Fish Camp Fizzle
Hi all, we’re back from the beach and I wish we had bettter news to report, but the fishing was pretty poor this season. Annually we set up our camp and float our net, and by the end of the 10-day fishery we have filled everyone of permits of the six families we fish withm which is usually several hundred fish. This year, however, we ended up bringing in less than 100 total, for everyone to divy up.
Needless to say this is a crushing blow to the kennel. The dogs rely on the heads we get during this fishery, and usually when the fish are surging in we will get lots of calls from locl canneries and home consumers who have more fish from last year than they know what to do with. They donate it to us, which helps offset the ever expernsive dog food bills. This year, though, few calls have come in and unlike everyother year we’ve ever had, when we get thousands of fishheads from the canneries. We have gotten nothing.
The problem is a slickster from the Lower 48 tapped into this market and got all the canneries to agree to give him their heads exclusively. They normally can’t find enough places to put this by-product and legally by the EPA, they can only dump so much back into the inlet, so we ended up with tons. This guy, though, gets all the heads now, and presses them for oil, which he gets rich off of selling the oil to the vitamin supplement markets. It’s good for him, but bad for us. Summer is a time for us to save and financially get back on our feet for winter. As I’ve written in the past, it cost us $40 for a bag of food, and we go through a bag a day at the kennel, so it adds up quickly.
With so few fish resources this year, we are thankful for the few we got. There weren’t may, but at least they were good sized ones, as evident from the pic above our niece holding up a nice sockeye. Needless to say, with money going out of our bank account like water down a drain, there won’t be any Iditarod this year. I know some of you have asked, because the first day of sign-up was Saturday, but it is just too expensive a proposition for us this year.
We have mixed feeling on this. It is always sad to miss out on the party, and at the age most of the core dogs, like Penny, are at, this may have been there last year to really pull together as a cohesive team at an ultra-competitive level. But on the other hand, we are dog owners/lovers first and an Iditarod racing kennel second. The dogs have just as much fun swimming, lounging around the house, free running on the beach and moooching table scraps, as they do pulling in the snow for hundreds of miles, so I don’t think they’ll miss it too much.
On a good financial note, our canvas photo sales have been red hot. Since the last blog post we have sold many, including to two local restaurants and one fly-out bear viewing service. So in addition to the ones hanging in people’s homes, these are on display for the public to see for hopefully years to come. Well, all for this week. We have been swimming and hiking with the dogs lot,s so hopefully we’ll get some photos of that up soon. Until then, enjoy summer, it’s getting shorter by the day.
July 3rd, 2012 at 7:19 am
Hiya Cole & Joseph,
Well always sorry not to see you race but as you said it’s all about the dogs and what best for them and you. BTW you guys look great just lounging on the beach.
I’m p.o’d with you at the carpetbagger who picked up all the heads this year. Understand that the fisheries have to make a living but they should have held back some for the locals and their interests too.
You might think about setting up a donation page specifically for certain items. Sponsor a dog, buy a pair of booties for one dog, or for a team. Also bag of dog food for a day, any number of things that you need. This would make it easy to contribute. Also put a list on your page of needs, so we can send these things when we can.
LOL now that I’ve told you what to do that is all!
(hugs)
BTW hope you are doing the shirts again this year. I got 2 last year and kept one for myself and gave another as a gift (big hit!). So if you meet a woman this summer named Bonnie with it on you know where she got it.
July 4th, 2012 at 7:29 am
Oh, so sorry to hear about the lack of fish this year. That’s a real bummer. I put a post on my personal fb page to all my Alaska friend to think ouf you when cleaning out their freezers this year and also to save fish heads for you.
Another idea would be to hang out at the beach during dip netting and ask for the heads. Also, lots of people bring their fish (up to 100 at a time) to the fish cleaning tables up at ?Campbell Park? (just behind/beside the welcome center at the bridge) and clean tons of fish there. You could even leave a cooler there with a sign asking for fish heads and probably get it filled. And if you have the time, you could probably set up a cleaning table on the beach and clean fish for $1 each and keep the heads and anything else you wanted. (I saved a few of the skeletons and made fish stock which would be a great source of nutrients and water for the dogs. Freeze it in ice cube trays and it’s preserved and portable, too.
I love the bear picture! It looks great on canvas. Will you please email or post a price list of the different sizes and options available (print, canvas). I want one around 11×14 or possibly the next size up, but I haven’t decided with picture yet. If you could post a few options of pictures that would be great too. I love so many of your pictures, but I haven’t found the “one” yet.
As always, it’s great to hear from you. Happy Fourth!