Fishing Art: Salmon Pressings

Three members of the Idaho state fish hatchery staff have discovered a surprising level of interest in their pressed paintings of sockeye, chinook and steelhead (they’ve also done sturgeon and cutthroat trout). Their Web site, FourSockeye.com, includes a gallery of their efforts, which combine acrylics, watercolors and ink pen. “All the fish but the cutthroat have one thing in common: They are all listed as either endangered or threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Young and his compatriots intend to paint all listed Idaho fish, with only the bull trout remaining to be done. The fish are not killed solely for the art, and each fish becomes a set of 350 limited-edition prints that sell for between $70 and $100.” Nate Poppino on Idaho’s MagicValley.com.