Shady Grove Oliver

A recent NOAA study pegged 2040 as the date for the potential end of Alaskan shellfish hatcheries. That is, unless serious mitigation efforts are put in place to combat ocean acidification. Last week we reported on the research, done at the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery in Seward. Now, we’ll take a look at what a hatchery on the Oregon coast is doing to deal with these harmful changes in ocean chemistry.Download Audio:

New research paints an unsettling picture of the future of shellfish in coastal Alaska. The effects of ocean acidification are worsening and could mean the end of hatcheries in the next 25 years if costly mitigation efforts aren’t put in place.Download Audio:

Fair winds and following seas. A blessing for sailors, heading out onto the water, at the mercy of time and tides. It was what we hoped for the Arctica, a small but mighty sailboat, with its motley crew of recent surgery patients, pregnant women, and greenhorns.Download Audio

Governor Bill Walker has approved a number of state assistance programs to help victims of Kenai Peninsula wildfires.

The Card Street fire near Sterling is diminishing and many evacuees are returning to their homes this week. Across the central peninsula, hotels and restaurants that helped with relief efforts are getting back to business as usual. But for one hotel in Soldotna, this isn’t the first time they’ve stepped up and the community now knows where to turn for help, year after year.Download Audio

PacRim Coal is proposing a strip mining operation on the west side of Cook Inlet, in the Chuitna watershed. It proposes removing the water completely from a tributary of the Chuitna River, which is a salmon stream. Download Audio

The Card Street fire near Sterling and two fires near Cooper Landing continue to burn on the Kenai Peninsula. As of Sunday morning, the Card Street fire was estimated to be around 7,700 acres.

Update: Wednesday, June 17. 5:45 pm. Lightning strikes are thought to be the cause of two new fires that started Tuesday near the Kenai Peninsula community of Cooper Landing. Both fires are at zero percent containment and power lines have been shut off near the larger fire.

Power was out for residents from Diamond Ridge to the Old Sterling Highway for about an hour on Monday afternoon. The incident, which took place on the Old Sterling, also caused a small fire.

The Card Street Fire near Sterling on the Kenai Peninsula doubled in size overnight. Now at more than 1,200 acres, the fire has destroyed at least six structures.