A seal added excitement to the salmon fishing on the Kenai River last week.

Having been skunked on our last few outings, my friend Dillon Kimple had finally hooked a silver. It jumped right next to the boat, a good-sized fish, maybe 12 pounds. I got the landing net ready.

Homer and Seward received notice earlier this year that they were in the top 10 of 300 towns nominated for “Ultimate Fishing Town USA” by the World Fishing Network (WFN). Nowhere in the announcement did it mention the war being fought over halibut, the fish that made Homer the “Halibut Fishing Capital of the World.” Nowhere did it mention that a possibility exists that the present two-fish-per-day limit for halibut might soon be cut in half, or that the maximum size might be limited to 37 inches, or less.

Since arriving in Alaska shortly after the 1964 earthquake, I’ve seen more than a few changes that have affected fishing, hunting and the outdoors in general.

In the 50 years between 1960 and 2010, Alaska’s population more than tripled, increasing from 226,000 to 710,000. When combined with an annual deluge of about 1.4 million out-of-state tourists, this population increase has caused crowded fishing and hunting areas, unsustainable pressures on many fish and game populations, and a dramatic increase in onerous restrictions on outdoor activities.

The way some people cook fish, it’s no wonder some people won’t eat fish.

How fish is thawed makes a difference in how it will taste. By the time the inside is thawed at room temperature, bacteria are building condos on the outside. Fish should be thawed in a refrigerator or in ice water. Fish in a sealed plastic bag will thaw more quickly in ice water than in a refrigerator.