-
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced Friday afternoon that Bering Sea fishermen will be allowed to harvest a total of about 4.7 million pounds of opilio, also known as snow crab, for the first time in two years. According to Fish and Game, estimates of total mature male biomass are above the threshold required to open the fishery.
-
The U.S. Coast Guard spotted four foreign military vessels in the Bering Sea Saturday. Coast Guard officials say the joint patrol between Russian and Chinese ships shows their “increased interest in the Arctic.”
-
Black cod fishermen in the Bering Sea have reported an increase in orcas taking their catch off their fishing lines in recent years. Orca depredation isn't just a costly headache for fishermen — it can be dangerous for orcas, too.
-
Scientists had previously linked the crash of the Bering Sea snow crab population to warming ocean waters. But a new study released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Aug. 21 deepens the connection between human-caused climate change and the die off.
-
In this episode of "Island Interviews," author Charles Vaught discusses his new memoir, written about his time fishing in the Bering Sea aboard the F/V Northern Jaeger.
-
The U.S. Coast Guard encountered four People’s Republic of China military warships in the Bering Sea over the weekend.The foreign vessels were following international law, and told Coast Guard personnel they were practicing “freedom of navigation operations.”
-
Years after two crab fisheries disasters occurred in the Norton Sound and Bering Sea, millions in relief funds are finally available to impacted fishermen.In March of 2020 a fishery disaster was declared for the 2019 Norton Sound Red King crab fishery and a year later for the 2019-2020 Bering Sea Tanner crab fishery. Roughly four years later, affected fishers can now apply to receive a portion of $14,368,336 in total federal relief funds for both fisheries.
-
Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola introduced two bills Wednesday that aim to deliver on one of her campaign themes: Reducing the number of salmon that the Bering Sea fishing fleet catches by accident. One of the bills would curtail the use of fishing nets that scrape sensitive parts of the sea floor. It would require regional fisheries management councils to designate bottom trawl zones and limit that kind of fishing to those areas.
-
Regional council says it won’t tighten fishing regulations in Bristol Bay red king crab savings areaThe North Pacific Fishery Management Council will not move forward with a request to close the Bristol Bay red king crab savings area to all commercial fishing. At its February meeting, the regulatory council looked at the effectiveness of closing the 4,000-square-nautical-mile section of the eastern Bering Sea to commercial trawl, pot and longline fishing, but decided not to tighten regulations in the area.
-
Three tribal governments and the Center for Biological Diversity plan to sue to stop the project, which they say could lead to more commercial bottom trawling.