Bill Ross has been fishing in Bristol Bay for 34 years.  This interview was conducted in late August 2008, just st the end of the fishing season.  Bill is one of many fishermen that work with Alaska Salmon online in providing the best quality salmon in the market.

This is the fifth recipe in our Salmon Recipe video series.  Ingrediants are:

• 3 chopped tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• 1 teaspoon of chopped dill
• 2 chopped shallots
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 Tablespoon of lemon Juice
• Aluminum foil

Heat the oven to 400 degrees and click on the video

This is the fourth recipe in our Salmon Recipe Video series.  Ingredients needed:

• 1 Salmon Fillet (1-2 lbs)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Mayonnaise
• 1 lemon
• 1 package of fresh dill
• 1/4 cup of water
• aluminum foil

Heat the oven to 400 degrees and then click on the video

On the lighter side of things, this is a video showing what happens when you visit Egegik in summer.  Half the year, temperatures are below freezing.  When they do rise, all sorts of wildlife come out of the woodwork.  Outside of the famous wild salmon runs, insects like to swarm whatever or whoever comes in their path.

Locals really like it when there is wind as this offers a small reprieve of the relentless swarm.  Insects will follow fishermen more than 100 yards into the water.  This was taken at the end of a 3 day visit in the area.

Alaska has very strict regulations on fishing so that the state can continue with a long-term sustainable fishing industry.   In this video, Ole Oksvold, one of our fishemen has been fishing in Bristol Bay for nearly 25 years, explains the rules and regulations involved in commercial fishing in Egegik.

This is the third recipe video in our series and by far our favorite one.  Go ahead and gather the following ingredients:

• 1 cup of Orange Juice
• 1.5 table spoons of lime juice
• 1 teaspoon of chili pepper
• 1 teaspoon of honey dijon mustard
• 1.5 tablespoons of minced onion
• .5 cup of italian dressing
• 1 table spoon of olive oil
• salt and pepper
• and of course… 1-2 salmon fillets (approx 2 lbs)

Make sure you have the following equipment:

• 1 pan
• 1 blender
• 1 skillet

Set the oven to 400 degrees and then press play…

As part of our efforts to bring a piece of our world to you, we have created a series of interviews with local fishermen who can help give some insight into life as a commercial fisherman in Bristol Bay.  Victor Popa is originally from Romania and moved to the United States in the early 70’s.  It was at that time that he had the opportunity to come to Alaska one summer to fish.

Since then, he has come back to the same place every summer for nearly 35 years.  Victor is one of the fishermen that we purchase fish from.  In these two videos, he is explaining about his life while unloading fish for us.  Enjoy!

This video is the first in a series that explore Bristol Bay and the fishermen we work with.  For people that are not familiar with the region, this gives background on the quality of fish that we offer and how we work with local fishermen within the framework of alaskan law.

Ty Stafford, director of Fishing operations, explains how to tell if a fish is good enough to make it to our processor.  Toward the end of the video, the wind is very strong and drwons out a few sylables but overall, you get the idea of what we go through.

There are three tests he discusses:

1) Firmness

2) Gils

3) Scales

Not surprisingly, the mining industry’s massive public relations effort was enough to defeat Ballot Measure 4.  The factors that contributed to its defeat:

1.    The measure itself was imperfect and led to much interpretation
2.    The opponents of the measure outspent proponents by more than a 3/1 margin
3.    Voters were left confused by the barrage of ads on both sides
4.    Most importantly, Governor Sarah Palin speaking as a “private person” announced she would vote “no” just days before the vote

The fight for Bristol Bay is in its initial phase.  The proposition was an aggressive move at a preemptive strike that met stiff opposition from the mining interests.  What is next? (more…)

Alaska will be celebrating 50 years of statehood shortly and there are many who are looking at how the state has transformed over this period.  Today Alaska’s economy derives most of its revenues from Oil and Gas and most employment from Federal, State and local government activities.  Tourism and commercial fishing are next in line in terms of jobs created and economic revenue for the state, but it wasn’t always that way.  As a matter of fact, commercial fishing and salmon fishing in particular were not only the dominant economic activity in the late 19th century (accounted for 80% of Alaska’s tax revenue in 1870) but also had a large part to play in Alaska’s move to statehood.

The Alaska Daily News has a great explanation of the role of salmon in Alaska’s drive to become the 49th state of the United States.  Prior to statehood, the federal government had over 600 very efficient traps set to catch fish throughout the state.  According to fishing historian Bob King: (more…)