Laine Welch
Laine Welch has covered the Alaska fish beat for print and radio since 1988. She also has worked “behind the counter” at retail and wholesale seafood companies in Kodiak and on Cape Cod. She retired in April 2022 from her Fish Factor reports, but now produces a blog at alaskafish.news.
Fish Factor: Groundfish fisheries open 2020 seafood season
Cod, pollock and tanner crab fisheries have been "open for business" since Jan. 1, writes Laine Welch.
Fish Factor: 2020 state cod fishery will have limits, staggered openers
They say good things come in small packages, and that’s the case for Alaska cod fishermen heading into the new year.
Fish Factor: Deal yourself a lesson in Alaska fisheries
A deck of clever playing cards is teaching people about one of Alaska’s most popular yet fragile fishing favorites: rockfish.
Fish Factor: Seaweed will give economy a boost
An ongoing mariculture initiative aims to develop a $100 million industry in 20 years, writes Laine Welch.
Fish Factor: Lower catch limits expected for Pacific halibut
Lower catches for Pacific halibut are in the forecast for the foreseeable future.
Fish Factor: Good fishery boosts value of Alaska salmon permits
The value of Alaska salmon permits has ticked upwards in regions that experienced a good fishery this year while others have tanked.
Fish Factor: Salmon profits are up over 2018 fishery
Alaska’s 2019 salmon season was worth $657.6 million to fishermen, a 10 percent increase from the 2018 fishery.
Fish Factor: SE Alaska residents oppose roadless rule exemption for Tongass
The federal government’s plan to raze more roads through the Tongass National Forest is facing strong headwinds from fishermen, Native groups and coastal communities throughout Southeast Alaska.
Fish Factor: Stakeholders meeting set on sea otter predation
They're certainly cute, but the voracious appetites of sea otters continue to cause horrendous damage to some of Southeast Alaska’s most lucrative fisheries.
Fish Factor: ADF&G taking closer look at kelp farming
As more Alaskans eye the lucrative opportunities in growing kelp, many others are heading to beaches at Lower Cook Inlet to commercially harvest the detached bunches that wash ashore. That practice is now getting a closer look by state managers and scientists and could result in new regulations by year’s end.
