City council will meet early tonight to start firming up its 2014 budget.
They’ll be asked to adopt a draft of the capital and major maintenance plan for fiscal years 2014 through 2018. The CMMP outlines major projects, including overhauls of three utility plants, and routine upgrades to city facilities. Over the next five years, the city will spend about $104 million on that work, with about $40 million in grant funding.
As the Alaska Marine Highway System approaches its 50th, anniversary, the ferry is struggling with its identity. Under intense pressure to cut costs, the ferry’s managers are trying to get back to basics -- transporting Alaskans and their freight.
That’s why the state is trying to phase out wildlife naturalists, on all ferry routes. As KUCB’s Lauren Rosenthal reports, it’s not clear what that means for riders.
Just two years after reopening, the seafood processing plant in Adak is shutting down. Icicle Seafoods didn’t return calls for comment, but in a press release, CEO Amy Humphreys cites regulatory uncertainty as the deciding factor.
Fishing in the western Aleutians has been restricted in recent years to protect an endangered stock of Steller sea lions, and an anticipated division of the Pacific cod harvest between the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands could also impact shore-based processors.
If you watched the season premiere of "Deadliest Catch" this week, you might have noticed a line in the credits acknowledging the Alaska Film Office’s contribution to the show.
It wasn’t just a reference to the fact that the show is filmed in Alaska -- the note was included because the state actually subsidizes the popular reality television series through its film tax credit program. But if some state legislators have their way, that won’t be the case for much longer.
The Iliuliuk Family and Health Services clinic will lose its medical director this summer. Rebecca Stroklund has resigned, and will formally leave her job at the end of July.
Stroklund couldn't be reached for comment. According to clinic director Eileen Scott, Stroklund is leaving to relocate closer to friends and family in the Lower 48. She’s the clinic’s only doctor and Scott says finding a replacement will likely be challenging.
After several years of declines, illegal crab fishing in Russia spiked in 2012. The resulting glut of crab hurt Alaskan prices, and reignited concerns about how to combat the poaching.
Andy Wink tracks the Russian fisheries for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. He says Russia’s black market haul is staggering.
“Alaska caught a lot of crab. Alaska caught more crab in 2012 than they have for a long time. Despite that, Russia still caught more illegal crab [than Alaskan fishermen caught total].”
In a new book called “The Billion-Dollar Fish,” coming out this spring, fisheries biologist Kevin Bailey delves into the life history of the humble walleye pollock -- and he explains how it became the foundation for the extremely lucrative fishery we have today. But will it last?
In this segment of "The Exchange," Bailey discusses his book, and how to predict when a fishing boom will go bust.
Two of Alaska’s largest tug and barge companies could merge later this year. Lynden Transport has signed an agreement to purchase Northland Services, pending regulatory approval.
Both companies provide regular service to Southeast and Southcentral Alaska, while Northland specializes in freight delivery to Western Alaska, including Unalaska and St. Paul. If the purchase is approved, Northland will still operate as its own company, under the same management.
The Obama Administration released its final plan for managing the nation’s oceans Tuesday. The National Ocean Policy has been in development for several years, and a draft stirred up controversy because of provisions related to marine spatial planning or ‘ocean zoning,’ as opponents have dubbed it.
