Tons of Fishing
Web Directories And resources!

The commercial salmon-fishing season isn't allowed to start here until the Alaska Department of Fish and Game gives the go-ahead. A sonar station 30 miles upriver, at the Million Dollar Bridge, tracks the runs, and once it shows that enough fish are making it upstream to spawn, the commercial fishery can operate for periods of at least 12 hours before stopping to allow the upriver count to rise again.

Covel is not happy with Fish and Game. "They want the official count of fish passing the sonar station," he says. "Problem is, it takes the fish a week to get up the river to the sonar. By then it's over down here."

Dan Gray is the state fisheries biologist who helps decide when the sonar count is high enough to permit fishing; he's not in an enviable position. "When I took this job, I was introduced at a community meeting as the most powerful man in town," he says. "What it means is that I'm not the most popular man in town."

For Gray, it all boils down to numbers. Last year, for example, the goal was to allow 651,500 fish to go upriver: 317,500 to spawn and sustain the runs, the rest reserved for the federal- and state-determined subsistence catch, which was increased recently to allow more Alaskans to take hundreds of fish for personal use. "Salmon returns naturally fluctuate in 30-year cycles, so a period of low returns doesn't leave much for the commercial fishery," Gray acknowledges.

Wild versus farmed

When Covel said he'd try his luck close to the beach, he meant it; the crash of the surf is loud when he finally stops the boat. Releasing the net buoy from the bow, he begins feeding out 900 feet of net as he reverses the engine and bulldozes backward through the breakers. Spray breaks over the boat's stern. "Conditions out here can be treacherous," says Covel. "It seems like we still lose one or two guys every year."

Despite its prominence, the Copper River fishery is--like many Western salmon fisheries--mostly a mom-and-pop industry Many of Cordova's 500 boats are like Covel's--rugged gill-netters that one person can work.

Slipping on gloves, Covel throws a lever, and the net winds back over the bow, the pale green folds of mesh glistening like lacework. Then, almost magically, a salmon flops over the net roller and onto the deck. Blue-backed and silver-bellied, it thrashes and flashes in the light. There's another one, then another.

Covel, who's been working the delta for 12 years, has seen the commercial fishery's decline. While commercial fishermen netted nearly million salmon from the Copper River in 2002, they're still hurting--in large part because of consumers' attraction to cheaper farmed salmon, the world supply of which more than tripled between 1989 and 1998. While prices for the early-season run of the prized king (or chinook) salmon remain high, the farmed-salmon glut has depressed prices for the later runs of sockeye (or red) and silver (or coho) salmon. It is only people's willingness to pay more for quality wild salmon that keeps Covel's boat running.

And that's how the dominoes begin to fall: without a healthy fishing industry, there's less economic incentive to maintain a healthy watershed. Or to preserve wild salmon.

The soul of Cordova

"The reality today is that if the commercial fishery collapses, Cordova is in serious trouble," warns Kristin Smith. She is the head of the Copper River Watershed Project, a community group working to broaden and better manage the area's economy while preserving the natural environment of the watershed and the fishery for commercial, subsistence, and sport uses.

Smith thinks tourism is part of the answer. While there's no mistaking Cordova for anything but a commercial fishing town, it is close to some of the state's most spectacular scenery. There is excellent birding in April and May, with pristine fishing, hiking, and kayaking all summer.

Some landowners in the Copper River Watershed are looking to its natural resources for more immediate returns, however. Chugach Alaska Corporation, which manages 308,000 acres in the watershed on behalf of Native Alaskan shareholders, has proposed a road and logging project that environmentalists claim would threaten salmon-spawning streams and the Copper River fishery.

The issue isn't simple. "We want to create an economy here so our kids won't have to go to Los Angeles to get a job," says John F. C. Johnson, corporate vice president of cultural resources for Chugach Alaska. "For us, the almighty dollar is not the bottom line. Salmon are important. Our children are important. We've been here for 5,000 years, and we know that you don't destroy the nest you sleep in."

Not all of the region's Native Alaskans believe that development is the answer. "There are roughly 17 million acres within the Copper River Watershed, and very little of it is protected from development," says Dune Lankard, an Eyak Indian with the Eyak Preservation Council. "These corporate Indians think that clear-cut logging, oil drilling, strip mining, and selling land are the only ways to make money for native shareholders," he says. Lankard looks to responsibly managed ecotourism and a sustainable, healthy salmon fishery as sources of income that can be developed without sacrificing the environment.

"Salmon are to the native people of Alaska's coastal temperate rain forest like the buffalo were to the Plains Indians," Lankard says. "If we lose the wild salmon, we will lose the spiritual connection to our home."

The way of the salmon

The ocean's tide is turning as Covel heads back to Cordova. Far upriver the forested flanks of the cloud-draped Chugach Mountains are broken by the cracked blue ice of glaciers. Like most true anglers, Covel may have been disappointed in the day's catch, but he still loved the fishing. "I followed my stomach here in 1980," he says with a boyish grin as he guns the boat up the channel. "And then I discovered that there's no more beautiful place to go to work."

The watershed is beautiful. Visitors can drive the 50 miles of mostly gravel road out to see the salmon-counting sonar station and the Million Dollar Bridge at the road's end. Built in 1910 for a railroad carrying copper ore from the Kennecott Mine to the port in Cordova, the bridge partly collapsed at its north end during the 1964 earthquake--one reason a proposed road to Cordova has never been built, From the bridge's deck, you can see the wide, crenulated face of Miles Glacier 4 miles to the east and the imposing, blue-crevassed flank of Childs Glacier barely 1 mile to the west--a million-dollar view The immensity of the landscape and the power of the roiling, silt-gray river leave one wondering how such a fishery could ever disappear.

The eradication of a wild salmon run would have been inconceivable to Lewis and Clark, too, when they first witnessed the run on the even mightier Columbia River in 1805. Biologist Jim Lichatowich estimates that at least 192 separate salmon and steelbead trout populations, or stocks, spawned in the Golumbia River system at that time--roughly 10 million to 16 million fish. Today 67 of those stocks are extinct, 36 are highly endangered, and 50 more are at risk. Only the ghost of a wild salmon run--estimated at less than half a million wild spawning fish last year--remains.

The Columbia, of course, is only one of many imperiled rivers in the West. And Cordova is only one of many struggling fishing towns. But if Cordovans can protect their salmon, then maybe other communities will take a new look at their own dying waterways. Wild salmon are more than a sustainable, renewable source of food. They symbolize not only the health and beauty of a free-flowing river, but the wisdom of native cultures and the simple rewards of a rapidly vanishing way of life.

MAKING CHOICES

Are your favorite fish okay to buy?

The answer is complicated. Here are some general guidelines for buying
seafood, but learn more from the organizations below. Our favorite
substitutes for the fish that we recommend to avoid are striped bass,
black cod, and tilapia.

 GOOD CHOICE

Anchovies X
Bass striped
Black cod (sablefish) X
Catfish farmed
Chilean seabass (Patagonian
 toothfish)
Clams farmed
Cod
Crab Dungeness, most blue
Haddock
Haki Pacific-caught
Halibut Pacific-caught
Herring X
Lingcod Alaska-caught
Lobster rock
Mackerel X
Mahimahi (dolphinfish)
Monkfish
Mussels farmed
Orange roughy
Oysters farmed
Pollock Pacific
Rainbow trout
Red snapper
Rockfish (Pacific snapper, rock
 cod, perch)
Salmon Pacific-caught: AK & CA
Sand dabs X
Sardines X
Scallops (sea, bay)
Shrimp/prawns trap-caught
Sole (petrale, Dover)
Squid Pacific-caught
Sturgeon farmed
Swordfish
Tilapia farmed
Tuna troll- or pole-caught


 CAUTION *

Anchovies
Bass
Black cod (sablefish)
Catfish
Chilean seabass (Patagonian
 toothfish)
Clams wild
Cod Pacific
Crab Alaska-caught king, snow
Haddock
Haki Atlantic-caught
Halibut
Herring
Lingcod
Lobster American (Maine), spiny
Mackerel
Mahimahi (dolphinfish) X
Monkfish
Mussels wild
Orange roughy
Oysters wild
Pollock
Rainbow trout farmed
Red snapper
Rockfish (Pacific snapper, rock
 cod, perch)
Salmon
Sand dabs
Sardines
Scallops (sea, bay) X
Shrimp/prawns .-farmed, wild
Sole (petrale, Dover) Pacific-caught
Squid Atlantic-caught
Sturgeon
Swordfish Pacific-caught
Tilapia
Tuna longline- or purse
 seine--caught

 AVOID

Anchovies
Bass black sea
Black cod (sablefish)
Catfish
Chilean seabass (Patagonian X
 toothfish)
Clams
Cod Atlantic
Crab Chesapeake Bay blue
Haddock X
Haki
Halibut Atlantic-caught
Herring
Lingcod all others
Lobster
Mackerel
Mahimahi (dolphinfish)
Monkfish X
Mussels
Orange roughy X
Oysters
Pollock Atlantic
Rainbow trout
Red snapper X
Rockfish (Pacific snapper, rock Pacific-caught
 cod, perch)
Salmon Atlantic-caught, farmed
Sand dabs
Sardines
Scallops (sea, bay) dredged
Shrimp/prawns imported
Sole (petrale, Dover) Atlantic-caught
Squid
Sturgeon wild
Swordfish Atlantic-caught
Tilapia
Tuna bluefin


* Status in question; ask your purveyor where and how it's caught, and
find out more from these sources: Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch,
.org (click on "Choices for Healthy Oceans") or (831)
647-6873; National Audubon Society Living Oceans Program,
.org/campaign/lo; Seafood Choices Alliance, SeaSense
database, .com or (866) 732-6673.

RELATED ARTICLE: Sustainable seafood's about more than salmon Consumer choices impact our fish supply and the environment. Issues at a glance:

OVERFISHING. For many popular species, too many boats have gone after too many fish (often catching them before they've had a chance to spawn).

DESTRUCTION OF HABITAT. Some common fishing practices destroy critical features in the environment that wildlife depends on.

BYCATCH. Some methods pull in large volumes of other fish and marine life, which usually die. By some estimates, one-fourth of the world catch is discarded each year.

FARMING. While aquaculture can alleviate overfishing pressure on wild populations, some farms--including salmon--are environmentally destructive: pollution from uneaten feed, pesticides, and antibiotics can destroy habitats; disease from farmed fish can spread to wild populations; and non-native farmed species can escape and threaten native species, in part, by interbreeding with Schneider

Net gains

Fisherman George Covel brings in his catch. Because of the challenging conditions in the Copper River Delta, gill netting--laying out a net that fish catch their gills in--is about the only effective way to fish commercially for salmon. While some forms of gill netting can harm local ocean environments, in this tightly regulated fishery, the impact is minimal. Covel returns other fish to the water.

Fresh fish

The Copper River salmon fishery's advanced quality-control program is a primary reason the fish retain their firm texture and rich flavor. As the fish are caught, they are bled and then immediately sorted into small bins and iced: most are quickly transferred to a tender, like Miss Emily (right). After they're cleaned, the fish are airlifted to top restaurants and markets across North America.

Salmon town

Despite the setting and all the buzz surrounding Copper River salmon, Cordova isn't on Alaska's tourism map. Most of the storefronts along First Street have a kind of weather-beaten Alaskan charm that is both friendly and hopeful, much like the people who live here. There's a good bookstore, a tea shop, and even a small museum. For travel information, contact the Cordova Chamber of Commerce (.com or 907/424-7260).

Opposite camps

Dune Lankard of the Eyak Preservation Council plies the waters of Eyak Lake. A former commercial fisherman, he turned activist when he feared the last wild salmon would be caught in his lifetime unless the watershed was protected. Native Alaskan Tommy Karshekoff prepares smoked salmon in a smokehouse on Nuchek Island, home of Chugach Alaska Corporation's Nuchek Spirit Camp. Though Chugach has proposed a controversial logging project within the Copper River Watershed, it also helps preserve the native heritage.

Counting fish

Thirty miles upriver from the Copper River Delta, with the backdrop of Childs Glacier, a scientist checks the sonar station for the salmon count. On many Western rivers, dams have already severely curtailed wild spawning runs. On smaller streams, habitat destruction due to logging, road construction, farming, water diversion, and development has choked spawning beds and ended runs. On the Copper River, wild salmon still have pristine spawning beds. King salmon run from mid-May into June; sockeye follow from early June through July; and silver run from late July through September.

Buying Alaskan salmon

The entire Alaska salmon fishery is certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council, so choosing this source for your seafood ensures a guilt-free, pleasurable meal. Fresh Alaska salmon is easiest to find during the peak of the commercial harvest-mid-May to mid-September. Off-season, however, frozen Alaska salmon is a good choice. It's flash-frozen shortly after being caught, so it can be even fresher-tasting than a never-frozen counterpart that has languished during shipping. Sources for flash-frozen Copper River and other Alaskan salmon: Copper River Seafoods (.com or 888/622-1197) and Taku Smokeries (.com or 800/582-5122).

Wild salmon, Alaska-style

Three delicious ways to enjoy the West's great fish

By Sara Schneider

CASUAL WEEKNIGHT

Salmon Tacos

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 45 minutes

NOTES: The idea for these tacos traveled from Baja California to Cordova, Alaska, with Liz Pudwill, who admits to "borrowing" the recipe from an unsuspecting fisherman. At Baja Tacos, she uses Copper River salmon and serves the tacos on paper plates from a converted red school bus near the harbor. Have the piece of salmon fillet skinned at the seafood market if you like. You can make the salsa and mayonnaise up to 2 days ahead; cover and chill. Bring to room temperature to serve.

MAKES: 8 tacos; 4 to 6 servings

1 1/2 pounds boned, skinned wild salmon
 fillet (see notes)
 1 cup all-purpose flour
 3/4 cup beer
 1 large egg
 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
 Vegetable oil for frying Salt
 8 flour tortillas (8 in.)
 2 cups finely shredded green cabbage
 (about 4 oz.)
 Chipatle mayonnaise
 (recipe follow)
 Tomatillo salsa (recipe follows)
 Lime wedges

1. Rinse salmon and pat dry; cut the fillet crosswise into 1/2 inch-wide strips (cut any longer than 6 in. in half). In a bowl, whisk flour, beer, egg, and mustard until well blended.

2. Pour 1/2 inch oil into a 10- to 12-inch frying pan over high heat. When surface is rippling, one at a time, dip salmon strips in beer batter, turn to coat all sides (or spoon batter over fish), and lay slightly apart in a single layer in hot oil. Cook, turning pieces once with a wide spatula, until batter is golden brown on all sides and salmon is just opaque but still moist-looking in center of thickest part (cut to test), about 3 minutes total. As cooked, transfer to a paper towel-lined 12- by 17-inch baking pan and keep warm in a 200" oven. As there's room in frying pan, coat and cook remaining salmon strips. Add to fish in baking pan and sprinkle all with salt. Discard remaining batter and the oil in pan; wipe pan clean with paper towels.

3. Set frying pan over medium-high heat. One at a time, lay tortillas in pan and heat, turning once, just until warm, about 30 seconds total for each tortilla. As heated, transfer to a platter or plates and fill each with an eighth of the salmon and 1/4 cup shredded cabbage. Add chipotle mayonnaise and tomatillo salsa as desired.

4. Serve with lime wedges to squeeze over tacos and remaining mayonnaise and salsa to add to taste.

Per taco: 550 cal., 44% (243 cal.) from fat, 31 g protein, 279 fat ( sat.), 41 g carbo ( g fiber): 335 mg sodium; 97 mg chol.

CHIPOTLE MAYONNAISE. In a blender, whirl 1 cup mayonnaise, 1 or 2 canned chipotle chilies (to taste), and 3 tablespoons water until well blended and smooth. Makes about 1 1/4 cups.

Per tablespoon: 80 cal,, 99% (79 cal.) from fat; 9 protein; fat ( sat.); carbo (09 fiber); 69mg sodium; mg chol.

TOMATILLO SALSA. Peel, rinse, and quarter 8 ounces fresh tomatillos. Rinse, stem, seed, and coarsely chop 6 ounces fresh California or New Mexico chilies and 2 fresh jalapetio chilies (2 oz. total; use rubber gloves for jalapenos). In a food processor, whirl tomatillos, California chilies, jalapernos, 1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion, and 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro until finely ground. Scrape into a 2 1/2- to 3-quart pan. Stir over medium-high heat until mixture releases some juice and is boiling, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, to blend flavors, about 3 minutes. Let cool, then stir in 2 tablespoons lime juice and salt to taste. Makes about 1 3/4 cups.

Per tablespoon: cal., 15% ( cal.) from fat; g protein; g fat (0 g sat.): g carbo ( g fiber); mg sodium; 0 mg chol.

BACKYARD ENTERTAINING

Taku Lodge Basted Gritted Salmon

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 20 minutes, plus at least 1 hour to marinate

NOTES: The grilled salmon at Taku Glacier Lodge is legendary. Visitors can reserve the short floatplane ride up the river from Juneau and enjoy dinner at the lodge (available only in summer). The staff claims to engage in outdoor "combat cooking"--that is, holding back the bears until the salmon is done--but the evening we were there, the only big black beast being held at bay looked an awful lot like a well-fed Labrador retriever. We've reconfigured Taku Lodge's baste ingredients so they can serve as marinade as well.

MAKES: 8 servings

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup lemon juice
 About 1/2 teaspoon salt
 About 1/4 teaspoon pepper
 8 pieces (about 6 oz. each; max.
 1/4 in. thick) boned, skinned wild
 salmont fillet
1/4 cup (1/8 lb.) butter
 Lemon wedges

1. In a large, wide bowl or 9-by 13-inch baking dish, stir brown sugar, wine, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until sugar is dissolved.

2. Rinse fish and pat dry. Add to marinade and turn to coat. Cover and chill for 1 to 2 hours.

3. Lift salmon from marinade and transfer to a 12- by 17-inch baking pan. Pour marinade into a 1 1/2 - to 2-quart pan over medium-high heat; add butter and stir until butter is melted and mixture is simmering, 4 to 5 minutes.

4. Lay salmon, skinned side down, on a generously oiled grill over a solid bed of medium-hot coals or medium-high heat on a gas grill (you can hold your hand at grill level only 3 to 4 seconds). Brush fish generously with the baste; close lid if using a gas grill. Cook until salmon pieces are well browned on the bottom, 3 1/2 to 4 minutes (keep a spray bottle filled with clean water on hand to spritz any flare-ups). With a wide spatula, carefully turn pieces; brush tops with baste and continue to cook, basting often, until the salmon is just opaque but still moist-looking in the center of the thickest part (cut to test), about 5 to 6 minutes longer. Discard any remaining baste.

5. Transfer salmon to a warm platter or plates and garnish with lemon wedges. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Per serving: 365 cal., 47% (171 cal.) from fat; 36 g protein; 19 g fat ( g sat.); 11 g carbo (0 g fiber); 240mg sodium; 117 mg chol.

A SPECIAL DISH

Seared Wasabi-Glazed Salmon with "Forbidden" Rice

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 1 hour

NOTES: This striking dish comes from chef Matt Mulder, formerly of Di Sopra (upstairs at the Fiddlehead in Juneau). Black rice, packaged by Lotus Foods under the name "Forbidden Rice," is sold in the Asian-foods section of well-stocked supermarkets and in Asian grocery stores (as is wasabi powder).

MAKES: 4 servings

 1 tablespoon Asian (toasted) sesame oil
 1 ripe mango (1 to 1 1/4 lb.), pitted, peeled, and
 coarsely chopped
 3 talespoons rice vinegar
 About 1/4 cup dry white wine (optional)
 4 jasmine tea bags
 1 cup black or jasmine rice (see notes)
 About 1/2 teaspoon slat
2 1/2 tablespoons wasabi powder (see notes)
 1 tablespoon honey
1 1/3 pounds boned, skinned wild salmon fillet,
 cut into four equal pieces
 2 teaspoons olive oil
 Chopped fresh cilantro or parsley (optional)

1. Pour sesame oil into a 10- to 12-inch ovenproof frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add mango and stir often just until heated through, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Scrape into a blender and add vinegar; whirl until very smooth, then whirl in enough white wine or water to give mixture a very thin, pourable consistency (about 1/4 cup). Pour sauce into a small, microwave-safe pitcher. Wipe pan clean.

2. In a 3- to 4-quart pan, combine 2 cups water and the tea bags; bring to a boil over high heat. Remove tea bags and add rice and 1/2 teaspoon salt; stir, cover, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until rice is tender to bite, 45 to 55 minutes (about 20 minutes for jasmine rice).

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix 2 1/2 tablespoons water, wasabi powder, and honey until blended. Rinse and dry salmon.

4. Pour olive oil into the 10-to 12-inch ovenproof frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, lay salmon pieces in pan, skinned side down; cook, turning once with a wide spatula, until lightly browned on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes total. Remove pan from heat and brush wasabi-honey mixture over tops of salmon pieces, using it all.

5. Transfer pan with salmon to a 350[degrees] regular or convection oven. Bake just until fish is opaque but still moist-looking in center of thickest part (cut to test), 7 to 10 minutes.

6. Heat mango sauce in a microwave oven at full power (100%), stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes total. Transfer a piece of salmon to each of four warmed plates; spoon rice equally alongside (or set salmon on rice). Drizzle mango puree around salmon and rice. Garnish with chopped cilantro, if desired, and add more salt to taste.

Per serving: 543 cal., 31% (171 cal.) from fat: 36 g protein; 19 g fat ( g sat.); 57 g carbo ( g fiber); 379 mg sodium; 94 mg chol.