news – Alaska Sea Grant

The science of Steller stubble

By Kyle Kolda | January 8, 2026

A man in a lab coat, faded red baseball cap, and purple lab gloves sits at a table in a laboratory, using a chisel to trim off part of a long hair. A ruler sits next to the hair.

An Alaska Sea Grant-supported project is within a whisker of answering some critical research questions about Steller sea lions. Literally. University of Alaska researchers are collaborating with the Aleut Community…

Wakefield Symposium coming to Kodiak

By Alaska Sea Grant | January 7, 2026

Heatwaves will be a hot topic at next year’s Lowell Wakefield Fisheries Symposium. The theme for the event, to be held May 5–8, 2026, at the Kodiak Marketplace event space,…

Cordova fishermen clean up the Copper River Delta

By Aubrey Taradash | December 16, 2025

A man stands astride a white ATV and a woman stands in a trailer behind it. The ATV has a large yellow plastic trash bag on it, while the trailer contains yellow trash bags and other debris.

The Copper River Delta hosts some of the most valuable fisheries in Alaska. However, the region lies at the edge of the Gulf of Alaska, where currents bring a seemingly…

New film documents community resilience in Western Alaska

By Tom Moran | December 11, 2025

A man in camouflage top, large backpack and red hat hold a camera and microphone. He is interviewing an older man in jeans, black down jacket, sunglasses and baseball cap. It is fall and they stand in dead brown grass along a wide river.

A new short film details ways that residents in Western Alaska are responding constructively to changes to their local environment. “Cumikluten (Pay Attention)” is a 36-minute documentary produced by POLARIS,…

Hello from our new science communicator

By Tom Moran | December 9, 2025

Alaska Sea Grant Science Communicator Tom Moran.

By Tom Moran A bold new era has begun at Alaska Sea Grant. Okay, that’s incredibly hyperbolic, but there has been a noteworthy change here in the Fairbanks office, as…

Anchorage’s green spaces focus of ARCA workshop

By Kyle Kolda | December 8, 2025

A woman kneels down holding a smoking censer above a pile of objects on the ground: strings of red, pink and yellow flowers surrounding a platter holding a glass and several dishes and baskets, filled with unidentifiable substances. Around her a small crowd of people watch her conduct the ceremony. They are all standing in a small grassy area next to buildings in an urban setting.

To many Anchorage residents, Fish Creek is an afterthought, mostly siphoned through culverts below strip malls and parking lots. But for some in Anchorage, the aboveground stretches of the creek…

Protecting Jílḵaat Aani: Chilkat Indian Village partners to study environmental impacts to traditional territory

By Kyle Kolda | December 2, 2025

A woman stands on the rocks of a riverbank holding a sheaf of paper. Beside her, a man is standing ankle-deep in the clear water of the river and leaning over to take a water sample. A ziploc bag and other collection materials set on the shore.

by Kyle Kolda and Jessica Kayser Forster Residents of the Chilkat Indian Village (CIV) of Tlákw Aan (Klukwan) have a vested interest in understanding impacts of environmental change. Located at…

Kotlik project works to clean up and reduce marine waste

By Alaska Sea Grant | November 24, 2025

Six workers in white hazmat gear and orange life jackets stand on the shore of a river. Several of the people are picking up trash. Debris litters the shore, including several large logs, pieces of waterlogged wood, and a large wooden platform. The shore is covered in tall grass and in the distance are the small houses and public buildings of the village of Kotlik.

Aubrey Taradash and Tom Moran contributed to this story. An old tarp or battery is generally not considered a prize haul. But such was the case in Kotlik, where a…

Remembering Gary Freitag

By Alaska Sea Grant | November 19, 2025

A head shot of a smiling Gary Freitag. He is in front of water and trees and wears an orange Sea Grant hat and an orange lifejacket.

Alaska Sea Grant is deeply saddened by the passing of our friend and colleague, Gary Freitag. Gary spent 13 fruitful years at Alaska Sea Grant as the Marine Advisory Program…

Oyster farmers learn the trade at Prince of Wales workshop

By Alaska Sea Grant | November 18, 2025

Participants in a workshop stand on docks of an oyster farm listening to an instructor. They stand next to oyster sorting equipment and boats, surrounded by calm water and forested hills under a bright blue sky.

For three days in September, the future of Alaskan oyster farming got to learn some lessons from its present. The Alaska Sea Grant Oyster Farming Operations Workshop gave six farmers…