King Salmon

(Serves 4) King salmon Ingredients: 4 6-ounce king salmon filets 2 teaspoons olive oil Kosher salt and white pepper to taste Procedure: Prepare arugula pesto and set aside (see below) Pat dry the salmon filet on paper towels to remove any excess moisture Heat olive oil in a heavy-gauge fry pan until a light haze forms Season fish with kosher salt and white pepper Sear the fish skin-side up until a very hard crust forms Turn fish and repeat process Searing the fish in this manner will seal in moisture as well as add texture and flavor to the dish Cook until fish flakes apart with a fork, about 4 minutes per side Arugula pesto Ingredients: 1 cup cleaned arugula 1 teaspoon garlic 1/2 cup or less olive oil 1/4 cup grated parmesan 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts Salt and pepper to taste Procedure: Combine and process in a food processor until smooth Adjust oil amount to desired consistency

by The Associated Press Friday, May 7, 2010 FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks will study the decline of western Alaska king salmon runs. The project will focus on the health and ecology of freshwater king salmon runs and how those factors affect annual returns. Western Alaska river fishermen blame poor king salmon runs on incidental catch by Bering Sea pollock companies. Federal fisheries managers think other factors might also be at work.

Alaska king salmon shortages produced emergency orders Tuesday from federal and state authorities, closing the Kenai River to fishing for kings and restricting fishing on the Kasilof River until at least the end of the month. An emergency order from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service closes the Kenai downriver of Skilak Lake to subsistence fishing for kings, effective from 12:01 a.m. Friday, June 22 through 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, July 14. “Through June 18, all indices used to assess the abundance of early-run Chinook salmon in the Kenai River indicate a run that is well below average and lowest on record,” wrote USFWS biologist Doug Palmer.

by The Associated Press Friday, June 18, 2010 FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- King salmon are running late in the Yukon River, where the return has failed to meet the demand from Alaska villagers or international treaty obligations with Canada the past three years. State and federal fishery managers say it's too early to tell how this year's chinook run will size up after king salmon started showing up in the Yukon River late last week. The first kings were caught in test nets at the mouth of the river on June 9, and first detected at a sonar counter at Pilot Station, about 120 miles upriver, on June 11. Biologist Steve Hayes with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says the Yukon king run is about five days late at this point, and officials plan to assess the situation this weekend.

Pan seared king salmon with watercress cream by Chef Al Levinsohn   8 ea                             King salmon filets, 6 oz. ea 8 ea                             Medium red potatoes cut into wedges and roasted 1/2 cup                         Unsalted butter 3/4 cup                         All purpose flour 1    cup  ...

“Empty fish racks, after empty fish racks,” said Bev Hoffman of Bethel, describing a trip Friday up the Kuskokwim River, which is lined with family fish camps.   In most years by this time, those racks and smokehouses are filling up with king or chinook salmon, the main staple of the subsistence diet in Southwest Alaska.  Hoffman is co-chair of the Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Working Group, which is mostly made up of subsistence and commercial fishermen representing communities up and down the wide, muddy river.

Alaska Copper River salmon have begun their long journey from the ocean to dinner plates across the country, as commercial fishermen were allowed to begin casting nets for the fish Thursday morning. Fishermen in Cordova hope to cash in on the prized salmon, known for its superiority in the culinary world. Processing plants will get a better idea of the size of Thursday's catch, permitted during a 12-hour period, once ships begin returning later Thursday night. Channel 2 spoke with many fishermen on the water during the opener, however, who said they weren't getting much of a haul.

by Maria Downey Tuesday, June 29, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A sexual assault suspect has been formally charged after he was tracked down in King Salmon. 43-year-old Erickson Ngirchokebai was arrested Monday by state troopers after being tracked down by the U.S. Marshals' Fugitive Task Force. The Anchorage resident is accused of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on the Delaney Park Strip in Downtown Anchorage June 17. He was arraigned Tuesday in King Salmon.

For Louie and Helena Andrew, subsistence fishing on the Kuskokwim River has been a way of life for more than 50 years. The married couple live in Bethel, a regional hub for Southwest Alaska. The Andrews say fishing and hunting are an important part of their Yup'ik culture. “The people themselves, even my wife and I, have connections to everything that's in the waters, on the land, and in the air,” said Louie Andrew, a traditional chief with the Orutsararmiut Native Council.

Fishing is a thread running through the fabric of many Alaska communities. On the Kenai Peninsula, that thread is symbolized by the Kenai River and the king salmon it brings. In a small workshop in Soldotna, strong fishing line is spun onto spools and threaded through fishing poles. Greg Brush is gearing up for another season as a sport-fishing guide. “I came up here and started deck handling and then guiding, and then I started my own business and built it up through the years -- and I'm still going,” Brush said.

Numerous boats sitting in dry storage in Naknek are a quiet precursor to the busy sockeye salmon fishing season that transforms this community. The population increases tenfold in the summer to support the most profitable commercial sockeye fishery in the world. While other areas of the state have seen commercial fishing hurt by low king salmon returns, Bristol Bay remains a strong economic engine. The mayor of the Bristol Bay Borough, Daniel O'Hara, says fishing's importance to the region is like oil's importance to the State of Alaska.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is issuing catch-and-release restrictions on Kenai River king salmon sport fishing, due to estimates that rank this year's preseason run as the lowest measured over the past 28 years. Fish and Game officials say the preseason estimate for 2013 indicates a total run of 5,300 kings -- a number which pales in comparison to runs from 1986 through 2012, which measured an average run of 14,000 fish, according to an ADFG report. “We're forecasting a well-below-average run for king salmon on the Kenai River," said Fish and Game biologist Tom Vania.

While many are making summer plans, this is the time of the year when work ramps up for Alaska's Department of Fish and Game. The department received funding from the Alaska Energy Authority to build four new weirs in Lake Creek and Talachulitna on the Yetna side of the river and in Montana Creek and on the middle fork of the Chulitna on the main stem of the Susitna river. "It will allow us to make projections in the future on what we think is going to come up," Department Region Research Coordinator Jack Erickson said.

After a disastrous king salmon return last year, the state of Alaska is putting millions of dollars toward better understanding what's happening to the large fish. As part of the Chinook salmon research initiative, researchers with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are preparing to implement new research into the state's King salmon runs. Thirty million dollars has been dedicated to the new research over the next five years. Twelve Chinook salmon stalks from the Yukon River to South East Alaska will be monitored throughout their life cycle to better understand what's happening to the fish.

More than forty people in Bethel protested against the managers of the state's fisheries on Earth Day - their message, “we want our salmon back.” The protesters marched from the Department of Fish and Game office in Bethel to the court house in response to last year's fishing restrictions on the Kuskokwim River. “It's Earth Day and we wanted to convey, to let people know that we want to be idle no more and our resource management that our people live off here in the YK Delta,” Myron Naneng, President of the Association of Village Council Presidents, said.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game issued a stream of emergency orders Thursday restricting sport fishing in many areas of Southcentral Alaska, following low statewide salmon runs in 2012 and similar state action. In a statement summarizing most of the orders, Fish and Game said they were issued in response to “low king salmon abundance over recent years, a below-average outlook for the upcoming season, and uncertainty over how quickly king salmon abundance may rebound.” Last year, the state imposed a series of restrictions on fishing due to lower-than-expected salmon runs across Alaska.

NASA says a “spring fling,” or mid-level solar flare will spur the Northern Lights this weekend, April 12 to April 14. The aurora forecast for Friday and Saturday is high and weather permitting should be seen from “Barrow to Bethel, Dillingham and Ketchikan, and visible low on the horizon from King Salmon,” according to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. The aurora forecast for Sunday is active, a level below high, and weather permitting should be seen from “Barrow to Anchorage and Juneau, and visible low on the horizon from King Salmon and Prince Rupert,” according to UAF. On April 11, NASA said a mid-level solar flare , also associated with a coronal mass ejection, sent billions of solar particles towards Earth and will create a geomagnetic storm once the particles hit the giant magnetic bubble surrounding Earth called the magnetosphere.

For years, poor king salmon returns have forced the closures of subsistence, commercial and sport fishing across the state, with many fishermen blaming bycatch as the reason for the poor runs. Along the Yukon River, 68-year-old Nick Tucker of Emmonak, says king salmon has drastically declined since 2007, and fears the 2013 season could be the worst return yet. “If there are any evidence that any bycatch is being caught,” said Tucker.  “I think we should do everything we can to put a stop to that, particularly when we cannot fish our own.” Commercial fishermen claim there is no way to completely avoid catching kings while fishing for reds.  One Seattle-based organization wants to make sure the valuable fish doesn't go to waste.