Via Youtube: Our goal: to capture the peak of the Bristol Bay sockeye run. We were told to show up in Naknek in the first week of July, and we would see plenty of action. The only problem was – no one told the fish. As it turned out, the run was three weeks late. People told us we should have gone to the Nushagak River, where the salmon were hitting the nets hard. However, we soon discovered it was actually a great time to be in Naknek, because people had time to talk with us – to share their stories about fishing in Bristol Bay, as well as their hopes and dreams. If they had been racing to pick fish from their nets, our cameras and microphones would probably have gotten in the way. Instead, we took in the fresh air of the Naknek beach, enjoyed the scenery and visited with setnetters. In some ways, it was like being part of a big family reunion, because many of these setnet families have worked together for generations. And while the children of these original families have moved to other parts of the state, the salmon always call them back. During that first week of July, there were many anxieties about the weakness of the run. But as it turned out, the sockeyes did not disappoint. The 2018 Bristol Bay sockeye run topped 63 million, the largest on record since 1893.
