Alaska

Biden administration rejects top Inslee choice for Alaska fish commission, reappoints trawl ally • Alaska Beacon

Published

2 years ago

July 31, 2024

Biden administration rejects top Inslee choice for Alaska fish commission, reappoints trawl ally • Alaska Beacon

The Biden administration has rejected a nominee for a key Alaska fisheries management post who could have tipped decisions toward the interests of tribes and conservation groups and away from the priorities of the large-boat, Seattle-based trawl industry.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo skipped over the top choice of Washington Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, conservation advocate Becca Robbins Gisclair, and instead reappointed the last-ranked nominee on a slate of four candidates that Inslee offered: Anne Vanderhoeven, a trawl industry employee who has served on the panel for several years.

Raimondo’s choice for the open North Pacific Fishery Management Council seat, which was confirmed Tuesday by Inslee’s natural resources advisor Ruth Musgrave, comes after what advocates describe as weeks of intense lobbying by supporters of both Gisclair and Vanderhoeven.

The council regulates lucrative commercial fisheries for pollock, cod and other species off Alaska’s coast. It’s been the site of polarized, emotional debate in recent years over the trawl industry’s unintended harvest — known as bycatch — of chum and king salmon that spawn in the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers in Western Alaska.

Populations of Yukon and Kuskokwim salmon have crashed in recent years, and while scientists largely attribute the declines to warming ocean temperatures, tribal advocates have also pushed the council to tighten bycatch limits on trawlers.

Of the council’s 11 voting positions, seven are nominated from ranked slates of candidates advanced by governors — five from Alaska and two from Washington — and four are top fisheries regulators from Alaska, Washington, Oregon and the federal government.

Four current members work in or have financial ties to the trawl industry, including Vanderhoeven, who is director of government affairs at Seattle-based Arctic Storm Management Group.

Typically, the commerce secretary defers to governors and appoints the top choice from the slate.

But advocates from Alaska tribes and conservation groups said that Vanderhoeven’s allies were pushing Raimondo — herself a former governor — to skip over Gisclair and Inslee’s two other higher-ranked nominees.

Gisclair has worked directly with Yukon residents, tribes and conservation advocates and now works as senior director for Arctic programs at the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy. One trawl official had said that if she was appointed, she would make his industry “squirm for a while.”

Vanderhoeven’s reappointment is “so upsetting,” said Eva Burk, who holds an Alaska Native tribal seat on an advisory panel to the North Pacific Council.

“You can’t just have a trawl sector-dominated council,” Burk said. “It’s just not going to start to get balance back into our different fisheries if we don’t put some diversity in the decisionmaking.”

The appointment of Vanderhoeven has not yet been formally announced by the National Marine Fisheries Service — the branch of Raimondo’s department that works with the North Pacific Council — and Raimondo herself has not offered any explanation for why she skipped over Gisclair. Two other appointments to the council from slates advanced by Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy are pending from Raimondo, as well.

A Seattle-based spokeswoman for the fisheries service, Marjorie Mooney-Seus, said “we expect to be making an announcement soon and don’t have any further details to share at this time.”

A spokesman for Inslee, Mike Faulk, declined to comment, as did representatives from the two leading trawl industry trade groups, the At-Sea Processors Association and United Catcher Boats.

Advocates who have been calling on the North Pacific Council to reduce bycatch said they were deeply disappointed with Raimondo’s decision.

SalmonState, a Juneau-based conservation group, called Vanderhoeven’s reappointment a “gut punch” to Alaskans and Indigenous people.

“We were hoping a strong, independent, conservation-minded voice would be added to the council,” the group’s executive director, Tim Bristol, said in a prepared statement. “Instead, we get pro-trawl business as usual.”

Not all Alaskans, however, had taken sides in the fight over the open Washington council seat.

The City of Unalaska, in the Aleutian Islands, remained neutral, and Frank Kelty, a former mayor who now works as a fisheries consultant to the municipality, noted that revenue from trawl-caught fish like pollock supports community services in multiple coastal Alaska communities.

“It’s our bread and butter right now,” he said.

Kelty also said that Gisclair could still end up filling a Washington seat on the North Pacific Council because of the death earlier this year of Kenny Down, the state’s gubernatorial nominee.

Down was a longtime advocate for tribal and other non-trawl interests — his obituary described the council as being “stacked with trawler-biased members” — and his wife, Shannon, said Tuesday that her husband made it very clear, including directly to Inslee, that he wanted to be replaced by someone with a similar point of view.

“He was making calls when he was in bed, trying to fight for his life,” Shannon Down said, adding that her husband shared his desire directly with Inslee. “This was his dying wish.”

Nathaniel Herz welcomes tips at [email protected] or (907) 793-0312. This article was originally published in Northern Journal, a newsletter from Herz. Subscribe at this link.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Source link

Click to comment

Alaska

Musician performs under the aurora in Nenana — without gloves, in 17 degrees

Published

8 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Musician performs under the aurora in Nenana — without gloves, in 17 degrees

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A musician with Alaska Native roots recorded an hour-long live set in Interior Alaska beneath the aurora.

Chastity Ashley, a drummer, vocalist and DJ who performs under the name Neon Pony, celebrated a year since she traveled to Nenana to record a live music set beneath the northern lights for her series Beats and Hidden Retreats.

Ashley, who has Indigenous roots in New Mexico, said she was drawn to Alaska in part because of the role drums play in Alaska Native culture. A handmade Alaskan hand drum, brought to her by a man from just outside Anchorage, was incorporated into the performance in February 2025.

Recording in the cold

The team spent eight days in Nenana waiting for the aurora to appear. Ashley said the lights did not come out until around 4 a.m., and she performed a continuous, uninterrupted hour-long set in 17-degree weather without gloves.

“It was freezing. I couldn’t wear gloves because I’m actually playing, yeah, hand drums and holding drumsticks. And there was ice underneath my feet,” Ashley said.

“So, I had to really utilize my balance and my willpower and my ability to just really immerse in the music and let go and make it about the celebration of what I was doing as opposed to worrying about all the other elements or what could go wrong.”

She said she performed in a leotard to allow full range of motion while drumming, DJing and singing.

Filming on Nenana tribal land

Ashley said she did not initially know the filming location was on indigenous land. After local authorities told her the decision was not theirs to make, she contacted the Nenana tribe directly for permission.

“I went into it kind of starting to tell them who I was and that I too was a part of a native background,” Ashley said. “And they just did not even care. They’re like, listen, we’re about to have a party for one of our friends here. Go and do what you like.”

Ashley said the tribe gave her full permission to film on the reservation, and that the aurora footage seen in the episode was captured there.

Seeing the aurora for the first time

Ashley said the Nenana performance marked her first time seeing the northern lights in person.

“It felt as if I were awake in a dream,” she said. “It really doesn’t seem real.”

She said she felt humbled and blessed to perform beneath the aurora and to celebrate its beauty and grandeur through her music.

“I feel incredibly humbled and blessed that not only did I get to take part in seeing something like that, but to play underneath it and celebrate its beauty and its grandeur.”

The Alaska episode is the second installment of Beats and Hidden Retreats, which is available on YouTube at @NeonPony. Ashley said two additional episodes are in production and she hopes to make it back up to Alaska in the future.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

Source link

Alaska

Over $150K worth of drugs seized from man in Juneau, police say

Published

20 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Over 0K worth of drugs seized from man in Juneau, police say

JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) – An Alaska drug task force seized roughly $162,000 worth of controlled substances during an operation in Juneau Thursday, according to the Juneau Police Department.

Around 3 p.m. Thursday, investigators with the Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs (SEACAD) approached 50-year-old Juneau resident Jermiah Pond in the Nugget Mall parking lot while he was sitting in his car, according to JPD.

A probation search of the car revealed a container holding about 7.3 gross grams of a substance that tested presumptively positive for methamphetamine, as well as about 1.21 gross grams of a substance that tested presumptively positive for fentanyl.

As part of the investigation, investigators executed a search warrant at Pond’s residence, during which they found about 46.63 gross grams of ketamine, 293.56 gross grams of fentanyl, 25.84 gross grams of methamphetamine and 25.5 gross grams of MDMA.

In all, it amounted to just less than a pound of drugs worth $162,500.

Investigators also seized $102,640 in cash and multiple recreational vehicles believed to be associated with the investigation.

Pond was lodged on charges of second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, two counts of third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, five counts of fourth-degree misconduct involving a substance and an outstanding felony probation warrant.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

Source link

Alaska

Sand Point teen found 3 days after going missing in lake

Published

1 day ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Sand Point teen found 3 days after going missing in lake

SAND POINT, Alaska (KTUU) – A teenage boy who was last seen Monday when the canoe he was in tipped over has been found by a dive team in a lake near Sand Point, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Alaska’s News Source confirmed with the person, who is close to the search efforts, that the dive team found 15-year-old Kaipo Kaminanga deceased Thursday in Red Cove Lake, located a short drive from the town of Sand Point on the Aleutian Island chain.

Kaminanga was last seen canoeing with three other friends on Monday when the boat tipped over.

A search and rescue operation ensued shortly after.

Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team posted on Facebook Thursday night that they were able to “locate and recover” Kaminanga at around 5 p.m. Thursday.

“We are glad we could bring closure to his family, friends and community,” the post said.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated when more details become available.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

Source link