A dispatch from Alaska’s salmon country; Tatyana Zackar on the seasonal rituals of subsistence harvesting and guiding.
You know the saying; “I get by with a little help from my friends”. As we cross into our second decade of advocacy for Bristol Bay, friends are more important than ever. The region is threatened by open pit mining, which has been scientifically proven to be incompatible with the world’s greatest salmon run. This is the third installment in a series of profiles on Bristol Bay advocates that rely on the region’s clean water and healthy habitat. Read previous articles on commercial fisherman, Steve Kurian, and big game hunting guide, Tia Shoemaker.
Tatyana Zackar has spent her life on the shores of the biggest lake within the biggest state in the union: Lake Iliamna, Alaska.
Not only is Lake Iliamna critical rearing habitat for Bristol Bay’s prolific salmon run, but it is also home to trophy rainbow trout, one of the world’s only populations of freshwater seals and even the famed Iliamna Lake Monster.
With a backyard as wonderous as this, it’s no wonder Taty’s story is inextricably tied to Bristol Bay’s water and fish.
Queen of the Kvichak
Igiugig, a village located where Lake Iliamna drains into the Kvichak River, is Taty’s home. Every year millions of salmon pass through the Kvichak’s gin clean waters then into the lake beyond. Trout fishing on Taty’s home water is phenomenal. Dime-bright rainbows strike fly patterns resembling salmon flesh, eggs and smolt; a clear reminder how deeply intertwined the salmon and trout populations are.
Lake Iliamna plunges to over 1,000 feet deep in some places. To survive in this immense expanse, resident rainbow trout have evolved a silver sheen, making them look almost like steelhead, camouflaged in the lake just as steelhead blend into the open ocean.
The Bristol Bay Fly Fishing and Guide Academy
Taty grew up harvesting salmon for her family and working at a commercial fish processing plant, but sportfishing didn’t become part of her life until she attended the Bristol Bay Fly Fishing and Guide Academy in 2015. This is a week-long, intensive course that aims to inspire Bristol Bay youth to pursue careers in the sportfishing and tourism industries.
A star Guide Academy student, Taty went on to work for a local lodge then to start her own freelance guide company. Today, she returns as an Academy instructor, sharing her skills with the next generation and demonstrating how sportfishing can provide meaningful employment opportunities close to home.
Subsistence culture in Bristol Bay
Fly fishing is just one of the many ways Taty connects with the land and water around her. Subsistence hunting is central to life in Igiugig, and Taty harvested her first moose this fall. In keeping with Native tradition, the first of any species must be given away. “I gave the moose to the school, and the kids learned how to process it,” Taty explained, “then it will feed them all throughout the school year.” Some of her moose meat was also donated to Western Alaska communities hit hard by Typhoon Halong, extending the harvest’s impact far beyond Igiugig.
Next on the calendar in the subsistence cycle lies the winter caribou hunt. Then ice fishing for pike and trout. As the ice melts and spring turns to summer, salmon are on everyone’s minds. By the time the rivers turn red with spawned salmon, the berry picking starts to get good. Berry picking, and most other subsistence activities, offers the same steady focus that anyone who fly fishes knows well; hours of attention honed on land or water.
Iliamna’s clean water and healthy habitat is the basis for this subsistence culture. Without it, harvesting practices passed down through generations would not be possible.
Over twenty mining claims dot the tundra on the northern slope draining into Lake Iliamna. “If anything ever happened with the mine, it would all come down this way because we are at the outlet of the lake.” Said Taty.
Establishing durable safeguards for a place like this is more paramount than ever. After more than 20 years of uncertainty from mining claims, the Alaska State Legislature is now considering a bill that would block large‑scale mining projects from compromising the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve, the prolific fish habitat in Taty’s backyard.
When asked how she’d describe her home to someone who has never seen it, Taty said, “It’s wild. And probably not like anywhere else you’ve been before.”
Take action or donate to help keep Bristol Bay as wild as it is today.
Quick Facts
- Favorite way to eat salmon? Kippered salmon canned with jalapenos.
- Years fished? Commercial salmon processing for 9, sportfishing for 10, subsistence fishing her whole life!
- How to fish with Taty? Email Taty at zackar24@gmail.com or find her on Instagram at @here_fishy_fishy_tz.
- Fun item to bring fishing? As if fall fishing on the Kvichak wasn’t fun enough, a pumpkin head makes it even better.
