NOAA Fisheries

The United Cook Inlet Drift Association and the Cook Inlet Fishermen's Fund filed suit Wednesday.

The ruling will move management of the Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone to the federal government, and create new rules for commercial gillnetters who fish in the area.

The federal proposal for management of the Cook Inlet commercial fishing waters, called Amendment 16, was published last fall. Public commenters, including trade groups representing drift fishermen and processors and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, took issue with many parts of the plan.

NOAA's new plan for the Cook Inlet Economic Exclusion Zone would involve federal management of commercial salmon fishing in the area. It's taking public comment on the plan through Dec. 18.

NOAA fisheries says the Steller sea lions were discovered in the Copper River Delta, a day after the fishery opened. It's offering a $5,000 reward for information about the shootings.

Belugas Count! is back this weekend after a two-year break. At the Kenai viewing station, the chances of seeing a Cook Inlet beluga whale tomorrow are high, and scientists will be at the station to answer questions.

The plan lays out 22 goals, created through interviews with stakeholders across the state, meant to guide the organization for the next five years.

Biologists say they’re picking up the pace on research to better understand the issue of salmon bycatch in Alaska. They're hoping advances in genetics technology will help them do that work much quicker — which , in turn, could inform more up-to-date policy decisions.

A $132 million package of federal relief funds is heading to Alaska fishermen and researchers to offset what’s known as fishing disasters in the state.

Four vessels are heading into the Gulf of Alaska this winter to study the impacts of climate change on Pacific salmon.The expedition is not the first…