GENERAL OVERVIEW OF TIMING OF HARVESTS AND PRESERVATION METHODS

In certain areas near Chignik Lake and Perryville, salmon can be taken almost year-round, from very early spring until mid winter. For example, during the 1980s and early 1990s, starting in April, a few residents of Perryville and Ivanof Bay set out gill nets approximately four to five fathoms in length along beaches adjacent to their communities for the early run of chinook salmon and the occasional sockeye salmon passing through (Morris 1987:187). Residents of Chignik Lake reported that good quality sockeye salmon can be harvested in some years into January near certain Chignik Lake tributaries, such as the Clark ["Clarks"] River.

During the study period, there were two primary harvest periods for subsistence salmon harvesting in the Chignik Management Area, spring and fall, In the springtime, fresh sockeyes were caught, smoked, kippered, salted, and frozen. In the fall, sockeyes were taken after they had turned red just before or after spawning. Sockeyes taken when red were a valued product because they have less fat and, therefore, can be dried without spoilage. Also, the cooler fall weather allowed for less interference from blow flies. Similar patterns were true for Perryville, where in the summer fresh cohos, pinks, and chums were smoked, salted, or put away fresh; while in the fall, the same species were dried. Sockeyes caught by Perryville families who spent the summers at Chignik lagoon were either smoked at the camps or brought over by boat and smoked at Perryville. Almost the entire village of Ivanof Bay spent summers in Chignik Bay and smoked their sockeye salmon there. When they returned home in fall, they also smoked fish caught in local streams.

Subsistence salmon production requires the joint effort of extended family groups. In the Chignik area in the 1980s and early 1990s, groups of persons commonly related by ties of kinship cooperated during the summer in the harvesting, cutting, drying, smoking, and storing of salmon. Each family had its own system and receipts for processing and smoking salmon. Residents of Chignik Bay and Lagoon processed their salmon at their communities. About half the residents of Chignik Lake and residents of Perryville that had family ties to Chignik Lake residents moved to the northern side of Chignik Lagoon where they spent the entire summer in fish camps. Here, subsistence salmon were caught, cleaned, cut, salted, smoked, and canned. . . .

The Spring and Summer Subsistence Fishery

During the study period, spring and early summer subsistence fishing by residents of Chignik Lake, Chignik Bay, and Chignik Lagoon took place primarily in Chignik Lagoon. The majority of salmon were harvested for subsistence purposes prior to June 10th, because after that date, individuals who commercial fished could no longer participate in subsistence fisheries. Salmon could still be taken from commercial catches for home use; however, this was rarely done with the exception of chinook salmon that were occasionally kept and not sold so they could be smoked or eaten fresh.

The majority of salmon were caught during the end of May and through early June with purse seines and gill nets. Few gill nets were used during this early period, because most people were using purse seines used later in the season for commercial fishing to catch their subsistence salmon. Throughout the summer, however, gill nets and beach seines were more abundant. . . .

Fall and Winter Subsistence Salmon Fishery

The following description and case studies illustrate several typical strategies followed by extended families for taking subsistence salmon during fall in the Chignik Management Area. In the fall, families who stayed at Chignik Lagoon fish camps, as well as many other households from the three Chignik villages, Perryville, and Ivanof Bay put up "red" salmon that had spawned. They preferred to smoke the spring fish because of their high fat content, and dry the fall red salmon because they are less likely to spoil because of their low fat content.

Fall salmon, locally called "red salmon" because of the color sockeyes turn during spawning, were primarily taken out of Chignik Lake by residents of Chignik Lake; however, residents of the other two Chignik communities, and some Perryville and Ivanof Bay residents used the lake, as well. Chignik Lagoon, just below the Alaska Department of Fish and Game weir, was also a common area used to get "red salmon."

Spawned-out salmon were preferred by most residents of Chignik Lake and made up a larger percentage of salmon harvested in that community than those taken in the spring and summer fish. Chignik Lake residents preferred to wait until October or later to put up "red" salmon, because the weather is cooler, there are less blow flies, and less interference from bears getting into their drying fish. They fished almost entirely along the beach of Chignik Lake from the village to the Clark River (or "Clarks" River as local residents refer to it). Fall fishing was done by making day trips from the village with a shore gill net or beach seine. If a single person fished, he or she might set out a gill net and return at a later time. The most common method; however, was to have one person stand on the shore with one end of the net, with another person in a skiff with the other end of the net. Together, they pulled the net up the shoreline, then seined the net around to the shore capturing salmon in the net. In the wintertime, salmon were occasionally taken with a hook by jigging near the mouth of the Clarks River as late as March.

The fish were then brought back to the village and hung to dry, cooked fresh into fish pie, baked, or fried. Often "red fish" were sent to residents of Chignik Bay, Perryville, and Ivanof Bay, where sockeyes were not available. In exchange for the "red" salmon, Chignik Lake received shellfish such as chitons (bidarkies) sea urchins (uduks), and butter clams from Perryville and Ivanof Bay people, resources Chignik Lake people have to travel far to get.

Extended families had their own drying racks in all five of the Chignik Area villages. These generally were constructed with a solid plywood roof to keep the rain and snow off the fish and were supported by four corner-posts with walls of wire mesh or fishnet to keep dogs out, but allow the fish to dry. It took anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks to dry salmon taken in the fall. Dried fall salmon were commonly eaten with brown bear grease or seal oil and served with pickled salmon eggs.

Perryville residents primarily caught their salmon at the Kametolook River located about three miles northeast of Perryville. In the past, they more regularly harvested at two rivers southwest of the village, Three Star Point and Long Beach. After a volcanic eruption of Mt. Veniaminof several years ago, the river channel at Three Star Point changed making it difficult for land travelers to cross the river to get to Long Beach to fish. Salmon were rare in the river at Three Star point; however, candlefish are abundant, and Perryville people harvest them with dip nets when the fish come up the river in the spring to spawn. Coho, chum, and pink salmon were most abundant in these Perryville and Ivanof Bay area rivers, and sockeyes were rare. But in 1992, sockeyes were reported to be more abundant there than in most other years.

Perryville residents who did not travel to Chignik to fish in the summer months harvested their subsistence salmon as a gradual process. They made day trips on their all-terrain vehicles to the Kametolook River. They finished with short gill nets, catching what they could. They returned until sufficient salmon were harvested for the family, and for those who could not fish for themselves.

Elders, single parent families, and those who worked full-time jobs had more difficulty obtaining the salmon they needed because they did not have the time or ability to make frequent trips to the river. Sharing was common in Perryville, as well as the other Chignik communities, and these families often received salmon and other subsistence foods from other families to help them out. . ..

OTHER SUBSISTENCE FISHERIES OF THE CHIGNIK AREA

FIN FISH OTHER THAN SALMON

Fish, other than salmon, make a substantial contribution to the annual subsistence harvests of wild resources in Chignik Area communities. Annual per capita harvests of these resources (usable weight) have ranged from 16 pounds (Chignik Lake, 1984) to over 110 pounds (Chignik Bay, 1991). These harvests made up between 5 and 30 percent of the total subsistence take in the 1980s and early 1990s. Virtually every household in the Chignik area communities participate in the subsistence use of fish other than salmon in the 1984, 1989, and 1991/92 study years.

At least 17 kinds of fish other than salmon were used. . . . Fish other than salmon taken in the largest quantities or used by the most households included halibut, gray cod, eulachon ("candlefish") and Dolly Varden. . . .

Because of open marine water conditions through most of the year, marine fish such as halibut, cod, and greeling are taken year-round. Eulachon return to streams in the Perryville area in late April through June, when they are harvested in large quantities for local use and exchanged with other communities. Fishing through the ice in lakes occurs for Dolly Varden and rainbow trout. . . .

Methods of preserving fish other than salmon for later use included freezing, salting (herring, cod) drying (halibut and smoking (Dolly Varden, eulachon). At Perryville, large quantities of eulachon were dip netted in a few local streams. These were smoked and shared widely with other communities. Dry and smoked fish was eaten with seal oil or brown bear fat. Most types of non-salmon fish were also eaten fresh. . . .

MARINE INVERTEBRATES

Marine invertebrates are another important category of marine resource used for subsistence in all five communities of the Chignik Area. . . . These resources made up about 4 to 10 percent of the annual subsistence harvests in these communities for the survey year. They added important variety to the diet, especially during the early spring when other resources were not readily abundant. . . . Harvests of marine invertebrates have ranged from about 3 pounds per person to about 46 pounds per person per year. Virtually, every household in the Chignik area used at least one kind of marine invertebrate. . . .

Overall, about 19 kinds of marine invertebrates were used by members of the study communities. Marine invertebrates used i n the largest quantities or by the largest number of households included various types of clams, cockles, chitons, sea urchins, octopus, and crab. . . .