Alaska Seafood Harvesters

An Alaskan Fishing Cooperative

Brian, Arron and Caleb Chase pick fish at sunset on Cook Inlet

Chase Family Profile (Mike & Liz Chase)

A walk through the Chase home is like a tour through a mermaid’s treasure trove.  Translucent green glass fishing balls, hand carved cedar-fishing floats; stiff starfish and containers full of worn beach glass and shells cover worktables.  Elizabeth Chase takes these found treasures and turns them into art.  Whimsical wreaths woven with driftwood, accompanied by a history of fishing in Cook Inlet are the result of her beach combing and adorn the walls of their home. 

 

Filling the air is the snap of hot oil and smell of frying hooligan, an oily little fish harvested in the spring and early summer from the Inlet.  There is a bump and flap sound as Liz rolls out hand made tortillas for her crew’s breakfast.  Feeding a crew of six is a daunting task.  Through the course of the short six-week fishing season, the Chase family will spend over $4000 just to feed their crew, and the work to do so is endless.

 

Mike Chase, a physical education teacher and commercial fisherman, stomps in, dressed for the cool summer morning.  He has been out to turn on and warm up the flatbed “beach truck”.  He grabs a “to go” cup, squeezes Liz, calls a wake-up to his brood of teenagers, and is off to the local buying station to pick up an insulated tote of ice in preparation for his harvest of quality certified salmon. The goal of all this care is the finest wild salmon available and the viability of a way of life in South Central Alaska.

 

Liz readies the table for the crew.  They all work as a team in every aspects of the family business in the summer.  “They are an integral part of producing our family income,” Liz says as she hauls another gallon of milk to the table.  “We couldn’t do it without them,” her broad smile is clearly full of pride.

 

Aaron, Caleb, Hannah, and their hired crewmembers materialize with few words.  They are all dog-tired.  Last night’s fishing period had been extended until 10 PM.  After picking, pulling and repacking the gear for today’s opening, and delivering their catch in the long Alaska twilight, there was little time for sleep.

This set net family run operation tends twelve stationary set nets, unlike the drift fishermen, who harvest salmon from a single drifting gill nets.  Set net locations are placed from the beach out to a mile and a half off-shore, and many locations have been fished for generations and can be bought and sold or passed down through a family.  Liz and Mike have passed on their love for their craft to their children.  Skipper, Brian Chase, is now in the US Coast Guard, and training to be a rescue boat captain.  All the other teenagers remain active in the family’s seasonal fishing business.

 

Liz Chase is a mother to this brood, artist, commercial fisherman, historian and  co-chair for the  cooperative Alaska Seafood Harvesters.  She is an entrepreneur as well, and provides tours of her set net site to the community at no charge.  You can buy salmon directly from Liz and Mike Chase from their website-www.alaskasbestwildsalmon.com or call 001.907.262-3233, or place a larger order for cooperative members to fill.

 

 

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