Smelt arrived in Bethel late Monday evening, on May 23. Around 10 p.m. a small crowd gathered at the seawall to harvest the small, silver fish with dip nets.
Smelt run past Bethel for about three days. They are the first anadromous fish to head up the Kuskokwim River each season, returning from the Bering Sea to their freshwater spawning grounds.
Their arrival marks the beginning of the summer fishing season on the Kuskokwim River.