The Call of the Wild: Christopher Nicolson and the Story of Iliamna Fish Company by John B
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OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE PARK SLOPE FOOD COOP Established 1973 Volume LL, Number 8 April 27, 2017 Lady Plays the Blues By Pat Smith I met up with Mamie at her f you have seen Coop work bench, where she was tak- Imember and blues artist ing apart a vintage Gretsch elec- extraordinaire Mamie Minch tric to replace a cracked nut, the perform, you were no doubt bit that threads the strings onto knocked out by her power- the neck. “This is a Brooklyn ful presence, big voice and guitar,” Mamie said. “From Wil- amazing steel resonator gui- liamsburg; that’s where Gretsch tar. What you might not know used to make them.” She held is that Mamie doesn’t only up the cracked white piece. play the hell out of the gui- “And this little thing is made tar, she also lovingly brings of cattle bone from China. If it back to life at Brooklyn you source them back, you find Lutherie, an instrument out they came from the same repair shop in the Gowanus place—one woman’s shop.” district that she owns with It’s a bit of guitar lore Mamie business partner Chloe can appreciate. Swantner. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 PHOTO BY GRAHAME NICOLSON Christopher Nicolson, partner and fisherman at Iliamna Fish Company on Graveyard Point, in Bristol Bay, Alaska. The Call of the Wild: Christopher Nicolson and the Story of Iliamna Fish Company By John B. Thomas cultures both ancient and for, in Christopher’s estima- ew animals have lodged modern a metaphor for the tion, hundreds of years. Like Fthemselves in the popular eternal conflict between inde- the salmon he fishes, Chris- imagination as firmly as the pendence and safety, a life of topher has been making the determined salmon, tena- one’s choosing and the ines- journey to the shores of Lake ciously migrating upstream to capable pull of home. Iliamna—his family’s ances- its place of birth, surmount- Christopher Nicolson— tral fishing ground—every ing obstacles both natural professional fisherman and summer since he was a child. PHOTO BY ALBIE MITCHELL (waterfalls, bears) and man- winemaker, Alaskan and Despite a meandering col- Blues guitarist and luthier Mamie Minch. made (dams, fishermen), all Brooklynite, son, husband, lege education that stretched to pursue its innate biolog- and father—is one of the from four years to 10 in Oregon Next General Meeting on May 30 ical instincts to reproduce. many whose lives have traced and Montana, and a winding The General Meeting of the Park Slope Food Coop is held Its dual life, spending half its the mighty salmon’s inspiring path that led him to New York on the last Tuesday of each month. The May General Meet- time independently roaming journey. Born in Montana, City, Christopher’s connection ing will be on Tuesday, May 30, at 7:00 p.m. at St. Francis the open ocean, and then Christopher’s mother is a to Alaska’s salmon has never Xavier School, 763 President St., between Sixth and migrating hundreds or thou- native Alaskan whose family been stronger. As one of three Seventh Aves. sands of miles to the specific has been fishing the waters co-founders of the Iliamna Fish For more information about the GM and about Coop spot of its birth, has offered around Alaska’s Bristol Bay CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 governance, please see the center of this issue. Sat-Sun, • Food Drive to Benefit IN THIS ISSUE Apr 29-30 CHIPS Soup Kitchen 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Safe Food Committee Report............................4 Thu, May 4 • Food Class: Puzzle...............................................4 Coop Feeding the Self-Attacking Body 7:30 p.m. Exciting Workslot Opportunities.........................5 Welcome ............................................7 Event Fri, May 5 • Film Night: In Our Backyard 7:00 p.m. Coop Calendar, Governance Information, Mission Statement ....7 Tue, May 9 • Plow-to-Plate Film: Calendar of Events . 8 Highlights Soul Food Junkies 7:00 p.m. Letters to the Editor..................................10 Community Calendar .................................11 Look for additional information about these and other events in this issue. Classifieds ..........................................11 Thank You ..........................................12 Read the Gazette while you’re standing on line OR online at www.foodcoop.com 2 April 27, 2017 Park Slope Food Coop, Brooklyn, NY Call of the Wild na’s products have been on While the idea of living the shelves of the Park Slope CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 outside the range of cell ser- Food Coop since 2016. vice, drinking rainwater, and Company, Christopher and his While the story of Iliamna spending time with family in two cousins sell wild-caught Fish Company’s success can the wilderness may sound like sockeye salmon from their fam- seem, in retrospect, like a pre- a dream, this idyllic vision is ily’s fishing grounds directly to destined journey from humble bounded by the reality of an consumers in Alaska, Oregon beginnings to the rarefied cir- unforgiving environment with and now New York. cles of fine dining, that narrative tides that can go up and down In operation since 2002, belies a much deeper and more by 26 feet over the course of Iliamna Fish Company was nuanced story of the fraught four hours, by having to be one of the first fisherman-to- relationship between man and on-call 24/7 to be able to go consumer producers, setting nature whose manifestation out as soon as the Alaska up a community-supported Coop members only see in the Department of Fish and Game fishery model whereby con- form of a beautiful, fresh wild opens up the salmon fishery, sumers can purchase “shares” salmon on our plates. and by the danger and tedium PHOTO BY ALASKA SEAFOOD MARKETING INSTITUTE in an annual catch, which they of what it takes for men and A cut of sockeye salmon from Iliamna Fish Company. The receive each season. Christopher, his family and women to hunt and kill wild company supplies salmon for the Park Slope Food Coop. “My family got into the animals for a living. fishing business the old-fash- many other salmon fishermen And so it is perhaps unsur- And that is good news for lover,” says Christopher. For the ioned way: we had no choice,” live lives as dual as the fish prising that Christopher, his Iliamna, and for Coop members. world’s oceans, rivers and lakes Christopher has said. And in they pursue, balancing risk family and many other salmon Once again, the mighty salmon to continue providing delicious many ways, that is the story and reward, adventure and fishermen live lives as dual as has persevered, this time with wild seafood now and for future of Iliamna Fish Company. safety, romance and reality. the fish they pursue, balanc- the support of some determined generations, we all need to Though the family had caught ing risk and reward, adven- fishermen and fish lovers. become equal opportunity fish wild sockeye salmon for gen- ture and safety, romance and “I’m an equal opportunity fish lovers as well. n erations, in the mid 1990s “Some miserable June reality. For 10 months of the farmed salmon had saturated nights when the rain pounds year Christopher works as a the market, and so demand the tin roof of my tiny cabin in winemaker at Red Hook Win- PLASTIC PACKAGING COLLECTIONS for wild salmon was way Graveyard Point, Alaska, the ery. But come June and July down, with prices around 50 radio coughs a warning: ‘Seas you’ll find him, his wife—and 2nd Wednesday of every month 3:45-6 p.m. cents a pound for local can- to 10 feet, winds to 40 mph.’ for the first time this year, his neries (compared to $16-20 I pull on my foul weather 8- and 10-year-old children— 4th Saturday of every month 1:45-4 p.m. per pound currently). Rather jacket in the flickering light living the dual life of salmon than sell their beautiful hand- of a lantern and think back fishermen. Expanded Plastic Collection caught fish at a loss, Christo- to Brooklyn. I wonder how This heritage—that Chris- pher and his cousins decided quickly the Park Slope cock- topher received, that he will for Coop members to skirt the middlemen and tail party smiles would fade pass on to his children, and Please be prepared to show your Coop membership card. sell straight to consumers and the ‘Oh, I’m so jealous of that he shares with PSFC whom they thought would pay your connection to the water’ members every day—is by no Plastic bags/wrap/packaging from most products for the high-quality seafood conversation would falter if means guaranteed. Bristol sold at the Coop—food and non-food. they were catching. the whole group, iPhones and Bay and the Alaskan salmon Thin plastic film wrap—from notecards, tea boxes, This gamble could have all, were invited to trudge out industry have been at the fore- pre-packaged cheese, household items, pet food, juice packs, etc. resulted in the end of their on my skiff.” front of a raging debate about Plastic roll bags distributed by the Coop—please use roll fishing enterprise but instead, Christopher wrote these what responsible, sustainable bags only as necessary, reduce usage whenever possible, and after much hard work, it paid words, describing the dual- seafood production looks like re-use any bags you do take before recycling. off. “We started just by knock- ity of romantic simplicity in the face of ever-increas- ing on folks’ doors, and it and connection to nature ing demands from a hungry NO food residue, rinse as needed.