Alaska
Fish & Game says illegally dumped fish waste invites bears
![Fish & Game says illegally dumped fish waste invites bears Fish & Game says illegally dumped fish waste invites bears](https://gray-ktuu-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/YMQGHJKSWJMHTHKCBFWTG4AVD4.jpg?auth=58fcf7e83ee77419a6be0fe510eacbf9f1e9e5c188df101189e45e0b788a91b2&width=1200&height=600&smart=true)
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.
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.
“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
Copyright 2024 KTUU. All rights reserved.
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Alaska
Sun sets in Alaska town for 1st time since May 10
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Whale bones form a monument to lost sailors in Utqiagvik, Alaska, overlooking the Arctic Ocean. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch) |
At 2:16 a.m., the sun finally dipped below the horizon, marking the first official night in 83 days for Utqiaġvik, Alaska, the northernmost town in the United States.
UtqiaÄ¡vik, formerly known as Barrow, lies well north of the Arctic Circle. During the weeks around the summer solstice, the town is bathed in perpetual sunlight as the Earth’s north pole tilts toward the sun.
The last sunset occurred on May 10. Since then, residents have lived in constant daylight, with the sun occasionally dropping down toward the horizon but never fully disappearing.
The first night in months was brief, only lasting for 35 minutes, but much longer nights are ahead.
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In this Oct. 10, 2014 photo, a lone figure walks in a sunless late-morning on a street in Barrow, Alaska. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) |
Conversely, in the weeks surrounding the winter solstice when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, people in Utqiaġvik go weeks without seeing sunlight.
The phenomenon known as “polar night” starts on Nov. 19, and the sun will remain absent from the sky for 65 days until it peeks above the horizon once again on Jan. 22, 2025.
While some may think going so long without sunlight would be depressing, former UtqiaÄ¡vik Kirsten Alburg told AccuWeather that it is “such a beautiful time.”
“It ends up being this really beautiful time. You have the northern lights, and it gets cold, but there are so many lights that are out in the town, and it makes everything sparkle,” she said.
Alaska
The beauty and energy of an Alaskan summer | Homer News
![The beauty and energy of an Alaskan summer | Homer News The beauty and energy of an Alaskan summer | Homer News](https://www.homernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/36947666_web1_HOM_080124_FirstFriday-August-tease_1.jpg)
Alaska
Dunleavy signs bills aimed at modernizing energy production and delivery in Alaska’s Railbelt • Alaska Beacon
![Dunleavy signs bills aimed at modernizing energy production and delivery in Alaska’s Railbelt • Alaska Beacon Dunleavy signs bills aimed at modernizing energy production and delivery in Alaska’s Railbelt • Alaska Beacon](https://alaskabeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/DSC09528-scaled.jpg)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday signed three energy bills passed by the Legislature in response to looming energy shortages and delivery problems in the state’s most populous region.
Dunleavy said the bills are part of a wider strategy of modernizing Alaska’s energy portfolio and systems of delivery, making them more diverse and dependable.
“Over the past two years, we’ve passed several bills that will transform Alaska’s ability to tap into its world-class energy for decades to come,” the governor said at the signing ceremony, held at the Alaska Energy Authority office in Anchorage.
The first measure he signed into law on Wednesday was House Bill 50, which started out as legislation authorizing the state to make money by capturing, storing and sequestering carbon gases but was expanded as elements of other energy bills were added.
The carbon-capture section of the bill creates a regulatory framework for that enterprise, and the mature Cook Inlet oil and gas basin, in Southcentral Alaska, is the region most likely to first serve that purpose, Dunleavy said.
Another part of the bill concerns the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. That section expands the commission’s jurisdiction to include natural gas storage. The bill also authorizes a system of reserve-based lending, through which the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority would be able to help finance known natural gas fields in Cook Inlet that currently lack the investment they need to be developed. The bill also modifies the state’s geothermal leasing program, allowing for larger total lease holdings and making other changes intended to induce more development.
The newly signed bill largely focuses on Southcentral Alaska’s Cook Inlet, with good reason, Dunleavy said. Alaska’s oldest producing oil and gas region, with its towering volcanoes, dramatic tides and other natural resources, is teeming with renewable and traditional fossil fuel potential, he said.
“This Cook Inlet probably is the most energy-rich basin on the planet. Within 50 miles you have gas, oil, geothermal, tidal, coal, onshore wind, offshore wind. It’s tremendous,” he said.
The second bill Dunleavy signed on Wednesday, House Bill 307, consolidates management of the energy transmission system that serves Alaska’s Railbelt, the corridor that runs from Fairbanks to the Kenai Peninsula. The bill eliminates “wheeling rates,” the charges added for energy as it is transported between segments of the system. Through an expanded tax exemption and other provisions, it also aims to open access to the system to energy produced by independent producers like solar farms.
Senate Majority Leader Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, said energy experts have been hoping since the mid-20th century to establish such a unified system for the Railbelt.
“Here we are, 70 years later, and we’re finally accomplishing something,” said Giessel, who was one of the legislators speaking at the bill-signing ceremony.
The bill “represents unity,” she said, reflecting interests, concerns and recommendations from a widely diverse group of energy producers, utilities, consumer advocates, labor advocates and others.
“Alaskans have to come together to unify in our vision, or we’re not going to get things accomplished,” she said.
The third energy measure that Dunleavy signed on Wednesday was House Bill 273, which creates an energy fund as a subsidiary of the Alaska Housing Finance Corp. The Alaska Energy Independence Fund is intended to help finance sustainable energy to benefit homeowners and businesses and attract federal money available through the Inflation Reduction Act.
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