Bristol Bay Gold, 1977

Yesterday's photo showed cans of salmon in the retorts. This shows a later stage of the process. After the cans came out of the retorts, they went to the cooling shed. After the cooking process, the lids would make a popping sound as they cooled. With several hundred cans cooling, this must have been very noisy! (Refer back to the photo on August 3, 2004 to see what the cooling racks at Pederson Point look like today.)

The popping of the lids isn't limited to the commercial processes. Home canning produces the same sound and there is such a feeling of well-being, knowing that we have the best salmon in the world put away for the winter. (See June 24, 2004's photo)

Presently there are only two canneries canning in Naknek. Most salmon from Bristol Bay go to market as flash frozen.

©Photo by Richard Hawkinson with a Pentax KX

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