Fishing in Alaska
Seining, Noyes Island. Duncan Kowalski photo
Purse Seining
Some years ago, Alaska limited seiners to 58 feet in length. Today, “mega-seiners”, still 58 feet, have been built with huge width and capacities. This fishery is all about volume and catching efficiencies. Targeting mostly pink salmon, seiners are now harvesting hatchery chum, keta or dog salmon. Typically with a crew of five, a berth on a seine boat can be a first-class summer job for a young person. In terms of volume and dollars, purse seining makes an important contribution to Alaska’s salmon harvest.
Trolling
Historically a classic way to catch salmon, trolling is arguably the most aesthetically pleasing salmon fishery. The fisher summons deep attention to the currents, feed, the weather, the light, the bottom topography, then choosing their often secret and special lures, trick the salmon into biting. Each fish is landed individually, scrupulously bled, cleaned and iced. Humans, as apex predators, delivering the highest quality salmon the wild world can provide.
Gillnetting
Gillnetting is an important small boat fishery in Alaska. It’s often a one-person or couples fishery with boats 32-42 feet in length. Nets are 200 or sometimes 300 fathoms long, constructed out of semi-transparent nylon mesh. Fishers carefully match the colors of the net to the waters that they fish. The hapless salmon don’t see the net, swim into it, and cannot free themselves, as they are caught by the gills. This fishery has come to rely on hatchery chums in SE Alaska. Bristol Bay in recent years has seen record harvests of sockeye or red salmon.
Sport Fishing
Nothing like it. Patience with the probability of high reward. Adrenalin followed by drama of the fight, and with good luck, you’ll land a prized King Salmon, Silver Salmon, Rockfish, or Halibut.