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Saturday
March 15, 2014
Misty Thistle Pipes & Drums of Ketchikan
Spreading St. Patricks Day holiday cheer early by going from bar to bar Saturday night in downtown Ketchikan. Pictured: Pipe Major Bill Urquhart; Pipes Scott Brown; Tenor Drum Jane Bolina; & Drum John Hanson.
Front Page Photograph By CARL THOMPSON ©2014
(Please respect the rights of photographers, never republish or copy
without permission and/or payment of required fees.)
Ketchikan: Marine invasive species get bioblitzed in Ketchikan By DEBORAH MERCY - Non-native marine species are showing up along the Alaska coastline. While their numbers are small compared to California, where more than 200 marine invasive species are listed, there is reason for concern.
Sarah Cohen researcher (San Francisco State University) and Gary Freitag Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Ketchikan Agent, identify a marine invasive tunicate.
Photo by Deborah Mercy
So researchers who track the newcomers have enlisted volunteer reinforcements - the people who live along the coast.
As marine traffic increases, areas such as Ketchikan and Sitka are becoming home to unwanted marine species. In 2010, the tunicate Didemnum vexillum, also know as D. vex or rock vomit, was discovered near Sitka. It interferes with aquaculture operations and destroys native marine species.
D. vex was found during a bioblitz event.
“A bioblitz is a very short, volunteer-led assessment of all the species living in an area,” explained Linda McCann, researcher with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.
In September 2013, Smithsonian researchers partnered with Gary Freitag, Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program agent in Ketchikan, to hold a different kind of bioblitz.
“This time, we turned the bioblitz concept upside down. We don’t want to look for everything. We only want to look for the marine invasives,” McCann said.
The researchers were also looking for volunteers from the Ketchikan community to help them in their search. For 15 years, SERC researchers have been in Alaska cataloging what should not be living in these waters. Freitag works with the researchers to collect information for their marine invasive species database.
Alaska has 33,904 miles of coastline, more than all other U.S. states combined.
“To survey this coast presents a challenge, due to the vast length of shoreline,” said Greg Ruiz, a marine ecologist with SERC. “We’re very concerned and interested not only from a scientific point of view but also how management is working to reduce the likelihood of invasions occurring. What we’re exploring now is the opportunity to engage citizen scientists to help monitor and detect new invasions.” - More...
Saturday PM - March 15, 2014
Fish Factor: Move towards ‘head to tails’ usages for fish By LAINE WELCH - Co-products is the big new buzz word in the seafood industry as more companies move towards ‘head to tails’ usages for fish.
“For instance, the oils we are producing now from pollock livers has become so valuable in capsules and other human nutraceutical products, it makes no sense to call the livers a “byproduct” of the fillets or surimi. All of it is important in the puzzle of how to maximize the value of each fish caught,” said Alex Oliveira, a food specialist at the Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center, a satellite campus of the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.
Oliveira specializes in marine lipids (fats) and food flavor chemistry. The pollock oil supplements she helped develop in partnership with American Seafoods Company are marketed under the 54°N label. Her research also has spawned powdered products made from pollock milt and roe that are popular in Asian markets, and she helped launch the first freeze-dried Alaska sockeye salmon bites for NASA astronauts.
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Now, armed with a grant from the Alaska pollock industry, Oliveira is rolling up her sleeves to turn pollock skins into pet treats.
“It will be a nutritious, low fat treat from a marine source, instead of a land animal byproduct,” she said, adding that two products will be tested: slices and skin roll ups.
It’s a lengthy process getting any new food item to market, for pets and people.
“We have to know the nutritional values and shelf life limitations – that it is not undergoing undesirable chemical changes over storage. And there has to be a process for production of a good, safe product,” Oliveira explained. “Plus, nobody wants a pet treat that crumbles all over the carpet and makes your house stink, or leaves your pet’s breath smelling like dead fish,” she said with a laugh.
In a couple of years, the research will show which product has a better chance in the market. Then comes testing for acceptance by pets, and more importantly, their owners.
“The pets are generally the easy ones, at least for dogs,” Oliveira said, “but the owner has to want to buy it.”
Another Alaska pollock study underway at the Center is measuring the freshness and nutritional values of every part of the fish the moment it is caught. That project also is funded by the Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center, which since 2000 has contributed $13 million towards research on North Pacific fisheries, habitat and marine mammals. - More...
Saturday PM - March 15, 2014
Alaska: Seafood industry invests in research and training at the Kodiak Center - Alaska’s seafood industry has invested in the search for new uses of pollock byproducts and the development of a seafood processing quality-control training program. The work will be done at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center, the state’s only research processing plant.
Faculty at KSMSC will receive more than $350,000 from the Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center, a consortium of fishing companies that operate pollock catcher-processors in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.
The byproducts research includes examining the feasibility of making pet treats from pollock skins and studying the nutritional and shelf life of pollock byproducts such as heads, bones, offal and skin. The two new research projects join ongoing projects seeking a natural additive to preserve fishmeal freshness. UAF seafood chemist Alex Oliveira and seafood scientist Brennan Smith at KSMSC are conducting the pollock research. - More....
Saturday PM - March 15, 2014 |
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Alaska: Bear species' genetic relationships determined By NANCY TARNAI - New research has quantified the genetic differences between polar, brown and black bears. The new paper, which will be printed in the next few months, describes the research involving genome sequence comparisons of three bear species - the black bear, the polar bear and the brown bear.
Southeast Alaska: Hidden Inlet Black Bear, approximately 50 air miles southeast of Ketchikan inside the Misty Fjords National Monument on the Portland Canal.
File Photo By Ketchikan Photographer Jim Lewis ©2006
Matthew Cronin, professor of animal genetics with the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Natural Resources and Extension and colleagues at the University of California Davis and Delta G Co. published a paper on bear genetics in the Journal of Heredity online in January which will be available in print later.
Cronin also published papers on the relationships of the bears with different genetic analyses in 2012 with a collaborator at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Journal of Heredity, and in 2013 with co-workers at Texas Tech University in the Canadian Journal of Zoology.
The 2014 paper replicates other research on bear genomes but includes analysis of genetic variation in more than 300 bears from Alaska and genetic elements not assessed previously in bears. These are known as ultra-conserved elements, and show the polar and brown bears to be more closely related than either is to black bears. - More...
Saturday PM - March 15, 2014
Alaska: Wildlife Interests Worth $4.1 Billion to Alaska's Economy, New Study Finds - Almost a million resident and visitor households embarked on at least one trip in Alaska to hunt or view wildlife in 2011, according to research presented in the recently published report, “The Economic Importance of Alaska’s Wildlife in 2011.” Along the way, the $3.4 billion spent by those hunters and viewers accounted for $4.1 billion in economic activity statewide.
“Visitors reported that wildlife is one of the main reasons they visited Alaska,” said Doug Vincent-Lang, director of the state’s Division of Wildlife Conservation, “and residents said wildlife contributes to their quality of life and reasons for living here.”
Of the $3.4 billion spent by hunters and wildlife viewers in Alaska in 2011, resident hunters and wildlife viewers each spent more than $1 billion. Visiting wildlife viewers spent $1.2 billion, while visiting hunters added some $150 million. That spending generated more than 27,000 jobs and $1.4 billion in labor income. - More...
Saturday PM - March 15, 2014
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 Our Local Governments Deserve More Respect By Bill Walker -
I am often asked how I differ from Governor Parnell. One significant difference is how we view local governments. Over the past six years, a pattern has developed with Parnell disrespecting our local governments. Here are a few examples. - More...
Friday AM - March 14, 2014
SB 182: PUBLIC EMPLOYEE SALARY DIFFERENTIALS By Mary Dahel - I am writing in opposition to SB 182. To me this topic does not belong in legislative discussions nor in state statutes. It is a contract topic and the State DOA has a very capable full time staff devoted to negotiating contracts. - More...
Friday AM - March 14, 2014
Rep. Munoz does not represent constituents by voting Yes on SB 49 By Nancy Courtney -
Last week Rep. Munoz was the pivotal Yes vote on Senate Bill 49, the bill that attempts to establish a medical definition in state law for publicly funded abortions. - More...
Friday AM - March 14, 2014
Bonds By Michael McColley -
I am writing this letter to all who voted for the three major bonds which now the City and the Ketchikan Borough are scrambling to find ways to pay for. 1. the new swimming pool. 2. the new library 3. the new hospital project 4. new fire stations -- and raising water, sewer & property assessments I think we should have taken one project at a time. Because personally I feel the people of Ketchikan have been getting all their taxes and assessments raised to pay for these bonds. - More...
Friday AM - March 14, 2014
RE: Ketchikan Government Parties Down By Mike Ellis -
I assume Mr. Dial was traveling at State expense when he took the opportunity to bash the Ketchikan community's annual lobbying trip & his reporting was not factual. - More...
Friday AM - March 14, 2014
Re: Ketchikan Government Parties By Vanessa Nowland -
I'm in full agreement with you Mr. Dial. Enough is enough... - More...
Tuesday AM - March 14, 2014
RE: Ketchikan Legislative party By Rodney Dial -
In response to Mayor Kiffer's letter regarding the Ketchikan Legislative party. It always amazes me how our local elected officials find the need to spin everything. Mr. Mayor you’re trying to spin throwing a massive party in Juneau after the public has endured years of tax and utility increases… amazing! A few questions please Mr. Mayor. - More...
Tuesday AM - March 11, 2014
Money down the drain. The city's leaders won't listen. By Ed Plute -
I want to thank everyone who attended the water meeting Wednesday. I believe the meeting was a great success. But to my point, now we find out that the City's water system wiith chlorine and UV are installed backwards. The chlorine is first in the water treatment and the UV last. So when the water goes through the chlorine first then to the UV, the UV kills the chlorine, and does not decontaminate the water properly. The system is backwards. And that is according to Bob Bowcock. We paid millions of dollars for the system and they cannot even get it right. When will our city leaders listen to us? - More...
Tuesday AM - March 11, 2014
Ketchikan Visitors Bureau By Shirley McDonald -
I recently wrote a post to my facebook page and now wish to utilize SitNews to thank KVB for their nomination, let alone voting me with the Alaska Spirit Award. I didn't even know this went on even!!! Completely surprised .... shocked ..... you name it ... I felt it. Mainly wondering of all the customer services folks we have in our area, how could I be the recipient!!!!???? - More...
Tuesday AM - March 11, 2014
FISHERMEN, DON’T FORGET SCHEDULE J By David G. Hanger - I am prompted to jot this “heads up” memo by a prominent local fisherman who insists that Schedule J is not being used on many fishing returns prepared here in town. It is an easy mistake for even a licensed pro to make because the conditions common to use of the form do not occur all the time. While I am somewhat skeptical of my fisherman’s observation, it would be too costly to ignore. - More....
Tuesday AM - March 11, 2014
Facts of the Matter By Rob Holston -
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Thank you “Declaration of Independence.” - More...
Tuesday AM - March 11, 2014
Thank you SS Sound By Shirley McDonald -
I just wanted to give an ENORMOUS shout out to SS Sound. Yesterday morning I fell outside their business. I went to their office and they rushed n scurried, as I was bleeding quite a bit. I had literally landed on my face and had bit clear thru my upper lip and knocked out 1 front tooth and loosening the other. They not only let me use their restroom to clean up as best I could, they ALSO TOOK ME TO THE ER on top of everything else!!! - More...
Tuesday AM - March 11, 2014
Campus gun bill By John Suter -
In the news is “ Campus gun bill before committee”. There is nothing more important in the world than for a student to get an A in their class. An armed student is in a much better position to negotiate with the teacher to get an A in class than an unarmed student. - More...
Tuesday AM - March 11, 2014
What are those yahoos in Juneau up to now? By Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkin -
Considering that we're 46+ days into the legislative session, it's a fair question. Like a good story, most legislative sessions have a narrative. Last session's narrative was simple and wholesome: the passage of a multi-billion dollar tax cut for oil companies. And by golly, we got the job done with SB 21, which passed the Senate 11-9, and fulfilled its unfortunate destiny by a vote of 27-12 on the floor of the House of Representatives at 2:07 a.m. in the wee hours of April 14, 2013. (I was among the dozen dissenters.) - More...
Tuesday AM - March 11, 2014
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