USCG reports Southeast sinking, helicopter rescue

Details and a video here.

Board, council to talk trawl next month

A joint committee of the Alaska Board of Fisheries and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is set to meet Oct. 16 to discuss a range of trawl topics. Details in this notice.

Dump those halibut, or donate?

The National Marine Fisheries Service has received an application for a special permit to allow a factory trawler, the Northern Glacier, to donate some halibut bycatch to a hunger relief organization rather than return the fish to the sea as required by regulation.

A warship in Whittier

The USS Ted Stevens (128) arrives in Whittier ahead of its commissioning ceremony set for noon Saturday. Named for the late U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer "will be the Navy's newest and most formidable instrument of global power projection," a media advisory says. The commissioning ceremony will live stream here. U.S. Navy photo by Senior Airman Raina Dale

A big price increase for Bristol Bay fishermen

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has released the 2026 Bristol Bay salmon season summary. Here are a few highlights:

• The commercial harvest of 30.1 million sockeye was 7 percent below forecast.

• Average ex-vessel price for sockeye was $1.72 a pound, with total sockeye fishery value for the season totaling $260.2 million.

• By comparison, the 2025 season summary showed a catch of 41.2 million sockeye, a price of $1.03 a pound and a fishery value of $214.3 million.

• Average sockeye weight this season was about 5 pounds, equaling the recent five-year average.

• Egegik was the most productive fishing district with a catch of 9.2 million sockeye, edging the Nushagak with 9.1 million.

UFA's new skipper

Thatcher Brouwer is the new executive director for United Fishermen of Alaska, the state's top commercial fishing organization.

Brouwer is a 20-year commercial fisherman who also has worked as a legislative aide every winter since 2015, said an announcement on Facebook.

He succeeds UFA's former executive director, Tracy Welch, who was appointed to the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission.

Ideas, anyone?

An Alaska Board of Fisheries committee will meet Sept. 25 to discuss, among other things, ways to "most efficiently utilize time during board meetings." More information here.