Kitsap Salmon Tours

From the award-winning author of The Mushroom Hunters comes the story of an iconic fish, perhaps the last great wild food : salmon. For some, a salmon evokes the distant wild--thrashing in the jaws of a hungry grizzly bear on TV, perhaps. For others, it's the catch of the day on a restaurant menu, or a deep red fillet at the market. For others still, it's the jolt of adrenaline on a successful fishing trip. Our fascination with these superlative fish is as old as humanity itself. Long a source of sustenance among native peoples, salmon is now more popular than ever. Fish hatcheries and farms serve modern appetites with a domesticated "product"-- while wild runs of salmon dwindle across the globe. How has this once-abundant resource reached this point, and what can we do to safeguard wild populations for future generations? Cook goes in search of the salmon in Upstream, his timely and in-depth look at how these beloved fish have nourished humankind through the ages and why their destiny is so closely tied to our own.

Swimmer, the Chinook salmon, journeys over 10,000 miles to complete her life cycle, while Katya, the native Alaskan girl, comes of age in her small village along the coast.

Billy Frank Jr. was an early participant in the fight for tribal fishing rights during the 1960s. Roughed up, belittled, and handcuffed on the riverbank, he emerged as one of the most influential Northwest Indians in modern history. His efforts helped bring about the 1974 ruling by Federal Judge George H. Boldt affirming Northwest tribal fishing rights and allocating half the harvestable catch to them.

Salmon: A Scientific Memoir investigates a narrative that is important to the identity of the Pacific Northwest Coast – the salmon as an iconic species. Traditionally it's been a narrative that is overwhelmingly about conflict. But is that always necessarily the case? The story follows John Steinbeck's advice: the best way to achieve reality is to combine narrative with scientific data. By following ecologists, archaeologists and fisheries biologists studying salmon, humans and their shared habitat, the reader learns about the fish through the eyes of scientists in the field.

Stronghold tells the story of Guido Rahr, a passionate and eccentric environmentalist who has single-mindedly dedicated his life to saving the environment, working to preserve the world's last pristine stronghold (habitat) for salmon in Russia's Far East--a landscape of ecological richness and diversity that is rapidly being developed for oil, gas, minerals, and timber in the Putin era. A high school drop-out and rebel more at home in the natural world among animals than among people, Rahr is a passionate fly fisher. His preternatural ability to understand the fish he was catching led him to fear for their future. What he came to understand is that the fate of the salmon is linked with the fate of humanity, as they contribute in essential ways to our own habitat. Deeply reported and beautifully written, Malarkey's book reveals the astonishing natural history of the salmon, while also providing a fascinating narrative that takes the reader to remote, inhospitable terrain and into the world of Russian oligarchs, corrupt officials, and impenetrable bureaucracies--as well as bringing us as close as possible to an extraordinary species of endangered fish. It is also a personal book in that Malarkey is Rahr's first cousin and spent her summers with him on their family's cabins in the wilds of Oregon. She has accompanied Rahr on many of his expeditions and knows this elusive, private, brilliant man as few do.

The story reminds us how the salmon demonstrates great determination and strength in its long journey from the stream where life begins, to the ocean, and back to its natal stream.

When a girl and her family travel four thousand miles from home, it’s not your typical summer vacation. Everything is different on the Alaskan tundra--where the grizzly bears roam and the sockeye salmon swim--including the rules. A girl can do things she wouldn’t, and couldn’t, do at home. She can wake up at midnight to work with her mom on a fishing crew. She can learn what it means to be an essential part of a team. She can become a braver, stronger, and ever-more capable version of herself. She can take her next big step. She’s ready for her first real sunrise.

Explores the historical, legal, and social context of Indian fishing rights in the Pacific Northwest, providing a dramatic account of the people and issues involved. The story focuses on Billy Frank and the river flowing past Frank's Landing, and details Frank's life as an activist, from legal settlements over salmon habitats destroyed by hydroelectric plants, to negotiations with the US Army for environmental protection of tribal lands.

For thousands of years, the Elwha river flowed north to the sea. The river churned with salmon, which helped feed bears, otters, and eagles. The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, known as the Strong People located in the Pacific Northwest, were grateful for the river's abundance. All that changed in the 1790s when strangers came who did not understand the river's gifts. The strangers built dams, and the environmental consequences were disastrous. This visually stunning story of environmental harm and eventual restoration, offers hope for the future.