Salmon Life

After the net is set, we wait. Familiar chatter fills our ears as the kids talk about how many fish we’d catch and the adults engage in lively discussions of new recipes for smoking salmon. Debates pause when a sudden splash alerts us to the first hit. All ages of skiff passengers gather excitedly to see the catch. The buoy drops from the bow of the boat, and with the cork line, we walk the net. The kids scan the bay for seals, to see if any would race us to the fish. This time, we arrive first. In the net, three bright sockeye await us, shimmering silver in the hint of sun. We pull them onboard and celebrate the first fish of the season. Their weight and powerful movements instantly remind us of our gratitude for this home teeming with nature’s bounty and our ability to catch our own food here.

After a short few hours of filling the skiff with as many fish as we hoped for, we decide to pull the net. Reversing the process of setting it, we pull the anchor, buoy, then the cork line and lead line, once again holding tight to the web in between. It’s time to head home, time to continue the process of harvesting our catch. Each of us takes our place on the sandy assembly line, the same place we’ve worked from since childhood; some of us fillet on the same stained wood cutting board, some of us wash salmon flesh in buckets, some of us layer the meat in coolers. Every step prepares our precious resource for its next stage, where the salmon will be smoked, canned, pickled and mostly, vacuum-sealed for the freezer.