Return to Nushagak

E-mail March 25th, 2015 8:15 AM:

   “Looking to bring Jordan back out of retirement this season (Jordan would be you). Long story short, I’m currently in the process of taking over my dad’s Bristol Bay operation and I’m in need of someone to run a boat for this upcoming season....”  

- Levi

   Interesting. Levi wants me to fish for him and he was using the Michael Jordan comparison as a hook.  His reference to M.J. was flattering although not entirely accurate.  Let’s look at the facts:  Michael played 16 seasons for the Chicago Bulls earning six NBA Championships,  a thousand or so MVP’s and a laundry list of records that to this day have stood the test of time.  Myself on the other hand fished for his dad, Tom Sr., for all of three seasons including two of the worst Bristol Bay salmon returns on record.  I was able to distinguish myself by getting extra slimy and cracking a few tasteless jokes.  Hmm.

    “Mr. Harrison can I get my locker combo?”  Back to reality. I was about to start my work day at SuValley. My usual morning e-mails aren’t nearly as interesting as this one from Levi.   Throughout the day my mind kept coming back to the proposal.

   I decided to forward the e-mail to my wife.  “Are you considering this?” she asked.

    “Yes.”

     The idea was exciting to me for a number of reasons.  It had been fourteen years since I’d crewed for Tom Sr. and it would be great to reconnect with him and all of the other characters I met back then. Many of them are still there. Also, Bristol Bay is the cutting edge setnet fishery in the world and I was interested to see what innovations and improvements have been developed since I was last there.  Our family operation in Cook Inlet might benefit. It would be like a setnet training camp, seminar or something. That night we talked about it and decided that I would go.

     This wouldn't be my first rodeo. Growing up setnetting on the mudflats of the Susitna River eventually led to other fishing opportunities as I grew older.  Bristol Bay bound, I was offered a job crewing for my dad’s friend, Steve Davis, at the tender age of 16.  In some respects it was a bit like throwing a babe to the wolves. I gained the first inklings of work-ethic and mental toughness that I so covet these days, and I won’t deny that at least some of that was discovered on the Combine mud-flats of Nushagak.   I would return to Bristol Bay five more times after that; the last of which was in 2001 with Tom.

    For those that don’t know; Bristol Bay is an amazing spectacle of nature.   It remains one of the last strongholds of salmon super-abundance.  For reasons rooted in preferential geography, conservative management and the incredible life force of the salmon itself, the runs of sockeye have flourished in the Bay beyond compare.  Whereas most salmon runs around the world are greatly diminished or gone altogether, the Bristol Bay fishery has actually increased in size.   Not only has this giant flush of salmon each year been an economic boon for fisherman and the people of the Bristol Bay region, it has also fed billions of people around the world nourishing them with the most amazing nutrition.  

   There is at least another reason why the salmon runs in Bristol Bay have remained strong. The headwaters have been left alone.

      Low-and-behold there is a giant company called Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. that is busy scheming and trying to bully their way into the headwaters of the Nushagak and Kvichak River systems and they have pockets of gold spilling from their britches. Britches that many think they are too big for. They hope to create one of the world’s largest open-pit mines. The run-offs from this mine would inevitably leach poisonous chemicals downstream through the spawning beds.  

These two systems (Nushagak, Kvichak) account for 50 percent of salmon harvested in Bristol Bay annually. Outspoken critic and regular contributor to the Huffington post Joel Reynolds calls it "A very large mine in a very bad place."

  I have to agree with Joel. Along with the proposed Susitna-Watana Dam, Pebble is quite possibly the worst idea ever. Don't get me started.

(Check out the film The Breach for more details.)

      All said and done and after all the ranting, I am still as committed to our own Cook Inlet operation as much as ever.  Conveniently, the peak of the Bristol Bay salmon season hits a good week and a half before our own in Cook Inlet.  When I return from the Bay I’ll be ready to head down to fish camp to start our own season.  From that point in the summer on, I will be focused on filling all of our customers orders in Talkeetna;  Out of the frying pan-into the fire.  

Tom' cabin on Nushagak Point

 

http://www.adn.com/article/20141119/biggest-bristol-bay-sockeye-run-20-years-forecast-2015