KAKE — Kake's Gunnuk Creek Hatchery will be closing in a little more than a month, something Kake residents and leaders say is a calamity for the town's economy and access to fish.

Kake Mayor Henrich Kadake Sr. said he's been involved with the hatchery since "day one," almost 40 years. It started as a high school project in 1973 and incorporated in 1976.

"It's going to be a real blow to the community," he said.

The hatchery, owned and operated by the Kake Nonprofit Fisheries Corporation, owed the state $13.75 million when it was denied its 42nd loan. The denial of that loan meant it was unable to operate, and it defaulted in January, leading the state to foreclose.

Read the full story at Juneau Empire>>