A system designed in the 1970s was supposed to make Alaska’s commercial fishing industry more sustainable and more profitable. But over the last 50 years, it has hollowed out many Indigenous coastal villages where residents no longer can earn a living by harvesting salmon.

The borough says there are about 130 short-term rentals within the Kodiak road system, which does not include the separate designation of “lodges” nor short-term rentals in communities off the road system. The borough doesn’t know how many owners of the short-term rentals live on site.

Mark Withrow was 75. He recently retired after working as a local doctor for decades. Alaska State Troopers do not suspect foul play.

The newly constructed cabin used materials donated by Friends of Kodiak State Parks and had assistance from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Sportfish Division as well as Island Trails Network.

Last year, the city asked state regulators to increase Kodiak's cap to 10 licenses. The state Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office said no, the city isn’t qualified under state law and neither is the Kodiak Island Borough.

KMXT’s Davis Hovey recently spoke with Nick Mangini about his own journey as a former commercial fishermen turned Kodiak kelp farmer, and the industry’s growth around Kodiak Island within the last year.

Earlier this month, the state Department of Transportation announced that it would start enforcing a two-week maximum, beginning on Feb. 1, for all public vehicles parked in the airport’s long-term parking areas, which DOT says will be marked with signs.

“After years of hearing from the Coast Guard that they’re experiencing, maybe degraded performance, we don’t want [mariners] to lose hope,” Bryan Hinderberger, chief technical officer at the Marine Exchange of Alaska, said.

USCG's commanding officer of the Frederick Mann, one of the new vessels, said the John Witherspoon will be the first cutter to arrive at Coast Guard Base Kodiak. He updated members of the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly and City Council during a Fisheries Work Group meeting on Jan. 22.

Communities on the east side of Kodiak Island will be connected to a new fiber optic cable through a project between Old Harbor Native Corporation and Alaska Communications. Two of the communities don't have access to fiber currently.