News

  Each week the National Marine Fisheries Service releases data from observers onboard fishing vessels about bycatch of halibut, salmon, and crab, and each week KBBI’s Jeff Lockwood sifts through that data for this report.  

In this week’s report from Juneau, District P Senator Gary Stevens speaks with KBBI’s Jay Barrett about coronavirus preparations the legislature has been making in an effort to adjourn as soon as possible.

The transcript is below.

KBBI:        Why don't you give me the update on the legislation that you folks are working on down there?

Kathy Carssow is a volunteer for the Recall Dunleavy effort in Homer.

The views expressed in this commentary do not reflect those of KBBI’s staff board or volunteers.
 

Transcript:

Hello, this is Kathy Carssow. I volunteer on the Homer Recall Dunleavy campaign.  In just 3 weeks, over 11 hundred voters on the Southern Kenai Peninsula signed the petition to put the recall question before Alaska voters.  Now Recall Dunleavy has launched “Sign At Home,” a safe and remote way for you to join us in putting Alaska back on track.

   As winter releases its icy grip on coastal Alaska, the natural inclination of many is to get ready for fishing season. This year, with travel restrictions in place and social distancing all the rage, the season for both fishermen and processors looks precarious from the perspective of District P Senator Gary Stevens. His district includes the ports of Kodiak, Cordova and Homer. He spoke with KBBI’s Jay Barrett.

Updates and information from:
Nurse Lorne Carroll from AK Department of Public Health, Chief Mark Kirko from Homer Volunteer Fire Department, Derotha Ferraro from South Peninsula Hospital, Pegge Erkeneff from Kenai Peninsula Borough School District and Jenny Carroll from the City Of Homer.
You can access updated information anytime at the City of Homer website.  http://cityofhomer-ak.gov/

Homer Mayor Ken Castner took the opportunity of Monday night's city council meeting to lay out exactly how seriously he and the city are taking the current coronavirus pandemic and its potential to spread to Homer. The comments seemed especially forceful after a citizen complained about the closure orders during the Committee of the Whole meeting, saying the dangers of the virus were overblown.

We share the mayor's talk here in its entirety.

Regulatory area 521, in the central Bering Sea just northwest of the Pribilof Islands, recorded the highest bycatch totals for nearly  all prohibited species for the week ending March 14.  Onboard observers reported 61000 bairdi crab, nearly 80,000 opilio crab, 771 king salmon, and ninety one thousand pounds of halibut mortality in that area.  The 168 red king crab caught there put it just behind area 509 north of False Pass, which recorded 252.  Pelagic, or midwater, trawlers caught most of the salmon, while non-pelagic, or bottom, trawlers were responsible for the majority of the halibut