Kendra Hanna

It’s our final show of the season. Marine safety programs rely on a database that tracks commercial fishing deaths, but after mass layoffs at multiple federal agencies, it’s unclear if anyone is updating that info. Economist Gunnar Knapp shares history of seafood processors in Bristol Bay.

The sockeye salmon run is wrapping up in Bristol Bay with zero operational commercial fishing deaths, but after a gutting of the federal workforce, it’s unclear if anyone’s tracking it.

Fishermen choose between fishing or packing up and going home. The EPA reaffirms its previous veto of the Pebble Mine. Plus, we hear from a woman creating community for partners of commercial fishermen.

The Environmental Protection Agency is sticking with its veto of the proposed Pebble Mine project in southwest Alaska.

The baywide catch is currently at 33 million sockeye. The total run is 46 million fish. That’s 90% of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's preseason forecast.Researchers plan to run experiments at Lake Iliamna this summer, trying to better understand the relationship between sockeye salmon, and a small, spiky fish called three-spined stickleback. And, KDLG checks in with Area Management Biologist Tim Sands.

Three-spined sticklebacks are small, green and brown fish with spines that run along their backs. In Lake Iliamna in the Bristol Bay region, three-spined sticklebacks eat the same plankton that juvenile sockeye salmon rely on to grow.This year, researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks plan to run some experiments there to better understand sockeye’s small, spiky competition, and if warming waters might give them a competitive advantage.

The baywide catch is currently at 18 million. The total sockeye run so far is 27 million which is more than half of the preseason forecast. Fishermen were rescued in multiple close calls in the Bay last week. A backlog of used fishing nets has led net recyclers to ask for cleaner webbing at drop off.

It’s easy to throw a can or bottle in the bin and never think about it again, but for fishing net recyclers in Bristol Bay, drop-off is just the first step in the recycling process. In Dillingham, a backlog of used fishing nets poses a challenge for local recycling programs.

On June 28, Alaska Wildlife Troopers responded to a report of an overturned commercial fishing boat in the Ugashik district, near Pilot Point. All three of the people onboard were rescued, as reported by KDLG. That same week, deckhands fell overboard in the Naknek River and in the Egegik district. Both were rescued by nearby crews.

Ecologist Curry Cunningham says the run will include a higher percentage of older, larger fish.