I am a 56-year-old Talkeetna resident who has been fishing at the old Peter King and Leslie Wernberg setnet site at Shelter Bay on Fire Island since 1982. The family I learned from had been out there since the 1950s. I have launched boats from Ship Creek since before the small boat launch was even there, and it was hard. Other than the small boat launch, the only place in all of Anchorage to access the water is Point Woronzof, and that is for pedestrians only.
The current boat launch, when it’s dredged and has the floats put in, allows me to safely launch and land my operation. I sell to various processors when available in Anchorage and bring fish home for the people and restaurants in my town that wouldn’t otherwise have access to fresh salmon. Without the dock, the angle of the ramp and the incoming waves could very easily crush my fishing partner and I — and our families — underneath. It would be near impossible to get the boat onto the trailer easily and it would take a lot longer, increasing the wait time for everyone.
There are no other options for putting my boat in above the ramp in Kenai, and launching from there would involve a six-hour drive with the trailer each way, plus a 10-hour boat ride each way. That would not be possible or safe for us.
People use the launch in different ways — there is always a line of trucks and trailers at high tide, the only time where the water is deep enough to get anything but the smallest boats in. There are people testing motors, launching duck and moose hunting skiffs, heading over to Beluga and Tyonek, scientists and survey boats, fishing boats who portage near Iliamna and end up in Pile Bay on the Bristol Bay side for our historic salmon runs.
I am a member of the Northern District Set Netters Association of Cook Inlet, and we donate a modest amount every year to the port to try to help with the costs of maintaining a safe ramp for everyone. It’s not a lot, but fishing doesn’t make much. Yet we still love it and the ramp provides for our livelihoods and spirits.
For a town on the ocean, it sure is hard to get to. Please save our boat launch — it’s one of the most basic things that allows Alaskans to be Alaskan.
— Chris Craver
Talkeetna
Have something on your mind? Send to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Letters under 200 words have the best chance of being published. Writers should disclose any personal or professional connections with the subjects of their letters. Letters are edited for accuracy, clarity and length.