Southeast

The Petersburg Borough Assembly passed a resolution on Sept. 15 calling on state and federal authorities for help dealing with rising sea otter populations. Petersburg now joins Wrangell and Haines in asking for stronger otter management.

The Petersburg resolution urges authorities and stakeholders to collaborate in creating a sea otter management plan. It also asks the federal government to loosen regulations for how Alaska Native subsistence hunters can use harvested sea otters. Currently, hunted sea otters can only be used as “authentic Native handicrafts.”

Multiple Assembly members voiced their support, including Rob Schwartz.

“I crabbed commercially for 35 years,” Schwartz said. “One of the reasons I got out is because we know we’ve seen this over the decades, the exponential increase in the population of the sea otters.”

Sea otters were once wiped out in Southeast Alaska due to the fur trade, but their population has skyrocketed since reintroduction to the region in the 1960s. Those sea otters consume a lot of shellfish, putting them at odds with fishermen.

Proponents for sea otter management say otters are causing trouble for the local economy and ecology because they’re depleting the shellfish resource and taking harvest from fisheries.

While this resolution doesn’t change state or federal law, it asks for disaster assistance for crab and dive fisheries in Southeast.

Both Mayor Mark Jensen and Vice Mayor Donna Marsh offered to recuse themselves for potential conflicts of interest. Jensen currently holds a commercial Dungeness crab permit. Marsh’s husband is a commercial crabber, and she has also previously held a crab permit. The Assembly allowed both Jensen and Marsh to vote on the resolution.

Marsh proposed an amendment to broaden who could legally take sea otters. Currently, sea otters are federally protected under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act, and can only be hunted by people who are one-quarter Alaska Native or an enrolled member of a coastal tribe.

The amendment, reviewed by the borough’s attorney, says that the Assembly would support regulations allowing sea otters to be taken by any Alaska resident with a valid hunting license.

The resolution with the added amendment passed 4-1, with Assembly member Jeigh Stanton Gregor opposed. He said he could not support the new amendment.

“I am definitely in favor of this resolution. I think action is needed on a variety of levels involving the sea otter population,” said Stanton Gregor. “But as far as I can tell, this resolution, if we include that amendment, would be in violation of federal law for the Marine Mammal Protection Act.”

This resolution is not legally binding; it’s a request for federal and state authorities to take action.

Hurricane-force winds are expected to hit central and southern Southeast Alaska late Thursday into Friday with gusts up to 80 miles per hour. Seas along the outer coast in the Gulf of Alaska could reach 35 feet.

Jeff Garmon is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Juneau. He said residents in the region should prepare.

“These winds, making landfall, they will do damage, they will push trees over, and we could see some damage to structures,” Garmon said. “Especially for folks from Sitka South, really ought to be paying very close attention to this.”

The storm is supposed to make landfall along southern Baranof Island and Prince of Wales Island Thursday night and then get stronger early Friday. Garmon said residents in other areas should also stay alert.

“Those winds extend well out to the east, well to the north, well to the south and west of where that center of circulation comes in,” he said. “So, this is not just an immediate coastal threat for wind. Those winds will eventually move inland and the Inside Passage needs to be watching.”

The windstorm is supposed to dissipate over the weekend, and Monday could see a few peeks of sun.

“Sunday, Monday looks a lot more benign, but we’re still going to have some weather around. We may get some breaks on Monday in the weather. So, let’s say the glass is half full for Monday.”

The National Weather Service in Juneau is posting weather updates to their social media accounts, and public radio stations in the region are also giving forecast updates on their airwaves.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include the increased winds and seas predicted by the National Weather Service.

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In Bridget Cove, Meta Mesdag grows thousands of oysters arranged in rows of floating mesh bags. She owns Salty Lady Seafood Co., the only Pacific oyster farm in Juneau.

Some years, naturally occurring toxic algal blooms have shut down her farm for weeks at a time. That motivated Mesdag to ask researchers: Can she predict when it will happen? 

“It’s such a mystery,” she said. 

On Mondays, Mesdag takes samples of her oysters and sends them to the state lab in Anchorage to test for toxic algae called Alexandrium catenella. The algae produce a neurotoxin that builds up in shellfish when they eat it. Just one milligram can kill a person. Testing is federally regulated. 

If the test comes back clean, she harvests. But if the oysters test over the FDA limit for the toxin, the farm shuts down.

In 2023, Mesdag said she had to shut down for half of her 20-week harvest season. 

“When you’re not making any money, but you’re spending money on labor, that can be really expensive and hard,” she said.

Since the farm couldn’t sell oysters at the time, she said she lost clients and had to lay people off. Once a closure is in place, the farm has to pass a series of tests to reopen. 

“We just have to wait, and we don’t know how long it takes,” she said. 

That loss of sales isn’t great for business.

The federal government is invested in boosting mariculture in Alaska’s waters, and there are still questions about how the environment here affects the health and quality of oysters. The state is invested in those questions too – about a decade ago it set a goal to grow Alaska’s mariculture into a $100 million industry by 2040, with 40% of that revenue coming from oysters. 

Researchers studied Mesdag’s oyster farm between 2021 and 2023 to understand the environmental conditions there and what it might say about the challenges and opportunities for growing shellfish in Southeast Alaska. So far, 20 oyster farms have permits in the region.

The study had a humble start. Mesdag’s question about harmful algal blooms landed on Courtney Hart’s desk when she was studying paralytic shellfish poisoning as a graduate student at the University of Alaska Southeast. Now she’s a crustacean shellfish program manager with the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe in Washington. 

“The first year, I was just trying to figure out if there was an easy way to monitor for Alexandrium or harmful algal blooms on her farm so I could help warn her essentially when a bloom was coming,” Hart said. 

But she hit a dead end.

“We didn’t really solve that problem,” she said. 

Sometimes the researchers would detect the toxic algae in the water and not see it in the oysters. Other times they’d see it in the oysters but not the water. Hart said the problem is not unique to Alaska — harmful algal blooms are notoriously unpredictable.

“Whether that bloom becomes toxic for shellfish really depends on so many factors that scientists have been studying for a long time and haven’t quite pinned down,” she said. 

But Hart said the study morphed when NOAA researchers joined. They wanted to answer a bigger question: What environmental conditions impact the overall health and quality of oysters in Southeast Alaska?

The scientists found that the spring phytoplankton bloom provides oysters a feast for only a short period, and they practically starve over the winter. 

“Often it may mean that it takes three years for your oysters to reach the right size, versus just two years, which is more typical down here in Washington,” Hart said.

The research team also looked at salinity. In the summer, during the primary harvest season, freshwater flows into the cove from melting snow and ice, making Mesdag’s farm less salty. Calm seas can prevent the freshwater from mixing into the saltwater below. 

When that happens, Mesdag said she can taste the difference — sometimes her oysters aren’t briny at all. 

But there are benefits too. The consistently cold water prevents oysters from spawning, so they retain high levels of lipids — healthy fats that make for a high-quality oyster. 

“As far as health of an oyster for humans, it’s good,” Hart said. 

While environmental conditions play an important role in how the industry develops, Bobbi Hudson said reaching the market is key. 

Hudson is the executive director of the Pacific Shellfish Institute. She splits her time between Washington state and Gustavus and is working with Southeast Conference, the region’s economic development agency, on an upcoming report about investments in the mariculture industry. 

“Alaska can have tremendous goals, but at the end of the day, if there’s not a market for those products, or a really strong market for those products, they’re not going to be able to reach those goals,” she said. 

She said that scaling up production, setting up cold chain distribution networks and making paralytic shellfish toxin testing more efficient could help Alaska’s shellfish farms grow. 

The State of Alaska has filed criminal charges against Chilkat Valley resident Steve Kroschel two months after state agencies first raided his once-popular wildlife facility, near Haines.

The state Office of Special Prosecutions filed three felony and two misdemeanor charges against Kroschel on Thursday, alleging cruelty to animals. Each of those felony charges could result in up to a $500,000 fine and five years in prison, according to Alaska statute.

An arraignment has been scheduled in Haines for Oct. 8, the state said in a release. Reached by phone on Friday morning, Kroschel was in Central Russia and not yet aware of the charges.

“This is insane, absolutely insane,” he said. “My heart, my spirit, my mind, is all about taking care of life on Earth.”

The charges are the most recent development in a years-long battle between Kroschel and the state over the Kroschel Films Wildlife Center.

For two decades, the facility has offered thousands of visitors close-up views of wild animals. But a series of incidents and inspections over the years raised concern among state officials over animal welfare and human safety.

Those concerns, plus a lapsed federal license, eventually led to the revocation of Kroschel’s state permit. Then, in June, two state agencies executed a search warrant and seized dozens of animals as part of a criminal investigation.

Charging documents indicate the three felony charges are related to “inflicting severe or prolonged physical pain or suffering” on animals including a moose, a porcupine and a brown bear. The two misdemeanors allege Kroschel failed to care for animals including a porcupine and moose.

Kroschel remains adamant that the charges are unfair and inaccurate.

“Every animal that I’ve had that passed away was either examined in a necropsy that I requested, or the state, and it was either old age or something like that,” he said. “It was not because of negligence. But they’re trying to pin that on me as animal cruelty, that’s insane.”

Kroschel has spent much of the last two months in Russia, where he says he’s helping care for some wolf pups and two orphaned grizzly bear cubs.

The Office of Special Prosecutions did not respond to multiple requests for comment but said in a statement that the charges are “only allegations and are not evidence of guilt.”

A cruise ship passenger died in Juneau on Tuesday after falling off a steep mountainside on Mount Roberts near downtown. 

Search and rescue responders used drones to locate the body of 32-year-old Texas resident Britian Pool Tuesday night, according to a dispatch the Alaska State Troopers shared Wednesday afternoon.

His body was recovered by Troopers and Juneau Mountain Rescue after he and another man reportedly fell from the Mount Roberts trail and slid down the mountainside. Capital City Fire/Rescue assisted troopers and Juneau Mountain Rescue on a rescue near the tram, according to a department Facebook post on Tuesday night. 

Both men were passengers on a cruise ship visiting Juneau for the day. Responders were able to locate and rescue the man with Pool, who suffered minor injuries. 

According to troopers, Pool’s body is being sent to the state medical examiner’s office and his next of kin have been notified. 

Pool is the second cruise ship passenger to die from a fall on Mount Roberts this year. At least five people have died in the backcountry around Juneau this summer. 

Correction: Alaska State Troopers initially reported the wrong age for the man who died. 

In Alaska, a state famous for abundant salmon and huge, cold-water-loving crab, another type of fish is making a splash: tuna.

Incursion of warm waters into Southeast Alaska coastal areas off Sitka and Baranof Island created a brief tuna jackpot earlier this month for sport fishers.

One of the first of those anglers was Troy Tydingco, who happens to be the Sitka sportfish area management biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

He took a day off from work when conditions were just right to search for tuna, a type of fish suited to more southern latitudes: beautiful weather, with calm waters and water temperatures that reach 60 degrees.

About 30 miles offshore, the search was successful. Tydingco and his six companions caught 44 albacore tuna in all. Other fishers followed.

“I think this is probably the first time sport anglers have really successfully targeted them and harvested them out of Sitka,” he said.

Another successful Sitka tuna angler was Adam Olson, operations manager at the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association.

What makes it fun, he said, is that it is “incredibly unique and unusual.” It is a big change for Sitka, he said. “We’re very salmon-centric here in Southeast Alaska,” he said.

Olson enjoyed eating the tuna as well as catching it, grilling it with a little salt and pepper. “It was phenomenal,” he said.

Tydingco said there is no precise count for the tuna haul. Based on anecdotal reports, social media posts and general talk around town, he estimates that there were 200 caught out of Sitka.

Anyone with a sportfishing license is allowed to harvest tuna in Alaska, as long as they use legal means. Most anglers use rod-and-reel gear that would typically be used to catch salmon. It is also legal to use a spear gun, which one man employed successfully to get a skipjack tuna in the Sitka harbor.

Commercial opportunity?

The Sitka tuna flurry generated enough interest to prompt the Department of Fish and Game to issue an advisory on Friday laying out the rules for a commercial harvest.

There is no federal fishery for tuna in Alaska, so it is up to the state to regulate catches if they occur, said Rhea Ehresmann, a Sitka-based groundfish project leader for the Department of Fish and Game.

Though no one may have tried it yet, commercial tuna fishing is legal in Alaska. There are requirements for permits, gear types and record-keeping. Trolling and jigging gear, which uses hooks to catch fish, is allowable for tuna, but nets are not.

So far, the department has issued a couple of permits to interested fishers, Ehresmann said.

Any commercial catch of tuna – whether deliberate or accidental bycatch during a harvest targeting another species —  is required to be reported to the state. There had been no such reports as of Monday, said Grant Hagerman, a Sitka-based troll management biologist for the Department of Fish and Game.

The Sitka tuna bounty may be new. But the occasional presence of tuna in Alaska waters is not.

Up to now, Prince of Wales Island, at the far southern tip of Southeast Alaska, has been the site of most of the state’s tuna fishing, Tydingco said.

There are also isolated cases of tuna catches farther north, such as a skipjack tuna fished off Yakutat in 2015.

History indicates that the presence of tuna in Alaska waters is ephemeral. They might linger for a few weeks if waters are warm enough, then swim south.

Excitement over tuna in Alaska and rumors of their appearances date back to the 1920s, according to a 1949 report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. There was a Ketchikan-based commercial harvest in 1948, though that tuna appears to have been caught off British Columbia’s Queen Charlotte Island, according to the report.

Whether tuna fishing will become a trend in Alaska is yet to be determined.

Tydingco said this year’s successes are likely to encourage more fishers to look for tuna, but that people should not count on having tuna-friendly conditions every year.

“That warm water temperature doesn’t even always make it up this far,” he said.

There are signs that Alaska will be more hospitable to tuna in the future, due to warming waters caused by climate change and other factors.

While sea surface temperatures have increased in almost all of the world’s marine areas, temperatures in the North Pacific Ocean are rising faster, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists. That includes the Gulf of Alaska, which has had recent marine heat waves.