Hidden Falls and aquaculture

We didn’t go far today, only 10 nm to Elle Cove and Hidden Falls. Did you know a large portion of Alaskan wild caught salmon is actually raised in aquaculture pens until they are abut 10 inches long? We didn’t, so we found our visit to the salmon farm at Hidden Fall very educational. The release millions of these baby salmon who grow up to be caught by the local fisherman. The ones who escape capture return here to spawn and complete the cycle. There were salmon everywhere- leaping, swimming at the surface and racing away from our lures. As the guys at the farm said- you basically have to snag them as they weren’t biting. We didn’t catch any but we weren’t too sad about it when we found out they were mostly chums. The local bears love to stop by the weir and scoop up the salmon trying to go up the swim ladders, especially when the ladders are closed! Talk about easy pickings. Fynn was getting super fussy on shore to go home so we left before we saw the bears come down. Of course by the time we stopped by to say hi to the counter (he literally stands there and counts how many fish enter the netted off bay) the bears were at the weir. Oh darn, the life with kiddos… We left our prawn trap down over night and stopped by Sand Beach to check our crab trap – one BIG GUY. He measured 8 inches across and made a delicious dinner. Fynn is a fan and can happily chow down on just about the whole crab.