A Different Day at the Beach

11 July 2017  (delayed post due to not having internet)

We drove to the City of Kenai. A town of about 8000 residences and the oldest on the peninsula. It is Just a 30 minute drive west of Soldotna  and from Bings Landing State Park where we are currently living.   All of these Alaskan towns on the Kenia peninsula have a very strong Russian heritage. Remember Russia owned this territory at one time and according to Tina Fey you can see Russia from Sarah Palin’s house in (Wasilia).

When we arrived to the city of Kenai  the first thing we noticed was there’s a Walmart and Home Depot. Wow, we are in the land of stores again. We drove further and found the access to the beach and because we told the toll (not “Troll”) collector we were only going to be there for an hour we got in for free instead of paying 20 bucks for the day.

As we got out of the BFT the first thing we noticed were tents and people camping everywhere along the beach.  At the edge of the beach, and chest deep in the water were “dip-netters” about every 10 feet apart. A dip net is an aluminum pole with a 3 foot diameter fishing net on a 10 to 12 foot long pole. They stand there and wait for the prized salmon to swim into it.

This beach is the mouth of the Kenai River in the cook inlet. It is coarse sand with a lot of rocks.  This is the part that I (AM) like, rocks and shells to be found.

This area is the beginning of the salmon run.  These athletic fish start in the bay and swim up the Kenai river and all its tributaries for many miles so they can Spawn. The longer they are in the fresh river the more the salmon begins to die, as they have spent their adult life in salt water.

Dip netting doesn’t sound hard but they are fighting the current of the tide which is really strong. There are not a lot of salmon being caught right now.

So we got a lesson on how to dip net. When you feel the salmon in your net, lay the net flat on the beach, turn your back to the water and walk up the beach and away from the water dragging the net and the fish on the shore. At the shore grab your club and knock out the fish. According to DNR the next thing you have to do is take a pair scissors and cut the fins off the tail  at a 45 degree angle, and then make a cut at the Gill to bleed them out in the water. We watched this ritual for an hour. It was really interesting. The angle cut on the fins distinguishes  the  fact,  the fish was caught for subsistence fishing and not sport fishing,

Dip netting is for subsistence fishing  by Alaskan residents. The head of household is allowed to keep 25 salmon per year. For every additional  member of the family, the count is increased by 10 salmon. This is only allowed for 21 days in July.

It was interesting to note that here in Alaska a lot of time and energy went into subsistence survival.  The whole family is out on the beach,  parents catching the fish, kids were cleaning the fish, cutting the fins, bleeding the fish.  Everyone is contributing to the families  way of life.

No one was swimming, working on their tan, or drinking “rum runners”, this was a different day at the beach for us.

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