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People work with their nets and fish during the Kenai dipnet fishery, July 22, 2022. Mount Redoubt rises above Cook Inlet in the distance. Redoubt is a stratovolcano, visible from much of Southcentral Alaska. (Anne Raup / ADN)
Every year, thousands of Alaskans spend a slice of their summer with big nets in the waters at the mouth of the Kenai River. The mission: to catch some of the abundant sockeye salmon for their own consumption. The dipnet fishery is one of several around the region that allow Alaskans to harvest protein and stock up for the coming months.
The Kenai dipnet fishery opened this year on July 10 and will run through the end of the month.
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A dipnetter carries a freshly caught salmon along the north beach at the Kenai dipnet fishery, July 22, 2022. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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People work with their nets and fish during the Kenai dipnet fishery on Friday. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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A dipnetter works to humanely kill the salmon, then remove it from the net during the Kenai dipnet fishery. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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Surf pounds the beach as dipnetters keep their nets in the water on Friday. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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A dipnetter brings a fish to her cleaning station at the Kenai dipnet fishery, July 22, 2022. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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A salmon flops in a net as it's brought up on the beach during the Kenai dipnet fishery.The milk jug functions as a float on the net, to help the net stay upright in the water. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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People work with their nets and fish on Friday, July 22, 2022. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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Seagulls fly along the beach, looking for salmon scraps to nab. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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People fish for red salmon during the Kenai dipnet fishery, July 22, 2022. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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A bucket of salmon await processing on the north Kenai River beach during the Kenai dipnet fishery, July 22, 2022. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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A dipnetter works with his fish on Friday. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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People work with their nets and fish on the north beach during the Kenai dipnet fishery, July 22, 2022. The south beach scene is across the river. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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People work with their nets and fish at the mouth of the Kenai River Friday. Mount Redoubt rises above Cook Inlet in the distance. Redoubt is a stratovolcano, visible from much of Southcentral Alaska. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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Kelly Willett, from Eagle River, hauls her gear to the Kenai River beach Friday evening, July 22, 2022 to camp on the beach. She said she limited out at the Kenai dipnet fishery, Saturday morning - her best dipnetting experience in 10 years. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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The setting sun shines behind a sign as dipnetters load up their gear after fishing at the Kenai RIver on Friday. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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A boat heads out into Cook Inlet from the mouth of the Kenai River. Late-day dipnetters continue to fish during the Kenai dipnet fishery, July 22, 2022. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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People come and go on the road between the parking lot and an access to the Kenai River. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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Mount Redoubt, a stratovolcano, rises above Cook Inlet as the sun sets July 22, 2022. The grasses in the foreground are on the north beach of the Kenai River and help solidify the vulnerable ground of the shore. (Anne Raup / ADN)
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Iliamna volcano catches the last of the sunlight Friday evening, July 22, 2022. Iliamna is a stratovolcano that rises up above Cook Inlet. (Anne Raup / ADN)