The Mooring Line

Whaling 2009

2009-08-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

Nagai Island

Nikita Shumagin, a crew member on Bering's voyage that discovered Alaska, was the first of many to die of scurvy on the long way back to Russia. He was buried on this island, giving the Shumagin Islands their name.

The weather in SW Alaska has been stormier than average. My boss Mark and his wife Bree, a whale biologist for University of Alaska Fairbanks, flew into Sand Point from Kodiak for another year of whale surveys.

After sitting around a few days waiting on weather, we made it out for some whale chasing (permitted, of course!). Bree gave me access to her great photos, so I could share them with everyone. The whales in the photos below are all humpbacks.

Seiners fishing Red Bluff. I love getting off the docks to see the fleet hard at work. The Sand Point seine fleet has some of the largest seiners in the State.

Here's my face after throwing up 3 times. It was rough out there!

The next day was incredible weather, but I opted to stay on land while the seasick memories were still so fresh from the day before. Bree got some incredible photos!

Humpback whales are identified by the markings on their flukes. As many are cataloged as possible. Part of Bree's goal every year is to survey the Shumagins, identifying the returning and new whales in the area.
Here are a series of fin shots taken on the second day showing how distinct their flukes can be.

It's really August?!

2009-08-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

Sand Point under the sunniest sky I've seen in two weeks.

Usually Sand Point has pretty nice summer weather--even compared to Ketchikan which is nearly the same latitude. This year, however, it seems to be reversed. It sounds like I'm missing one of the best weather years in Ketchikan's history, and catching all the rain clouds in Sand Point. I'm still in hats and gloves on the first day of August! Wow--I can't believe it's August already! The percentage of red salmon in the daily harvest has dramatically decreased, and the silvers are starting to show up. Watching the volume and percentage of salmon species in the harvest really shows the passing of summer. Here in the Southeastern District, June typically has the largest percentage of red salmon, and by August the harvest is largely pink and silver salmon. With the 20,000 fish I sample in a season, I notice even the little things, like the tightness of their scales and the firmness of their meat. This time of year, I start to see more "watermarked" fish--chum salmon that have been in or near freshwater and are starting to get their characteristic striping, pink salmon morphing into "humpies," sockeye turning into "reds." The signs of summer's end are starting to show.

Yesterday my schoolteacher friend Heather and I went for a hike despite the weather. Sometimes you just can't let the rain hold you back! With 20 days left in town, I feel an urgency to enjoy some of my favorite places and activities before I jump on a plane for the kiln-heat of Arizona and my sister's wedding. Things on my list: ocean swims, smoking salmon, a trip to Red Cove, and salmon berry picking. Somebody send me some good weather!!!

Flight Seeing

2009-07-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

Last week, I got to hop in an empty seat in the Fish and Game's Cessna 185. I love flying with Steve, the department's pilot who's flown in this area for more than 40 years. The flight was a quick hop from Sand Point across the Peninsula to Port Moller. The map shows the villages, as well as the volcanic mountain range that hugs the South Side of the Peninsula. When I counted fish in Chignik for a summer, I could always see Veniaminof smoking. In 2007, I was lucky enough to watch Pavlof erupt from a safe distance. This mountain range acts as a barrier for the Bering Sea fog that is prevelent on the North Side. For most of the summer, I can look over towards the mainland from sunny Sand Point and see the huge fog bank stuck behind the mountains.

Here is a stretch of coastline facing Sand Point. The geography is just incredible, and how it is formed in such bizarre shapes is a total mystery to me.

It was a quick flight over the mountains, where on the otherside everything becomes totally flat. We saw several brown bears with cubs out in these mud flats as we flew over. Steve said there are days where he'll fly over at least 50 brown bears.

The weather kept getting nicer as we flew. I got to see the North Side on it's only sunny day!

There are a lot of hot springs on the Peninsula. This is a popular spot for fishermen to drop by and warm up over the summer. It sure looked good to me!

The snaking of this little river makes it really obvious how flat the ground is on the North Side.

Once you get to Port Moller and Bristol Bay, all you see are small boats that drift net. Seine fishing is only seen on the South Side.

The flight only took about 15 minutes to get from one side to the other. It was great to see the country first hand after looking at it on a map for so long! I feel so blessed to spend my summers in such gorgeous wildnerness. Wow!

how to fillet a fish my style

2009-07-15T22:20:00.000-07:00

There are 3 necessities when filleting salmon--beer, a sharp knife, and a fish (obviously). A fillet table is not required, but sure is a nice luxury! I have a preference for cotton gloves when filleting--not to keep my hands clean, but to have a good grip on the fish!

I like to use a thick bladed butchering knife when I fillet salmon. The sharper the blade, the easier it is to make a nice cut. It really makes a world of difference. I keep a little sharpener on hand to use between each fillet.

The first cut that needs to happen is right behind the pectoral fin. I don't cut all the way through the fish, just until I feel the blade hit the spine.

The second cut I make goes all the way down the back of the fish. It's important to keep the tip of your knife right on the spine, and angle the blade slightly downwards to cut as much flesh off the bone as possible.

When I've cut past the belly, beyond the ribs, then I push the knife all the way through the fish, to where I can see the tip coming out the other side. I finish this way clear to the tail.

From here, I go back to the upper section of the fillet where it is still attached to the ribs. Angling the blade slightly downward, I press on the ribs as I slice the meat from the bones.

Once I reach the belly, I slice through the skin and cut the fillet free from the fish.
Then I flip the fish over and repeat the same process on the other side.

I always rinse the fillets off once they're cut to remove any blood that might have gotten on the meat.

Obviously I fall short of Filleting Diva when I leave that much meat on the bone! How embarrassing. But at least in this photo, you can see that it's not necessary to gut any fish if you're going to fillet them the same day they're caught. This king was caught just a few hours before it landed under my knife.

Naturally after all that concentration, you get pretty thirsty. Sipping on a home brew is totally appropriate at this time.

(Photo and shadow credits go to Lisa!)

Sweet Summer Days

2009-07-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

The Shumagins have had some beautiful summer weather the last few days. I had to get the camera out today while kite flying with Lisa to show proof that the sun does come out here occasionally.

The sampling schedule has been dark and early lately. One nice thing about it, we are free to enjoy the awesome weather.

Kite flying has become one of our favorite ways to spend the afternoons out here. Sand Point isn't particularly known as a windy place, but there are plenty of opportunities to catch an updraft off the cliffs.

I wish I could share with everyone the incredible scent of the Aleutians in summer. Though treeless, the islands are so lush with vegetation the air is heavy with the peppery smell of pushkie, the sweet smell of wild geranium and brush alder, and the clean smell of the salty ocean.

Fishing

2009-07-08T13:02:00.000-07:00

A calm Sand Point harbor at 6 am.

Lisa and I volunteered this year to be the observers on the test fish. Those of you who followed my blog last year might remember my posts about seining with the f/v Lady Joanne, the same boat chartered this year. Every summer there is a pause in the fishery known as the "overlap" that happens the first week of July. During this time, Fish & Game charters a local seiner to fish for 3 days so that the number of immature salmon in the harvest may be observed. This season the numbers were within the ideal range, and the fishery reopened on the 6th of July.

In this picture, Lisa is picking a "giller" out of the web. On the test fish, every immature salmon has to be counted and identified as pink, chum, coho, sockeye or king. There can be times where there are so many immatures stuck by their gills in the seine net, that it looks like a Christmas tree and the gear will jam up. Fortunately, that didn't happen while we were observing!

And here I am doing my best to stay on my feet. I imagine it takes awhile to get really good at running around all the gear on deck. This set of fish was probably around 8,000 pounds, which is pretty average. A large set is 12,000+, and a lot of fun to experience. The energy is incredible.

Though all 3 days were thick with fog, we had surprisingly calm seas for being out between two southeast storms. Getting a chance to be on a boat and do some fishing is a highlight of every summer I've had in Sand Point. It's a chance to connect with the reason I'm employed, and of course it's a whole lot of fun.

I'm Back.

2009-07-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

Well, after a long and chilly winter I've returned to the Shumagins.

To catch up, I thought it would be nice to summarize the last year through a little photojournalism:

1. Taking a break from homework in Fairbanks, friends and I skied Moose Mountain at 20 below. Yeah, the tip of my nose tells me to NEVER do that again.

2. My sister's epic 21st birthday was a fantastic reunion of the best people I know.

Portland, Oregon was ROCKED the night of December 27th!

3. Cori and her boyfriend Evan decided to get really serious.

4. The world had to say goodbye to this wonderful man:

5. I made a special visit to Ketchikan during spring break. After saying goodbye to Poppa, I needed to go home.

Southeast nurtured my spirit, and I got to catch up with a couple of very special girls, Penny and Hunny.

6. On August 29th, 2009, I will officially have a brother!

7. After crossing paths at the baseball diamond in Unalaska (credit to Penny!), this handsome geologist from Anchorage has convinced me to date him.

8. I turned 25 on the f/v Tustumina,

my home-away-from-home,

while en route to Sand Point.

Mmmm. . .chocolate cupcakes and Kodiak micro-brew.

Hello half-way to 50!

So, now I'm back in Sand Point for a final summer of sampling. It feels good to have another year of school under my belt, and take a much-needed breather in the fresh Aleutian air. I can't believe it's July already! The weather in June was stormy, but it was the first without snow that I've experienced, and already there are signs of a good berry year. I have high ambitions for salmonberry jam. And lots of ocean swims.

My crew leader and friend Lisa is back with her kayak, and I am back in my wetsuit. Good times!

I hope everyone is doing well, and getting plenty of opportunities to have their own summer fun. I'll be posting often, so check back for more, and I'd love to hear from you!

Summer Wrap up! (Part 2)

2008-10-19T16:56:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful August morning when we arrived in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor.

Penny and I had a full day in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor. For those of you who don't know, Dutch Harbor is the international port in Alaska's 11th largest city called Unalaska, population 4,000. The military presence during the second World War left a lot of evidence behind--as soon as we pulled in to port we could see bunkers all over the hills behind the Harbor. We had a great day visiting the Aleut museum, meeting a lot of new people, hitching rides as we walked through town, and did a lot of sightseeing. It seemed to me to be a place of great cultural diversity: Aleut, Russian, Filipino and the fleet of often shady-characters. It also seemed to be a very rich community, with fancy city services like a recreation center with a beautiful swimming pool and the best baseball diamond I've seen in the state!

I snapped this picture right as we pulled out of Dutch Harbor. Small boats are rare in the Aleutians, especially sail boats!

Here we are in Cold Bay on our way back up the Peninsula to Homer. The water is so shallow here that the pier had to be built far enough out for the ferry to dock.

It was so wonderful having Penny along to help me say goodbye to the Aleutians, the Alaska Peninsula, and gentle summer weather. I can easily say that this summer--more than any other--I have realized how important it is to me to live a life alongside Alaska's coastline and its fisheries. I'm plugging away at my studies in Natural Resource Management and Fisheries and UAF, and hope to graduate and be out of the frozen North and back on the water for good in 3 more semesters. But between now and then, I look forward to next summer in Southwestern Alaska while I study my socks off and stay snug inside when it's 60 below. Yay! So much to look forward to!

Thanks for reading!

Okay! Summer wrap up! (Part 1)

2008-10-06T23:45:00.000-07:00

One last swim before leaving town. I was sad to leave Sand Point for many reasons, but especially because the water had finally warmed up to a really nice temperature!

This is sooooo late! But I really wanted to do it no matter that there's snow outside my Fairbanks campus apartment and it's 27 degrees and quickly dropping. What it all comes down to is just sharing some beautiful pictures. My friend and mentor Penny Pedersen managed to leave her husband and 3 boys in Ketchikan for a week and travel with me from Sand Point to Dutch Harbor, and then all the way up to Homer via Alaska State Ferry the end of August after the salmon season was over. The seiners and gill netters were putting their nets in the box, and the school year was quickly approaching. I wanted to tour the SW as far as the ferry would take me as a sort of final hurrah before heading to the frozen, lonely interior for the next 9 months.

This is Roundtop Mountain. It's right behind the community of False Pass, AK, on Unimak Island--the first in the Aleutian Chain. False Pass has a population of 64 people, and is established in the tight narrows between Unimak Island and the end of the Alaska Peninsula. It is a place of powerful connection between the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean. A place I'm told is always windy and swept with churning tidal currents. I sure experienced both at extreme degrees. The name "False Pass" comes from the fact that only small boats can get through the small gap between island and mainland--small boats like 58ft seiners. The 296ft Tustemina was too big, so after servicing the village we had turn around and continue southwest until we could pass over to the Bering side near Akutan Island.

And here I am with the kite's final avian endeavor. The wind was so strong it broke the string as soon as I had it in the air. It was gone before the Tustemina crew could reprimand me for flying it in the first place. Seeing it swirl in the churn of the propeller wash behind the boat, I felt bad for adding to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch I wrote about earlier this summer. At the same time, I have to confess the romantic side of me thought drowning in the Bering Sea was the only way for such a fantastic kite to end its flying days.

More later!

Salmon Identification

2008-09-07T16:06:00.001-07:00

Sockeye salmon are the most prized in the fishing industry for their firm, bright red meat. One of the most common questions I get on the dock from cannery workers themselves is how to tell a male from a female. I always point to their heads--males are easy to tell by their long noses.

There are five species of Pacific salmon. The two I sample are sockeye and chum, but there are also coho, pink, and king salmon. Here I've snapped a photo of a chum and coho. The bottom fish is a coho. If you look closely, you'll notice that the coho has much more silver on it's tail than the chum.

Another easy way to check to see what you have on the end of your line is by taking a look at the eye and the gum color:

Above is a chum salmon: Huge pupil (they always look a bit dumb), and white gums.

And here's a coho: Small eye and pupil, and black gums.

So this just touches the surface. I could probably blog the rest of my life about salmon, but I'll leave pink and king a mystery (really I just don't have photos) and move on. . .

Checking in. . .

2008-08-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to everyone saying the site has been down, and though I have a ton to blog about, I still can't upload any photos. With that said, once I hit the Mainland this next week be looking for a lot of blogging all at once, as I will do my best to get everyone caught up with what's been going on the last few weeks.

Until then, I'm watching a sparkling Gulf of Alaska glisten off the starboard side of the Tustumina (the state ferry), and the northern end of the Alaska Peninsula fade in the distance off the port side. It's amazing you can get internet from a satellite out in the middle of nowhere for only $12 a day. The world continues to shrink at an alarming rate--even way out here.

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the last bit of August!

Bri

whaling

2008-08-11T16:59:00.000-07:00

You have to have a permit to get this close!

My boss Mark's wife Bree Witteveen (wow! someone who shares my name!) is a whale biologist out of Kodiak. She and Mark flew out here to do a bit of whaling (photo cataloging, biopsies with a dart gun) and let people ride along.

It's pretty crazy watching Bree at work. For one thing, sighting a humpback whale and then hitting the throttle straight for it seems pretty counter intuitive. To top that off, pulling out a firearm once you've reached within 10 feet of it is really exciting. The dart Bree shoots bounces off the whale, taking with it a tiny core of skin and blubber that will later be looked at in the lab.

Check out the tracks on the GPS! We hit an area off of Nagai that had over 20 whales! We must have gone in circles for hours trying to get good pictures of all their flukes (tails) so they could be identified. I'm not exactly sure how long it was because I took a nap. . .

The only reason why I would ever confess to such a thing is because I know Mark will be reading this.

He's the one who took the picture.

Most of these whales spend their winters in Hawaii, and some off the coast of Baja, Mexico.
They are some of the most mysterious animals with the worst smelling breath I have ever experienced in my short lifetime. I feel pretty blessed to have seen so many of them so close!

Summer

2008-08-07T15:26:00.000-07:00

The sun is out and I'm melting!!!!
That brown dot in front of the boats is a sea lion enjoying his lunch.

So far, all but 3 days of August have been hot, dusty and sunny. It is without a doubt summer now, and just in time, as the salmon season will start to die down in the next 2 weeks. The pinks have shown up with Area M fishermen catching over 700,000 pounds in a single day. Pink salmon is least desirable for anything but canning, and will be shipped out of town to be processed elsewhere. The Chignik plant canned pinks, but since it burned down there will be no canning on the Peninsula. I'll be putting up pictures of different salmon species for a little fyi blog later.

Lisa and I installed a marine radio in our apartment before she left for Kodiak. I'll miss her, but won't be lonely with all the chatter coming out of the speakers. Thanks Dad for the help over the phone! Thought I'd put up a picture so you could feel like you were kind of there. :)

And finally, my beer is done and delicious! Thanks to James for all the help.

For you, Britta

2008-07-30T16:20:00.000-07:00

Hanging out on bouy #5.
Climbing on the bouys isn't really allowed, but I got away with it this time.

My childhood friend Britta Christensen is an avid ocean swimmer. We attended school in Fairbanks together last winter, and as two land-locked Southeast girls, we spent a lot of time talking about the water and missing home. I became convinced that ocean swimming was something I wanted to do as well, and she helped me pick out a wetsuit. That said, I've had it all summer and finally used it! Lisa patiently paddled alongside me in her kayak and I swam a 1/2 mile out to bouy 5 in front of town one evening after work. It was incredible. I'm hooked.

The Dock

2008-07-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

Any fish other than salmon fascinates us because we usually have no idea what it is. Here's Lisa with a mystery fish we pulled out of the bycatch tote. I should go look it up in the 10lb fish encyclopedia at the office. . .

I realize most people still have no idea what I do besides play, play, play. I do work!!! But it doesn't mean that I don't have fun doing it. Here's a picture of Lisa and I sampling sockeye. I also know that my boss, Mark, drops by my blog every now and then, and I want to make sure he knows I'm earning my money!

Not only that, but so is Lisa. . . thanks to a forklift lesson from Richard:

Camping!

2008-07-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

I'd just like to point out the fact that Red Cove is red.

I'm not a geologist, but Red Cove makes me want to be one. So many amazing rocks, and I have no idea what they are. It was really tempting to bring a bunch home from my camping trip with Lisa, but bouys are much lighter, and the beach combing was great. There is more than one way to get to Red Cove. Lisa and I went via Red Cove Lake, which is at sea level and separated from the ocean by a gorgeous beach. It's a really neat little piece of geography. To get there, we hiked a buffalo trail down from the road and canoed across the lake to the ocean side.

There is so much driftwood in Red Cove, and it's neat to find huge spruce and cedar logs down there. The closest trees are spruce on the north end of Kodiak. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of that driftwood is from Southeast.

Lisa made a kick-ass chair so we could relax by the fire, and we cooked up some delicious apricot-lentil soup for dinner. Summer just isn't summer without a camping trip! Glad we could squeeze it in between all the fishing.

Chignik Fire

2008-07-22T14:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Lisa and I were sampling fish on the dock when a sleazy guy stopped to watch. This happens often, because there's not a whole lot of girls out here. Usually we ignore them and keep working, and they wander off. But when this guy started to talk about a fire at the Chignik cannery, we warmed up to him really quick and started drilling him with questions.

Check out the Anchorage Daily News article on the Chignik fire. Thankfully no one was seriously hurt, but it's a devastating thing to happen--especially during fishing season. A processing plant is the heart that pumps life through a fishing community's veins, not to mention the seafood industry itself. Laura Ganis, who has been sampling there all summer, said people just stood and cried while it caved under flames that reached 100ft. She doesn't know if her samples, which were stored in a building next door to the fire, survived or not. We'll know in a couple of days when things are safe for her to check out. More importantly, hundreds of lives have been affected; the fleet will still be able to fish--their catch will be disbursed between here and Kodiak--but hundreds of people's livelihood is dependent on the processing, and there is nothing for them now except to be sent home on chartered flights out of Chignik. So sad.

Such a sad mess.

2008-07-09T14:41:00.000-07:00

Packed up and heading back into town. High Island in the background is an awesome spot to see more than a dozen whales at a time--no kidding!

It was another great day on the water. Started out really foggy, but it eventually burned off and the sun came out for 10 whole minutes! That was enough for me to be satisfied.

The test fishery took 2 extra days before we saw the number of immatures drop off. Now the seine fleet is out fishing for 24 hours. It's blowing southeast 30 today--imagine that. Glad it wasn't when I was out there! Well, I don't know, it might be kind of fun. . .probably not.

When we pulled in a set at Middle Set there were a couple skates. What neat animals! That's James posing with one before he threw it back in the water.

And then of course I had to do my annual cheesy-pose-with-fish picture. :)

Seining

2008-07-06T12:39:00.000-07:00

Drying salmon on the back of the wheelhouse of the Lady Joanne

I hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July. This town partied like a rock star, but I went to bed early since I was getting up before dawn to go out on the test fish with the assistant area biologist, James, the next day.
The seine fishery is on a scheduled closing over the week of the 4th, and before Fish and Game opens the fishery back up we have to check for immature salmon. A seine net has small enough webbing it will catch just about anything, where a gill net has big enough mesh that the little guys can swim right though. Catching immature salmon is understandably not good for the stock, and they get caught by their gills in the seine net making for really slow fishing, since they all have to be picked out. Because of this, they are called "gillers." I had the privilege of tagging along with James and the great crew on the Lady Joanne, as long as I promised to help pick out all the gillers. I have such boat lust that I confess I'll do just about anything to be on one. The day ended with more immatures than we wanted, so the fishery is still closed. We'll go back out tomorrow for another test fish and see how it looks. Which means I get to go back out on the boat. Yay!

rain, fishing grounds, and plastic

2008-07-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

Last night I dreamed there was snow all the way down to the water line. . .no, it does not feel like summer here. It is foggy and comfortably cool, and the fish really like it. That's a good thing for the fishery, and good for myself who about died in the dryness of the Fairbanks subarctic desert. Still, one sunny day wouldn't bother me too much.
As a result, my spare time away from the dock has been busy baking bread, brewing beer, swimming lap after lap in the local swimming pool, riding my bike in the rain and canning salmon. If anyone would like me to can for them, send me a check for jars and shipping and I'll gladly do the work. I've already canned all I need for myself, but still have the itch to butcher salmon and fill jars. . .must be the winter squirrel in me. I don't know.
I've been reading about the Eastern Garbage Patch that floats in the center of the Pacific currents. I'm horrified to learn floating plastics cover an area about 1 1/2 times the size of the U.S. and over 100 ft deep. The plastics are absorbing poisons like PCBs and DDT, and affecting marine life, including the seafood we eat. All this, and we've only really been using plastics for the last 60 years! Plastics are such a convenient poison. . .they take the shape of everything from medical stents, Lisa's beautiful Necky kayak, and the letter keys on my laptop. Now I hear my Nalgene is a stealthy plastic monster out to infect me with a million tumors, and messing up my estrogen. I can start wrapping my sandwich in waxed paper and drink out of a stainless bottle, but what about the plastic soup in the middle of the Pacific that is so big nothing can be done about it? And how much poisoning of our planet can we really do before we past the point of ignorance being any kind of excuse? I don't know, maybe we already have.
Like a large chunk of my childhood, I'm living in a place where we deal with our own trash. We sort the burnables from the non-burnables and watch the column of black smoke come out of the incinerator on the hill every Tuesday. I'm surprised and a little ashamed to admit that it's a challenge for me to keep it down to one 13 gallon trash bag a week. It makes me a little sick inside. In the wonderful Buddhist and Christian practice of mindfulness, I am trying to become more aware of not just what I throw away, but also the things I choose to own. I think we've lost sight of this, and a lot of suffering is coming from it. All I can do is start with myself, so wish me luck!

last weekend

2008-06-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

Landon and Tara Roberts! It was such a privilege to stand along side them on their wedding day. It was a special day for all of us.

Traveling from Sand Point to Ketchikan takes two days. I overnighted in Anchorage on my way there and Juneau on the return leg. In both places I stayed with special people I feel lucky to call friends! To Penny and her dad Steve, Dylan and Abby Burt, Shannon, Trevor, John and Tabitha Gentry and John and Keely Bannister/Moon, it was so great to spend time with you, though I have to say it was waaaaaaay too short.

And Cori surprised me by flying from Portland!!!
It was such a fun, emotion-filled, whirlwind
weekend, the pictures are necessary proof to myself that I was there. I didn't realize how homesick I am for Southeast until I was there among all those trees and mist! There is just no place on earth closer to my heart. It's even better when I'm sharing it with my sister.

here fishy

2008-06-19T16:42:00.000-07:00

Sand Point, AK. Population 950.

While I was in Ketchikan to be a bride's maid in my friend Tara's wedding (pictures of that will come later), the fleet settled on 70 cents a pound for reds, 18 cents for chum, and started fishing on the 14th. Lately it's been chilly and wet, but not enough to notice among all the fish slime and forklifts on the dock.

Over the last couple of days I've snagged enough jack kings (juveniles under 7lbs) from the bycatch tote to can a batch of salmon. I'll be canning all summer in preparation for winter. There are few things I like better meal-wise than sitting on the kitchen counter with a fork and a jar of salmon I canned myself. Delicious!!!

hanging tight

2008-06-08T19:32:00.000-07:00

Area M (Sand Point) fleet, staying in port and fighting for change.

So, I should have waited to post my last blog before leaving the house... turns out that with the fuel price jumping up 65 cents the day of the opening (the fuel barge got in the day before), and sockeye only rising a few cents a pound out here in Sand Point, the fleet stayed in and called for a meeting to negotiate prices.
From what I've learned by eavesdropping around town, diesel, at $4.85 a gallon today, is over double what it was last year. The price for reds (sockeye) has barely moved in the last several. What's even more interesting is that the same processing plants in Kodiak (Trident, Peter Pan) are paying roughly $1.30 a pound for reds, which is nearly double what the fleet gets here, at the recently raised price of $0.70. I have heard that this is justified by volume--the number of reds coming in from the south Peninsula fisheries is huge compared to Kodiak, which has a higher percentage of pink harvest. Still, I think people are looking for $1 a pound before they go out.
Trident and the fleet are at a standoff, with all the cannery workers standing around waiting for fish, people that still have to be fed and housed by a plant that's not making any money right now. The fleet is in the harbor during the first opening, letting hundreds of thousands of $$ swim by. I can't even attempt to touch on the politics of it all--there's no way I think my mind could get a good handle on it without being a part of it for a long time. In the meantime, with no fish to sample, I'm hanging out waiting and watching.
With imaginary beer in hand (preferably not a $5 can of Bud Light), I'd like to make a toast to the Sand Point fleet and all involved. Everyone needs to work, everyone needs a paycheck, no matter who you are.

the last of the pre-season lull

2008-06-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

A nice view of Mt. Pavlov. Wouldn't know it from all the snow, but I saw this volcano erupt with a huge river of lava last August from where I was standing on the docks.

On the 4th, the weather was still pretty nice, but definitely cooling down. Lisa took her shiny new Necky kayak on it's maiden voyage before she left it for safe keeping with me (ha!) until the middle of the month. I christened it with a cracked egg and a sprinkle of Dasani since a bottle of champagne is equal to a down payment on a house around here.

It snowed June 5th. Back to being house-bound with all planes grounded, Lisa and crew were delayed for King Cove. Lisa spent the time waiting for the weather to improve by ripping up my kitchen right before ditching town. I could pretend to be mad, but really it lets a lot more light in through the porthole that is my kitchen window. I swear the bunkhouse feels more like a boat than an apartment. We all had sea legs for the next 4 days after our 30hr ferry ride. My theory for sea legs lasting longer than the actual boat ride is based on the maritime feng shui of the place. I guess it's fitting.

The wonderful Fish & Game pilots Steve Hakala and Paul Horn made it in on the sixth, and flew everyone out of town to their perspective field stations. The photo of all us WASSIP girls with the state rig cracks me up. According to our boss Mark, none of the guys that applied qualified. I got to ride along to King Cove with Steve, who's been flying this area for at least 40 years. It was so nice to be back in a deHavilland Beaver. I know they're slow, but they're beautiful! Though I have to say it sure is alarming to see one without floats. The bird's eye view of the Shumagin Islands and south Peninsula is always an awesome sight. It's really crazing to see how volcanic the local geography is when you're flying over it all.

Today, I'm planning on going on a hike before my first night of sampling. The fleet got their nets wet at 6am this morning, and are fishing on a windy but sunny day. I'm curious to see how they do tonight, and am SO EXCITED to get my hands on some silver-backed salmon. They're so pretty this time of year.

"testing, testing"

2008-06-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

Passing Castle Cape on the AK Peninsula

Thanks to my colleague Laura, I'm trying out a blog this year since my history of consistent email updates is so . . . bad.

Summer is here!? I can't believe it for 3 reasons:

First off, I had a great time in sub-arctic Fairbanks. The school year was busy but I had a couple of "shady bar" adventures and winter camping trips to break up the studying a bit. Dad got me an awesome bike the day after I got in town, and besides having some air-headed lame-o stealing my bike seat, I discovered I LOVE bike riding. So much, in fact, that I’ve hauled it all the way out to Sand Point for the summer. I don’t think there are too many bikes in the world that get the privilege of such scenic trips. The more I see of this state, the more I’m convinced that to live anywhere else is not for me (sorry Mom and Dad and Cori).

Secondly, when I left Fairbanks it was 70 degrees and rising. Today in Sand Point is the nicest of the three I’ve been here, and it’s about 40 F with sideways rain and variable winds gusting to 20 knots. Everything is brown, brown, brown. Yay! (Not really.) Actually, it is awesome to be back on the coast no matter how windy and cold and wet it is. After a frozen and still landscape for most of the 9 months I was in Fairbanks, where there aren’t even smells because things are so frozen, the brown, cold and moody Shumagin Islands seem more alive than I can describe.

Finally, getting off the ferry after a 30 hour ride from Kodiak to Sand Point felt surreal because it seems as though I just left last weekend. This time, however, I have another year of experience and lessons in me. I’m still at that age where the learning curve is extremely steep and you feel so much wiser than you remember being last year. It’s great to grow, but I have to confess I wouldn’t mind hitting a plateau sometime soon. Learning is painful and humbling most of the time. But also fun and motivating. I know you all who have been before me can relate with the kind, wise smiles that make us youngin's feel sooo young. Not in a bad way.

Look for more later and pictures when I take them!