SOLDOTNA -- It is not uncommon, during summer on the Kenai Peninsula, to get stuck in a traffic jam, strike out finding a camping spot and then drive to four stores looking for one bag of ice to toss into the cooler. Tourists and Alaskans alike flock to the area just south of Anchorage to catch their own fresh Alaska salmon and, without knowing it, boost the local economy by about 40 percent.
Rick Roeske, executive director of the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District, said that rough 40 percent is about "typical," although it actually fluctuates from year to year and goes with the flow of the salmon runs -- which in recent years have been less than ideal for fishing guides, sport fisherman, setnetters and commercial fishermen.
In Roeske's 34 years on the Kenai Peninsula, he said, he's seen the fishing industry "winding down," which could mean hard times ahead, as it makes up one-fifth of the local economy.
"A bad run definitely impacts us because people are hesitant," Roeske said. "They have to commit the gas, time, food. If they aren't guaranteed a king out of a guide boat or the dipnet experience, then they will be very hesitant. This year was a prime example."
This summer, he said, business along the Kenai River was as patchy as the salmon runs. Some retailers were profitable while others suffered. Both Alaskans and tourists seem to be hesitant to fill their tanks with high-priced fuel and head to the peninsula if there is a possibly they could go home with empty coolers, Roeske said.
Highs and lows
Not everyone was hurting at the end of the season.
Molly Blakeley-Poland, owner of Hooligans Lodge, said her rooms have been consistently full, and on weekend evenings the hotel's restaurant is packed with spectators waiting to see Hobo Jim live in concert.
At The Moose Is Loose bakery, lines stream out the front door. Sometimes they run out of the oversized donuts that have turned into a popular novelty.
Dipnetters on the Kenai River begin combat fishing, and firewood can be hard to find. Locals complain on social media about bad drivers and beer cans on the beach.
And on a typical August day at the Peninsula Processing and Smokehouse plant, off Kalifornsky Beach Road in Soldotna, workers were trying to process and package 10,000 pounds of fish before the end of the workday.
"All of our fish is packaged the same day it was brought in," owner Tim Berg said.
Anglers pay anywhere from $0.75 to $1.65 per pound for their catch of the day to be cut, filleted, packaged or all of the above. The plant also works with local commercial fishers and guides, smokes salmon, and freezes and ships seafood year-round.
"We buy fish from local fishermen. We have sport fishermen coming through the front door, and we can do anything they want with the fish," Berg said.
Every year, Berg said, summer "feels busier than ever."
But that's not the case for every business that relies on the boom of a busy fishing season, Roeske said. He's been getting mixed reviews of the summer's runs -- and the resulting subdued economic movement.
"People did get fish," he said. "As far as retail, though, June and July was more in tune with the rest of the year."
He said ultimately the ebb and flow of the local economy has to do with too many people depending on one industry.
"Everybody is trying to chase the same resource," Roeske said. And when that resource isn't running, it can mean a leaner season for local businesses.
"The Kenai Peninsula is a great place to live but a tough place to make a living," Roeske said.