2022 PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS

Thank you to everyone who submitted photos this year and shared pieces of their Bristol Bay stories.

Enjoy the winning photos and words from the fisher-photographers.

NOTE!! If you’re on your phone, turn it sideways to be able to see the captions & photographer names

OVERALL WINNER:

SOCKEYE SALMON:

Danica Wilson - Beautiful red on the end of the tide

Sockeye: 1st Place

Fishing has been passed down through my family for generations, both commercial and subsistence. It is our tradition and part of who we are.

Zenovia Tallekpalek - Lone cannery worker for a day

Sockeye: 2nd Place

Grew up on the Kvichak and fell in love with the Bay!

Lindsey Aspelund - Red Gold: smoked sockeye salmon

Sockeye: 3rd Place

Bristol Bay is incredibly unique in that it's pristine habitat and sustainable management strategies have continued to keep the fish runs strong. There is no other place like it in the world and I'm very thankful to fish in Bristol Bay.

Cole King - Cole gets a look at a couple of slabs

Sockeye: 3rd Place

The summers spent in Bristol Bay during the salmon season has shaped who I am as a person. Everything I have learned over my many seasons are taken back home with me when it’s over.

Cole King - Fish coming aboard the F/V Big Dipper in the Nushagak

Sockeye - 5th Place

My first trip to Bristol Bay was when I was only a year old but from then on I have the trip to fish camp.

LANDSCAPE & NATURE:

Matt Haramis - Sunset in Ugashik Bay

Landscape & Nature: 1st Place

Bristol Bay has meant financial security and delicious salmon from the wildest place on earth!

Tom Rollman - Setnet skiffs waiting for the season to start at Nushagak Point

Landscape & Nature: 2nd Place

Fishing in Bristol Bay has not only provided for our family financially, it has taught several generations the value of hard work as well as allowed us to get outside each summer and really experience what our great state has to offer.

Eric Risby - Relics of the past

Landscape & Nature: 3rd Place

I have been a set net crew member in Ekuk Beach for 20 years, photographing the whole experience.

Cole King - Sunset over Dillingham harbor

Landscape & Nature: 4th Place

I’ve fished on the beaches of Ekuk and the deck of the Big Dipper. I primarily fish on the Big Dipper now and looking to take on my own operation soon.

Owen O'Brocta - O'Brocta.Watching the sunset in the Nushigak after a night opener aboard the F/V Alavia

Landscape & Nature: 5th Place

Some people have a hate/love relationship but I just simply love it.

COMMUNITY:

Flip Lilias - Solstice at the spit

Community: 1st Place

Fishing brings me greater appreciation for rest and resource and the beautiful world we live in.

Cole King - Fishing is about family. The Libby family takes a moment to celebrate on Ekuk Beach

Community: 2nd Place

I started of fishing with my mom, aunt, and uncle on Ekuk then when I was old enough started on my cousins boat the Big Dipper.

Claire Dal Nogare - Grandpa and Grandson process salmon together

Community: 3rd Place

Bristol Bay has an amazing community that is always willing to help in times of need.

Claire Dal Nogare - Crew members from a few fishing boats join together for a game of cribbage while tied up in Clark's Slough

Community: 4th Place

When a friend of a friend bought a boat and needed deckhands, I knew the time had come to get out to the Bay.

Flip Silias - Hair braiding in the harbor

Community - 5th Place

I loved living on the boat, the simplicity and intimacy that it reduces life to. It was also the hardest work of my life, my first time night fishing was a 10k lb set and it felt like a living nightmare but that sunrise was the most beautiful sunrise I've ever seen.

ACTION:

Andrew Sconce - FREEDOM is hard earned

Action: 1st Place

The water, fish and community has blessed us beyond belief. Ever in debt and greatly humbled by the salmon run and the people!

Eric Risby - Hanging gear

Action: 2nd Place

Bristol Bay has the finest quality wild sustainable salmon harvest on the planet.

Grady Haskell - Fish toss back in time

Action: 3rd Place

Lindsey Aspelund

Action: 4th Place

I grew up along the shores of Bristol Bay and am happy to be participating in the fishery as a fourth generation fisherman.

Claire Dal Dogare - Crew of F/V Shark night fishes during an evening opener

Action: 5th Place

I have lived in Alaska for many years and heard about Bristol Bay from the day I made the state my home.

PEOPLE:

Andrew Sconce - 28 Hours of fishing and he says “I just want one more fish”

People: 1st Place

Worked my entire life trying to find a dream. Fished Bristol Bay 2019 and it stole my soul. I sold everything I owned and bought a permit and fished 2021… Who gets to live there dream? Very few. I get to!

Frank Cline - Beautiful Day, Beautiful Sockeye

People: 2nd Place

I grew up in Dillingham and started set netting at 12 years old. This is my 10th season fishing and 3rd season drifting for my big brother. I moved away from Alaska in high school, but Bristol Bay has always been my home. I feel blessed having the privilege of fishing each summer.

Uliana Retuvo - Happy Crew

People - 3rd Place

Fishing in Bristol Bay means being a part of the richest commercial fishing in the world.

Perry Broderick - Up all night catching sockeye

People: 4th Place

My brothers and I have fished Bristol Bay for over 20 years, starting as crew on our Dad's boats when we were 12.

John Webb - Claremont Crew

People: 5th Place

I’m not really the Fisher-Poet type, but Bristol Bay is definitely a miraculous wonder of Mother Nature!

Photo Contest Winners 22