Jockeying for position
The Fleet12:00 Noon Salmon Opening
We just happened to be cruising up Stevens Pass just before a 24 hour salmon window opened for the purse seiners. Purse seiners have a big net they string out in a line, orange floats on either end and little white floats holding up the net in the middle. The goal is to catch salmon as they swim to their spawing grounds. They get caught as the swim upstream by swiming into the net head first. The small fish get through but the big ones are caught in the net hole and their gills get caught so they can't swim back. It obviously makes a difference where you put your net etc and each fisherman has his favorite spot. Once the floats start bobbing up and down, the assumption is that fish are caught and the fishermen start hauling in the nets.
Well on July 17th the window was opening at 12:00 noon and we were there - along with at least 40 fishing boats. Seemed like the salmon didn't have a chance - especially when we saw a humpback whale making it's way gracefully around and under the nets. (Actually I don't think humpbacks eat salmon so I am not sure what he was doing there - maybe just enjoying the commotion.) There was a lot of staking out the best position at the entrance to one small inlet, a few harsh words over the radio and then it was 12 noon and we were right in the middle of the fleet as they fired up their engines and dropped their nets. So now it was a case of making sure we didn't get caught in one of the nets just like the salmon. We made it through with only a couple of fishing boats racing towards us to warn us off and watched the nets start being hauled in. We didn't see many fish in the nets - maybe that explains the lack of free fish on the dock this year.
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