Today marks the first Alaska Wild Salmon Day, a new holiday honoring the state’s most famed fish. Gov. Bill Walker established the holiday, to be celebrated annually on Aug. 10, in early May when he signed HB 128 into law.
“Nearly all Alaskans are impacted by salmon in some way — whether through subsistence, recreational, or commercial fishing, or just sheer appreciation for Alaska’s abundant wildlife,” Walker said in a press release about the bill.
The law, originally sponsored by Bryce Edgmon, D–Dillingham, is about more than celebrating Alaskans’ ties to salmon; it’s about celebrating the ways in which people all over the world are connected to salmon caught in the Last Frontier.
That’s where the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute and other Juneau businesses come in. ASMI is encouraging “salmon lovers worldwide” to take pictures of Alaska salmon and post them on social media sites along with the hashtag #AskForAlaska.
