Will lab-grown fish save Alaska’s wild salmon stocks?
Nov 4, 2022 by Tash Kimmell | KCAW
Although wild salmon remains one of Alaska’s most lucrative seafood industries, it’s also one of the state’s most vulnerable, as climate change and population growth increase pressure on the world’s oceans. As it looks more and more likely that demand will eventually outstrip the productivity of salmon and other wild seafood stocks, researchers have turned to another method for producing protein from fish – by culturing it in a lab.
In Sitka, a tourism company reflects on sustainability through snorkeling
Aug 25, 2022 by Tash Kimmell | KCAW
It’s low tide, on a clear, blue sky morning as Ellie Schmidt leads a group of visiting cruise ship passengers to the waterline for a snorkel tour. But the group isn’t in the tropics, and they’re not in the usual beach day attire. Instead, they’re wearing thick wetsuits, on the rocky shores of Sitka, Alaska’s Magic Island.
Strands of bull kelp bob on the water’s surface. Below, a thriving kelp forest home to vibrant sea stars, urchins, and jellyfish awaits. Back at the shop, when I ask the snorkelers how they chose this somewhat unusual attraction, one of them says, “Who can say they’ve snorkeled in Alaska?”
Lisa Murkowski talks climate change, Roe v. Wade, and winning the youth vote on the campaign trail to keep her Senate seat
Aug 15, 2022 by Tash Kimmell | KCAW
Sen. Lisa Murkowski stopped in Sitka Friday while on the campaign trail to keep her seat in the US Senate. Originally from Ketchikan, the republican has represented the state for nearly 20 years on the senate floor, and has emerged as one of the most important swing votes in government. Murkowski sat down with KCAW’s Tash Kimmell to discuss her thoughts on issues ranging from climate change, to winning the millennial vote.
KCAW hopes to bring wind and solar to Port Alexander with new project
Aug 5, 2022 by Tash Kimmell | KCAW
In the sleepy hamlet of Port Alexander in Southeast Alaska, amenities like Wi-Fi, cell service and even electricity are a luxury. Diesel generators run everything and fuel isn’t cheap so conservation is a cornerstone of daily life. Now, Sitka’s Raven Radio hopes to help the remote community conserve energy by updating its aging radio transmitter with wind and solar power.
In ‘far out’ Yakutat, surfers say community is key
May 2, 2022 by Tash Kimmell | Alaska Public Media
There are few places in the world where world-class waves meet unobstructed views of a temperate rainforest. For Freddie Muñoz, that’s just a small part of what makes surfing in Yakutat so special.
“It’s pretty amazing when you can be in the water and you’re surfing, and you look down, and there’s salmon that are swimming underneath you. And then there’s terns that are flying above you,” he said. “I’ve surfed in Australia, in Panama. I’ve surfed in Hawaii. I’ve been to these places — and it’s been incredible.”
At Middle Island Gardens, one couple is fortifying Sitka’s food web, one kale plant at a time
It’s an uncharacteristically clear day in Sitka when Andrea Fraga picks me up in her skiff, her corgi, Olive, in tow. The local gardener and self-proclaimed homesteader has agreed to give me a tour of the commercial garden she runs with her partner, Kaleb Aldred, a few nautical miles from downtown Sitka. As we near Middle Island Gardens, Fraga spots a bear grazing in the inlet, a foreshadowing of the majestic and wild beauty of this place.
Point House repatriation in Sitka marks new chapter for Kiks.ádi Clan
September 6, 2022 by Tash Kimmel | KNBA
It’s not an uncommon story for cultural artifacts, or tribal property to go missing or fall into the wrong hands. A less common story? For those objects to be returned. In Sitka this July , a Kik.sadi clan house was repatriated after nearly 20 years in the possession of another clan. Its new legal owner, Jerrick Hope-Lang, hopes the historic exchange will spur a greater conversation about repatriation.