Wrangell Sentinel -

A team of scientists exploring an underwater region of southern Southeast Alaska has discovered what might be the oldest stone fish weir ever found in the world. The existence of the fish trap, which is thought to date to at least 11,100 years ago,...

The COVID-19 case count in Wrangell dropped last week to less than half the number of the previous week, but the infection numbers for cruise ship travelers to Alaska was double the rate of the previous four weeks. A highly infectious variant of the...

Shellfish hatcheries could be in Alaska’s future, under legislation recently signed into law. The measure allows the Department of Fish and Game to manage shellfish enhancement and restoration projects. Restoration projects are designed to bring a s...

Multiple vessels were targeted with fines as a result of enforcement by the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf during an annual fisheries patrol last year. The announcement comes as the Coast Guard’s annual fisheries patrol, North Pacific Guard, is abo...

The Alaska Marine Highway System has enough crew to operate its summer schedule, though it still lacks a sufficient cushion to handle worker illnesses, injuries and personal leave without holding over staff for extra shifts. “We have been holding p...

After a swarm of small earthquakes beneath Mount Edgecumbe caught the attention of the Alaska Volcano Observatory in April, a crew of scientists has installed seismic and GPS sensors on the mountain to monitor any further activity. While the Alaska...

May 25, 1922 Dr. Edward T. Mathes, mayor of Bellingham, Washington, who has been in Wrangell this week, is of the opinion that the biggest thing that Alaska has to sell is her scenery, and that by capitalizing on her scenery the same as done in...

Seattle-based Trident Seafoods will not open its Wrangell processing plant this summer, the third year in a row the operation has been closed. As in the past two years, the company cited weak chum salmon returns for its decision not to run the...

The state Board of Fisheries’ decision last month to move the Southeast commercial shrimp pot fishery from a fall start to spring means there will be no harvest this year. The Department of Fish and Game told the board that a spring harvest could hel...

March means more fishing boats are out on the water with the start of the Pacific halibut and sablefish (black cod) fisheries this past Sunday, followed by Alaska’s first big herring fishery at Sitka Sound. For halibut, the coastwide catch from w...

Seafood is Alaska’s biggest export by far, and state legislators want the federal government to get tougher on trade policies that they say unfairly hurt global sales. Two resolutions (Senate Joint Resolution 16 and SJR17) were advanced last week b...

Alaska’s Bering Sea crabbers are reeling from the devastating news that all major crab stocks are down substantially, based on summer survey results, and the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery will be closed for the first time in more than 25 y...

It’s looking to be a very good summer for pink salmon commercial fishing, much better than last year’s dismal catch. The pink harvest in Southeast was just over 44 million fish as of Sept. 3, over 50% more than the 28 million forecast issued aft...

Alaska’s salmon landings have passed the season’s midpoint and by Aug. 7 the statewide catch had topped 116 million fish. State managers are calling for a projected total 2021 harvest of 190 million salmon, a 61% increase over 2020. Most of the sal...

Salmon harvests are coming in slowly in the Wrangell-Petersburg area, according to Sea Level Seafoods and the state fisheries biologist out of Petersburg. Though it’s too early for a lot of specific numbers, both report catches have been lower t...

The borough assembly on Tuesday night rescinded $70,000 in funding to cover COVID-19 tests for employees of Sea Level Seafoods, after rejecting an amendment to expand the funding to all seafood processors in Wrangell. The assembly originally...

The borough again this summer will use federal funds to cover the cost of COVID-19 testing for Sea Level Seafoods employees. The borough assembly voted 4-3 at its May 25 meeting to appropriate up to $70,000 in federal funds to pay for testing this ye...

More than five tons of genetically engineered Atlantic salmon are on their way to U.S. restaurants and food service outlets where customers will not be told what they’re eating. Federal labeling law “directs” companies to disclose genetically modif...

Alaska’s two U.S. senators are trying to get the face mask requirement aboard fishing vessels removed. A Coast Guard Marine Safety Information Bulletin issued March 22 recites its authority to restrict vessel access to ports and at-sea operations i...

Halibut prices for Alaska fishermen for 2021 have started out significantly higher than last year, despite sluggish demand and transportation logjams in some regions. The Pacific halibut fishery opened on March 6 and two weeks later only 80...