Unalaska, AK – Increased fuel costs and reduced federal funding are limiting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries research in the Bering Sea and may in the long run impact harvest limits. This year, the Aleutian Trawl Survey was cut completely and the Bering-Aleutian Salmon International Survey (BASIS) was reduced from 40 days to 20 days. Phillip Rigby is the program manager for the stock assessment and Ocean Carrying Capacity programs at NOAA. He says maintaining the surveys is important for predicting changes in ecosystem resources.
Unalaska, AK – A metal salvaging company is extracting scrap metal from the landfill and transporting it away for free. It's said to be a good deal for the company and the city. KIAL's Anne Hillman has more.
Unalaska, AK – Sockeye salmon are finally starting to cross the weir at Reese Bay. The peak so far was 600 fish on June 22. The most recently reported data is from June 24, which says 2,000 total fish have crossed the weir. But by this time last year, 6,000 had passed through. This does not include the number of fish in Reese Bay itself. U.S. Fish and Wildlife fishery biologist Derek Hildreth says he isn't sure why the fish are running two weeks late.
Unalaska, AK – Over 60 years ago, the residents of three villages on Unalaska Island were evacuated and the villages were abandoned. Now, an anthropologist wants to help some of the residents return. KIAL's Anne Hillman has more.
Unalaska, AK – Fuel prices in Unalaska rise every single week. At the moment, gas is about $4.65 a gallon and heating fuel is almost $5 even. Pipa Escalante and Anne Hillman spoke with Unalaska residents, shop owners, and transient workers about how the fuel crisis is affecting them.
Unalaska, AK – Unalaska's runway is being redesigned to accommodate larger aircraft and to conform to Federal Aviation Administration standards. Department of Transportation airport planning manager Judy Chapman says the extended safety area around the runway would overlap with Airport-Beach Road and some buildings.
"Long term, Airport-Beach Road would be in the runway safety area when the larger aircraft start coming in," Chapman says. "So the FAA is telling us that at that point, it's no longer an option to keep that road open to the public."
Unalaska, AK – Human remains excavated from Unalaska and Amaknak Islands in the 1950s and '60s will soon be returned to the Qawalangin tribe under the provisions of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The 1990 law says bones and funerary items found on federal lands need to be offered back to their original families or tribes. Robert King in Anchorage coordinates the repatriation of bones.
Unalaska, AK – A Japanese oceanographic research vessel, the Oshoro Maru from Hokkaido University in Japan was in Unalaska last weekend. On June 21, they held an open house for the community before heading north to the Chuckchi Sea to look at ice cover.
Researchers will conduct more than 50 studies as they travel north. The research includes studies on sea mammals, plankton, and crustaceans. Some projects are continuations of past research, while others are new.
Unalaska, AK – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is funding new research in Alaskan coastal communities that will help people adapt to new weather patterns caused by climate change. Researcher and University of Alaska Fairbanks graduate student Phillip Loring says he's focusing on how weather patterns affect people's lives and how this information can be used to improve weather forecasts and models.
