foto8 Alaskan Salmon Fishermen by J.B.Russell

Photographs by
J.B.Russell

Then, in 1997 and 1998, without warning the salmon did not come back. The returns were so dismal that the region was declared a federal disaster area. Fisherman went into heavy debt, fishing communities suffered and seafood processors in Bristol Bay cut back their operations.

Paradoxically, last summer Mother Nature answered prayers with a strong salmon run. However, seafood companies had cut back so extensively during the previous two years that they did not have the capacity to process all the salmon being harvested.