Rob Grannum and his siblings grew up fishing sockeye red salmon at their family’s fish camp near Kenai, Alaska. Today, Rob and his wife, Amy, own the operation. Their children, Natalie and Jack, 9 and 11 years old, respectively, help pick the nets alongside their grandparents, cousins, aunt and uncle.
During the summer fishing season, home is a cabin right on the beach and the days are long. Alaska’s fisheries are strictly managed for sustainability so the Grannums follow prescribed 12 hour “openings” which mandate when they can put their nets in the water and when they must be removed.
Typically these openings are planned in advance but an extra opening can be called at any time with as little as an hour’s warning, depending the sockeye run. Alaska’s responsible sustainable fisheries management ensures that enough salmon escape up the rivers to spawn and that too many don’t return upriver and overwhelm the ecosystem.
The Grannum family is not unique in Alaska; they operate alongside about 500 other small family businesses pulling sockeye out of the cold, pristine waters of Alaska’s Cook Inlet. The Grannums operate their nets using only man power and individually handle each sockeye. They take care to immediately place each fish in ice so the firm, red flesh is well preserved.
To the Grannums, fish camp “is a way of life” and whether they’re on the water or grilling sockeye for their own dinner, they treasure the resource and are committed to maintaining it for the next generation.