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I live with Nate (my friend from Demotte), Luther(college housemate), and one other guy. We all get along great. There are a total of 11 guys on our crew this summer
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Our cook makes all our meals and does our laundry. The food is very good and we have plenty to eat.
Fishing is going great and we had two thirty hour days. Our schedule during these days is: noon - put the nets out and go in for lunch after all the nets are set. This work is very intense because the DNR will only let us have our nets in the water for a thirty hour period starting at noon so the emphasis is to get them out as fast as possible. After a few hours, we return to the nets to pick the fish which involves pulling the net up to the surface and removing the fish by hand and returning the net to the sea. After the first pick, we motor to the tender to offload our catch. We then return to land (sometime between 10:30 PM and midnight for dinner and some sleep. We start picking again at 8:00 AM and get an additional pick in before having to remove the nets from the ocean. The fishing days are very intense and I love them. As the season progresses, we will be permitted to leave the nets out for much longer periods of time. The amount of time the nets can be in the water is tightly controlled to make sure the salmon population is sustainable.
Our boss said that we could take a break and go camping for 2 nights. We slept under the starts both nights and were eaten alive by the mosquitoes. We saw eagles, otters, fox, bear and other creatures. Nature is incredibly beautiful out here.
If you want to write, your letter will go to Anchorage, then to Kodiak Island, then to Larsen Bay by float plane, and then by boat to Bear Island.
Here is my address: Daniel Bykerk
c/o Fields and Sons
P.O. Box 88
Larsen Bay, Alaska 99624
