SitNews: Ketchikan agent Gary Freitag retires By ANNE GORE - sitnews.us - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sitnews.us Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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But some scientists say they’re worried about what hatchery crab and other species could do to natural populations.
Throughout Alaska’s waters, shellfish populations have been in decline for decades decimated by overfishing in the 1980s and by changing ocean environments in the years since.
Bristol Bay’s world-renown sockeye salmon fishery was a bright spot in a dismal statewide salmon harvest last year. But its red king crab fishery is in steep decline.
“There’s quite a lot of concern that this [Bristol Bay red king crab] fishery could close as early as this year,” says Ginny Eckert, a professor of fisheries at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Eckert spoke at a legislative hearing earlier this month in favor of a bill that supporters say could help re-animate shellfish populations statewide, including in Bristol Bay.
Proposed bill would allow shellfish populations to be enhanced with hatchery stock kstk.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kstk.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Alaska Sea Grant Lands Gift to Boost Commercial Seafood Harvesters Alaska Sea Grant Lands Gift to Boost Commercial Seafood Harvesters
Photo by Deborah Mercy/Alaska Sea Grant Commercial fishing vessels head out to sea near Chignik Lagoon.
Alaska Sea Grant at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has received a $450,000 donation from Northwest Farm Credit Services to fund several programs that support Alaska’s commercial seafood harvesters.
The donation from Northwest Farm Credit Services, a cooperative that finances farmers, ranchers, commercial fishermen and more, is directed to programs that provide business education and tools to current and aspiring Alaska commercial fishing business owners.
Fifty years of Alaska Sea Grant - Alaska Native News alaska-native-news.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from alaska-native-news.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.