UPPER COOK INLET — On a recent morning high tide, Fred Thoerner and his daughter Melina eased a sturdy skiff called Warthog down Anchorage’s Ship Creek boat ramp and motored across Knik Arm to a beach near Point MacKenzie. As the windows in downtown buildings reflected the sunrise, they set anchor in the muddy beach and unfurled their net.
Thoerner is one of just a handful of commercial fishermen still setting nets in the northernmost part of Cook Inlet. His grandparents David and Jean Ring started fishing there more than 70 years ago. He’s 42 and was raised by his grandparents. Hearing their stories and fishing his whole life made him a witness to major changes in the fishery and the city’s relationship to salmon. He hopes Melina, who is 17, will take over from him, the fourth generation of his family to fish commercially in the shadow of the city.
“That’s if there’s still fish,” he said as he trained his eyes on the line of white corks in the water, waiting for a splash.
“This is the worst year I’ve ever had.”