Alaska News Nightly: Friday, April 10, 2026

Summary

Alaska News Nightly – Friday, April 10, 2026

Podcast Summary by Alaska Public Media
Airdate: April 11, 2026
Host: Wesley Early

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Episode Overview

This episode of Alaska News Nightly covers a diverse range of impactful stories from across the state, touching on the environmental, economic, and social challenges and innovations shaping Alaskan communities. Major themes include the fallout from last summer's historic tsunami and its lasting impacts on cruise tourism, new initiatives for cleaner and quieter fishing vessels, ongoing budget issues leading to school closures, and unique educational opportunities for students. The episode also spotlights an ambitious climate research expedition across Western Alaska by snow machine.

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Notable Stories & Discussions

1. Southeast Tsunami Aftermath Alters Cruise Ship Itineraries

[00:23 – 03:55]

• Main Points:

  • Last August's landslide-induced tsunami in Tracy Arm Fjord—one of the largest on record—has prompted cruise lines (Carnival, Holland America, and Royal Caribbean) to reroute ships away from the area for safety.
  • Ships are now visiting Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier instead.

• Insights:

  • State seismologist Mike West underscores the ongoing geological risk, noting that after such a major landslide, the area remains unstable.
  • Dave Snyder (NOAA tsunami warning coordinator) highlights the unpredictable, rapidly occurring nature of such events and the need to heed natural hazard warning signs, such as gurgling water, strong shaking, or a hillside roar.

• Quotes:

  • “Anytime you collapse the side of a mountain... it's a safe assumption to assume that you've got an unstable mountainside.” — Mike West [02:21]
  • “There are extraordinary, unusual events that can happen with little to no notice at all.” — Dave Snyder [03:28]

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2. Rising Airline Fees Amid Volatile Fuel Prices

[03:55 – 05:19]

• Main Points:
  • Alaska Airlines and other major carriers have increased checked bag fees due to fuel price surges, especially following the US-Israeli war with Iran.
  • New bag fees: $45 (first), $55 (second), $200 (third). Club 49 members’ benefits remain unchanged.
  • Alaska Seaplanes and Ryanair added a 6% fuel surcharge.

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3. Hybrid Fishing Vessel Launch in Sitka

[05:19 – 09:58]

• Main Points:

  • Sitka’s fishing vessel Mirage becomes Alaska’s first commercial fishing boat with a hybrid engine, a step toward cleaner, quieter marine operations.
  • U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski christens the boat; project funded by the Department of Energy.
  • Reduced engine noise is highlighted as a benefit for crew well-being. The pilot will continue collecting operational data for future adoption.

• Professional Impact:

  • Project’s local collaboration provides workforce opportunities and technical skill-building for Alaska’s youth and professionals.

• Challenges:

  • Shortage of US-certified marine batteries and restrictions on transporting electric vehicles/marine batteries into Alaska present hurdles.

• Quotes:

  • “A quiet boat is fatigue free. I mean, you talk in a normal voice, you don't have to yell across the deck.” — Jeff Turner, fisherman/boat owner [06:44]
  • “We've invested locally to support people that want to do this type of work and now have the expertise to do it more independently.” — Chandler Kemp, Project Engineer [07:39]
  • “...we can't put them on these container ships anymore because of the danger of the fire. So we're going to have to figure this one out pretty darn quick.” — Lisa Murkowski [08:37]

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4. Anchorage School Calendar Change Surprises Parents

[10:11 – 12:52]

• Main Points:
  • The Anchorage school board moved the school start date up by about a week, triggering frustration among parents and staff due to conflicts with planned travel and summer activities.
  • The change aligns with a new teacher contract to accommodate more potential weather-related closures.

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5. Ketchikan School Closures Amid Budget Crisis

[12:52 – 16:38]

• Main Points:

  • Ketchikan Gateway Borough School Board votes to close Fawn Mountain and Point Higgins elementary schools to address a $5 million debt and persistent low state funding.
  • All K-5 students will be moved to Houghtaling Elementary; a three-year repayment plan is in place.
  • The balanced budget comes at the expense of essential services, with insufficient funds set aside for utilities, transportation, and key staff roles.

• Broader Context:

  • School closures are occurring statewide, attributed to restricted state funding.
  • The only alternative school, Revilla Junior and Senior High, is shielded from staff cuts due to its critical role.

• Quotes:

  • “Every educator and every administrator in the state has a choker around their neck in the form of limited state funding.” — Board Member Jordan Tabb [13:43]
  • “It is a balanced budget at the cost of the basic infrastructure pieces...” — Lisa Pierce, Acting Business Manager [15:06]
  • “At this time we can't even afford curriculum.” — Board Member Ali Ginter [15:58]

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6. Kuskokwim Ice Road Closes for the Season

[16:38 – 18:01]

• Main Points:
  • The 350-mile Kuskokwim Ice Road—critical for rural transport and recently expanded for post-typhoon repairs—ends maintenance for the season.
  • River breakup monitoring begins, marking seasonal transition in western Alaska.

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7. “Salmon in the Classroom” Engages Kodiak Students

[18:01 – 21:14]

• Main Points:

  • Kodiak’s Main Elementary fourth-graders participate in salmon dissections and raise fry as part of a hands-on science program, connecting kids to local hatcheries and fishery science.
  • The program, active for over a decade, helps students track, identify, and eventually release their salmon fry.
  • Otolith (ear bone) marking is used for scientific tracking of hatchery fish.

• Quotes:

  • “For them, seeing the process and everything makes it so much more real… Just reading about it isn't quite the same as when they get to see it.” — Amy Arneson, Teacher [19:51]
  • “That’s the barcode to say where the fish came from.” — Kyle Wooliver, KRAA Research Manager [20:15]

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8. Snow Machine Research Expedition Documents Arctic Change

[21:14 – 25:13]

• Main Points:

  • Two UAF researchers completed an almost 2,000-mile snow machine journey along Alaska’s western coast to study climate change impacts and gather local input.
  • Their “community-centric research” approach includes school visits, potlucks, and informal conversations to understand unique challenges faced by each community, such as coastal erosion and lack of evacuation routes.
  • Visible storm damage from recent typhoons underscores climate urgency; some communities are considering relocation.

• Quotes:

  • “This is how all research used to be... you couldn't just fly in somewhere with a helicopter.” — Philip Wilson, Researcher [22:35]
  • “So many times in science ...you show up somewhere and don't talk to [local people]... to like kind of switch that they call this community centric research.” — Philip Wilson [23:21]
  • “What we can do is collect data to help figure out, you know, how much effort might it be to stay and shelter in place. Or if you do want to move to a new location, we can start studying that area...” — Philip Wilson [24:56]

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Memorable Moments

• [09:34] Lisa Murkowski successfully smashes a champagne bottle to christen the fishing vessel Mirage, celebrating the launch of Alaska’s hybrid-technology fishing fleet.
• [18:01 & 19:51] The lively, sometimes squeamish reactions of Kodiak elementary students as they dissect salmon and reflect on the significance of their hands-on learning.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Start Time | End Time | |-----------------------------------------------|------------|------------| | Tsunami impacts cruise routes | 00:23 | 03:55 | | Airline fee increases | 03:55 | 05:19 | | Hybrid fishing boat launch | 05:19 | 09:58 | | Anchorage school calendar changes | 10:11 | 12:52 | | Ketchikan school closures | 12:52 | 16:38 | | Kuskokwim Ice Road season ends | 16:38 | 18:01 | | Kodiak salmon education program | 18:01 | 21:14 | | UAF snow machine climate expedition | 21:14 | 25:13 |

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The Tone

The reporting is straightforward, empathetic, and occasionally spirited, especially in the segments featuring live events (boat christening) and engaging student voices. There are somber notes in coverage of financial crises and climate threats, balanced by optimism in stories of innovation and hands-on education.

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This episode provides a well-rounded, detailed snapshot of contemporary Alaskan life, challenges, and resilience, offering fresh local insight into how state residents respond to—and shape—the forces affecting their future.

Transcript

[Wesley Early]

Support for Alaska Public Media on demand comes from alyeska Pipeline Service Company maintaining and operating the 800 mile Trans Alaska Pipeline for nearly 50 years.

[Dave Snyder]

They are extraordinary, unusual events that can happen with little to no notice at all.

[Wesley Early]

Last summer's historic tsunami in Southeast means new itineraries for some cruise lines this year. From Alaska Public Media, this is statewide news on Alaska News nightly for Friday, April 10th. Good evening. I'm Wesley Early. Also tonight, citing budget constraints, the Ketchikan Gateway Borough School Board votes to close two schools.

[Jordan Tabb]

Every educator and every administrator in the state has a choker around their neck in the form of limited state funding.

[Wesley Early]

Those stories and more tonight on Alaska News Nightly. At least three cruise lines have changed their itineraries this year to avoid the Tracy Arm Fjord south of Juneau. The company's cited safety concerns brought on by a landslide there last August that triggered one of the largest tsunamis on record. As the Alaska Desk's Avery Elfelt reports, experts say skipping that area is probably a good call.

[Avery Elfelt]

Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line and Royal Caribbean Cruises have all notified customers that their ships will not be visiting Tracy Arm or Sawyer Glacier, which is located in the fjord this season. The move comes after a major tsunami struck the fjord last August. Mike west is the Alaska state seismologist and a director of the Alaska Earthquake Center.

[Mike West]

Many different boats and observers rode out this wave and experienced it. The immediate assumption was that this tsunami, this local tsunami, was generated by a landslide.

[Avery Elfelt]

The US Coast Guard and seismic data later confirmed that assumption. The tsunami was likely more than 100ft tall in some areas, according to the U.S. geological Survey. As a result, the cruise lines instead have opted to visit the nearby Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier. The company said in emailed statements they've been closely monitoring the area and made the decision based on the state of the waterway and current geologic conditions. Royal Caribbean noted that guest safety is its, quote, top priority. West says it's a smart move.

[Mike West]

Anytime you take the side of them, you collapse the side of a mountain. I think it's a safe assumption to assume that you've got an unstable mountainside. It is perfectly reasonable or geologically reasonable that there could be follow on activity.

[Avery Elfelt]

Put simply, he adds, you know the

[Mike West]

earth is getting used to its new arrangement.

[Avery Elfelt]

Still, he says, it's not necessarily fair to assume that other deep, narrow fjords are any safer. Landslide and tsunami risk is widespread in southeast Alaska, and scientists have no tangible way to quantify that risk in specific areas. Dave Snyder is the tsunami warning coordinator with the national oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He echoes West Point, noting that two of the largest tsunamis on record have happened in the region. One was last year's event in Tracy Arm and the other happened in 1958 in Lituya Bay near Glacier Bay National Park. Snyder says the two events had the highest run up numbers or high water mark left on land in recorded history.

[Dave Snyder]

There are extraordinary, unusual events that can happen with little to no notice at all, and because of that we have to stress those natural hazard warning signs that very well could be the only alert that you get during an event like that.

[Avery Elfelt]

Those signs, he says, could include frothy or gurgling water, prolonged strong shaking or a roar from a nearby hillside. Reporting in Hanes, I'm Avery Elphelt Alaska

[Wesley Early]

Airlines increased checked bag fees for most customers due to volatile fuel prices and global uncertainty, according to a Thursday statement from the company. The new fees went into effect today. There are no changes for travelers enrolled in the airline's Club 49 program, which allows Alaskans to check two bags for free when traveling to or from the state or three bags if traveling within Alaska. Alaska Airlines is among several major carriers that have recently raised bag fees. Jet fuel prices have surged globally following the US Israeli war with Iran, causing airlines to hike costs and cut routes for travelers flying Alaska Air. Checked bag fees increased $5 for the first bag, $10 for the second and 50 for the third, for new totals of $45, $55 and $200 respectively, according to the statement. Bag benefits for Atmos Rewards members and eligible Atmos Rewards Visa cardholders are unchanged, the company said. Local carriers Alaska Seaplanes and Ryanair each added a 6% fuel surcharge due to rising fuel costs. Meanwhile, the first of three vessels in a pilot program to hybridize commercial fishing boats in Alaska was christened in Sitka last week. U.S. senator Lisa Murkowski did the honors. KCAW's Ryan Cotter attended the event to see how the new engine has impacted the fishing vessel Mirage, as well as the potential for more commercial fishing boats across the state.

[Ben Mathias]

It even smells new.

Yeah, absolutely. So we have in white between in the middle Here is our new engine, a remanufactured engine from Cummins, which is a direct replacement of the original.

[Ryan Cotter]

Crouched down in the engine room of the 50 foot vessel, Ben Mathias is showcasing the completed hybrid engine to Senator Lisa Murkowski. He's the lead technician who joined the project four years ago. The project was funded by a Grant from the U.S. department of Energy as part of a pilot program to make commercial engines cheaper and more environmentally friendly. In the engine room, Mathias explains the different components and Murkowski follows up.

[Lisa Murkowski]

Do you have to worry about excess heat generation?

[Ben Mathias]

Yep. That's why those fans are running. And they don't need to be running now. But during our first trip, they overheated just because of the amount of question.

[Lisa Murkowski]

There's no way to get cooler air in.

[Ben Mathias]

So on most engine rooms, there's an intake that just passes.

[Ryan Cotter]

Sitka fisherman Jeff Turner owns the boat. After hearing about the grant, Turner was quick to volunteer his boat for the project. Yet on the two trips Turner took with the new engine prior to Murkowski's visit, a third benefit was revealed.

[Dave Snyder]

And the noise pollution is something I really notice.

[Wesley Early]

A quiet boat is fatigue free. I mean, you talk in a normal

[Dave Snyder]

voice, you don't have to yell across the deck.

[Lisa Murkowski]

No, that's transformational. That won't be like being on a boat.

[Wesley Early]

Quit yelling at me.

[Mike West]

I'm not.

[Ryan Cotter]

The team behind the hybrid engine plans to continue collecting data from the Mirage throughout the summer fishing season, locking the data in a publicly available document. That way, fishermen can decide whether they'd like to install a hybrid engine as well. Another boat from Juneau is already lined up to be the second boat to have the hybrid engine installed. Additionally, with concerns over out migration and fewer young people staying in Alaska, the hybrid engine offers professional opportunities that could help retain and attract working age people in the state. Chandler Kemp, the project's engineer, believes that their partnership with locals in developing the engine is a promising example for future developers.

[Chandler Kemp]

And so it's not a case where we've kind of hired a contractor to come in and build the project and then leave. Instead, we've invested locally to support people that want to do this type of work and now have the expertise to do it more independently.

[Ryan Cotter]

But the promise for professional development is not without its obstacles. Here's Linda Behnken, executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association.

[Linda Behnken]

There isn't anybody in this country yet making these systems. There is a electric outboard maker that we want to use on a mariculture boat, but there isn't anybody certifying batteries, marine certified batteries in this country yet or building these systems.

[Ryan Cotter]

So batteries for electric vehicles are already proving a problem to transport. And Alaska Marine Lines no longer ships electric vehicles to the state, and the ferry system highly restricts them. Murkowski says it needs to be addressed for the technology to move forward.

[Lisa Murkowski]

The whole discussion about how you move an electric vehicle to Alaska, we can't put them on these container ships anymore because of the danger of the fire. So we're going to have to figure this one out pretty darn quick.

[Ryan Cotter]

But for now, it's time to celebrate a success. Champion.

[Ben Mathias]

Yeah.

[Chandler Kemp]

Okay.

[Lisa Murkowski]

You went for a non like the mini media. Like I got it.

[Wesley Early]

I'm super right handed.

[Linda Behnken]

Come on, Lisa, give it all you got.

[Lisa Murkowski]

You don't understand.

[Ryan Cotter]

Murkowski is joined by over 20 attendees gathering around the Mirage at the Gary Paxton Industrial park dock. Murkowski, Turner and Behnken take a spot at the bow of the ship. It's christening time.

[Lisa Murkowski]

All right, are you ready?

[Ben Mathias]

Go for it.

[Ryan Cotter]

Rapowski successfully smashes a champagne bottle over the bow. That's followed by a toast in honor of what has been accomplished so far and what the hybrid engine could mean for fishermen across Alaska and and the rest of the country. In Sitka, I'm Ryan Cotter.

[Wesley Early]

Still to come on Alaska News Nightly, UAF researchers travel 2,000 miles by snow machine to document climate change impacts in western Alaska.

[Philip Wilson]

This is how all research used to be. They're like expeditions, you know, you couldn't just fly in somewhere with a helicopter.

[Wesley Early]

That's ahead. Stay with us. An Anchorage man is set to plead guilty for making violent threats against U.S. supreme Court justices and their families. The Alaska Beacon reports 77 year old Panos Anastasio was charged with 22 crimes in the U.S. district Court of Alaska in 2024. He was accused of sending 465 messages to the Supreme Court starting in March of 2023. Federal prosecutors said the messages contained threats to kill six justices alongside racist and homophobic rhetoric. Then U.S. attorney General Merrick Garland alle Anastasio, quote, made repeated heinous threats to murder and torture Supreme Court justices and their families to retaliate against them for decisions he disagreed with. According to court documents filed this week, Anastasio is set to change his plea from not guilty to guilty in accordance with a plea agreement. The filing does not describe which charges he's set to plead guilty to. Federal court filings did not identify the justices Anastasio allegedly threatened. A charge of making threats against a federal judge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and in prison. Anchorage parents were caught off guard this week when the school board voted to move the fall start date up by almost a week. The board voted unanimously for the change. The new teacher contract signed in January called for adding three days to the school calendar to allow for more canceled school days due to weather. Board member Kelly Lessons says the board has received many emails from parents and educators who said the new start dates conflicted with already planned travel, summer camp and visiting relatives. She says the revised schedule was created by a committee with officials from various district departments and the teachers union.

[Mike West]

I really leaned on the unanimous work of the calendar committee and my understanding that the administration needed a decision as soon as possible so that it could prepare for the next school year, lesson says.

[Wesley Early]

The proposed calendar was technically available to the public after it was presented along with a memo at a mid March school board meeting. But she says it it wasn't easy to find. According to the memo, the committee weighed many factors when deciding on the new calendar like election days, the semester schedule and the ability to schedule makeup days. The previous calendar had school starting on August 19th and 20th, depending on the grade. Now the first days of school are August 13th and 14th. Meanwhile, the Ketchikan Gateway Borough School Board voted to close two elementary schools at their Wednesday night meeting in an effort to pass a balanced budget and pay off millions of dollars of debt. KRBD's Sydney Dauphine has mourn the and how it fits into their budget planning.

[Sydney Dauphine]

The board tearfully and unanimously voted to close both Fawn Mountain and Point Higgins elementary schools at the end of this school year. The decision is one that's been looming for years. The board restructured the district's elementary schools last year in an effort to save money. Ultimately, it wasn't enough. Now, with a three year plan to pay back over a $5 million debt to the borough, it and the state having threatened to withhold funds until the board balances their budget, the financial constraints have come to a head.

[Jordan Tabb]

It's almost like every district in the state of Alaska does not have the funds they need to run the district to support their students.

[Sydney Dauphine]

That's board member Jordan Tabb. He says it's not a coincidence that districts across the state have all recently voted to shut doors in an attempt to meet constricting budgets.

[Jordan Tabb]

You may look at what's happening here in Ketchikan and say, wow, Ketchikan isn't managing its money well and we'll take the blame where it's due. But every educator and every administrator in the state has a choker around their neck in the form of limited state funding.

[Sydney Dauphine]

And he said without changes at the state level, he thinks they'll be in a similar position next year.

[Jordan Tabb]

We can't charge tuition, we can't run big sales, we can't go to the borough and whether they'd like to give us more money or not, they can't so we are sitting here season after season and year after year, having less and less to take care of our children and watching a cascade of failures occur.

[Sydney Dauphine]

The decision to close the schools was pushed back from late last month when the board directed district staff to come up with a comprehensive school closure plan, one that includes where kids from Fawn Mountain and Point Higgins will go and how they'll get there. That plan includes centrally located schools they call learning hubs, and all K5 students from the closing schools will attend Haughtling elementary instead. Closing the schools will save the district money, but it's not enough. The vote came after nearly four hours of back and forth discussion over how to balance next year's budget and what positions could be cut from where. Acting business manager Lisa Pierce said the budget presented Wednesday night was balanced but irresponsible.

[Lisa Pierce]

I understand that it's important to put people in front of classrooms, but you gotta keep the lights on and this budget does not have that. It is a balanced budget at the cost of the basic infrastructure pieces that are that are required to keep this school district running, pierce said.

[Sydney Dauphine]

Realistically, the budget was likely about $1.2 million short. She said there wasn't enough money set aside in the budget presented for non personnel costs like utilities and transportation. There's also no buffer for contract negotiations. There was ample discussion on whether the district should reserve money for important positions that have routinely gone unfilled, like multiple school counselors or a curriculum director. Most board members agreed to axe the curriculum director position from the budget. Here's board member Ali Ginter in three

[Lisa Pierce]

years we will hopefully be done paying this debt to the borough and could afford to add a curriculum director. But at this time we can't even afford curriculum.

[Sydney Dauphine]

One thing all board members seem to agree on it's unreasonable to cut staff from Revilla Junior and Senior High School, the district's only alternative school. The budget presented Wednesday would cut staff at Revilla. Despite the school gaining an additional grade in the next year. The board unanimously voted to not approve the budget. In first reading, they directed district staff to fix the budget as presented to save an additional $1.2 million. Reporting in Ketchikan, I'm Sydney Dauphine.

[Wesley Early]

The Kuskokwim Ice Road is closing for the season. The native village of Napa Mute Ice Road Crew announced yesterday that beginning today they will no longer be maintaining it for the 2026 season. Signs and markers are in the process of being removed and travel by car is at the driver's own risk. The Kuskokwem Ice Road maintenance is funded annually by the state and its maintenance and ice monitoring are carried out by a network of ice road crews and largely organized by the native village of Napa. Mute's ice road team this year, the Kusokwim Ice Road stretched one of its longest ever paths about 350 miles from Tunta Tuliak to Crooked Creek. Maintenance crews hadn't plowed the extra 40 mile stretch downriver to Tunta Tuliak since 2020. This year, they opted to expand the road to allow trucks to deliver construction materials for repairs following ex typhoon. In the coming weeks, aerial ice monitoring from the National Weather Service will begin as the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta prepares for river breakup. Meanwhile, the fourth graders at Kodiak's Main Elementary School got their hands dirty during a salmon dissection earlier this week. Biologists at the Kodiak Regional Aquaculture association who ran the dissection say it's an important way for kids to connect with their local hatcheries. KMXT's Katherine Irving participated in the dissection and has this report.

[Amy Arneson]

No.

[Wesley Early]

What part is this?

[Ben Mathias]

Liver? No, that's liver. The cafeteria at Main Elementary School smells unusually fishy on Monday afternoon. Plastic sheets cover the tables instead of lunch boxes, and instead of tasty snacks, Main Elementary's fourth graders hold salmon organs. Let's not put fish on other people. The offending organ is part of a class dissection under a program called Salmon in the Classroom. This program isn't unique to Kodiak or even to Alaska. State agencies like the Department of Fish and Game make Salmon in the Classroom curriculum available to schools across the country. In Kodiak, where the program is run by kraaa, the program has been going on for over a decade. I'm happy they're still doing it because when I went here, we also did a salmon dissection in the classroom in fourth grade. That's Jeressa Reyes, a graduate of the Kodiak school system and an aide for some of the kids in this fourth grade class. She says watching these kids do the same dissection she did is a very full circle moment. Some kids are excited to share everything they know about salmon. Others are a little less jazzed. I just don't like them because whenever I see something get dissected, I puke. The insides, they grow. So another big part of the month long Salmon in the Classroom program is that the students get to raise baby salmon. Kraaa sends over salmon eggs, which the teachers are in charge of incubating and then caring for the kids get to watch the eggs grow up into fry over several months. Then they will release them back into the wild. Amy Arneson is a fourth grade teacher at Maine who is helping run the salmon program. Standing next to the salmon tank, she says the program has been a great hands on experience for the kids.

[Amy Arneson]

For them, seeing the process and everything makes it so much more real. Like I'm just reading about it isn't quite the same as when they get to see it and notice like, oh yeah, look at them using their swim bladders, look. They do look like little toddlers trying to learn how to walk.

[Ben Mathias]

But that's not the only way the kids can connect to the salmon they raise. Kyle Wooliver, the research manager at kraa, explains to the students how hatcheries can identify their fish when they're harvested.

[Wesley Early]

These are called otoliths, they're the ear bones. And we put marks on them just like this with changing the water temperature and that's the barcode to say where the fish came from.

[Ben Mathias]

Just like hatchery fish, the salmon the kids are raising at school have specific markings on their ear bones. So if a Maine fourth grader catches one of their salmon in the wild, years down the line, they'll be able to tell it was theirs, according to KRAA biologist Tina Weaver. And they'll even have the chance maybe to go back to the beach Mill Bay and catch them when they return back. So it's pretty cool that they get the chance to see the entire life cycle. In Kodiak, hatcheries accounted for nearly 30% of the total salmon catch. In 2025, the class will release their 250 salmon fry. If they all survive, that is one by one into Island Lake in just over a month, they will eventually become food for other animals, part of a fisherman's catch of the day, or nutrients for forests and streams. Reporting from Main Elementary School in Kodiak, I'm Katherine Irving.

[Wesley Early]

Two University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers completed a nearly 2,000 mile journey along Alaska's western coastline by snow machine. Yesterday, they were on an expedition studying how the Arctic is changing and how those changes are reshaping life in coastal communities. At the roughly halfway point of their journey from Bethel to Utka Agvik, the team sat down with KNOM's Margaret Sutherland for this story.

[Benjamin Jones]

Inside a warm cabin in Nome, Benjamin Jones finishes prepping for the next leg of a research trip called Coast X 2026. Outside, two snow machine sleds are packed with a week's worth of Food and gallons of fuel.

[Wesley Early]

I'm gonna throw some pizzas in the

[Philip Wilson]

oven while we're chit chatting too. Prepare our food for later. We'll probably like even cook it. Then we'll just roll it up like a calzone and put it in our pocket.

Probably, yeah.

There's something to snack on as we're riding.

[Benjamin Jones]

Jones is a research professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Institute of Northern Engineering. He estimates that in over two plus decades he's logged up to 20,000 miles by snow machine. But this trip at nearly 2,000 miles is the longest yet. He and fellow UAF researcher Philip Wilson are about halfway into a roughly three week journey and averaging about 120 miles a day. Wilson is from Fairbanks. He graduated from UAF with a geology degree in 2022 and started working with Jones two years ago.

[Philip Wilson]

This is how all research used to be or like expeditions, you know, you couldn't just fly in somewhere with a helicopter. And especially at uaf, I think it's important that there's kind of a culture of doing expeditions like this.

[Benjamin Jones]

The pair says they finalized plans for this expedition about a year ago. It's a collaboration with UAF's Action Project, which aims to address the science of a changing Arctic environment. The Arctic is warming about four times faster than the rest of the world and there are commonalities in the coastal hazards communities in Alaska are experiencing from climate change, like erosion, storm flooding and permafrost thaw. Wilson says the local impact of those changes and the corresponding solutions are all unique. The goal of this trip is to learn what the problems are and what type of scientific research could help.

[Philip Wilson]

So many times in science, like people come from out of state or even from Fairbanks, which is basically like another country. You show up somewhere and don't talk to him locally, do your project and then leave and you don't really even interact with anyone. And so to like kind of switch

[Benjamin Jones]

that they call this community centric research. During the trip, the team visits schools and hosts potlucks and villages they visit. They also connect with people informally while filling up gas and collecting supplies. For example. Wilson says they heard concerns from people in the northern Yukon Delta village of Kotlik about coastal flooding because the village does not have an evacuation road and

[Philip Wilson]

they're right on the coast and it's flooded there a lot. So if they have a flood there's nowhere to go and that's not the same as other places. So similar issues, similar like overall thing, but different solutions and different things are interested in each spot.

[Benjamin Jones]

The expedition comes just months after ex typhoon Ha Long hit the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta this fall, washing away infrastructure and devastating many communities with high water and severe wind. Typhoon Murbach also hit the Bering Sea region a little over two years ago. Jones says remnants of those storms are still visible in the driftwood lines marking high water and coastal bluff and riverbank erosion. And the stories are fresh on people's minds.

[Philip Wilson]

It makes the conversations unfortunately, like, really easy because, like, it's a bad situation, these big fall storms that are happening more recently.

[Benjamin Jones]

Climate change impacts have led several villages in western Alaska, including Shishmaraf on the Seward Peninsula, to seek full relocation. Jones says his team doesn't advise communities on whether or not to move, but

[Philip Wilson]

what we can do is collect data to help figure out, you know, how much effort might it be to stay and shelter in place. Or if you do want to move to a new location, we can start studying that area and then look at the permafrost properties, reconstruct the erosion history and the flooding history.

[Benjamin Jones]

The pair arrived in Utqiagvik after 19 days on trail. From there, they'll head back to Fairbanks to process their data and people's stories. Jones says he hopes they will be back next year to repeat the route and continue the conversations they started reporting in Nome. I'm Margaret Sutherland.

[Wesley Early]

And that's all for this edition of Alaska News Nightly. If you missed any of tonight's stories, we're [e-mail] and wherever you get your podcasts. We had reports tonight from Avery Elle, Felton Haynes, Ava White and Hannah Flor in Anchorage, Ryan Cotter in Sitka, Sydney Dauphine in Ketchikan, Samantha Watson in Bethel, Kathryn Irving in Kodiak, and Margaret Sutherland in Nome. If you want to send us a news tip, question or comment, email [e-mail] Our audio engineer is Crystal Hyde, Kirsten Dobrath is our producer and I'm Wesley Early. Have a great weekend. This is statewide news on Alaska Public Media.