Alaska Outdoor Digest

The source for important, timely news on hunting, fishing and the outdoors in Alaska.

Who gets what fish?   BofF hearing allocation debate this week
The Alaska Board of Fisheries is in its second day of meetings in Anchorage on Saturday, beginning to take testimony on statewide proposals before the board. A lot of Saturday’s testimony was by commercial fishermen opposing proposal 171, a request by the Kenai River Sport Fishing Association for the... Read more
Kenai Fisheries Roundtable Wednesday
Discussion of key fishery issues open to public via webcast You’ll have a chance to listen in to a high-level discussion of Alaska fisheries issues, especially the Kenai River, during the Kenai River Sportfishing Association’s Roundtable on Fisheries. The KRSA Kenai River Classic is one of the country’s leading... Read more
Kenai closed to sockeye fishing
The unthinkable has happened for Southcentral Alaska fishermen. Fishing for sockeye salmon on most of the Kenai River has been closed effective Saturday.  State officials are taking this almost unprecedented action thanks to a disastrously low sockeye return. Here’s the official release today: “To protect returning sockeye salmon and... Read more
Board of Fish lets pink salmon stocking plan proceed; commercial fishing supporters celebrate
The Alaska Board of Fish voted 4-3 Tuesday afternoon to let a planned additional stocking of hatchery pink salmon in Prince William Sound go forward. The board did not take public comment. It was standing room only at the Egan Center in Anchorage to hear the Board of Fish... Read more
Smoked Candy Salmon Strips
A reader asked the other day for a good recipe for salmon candy.  Here’s an excellent one we borrowed with thanks from Karen Swearingen, posted first on Alaskan Harvesters. Smoked Candy Salmon Strips 3⁄4 cup honey 1⁄4 cup water 1/2 gallon water 1 cup pickling salt 2 cups dark... Read more
Gravlax is easy, tasty way to enjoy Alaska salmon
By Lee Leschper We all fall into a rut occasionally.  I realized after years of loving the grilled and smoked silvers, reds and king salmon we catch each year, that I hadn’t tried anything new. While fishing with my son-in-law, who’s an absolute superb chef, he mentioned wanted to... Read more
Board of Fish rejects blanket salmon closure proposal
By Lee Leschper The Alaska Board of Fisheries on Tuesday unamimously rejected an Agenda Change Request (ACR 10), a proposal that would have required that all Upper Cook Inlet salmon fisheries be closed together–commercial, sport and subsistence–if a salmon run was falling short of escapement goals. ACRs allow the... Read more
BofF to consider Cook Inlet closures on all fishermen
By Lee Leschper Should all Alaska fishermen, commercial and non-commercial, be closed out of fishing when salmon runs are not meeting escapement goals? Specific to Upper Cook Inlet, should sport fishermen and dipnetters also be blocked from fishing, when commercial fishermen are restricted because a run is low or... Read more
Board of Fish meets in Anchorage this week
The Alaska Board of Fisheries will meet October 17-19, 2017, at the Egan Civic & Convention Center, 555 West 5thAvenue, Anchorage, Alaska beginning at 8:30 am. No regulatory action will be taken at this meeting, but sport fishermen should watch several of the agenda change requests, that could affect 2018 salmon... Read more
Where is Fish Fight headed?