Alaska–Day 69

Today we had a fairly relaxed day.  We were out just after 7:30 am to go shopping at Fred Meyers in Soldotna.  Yesterday, when John drove through Soldotna he saw the parking lot at the store so crowded, he didn’t think you could even find a place to park, much less shop in the store.  We decided to beat the crowd.  For anyone who doesn’t know about this chain of stores, they are much like a Super Walmart, but with a better selection of items and brands. They are somewhat higher scale than Walmart or Target.  Since everything here is so expensive, I really can’t do any price comparisons.  But we love these stores.

On the way to the store, we passed this RV park.  There are many more than normal in town right now because the salmon are running.

We stopped by the Soldotna Visitor Center.  They had beautiful hanging baskets filled with petunias.

Then we walked down to the boardwalk along the Kenai River.

We saw what we thought then was a lot of people fly fishing for salmon along the river, both young and old.

These signs were posted next to the boardwalk.

This fellow brought in a large salmon.

After lunch we drove to the nearby town of Kenai, It was established in the early 1800s by the Russians, who were the first outsiders to settle in this part of Alaska.  We walked through the RV park we stayed in the last time we were here, then looked down at the mouth of the Kenai River, where it flows into Cook Inlet.  Wow.  Look at all those people fishing!

These are the Alaska residents that are harvesting fish with dip nets.  Those who are staying in RVs are camped in tents by the river.

This is certainly a different way of fishing than what we saw in the morning.

Look at the long handles on the nets.

The air temperature was 54 degrees and I imagine the water was even colder.  These guys are up to their armpits in it.

And they bring in a lot more fish.

Some of those we saw fishing this way are Native Americans (First Nation).

I will do a second post today with more images of the dip net fishing.  But first, let me tell you about our visit to the Russian Orthodox Church and other old buildings in Kenai.

Here are the three crosses on the roof of the Church of the Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary, established in 1846 and built in 1894.

When we went inside the church, John talked to the local priest, who lives in the rectory across the street.

Also across the street is the Saint Nicholas Memorial Chapel, built over the graves of very early priests or church members, one who died in 1867  and another in 1878.

 

Another old building didn’t stand up as well.

Also, the clouds dissipated and the sun came out today.  We even saw part of Mt. Redoubt, which has been hiding since Thursday.

To learn more about dip netting for salmon, go on to the next post.

Dipnetting in Alaska

As I explained in Day 68’s post, Alaska residents are allowed to harvest salmon in some rivers in the state as the adult salmon are returning to where they were born to spawn, lay their eggs. After they deposit their eggs, they die naturally.  Harvesting these fish is when and how people have provided for their families in this part of the world for hundreds of years. 

Harvesting fish to fill your larder for the months ahead is much different from sport fishing.  And it is even more different from going to the grocery store to buy fish to feed your family, like we do.  Both the methods and the numbers of fish involved are different.  Many years ago, I toured a slaughter house.  That is very different from going to the meat counter to pick out a steak or roast.

I want to share some of the images from today, with a little information so you know what you are seeing.  You can make your own evaluations of what you see.

The net on the very long handle is pulled through the water.  From the shore I was able to see salmon leaping upstream.

The fish gets caught in the net and is pulled from the water.

Like I said, the head of household can harvest 25 salmon, plus 10 for each additional member of the family.  That would mean 35 salmon for John and me.  That is a lot of fish.  Children’s sleds may be used to carry the salmon.

Or large buckets.

The fish have to be cleaned and filleted.This is a big job, a messy job.

At our RV park, there are fish cleaning stations and barrels for the left-over parts.  On the beach, these parts are just left on the rocks and sand.  Apparently, the city of Kenai comes in with a tractor and plows everything back into the river.  Remember the signs from my previous post about disposing of fish parts in flowing water?  But, to begin with, everything is just left on the beach.

Even the salmon eggs.

They the fish are placed in large coolers and taken either home or to a fish processing plant to be smoked or frozen.

Alaska–Day 68

As we left the Scenic View RV park, our neighbors, Ken and Rosie, gave us two beautiful salmon filets. Ken has been doing a lot of fishing during their Alaska sojourn. We are delighted and know we will enjoy them. Thanks!
We have seen lots of people fishing the rivers here on the Kenai Peninsula and seen a fair number of vehicles with large round dip nets or gill nets on the top or back end. I thought I had a picture of one of those nets, but I can’t find one.  It wasn’t until today when we checked into the Diamond M Ranch RV Park in Kenai that we realized the huge impact of Alaska’s allowing all resident households to fish with those nets for sock-eye or red salmon at this time of the year.
We had a difficult time getting up to the office to check in today because of the traffic jam at one of the fish-cleaning stations. Just look at all these folks with coolers cleaning fish about 1:30 this afternoon.
 
I was just amazed when I saw these 3 large barrels of the leftovers after the fish are gutted and filleted.  The birds or bears will be delighted wherever these barrels are dumped.

Here are a few fish during the cleaning process.

If you take a look at this one RV site, you see the coolers as well as the waders hanging to dry after the morning fishing.  Alaska residents are allowed to catch 25 salmon for the head-of-household and 10 more for each family member.  Here is a link to the regulations for several locations here on the peninsula.



I saw some other interesting sights in the RV park while I was walking back and forth to do the laundry.

They have several llamas and some pigs in an area called the Pasture.


I suggested to these folks that they might find it easier to put the tent on the ground and get inside of it, rather than carrying it around.

You don’t want to hear about John’s attempt to repair our toilet this afternoon.  Trust me, you don’t want to hear.
PS:  the toilet still doesn’t work right.