HARVEST ROSARY
Sheyl Maree Reily, Fairbanks
The year my husband, Geoff, and I bought our fishing operation in Bristol Bay was the year the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound. Geoff, a photojournalist, was one of the first to bare witness to the world of this event.
I fished my chichacko season pregnant with our son, Tristan. We fished the “Miami Vice” years of cocaine and uzis – when I would hold our five year old daughter close to my side as Geoff made runs to the tender with our bounty. Geoff and Blaque, spent the last two seasons of her high school years fishing together. Geoff loved fishing in the Bay and referred to it as his “reality check.”
The turn of the century brought with it several disappointing fishing seasons. With no loss of life or serious injury in the many years spent fishing “The Bay” we counted ourselves among the lucky ones. It was with reluctance in 2003 we said goodbye to the river, our friends, a way of life, and one unforgettable adventure.
Later as the corks, mesh, and line lay piled lifeless and land-locked in the basement of our Fairbanks home, I began to think of ways to breathe life back into them. This flotsam, combined with the religious jetsam of my past and the skills I developed during the many hours spent “beading” between openings and tides, was the inspiration for the rosary series.
This piece in particular is an homage to those creatures and persons nourished by the Sound and touched by the event referred to as EVOS by Alaskans. Although Alaska is large in geographic terms, it is small in terms of social connections. As fishermen our hearts go out to our fellow fishermen and women, the families, tribes, and settlements of the Sound.
It is with hope and sadness in 2009 Alaskans celebrate fifty years of statehood while mourning a catastrophic environmental event, a black smear on the history of our state. Perhaps a gentle reminder that as a state in its infancy we have the opportunity to put in place now the safeguards which will help protect our future.
