The tide is low on a sunny Thursday morning at Kenai Beach. Seagulls feast on bits of fish waste left in the surf from the night before, when people clad in waders stood with large nets in hand, hoping to catch sockeye salmon.
Yesterday’s scene of excited dipnetters is replaced by the sound of a John Deere tractor. It’s equipped with a metal comb that’s pulled along the beach, raking up the remaining fish waste brought in by high tide. The sockeye heads, fins, guts and skeletons are tugged downshore, where they’ll be washed away by the next high tide.
“You have a low tide, you have a high tide, they come in and it cleans a lot of the fish waste off," said Tyler Best, parks and recreation director for the City of Kenai. “With the users doing a really good job bringing their fish down and throwing them back in the water, the tide does a really good job of just naturally washing it away.”
For Kenai's Parks and Recreation Department, post-dipnet cleanup is an annual tradition.
The city bought its special tractors using the money generated by fishery user fees. It’s used throughout the season, usually after busy weekends. Beach attendants and volunteer groups also assist in picking up trash from the fishery.
Kenai doesn’t just act retroactively, though. Best said his team takes preventative measures to reduce the amount of waste left on the beach to begin with. A few years ago, the city added new signs highlighting proper fish waste disposal.
“Every year, you’ll see photos from, like, 15 years ago where we didn’t have all this infrastructure in place, and you saw a really big footprint of fish waste and garbage left on the beach," Best said. "I think the city’s done a really good job of trying to keep this beach clean for the residents, and the users of the fishery.”
While one worker holds a garbage bag and scours the beach for used water bottles, wrappers and fishing line, Randy Dodge drives the length of the beach in the John Deere. Dodge is the city’s maintenance technician.
He occasionally steps out of the cab to inspect the rake attached to the back of the tractor. Adjacent to the rake is a long magnetic bar — the product of a past Caring for the Kenai project. It’s designed to pick up loose metal objects like bottle caps and tent stakes.
Dodge piles the fish waste along the shore and waits for the tide to roll in.
“I’ve been here for quite a few years, and the amount of fish waste has decreased," Dodge said. "I think it used to be really bad. Coming down here today, yes there’s definitely some fish waste, but it’s not as bad as it’s been in the past.”
Dodge says Kenai's beaches have bounced back quicker after dipnetting ends because of the city’s efforts to educate dipnetters on proper fish waste disposal. Even so, he says a large-scale cleanup is nice.
“It makes the beach a lot better for the people that live here year round," Dodge said. "Being down here on the beach on a nice, sunny day; you can’t beat that.”
Kenai’s personal use fishery closed at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday. Dipnetting on the Kasilof River is open 24 hours a day through August 7.
