Sailing Back to Bristol Bay

In 2022 the Land Trust sailed a restored Bristol Bay commercial fishing sailboat (affectionately known as a Double-Ender) from Homer to Naknek to commemorate the beginning of power boat fishing and the end of the “Sailboat Days” in the commercial fishery. The journey coincided with the largest return and largest harvest of Sockeye salmon in the long history of the commercial fishery.

From 1884, when the commercial fishery began on the Nushagak River, to 1951 sailboats were the only vessels allowed to drift fish the waters of Bristol Bay. Despite resistance from the canning industry, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service that managed the fishery when Alaska was a territory finally deferred to the clamor of fishermen and permitted vessels powered by engines to drift fish in Bristol Bay. 1951 marked a major turning point in the history of the fishery and reshaped the economy of the region.

To learn more read Sailing for Salmon: The Early Years of Commercial Fishing in Alaska’s Bristol Bay – 1884 to 1951. The book can be purchased from Amazon here.

Also visit the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/sailingbacktobristolbay

The sailboat is a restored Double-Ender from the Libby, McNeil & Libby Cannery at Libbyville on the Kvichak River. The boat was restored by Dave Seaman of Homer. It is now in Naknek where it belongs to the Bristol Bay Historical Society.

A composite video of the journey can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN7AHPnHjfI&t=62s

A video of the arrival of the sailboat in Naknek created by Mark Emery can be viewed here: https://www.facebook.com/memerym/videos/428185149361510/