Please tune into KSDP’s interview with Sand Point area’s biologist Matt Keyes. Austin and Matt will be discussing the August fisheries. The interview will be August 1st, 2025 at 11:00AM.
Listen to or Download the Meeting Here:
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MP3 (11MB) = https://www.apradio.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-08-01-MattKeyse.mp3
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WAV (128MB) = https://apradio.org/mp3/2025-08-01-MattKeyse.wav
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Services for the late Richard Kochuten Sr. (Moonie) are scheduled for this Tuesday July 29th at 2:00pm at the Sand Point Baptist Church. There will be a graveside meeting, followed by a Celebration of Life at 3:30 at the Sand Point Baptist Church. All are welcome, and please bring a dish to share.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council, a federal board that helps oversee federal fisheries off Alaska’s coast, is scaling back operations due to uncertainty over federal funding.
The council meets five times a year to help set fishing policies, like quotas, regulations and bycatch restrictions. But federal budget cuts under President Donald Trump have whittled down the organization’s resources, forcing them to scale back their activities.
At a meeting earlier this month, the council said it had received less than half of its federal funds. They got another payment last week, but Executive Director David Witherell said they’ve still only received about two-thirds of their annual funding. Typically, the council receives full funding by March.
“This is a highly unusual situation that we’re in,” Witherell said. “We can normally be able to plan our meeting schedule for the year and not have to worry that the Council offices might have to close because we run out of funds to pay staff.”
The funding is disbursed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as part of a four-year grant. This is the first year of that grant cycle — and Witherell said they’re starting from zero, with no rollover from the previous year.
He said the council has been told to expect another installment once Congress finalizes a federal spending plan. But for now, there’s no timeline and no guarantee.
“The funding this year has been coming in dribs and drabs, and it’s making it challenging to reserve meeting spaces and to know that we have the funds to host a meeting,” Witherell said.
The council is dropping to only four meetings next year and will hold its next meeting, in October, online. In a statement, the council said they’re also cutting back on travel and other expenses.
They hope to hold an in-person meeting in December, but even that will depend on whether more funding comes through.
Commercial fisheries rely on council recommendations in order to open. The council warned that its December schedule is overloaded with time-sensitive matters, like chum salmon bycatch.
KSDP will air the meeting live & place an archive of the audio here:
https://apradio.org/mp3/2025-06-24City.mp3
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Sand Point City Council will hold a meeting on Tuesday, June 24th, 2025 at 7PM.
Always check here for the latest Agenda & Packet:
https://www.sandpointak.com/agendas–packets.html
Agenda & Packet:
https://www.sandpointak.com/uploads/2/7/6/7/27677223/june_24_2025_sand_point_city_council_special_meeting_packet-final.pdf
