Two groups in the Aleutian Islands are looking for the region’s next great start-up business.
The inaugural Aleutian Marketplace Competition opened last week, in search of innovative ideas from residents of the region’s 12 main communities.
The contest comes from the Aleut Corporation and the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association, or APICDA. Larry Cotter is executive director there. He says they want sustainable businesses that will create jobs and make some kind of social impact.
Pavlof Volcano's eruption as seen from Cold Bay on June 2nd, 2014. /Credit: Robert Stacy
In the past few months, Alaska’s seen a flurry of volcanic eruptions and sizeable earthquakes.
It’s disrupted life in the Aleutian Islands and the far western Brooks Range -- and it’s got scientists wondering how all the activity might be connected.
Right now, five volcanoes in the Aleutian Islands are on alert. That's the most at once in the Alaska Volcano Observatory's 26-year history.
Sarah Outen sits in her kayak in Unalaska Bay on June 15, 2014. (Pipa Escalante/KUCB]
A British kayak team that’s paddling the Aleutian Islands reached Unalaska Sunday night.
KUCB’s Annie Ropeik was part of a group that kayaked out to greet them.
Since they set out from Adak in May, Sarah Outen and her kayaking partner Justine Curgenven have had plenty of warm welcomes in Aleutian villages. But:
"No one’s ever been out to kayak to meet us," she says.
Commercial fishermen are used to working -- and advocating -- for themselves. Now, a new industry group is trying to pull those interests together under one roof.
Seafood Harvesters of America is "a national commercial fishing organization here in D.C. to be the voice of fishermen on federal issues," says executive director Brett Veerhusen.
Lobbying isn't necessarily the way to do that. Veerhusen says he’s trying to find common ground among the dozen or so regional fishing groups that have signed up for membership.
F/V Auriga prepares for the start of B season. (Lauren Rosenthal/KUCB)
As the Bering Sea's largest fishery opened on Tuesday, pollock fishermen were looking forward to a strong B season. They were also wading through a tide of criticism from rural users, who believe the industry's catching too much salmon.
Brent Paine represents more than 70 pollock trawlers for United Catcher Boats.
"I think a lot of the cooperatives are going to start early -- like right now or this week -- because of their concern for Chinook salmon bycatch," Paine says. "That tends to increase in the later part of the B season."
A grand jury has indicted Anthony Pouesi on a manslaughter charge in the death of another person at the Harbor View Bar last month.
Twenty-eight-year-old Pouesi was arraigned Monday in Unalaska District Court. He’s charged with causing the death of another man, 44-year-old Marlo Adams, according to court documents.
Pouesi is alleged to have punched Adams once during an argument outside the Harbor View Bar on May 22. Adams then fell and hit his head on the ground, causing injuries that later proved fatal.
A grassroots effort to repeal Senate Bill 21 kicked off last week. In Unalaska, organizers for the “Vote Yes! Repeal the Giveaway” campaign are struggling to convince residents that oil taxes matters in their community.
A new bridge that's about to be installed at Summer Bay was designed with wildlife in mind.
But as salmon migration draws closer, residents and regulators are scrutinizing the project to make sure it doesn't cause more harm than good.
After 33 years, the wooden bridge that crosses Summer Bay Creek has seen better days. But it's always contained materials that were potentially harmful to fish.
"There’s 20 creosote timbers that will be removed," says public works director Tom Cohenour. "The new bridge will have three pilings on each side that will be out of the water."
