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Personal-use dipnet fishermen pull up to the bank of the Kenai River beneath the Warren Ames Bridge on Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

78-pound king caught on Kenai; sockeye fishing up and down

Despite its nickname as the Land of the Midnight Sun, there are in fact hours of darkness on the Kenai Peninsula in July. But the… Continue reading

Personal-use dipnet fishermen pull up to the bank of the Kenai River beneath the Warren Ames Bridge on Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
A brailer bag full of commercially-caught salmon is hoisted up to the Snug Harbor Seafoods dock for processing on Thursday, July 12, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. On Tuesday the Alaska Department of Fish and Game downgraded its estimated Kenai River sockeye run from 2.5 million fish to less than 2.3 million, changing some of the management procedures for commercial fishing in Upper Cook Inlet. (Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Fish and Game lowers Kenai River sockeye estimate

The sockeye salmon run to the Kenai River is weaker than the Alaska Department of Fish and Game predicted in the preseason forecast, according to… Continue reading

A brailer bag full of commercially-caught salmon is hoisted up to the Snug Harbor Seafoods dock for processing on Thursday, July 12, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. On Tuesday the Alaska Department of Fish and Game downgraded its estimated Kenai River sockeye run from 2.5 million fish to less than 2.3 million, changing some of the management procedures for commercial fishing in Upper Cook Inlet. (Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)
This May 15, 2017 photo shows a drift gillnet reel on the back of a commercial fishing vessel docked in the Homer small boat harbor in Homer, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Federal council names 5 commercial fishermen to committee

A committee of five fishermen, four of whom live on the Kenai Peninsula, will help provide advice to the council that will write a new… Continue reading

This May 15, 2017 photo shows a drift gillnet reel on the back of a commercial fishing vessel docked in the Homer small boat harbor in Homer, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
Tasi Fosi of Anchorage, who has been dipnetting in Chitina since 1991, holds up two king salmon on July 9, 2018 as seagulls hover overhead. (Photo courtesy Mary Catharine Martin)

Low Copper River sockeye return effects ripple outward

It’s a summer tradition for many in Alaska: pack up the car, drive to Chitina and dipnet for Copper River red salmon. It’s a tradition,… Continue reading

Tasi Fosi of Anchorage, who has been dipnetting in Chitina since 1991, holds up two king salmon on July 9, 2018 as seagulls hover overhead. (Photo courtesy Mary Catharine Martin)
An angler casts her line into the Kenai River near Soldotna Creek Park on Wednesday, July 18, 2018 in Soldotna, Alaska. The water in the Kenai River is a little higher than usual — about 9.71 feet, according to U.S. Geological Survey’s gauge at Soldotna — but has fallen since last week and is significantly below the flood stage of 12 feet. Anglers were hitting the banks on Wednesday morning for sockeye salmon, which normally peak in returning numbers to the Kenai River in mid-July. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Sockeye fishing remains slow on Kenai, counts pick up on Kasilof

Anglers are hitting the banks of the Kenai River in more serious numbers now, though the sockeye have yet to show up in real force.… Continue reading

An angler casts her line into the Kenai River near Soldotna Creek Park on Wednesday, July 18, 2018 in Soldotna, Alaska. The water in the Kenai River is a little higher than usual — about 9.71 feet, according to U.S. Geological Survey’s gauge at Soldotna — but has fallen since last week and is significantly below the flood stage of 12 feet. Anglers were hitting the banks on Wednesday morning for sockeye salmon, which normally peak in returning numbers to the Kenai River in mid-July. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Fish board denies emergency petition on hatchery permit

The Board of Fisheries declined to take up an emergency petition related to hatchery pink salmon production in Prince William Sound, though members agreed the… Continue reading

Angler Mark Higgins fishes the Kenai River from the stairs at Centennial Park on Monday, July 16, 2018 in Soldotna, Alaska. It’s the peak of the fishing season, but runs have been far below those of past years — as of Sunday, <a href="https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sf/FishCounts/index.cfm?ADFG=main.displayResults&COUNTLOCATIONID=40&SpeciesID=420" target="_blank">the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s sonar had counted a cummulative 105,819 sockeye</a> in the Kenai River this year, versus138,568 sockeye by that date in 2017. Like many anglers on the river, Higgins had an unsucessful Monday afternoon. “Chances are low, but you might as well be fishing rather than sitting in the camper,” he said. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

By Ben Boettger Peninsula Clarion… Continue reading

Angler Mark Higgins fishes the Kenai River from the stairs at Centennial Park on Monday, July 16, 2018 in Soldotna, Alaska. It’s the peak of the fishing season, but runs have been far below those of past years — as of Sunday, <a href="https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sf/FishCounts/index.cfm?ADFG=main.displayResults&COUNTLOCATIONID=40&SpeciesID=420" target="_blank">the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s sonar had counted a cummulative 105,819 sockeye</a> in the Kenai River this year, versus138,568 sockeye by that date in 2017. Like many anglers on the river, Higgins had an unsucessful Monday afternoon. “Chances are low, but you might as well be fishing rather than sitting in the camper,” he said. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

More restrictions for Kenai, Kasilof king salmon

Anglers won’t be able to keep a king salmon on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers after Wednesday. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced… Continue reading

Kodiak hatchery experiments with salt water exposure to mark its pink salmon

Editor’s note: This is the third part of a three-story series about the operations of Alaska’s salmon hatcheries and their consideration in the North Pacific.… Continue reading

Sockeye salmon smolt being raised by Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association at the Trail Lakes Hatchery, ultimately destined for Shell Lake in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, swim in their tank on Friday, April 20, 2018, near Moose Pass. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Hatchery-marked salmon important for management, international relations

Editor’s note: This story is the second in a three-part series about the operations of Alaska’s salmon hatcheries and their impact on the North Pacific.… Continue reading

Sockeye salmon smolt being raised by Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association at the Trail Lakes Hatchery, ultimately destined for Shell Lake in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, swim in their tank on Friday, April 20, 2018, near Moose Pass. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
Sockeye salmon smolt being raised by Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association at the Trail Lakes Hatchery, ultimately destined for Shell Lake in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, swim in their tank on Friday, April 20, 2018 near Moose Pass, Alaska. Pacific salmon raised in hatcheries are usually exposed to predetermined sets of hot and cold water cycles before they hatch, leading to dark and light rings on their inner ear bone, called an otolith, that biologists can later read to track where the salmon came from when it returns as an adult. Staff at Trail Lakes Hatchery raise all the association’s sockeye salmon, which are hatched, imprinted and distributed to the organization’s various operations across Cook Inlet, from China Poot Lake in Lower Cook Inlet to Shell Lake. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

A look into how salmon hatcheries mark their fish

Editor’s note: This is the first part of a three-story series about the operations of Alaska’s salmon hatcheries and their impacts in the North Pacific.… Continue reading

Sockeye salmon smolt being raised by Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association at the Trail Lakes Hatchery, ultimately destined for Shell Lake in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, swim in their tank on Friday, April 20, 2018 near Moose Pass, Alaska. Pacific salmon raised in hatcheries are usually exposed to predetermined sets of hot and cold water cycles before they hatch, leading to dark and light rings on their inner ear bone, called an otolith, that biologists can later read to track where the salmon came from when it returns as an adult. Staff at Trail Lakes Hatchery raise all the association’s sockeye salmon, which are hatched, imprinted and distributed to the organization’s various operations across Cook Inlet, from China Poot Lake in Lower Cook Inlet to Shell Lake. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
This photo shows an approximately 70-pound king caught on the Kenai River by Troy Grote of Aberdeen, South Dakota, on Saturday, July 14, 2018. The fish measured 51 1/2 inches in length and 31 1/2 inches in girth. (Photo coutesy Joe Johnson)

Angler lands 70-pound king on Kenai

A South Dakota angler hit the jackpot on the Kenai River on Saturday with a nearly 70-pound king salmon on the end of his line.… Continue reading

This photo shows an approximately 70-pound king caught on the Kenai River by Troy Grote of Aberdeen, South Dakota, on Saturday, July 14, 2018. The fish measured 51 1/2 inches in length and 31 1/2 inches in girth. (Photo coutesy Joe Johnson)
An Anchor River king salmon Saturday, May 19, 2018 in Anchor Point, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

King fishing to open in lower peninsula streams with gear restrictions

The Ninilchik and Deep Creek will finally be open to king salmon fishing, but with limited gear and no bait.

An Anchor River king salmon Saturday, May 19, 2018 in Anchor Point, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
In this July 2016 photo, a drift gillnet fishing vessel floats in Cook Inlet just off the coast of the Kenai Peninsula near Kenai, Alaska. A thin season for sockeye and kings has led to restrictions in all fisheries, though drifters are seeing more chum salmon than usual in Upper Cook Inlet. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Commercial fishing slow for sockeye, good for chum

Commercial fishermen around the Gulf of Alaska are seeing weaker sockeye salmon runs, but Cook Inlet salmon fishermen at least are seeing more chum salmon… Continue reading

In this July 2016 photo, a drift gillnet fishing vessel floats in Cook Inlet just off the coast of the Kenai Peninsula near Kenai, Alaska. A thin season for sockeye and kings has led to restrictions in all fisheries, though drifters are seeing more chum salmon than usual in Upper Cook Inlet. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
Sean Carlson shows off the 50-inch king salmon he caught on the Kenai River. (Photo courtesy Scott Miller)

Kenai dipnet opens slow

The fishermen on the beach for the opening day of the Kenai River personal-use dipnet Tuesday got the benefit of a relatively uncrowded beach. However,… Continue reading

Sean Carlson shows off the 50-inch king salmon he caught on the Kenai River. (Photo courtesy Scott Miller)
Sean Carlson shows off the 50-inch king salmon he caught on the Kenai River. (Photo courtesy Scott Miller)

Kenai dipnet opens slow

The fishermen on the beach for the opening day of the Kenai River personal-use dipnet Tuesday got the benefit of a relatively uncrowded beach. However,… Continue reading

Sean Carlson shows off the 50-inch king salmon he caught on the Kenai River. (Photo courtesy Scott Miller)
Seagulls flock to where participants in the personal use dipnet fishery fish on the north beach of the Kenai River on July 10, 2016 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Dipnet season begins Tuesday. Here’s some things to know.

Tuesday marks the beginning of the busiest part of the visitor season in Kenai — the personal-use dipnet season. The Kenai River personal-use dipnet fishery… Continue reading

Seagulls flock to where participants in the personal use dipnet fishery fish on the north beach of the Kenai River on July 10, 2016 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
Seagulls flock to where participants in the personal use dipnet fishery fish on the north beach of the Kenai River on July 10, 2016 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Dipnet season begins Tuesday. Here’s some things to know.

Tuesday marks the beginning of the busiest part of the visitor season in Kenai — the personal-use dipnet season. The Kenai River personal-use dipnet fishery… Continue reading

Seagulls flock to where participants in the personal use dipnet fishery fish on the north beach of the Kenai River on July 10, 2016 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
This Monday, Oct. 24, 2016 photo shows the Kenai City Dock in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Kenai’s dock will go without an operator this year after CISPRI backs out

Kenai’s city dock will be without an operator this summer after Cook Inlet Spill Response and Prevention, Inc. (CISPRI) backed out of a deal with… Continue reading

This Monday, Oct. 24, 2016 photo shows the Kenai City Dock in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
This Monday, Oct. 24, 2016 photo shows the Kenai City Dock in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Kenai’s dock will go without an operator this year after CISPRI backs out

Kenai’s city dock will be without an operator this summer after Cook Inlet Spill Response and Prevention, Inc. (CISPRI) backed out of a deal with… Continue reading

This Monday, Oct. 24, 2016 photo shows the Kenai City Dock in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)