• Sea otters threatened in Southwest, thriving in Southeast Oct 15, 2009
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated nearly 6,000 square miles as 'critical habitat' in nearshore waters of the Alaska Peninsula, Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea. Areas close to shore provide most of the shellfish that otters eat; the shallow waters also protect the sea otters from killer whales - a suspected culprit in their demise. (Juneau Empire)
A new route beyond the Last Frontier Oct 13, 2009
"Most days in Nome, you're not likely to run into anybody you didn't see at the Breakers Bar on Friday night. More than 500 roadless miles from Anchorage, rugged tundra and frigid Bering Sea waters have a way of discouraging visitors. So it was a big deal when the World, a 644-foot residential cruise ship with condos costing several million dollars apiece, dropped anchor during the summer for a two-day look-see. ... The record shrinking of the polar ice cap is turning the forbidding waters at... (Anchorage Daily News)
Cruise ship visit marks opening of the Far North Oct 13, 2009
Rugged tundra and frigid Bering Sea waters have a way of discouraging visitors ... Rugged tundra and frigid Bering Sea waters have a way of discouraging visitors ... Rugged tundra and frigid Bering Sea waters have a way of discouraging visitors. (Juneau Empire)
Melting ice caps open up shipping routes Oct 13, 2009
More than 500 roadless miles from Anchorage, rugged tundra and frigid Bering Sea waters have a way of discouraging visitors. So it was a big deal when the World - a 644-foot-long residential cruise ship with condos costing several million dollars apiece - dropped anchor during the summer for a two-day look-see. (Boston Globe)
For some caribou herds, news is good Oct 11, 2009
For example, the declining Western Arctic herd is close to the Bering Sea. When rain comes off the sea and falls on frozen ground, it creates a problem. (Anchorage Daily News)
Southeast sea otters to be focus of survey Oct 11, 2009
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated nearly 6,000 square miles as "critical habitat" in nearshore waters of the Alaska Peninsula, Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea. Areas close to shore provide most of the shellfish that otters eat; the shallow waters also protect the sea otters from killer whale predators -- a suspected reason for their decline. (Anchorage Daily News)
New play celebrates pioneers' love for each other - and Alaska Oct 11, 2009
He rattled around camps and boom towns from the Bering Sea to Juneau before starting the first drug store in Anchorage in 1916. For the next 23 years, he struggled to keep his businesses open in an up-and-down economy. (Anchorage Daily News)
Village's drinking water system shut down Oct 10, 2009
ANCHORAGE - The drinking water system in a town on an island in the Bering Sea a few dozen miles from Siberia remained shut down Thursday over fears it is contaminated with gasoline ... ANCHORAGE - The drinking water system in a town on an island in the Bering Sea a few dozen miles from Siberia remained shut down Thursday over fears it is contaminated with gasoline. (Juneau Empire)
Alaska sea otters get habitat protection Oct 9, 2009
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated nearly 5,900 square miles as critical habitat for sea otters in the Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea and Alaska Peninsula ... Noblin said there isn't much that can be done about killer whales but there are other stressors than can be addressed such as overfishing, the potential for oil development in Bristol Bay and climate change in the Bering Sea. (MSNBC -- Environment)
LA Zoo welcomes giant otters and langurs monkeys Oct 8, 2009
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated nearly 5,900 square miles as critical habitat for sea otters in the Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea and Alaska Peninsula. The designated area includes all nearshore waters. (Fresno Bee -- State)
Cold swim didn't help fisherman sober up Oct 8, 2009
Sgt. Jennifer Shockley of the Unalaska police department entertains us again with this blotter entry from early Sunday: "1:12 a.m., assault: Officers responded to the galley of a fishing vessel regarding a brawl in which one intoxicated man had somehow fallen overboard. Officers determined that the intoxicated man had begun arguing with other, less inebriated crew shortly after boarding his vessel and had mysteriously fallen overboard soon after punching another man in the mouth. The drunk was... (Anchorage Daily News)
'Deadliest Catch' film crew prepares for worst Oct 6, 2009
Members of the film crew for the popular cable reality show "Deadliest Catch" -- which follows Bering Sea crab fishermen as they battle pitching decks and pounding storms -- have suffered serious injuries out there too. Last week, the Coast Guard put them through emergency training in preparation for Season 6. (Anchorage Daily News)
Study finds prefab houses beyond repair in villages Oct 6, 2009
Quinhagak is a community of 660 people a mile from the Bering Sea coast, near the mouth of the Kuskokwim River ... "After awhile, what works in Tulsa is not going to work in an arctic or sub-arctic climate like Alaska, especially if you put it next to the Bering Sea," said Lee Jones, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development spokesman in Seattle. (Juneau Empire)
Our view: Safer seas Oct 6, 2009
The deaths of five more in the sinking of the Alaska Ranger in the Bering Sea in 2008 drove home that truth once again, and for the fourth time after a fatal accident, the National Transportation Safety Board has said Congress should give the Coast Guard the power to do mandatory inspections of commercial fishing vessels. Story tools. (Anchorage Daily News)
Cleveland Volcano spews ash plume Oct 4, 2009
The observatory says satellite views showed the ash cloud drift northeast about 375 miles and disperse over the Bering Sea. Cleveland is about 940 miles southwest of Anchorage, on a remote and uninhabited island. (Anchorage Daily News)
Inside Alaska business Oct 3, 2009
Seattle-based American Seafoods is a major seafood harvester, processor and distributor, with a significant fleet targeting pollock in the Bering Sea off Alaska's coast. Credit union has new department in Juneau. (Anchorage Daily News)
Feds Say Rudder Loss Led Alaska Fishing Boat To Sink Oct 1, 2009
WASHINGTON -- A fishing boat that sank last year in the Bering Sea off the Alaska coast apparently lost its rudder, then flooded and went down. That's what investigators at the National Transportation Safety Board think happened to the Alaska Ranger in March of 2008. (KIRO TV, WA)
NTSB recommends more safety oversight for fishing fleet Oct 1, 2009
The board's suggestion came Wednesday as it made public the finding of its investigation into the March 2008 sinking of the Alaska Ranger in the treacherous but resource-rich fishing grounds of Alaska's Bering Sea ... As written, they bar vessel owners with permission to fish in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Island management area from replacing their boats with newer vessels unless their existing vessels are a complete loss ... "And these vessels are operating in an environment that's more... (Anchorage Daily News)
Officials: Rudder blamed in Alaska fishing vessel sinking Oct 1, 2009
The Alaska Ranger sank in March 2008 in the Bering Sea, west of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Five of the boat's 47 crew members - including the captain, chief engineer and mate - were among the dead. (Juneau Empire)
Submarine tales to be shared at library Sep 30, 2009
The Grunion sank in the Bering sea near the Aleutian Islands in August 1942. He will relate the story of the Grunion and how he and his two brothers were able to track down and find the ship. (Lexington Minuteman, MA)
Bethel considers easing alcohol restrictions Sep 20, 2009
Michael Nick stood shin deep in the Kuskokwim River on a recent weeknight, after a fruitless day of searching the Bering Sea coast for seal with his wife and daughters. The girls swatted biting gnats as their parents prepared to unload the skiff. (Anchorage Daily News)
Fuel barge grounds in Kanektok River Sep 20, 2009
The Coast Guard said the 160-foot barge is grounded in the Kanektok River near Quinhagak Village on the eastern shore of the Bering Sea. The barge is in the Togiak National Wildlife Rufuge area, but the Coast Guard said there is no known impact to wildlife. (Juneau Empire)
Look more into sun Sep 20, 2009
Further, is it not the theory that the residents of Alaska walked across the frozen Bering Sea, which sure as heck is not frozen now. Global warming may be real -- or it may be just another false alarm. (Fresno Bee -- Opinion)
Bering Sea pollock survey finds fewer fish than anticipated Sep 19, 2009
Government researchers have released data indicating that Alaska's Bering Sea pollock population remains low. Story tools. (Anchorage Daily News)
Pollock survey shows fewer fish than anticipated Sep 19, 2009
Pollock numbers in the Bering Sea continue to remain depressed despite expectations from government scientists that large amounts of young fish were growing to harvestable size ... At its December meeting, the 11-member council cut the total allowable catch for pollock in the eastern Bering Sea to 815,000 metric tons. (Longview Daily News, WA)
Warming Arctic 'halts migration' Sep 18, 2009
Writing in the journal Arctic, the team said the shift coincides with warming in the North Pacific and Bering Sea. "This suggests that environmental conditions have changed for one of the northernmost wintering populations of geese," said lead author David Ward, a USGS researcher at the Alaska Science Center. (BBC News -- Science)
New Jersey shoebox holds Alaska history Sep 17, 2009
The daughter of a photographer who was involved in surveying a proposed rail link from Fairbanks to the Bering Sea during World War II has donated a shoebox of film reels and documents from the work to the Alaska State Library. Her father, Francis Longworth, died in 1972, and she only recently decided to research the contents of the box after it had been sitting in the guest room of her home for 20 years. (Anchorage Daily News)
Little known Alaska parks offer history, scenery, adventure Sep 15, 2009
After all, many scientists believe the first Americans to set foot on the continent arrived by crossing the Bering Sea Land Bridge into what's now a national park. "Kobuk Valley National Park shows 10,000 years of use, and is one of most important archeological sites in North America," Helfrich said. (Anchorage Daily News)
Crab pot comes up with a toothless monster Sep 15, 2009
A water taxi driver later set them straight: It was a , found from Northern California to the Bering Sea but not usually as large as the one they caught off Kachemak Bay. Story tools. (Anchorage Daily News)
Octopus demand up; study needed Sep 13, 2009
KODIAK -- State and federal researchers are partnering with Alaska divers to learn more about octopus in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea ... The best guess is that octopus in the Gulf and Bering Sea have distinct reproductive seasons, with mating in late summer to early fall, spawning into the winter, and incubation into early spring. (Anchorage Daily News)
Whales, salmon more valuable than oil Sep 12, 2009
One month from this growing catastrophe, on the 21st of September, comments are due in to U.S. Interior Secretary Salazar on whether we should allow oil and gas development in the Bering Sea and Bristol Bay, in a tract known as the North Aleutian Planning Basin ... The Australian blowout should serve as a wake-up call, a clear example of the brutal reality of what can happen here in our Bering Sea and Bristol Bay fisheries. (Anchorage Daily News)
More Pacific brant now find Alaska the place to winter over Sep 11, 2009
"This increase in wintering numbers of brant in Alaska coincides with a general warming of temperatures in the North Pacific and Bering Sea," said Ward. Although records are sparse, Ward believes fewer than 3,000 brant wintered in the state before 1977. (Anchorage Daily News)
Coast Guard copter rescues man on Unalaska Island Sep 11, 2009
The Kodiak-based cutter Munro was on patrol in the Bering Sea and responded. It launched a Dolphin helicopter that hoisted Young and his dog. (Juneau Empire)
Walruses come ashore in Alaska's Arctic Sep 10, 2009
Walruses on an ice floe in the Bering Sea. ADN finds the news from all over Alaska and about Alaska from around the nation so you don't have to. (Anchorage Daily News)
Pacific walrus closer to gaining federal protections Sep 9, 2009
"Climate change is the primary threat, but the offshore oil development in the Chukchi and Bering seas is also a problem," Noblin said ... Females and their young traditionally use ice as a moving diving platform, riding it north like a conveyor belt as it recedes in spring and summer, first in the northern Bering Sea, then into the Chukchi Sea off Alaska's northwest coast. (Anchorage Daily News)
Federal funds help clear Alaska beaches of marine debris Sep 8, 2009
Motivated by the amount of marine debris piling up on the Pribilof Islands beaches of St. Paul and St. George in the Bering Sea, some cleanup efforts got under way years ago ... Based in Juneau, the MCA Foundation is the nonprofit arm of the Marine Conservation Alliance industry association of fishermen, boat owners, processors and communities that participate in the crab and groundfish fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea, according to the foundation. (Anchorage Daily News)
NTSB posts Alaska Ranger documents Sep 8, 2009
The documents are factual in nature and draw no conclusion to the March 23, 2008, sinking of the Seattle-based trawler in the Bering Sea. Five of the 47 people on board died. (Juneau Empire)
Friendlier Arctic seas bring opportunity -- and risk Sep 6, 2009
The cruise ship, the Bremen, is making its way to Nome, where it will begin a new itinerary traveling through the Bering Sea, the Aleutians and on to Russia and Japan. The second episode reflects the industrial potential of the Arctic. (Anchorage Daily News)
Greenpeace sues to protect ribbon seals Sep 5, 2009
Federal biologists estimate the population at about 200,000 globally with a Bering Sea population of 100,000 or more. During summer and fall, ribbon seals live entirely in the water, foraging on fish, squid and crustaceans. (Juneau Empire)
NTSB to release documents from Alaska Ranger probe Sep 5, 2009
ANCHORAGE - The National Transportation Safety Board plans to release information Friday about the sinking of a fishing trawler in the Bering Sea ... ANCHORAGE - The National Transportation Safety Board plans to release information Friday about the sinking of a fishing trawler in the Bering Sea. (Juneau Empire)
Thriller about alien abductions set in Nome Sep 4, 2009
NOME - Universal Pictures has said it will release an alien abduction film this fall that plays off of decades of unexplained disappearances and deaths in this old Gold Rush town along the Bering Sea ... NOME - Universal Pictures has said it will release an alien abduction film this fall that plays off of decades of unexplained disappearances and deaths in this old Gold Rush town along the Bering Sea. (Juneau Empire)
Activists sue to protect ribbon seals in Arctic Sep 4, 2009
Federal biologists estimate the population at about 200,000 globally with a Bering Sea population of 100,000 or more ... George Pletnikoff, a senior oceans campaigner with Greenpeace who grew up on St. George Island in the Bering Sea, said the federal government must fulfill it's mandate to protect Arctic wildlife. (MSNBC -- Environment)
New York's favorite walrus is dead Sep 3, 2009
Akituusaq, a 2-year-old, 320-pound Pacific walrus born at the New York Aquarium to orphan walruses rescued from St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea and raised at the aquarium, died today of complications from pneumonia. His name, which means "gift given in return" in the Yup'ik language, was selected through a nationwide competition in 2007 that tallied more than 9,000 votes. (Anchorage Daily News)
Encroaching river set clock ticking on Newtok Aug 30, 2009
But Newtok, northeast of Bethel and just a few miles inland from the Bering Sea, is by far the closest to actually moving. The village has already traded land with the federal government for a new site. (Anchorage Daily News)
Newtok: A look at the community Aug 30, 2009
Location: The Bering Sea coast, on the bank of the Ninglick River, 94 miles northwest of Bethel. History: The Newtok people s ancestors have lived in the Nelson Island region for at least 2,000 years. (Anchorage Daily News)
Maritime museum needs Juneau's help Aug 27, 2009
Then you move up to the bridge where you may be able to take the helm and, with the use of modern technology, you can simulate operating the Storis in the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean. Perhaps, we can even take an imaginary trip through Wrangell Narrows on the simulator. (Juneau Empire)
Two lives spiraling downward had a fatal encounter Aug 26, 2009
Hunter grew up in several Yukon-Kuskokwim villages but spent most of his years in Scammon Bay, a Yup'ik village with 500 people one mile from the Bering Sea. He was in Anchorage for mental health treatment because Bethel couldn't offer him what he needed, said his father, Homer Hunter. (Anchorage Daily News)
Biologists hope to kill all of Rat Island's rats (9/21/08) Aug 24, 2009
"To put it in its simplest form," said Steve Mclean, Bering Sea program manager of the Alaska Nature Conservancy in Anchorage, "a single breeding pair left alive is essentially a failure.". The Nature Conservancy has raised more than $2 million toward the project, Mclean said. (Anchorage Daily News)
U.S. limits commercial fishing in Arctic Aug 22, 2009
Fishermen want to avoid what happened in the mid-1980s when it was every nation for itself and the pollock stocks were overfished in the Bering Sea and collapsed, said Dave Benton, executive director of the Marine Conservation Alliance, an industry group that represents the seafood, groundfish and crab industries in Alaska. The plan will help the United States work more cooperatively with the Canadians and the Russians on a joint decision about fishing in the Arctic, Benton said. (MSNBC -- Environment)
Full Story » Aug 21, 2009
Commerce secretary approves Arctic fisheries plan - Yahoo. Search Type Choose a search type from the items below. (Yahoo News -- Technology)
Yukon king salmon count in error Aug 20, 2009
AVCP president Myron Naneng said he plans to tell the federal task force that the Yukon's salmon are being mismanaged and that something needs to be done immediately to reduce the number of kings wasted by the massive Bering Sea pollock fleet. Regulators say they're managing the collapsing king run as best they can and that break-up flooding complicated the counting process by clouding the river with debris. (Anchorage Daily News)
Study will collect deckhand data Aug 16, 2009
The golden king crab fishery started Saturda 00004000 y, signaling the start of the Bering Sea's fall crab seasons ... The outlook for this year's catches of red king crab at Bristol Bay, and Bering Sea snow crab, are less certain. (Anchorage Daily News)
Alaska waters acidify at troubling rate Aug 15, 2009
Water samples collected this spring from the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska show acidification is happening more quickly and is more severe than in warmer parts of the planet. The cause is absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and it could hurt Alaska's fisheries. (Anchorage Daily News)
Begich says rural trip revealing for cabinet Aug 14, 2009
The cabinet members -- Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan -- on Wednesday visited Alaska as part of the administration's "Rural Tour." Begich acted as guide in Bethel, a transportation and government hub for southwest villages, and Hooper Bay, a large, mostly Yu'pik Eskimo village of 1,160 on the Bering Sea about 500 miles west of Anchorage. Both communities are well off the... (Anchorage Daily News)
Shouting overcomes reason in government Aug 13, 2009
You can swim the Bering Sea to Russia and get your free ride there and their health care. If we in Alaska would work harder and stop whining, we might not have this deficit. (Wasilla Frontiersman, AK)
Obama's Cabinet secretaries tour rural Alaska Aug 13, 2009
During the winter, residents 00003189 are locked in by ice of the Bering Sea. The nearest hospital is a $420 plane ride away and the only way in this time of year is by air. (Anchorage Daily News)
Obama team sees difficulties unique to the Bush Aug 13, 2009
After arriving late for a hurried town hall meeting in Bethel, the state's largest rural hub, the secretaries visited the village of Hooper Bay on the Bering Sea coast before returning to Anchorage Wednesday night ... During the winter, they're locked in by ice of the Bering Sea. (Anchorage Daily News)
Group aims to bring historic cutter home Aug 11, 2009
Storis Museum secretary Joe Geldhoff said the Storis fought in Greenland against the German meteorological weather stations and has served in the Atlantic Ocean, Bering Sea, Arctic Ocean, Chukchee Sea and North Pacific ... Storis was homeported in Juneau from 1948 to '57 and conducted its last patrol of 54 days in the Bering Sea just prior to decommissioning on Feb. 8, 2007. (Juneau Empire)
Alaska sculptor takes work to Native American crafts showcase Aug 9, 2009
He'll also be taking an ivory version of Michelangelo's "David" as well as more traditional items, like a Bering Sea style conical hunting ha 00004000 t.. More about Matchian at. (Anchorage Daily News)
Longtime Alaska businessman dies Aug 9, 2009
He negotiated with Shell Oil for an extensive hydrocarbon exploration program on Calista lands which resulted in substantial revenue for the corporation; he negotiated the successful selection of seven million acres of land entitlement for the regional and 57 village corporations; he established and developed Settlers Bay of Wasilla; negotiated the purchase of a block of Anchorage downtown real estate and the construction of the Sheraton Hotel; established ESCA-TECH, a scientific land management... (Anchorage Daily News)
Woman captures video of weather oddity rarely seen in Alaska Aug 6, 2009
Now her clip is making waves on YouTube and Alaskans have rare video evidence of the funnel-shaped vortex appearing over the frigid Bering Sea ... But in the Bering Sea the air is uniformly cool, Hardin said, which could explain why sightings are so infrequent. (Anchorage Daily News)
Census 2010 to Launch in Alaskan Wild Aug 1, 2009
The tiny Bering Sea village will be the launching point for the 2010 Census next year. (AP Photo/Al Grillo). (CBS News -- US)
Tastier names trouble for seafood stocks Jul 31, 2009
An international group of scientists examined an unprecedented amount of data about harvests and fish populations from the Bering Sea to the Antarctic, and they studied thousands of species from the Atlantic cod to the Australian jackass morwong. Some of those worst-hit were fish that have been renamed to make them more marketable. (MSNBC -- Environment)
MAUREEN DOWD: Sarah grabs Hillary's grievance bag Jul 31, 2009
She was greeted like a rock star in Unalakleet, a fishing village on the Bering Sea. She danced with Eskimos in Kotzebue. (Fresno Bee -- Opinion)
"Deadliest Catch" seamen say fishermen not greedy Jul 29, 2009
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boat captains from the U.S. television show "Deadliest Catch," which chronicles the perils of Bering Sea crab fishing, say small commercial fishermen are unfairly blamed in the debate over declining fish populations ... Harris, 52, and other captains are seen on the show, which airs in 170 countries, displaying their prowess in catching king and Opilio crab in dangerous currents and icy conditions in the Bering Sea between Alaska and Russia ... Last December, the North... (Scientific American)
