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Unsolved mystery: the case of the weathervane scallop
Prized by five-star chefs and seafood connoisseurs, weathervanes are a bit of a mystery animal. Major gaps exist in our understanding of the tasty mollusks, which are native to Alaska.
Read MoreAdvocate of Alaska marine safety passes on
Alaska Sea Grant is mourning the passing of one of its early Marine Advisory agents. Hank Pennington joined the Marine Advisory Program as an agent specializing in marine safety. In 1985 he founded the nonprofit Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA). The association provides marine safety training for commercial fishermen, as well as subsistence and recreational boaters…
Read MoreBlue Starr Oyster Co. debuts new oyster nursery system
An Alaska oyster farmer on Prince of Wales Island is hoping that a new device he spent years helping to design will increase his oyster farming productivity and prove useful to other farmers around the state. The redesigned device is a 53-foot aluminum floating upweller system, or FLUPSY. It works by moving fresh seawater filled…
Read MoreAlaska Sea Grant State Fellowship alumnae move forward in their careers and education
Alaska Sea Grant’s State Fellowships are a career-building program modeled after the highly successful Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship. The fellowships provide an opportunity to acquire on-the-job experience in marine resource policies and programs in Alaska and they are geared toward soon-to-graduate or recently finished graduate students interested in marine policy and science. Since 2015, 11…
Read MoreCan mushrooms replace Styrofoam and keep the oceans cleaner?
A University of Alaska Anchorage researcher who hopes to curb ocean pollution thinks fungi might have a useful role to play. Philippe Amstislavski, an associate professor of public health at UAA, is experimenting with using mushrooms to create biodegradable insulation, shipping material and other environmentally friendly products. Alaska Sea Grant, a partnership between the National…
Read MoreUnusual number of marine mammals found dead
Working with local subsistence experts, our Nome-based Marine Advisory agent Gay Sheffield has found many marine mammals dead in recent days. They include whales, walruses, and seals (mostly pups). Sheffield told the The Nome Nugget that while it is not unusual to find dead marine mammals once in a while, the number of dead animals found in…
Read MoreUrgent action needed in support of Alaska Sea Grant and the University of Alaska
We need you to contact your legislators now and tell them the University of Alaska and Alaska Sea Grant are worth fighting for! As someone who supports the work of Alaska Sea Grant and the university, you have likely heard by now that Alaska’s governor intends to slash the state’s funding to the university by…
Read MoreLocal and traditional knowledge included in Bering Sea management plan
With assistance from Alaska Sea Grant, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council recently adopted what some are calling a groundbreaking ecosystem management plan for the Bering Sea that incorporates local and traditional knowledge. It’s the first time that local knowledge (LK) and traditional knowledge (TK) has been formally taken into account in the regional council’s…
Read MoreLack of sea ice sends seal pups and walrus calves to beach
It’s been a busy couple of months for members of the Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network, including Alaska Sea Grant’s Gay Sheffield, as they respond to multiple reports of dead ice seals along the coast of the Bering and Chukchi Seas. NOAA Fisheries reported in mid-June that at least 60 seals have recently washed up…
Read MoreSoutheast Alaska tribal council develops climate change plan
Climate change in Alaska’s high Arctic often captures headlines. Images of vanishing sea ice, dead seabirds, beached marine mammals, melting permafrost and houses tumbling into the ocean are common. Less media attention is directed to Southeast Alaska, an archipelago of hundreds of islands around a thin strip of mainland, blanketed by coastal temperate rainforest. But…
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