Hunting & Fishing

Kalskag is tiny, but it is one of the larger communities up the Kuskokwim. It is also the focus of part two of Petra Harpak’s exploration of the fishing life upriver. Some things remain the same all along the river. Men like Michael Savage don’t cut fish.

When asked if Michael cuts fish, he said, “I just fish. My wife and kids, they do the cutting.”

I asked Bolossa Michaelson, “Do you eat tepeq, [fermented fish head]?”

This summer, KYUK’s Petra Harpak headed up the Kuskokwim to learn how fishing upriver differs from the downriver fishing she knows.

It didn’t take her long to find someone taking a unique approach to smoking fish.

“I grew up using the standing live cottonwood, but after living in Holy Cross, they use the standing dry cottonwood and it’s got a really good dry smoke and it makes the fish taste a lot better. So, I think I’m the only person who goes out to get the drift cottonwood without the bark,” said Dorris Allain.

Healthy numbers of salmon are reaching their Kuskokwim spawning grounds this season, according to state standards. Across salmon species, state-issued escapement goals are being met. These goals are set to help ensure sustainable runs and future subsistence harvests.

Silver salmon are now arriving in the lower Kuskokwim River. The state-operated Bethel Test Fishery began catching silvers on Sunday of this week.

Multiple fishing restrictions are being lifted on the Kuskokwim River at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, July 26. Kuskokwim tributaries are meeting their state-issued escapement goals for king salmon, and the state estimates that 99 percent of the species has moved out of the lower river. As a result, the state says that the situation no longer warrants conservation measures for kings in the lower waters.

We’re beginning to get a look at the number of king salmon that are reaching their spawning grounds in Kuskokwim river tributaries. The data comes after another summer of conservation restrictions on king salmon fishing. The numbers allow subsistence families to see the results of their sacrifices and for fishery managers to gauge the effects of their decisions.