Tag Archives: Chignik fishermen
While Chignik fishermen wait on 2018 relief funds, some look beyond the fishery to survive
Aloys Kopun sat in the small harbormaster’s office in Chignik Bay last July as a few boats gently bobbed in the harbor’s turquoise water. “When we were fishing like we normally fished here, the whole harbor was always plump full,” he said. “As you can see, now, we had hardly nobody in here. And everybody’s gone tendering or went to other areas to fish, or some of them went broke.” Kopun fished in Chignik, on the Alaska Peninsula, for decades before becoming the summer harbormaster. Significantly fewer boats have returned since the Chignik sockeye run failed in 2018. Fishermen who depend on the salmon closed out that season without making a paycheck. photos, >click to read< 12:02
