Arctic char

Arctic char are a plentiful food source in Lake Hazen during the summer, and fishing for them becomes a recurring activity for Augustine and Iris. Their abundance makes the lake feel newly generous after the thaw; catching a fish is not a rare stroke of luck but a practical part of the pair’s life together, and the work of handling the catch gradually becomes Iris’s as well as Augustine’s.

Habitat and Encounter

As summer opens around Lake Hazen, the lake ice breaks apart and the water clears. Augustine finds fishing equipment in an unused sleeper hut, and he and Iris push an overturned dinghy into the water. He rows while Iris sits at the bow, trailing her hands through the lake; once they are far enough from shore, he casts a line with a small orange spinner. Augustine has fished before, but initially feels clumsy. The mechanics return as he works the reel, and Iris watches closely before taking the rod and reeling in turn.

A fish soon pulls hard against the line. Iris keeps hold of the rod as it bends toward the water, and Augustine lets her continue rather than taking over. The catch proves to be an Arctic char he estimates at five pounds, longer than one of Iris’s arms and about twice as thick. In their later outings, they row roughly halfway to the island and take turns casting; the lake is teeming with char, which readily strike the spinner. They typically catch one fish, or two when the fish are smaller, and return to shore with their catch.

The Work of Preparing the Fish

The first catch makes the food’s cost part of the lesson. With the char flopping in the dinghy, Augustine takes out his hunting knife, then pauses before killing it, remembering Iris’s tenderness toward the animal at the hangar. He warns her that she may not want to watch; she refuses to look away. After cutting the fish’s spine and removing the hook, he makes a short cut through each gill and holds it over the boat’s side as dark blood runs into the cold, clear water. Iris wrinkles her nose, and Augustine explains that they cannot eat a live fish. Her answer is defiant: she will handle the next one.

That promise becomes a change in their routine rather than a passing boast. On later trips, after catching one or sometimes two smaller char, they row back and gut the fish on shore. Iris becomes skilled not only at casting but also at severing the spine and removing the guts, refusing to leave the cleaning to Augustine. The char is therefore more than an abundant meal: the repeated work of catching and preparing it marks Iris’s growing competence and her willingness to take part in the practical, sometimes gruesome labor that keeps them fed.

Seasonal Abundance and Subsistence

The char fishery emerges from a sharply visible seasonal change. After the snow vanishes, Lake Hazen’s ice groans, breaks into shards, and is driven onto the muddy shore; as the water clears and the basin warms, the lake becomes accessible for fishing. Before setting out on their first trip, Augustine gathers candled ice from the shore and puts it in the bottom of a container for the catch. That small preparation links the remnants of winter to the fresh food summer makes available. The fish are not presented as an exceptional prize: the lake teems with them, and their readiness to strike the orange spinner makes repeated catches possible. In this setting, Arctic char signify the immediate, practical abundance of the thaw—not a distant supply, but food drawn from the lake and brought back to shore.

From Individual Catch to Seasonal Routine

The narrative first gives the Arctic char the force of an individual: its pull bends the rod, and Iris must keep reeling as it fights toward the dinghy. Later, the account shifts into a repeated pattern of fishing, cleaning, and returning to shore. That movement—from one hard-won catch to a dependable seasonal practice—changes the char’s place in the story without erasing its animal life. It is both part of the lake’s abundance and a living creature whose capture demands attention and work, making subsistence at Lake Hazen feel neither effortless nor abstract.