ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – It’s an important time of year for many Alaskans who are filling up their freezers with fish, but the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says how fishermen dispose of the parts they don’t eat is also important.
Wildlife Biologist Cory Stantorf said illegally dumped fish waste is a problem in Southcentral Alaska that can have dangerous consequences, not to mention fines that range between $300 to $1,000.
“The issue is folks coming back from dipnetting or fishing on the Kenai — rod and reel — are coming back, filleting fish and then dumping those in the local creeks, streams or dumping them on the banks,” Stantorf said. “And that’s just a huge draw for bears.”
Fish and Game recommends people who clean their fish on-site to chop up the carcass and throw it into fast-moving water.
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If fish are processed elsewhere, it isn’t illegal to dispose of waste in local streams but it is highly discouraged by Fish and Game. The agency says that can increase the risk of spreading disease into new water bodies, as well as attract bears to creeks and streams that literally run through people’s backyards.
But fish waste can be taken to local landfills, officials say. According to a release, fish waste is accepted at the Central Peninsula Landfill, as well as Kenai Peninsula transfer facilities. Fish waste is also accepted at the Anchorage Regional Landfill, Central Transfer Station, and the Girdwood Transfer Station, as well as the Central Landfill in Palmer.
People can also put fish waste into residential trashcans but might want to consider freezing it first to reduce the smell.
At the very least, Stantorf said, make sure the can is at the curb the morning of pick-up and stays there as little time as possible.
Anglers also have other options, according to Kelli Toth, acting director of Anchorage’s Solid Waste Services. They can take it to SWS’s new Materials Recovery Facility at the old transfer station in midtown. SWS is running a pilot project there to accept organics that will eventually be turned into compost and other soil additives, and will now add fish waste to the mix.
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“If you are a gardener, you know that fish carcasses are like gold and provide really fantastic nutrients back to the soil,” Toth said.
Toth emphasized that fish heads and other parts of fish are edible and highly desirable in some cultures. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium accepts donated salmon including heads, bellies and eggs. For more information, call (907) 729-2682
JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) – The Supreme Court of Alaska will be taking up the case of the State of Alaska, Division of Elections v. Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.
The oral arguments will be held Monday at 10 a.m. via Zoom, according to an order and opening notice.
The document also specifies that a decision is expected to be made before noon on Tuesday.
According to documents from the Division of Elections, the state must start printing ballots at noon on the same day.
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This comes after an Anchorage Superior Court Judge ordered Dan J. Sullivan on to the ballot Friday.
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A new home under construction in Potter Valley in Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)
This June, two very different offers reach Alaska families, and both amount to the same thing: $10,000. The difference is everything.
Bill Walker, running for governor, would hand every eligible Alaskan a one-time $10,000 check and then end the Permanent Fund dividend for good. Ask one question: Where does his $10,000 come from?
It comes from the Permanent Fund, the people’s own money and the savings Alaskans built for their children. Walker would spend that endowment once to pay Alaskans to give up the yearly dividend forever.
Think about what that does. It cancels the annual check that gives a family a reason to keep an Alaska address and replaces it with a single payout. You hand people their own savings, call it a gift and cut the tie that held them here in the same motion. It is the oldest mistake in governing money: raid what you have saved to buy a moment’s applause and call the spending generosity.
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A plan that spends the people’s savings to send the people away is not bold. It is foolish.
Now consider the other $10,000. Through Alaska Housing Finance Corp., the state offers families up to $10,000 to build a new, energy-efficient home. AHFC raids nothing. It earns its own way. Over the years, it has returned more than $2 billion to the state treasury, and it spends some of that income the way any good business does: to win a customer.
Here, the customer is an Alaskan who wants to own a home, put down roots and stay.
That is the oldest sound move in business: Invest a little of what you earn to bring in someone who stays. The homeowner remains, the community gains a family and the corporation keeps earning. The money spent comes back. A plan that puts earnings to work to bring people home is not charity. It is clever.
Same amount. Opposite source. Opposite wisdom. One spends savings; the other spends earnings. One pays Alaskans to leave; the other pays them to stay. One empties the state; the other fills it.
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This Homeownership Month, the choice is the size of a single check, and the whole question is where the check comes from and what it asks of you. Ten thousand dollars of your own fund, to wave you goodbye. Or $10,000, earned and reinvested, to help you stay and build.
Evan Swensen is the publisher of Publication Consultants in Anchorage and the author of “What’s the Money For: A Permanent Fund Mortgage Proposal.”
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