Bristol Bay is just north of the Alaska Peninsula where it juts out into the Bering Sea. Some 6,500 people live in the isolated villages of Dillingham, King Salmon, Naknek, and smaller settlements. This is our world the people say who live off the bounty of local salmon fish. But this year these Alaskan fishing villages confront COVID-19 and it could close them down.
Alaskan Fishing Villages Confront 20,000 Visitors during COVID-19
Hordes of fishermen descend every June and July, to harvest half the world’s sockeye salmon catch within sustainable limits. These visitors comprise 15,000 to 20,000 anglers, and 6,000 fish-processing workers. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry that arrives with unstoppable force.
This is the first year these Alaskan fishing villages confront potential COVID-19 carriers. Fishing has always been dangerous for the hardy Alaskans living with tidal extremes of 30 feet. But at least they can see the water coming. Coronavirus infections are invisible until symptoms show.
Their Only Defense is an Honor System They Cannot Enforce
The lure of money is a powerful magnet. Planeloads of fishermen arriving are supposed to take a 14-day quarantine. However, Anna Hurley executive director of United Tribes of Bristol Bay told ABC news this is not always the case.
Norman Vactor president and CEO of Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation explains it’s an honor system. He has been asking the state for assistance with quarantining for months. But they have done virtually none of that, he laments. The Alaskan fishing villagers appear to confront COVID-19 largely on their own, if media reports are accurate.
A large fishing company assured ABC News they are control of their people. However, it could just take one solitary, infected fisherman to spawn an epidemic. “I really just hope we’re not forgotten about once the spread happens,” local fisherman Katherine Carscallen says.
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Preview Image: Courtesy of Google Earth
