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May 7, 1925 It’s now an assured fact that Wrangell is to have a hospital. The need for a hospital has been felt for years. When the Arthur Yates Hospital in Kechikan was closed a few weeks ago, it seemed to be the general consensus of opinion that this was Wrangell’s opportunity, and no time was lost in taking up the matter with Bishop Rowe. Bishop stated he was agreeable to the hospital being moved to Wrangell, provided he became convinced that there are enough people who want it to ensure its success. After being advised of the pro... Full story
April 30, 1925 Gold seekers have been arriving on every boat during the past few days and are impatiently awaiting the opening of navigation on the Stikine River when they will leave for the new diggings in the Cassiar. The first fleet of boats will leave Wrangell for Telegraph Creek, B.C., as soon after the first of May as river conditions permit. Every year in the past there have been a few people in Wrangell who were anxious for the early opening of navigation on the Stikine, but this year there is intense impatience on the part of the many...
The U.S. Forest Service, under authority delegated by the Federal Subsistence Board, has closed the Stikine River to subsistence fishing for king salmon from May 15 to June 20. The preseason returns forecast for the Stikine River is 10,000 large king salmon (greater than 28 inches in length), which is far below the spawning escapement goal of 14,000 to 28,000. This is the ninth year in a row for the federal closure, intended to protect weak returns of the highly prized fish. State and federal fisheries managers are trying to rebuild the run....
Southeast Alaska’s golden king crab fishery reached an all-time high value of $5 million this year, marking an impressive recovery for a fishery that was struggling just a few years ago. The East Central management area, which includes waters around and north of Petersburg, led the record-breaking season with a harvest value of $2.97 million, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game data. The high value comes despite lower harvest volumes than last year. Fishermen landed 177,060 pounds from the East Central area this year, c...
April 23, 1925 Major A. A. Oles, a tax expert, will arrive on the Admiral Rogers on Saturday for the purpose of assessing the property within the corporate limits of Wrangell. At the March meeting of the town council, the matter of having the property within the town of Wrangell assessed by an expert was considered. The council was of the opinion that if an expert were employed, he would be able to prepare a tax assessment roll that would be more uniform than any of the numerous appraisals that have been made in the past. April 21, 1950 Due to...
The 2025 Southeast Alaska harvest limit for king salmon will be almost 40% less than last year, a drop of 60,000 fish. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game on April 1 announced an overall allocation of 130,800 treaty king salmon — fish that don’t originate in Alaska hatcheries — for all gear groups targeting kings in waters off Southeast Alaska and Yakutat. In recent years, Southeast Alaska’s all-gear allocation has ranged between a high of 355,600 treaty kings in 2016 down to 130,000 in 2018, Fish and Game records show. The regionw...
As has been routine in recent years, the state has closed the waters in front of the Stikine River to sport fishing for kings or retention of the salmon though July 14. The annual closure is a continuing effort to rebuild the river’s depleted runs. The closure of District 8 covers the waters around the top half of Wrangell Island to the eastern half of Zarembo Island, and up the east side of Mitkof Island. Districts 6, 7, 9 and 10 as far north as Frederick Sound and into Chatham Strait and south of Etolin Island are closed to king sport f...
Coffman Cove commercial fisherman Dugan Paul Daniels, 55, was sentenced on March 10 to six months in prison for illegally “taking” an endangered sperm whale and falsifying fishing records while catching sablefish in 2020. The term “take” legally means to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. According to research by the prosecution in preparation for Daniels’ case, this appears to be the first Endangered Species Act charge to result from a sperm whale take in t...
Jacob Vibbert, of Cheney, Washington, has been charged with illegally killing a mountain lion on the south end of Wrangell Island. According to the state’s report, Vibbert shot the mountain lion on June 3, 2024. There is no mountain lion hunting season in Alaska. The offense, a misdemeanor, can be punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $25,000. Vibbert was charged in January; his arraignment was scheduled for March 4 at the Wrangell courthouse. The kill was reported by Charles Davis, who was hunting and sport fishing with V...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has introduced a bill that would partially reverse Alaska’s 35-year-old ban on fish farms. If it makes it into law, the bill would not allow salmon farming but would allow farming of “any bony fish belonging to the osteichthyes class.” That includes species like tilapia, catfish or carp — the world’s most widely farmed fish. The chair of the House Fisheries Committee, Kodiak Rep. Louise Stutes, disagrees with the governor’s proposal. “Alaska’s commercial fishing industry, our coastal communities and fishing families across... Full story
On Sunday, Feb. 16, Anna Tollfeldt was fired from her job at the U.S. Forest Service. Tollfeldt moved to Wrangell in 2022 and began working for the Forest Service the following summer. She and her partner (who is employed by the Forest Service and opted to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation) took out a mortgage on a house in town, and the couple planned to stay here indefinitely. But now, a future in Wrangell is no longer a guarantee. With the loss of her job and the unpredictability...
Some of the Southeast commercial troll fishery’s allocation of migratory king salmon will be shifted to the nonresident/resident sport fishery following a 5-2 vote by the Alaska Board of Fisheries on the 10th day of its 13-day meeting in Ketchikan. Board members voted on Thursday, Feb. 6, to adopt state regulatory language shifting the allocation from the 80%/20% troll/sport split that’s been in place since 1996 to a new 77%/23% split for the troll and sport fisheries, respectively. Reducing the troll allocation is an acknowledgment by the boa...
In the fall of 2018, officials with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and their partners celebrated what they thought was a milestone: an end to the infestation of invasive northern pike in the Kenai Peninsula. Their laborious program - they thought - had ridden the peninsula of the salmon-gobbling species that has wreaked havoc on the natural runs that are important to commercial and sport fishers, as well as to the overall ecological system. "We were all excited, you know. We spent,...
Among the 159 proposals to go before the state Board of Fisheries at its meeting in Ketchikan starting this week is one to reduce Southeast Alaska hatcheries’ chum and pink egg take by 25%. Supporters say it would help wild salmon stocks by reducing their competition with hatchery fish for food. The Wrangell advisory committee to the Board of Fisheries “adamantly opposes” the proposal, said Chris Guggenbickler, committee chair. “The hatcheries around here are pretty beneficial to everyone,” he said. “If we didn’t have them,” a lot of people i...
Challenges in recruitment and retention of state employees continue to bog down public services, according to budget documents. In recent months, the Fairbanks Pioneer Home, a state-operated assisted-living facility, has reduced its capacity because of a shortage of staff. The Alaska Psychiatric Institute in Anchorage, the only public inpatient mental health facility in the state, relies on contracted staff rather than employees to provide care. The Division of Juvenile Justice has closed its Fairbanks facility due to staffing shortages. The...
The shrinking size of Alaska salmon, a decades-long trend linked in part to warming conditions in the ocean, is hampering the ability of chinook in Alaska’s two biggest rivers to produce new generations needed to maintain healthy populations, a new study shows. The University of Alaska Fairbanks-led study shows how the body conditions of chinook salmon, combined with extreme heat and cold in the ocean and freshwater environments, have converged in the Yukon and Kuskokwim river systems to depress what is termed “productivity” — the success... Full story
Commercial salmon harvesters have had a tough year in Alaska, with preliminary state estimates showing that the 2024 season had the third-lowest catch since 1985 and the third-lowest inflation-adjusted ex-vessel value to fishermen since 1975, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The department released its annual salmon harvest summary on Nov. 18. Statewide, commercial fishermen landed 101.2 million salmon of all species during the 2024 season, according to the summary. That’s down 56% from the total harvest of 232.2 million i...
State and federal fisheries managers predict that Southeast Alaska fishermen will harvest about 29 million pink salmon in 2025, an “average” harvest based on catch data going back to 1960 but a 45% boost over this year’s catch. The prediction comes from a joint National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries and Alaska Department of Fish and Game 2025 Southeast Alaska Pink Salmon Harvest Forecast that the state released Nov. 19. The 2025 forecast for 29 million pinks is “approximately 60% of the parent-year (2023) harvest of 48 mill...
State officials and industry leaders trying to rescue the ailing Alaska seafood industry are facing daunting challenges, recently released numbers show. The industry lost $1.8 billion last year, the result of low prices, closed harvests and other problems, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Direct employment of harvesters last year fell by 8% to the lowest level since 2001, when counts of harvesting jobs began, the Alaska Department of Labor said. The monthly... Full story
The Wrangell advisory committee to the state boards of fisheries and game will meet Tuesday to begin its consideration of multiple proposed changes in state regulations for salmon fishing in Southeast Alaska. The committee also will hold elections to fill several seats on the 15-member panel. The public meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 26, at the Nolan Center. Though the public may attend the meeting by Zoom, in-person attendance is required to nominate people to serve on the committee and to vote in the election. The meeting is...
Nov. 6, 1924 G. E. Diemart of the Wrangell Dairy received a fine milk cow from the states on the Yukon when it called at port Monday night. The cow is a strong-willed animal. She did not like the looks of the deckhands who had her in tow, so after dragging two or three of them around over the dock she broke away and came uptown. After looking around for a time she decided to spend the night at the Lemieux ranch. She was not obstreperous, however, when taken to the dairy on the following day. Nov. 4, 1949 A thorough study of the feeding habits... Full story
A search for a missing hunter ended Oct. 30 when search teams found his body on the hillside in Nakwasina Sound, 14 miles north of Sitka. Alaska State Troopers said Tad Fujioka, 50, an experienced hunter and longtime Sitka resident, appeared to be the victim of a bear mauling. Fujioka left Sitka on a deer hunting trip to Nakwasina on Monday, Oct. 28, and a search was started around 5:30 p.m. the next day after he was reported overdue. U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Sitka dispatched a helicopter crew who searched for three hours before nightfall....
This year’s take of 131 moose in the Wrangell-Petersburg area was down by 10 kills from last year’s harvest. But 131 was still good enough to rank as the third-highest harvest on record for the area, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The season ran Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. Last year’s take of 141 moose in the Wrangell-Petersburg area was a record, passing the previous high of 132 in 2021, according to Fish and Game. The five-year average is just over 120 moose a year. Of this season’s 131 moose, 120 were legal and 11 illegal...
Invasive European green crabs have likely found a lasting home in Washington’s coastal waters and parts of Puget Sound. The question now is whether the state can pinch down hard enough on the aquatic pests to prevent serious harm to native wildlife, shoreline ecosystems and the commercial shellfish industry. Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, tribes, shellfish growers and local conservation districts are all taking part in the battle against the unwelcome crustaceans. “This is one of the rare environmental issues that every... Full story
Two thousand and ninety to one. Those were the odds of winning the only elk-hunting permit on Zarembo Island this year - the first time in nearly 20 years the state Board of Game has permitted elk hunting on Zarembo after they were urged to do so by the Wrangell Fish and Game Advisory Committee. Quite literally against all odds, Wrangell resident Curtis Kautz won the lottery. His prize? A 31-day window to try and bag a creature Kautz described as smart, skittish and fast. "They're hard to sneak...
