Things we look forward to when we know the season is ending: a real, long, non-boat shower, lacing up our sneakers and going for a run (okay, a walk), picking veggies out of our mom's garden and eating fresh fruit and finding the nearest raspberry patch to sit in and snack on until our fingers are stained purple. As our fishing friends finish their seasons, we all gather around our kitchen tables, sharing rockfish jigged up on the way home from Prince William Sound and the King Crab traded for King Salmon on the way home from out West and fishing stories for hours. These nights, and the storytelling that is so essential to our fishing communities, are the necessary closure to a long season at sea.
Although we've been fishing hard all summer, and a little distant from our emails, we return from the ocean rejuvenated, inspired, and in the midst of some of our most exciting projects yet. We are reminded of the multitudes of fantastic individuals and groups working towards keeping oceans clean and salmon habitats healthy. The Salmon Project is in the midst of their 'Baby Salmon Live Here' initiative, encouraging Alaskans to get outdoors with family and friends and discover the presence of baby salmon in the places we live and play year-round. You can get your own flags and join the campaign today! Instagram the photos you take on your adventure and tag it #babysalmonlivehere.
This summer we collaborated with Juanita of Juanita's Handmade, a fabulous fabric artist from Anchorage, Alaska, to make ocean-inspired pouches. We've loved her handmade bags and purses since we discovered her work, and we loved meeting with Juanita to pick out our favorite fabrics and color schemes and to learn a little more about her process. Our first batch of pouches made it on our website a few weeks ago and Juanita is hard at work on the next, as these adorable accessories fly off our shelves.
If you're in Kodiak, stop by Kodiak Marine Supply, our newest retailer. Over the years we've felt overwhelming support from this island community, and have formed very special relationships because of it. In the past, we've sent boxes of apparel to our friend Katie to sell out of her kitchen -- we're glad to be able to relieve her of this duty, maybe less people will stop by at odd times of the day looking for Anchor Leggings! Kodiak, we love you.
Our clothing is selling fast at the Alaska State Fair this week! Stop by the High Tide Arts booth on the green trail and say hello to our dear and lovely friend Erika. Erika's family owns the High Tide Arts shops on the Homer Spit and was the first retail store to start carrying Salmon Sisters clothing when we started our company three years ago. It is local partnerships like these that make owning a business so fun and so rewarding.
Speaking of our beginnings, we are turning 3 this year! A celebration is in order, and for our birthday we will be launching our own custom designed hoodies this fall! The production phase is in full swing and we think you will love what's coming. Below is peak at our initial sketches. Keep in mind that these will be coming in sea foam and ocean teal and berry red and corals! Start deciding what your color will be now!
On Monday, our first batch of Salmon Sisters Seafood smoked salmon will be finished smoking and ready for testing! We'll give you the full report with details on the ladies who caught all of our wild salmon in Cook Inlet and Area M in our next blog post and you'll be able to purchase our smoked salmon on our website soon.
Although we're done with the salmon season, we're not quite done fishing for the year. Next we travel West, to the Bering Sea, to catch some halibut. We're happy to be returning to our homeland in the Aleutians for a few good, wild weeks.
Fishes and Kisses,
Emma and Claire
