Hal Bernton, The Seattle Times

Christmas Day attacks followed six others in November — four in Washington and two in Oregon — that have once again stoked concerns about the security of the region’s grid.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council, meeting in Anchorage this week, will consider what protective measures should go into a plan to help rebuild snow crab populations.

The decisions came after days of discussions by state biologists and senior agency officials who faced crabbers’ pleas for at least small fisheries.

New survey results show that the population of mature male snow crab targeted by crabbers decreased by 22% from 2021, which had the lowest level in more than 40 years.

The challenge to the GTN Xpress project represents an escalation of state-level efforts to block development of new fossil fuel infrastructure.

It is still uncertain what the judge’s ruling will mean for Southeast Alaska fisheries catching salmon that would eventually head south to British Columbia or the Pacific Northwest to spawn.

The study covered a four-decade period when Arctic Ocean ice has been in decline in a northern realm that has been warming more than twice as fast as the rest of the Earth.

The record season, however, comes with some notable asterisks, including very small fish.

The aging operations hub will have a higher profile role in the coming years, as the U.S. boosts its presence in an Arctic region rapidly changing as the climate warms.

What role an ice buildup may have played in the sinking is unclear, and the Coast Guard is investigating other possible factors such as the potential for leaks that could have caused flooding.

The Coast Guard inquiry will result in a report that is expected to point to a probable cause of the sinking, as well as come up with recommendations on how to improve safety in the Alaska fleet that joins in winter harvests for snow and king crab.

The policy shift was made Wednesday in the aftermath of outbreaks that flared in plants and offshore processing ships.

Trident Seafoods reports that four workers at the company’s Akutan seafood plant in the Aleutian Islands have tested positive for coronavirus, including one who had difficulty breathing and had to be evacuated by air to a hospital in Anchorage.

Winter harvests typically offer prime fishing as the pollock come together in the southern Bering Sea off Alaska before spawning.

The Polar Star’s usual mission in the Antarctic was scuttled as the coronavirus pandemic prompted research to be cut back and restrictions put in place.