Last week, the northern rockfish fishery opened up in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. While rockfish is targeted out in Southeast Alaska, this small fishery operates differently and it’s under a somewhat new management style.

It’s only recently that northern rockfish have been treated as anything other than straight-up bycatch. Before the Amendment 80 fleet was established, catcher-processors had a set limit of how much rockfish they could take incidentally while harvesting Pacific Ocean perch or Atka mackerel.

Usually, the Dutch Harbor spit dock is lined with nothing but fishing vessels. This week, a veritable fleet of sailing yachts was moored there. KUCB’s Alexandra Gutierrez finds out what they were doing.

David Scott Cowper has sailed around the world multiple times, and he’s the first person to have made it through the Northwest Passage alone. He and his boat the Polar Bound in Unalaska this week, and KUCB’s Alexandra Gutierrez talked to him about his voyages.

Every summer the ferry Tustumena brings passengers to and from the Aleutians. And when it stops in the village of Chignik, passengers and locals get to trade places for an hour. KUCB's Alexandra Gutierrez has this story on the culinary swap between the town's bakery and the McTusty.

Unalaskans spent this Independence Day marching in the parade, playing at the carnival, catching halibut, and watching fireworks. KUCB's Alexandra Gutierrez recorded this audio postcard.

This weekend’s Fourth of July fireworks display drew plenty applause. But despite the clear skies and big crowd, the city’s demonstration didn’t go perfectly smoothly. Sparks and ash from the fireworks caused three small tundra fires on the Mount Newhall hillside.

According to the Unalaska Department of Public Safety, the fires were extinguished quickly.

“We had firefighters who were on standby for precisely that kind of activity. They went up on the hillside with their bunker gear and extinguishing equipment, and successfully put them out,” says Sgt. Jennifer Shockley. “I think the largest one was reported to be about 10 feet across.

Shell’s mobile drill rig left Captains Bay yesterday evening and is now making its way to Seattle for technical upgrades.

According to Shell spokesperson Curtis Smith, modifications to the Kulluk are expected to cost tens of millions of dollars, and the goal is to lower the rig’s emissions by 90 percent. The modifications to the Kulluk are expected to take ten months.

The Kulluk is a major part of Shell’s Arctic exploration plan for next year. The company was originally slated to use the rig as a back-up relief well unit in the event of a blowout. But now, the Kulluk and the drill ship Noble Discoverer will be used to drill wells in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas should Shell get approval from the federal government. Shell’s arctic drilling plan was held up this year after the company was unable to secure air permits.

Chum bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery this B season is outpacing recent years.

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, more than 37,000 non-chinook salmon have been taken as bycatch through June 27, just a little more than two weeks after the B season opening date. By comparison, just over 13,000 chum salmon were taken in all of 2010.

Still, bycatch isn’t near the levels of 2004 and 2005, where approximately half a million chum salmon were taken in B season.

Last night, city council discuss the status of various utilities projects and said goodbye to a longtime police officer.

While meeting convened at 7pm, it wasn’t open to the public until 8 o’clock. For the first hour, city council met in executive session to discuss talks with both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice. Just last week, the DOJ filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the city and the State of Alaska over wastewater discharge.