Reefnets off Lummi Island, the Nooksack coming down off Mount Baker, and the bay we see from the front door.
Every day we are glad this is our front yard. Bellingham Bay opens out to the San Juans to the west, Mount Baker stands over everything to the east, and the water in between changes its mind about the weather every twenty minutes.
The reefnets of Lummi Island
Off the shore of Lummi Island you will see what look like small towers standing in the water. These are reefnet boats, and reefnet fishing is one of the oldest ways of catching salmon on this coast, developed by the peoples of the Salish Sea. A net hangs between two platforms. A crew member watches from the tower for salmon swimming over the net, and when they are spotted, the net is drawn. It is careful, selective and sustainable, and the fish it brings in are as good as salmon gets.
River to sea
The Nooksack River starts high in the Cascades, gathering meltwater and rain from around Mount Baker, Mount Shuksan and the Twin Sisters, then winds down through farmland to the delta in Bellingham Bay. From the air you can follow it all the way to the sea.
And on the islands, the madrona: peeling red bark, green underneath, leaning out over the water from every rocky point. If the San Juans have a tree, this is it.
Words and photographs by Vendovi.
