Fishers’ Day is a traditional holiday for Nikolskoye Village and all Kamchatka. This year due to weather conditions it was postponed from July 12 to July 26. The village likes to celebrate it all together on grand scale, without rain nor strong wind. In 2019 the festivities took place on local stadium with a picturesque view over Gavanskaya River and the Pacific Ocean.

The Commander Islands Nature and Biosphere Reserve helped local children to discover water animals of the rivers, lakes as well as marine mammals, whose life is closely connected with successful fishing.

By tradition Fishers’ Day is the best time to taste fish soup – Ukha –, pies and caviar sandwitches. Yoou can also take part in sport competitions, dances and song contests on the stage. The holiday is usually finished by fireworks at night.  

The Commander Islands Nature Reserve is a regular participant. This time we organized a quest The Fisherman and The Fish. 29 schoolchildren took part in the game and discovered how well they are prepared for a fishing trip, what they know about blue-backed salmon life cycle and learned best fishing spots of arctic foxes and minks.

The children chose one of the six teams, each one of which traveled through six spots. There they participated in different tasks and fishing quiz.

“As a matter of fact, the most difficult task was to name ten species of local fish. Children from marine fishermen’s families did not have problems with this question, though”, said Oksana Solovanyuk, Chief Specialist of Ecological Education Department.

All the participants of the quest received memorable souvenirs during rewarding on the stage. The winners had special hiking cups, which are very handy during fishing as well.

Fishery is one of traditional nature use types, which occupies an important place in live of the Aleuts and other villagers of Nikolskoye, the only inhabited place on the Commander Islands.