Stocking the Set Net Kitchen: A Supply List for a Season in Bristol Bay

We’re just around the corner from another salmon season in Bristol Bay, so I’ve invited Kallenberg family friend and commercial set netter Melanie Brown to give us a peek into a window of her life as she prepares her pantry shopping lists for summer.

As a set netter, Melanie’s fishing operation is based from the beach, where she works from fixed nets anchored close to shore, heading out onto the water on her skiff to harvest salmon according to the tides. In the in-between times, she’s able to return back to land to rest, repair gear, sleep — and perhaps most importantly, gather with her crew in the kitchen.

What I love about Melanie’s essay this week is that it’s a quotidian list of supplies, but it offers an intimate glimpse into the rhythms of fishing life. Reading through the piece almost feels transportive, like peering right into the window of her Bristol Bay summer bunkhouse. 

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Summer Kitchen Supply List

By Melanie Brown 

It’s coming! The Bristol Bay sockeye salmon season is coming! 

There are always things to consider when getting ready for the season — including making sure that gear and equipment are in good working order, and ensuring that necessary supplies have been ordered and sent to where they are needed for the season. 

But in my opinion, the most foundational supplies that need consideration are the food items for boat galleys or set net kitchens. Food is the fuel for working through heavy days of fishing, and a well-stocked kitchen of basic staples is key to putting together good tasting nourishment. This is especially true for enhancing the abundance of fresh salmon that my crew and I will enjoy as meals over the season.

Before the season starts, I spend time thinking ahead because there are favorite foods and special ingredients that simply cannot be sourced in the towns and villages of Bristol Bay. While it’s important to spend money in these communities — places where fisherpeople launch their boats for the season and store their boats for the winter — come summer, these small towns and villages are descended upon by the fishing fleet, and sometimes the shelves get bought out and are emptied of essential galley and kitchen items.

I feel fortunate, as a set netter, to go out and do my work on the water — and then be able to return to my kitchen on the land. I of course love sinking into my bed during the season, but to me the kitchen is the true heart of a household. It’s where I can cook meals for my crew when we come in to rest and recharge before going out on the water again. 

Starting with the basics (items that can be shipped without spoiling), here’s my list of shelf-stable items:

• Rice ramen noodles for gluten-free pasta or soup (to which a split salmon head adds a lot of richness to the flavor). Broken pieces of leftover salmon are a good thing to drop into either right before serving, since the fish is already cooked. Jap jae noodles are another gluten-free option that works well in any sauce or soup.
• Basmati rice is fast cooking and good with salmon. The leftovers are great for making stir fried rice, too.
• Rolled oats are good for baking into cookies. And for oatmeal of course.
• Boxed oat milk for the dairy-free.
• Dried beans are awesome for making hearty soups, and dried mushrooms (such as wood ear) easily rehydrate in soups and sauces.
• Dashi packets, anchovy tablets or bouillon paste are easy ways to quickly enrich the flavors of sauces.
• Kosher salt is a really nice table & cooking salt. It’s great for salting fish for curing and for eggs when making ikura/caviar.
• Gluten-free flour.
• Brown and white sugar, baking soda for cookies, baking powder for biscuits and cake, and semi-sweet chocolate chips — because it is important to make treats during the heavy slog times when you feel like you are becoming an undead human from lack of sleep.
• Coffee. How did this not come up sooner?
• Snack/energy bars for when you have no time to bake but you need calories.
• Dried herbs and spices such as dill, basil, oregano, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme.
• Onion powder for seasoning protein. And garlic powder too (it can be hard to get fresh onion and garlic).
• Dried chili spices for when you need some kick, and dried seaweed snacks and/or furikake.

Here are some non-food items that are important to send on the barge:

• Ziploc bags for leftovers. Also essential if you don’t have a vacuum sealer and want to freeze some salmon.
• Unscented garbage bags. Very important that they do not have perfume because this makes it possible to freeze a salmon whole if there is no time to cut it.
• Canning jars for if there is time to pressure can some salmon for the winter or make some jam with tundra blueberries or cloudberries. 

When the season gets closer and shipping happens after the threat of items freezing and bursting, here are some items that are good to have for making food, and to make salmon preservation methods possible and tasty:

• Wheat-free tamari for gluten-free seasoning, and for curing salmon eggs.
• Cooking-grade sake and mirin for curing salmon eggs.
• Dry vermouth and brandy for making gravlax.
• Olive oil for cooking everything, or dressing veggies and salads if fresh greens are found.
• Mayo and relish for salmon salad sandwiches.
• Toasted sesame oil is delicious.

I also fly out with frozen foods that enhance salmon meals, or for options other than salmon I look to:

• Center cut bacon to bake in strips. I save the grease for cooking and cut it into pots and pans of food for added flavor.
• Smoked ham hocks for bean soup. Smoked salmon works well too for bringing that smoke.
• Butter for baking and toast. Plus gluten-free bread if I can fit it in my luggage allowance.
• Corn tortillas for making salmon tacos with fresh or leftover salmon.
• A round of steaks for the crew to reward a big day, feel satisfied in the work, and change things up a bit.
• If I have any salmon left from last season I will bring that in my frozen food box to hold me over until I get some fresh fish from the 2026 season. The sockeye are going to start showing up in about a month!  

I look forward to the season and a well-stocked kitchen to fuel myself and my crew. If I forget anything hopefully I can find someone to grab anything I can’t get in Naknek for me. Sending out some summer salmon love to you.  

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I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into the season ahead as we anticipate another wild, abundant salmon season.

Live Wild,

Monica

Pictured above: A shared meal of freshly-harvested coho, foraged king boletes, and a pot of oatmeal on Melanie Brown’s kitchen table in Bristol Bay last summer.