First the Japanese conglomerate that owned the fish processing plant shuttered its doors in 1996 when the Tokyo real estate bubble burst. Then the plant was bought by Kake Tribal, a native village corporation, which ran the plant through the 1997 season. This year, Kake announced it would run at a drastically reduced schedule, employing fewer than half as many people as last year. Unlike so many other places on the Pacific coast, the troubles don't stem from a lack of fish. As a result, they say, it became economical for fishing boats to deliver at their leisure to fish plants that offer higher prices because they have better transportation than Pelican.
Residents work fewer hours and a shorter season.
Revenues to the town and school are down because of the loss of fish tax - a 3 percent levy collected for local governments where the fish are landed. Beyond the financial impact, the idling of the fish plant erodes the town's reason for being. Given the weak market for wild salmon and the troubled Asian economy, few expect Pelican ever to relive its glory days. The uncertainty has percolated down to the town's youth, says high school teacher Bob Henry. Nevertheless, many Pelicaners are determined that the town survive in some form.