Decades ago, when we first came to Alaska, there was a place in town that made superb smoked fish. We loved it. They would also clean and vacuum seal our fish when we had too many to do ourselves, and when we had those bounties we’d have them smoke some of them, too. Superb.

But then the business changed. One year, they were unable to do any of our fish, and we burned up two FoodSaver home vacuum sealers doing them ourselves. They also stopped offering the exquisite variety of smoked fish that they used to make and sell. We’ve since taken over all of our own fish processing, and finally a couple of years ago I decided to figure out how to make decent smoked fish, too.

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It’s taken my mind awhile to get to writing this post. There has been a surreal poignancy to the world for many months, causing normal activities to seem abnormal, bogged down, and harder to sustain. The COVID-19 pandemic and abysmal government leadership cause enormous stress, as does the unusually high degree of political divisiveness during this election year. Work levels have been high, too, and I hadn’t taken enough days off.

So when September came, and with it hunting season, I looked forward to getting away on a float trip with a couple of friends to hunt for moose. Just getting outside and off the grid would be therapeutic—and it was.

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I really needed to step away from it all for a few days. Not knowing if you’re going to still have a job because there’s been an ideological takeover of state government causes very high stress levels. Just about everyone I know at the university works hard and does a good job. And we have great students that we get to teach and work with. So you do what you’re supposed to do and do a good job and you’re at risk of being fired? Yep. That sucks. Yep. Especially when the need for what you do isn’t going away.

Back in June the run of red salmon in the Copper River this year was predicted to be poor. And the Miles Lake sonar showed that this was indeed the case, so the Department of Fish and Game closed the season very soon after opening it. And then they kept it closed for most of June and July, with just five open periods of 24-96 hours. The king salmon run was reported to be good, and those who went in June generally caught more than they could keep (1 each). But red fishing was poor.
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