Evan Erickson

In addition to providing communities with chinook salmon, the opening is intended to provide increased opportunities to harvest non-salmon species.