I close my eyes and still see the schools of fish gliding through the clear waters. Their grey silhouettes glisten in the sunlit lagoon. The skies with high clouds and openings of blue, just enough to trickle a stream of light onto the waters surface. The tide is rising, and we still have a beach to snag on. In a few hours time the beaches will dissolve into salt water covered grasses, where landing a fish is difficult as they can easily disappear when unhooking like a snake in the grass.
First cast of the day, Ada has a fish on! “We’re off to a great start!” She proclaims. The timing of the cast, the hook drop, and the snag in alignment with the swimming salmon is quite an art to achieve. Once achieved, it is a fun, addictive way to fill the cooler!
We’ve snagged our limits of red salmon nearly daily for the past week, preparing for the long winter months ahead. As I write, the steam from the canner is in full spew, the timer on my phone set for just a few more minutes before applying 10 pounds of pressure and watching the gauge creep towards 10 PSI. The sound of the canner is as rhythmic as the schools of salmon that dance through my awareness when my eyes close. We’ve been canning for days, and the rhythm of such feels as natural as the breaths we take.
The shelf stable resource of jarred fish is something quite unmet. We are beyond blessed with the unusual gift of electric power at our remote coastal cabin home. Deep into Tutka bay, it truly is a rarity. With power we have two chest freezers running, however they quickly fill with other meat that the land provides. Currently the salmon are competing for space with the spring bears, halibut, rockfish, and cod, and soon deer and moose will be vying for their own storage capacity for the winter.
We are blessed to eat mostly from the land. Scott has been a hunter and harvester his entire life. I used to fill the freezer with salmon and remnants of my Alaskan mountain top gardens, and wild game friends would often gift me. Jarring fish at this quantity, is new to me, however. We fill the pint jars up to the threads with red salmon whole body chunks, fill in with small strips of belly or filets, and add 1 tsp of olive oil and a 1/4 tsp of salt to each jar before beginning the timely process of pressure cooking. Pint jars will be filled with brined, dried, and smoked salmon strips that will settle into their own natural oils for an early evening appetizer.
We’ll have cases and cases of jarred red salmon by the end of this process. What will we do with it all? We’ve been discussing this often. Personally I’m grateful to have my favorite afternoon snack available, salmon straight out of the jar provides me with a sustainable energy unlike many other foods. It’s clean and easy to digest by our bodies, not to mention all of the fatty acids are so beneficial for our overall health. For the family we’ll make salmon burgers, enchiladas, tacos, wraps, casseroles, and egg frittatas. It is such a versatile dinner item, cooked and ready to be added to any family favorite dish!
The commercial boats went in and cleaned up the fish yesterday and are back in there again today. Our red salmon harvest for the 2024 season is over, however the resources will live on in our store room and bellies. The timing of salmon harvest season aligns perfectly with some of our longest daylight days of the year. We’re rarely competing with the daylight, amped by the energy of the sun and adrenaline of the season. Another Alaskan rarity and gift, for which we truly are grateful.