What does a couple who live on an island in the Gulf of Alaska do for a living, when they themselves aren’t commercial fisherman, but find themselves surrounded by fishing vessels and endless beaches? Well, the creative Alaskan in them says, “Let’s start an eco-friendly company using old reclaimed rope from local fishing vessels and things we can collect from many of the surrounding beaches.” Anything that can be re-used, like rope, wood, etc … pretty much anything that washes ashore can be their next masterpiece. I first saw their products at the Alaska State Fair, and was so impressed with their creative ideas that I thought I would share a little about this unique Alaskan company.

Owners, Robert and Anita, live in Dry Spruce Bay, on Kodiak Island, all year round. It’s mainly a fishing town located on the northwest side of the island, which as the crow flies is about 25 miles from the town of Kodiak. Their property is only accessible by seaplane or boat.

The Alaska Rug Company has been in business since 2010, and they make many housewares and decorative items. Robert and Anita have an amazing product line that they produce together. They each have specific items they prefer to make depending on the different knots required by each product. Robert makes all the rope letters, signage, coasters, curtain tiebacks, and bookends. Anita makes all the rugs, trivets, placemats, bracelets, bowls and baskets. They both make the key chains, earrings, stair treads, and doorstops. 

Robert and Anita both agree the hardest part of their work is getting all the reclaimed rope usable. It first must be cleaned and untangled. The rope found on the beaches can sometimes be full of kelp and it can take a long time for it to dry. If it is from an old cannery or a fisherman who no longer needs it, the rope normally has hooks and the ganglions still woven in every 10-20 feet, so it must be stripped, cleaned then dried. Sometimes they get lucky and they can just let mother nature take care of it. They lay shots of the line on the docks to be washed out, and then they dry them by the woodstove before it is used. You know it’s Alaskan when a woodstove is part of the drying process.

Most of the Alaska Rug Company’s work has been inspired by custom orders. That is how their signs and rope letters became part of their product line. They’ve made many signs for ports and homes within Alaska, as well as several business and boat name plaques. All are made by using salvaged and reclaimed materials from decommissioned canneries on the island and forgotten fishing gear.

Now that the company has been in business for a few years, many local fisherman will now call them before taking their old rope to the landfill to see if they can re-use it, (they say the fisherman give you a hard time if you call it rope but Robert and Anita always tell them “it is hard to call it a LINE RUG”). 

Alaska Rug Company is committed to re-purposing rope from all over Alaska and up-cycling it into beautiful hand woven products rather than letting it clog our landfills or end up all over our beaches. They re-purpose!

Alaskans are so unique in all they do. The thing I love the most about this company is the idea I can have a piece of amazing useful art/product that is made from recycled material from a fishing vessel straight from the Gulf of Alaska. How cool is that! 

Photos courtesy of Alaska Rug Company.