Isabelle Ross, Alaska's Energy Desk - Dillingham
Alaska salmon see record low returns, few bright spots in 2020
While Bristol Bay’s run exceeded 50 million fish for the sixth year in a row many other parts of the state were far below their forecasts.
Class-action lawsuit claims company misled shareholders on Pebble Mine
The lawsuit holds that the company did not disclose to its investors that the proposed mine was contrary to Clean Water Act guidelines, and that it artificially inflated its stock prices by sharing misleading information.
In the wake of Pebble Tapes, scrutiny for state involvement in wetlands mitigation plan
Pebble says it will meet the deadline for a plan to offset damages to wetlands in the Koktuli River watershed, but the "Pebble Tapes" have triggered additional scrutiny about the state’s apparent assistance with the plan.
For Alaska’s seafood processors, the COVID-19 pandemic has cost tens of millions of dollars
Economists are looking at the cost of the precautionary measures processors took to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Why biologists fear Pebble could risk Bristol Bay salmon’s resilience
Biologists fear that despite the relatively minor footprint of the proposed Pebble mine, the risk to sockeye biodiversity could threaten the stock's longterm survival.
Processor settles cannery worker lawsuit for more than $440,000
North Pacific Seafoods was sued for false imprisonment and failing to pay the workers, among other charges.
Alaska’s salmon industry contends with a rumor from China that COVID-19 can be transmitted via fish
Fish marketing experts are assessing how the rumors could affect Alaska salmon’s image in the world.
Samaritan’s Purse delivers 30-bed field hospital to Bristol Bay Borough
An evangelical Christian organization delivered a field hospital to the Bristol Bay Borough Monday. It’s a measure the state requested in case of an outbreak of COVID-19 in the community ahead of the fishing season.
There are new health rules for fishermen arriving in Bristol Bay, but critics say there are loopholes
The president of the regional health corporation and local tribes say the Dunleavy administration's plan is unrealistic considering the realities of the looming commercial fishing season.
Dunleavy issues mandates for fishery workers as concern from Bristol Bay officials escalates
Workers will have to wear masks when traveling to Bristol Bay and quarantine themselves for two weeks immediately on arrival.
Dillingham urges governor to close Bristol Bay fishery
The City of Dillingham and the Curyung Tribal Council wrote a strongly worded letter to Governor Mike Dunleavy Monday urging him to consider closing Bristol Bay’s commercial fishery to protect the community from the coronavirus pandemic.
Bristol Bay health corp fires exec after she suggests coronavirus is a political conspiracy
She was fired after several local leaders were outraged by Scotford’s claims, and called on the health corporation to take corrective measures.
‘All these hurdles’: Family of exchange student stuck in Peru trying to get her back to Alaska
Alethia Belleque was planning to stay until June, but the coronavirus pandemic changed that. Now, her family is trying to get her back to Alaska.
In Bristol Bay, America’s largest salmon fishery, preparations begin for coronavirus prevention ahead of the season
Thousands of fishermen, processors, and cannery workers will travel to Bristol Bay in the coming months to participate in the commercial fishery. As of Thursday afternoon, no one in the region had been tested for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus
Under proposed Trump changes to Migratory Bird Act, Exxon wouldn’t have been fined for Valdez spill, advocacy groups say
For more than 100 years, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act has protected such populations. Now, the Trump administration is proposing to reduce the law’s reach in an effort to remove red tape for developers.
Pebble is proposing to offset its impacts to wetlands through sewer repairs
Offsetting a project’s potential impacts to wetlands usually means restoring or protecting wetlands that serve the same purpose as those being altered or destroyed by development. But Pebble is proposing to do something different.
Managers restored caribou on the Nushagak Peninsula in the ’80s, now there’s so many, they’re harming the lichens
Lichens on the Nushagak Peninsula are a critical food source for the caribou that live there. But as the herd has thrived, exceeding management goals, they are depleting the complex composites.
Record summer heat that killed Kuskokwim salmon wiped out at least 100,000 fish in Bristol Bay, scientists say
July was the region’s hottest month on record, and in some rivers, that heat was lethal.
There are plenty of herring to catch in Bristol Bay, but there’s nowhere to sell them
Herring fishermen, who come to Togiak from all over the state, still target herring for their tiny eggs, which once commanded steep prices in Japan. But not any more.
Proposed Nuyakuk Falls hydroproject to test impacts on salmon
A proposed hydroelectric generator would produce an estimated 58,200 megawatt hours a year. That’s more than two-and-a-half times the region’s current energy needs of 23,000 mWh — enough power for the member communities to turn off their diesel generators most of the time.