Another Summer of Full Catastrophe Fishing

By Hal Shepherd

When it comes to fishing, I’ve got the bug. Whether it's rod and reel, dip, or set-netting, as the season approaches each year, I get that glazed look in my eye, put aside all practical thinking, and rush out the door to get nets or hooks into the water. Due to this, along with changing conditions and just plain bad luck, the vast majority of my fishing efforts usually result in a complete catastrophe.

Three years ago in early August, for example, knowing full well there may be a wounded sow with two cubs in the area, I paddled from Kilcher Beach to Humpy Creek to snag for Pinks at the mouth of the Creek. After fishing for several hours with no luck, I was charged by that same sow (who was feeling just fine, thank you very much!), and did a Keystone Cops-like scramble, throwing my gear in the kayak and paddling back across the Bay, never to return.

Set Netting: Waiting for the Tide to Come in - Photo by Jessica Shepherd

Last year however, was the worst fishing year yet. First off, I got storm-bound while in Elim during a scheduled dip netting trip on the Kasilof. Then, in late August, due to windy weather stirring up the waves, our set net got hopelessly clogged with about half a ton of seaweed, yielding only two fish.

This year it started with dip-netting on the Kasilof. When the fish started coming in, I was so excited to get to the river that, while at the dump to drop off trash, I put a brand new and unworn pair of chest waders on top of my car (I didn’t want to get them dirty by placing them on the ground), and then drove off with them on top. When I went back 10 minutes later in a panick, they were, of course, nowhere to be found.

Then came fishing for Sockeye on the Kenai River in July. The river teamed with fish, which completely ignored my lures. Looking to see what everyone around us was using, my wife and I switched to what appeared to be a jigger rod and lure system. But while all those others were pulling in one enormous salmon after another, our hooks brought in nothing.

Then there was set netting for Cohos in Kachemak Bay in early August. This year, once again, instead of waiting for the wind to die down, I wanted to get down to the beach on the first day of the opener in order to beat the crowd. But in addition to the fact that there was no one else there and even though we got to the beach several hours before high tide, the surging waves had already engulfed the post we set up the night before which then swept the net away as we were trying to set it up.  

So, we waited for two days for the weather to calm and got the net set up in plenty of time beforehand this time. But, due to the wind whipping up the waves in the outer Bay, and despite our efforts to keep it clean, once the tide started coming in, the net immediately began to fill up with seaweed … a lot of seaweed. Then, after it became completely impermeable, tiny flakes of coal whipped up by the waves got stuck in it. As a result, after the tide went back out, instead of fish, we had a foot and a half of coal flakes on top of seaweed covering the net, which took us several hours to dig out. Tired and frustrated once we got it back up the hill the next day, we loaded it into the car and took the damn thing to the dump.

Then there was fishing for Silvers in the Sinuk River outside of Nome while doing fieldwork in the area in early September. My bomb-proof “Meps 5” lure, however, had no effect on the fish while, once again, those around me, who were using the jigger type system, were catching lots of large beautiful coho.

Although my luck with fishing is partly the result of a Klondike Gold Rush-type fever, climate change obviously has some effects. Ever since I moved to Alaska 15 years ago, I have attended conferences on the condition of the State’s salmon fishery. In the past several years, the tone of these conferences has taken a distinct turn, as speaker after Native speaker describes heart-wrenching stories of how, after a millennium of fishing by their ancestors, they have had to suddenly stop fishing in those same locations due to closers, or because there were simply no fish in the river.   

It appears that on the Kenai the fish are also just not coming in in the same numbers. On top of that, places like Kachemak Bay are experiencing changing weather patterns, including increased winds, which churn up seaweed and eel grass that end up clogging nets.

What is needed is an updated conservation and management approach that takes into account the new reality of Kachemak Bay and its surrounding tributaries. Fifty years ago, the state legislature had the foresight to create laws that require the protection of fish and wildlife located within the Kachemak Bay and Fox River Flats Critical Habitat Areas (CHAs). In many cases, however, unregulated land and public uses have impacted fish and wildlife, with no follow-up for damage to the delicate and complex Kachemak Bay Watershed.

Since 2008 the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has issued over 200 permits for land use activities within the CHAs, but these permits are not necessarily consistent with the purpose for which these areas were established. This is why the Kachemak Bay Watershed Council is initiating a project to monitor permitted activity within the CHAs to ensure that the legislative mandate is being adhered to, including whether incompatible activity is properly regulated. This should involve oversight of state and federal fish and wildlife managers to ensure they are complying with planning documents that implement the regulations such as the Critical Habitat Management Plan and ADF&G/Department of Natural Resources cooperative agreement and that call for sustainable habitat management practice and that show transitions and baselines such as the Kenai Comprehensive Salmon Plan Phases I and II and DNR Kenai Area Plan and maps that illustrate sensitive habitat to be included in protective management strategies such as the ADF&G Alaska Habitat Management Guide Atlas.

Ultimately, the Watershed Council would like to create a Kachemak Bay Watershed Management Plan that would focus on the mitigation of climate impacts on fish and wildlife resources in the Watershed. We have also reached out to the Planning Team for the City of Homer’s Comprehensive Plan update to discuss how, when finished, the Watershed Plan could be included as part of the update.

For more information, contact: halshepherdwpc@gmail.com