Suckers are fat and the best for drying. Using a four-and-a-half inch plastic net, Fred MacDonald fishes suckers when they're coming and going from spawning grounds.
Terry Halifax
Northern News Services
Fort Smith (Jun 04/01) - For centuries, the people of Salt River have been feeding from the annual spring run of suckers.
At 64 years of age, Fred MacDonald has been netting suckers for half his life, and remembers days when the whole community was busy netting, cutting and drying fish.
"My mom used to make lots -- 400 or 500 like that," Fred recalled. "That's lots of work; she'd be cutting dry fish for days sometimes."
"As long as I remember, when the fish would run like this, everybody used to cut dry fish," he said. "As far as you could go, all the people would have dry fish hanging on the stage.
"The mission used to do it too."
"Lots of people like to eat the stuff, but not too many know how to make it any more," said Joan Lepine, Fred's daughter-in-law.
He says the suckers are fat and the best for drying. Using a four-and-a-half inch plastic net, he fishes the suckers when they're coming and going from the spawning grounds.
"When they come down they're facing the other way in the net," he explains.
The fish are on a tight schedule and won't wait for the ice to leave the river. They always return about mid-May.
"Even when there's still lots of ice, they just go under the ice, so I set the nets under the ice," he said.
George Lowe, fisheries management biologist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said the sucker numbers are strong and the spring catch usually only counts about 1,200 fish per year.
"It's a very light harvest, I don't think it has much of an impact," Lowe said.
"They were used extensively for dog food and we don't see as many people keeping dogs any more."
The fish travel from the big lake into the Slave River and up the Salt River to lay their eggs in the rocky river bottom where they were born.
"They will go up river until get out of the muddy area and up into the gravelly areas," Lowe said.
Once netted, the fish is gutted, and split, with the skeleton attached, to hang.
"You leave it to hang the first time for about four hours," Fred explained. "After that, you have to cut them, but the skin has to be dry first."
The sides are scored in thick slices, but not cut through to the skin and the cut fish is hung in the wind for another couple hours to dry.
"Then you put it in the smoke for about half a day," he said. "You put a fire down low or if you have a smoke house you put them in there."
Once smoked, the tails and bones are cut off and the filets are skewered and hung to dry again before packaging.
"You can dry them in the house but outside works better," he said. "They dry faster in the wind."
When the fish is in the wind, so is the smell, so the elder says you should never go too far from the rack, because spring-hungry bears will come to steal your winter stash.
The fish should still be able to breathe out the last of its moisture, so Fred says plastic wrap or bags are no good.
"A paper bag works good and they got good bags nowadays."
Dry fish have sustained the people of Salt River through periods between moose and caribou were scarce and will last long through the winter.
"It'll keep forever, I guess as long as you have it in a good place," he said. "It's gotta be nice and dry."
While there are still a few families who make dry fish, Fred fears it's a dying tradition. There aren't many racks drying fish in Salt River any more, but many come to see Fred for the traditional treat.
"Lots of people like it, but if they don't want to make it, they can pay for it," he laughed.
