Alaska State News

The Aleutians East Borough is asking the state to investigate whether a member of the Alaska Board of Fisheries acted ethically during a vote on restrictions to the Area M salmon fishery. Borough Mayor Alvin Osterback and representatives from several tribes in the region say they filed a complaint with the Alaska Department of Law on Feb. 23. They say a member of the Alaska Board of Fisheries had a conflict of interest when he cast a tie-breaking vote last month in favor of restricting the Area M fishery.

The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating the death of a crabber who fell overboard near Dutch Harbor last week.

The Alaska Board of Fisheries voted 4-3 this week to cut June fishing time in the Area M salmon fishery by roughly a third — a move supporters say will help struggling Western Alaska salmon runs, but critics argue could harm coastal communities without meaningfully conserving chum.

The body of a Sand Point teenager has been recovered after almost three days of searching.

Authorities in Sand Point now believe a high school student who went missing Monday evening after a canoe ride is dead.

The MV Tustumena is scheduled to make five chain runs between June and September, roughly the same schedule since the start/onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when sailings were cut in half.

Subsistence communities in Western Alaska ask for strict limits on the Bering Sea trawl fishery.

A 66-year-old Akutan man faces 10 felony counts of possession of child sexual abuse material.

The long-anticipated decision over pollock trawlers’ chum bycatch has seafood towns like Unalaska worried.

Challenges and setbacks have plagued the case for years, including COVID-19 restrictions, postponements due to Ruckman’s original defense attorney undergoing cancer treatment and an earlier judge overseeing the case recusing himself.