Researcher (wrongly) links mercury and NW albacore United Fishermen of Alaska
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THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR FISHERMEN â– APRIL 2010
Monster waves heading your way
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Gillnetters improve salmon quality
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IN THIS ISSUE ®
Spit it out!
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR FISHERMEN INSIDE: Don McManman
Monster waves: Page 6
Salmon roundup: Page 8
Calling home: Page 18
Klamath agreement: Page 20 On the cover: Handtroller Tim Leach of the FV Pelican in Port Protection shows a couple of fish he caught in Alaska last summer. Johanna McArdle photo
If you’re doing something you shouldn’t, it’s easier to deceive than to stop. I’m not talking about Goldman Sachs or your local meth-head — rather, Seattle’s hometown grocery chain: QFC. Seems the QFC folks crawled into bed with fish farmers but felt the urge to improve the tawdry reputation of their sleeping partners. And what better way to deceive than to simply invent words? Here’s a brief description from a recent QFC ad: “Fresh whole steelhead, moist and flavorful. Aquacultured in the USA.” Aquacultured? I checked three dictionaries: Webster’s, Random House, and American Heritage. There was a lot on aquaculture, nothing on the offending verb. Nouns become verbs all the time in American English. An example is “googled.” The company’s service became so pervasive that the verb arose organically. But there’s another route for nouns to enter the glamorous world of verbs: the oozing imaginations of marketers, some of whom have the ethics of tapeworms. One example: The guns-for-hire firm Blackwater grew so weary of those pesky allegations of cold-blooded murder, it changed its name to Xe Services. I haven’t heard if the new, unpronounceable name has altered the body count. To discover QFC’s reasoning, I started with the Cincinnati home office of the chain’s owner, Kroger. No one returned my call. Next came QFC customer-service representative Olivia. She said I had to call someone in the stores. That would be Ray in a QFC Ballard store. He told me to call Lance, the QFC seafood director. This is what Lance said: “I can’t comment on that.” He told me to call Kristin in QFC’s marketing department. Kristin, who was suitably perky for her position, said I needed to call Lance. I told her I had. She promised to contact Lance and get back to me. Maybe it was my personality, which on good days teeters on the edge of irascibility, but Kristin didn’t call. Hell, if my employer eagerly bought in to the pestilence of modern fish farming, I wouldn’t want to talk about it either — especially if the company tried to hide behind wistful manipulation of the language. Having run out of humans willing to talk, we returned to the QFC Web site and discovered a search box. In desperation, we typed in “a-q-u-a-c-u-l-tu-r-e-d.” The response: “An unexpected error has occurred.” Which is the most truthful thing QFC had to say on the entire subject.
VOLUME XXXI, NO. 4 • APRIL 2010 Pacific Fishing (ISSN 0195-6515) is published 12 times a year (monthly) by Pacific Fishing Magazine. Editorial, Circulation, and Advertising offices at 1000 Andover Park East, Seattle, WA 98188, U.S.A. Telephone (206) 324-5644. ■ Subscriptions: One-year rate for U.S., $18.75, two-year $30.75, three-year $39.75; Canadian subscriptions paid in U.S. funds add $10 per year. Canadian subscriptions paid in Canadian funds add $10 per year. Other foreign surface is $36 per year; foreign airmail is $84 per year. ■ The publisher of Pacific Fishing makes no warranty, express or implied, nor assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the information contained in Pacific Fishing. ■ Periodicals postage paid at Seattle, Washington. Postmaster: Send address changes to Pacific Fishing, 1000 Andover Park East, Seattle, WA 98188. Copyright © 2010 by Pacific Fishing Magazine. Contents may not be reproduced without permission. POST OFFICE: Please send address changes to Pacific Fishing, 1000 Andover Park East, Seattle, WA 98188
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Seafood processing industry fragmented PREFERRED PUBLICATION OF:
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The U.S. seafood processing and distribution industry consists of about 650 processors with annual revenue of about $9 billion and about 2,500 distributors with annual revenue of about $12 billion. Many companies are involved in both industry segments. Major companies include Bumble Bee Foods, Red Chamber, Trident Seafoods, and the U.S. division of Japan’s Maruha Nichiro Holdings. The industry is fragmented: The 50 largest processors account for about 45 percent of segment revenue, and the 50 largest distributors account for about one-third of segment revenue. Demand is driven by trends in fish consumption. Profitability of individual companies depends on operational efficiencies. Large companies often enjoy advantages of vertical integration and have economies of scale in purchasing and marketing. Small companies can compete effectively by specializing
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in niche markets. The industry is capital-intensive: Average annual revenue per employee is $225,000 for a typical processing facility and $500,000 for a typical seafood wholesaler. – Research and Markets
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Market indicators that may affect y More pain in Chile: Chilean salmon harvests totaled 354,200 metric tons as of November 2009, representing a downfall of 35.2 percent compared with the same period of 2008, according to figures submitted by the Chilean Fisheries Under-Secretariat (Subpesca). A comparison of results itemized by species shows a 50.6 percent decrease in Atlantic salmon harvests to 168,927 tons; a 23.8 percent drop in rainbow trout harvests to 103,110 tons; and an 18.6 percent increase in coho salmon harvests to 82,165 tons. – FishfarmingXpert
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Consumers still cautious: The economy is turning around, based on what one hears from economists and the White House. But are most Americans behaving as if they believe things are getting better? When it comes to small things people can do each day to save money, consumers are still acting cautiously. For example, almost two-thirds of U.S. adults (63 percent) say they have purchased more generic brands in the past six months to save money, while an additional 12 percent say they have considered doing so, according to a Harris poll. – Restaurant News Resource 4 PACIFICFISHING
APRIL 2010
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Chile in 2010: “Sowings this year are 10 to 15 percent lower than what they should be, which will severely reduce production. If this issue is not immediately addressed, the industry will face hard times over the next two years, with unemployment being a major concern.” – Jose Luis del Rio, president of Friosur, a Chilean fish farming company Restaurant numbers about same: In a year when the restaurant industry experienced its steepest traffic declines in three decades, the total restaurant unit count was relatively flat, dipping slightly by -0.3 percent or less. – FoodService.com Hotel industry sees improvement: The U.S. hotel industry welcomed the dawn of 2010. Performance measures in the first half of 2009 were particularly troublesome for many companies, and only in the closing months of the year were there glimmers of hope. By December 2009, a number of major markets started to experience increases in occupancy and revenue per available room. – Deloitte, a national accounting firm
International market for Alaskan sockeye changing This explanation of the sockeye market comes from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. Market background: The export and sales patterns of 2004-07 are the most relevant for illustrating recent market changes for Alaska frozen sockeye. Harvest volume was strong in all four years (42 million to 47 million sockeye per year) and production of frozen H&G sockeye was stable, ranging from 82 million to 96 million pounds. Market conditions throughout the period reflect the modern era, with a longestablished and plentiful supply of farmed salmon and generally positive regard for wild salmon. Traditionally, the bulk of Alaska frozen sockeye production was exported directly to Japan, immediately after the season. This pattern remained in place through 2004 and
t your price Upscale seafood chain growing: McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants Inc. has ope p ned its first new restaurant in a year. The Portland-based chain of upscale seafood restaurants opened a new location in West Palm Beach, Fla., the 94th restaurant for the company and its fourth location in Florida. – McC McCor ormi mick ck & Sch Schmi mick ck’ss pre press ss rrel elea ease se Look to markets in China: Using figures from an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report, IGD extrapolates that China could grow three times as fast as the United States over the next four years and urges food and beverage manufacturers to consider investing in China and the other BRIC countries: Brazil, Russia, and India. – IGD, a food industry consultancy
The crew of F/V United fish for sockeye in the Nushagak District of Bristol Bay in 2009. Erik Velsko photo 2005, when well over two-thirds of Alaska’s frozen sockeye production was exported directly to Japan by the end of September. This changed in 2006 when frozen sockeye exports to Japan fell sharply to just 34 percent of production and declined further in 2007, to 28 percent of production. The initial conclusion from these export figures is that sockeye consumption in Japan fell dramatically. But the decline was probably far less dramatic than the export figures suggest. Consistent with global food industry trends, some labor-intensive seafood processing migrated from Japan to cheaper labor markets. Through September 2007, U.S. exports of sockeye to Japan totaled 25 million pounds, but sockeye exports to China were a close second at 21.5 million pounds. It is reasonable to assume that a significant volume of Alaska sockeye enters Japan via secondary processing in China. Current situation — 2008 and 2009: U.S. frozen sockeye exports to Japan rebounded in 2008. Despite an 18 percent harvest decline for Alaska sockeye, Japan received 36 million pounds of U.S. frozen sockeye exports in 2008, up from 28 million pounds in 2007. Estimated frozen H&G sockeye production from the 2009 season is 85 million pounds. Through September, 37 million pounds had been exported to Japan. Pace of sales: The Alaska Salmon Price Report tallies sales when product passes outside the processor’s affiliate network. This distinguishes actual sales from exports
to bonded cold storage overseas and enables a rough estimate of the pace of frozen sockeye sales. In 2004, when the traditional sales pattern still revolved around selling most of the frozen sockeye pack to Japan immediately after the season, frozen H&G sockeye sales through August amounted to 66 percent of the year’s production. As that traditional pattern changed, the pace of sales slowed, apparent in the declining percentage of frozen H&G production sold by the end of August: 53 percent in 2005 to 45 percent in 2006 to 36 percent in 2007. The pace of sales began to rebound in 2008, when 45 percent of the H&G frozen pack was sold during May-August. The pace of frozen sales continues to improve for the 2009 sales season. The H&G frozen pack is estimated at 85 million pounds and through August, 54 percent of the pack (46 million pounds) has already been sold. This represents a five-year high pace of sales. U.S. sockeye exports to Japan in the remaining months of calendar year 2009 will be of particular interest. The strong pace of sockeye sales through August, coupled with the 10-year-high average wholesale price, strongly suggest the sockeye market is firming. U.S. sockeye exports to Japan during October-December are typically very modest, but with continued production problems in Chile, the market supply of farmed coho remains low. There is potential that Japanese buyers may need to purchase additional sockeye.
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APRIL 2010
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YOUR BUSINESS
Staying alive
Monsters
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APRIL 2010
Waves have grown and will continue
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You’re going to face bigger waves in the future, and some of them could be monsters, if predictions by three scientists are correct. The scientists focused on the Northwest/British Columbia coast, but the phenomenon has been seen in diverse regions of the Atlantic and the Pacific. In a nutshell: “The average wave goes up a centimeter and a half per year. If you just look at winter waves, they’re getting bigger by 2.5 centimeters a year. The largest waves, they’re going up 10 centimeters a year. “That’s roughly 30 feet in 30 years,� said Peter Ruggiero, assistant professor in Oregon State University’s Department of Geosciences. And there’s every indication the trend will continue. Ruggiero is talking increases, not the total height of waves. Figure what you saw last season. Now, add 40 inches for the winter of 2019-2020. But even those figures are deceptive. They’re averages. There will be some really, really big waves added to the mix. “There are waves much larger than average. They could be one and a half or two times bigger,� Ruggiero said. You’ll be looking at mountains. Rogue waves: But that doesn’t include rogues, abnormally huge waves formed in a fashion not completely understood by scientists. “Rogue waves are more complicated. It’s a random process. Two waves may merge, but instead of canceling each other out, they are added together,� Ruggiero said. If your wave brood stock is larger, the occasional rogue will be even bigger than one of a few years ago. Ruggiero was joined by Paul D. Komar, an oceanographer at OSU, and Jonathan Allan of the Oregon Department of Geology, in the wave analysis. Their report was published a few weeks ago in a journal called Coastal Engineering. Deep-sea buoys: The scientists focused on Buoy 46005, a much-battered scientific instrument anchored 250 miles off the mouth of the Columbia. They also snatched some information from Buoy 46002, anchored 280 miles off Coos Bay.
The buoys measure wave height in much the same way submarines navigate: Inertial sensors measure changes in motion and acceleration — kind of like feeling sea conditions by standing on deck. The authors looked at weather buoy data from 1976, when the buoy was deployed, through 2007. There were periods when 46005 was out of commission, but information before and after the outage showed the same trend: Ever-increasing wave heights. Why? The scientists say the number and intensity of “extratropical” storms are increasing. Such storms are spawned in the middle latitudes, unlike tropical hurricanes or polar blasts. Climate change: The scientists speculate that increasing storminess is caused by global climate change. And it’s not just in the North Pacific. “There are good stretches of the Atlantic and the Pacific experiencing this. Colleagues have seen it off Alaska, but the buoys haven’t been there as long,” Ruggiero said. Off the Northwest Coast, the story began in 1976, only because that’s when Buoy 46005 was planted. But the scientists were able to extend their storm graph backward — “hindcasting,” as opposed to forecasting — and it matched land-based reports dating back to the late 1940s. Worse for crabbers: The buoys measure deep ocean conditions beyond the continental shelf. How waves mature as they approach the coast varies with currents, wind, and ocean-bottom characteristics. However, generally speaking, waves grow larger as they near the beach and drag on the ocean bottom. “In many conditions, waves start to get much bigger in water about 20 meters [65 feet] deep. That’s where the violence occurs,” Ruggiero said. “The toughest environment you can be in, that’s where the crabbers are,” he said. El Nino: The study covered three decades, which included at least one major El Nino event. But by the nature of such phenomena, any El Nino will make big waves get even bigger, Ruggiero said. The scientists also note that most of the study period covered what they call the “decadal shift,” a grand change in ocean temperature conditions that some experts credit for a major increase in productivity in Alaskan waters. The major regime shift began in the ’70s, when Buoy 46005 was deployed. Some experts say that shift ended in the 1990s. Since then, waves have grown even larger. On shore: Not only will bigger waves affect
you on the water, they could overwhelm the aids you need getting to and from work. Jetties will be hammered even harder. Navigation buoys will disappear or be pounded into impotence. Sandbars will be scrambled more often than in the past. Ruggiero said he’s been in contact with the Army Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for jetties and dredging. The bottom line: Average waves are getting bigger. That means un-average waves are getting a lot bigger. Maybe you’ll be on the water to greet one. Maybe you won’t. But in your line of business, it takes only one.
Tough on bar pilots For men who challenge violent bar conditions every day, bigger waves are not just a scholastic oddity. “We’ve definitely seen an increase in wave height and storms in the past five years for sure, and maybe for the past 10,” said Michael Tierney, a Columbia Bar pilot. “We have to be a little more careful whenever we go out.” Ideally, pilots take a helicopter to reach incoming ships off the bar, but there are times when they must take a boat: When a vessel’s deck configuration leaves little room for a pilot to be winched down or for the helicopter to land. Then, pilots will use a boat — at least until the Coast Guard closes the bar to shipping. Overall, pilots use a helicopter about 75 percent of the time and a boat for the rest.
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APRIL 2010
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YOUR BUSINESS
Salmon
Salmon 2010: With few exceptions, N. Pacific forecasts are down Don’t expect fireworks The North Pacific salmon outlook for 2010 isn’t rosy. Alaska expects a solid, but not astonishingly fruitful, return. Farther south, less-than-rosy represents an improvement. Managers announced a better return of Sacramento River stocks, perhaps sufficient to open a small season for trollers. The Klamath run looks OK as well. The story is the same in British Columbia, where there are some signs that Fraser fish may arrive again.
Alaska— Wesley Loy Alenna Nilsen takes a break aboard Jeremy Jensen’s F/V Harvester in Southeast in 2009. Stuart Meeks photo
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Get ready for a slow salmon season — slow by Alaska’s standards, anyhow. State biologists predict commercial fishermen will catch almost 138 million salmon this year, down 15 percent from the 162.5 million delivered in 2009. Last year’s harvest was the 12th largest since statehood in 1959. Why the decrease this year? Blame it on the pinks. Biologists forecast pink salmon production will sag nearly 29 percent to 69 million fish. Pinks are the most populous of the five commercially harvested salmon species and the least valuable per pound. On a brighter note, the state’s main money fish, sockeye salmon, is expected to tally nearly 46 million fish, about 2.4 million more than last year. The outlook for the biggest of salmon, the Chinook, also is positive, with a projected harvest increase of 43 percent to 515,000 fish. Chum and coho salmon — the coho generally is the last to return from the sea each year — are expected to produce 18 million and 4.4 million fish, respectively, roughly matching last year’s totals. OK, there’s the big picture for Alaska, which accounts for most of the nation’s domestic salmon landings. Now let’s look at specific fishing zones around the state. Southeast Alaska: Pink salmon runs tend to be big in odd years and small in even years. That pattern will continue in 2010, biologists say. Look for a catch of 19 million pinks, less than half the recent 10-year average of 40 million. Chum salmon is Southeast’s other major harvest, and production of this fish — valued especially for its roe — is expected to hit 9.4 million, just shy of last season’s catch. Most chum are spawned in hatcheries. Prince William Sound: The famed Copper River District is expected to produce almost 1.3 million sockeye and 17,000 Chinook. These aren’t sexy numbers, but certainly nicer than what gillnetters landed last season: 896,469 sockeye and a dismal 9,456 Chinook.
Pink production was a nasty surprise for the sound in 2009 as big expected returns simply failed to show at the Solomon Gulch Hatchery in Valdez and elsewhere. Look for a catch this summer of 30 million fish, compared to last year’s 18.6 million. Upper Cook Inlet: It’s mainly about sockeye here. Biologists predict a total harvest for all user groups including commercial, sport, and dipnet fishermen of 2.3 million fish, with commercial gillnetters taking the bulk. That’s a bummer forecast, way below the 20-year average harvest of 4 million fish. Last year’s tally for all user groups was 2.6 million, with commercial fishermen taking just over 2 million. The key Kenai River run has really disappointed of late. Kodiak: Expect a pink salmon harvest of 11.4 million, half of them hatchery fish. Last year saw a better than expected 27.6 million pinks. Biologists predict a catch of almost 2.5 million sockeye, compared to last year’s 1.7 million. Chignik: Seiners can expect to bag 1.3 million sockeye, edging last year’s 1.2 million.
Alaska Peninsula: The forecast calls for a sockeye catch of 2.1 million fish on the South Peninsula and 2.6 million on the North Peninsula, a significant improvement for both areas. Bristol Bay: The world’s richest sockeye fishery is expected to yield another jackpot this summer: 30.5 million fish, almost equaling last year’s catch. If the forecast proves accurate, fishermen would collect $126 million at last season’s average base price of 70 cents a pound. Of the bay’s five major fishing districts, Egegik looks to be the hotspot with a projected catch of 9.2 million fish. The Naknek-Kvichak and Nushagak districts follow very closely behind. Yukon River: For the second consecutive year, the Chinook return was too sorry in 2009 to allow a directed commercial fishery, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in January declared a fishery disaster. The big river once produced more than 100,000 buttery good Chinook annually. The picture isn’t expected to brighten much this year, with biologists forecasting a commercial harvest of zero to 5,000 fish.
Jerry Vantrease and Luther Stenberg smile over a net where salmon hang like grapes in 2007. Kristin Vantrease photo continued on next page
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APRIL 2010
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YOUR BUSINESS
Salmon continued from page 9
British Columbia — Michel Drouin Fraser River: After the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye run in 2009, nobody in B.C. is rushing to predict a good year in 2010. In 2009, estimates had 10.5 million Fraser River sockeye returning. In the end, only 1.3 million showed up. In November, the federal government announced a judicial inquiry, with powers of subpoena, into the collapse. By mid-February, there had been no signs of the inquiry starting, though it is scheduled to submit its findings in May 2011. What’s going to happen in 2010? It’s anyone’s guess after last year’s fiasco, but ocean conditions are believed to have been more favorable to out-migrating smolts in 2007 than they were for last year’s Fraser River sockeye, which went to sea in 2006. In 2006, the upriver escapement of the parent generation of this year’s run was 4.6 million fish. The Pacific Scientific Advice Review Committee (PSARC) was planning to meet March 20 to conduct a peer review of the Fraser River sockeye abundance forecasts. Until then, fisheries officials are tight-lipped about any predictions, but still some preliminary information leaking out has fishermen’s hopes up. The stock status of Cultus Lake sockeye, a species at risk in Canada and one that can determine if a Fraser River opening goes ahead or not, is positive for 2010 at 18,000 fish. The number of out-migrating smolts for the Chilko stock was 71 million for this year’s run, so that looks good too. With that kind of
Wade Moore of the driftnetter F/V Littleton is shown in Prince William Sound in 2009. Britt Pedicord photo smolt count and an average survival, the return of Chilko sockeye could be 1.9 to 2.2 million adults. It also is a dominant year for the Adams River run of sockeye. North Coast: In Prince Rupert, Bryan Rusch, acting salmon/herring management biologist, says the North Coast is likely to produce limited fishing opportunities. “We do anticipate a fishery in Area 3 (Nass River and approaches), opportunities for both seine and gillnet,” Rusch said. But he doesn’t expect harvests to be large. “The forecast for Area 4 (Skeena) is not good. If the returns follow the current forecast, there will be no opportunity for sockeye on the Skeena in 2010.” Pink salmon returns are not expected to be large this year, either, Rusch said, as 2010 will be on the off year of their two-year cycle. There was no forecast available for North Coast troll. “We do not have any reliable indicator for coho salmon, although last year’s returns were better than recent years due to higher marine survival,” he said. “We don’t expect much of a season here in the north. However, all forecasts in recent years come with large uncertainties, so hopefully things will be better than what we are currently expecting.” 10 PACIFICFISHING
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West Coast — Cassandra Marie Profita California and Oregon: Forecasts say the constraint on the season for Washington California’s pivotal Sacramento River boats will come from the protected Lower Chinook run will be bigger this fall — Columbia wild tule Chinook. Even though possibly big enough to open commercial the trollers didn’t harvest all their fish last seasons south of Oregon’s Cape Falcon after year because the fish weren’t biting, he said, two years of closures. the prices for Washingon boats were good, The Pacific Fishery Management Council which is encouraging for this year’s season. forecast 245,500 salmon would return to the “The bright spot was that the price was Sacramento River basin this fall. the highest on the entire coast all the way up There was reason to question the predic- to Alaska,” he said. “People definitely want tion, though, after last year’s actual return our fish.” fell far short of expectations. Managers Olson said the season will depend on forecast a run of 122,000 Chinook for the how much access managers can allow while Sacramento River in 2009, but a record low protecting fragile runs of Lower Columbia of 39,500 Chinook actually showed up. wild tule Chinook. Sacramento failure: Protecting the However, the jack count was up slightly Sacramento River salmon runs will require from 2008, hinting at an upward trend. Meanwhile, a stronger run of 331,000 more than cuts in fishing seasons, Peake Chinook predicted to return to the Klamath River on the Oregon/California border also strengthened the outlook for fishing south of Cape Falcon. Still, a small season was about all salmon trollers in central and southern Oregon and northern California were hoping for going into the decision-making process this year. Farther north, forecasts called for 60 percent fewer Columbia River coho than last year, but expectations for Kelsie Melling took this photo of sorted fish unloaded from the thick runs of Spring Creek and F/V Infinity in Ketchikan in 2009. Columbia River tule Chinook were encouraging for the fishery in northern Oregon and Washington said, and a ruling by a federal judge in February to lift protections and allow more state. “We’re focusing on north of Falcon,” water diversions in the San Joaquin Delta for said Darus Peake, chairman of the Oregon agriculture was a step in the wrong direction Salmon Commission. “The runs coming for salmon recovery advocates. After four years of fishery restrictions into the Columbia are still healthy enough and closures, Peake said, it’s clear overfishto keep us going.” Forecasts call for 556,000 coho to arrive ing isn’t the problem for Sacramento River off the Washington coast, less than half the salmon. He believes salmon-fishing businesses are entitled to more federal disaster money banner return of 1.3 million last year. Peake said his goal this year is to make than they’ve received so far, but it’s looking sure the salmon openers are flexible enough like they will face an uphill battle to get it. “Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, we’re to allow all the available fish to be caught. Last year, the season closed in the fall with entitled to be compensated for manmade disasters,” he said. “So far we’ve got half 12,000 coho left on the quota. “There’s no Chinook impact that time of of what we should’ve gotten last year, and year. There’s no reason not to extend the we’re having a hard time pinning anybody season,” he said. “Even though they’re pre- down to help salmon-related industry and dicting a lower run than last year on coho, businesses for this year.” The final decision by the Pacific we want to make sure what is available to recreational and commercial fishermen will Fishery Management Council to select a single option for West Coast salmon be allocated.” Washington: Jim Olson, vice president of seasons is scheduled for April 14 at the April the Washington Trollers Association, said 9-15 council meeting in Portland. WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM
APRIL 2010
PACIFICFISHING 11
YOUR BUSINESS
Health scares
Research study claims Northwest tuna high in mercury Report ignores other scientific work Selling Northwest albacore got a lot tougher, thanks to an academic paper indicating your fish could poison people. It doesn’t, of course. Mercury concentrations in Northwest-caught albacore are low. The study, conducted by Shawn L. Gerstenberger of the University of Nevada Las Vegas, indicates that white meat tuna (albacore) in the samples had three times the mercury concentration of chunk light tuna (often skipjack). “White tuna makes up 29 percent of the market share of canned tuna. Therefore, consumers should be made aware of the higher [mercury] concentrations,” Gerstenberger wrote in Environmental Chemistry. Further, Gerstenberger found that canned white meat product exceeded caution levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency more than half the time and exceeded Food and Drug Administration thresholds up to 14 percent of the time. But, again, your albacore doesn’t. Warning levels: The EPA standard is 0.5 part per million of mercury. The FDA standard is 1 part per million of mercury. EPA established its threshold for recreationally caught fish. The FDA’s standard is for commercial sales.
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If standards are exceeded, both agencies suggest lower consumption, especially for women of childbearing age and infants. “The findings of the present study were consistent with data found in the [scientific] literature, where white tuna contained the highest [mercury] concentrations,” wrote Gerstenberger, who teaches in UNLV’s School of Community Health Sciences. Well, not in all scientific literature. A different study of albacore caught off the Northwest Coast showed mercury levels far below governmental standards in the United States and Canada. Northwest albacore safe: The study, led by Tomoko Okada of Oregon State University, reported an average of only 0.14 parts per million of mercury from Northwest albacore — one-seventh of the EPA threshold. The study was published in the Journal of Aquatic Food Product Technology in 2005. The single highest concentration found by Okada was 0.26 parts per million, still far below both EPA and FDA standards. Albacore harvested off the Pacific Northwest are relatively young in their lifecycle. They have not had time to build up high levels of mercury. The Okada study examined 91 fish taken during 15 different commercial fishing trips from June to October, 2003. An independent lab tested muscle meat samples. Gerstenberger’s study used canned tuna from three national labels available in Las Vegas grocery stores. The samples included solid white, chunk white, and chunk light. But, in an interview with Pacific Fishing, Gerstenberger noted a weakness in his study. He had no idea where his samples had been harvested.
Tuna companies mum: “They wouldn’t even tell me which ocean they were from,” Gerstenberger said of the tuna companies. He also couldn’t discover when the tuna had been caught. Again, Big Tuna wasn’t helpful. The study encompassed only November 2005 to February 2006 — not enough time to give an exhaustive view of the brands he tested, Gerstenberger said. Because the study lacked information — where and when the product was caught — and included only four months of data, Gerstenberger declined to name the three brands his study focused on. Gerstenberger looked at brands many consumers would find on grocery shelves, he said. A commodity: Once harvested and frozen, tuna destined for cans becomes a commodity. It can be caught in one corner of the world, packed in another, and sold in still another. U.S. packers that once caught tuna and canned it in San Diego or Astoria, for example, have moved offshore to countries with fewer regulations. Northwest tuna sold to big packers enters a global blender. Consequences: Gerstenberger’s report dwelled on dire consequences of ingesting too much mercury. In an interview, when asked if there were any documented cases of mercury poisoning in North America, Gerstenberger sidestepped the matter: “Maybe a few individual cases of people who ate huge amounts of fish, who excessively consumed.” The classic example of mercury poisoning comes from Minamata, a town in Japan. After a chemical corporation dumped a flood of toxic effluent into Minamata Bay from 1932 to 1968, poisoning seafood for many of the townsfolk, the effects of mercury poisoning became known as Minamata Disease. Gerstenberger didn’t invoke the Minamata example. However, he did point to two areas where, he said, mercury poisoning occurred in recent years: the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean and the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic. In the Seychelles, a nine-year study by University of Rochester scientists found that eating a diet heavy in fish “carries no detectable health risk from low levels of the substance, even for very young children and pregnant women,” according to information from the university. “People eat nearly a dozen fish meals each week and whose mercury levels are about 10 times higher than most U.S. citizens. Indeed, no harmful effects were seen in children at
levels up to 20 times the average U.S. level,” the university said. The study was published in the Aug. 26, 1998, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Faroe Islanders do show signs of mercury poisoning. Like the Seychelles islanders, they too eat a lot of seafood, but with one significant difference: On the Faroes, people eat whale, not fish. The difference: Fish holds a large amount of selenium. Whales do not. Some researchers — most notably Nicholas Ralston, an environmental scientist
at the University of North Dakota — believe that, in a human body, selenium bonds with mercury to make it benign. Other researchers disagree. In 2008, actor Jeremy Piven wiggled out of a contract by claiming he had mercury poisoning brought on by too much sushi. In doing so, he became a saint (“Piven does the FDA’s public education”) or a self-absorbed flake (“Piven will repeat his mercurypoisoning story until you think it’s true”). As for Gerstenberger in Las Vegas: His current study is now looking into selenium in the human diet.
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PACIFICFISHING 13
YOUR BUSINESS
Quality
Improving your product SalmonSlide will increase quality, says fisherman
Bristol Bay fisherman Dave Hansen is shown relaxing on his invention. Martin Waidelich photo
The idea had been bouncing around in Dave Hansen’s head for six years, but it was only on the eve of the big roll-out that he came up with the right name. Meet the SalmonSlide, suitably christened only a few weeks ago. Thank goodness it’s not the Salmon Trampoline (one of Hansen’s ideas) or the Flopper (an even worse idea). You can thank fisherman George Dauber for changing Hansen’s mind. For years, Hansen had been pondering the eternal driftnet equation: How do you improve quality while maintaining, or increasing, production. With the SalmonSlide, Hansen thinks he’s found the answer. And he’s not alone. Trident put up some early development money. LFS Inc. — plus Peter Pan, Ocean Beauty, and Trident — will have them in stock on Bristol Bay this year. The idea is relatively simple: Create an elevated surface — a table — that keeps fish
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off the deck. A recent study on Bristol Bay indicated that, of fish dropped on the deck, only 44 percent were delivered in Grade A condition. If the fish was carried to the hold, 71 percent were judged to be Grade A. But a working driftnetter couldn’t have permanent furniture to keep fish off the deck. Any “table” had to be easily removed and stowed. It took Hansen six years of experimenting to come up with a working solution. Sport fishing guide: Hansen took an odd route to commercial fishing. He was raised on Lake Superior, a block from a fish hatchery where his dad, Martin Hansen, worked as a fish biologist involved in lamprey eel control and the subsequent restocking of the Great Lakes with lake trout, coho, and king salmon from the Pacific Northwest. “My brothers and I can all remember catching some of the first returning coho adults, which only grew to three or four pounds in the cold waters of Lake Superior.” In 1974, young Hansen got a job in Alaska as a sports fishing guide on Lake Iliamna. Being relatively close to Bristol Bay, he got to know some commercial fishermen. He crewed in 1979, liked it, and bought his own boat for the 1980 season. As the years went by, it wasn’t difficult to spot some egregious handling by fishermen and processors. He also bought a reef net off Lummi Island, near Bellingham. The nature of reefnet fishing naturally adapts itself to quality handling of the product. Trampoline: Virtually everyone who’s ever been on a Bristol Bay driftnetter knows fish are slammed around on deck. “It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to realize hitting the deck isn’t good for the fish,” Hansen said. So, he installed a canvass slide, having earlier tried and ruled out soft mats as an answer. “It worked well for quality. Not for anything else. “The trampoline was loose. Fish would slide down it and then get lost under the thing. It caused a greater workload.” Hansen used it for a year and ended the experiment. A couple of years later, he tried an improved model. “It still got in the way.” continued on page 16
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Here’s how it works The net comes through the fairlead and over the roller. The crew shakes out the fish, which drop onto the rubberized slide (left). Fish slide down into a collector box near the reel (middle), where they can be directed to port or starboard holds. PVC tubing (right) carries fish directly to holds. Martin Waidelich photos
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APRIL 2010
PACIFICFISHING 15
YOUR BUSINESS
Quality continued from page 14
In the winter of 2008-09, he had his boat — the F/V Eskimo Viking — shipped home for maintenance. He figured the time was right to work more on the slide. That’s when the Trident money came in handy. Hansen worked closely with Travis Howard of Howard Fabrications of Bellingham. Together, they figured out a working prototype for the 2009 season. A tight rubber slide extended from the rollers to a collection box just aft of the reel. Crewmen shook the fish loose to drop onto the rubber slide and ride down to the box, where they would be taken to a fish hold. Easy to carry: The entire system could be put up or taken down in a couple of seconds, and it stowed well out of the way. One man could carry all the major components. The 2009 experience encouraged Hansen to perfect the design — specifically, how best to get fish from the collection box into forward holds — or, for that matter, into whichever hold the skipper wishes. On each side of the collection box is an opening into a PVC 45-degree elbow. From there, using straight sections of PVC piping, the crew can easily channel fish to holds on
and then through piping to the hold — either side of the vessel. Such selectivity is important, especially in crewmen bend over less often. They’re not chasing fish across a wet and rolling deck an RSW boat, Hansen said. and kicking product into the nearest hold. Some fishermen say they like the fish dangling from the net. It helps the crew to shake the fish loose of the web. But Hansen You can seee the 2009 version of the said his crew found using the slide quicker Salmo onSlide in action abo oard the and less exhausting than without it. F/V Es Eskimo o Viking. “The crew loved it. An ex-crewman plans Go to o www.yyoutube.com m. Once therre, to use one on the boat he’s fishing this year.” searcch for “SaalmonSlidee” (one word). An additional benefit is that the slide is very The crew begins the videeo by showiing comfortable to lean into as the net is picked, the trraditional way of shaaking sockeye and it gives support in rough weather. out of a neet. Then, theyy sh how deck Bleeding: Though Hansen is not paid to work using g the Salmon nSlide. bleed fish, he did experiment a bit and has this suggestion: Fish come out of the col“You always have a list, but with the lecting box, through the elbow, and into a slide, you can take care of it in a few sec- trough. You have a crewman there — even onds. It’s easy to direct fish from one hold sitting down — punching the gills before to another.” fish glide into a hold. The crew: The SalmonSlide makes work He is talking with LFS Inc. to carry tube easier on deck, Hansen said. After the net and fittings on Bristol Bay for fishermen comes through the fairleads and over the who want to improvise. roller, the slide keeps it pretty much at Will it fit? Hansen said installation waist height. should be smooth on most modern boats. With the fish always channelized — “It will work on any flush-deck boat, with down the slide to the collection box little fabrication or welding. In many cases, it will be a bolt-on installation.” Many major packers will have some of the units for sale on Bristol Bay. Hansen himself won’t have many units made on spec. The systems are made by Wood Stone Corp. — a company that, among other things, fabricates ovens — in 50-unit lots, to keep costs down. Howard Fabrications puts the pieces together, again in lots. “If we made it one-off in the shop, it would cost a lot more.” Cost: Each unit will cost between $1,200 and $1,250, complete with an installation kit.
See e th he Salm monSlid de
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YOUR BUSINESS
Call home
With sat and cell, staying connected is getting easier Nothing in Bristol Bay is ever easy — even calling home. But that could change this year, according to Todd Hoppe, manager of the Bristol Bay Telephone Cooperative. Here’s the deal: The co-op has no roaming agreements with other systems. That means you can’t call out with the telephone you’re packing right now. Only if you have a telephone affiliated with the co-op can you call home. “We’re working on roaming, but I’m not sure we’ll have something for this summer,” Hoppe said. Vast distances: The co-op isn’t profiteering on a captive audience each summer. It’s just trying to stay alive, Hoppe said. Just like other remote outposts in Alaska, distances are vast and the population is tiny.
18 PACIFICFISHING
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Making your business work on Bristol Bay Right now, the co-op’s customer base is about 400. But in the summer, the co-op has up to 2,000 customers. So, the co-op must build for 2,000 customers, but not on the backs of a few hundred folks living there year round.
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“We need people to come here and buy service from us so we can afford to improve,” Hoppe said. The co-op has two cell phone systems: a digital and an analog. Most likely, you’re packing a digital phone. Nationally, most analog systems were unplugged in 2008, and you’re not likely to find an analog phone at any shopping mall kiosk. But some fishermen have older analog phones they’ve purchased for Bristol Bay use only. “We’re trying to keep the analog system alive, so the guys can have some communication on the bay,” Hoppe said. Whether analog or digital, cell service from the co-op will cost you $24 a month. You must sign up for an annual contract. Analog pluses: Actually, there’s a lot going for analog in a place like the bay, Hoppe said. An analog phone’s signal is 3 watts and will reach out for 25 miles. A digital handset will probably be rated at a half-watt and communicate for five or six miles, Hoppe said. “Most guys up there use Bristol Bay analog phones,” said Kandy Herrington of Harris Electric in Seattle. “They power up the phones for six or eight weeks and put them away for the rest of the year.” If you opt for a digital phone, you might consider an amplifier to boost its signal, said Iva Strozyk of Youngs Bay Electronics in Warrenton. Amplifiers: An amp is especially useful if you’re inside an aluminum boat,
Strozyk said. An amplifier system includes the antenna ($99.99), the amp ($299.99), and cradle ($29.99) — that’s assuming you have a port on your cell phone that will allow you to plug directly into the amplifier. If you don’t have a port, it’ll cost you an extra $329.99 for a wireless system to connect your cell and the amp, Strozyk said. Amps are sold by several manufacturers, including Wilson, Shakespeare, and Digital Antenna. You can get a Digital Antenna wired system for $200 for the amp, $200 for the antenna, and $20 for the cell adapter, which is universal, capable of attaching to any phone that does not have an external antenna adapter, according to Herrington. A Digital Antenna wireless system will cost about $450. You can buy a digital phone anywhere. Some shops catering to commercial fishermen stock analog phones, according to Ron Wright of Jensen Communications in Warrenton. “Most guys just buy an analog phone and take it to Bristol Bay to have it programmed,” Wright said. The Bristol Bay co-op has digital and
according to Dave Brengelmann of Stratos in Seattle. However, Inmarsat has launched a new constellation of satellites that will allow its retailers to sell full-time service for hand-held units by the end of the year. And Globalstar expects access to new satellites by 2011. “I expect rates will get a lot more competitive at the end of the year once Inmarsat and Iridium both compete in the handheld market,” said Brengelmann. Right now, an Iridium-based sat phone will cost you about $1,400. You can rent one from Stratos for about $75 a week. Air time will cost about $1.50 a minute. Rates vary a bit with some Internet-based companies. The SatellitePhoneStore offers Satellite providers have yet to bring back the rotary rentals for $40 to $60 a month and air time dial — or such fashionable eyeglasses. for up to $1.78 a minute. If you want to get in cheaply, check out analog cell phones for sale. You should Globalstar, according to Wright at Jensen reserve yours by May 30. Call (907) 246-3403. Communications. The co-op has one office, in King Salmon. Globalstar acknowledges it’s in a tough Satellite phones: The satellite telepho- spot. It doesn’t offer 24-hour coverage now ny world in Alaska is changing, with one and won’t guarantee it for at least two more company offering rock-bottom deals while years. Until then, it’s offering a sweet deal. another awaits new satellites. Cheap: “Low cost and functional” is Right now, only the Iridium network how Fintan Robb of Globalstar describes offers 24-hour service for hand-held phones, the service. continued on next page
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APRIL 2010
PACIFICFISHING 19
YOUR BUSINESS
Protecting the resource
by John Driscoll
Klamath River deal signed, now real work begins The milestone agreements to tear resources between fish and farms. out four dams on the Klamath River “Failure is not an option today, are signed, and now the long haul and we will succeed in the days and through Congress will test the unity weeks and months ahead,” Salazar of the groups that put aside years of said. animosity to broker the deals. The dams block hundreds of miles The governors of Oregon and of spawning habitat for Chinook California and the U.S. secretary of and coho salmon and have severely interior were on hand with repredepleted the Klamath’s historically sentatives of tribal, fishing, farming, most abundant spring run of Chiand environmental groups to sign the nook. Nutrient-rich water in the reserdeals in Salem, on Feb. 18. The rotunvoirs behind the dams is trapped and da of the capitol building was packed heated during summer months, genwith witnesses to the landmark event. erating massive algae blooms that The agreements call for the removstarve the river of oxygen below Iron al of PacifiCorp’s Iron Gate, Copco Gate Dam. Poor movement of fine California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger shakes the hand of sediment due to restricted flows is 1, Copco 2, and J.C. Boyle dams, as U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar at signing ceremony in believed to provide habitat for the well as a $1 billion restoration effort Salem on Feb. 18 for two agreements to take down four dams host of a parasite that kills large numfocused on reviving the Klamath on the Klamath River and restore its salmon fisheries. bers of juvenile salmon every year. River’s struggling salmon runs. John Driscoll photo Chinook salmon in the Klamath are Dams down beginning 2020: The vital to commercial fisheries up and agreements call for the removal of down the West Coast. Fishery managers have suppressed quotas the dams beginning in 2020. Important benchmarks must be met and seasons of other runs as they attempt to protect weakened along the way. A U.S. Department of the Interior finding must show Klamath stocks. that removing the dams is in the public interest, an effort that has Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said that the groups long pitted already found funding. California and Oregon need to come up against each other came together to forge the agreements, signifying with a total of $450 million to cover the costs of decommissioning an end to one of the most bitter water wars in the nation. But Salazar and deconstruction of the dams. The dams must also be transferred acknowledged that a dry year lies ahead, which will stretch water to a federal agency, likely the Interior Department, in preparation for their removal. The Oregon Legislature last year passed a bill that created
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Call Home continued from page 19 You can buy a hand set and a non-marinized antenna for $399. After that, you can get unlimited air time for $34.95 a month. You’ll be able to use your Globalstar phone anywhere, not just on Bristol Bay. The down side: Until Globalstar launches its new fleet of 24 satellites, a program that begins this summer, you will have a window of only a few minutes each hour to place calls. The individual slots can range from 2 minutes to 17 minutes each hour, but most are in the middle of that range. Globalstar maintains a schedule of call windows on the Internet. Another problem: Times of the communications windows vary. You can get a four-day schedule on the Globalstar Web site, but that probably won’t do you any good on Bristol Bay. Robb suggested that users ask the people at home to describe the coming schedule so that call windows can be coordinated. Robb said other Globalstar services, such as simplex data streams for vessel monitoring, have full-time coverage. With limited calling windows, you cannot rely on the Globalstar set for emergencies. Robb suggests you buy an emergency satellite communication system, such as the SPOT GPS Messenger, to complement the Globalstar satellite phone. Press a button and it will be like calling 9-1-1. The system will alert a 24-hour response center and provide your GPS location so that help can be sent your way. You can buy a SPOT device and a year’s service for as low as $199.94 at many retailers.
a fund to collect money from small rate increases to PacifiCorp customers over the next 10 years for a total of $200 million. California’s portion of the funding is currently mired in controversy. The funding has been written into an $11 billion water bond that supports water projects that environmental and fishing groups don’t back. Recent polls also show that general support for the massive bond is weak eight
Fish farm briefs Moratorium on salmon farm licenses The granting of any new aquaculture licenses in British Columbia has been suspended until Dec. 18. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Hinkson gave the Canadian federal government the suspension order Jan. 26 so that it can prepare to take control of regulating salmon farms in B.C. After salmon aquaculture activist Alexandra Morton launched an injunction against salmon farms, Hinkson ruled in B.C. Supreme Court in February last year that the provincial government did not have jurisdiction over fish farms on the B.C. coast. The feds were to take over regulation of the salmon farms in February this year. Aquaculture giant Marine Harvest still has an appeal before the courts over ownership of the fish in its pens. Marine Harvest launched the appeal in March 2009 after the February 2009 ruling that the federal government, not the provincial government, has jurisdiction over the salmon-farming industry. The decision that farmed salmon must be seen as a fishery and not a crop created the possibility that Marine Harvest did not technically own the salmon in its pens. While stating that the Farm Practices Protection Act (FPPA) no longer applied to finfish aquaculture and doesn’t protect farms from nuisance claims, in his decision Justice Hinkson said his court was not the place to decide on ownership.
months before it will go to the ballot. T h e re a l s o a re a f e w g ro u p s t h a t participated in the Klamath talks that have chosen not to support the deals that were produced. While several environmental groups and the Hoopa Valley Tribe — whose reservation is split by the Trinity River, a main Klamath tributary — back dam removal, they’ve objected to the pairing of the Klamath Hydropower Settlement Agreement and the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, the part of the deal that looks to provide more water to fish while reducing but securing irrigation deliveries in the Upper Klamath Basin.
continued on next page
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Activist says lice resistant to drugs Anti-salmon farm activist Alexandra Morton is investigating an aquaculture operation on Vancouver Island that is apparently reducing its operations. While the company — Grieg Seafood — says it simply is following a production management plan, Morton maintains Grieg is pulling the plug because it faces an infestation of sea lice that have become resistant to commercial insecticides used by fish farmers. Take a look at the video prepared by Morton: http://alexandramorton.typepad.com. Look for 02/22/2010.
No guarantee of money: The restoration agreement would be funded by the federal government to the tune of $1 billion over 10 years. While supporters express certainty that the money will be available, detractors claim there are no guarantees. At the signing ceremony, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski rejected the notion that the funds won’t come through. “That’s not going to happen,” Kulongoski said. Glen Spain with the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, a party to the talks, said that negotiators were
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YOUR BUSINESS
Protecting the resource continued from page 21
expected to meet to complete legislation needed to put the deals in place. Spain expected the group will ask the Oregon and California public utilities commissions to allow the PacifiCorp rate increases “within days.” When the legislative package is released, hearings will be held and amendments lodged, but Spain said the Klamath deals do not allow for any substantial deviation from what is contained in their language. “In other words, what you see is what you get,” Spain said. While the water allocation agreements go into place in 2020, a water bank will provide additional water for salmon in the river in the meantime, Spain said. The fisheries cannot wait, he said, for the Upper Klamath Basin water storage projects called for in the restoration deal to provide water management flexibility. Sacramento condition grim: There is substantial trouble for commercial salmon fisheries on another Waters behind dams on the Klamath River grow stagnant and warm, nurturing greenish front. The vital runs of the Sacramento River have algae growth that can harm salmon. Erin Downward photo been severely depleted over the past three years, and commercial fishing interests point to excessive pumping from the Sacramento River Delta as the culprit. The in the Klamath expected due to dam removal and restoration would Pacific Fisheries Management Council recently reported that in 2009 make little difference to ocean commercial fishing. But Spain said Chinook salmon returned to the Sacramento in record low numbers that the Klamath’s health is still vital to prevent closures in years for the third year in a row. when the Sacramento stocks are abundant. In 2006, however, it was protection of weak runs in the Klamath The two rivers are linked by weak stock management, he said, that devastated ocean commercial fishing, as well as sport and tribal and restoration of the Klamath will lead to far fewer restrictions in fishing in the river. Some $60 million in aid was provided during the future. Both rivers need attention now, he said. that federally declared disaster. “We cannot afford to leave any river behind,” Spain said. If Sacramento River Basin salmon don’t recover, improved runs
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YOUR BUSINESS
Bycatch
by Anne Hillman
Pollock vessels work in dress rehearsal of new bycatch caps Facing the certainty of hard salmon bycatch caps next year, some pollock vessels are holding a dress rehearsal this spring. Last year, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council instituted a hard cap on Chinook salmon bycatch within the pollock fishery that goes into effect in 2011. Each individual boat will be allocated a number of salmon based on their pollock quota. If they catch more than that number of salmon, they will have to stop fishing. Though the total bycatch number is set at 60,000 Chinook, the new rule aims to keep the average bycatch at 47,591 or fewer through the use of industry-developed incentive plans. Alyeska Seafoods in Unalaska is testing out one of the plans this season to see how it works for its co-op. Alyeska hopes the exercise will prepare the co-op for when the rules officially go into effect next year. As of mid-February, it was too early in the season to see if the plan is inspiring fishermen to work harder to avoid salmon or if they simply aren’t catching many because they aren’t catching much of anything — period. Onshore fleet: The pilot program is called Salmon Savings Incentive Plan, or SSIP. Basically, it works like a bank. Each boat is allowed to catch a certain number of king salmon — their individual portions of a 47,591 fish cap — without being penalized. If a boat hits its cap, it will have to either buy or trade for bycatch credits from another boat in its co-op or stop fishing. The cost of the trade is determined by the boats and co-ops. If they participate in the SSIP, for about every two salmon that they do not catch in one year, they are allowed to catch one more the next year. They put salmon away in the bank as insurance in case they have a chance encounter with a large number of salmon. They don’t get any money, just peace of mind to know that they won’t have to stop fishing in the case of a bycatch emergency. To help the fleet keep track of its bycatch numbers, and the incentives to keep them low, each captain is given a data sheet each time he delivers. The sheet tells him how many salmon he has accidentally caught, how many have been allocated to him within the cap, and how many salmon are in the “bank” for next year. The idea is that the program will give boats incentives to avoid salmon bycatch even in years when they aren’t getting many
kings in their nets. At Alyeska, they say they’ve always tried to avoid salmon by using excluders and observing the rolling hot spot notifications, but this program gives additional reasons. However, the SSIP is aimed mostly at the onshore fleet. The offshore fleet will make use of a different plan next year — the Financial Incentive Plan, or FIP. Offshore fleet: FIP participants will each ante up $22.05 per ton of pollock quota, which seems like a small amount but can add up to millions. All of the money will go into a pool. At the end of the season, each boat will compare the number of salmon they caught with the fleet average. Those with the smallest amount of salmon bycatch will take home the largest portion of the pool. This plan might be more effective than the SSIP in years of low bycatch simply because the money incentive never changes, whereas it’s easier to put more fish in the bank during years of low salmon abundance, even if you aren’t very careful. Alan Haynie, an economist at the Alaska
Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, analyzed the two proposed plans before the council approved them last year. He said that the plans force the captains to take individual responsibility for their bycatch. The boats can buy and trade bycatch allocations from one another, but ultimately each boat has to deal with the consequences of their fishing. The Chinook salmon bycatch hard cap regulation was approved by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in April 2009. Salmon fishermen, especially on the Yukon River, say that high levels of salmon bycatch by the pollock industry is part of the reason for extremely low king salmon returns to their rivers. The returns were so low in the summer of 2009 that there was no commercial harvest, subsistence fishing was severely limited, and the federal government declared it a fisheries disaster.
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APRIL 2010
PACIFICFISHING 23
BOAT OF THE MONTH
FV Victory
In Kodiak, building a business on the backs of older boats
of the F/V the bow e new in s d n ta en s r at th ary Niels s from the wate G r e p ip k e y S s it emerg photos b Victory a tyard. Boatyard odiak. oa ,K Kodiak b n Photography to g in Penn
I
n all, Gary Nielsen has skippered more than 1,000 feet of boat. But not all at the same time, mind you. Fishing out of Kodiak since 1972, Nielsen has cycled through some fairly long boats. Add them up, and you’ve got a ship. Nielsen’s newest boat — if a vessel that first touched water in 1942 can be called new — is the F/V Victory. In it, he’s trying to revive a fishery that once delivered a certain amount of wealth to Kodiak’s docks: shrimp. Although born in California in a fishing clan of at least four generations, Nielsen moved with his family to Kodiak in time to attend high school. “I’ve lived 40 years in this town. I know everybody on the waterfront. I can go down and ask any of the processors for $50,000 or $60,000, and they’d give it to me on a handshake.” Nielsen’s first summer of fishing came in 1972, working for his dad — Mickey Serwold — and trawling for pink shrimp aboard the F/V Royal Baron. Later, he worked across a broad range of fisheries and vessels: Oscar Dyson’s F/V Peggy Jo, Dick Powell’s F/V Patricia Lee,
24 PACIFICFISHING
APRIL 2010
Mel Wick’s F/V Cape Fairwell and F/V Alert, and the F/V Linda Jean, owned by Dave Harvall and skippered by Dennis Cox. There were others. “Seiners, draggers, Dungeness, king crab, dragging — I’ve done everything but the dive fisheries, and I’ve worked for them on the deck.” He also skippered a bunch of larger — and older — boats: The F/V Green Hope, F/V Ocean Hope III, the F/V Katherine (“I took it to the Bering Sea for the last hurrah before IFQs came in”), and the F/V Royal Baron. But he hit a rock in the Royal Baron, and it sank in 1995. Everyone survived. His dad, the owner, liquidated his business, and Nielsen started from scratch. “Adversity: It made me who I am today. It pushed me. “The boats I ran, it was mostly trawling. Trawling is what I did. But when all this political crap started with quota, the cheapest thing I could get into was the Alitak and try to make something out of it.” “I couldn’t afford a $2 million boat. I couldn’t go into the bank and say, ‘I need $2 million.’”
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In 1999, F/V Alitak was considerably cheaper. Amco Shipyards in Astoria launched what was then the Shirley Lee in 1944. Nielsen bought the boat in 1999 and made a few bucks crabbing and longlining. Nielsen says that today, the Alitak is kind of a community vessel. He’s leased it out for Tanner crab, tendering, cucumber diving, charters. His son, Bradley Kuytna, uses the Alitak for cod jigging and some tendering. Owning the Alitak, Nielsen hadn’t necessarily intended to buy another boat in 2007. “I was on the Internet, surfing one day, when I saw it. The name was all blurredout, but I said, ‘Man, I recognize that boat.’ That’s the Victory! I had seen that boat when I was 12 years old. I always liked it.” Norval Nelson out of Juneau had the boat for sale. “I went over there in August and rode around in the boat for 10 days. “There were other guys interested. So I asked Norval why he sold it to me. He said, ‘Because you asked the right questions.’” Nielsen went back to Juneau in October. He picked up the boat and took it directly to the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op. There, he spent $400,000. continued on page 27
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BOAT OF THE MONTH
FV Victory
Getting the job done Here are some of the products, services, and vendors Gary Nielsen uses to keep F/V Victory profitable: •Vessel type: Crabber, tender •Builder: Tacoma Boat Works •Major hull alterations: Steel bulwarks •Power main: 353 Cat •Hydraulics: Alaska Hydraulics •Service for main: Every five years •Starter: Air start •Auxiliary: John Deere 6 •Generator: 480 volts •Lubricants: 30 weight •Lube retailer: North Pacific Fuel •Hydraulics service: Alaska Hydraulics •Refer service: North Pacific Refrigeration Gary Nielsen’s Victory was taken •Chiller/freezers: 40 ton out of the water last winter (above) •Marine retailer: Sutliff’s Hardware for annual maintenance at the Port of Kodiak’s new boatyard. •Sat phone service: Radar Alaska Here’s another view of the •Sounders: Radar Alaska Victory (right) taken by Michael W. •Finders: Radar Alaska Kirby of the Coast Guard. •Radios: Radar Alaska •Airline: Alaska Airlines •Other safety equipment makers: JoyCrafts of Kodiak •Investment advice: Gary’s wife, Annette, says: “Don’t take away any man’s dream. It could bite you in the butt!”
26 PACIFICFISHING
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On blocks, the Victory’s planks get a steam-cleaning.
Building a Business in Kodiak continued from page 24 Nielsen’s partner in the boat is Steve Spain, a Bering Sea factory trawler skipper. The Victory spent nine months in the yard and emerged, if not a new ship, a rejuvenated one. A significant addition was a 40-ton refrigeration system.
He needed the refrigerated sea water system for highquality tendering. This will be his third season in Prince William Sound for Copper River Seafoods. It also was in Port Townsend that he picked up his latest pursuit. “I came across some interesting gear — prawn pots, the newest technology. I bought $40,000 worth of it, just on a whim, and went out to take a peek to see what was around.” The operation is simple. Nielsen markets the product live from the dock in Kodiak. He started in 2008. “I haven’t made my investment back yet, but I’m close.” That said, there’s not much room in the fishery, Nielsen said. The next step would be to freeze some prawns for the restaurant market in Alaska and the Lower 48. But that step is a long one. “The refrigeration system will support plate freezers, but once you freeze your catch, you run into a whole set of governmental regulations. I’m not to that point yet.” But that he’s still in business and still looking ahead is, in itself, a triumph, if you consider his prospects in 1999. continued on next page
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PACIFICFISHING 27
BOAT OF THE MONTH
FV Victory continued from page 27 Here’s the view of a close, if not impartial, observer, who also happens to be his wife: Annette Nielsen: h “If Gary had listened to me when he wanted to buy the Alitak, I don’t know what he would be doing right now. It was A rreally bad back then. But he made his dream come true, and I am very proud of him. I don’t tell him that too often. He already has a v big head.” b
ComFish coming in April
F/V Victory was placed next to F/V Saga at the Kodiak boatyard.
Just starting out? If you’re young and just starting out in commercial fishing, Gary Nielsen has some advice: Get ready to fail. “If it doesn’t work the first time, don’t get discouraged. Keep working. “Persistence. Tenacity. This is a business where you don’t get in for five years and get out. Whatever you’re going to do [in life], you’d better be good at it. But it takes time. “I’ve lost a boat, run aground before. If you haven’t done any of those things, you’re not trying hard enough. “This industry, there are bad times and good times. If I had to do it over, I’d do it again. I love this business. My office is somewhere different every day. And the view is absolutely beautiful.”
The Kodiak’s ComFish conference will be staged in the Harbor Convention Center for the first time this year, on April 15-17. Exhibitors will be on hand to address the needs of commercial fishermen in the North Pacific. Also, there will be a full slate of forums: Crab ratz: Five years later — How is it working? Safety: A PFD (personal flotation device) “fashion show,” plus results of testing of the devices by 200 fishermen and a demonstration of “E-Stop,” which will stop a deck winch before it kills you. Presented by NIOSH. Catch shares: A presentation put together by Alaska Sea Grant. Marketing: A discussion of how Alaska seafood fits into the global food chain. Starting out: Entry level opportunities for fishermen, including loan programs and other topics. Greenery: A presentation of Kodiak resources related to energy and commercial fishing. Mining: Pebble Mine — pros and cons For more information about ComFish or the Crab Festival, call the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce at (907) 486-5557. See the ComFish Web site at www.comfishalaska.com.
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CORDOVA REPORT
by Beth Poole
Copper River reds have highest omega-3s in Alaska Copper River sockeye healthier: Alex Oliviera, a researcher from Kodiak Fisheries Industrial Technology Center in Kodiak, spoke to the Cordova fleet last winter regarding the latest omega-3 research on Alaska salmon stocks. Oliviera’s presentation covered the different types of omega fats and the high levels of omega-3 and omega-9 fats that make marine protein so beneficial for cardiovascular health and brain development. Of particular interest for the Cordova audience was a comparison of fat contents of samples taken from fisheries around Alaska. The results showed that Copper River sockeye have nearly double the amount of fat of other sockeye — which adds even more heart healthy omega-3s to the already famous flavor, texture, and color of Copper River reds. Enhancing Pinks: In 2009, Alaska Department of Fish & Game estimates for wild stock pink salmon led to a very restricted seine harvest — this, following a very optimistic pre-season forecast.
Species
Increased Egg Take Level
Current Egg Take
Amount of Increase
Pink
462 M
565 M
103 M
Chum
148 M
165.4 M
17.4 M
Sockeye*
10.2 M
12.4 M
2.2 M
*Main Bay Hatchery only (in millions) Current and proposed salmon egg takes by the Prince William Sound Aquaculture Association
Fortunately, the enhanced Prince William Sound Aquaculture Association (PWSAC) return allowed for a fairly robust harvest of 10 million pinks and fulfilled many markets for some of the seine fleet. This is exactly what the enhancement program was created to do — ensure harvests when wild stocks are low. Prince William Sound processors have noted rapidly expanding markets for Alaska wild-caught fish and are requesting that the state allow more enhanced fishery production. In response, PWSAC has recently put in a request to the state to increase production to the maximum egg take numbers that its permits allow. If granted, this would result in an increased harvest of about 3.8 million pinks, 470,000 chums, and 270,000 sockeye (see table), with a conservative value to the fleet of $8.5 million. PWSAC expects that the egg take increase could be made this summer with its existing facilities and with minimal expense. Fishermen would start harvesting returning pinks in 2012, followed by chums in 2013 and sockeye in 2014.
Prince William Sound seine-caught salmon this summer. Plant and product development manager Pat Glaab said that they’re looking to build a fleet of fishermen to reach their goal of 900,000 pounds of round-weight a day. Glaab added that while there are sometimes concerns about working out the kinks in the first year of operations, Silver Bay has the capacity to tender all harvested fish down to Sitka for processing if need be. Yakutat winter kings: Though fishermen in Cordova can only go trolling for winter kings and the celebrated ivory king for sport and subsistence, a small group of our neighbors to the south can make a living (albeit a small one) in the winter months. Only about a dozen local hand troll permits are issued for the winter Chinook troll fishery in Yakutat Bay, and the number of salmon harvested is small, but at $7.50 a pound, you don’t have to catch a lot of fish to make wages. The warm and wet winter has meant lots of water on the Forelands, which is great for fish production — and possibly larger runs in the future? Copper River fishermen fight for personal use: The Alaska Board of Fisheries (BOF) was slated to listen to testimony and decide whether to re-classify the upriver Chitina subdistrict from personal use to a subsistence fishery at its meeting in March. A subsistence classification could have drastic consequences for the commercial Copper River fishery downriver, including a 250,000-300,000 fish escapement goal needed before commercial fishing grounds could be opened. Such high escapement could delay the first opener into June. Cordova District Fishermen United was fighting on behalf of the Copper River commercial fishery. The board was scheduled to consider the proposal on March 20-21. We’ll have the results in Pacific Fishing’s Fish Wrap news service. Go to www.pacificfishing.com to subscribe for free. Marine Advisory Program endangered: The presentation by Alex Oliviera on omega-3 benefits was just one workshop held in Cordova by the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program. MAP also partnered with the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association in planning commercial vessel drill training classes and worked with LFS and local net outlets to hold a 10-hour, hands-on net mending class in February. Cordova and several other coastal Alaska Marine Advisory Program locations have been in jeopardy of losing such resources because continued funding was not included in the state of Alaska’s budget for next year. There’s hope that the needed funding will be reinserted by Gov. Sean Parnell when he reviews the budget this spring. But until then, we’ll be sending letters of support to our legislators letting them know how important MAP is to our local fishery.
New pink buyer for PWS: Southeast-based Silver Bay Seafoods is expanding its fishermen-owned processing facilities to include Prince William Sound this summer. A relative newcomer, Silver Bay built its first plant in Sitka only four years ago and expanded with a second facility in Craig last year. Owned by a group of 25 Southeast-based fishermen, they’ve Pacific Fishing columnist Beth Poole is the executive director of the purchased the former Sea Hawk plant in Valdez to begin processing Copper River–Prince William Sound Marketing Association.
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PACIFICFISHING 29
B.C. UPDATE New federal fishing regulations? Dream on
by Michel Drouin
“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall Rockfish season finishes: I was in Port meet,” begins the Rudyard Kipling poem published in his Bar- Hardy at the end of January and ran into my rack-room Ballads in 1892. It might as well be 1892 in the Canadian old friend John Cameron running the Soinfishing industry too, with federal regulations out of step with the tula-based trawler Island Sun. As his crew iced up the boat for a groundfish trip, John West Coast’s fishing reality. awl season on Feb Feb. At issue is the requirement that all fishing vessels have a certified explained that he was hoping to finish up his trawl 20 with one last trip to complete his quota before the end of the person at the wheel. The regulations state that anyone who takes management year. the wheel on a fish boat has to be qualified with at least a certificate “I’ve got 60,000 pounds of brownies [widow rockfish] to take yet, of service or an officer-of-the-watch 150-ton vessel certificate. then I’m tying her up,” he said. East Coast fishermen are strongly behind the rules, but West Cameron said the most recent price was in the neighborhood of Coast fishermen and fleet managers have reservations. 60 cents a pound for rockfish, though the number fluctuates. The problem in British Columbia is, with the lack of salmon He said he had a shocker on a recent trip to Vancouver. He said openings, many experienced crewmen have retired or left the he was in a high-end grocery store and noticed “snapper” fillets for industry. In 2009, South sale for $10.50 a pound. Coast seiners had two “I could see a bit of days of fall chum fishing green where they hadn’t during the whole salmon completely got all the skin off,” he said. “It was season. greenies [yellowtail rockTo qualify for a certififish], and the last trip I cate of service, a person had made they paid us 35 must have 12 months sea cents a pound for them.” time and seven seasons’ The hake price was disexperience. The certificate appointing in 2009 too, was originally expected Cameron said, down to 7 to be recognition of time cents a pound after being served by experienced up at 22 cents in 2007. fishermen, but fishermen He said the high don’t get that sea time Canadian dollar is affectthese days. ing both the markets There is a long list of for rockfish in the U.S. other requirements that and for hake in Eastern now have been tacked Europe. Canadian invenSointula, B.C.-based trawler Island Sun in Port Hardy preparing for her last trip of the onto certificate requiretories of hake are high, he groundfish management year. Skipper John Cameron was hoping to get the last ments. These include said, and in the Ukraine 60,000 pounds of his rockfish quota. and elsewhere, former marine emergency duties training, radio operators certificate, a simulated electronic naviga- buyers can’t raise the capital to buy the fish. “I wish the Canadian dollar was back down to what it was tion course, marine first aid, and small vessel operator proficiency. before,” he said. Critics argue that commercial fishing is such an iffy career choice that younger people are not clamoring to get in the industry and would be reluctant to take the required courses. Older crew Taku update: I wrote last month that the Taku River Tlingit First members are approaching retirement, and they too are not Nation and the government of British Columbia are in the process interested, veteran skippers argue. of negotiating an agreement that could have downstream effects Another big difference between East and West is education infra- in Alaska. structure. In the East, there are dedicated marine training schools Since then Chris Zimmer, Alaska director for Rivers Without for fishermen, with federal funding for students. There is some Borders, wanted to add a clarification. “To say the parties are in negotiation over a plan to open 48 limited training in B.C., through the British Columbia Institute of Technology in Burnaby and Camosun College in Nanaimo, but percent of the planning area to mining is not technically correct,” he said. “The Tlingit have put forth a Tlatsini proposal with a map none of the student support Easterners get. On the East Coast, there has been a fisheries school in Pictou, for a little over 50 percent protection, but that proposal is not under Nova Scotia, since 1962 and, in Newfoundland, Memorial Univer- formal negotiation between the Tlingit and the B.C. government.” So essentially, Zimmer said, a Tlingit proposal does exist, but it sity has a Fisheries and Marine Institute. is not specifically under negotiation. The negotiations are basically One company spokesman at the FishSafe meeting admitted private between Tlingit and B.C., which has led to some confusion that he had no choice but to put his boats to sea illegally because about what exactly is being talked about. there just wasn’t the qualified crew on the West Coast to meet Michel Drouin covers commercial fishing from Vancouver, B.C. federal requirements. 30 PACIFICFISHING
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MID-COAST REPORT by Cassandra Marie Profita Gillnet vote dumped, Dungeness down, will Chinook show? in price to offset the lost volume. Most Oregon crabbers got in early and made good money in early December, when the price was $1.75 a pound. But non-tribal Washington boats that weren’t allowed to start until January because of tribal-sharing agreements wound up selling what little crab they caught into a market that already had full freezers, according to Ray Toste, president of the Washington Crab Fishermen’s Association. “We’ve had a horrible season,” he said. “The first haul out of Westport was good … but this is the worst fall-off we’ve ever seen.” California’s crab market was especially weak after the new year, offering only $2.35 a pound in February for crab that had brought up to $6 a pound in the past. Oregon’s crab catch plummeted from 17.8 million pounds in December to 2.6 million pounds in January, and halfway through February, the landings didn’t even clear a half-million. The price per pound got up to as high as $2.50, but not until production had slowed to a trickle. Toste said the crab seemed to mature earlier in 2009, so that by November they were already filled out and marketable. To make matters worse, prices didn’t go up as much as they did last year, when overall production in Washington was e Gillnet ban back to square one: Columbia River gillnetterss An old aircraft hangar on Tongue Point now houses a boatyard. In this photo, lower. By February, the catch had found a friend in Oregon’s attor- Astoria hugs the Columbia River on the left, with Tongue Point shown jutting plummeted, and the price was ney general, who sided with into the river in the background. them in a ballot title dispute and sent the Coastal Conservation $3 a pound for live crab in Westport, where last year it was $4.50 Association’s anti-gillnet campaign back to the drawing board. a pound. The ballot measure was proposed in January to give Oregonians “In the past, we’ve relied on higher prices to offset tribal a chance to ban the use of gillnets and to redirect fish license sur- sharing,” Toste said, “but this year we haven’t had that.” charges toward a change to alternative fishing methods. But gillnet supporters in Astoria pointed out a flaw in the proIndoor boatyard: The Port of Astoria is marketing a new facility posal — namely, that once gillnets were banned there would be no legal alternative method of commercial fishing in the Columbia to commercial fishing boat owners at North Tongue Point, a freshwater industrial facility with five finger piers, a boat ramp, 30 acres River. All other types of gear have already been banned on the Columbia of tarmac, a sardine and hake processor with an ice plant, and two (somewhat ironically, by political movements led by the gillnetters large airplane hangars. themselves many decades ago). In February, Astoria boat builder J&H Boatworks leased The draft ballot title: “Bans Oregon salmon fishing with space inside one of the hangars for the 66-foot F/V Defiant, which gillnets; redirects license surcharges to fund changing to alternative is undergoing a hull expansion. It’s a big job for the 35-year-old methods.” boat builder and the first of many the company hopes to do at A “no” vote would have meant saying “yes” to gillnetting. the site. Commercial fishing industry backers proposed changing the balIt’s also a test run of the Port of Astoria’s new ability to provide lot title language to reflect the reality of a “yes” vote, and the state large indoor workspace for boat maintenance. By leasing North Department of Justice agreed. Tongue Point in November from Washington Development Corp. A spokesman for the CCA said the resulting ballot title was so of Missoula, Mont., the Port of Astoria added about 10 times the far from what was intended, his group would be better off starting moorage it had available for larger vessels in an area that, unlike from scratch. So, petitioners withdrew the proposal with the prommuch of the port’s property farther west, is shielded from wind ise of submitting another retooled version later. and currents. Dungeness drop-off: The crab catch off the Northwest Coast Pacific Fishing columnist Cassandra Marie Profita covers commercial dropped dramatically in February, without nearly enough up-tick fishing for The Daily Astorian. A half-million springers? More than half-a-million spring Chinook were expected to arrive in the Columbia River this year. But, after predictions in the past two years went haywire, will this run actually show up? Oregon and Washington fishery managers hedged their bets by 40 percent when setting the Columbia River spring salmon fisheries in February — learning from missteps in previous years that left them dangerously close to breaking catch-sharing agreements among upper- and lower-river, tribal, and non-tribal fisheries. In retrospect, it seems record jack counts typically used in making run predictions may have led them astray. In April, managers will decide how much, if any, of the 40 percent set-aside to release — once it’s clear whether the runs are on track to hit the 559,900-fish prediction. If returns meet expectations, it will be the best spring Chinook run since 1938. Commercial gillnetters were pleased when the initial season-setting included openers in all five fishing zones below Bonneville Dam — made possible by healthier expectations for Willamette River Chinook, which had restricted fish-ing closer to the mouth of thee Columbia in 2008 and 2009. Select area seasons for gill-o netters so far are similar to recent years, with the Youngss m Bay area constrained upstream from the Old Youngs Bay Bridgee until April 15.
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PACIFICFISHING 31
ALASKA NOTEBOOK Fishing in Nelson Lagoon, Angoon, and Norton Sound Bottomfish on top: Quick, what’s the most valuable catch in Alaska? Salmon maybe? Halibut? King crab? Actually, it’s groundfish, including pollock and cod. By a nautical mile. According to a recent federal economic status report, groundfish accounted for $880 million, or 51 percent, of the total ex-vessel value of all commercial fisheries off Alaska in 2008, with pollock alone worth $384 million. Salmon was second with $368 million, or 21 percent. Shellfish was third with $252 million, or 14.5 percent, and halibut finished just out of the medals in fourth place with $209 million or 12 percent. Herring was a distant fifth at $23 million, or just over 1 percent. And how about the state’s lucrative sablefish catch, you ask? That fishery, worth $84 million in 2008, is included in the groundfish category along with rockfish and various soles. Arrowtooth finding target: Speaking of Alaska groundfish, the arrowtooth flounder might finally be on the way to reaching its vast potential. This fish long has been a frustration for the trawl industry. Historically, the immense arrowtooth biomass in the Gulf of Alaska was next to worthless due to the tendency of the flesh to turn to mush when cooked. But recently, severall ffood-grade have b been used d d additives dditi h d successfully to inhibit the enzymatic breakdown of the muscle tissue, federal researchers report. That’s helped build a targeted fishery out of Kodiak. Generally, arrowtooth are headed and gutted and sent to China for reprocessing. The fish supports two main products: engawa, a type of sushi popular in Japan and made with the frill or fleshy fins of the fish, and fillets that typically are re-imported to the United States. Wholesale value of arrowtooth exceeded $20 million in 2008. “A major hurdle in marketing arrowtooth flounder is its name,” a recent federal report says. People still think “soft” when it comes to arrowtooth. So the fish often is sold on the West Coast as turbot. Something nice for Nelson Lagoon: Plans are under way for a new $4 million “fish-handling facility” for Nelson Lagoon, an Alaska Peninsula village of about 85 people located on Bristol Bay. The goal is to give local salmon gillnetters an alternative market, said Joe Kyle of the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association. APICDA is a nonprofit seafood company created under a federal program to boost western Alaska communities. The fish-handling facility won’t be a full-blown processing plant, Kyle said. Rather, it will function more like a buying station where APICDA will purchase fish to fly out fresh or haul south to the 32 PACIFICFISHING
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by Wesley Loy
company’s Bering Pacific Seafoods plant at False Pass for processing and freezing, Kyle said. The Nelson Lagoon station will give local fishermen an alternative to the lone buyer hich sends a tender they’ve seen in the past, Peter Pan Seafoods, which to the village during salmon season to pick up fish. Construction of the station, including a 6,000-square-foot metal building, is scheduled to start this spring and finish in time for the 2011 season, Kyle said. APICDA and the federal Economic Development Administration are splitting the cost. Stepping up Southeast sockeye: State officials signaled possible plans to build a fish ladder to boost the small but highly significant Kanalku Lake sockeye salmon run near the village of Angoon. To reach the lake to spawn, salmon have to get over falls 230 feet long with a 30-foot vertical rise. Most don’t make it. Keeping the Kanalku Lake run healthy is important, as a crash in the stock could result in restrictions for commercial fisheries in the region. The run gained More than just a pretty face: Here is notoriety for another reaa head-on photo of an arrowtooth son last summer, when flounder and skinless arrowtooth state troopers charged fillets after processing by a Korean a group of men, includcompany. ing state Sen. Albert Kookesh, D-Angoon, with ttaking an overlimit of sockeye for subsistence. Kookesh is fighting the charge. In February, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, issued a request for proposals for a consultant to complete a $120,000 environmental impact study on the fish ladder. Officials subsequently canceled the solicitation, saying they “will reissue later.” Norton Sound marketing takes off: Travelers passing through Anchorage’s international airport soon will be able to taste the flavor of remote Norton Sound in northwest Alaska. HMSHost, a global shopping and dining concessionaire with a contract at the airport, in August will open a new venue called Norton Sound Seafood House. The Norton Sound Economic Development Corp. is a partner on the themed restaurant, which will offer menu items such as a halibut po’ boy and king crab cakes. “The prime location will certainly result in increased exposure to our region’s high-quality seafood” and improve markets for local small-boat fishermen, said Janis Ivanoff, NSEDC chief executive. NSEDC is a nonprofit organization working on behalf of Nome and 14 nearby villages. Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy has covered commercial fishing in the North Pacific for more than 10 years. See his blog at www.deckboss.blogspot.com.
LETTER FROM UNALASKA Slow start on pollock, high price tag for harbor Slow start: When pollock A season is starting slowly, you have two basic options: • Option one: Hold off a bit and either tell your crew to go home ’til mid-February or hang out and hope for enough snow for some quality skiing. • Option two: Try to fish even if you might waste a lot of fuel scratching. Plants in Unalaska tried both of those tactics this year and, as of this writing, it’s still unclear which method is the best. The Unisea fleet managers decided to wait until later in the winter to fish because they thought the pollock would school up and the fleet would see less bycatch. They hoped the fish would follow a similar pattern to last year. Alyeska’s boats decided to go out and look for fish. The fleet manager didn’t want to chance waiting and then going out when
by Anne Hillman
If enough boats use the new harbor and bring more business to the community, however, city leaders say it will be worth it in the long run. Rescue: Though the snow was patchy and icy from the warm weather and rains, some days this winter were unsurpassably beautiful. Which meant everyone was out hiking, even some Coast Guard officers who were unfamiliar with the terrain. Two Coasties went hiking on Ballyhoo, a mountain on the edge of town that’s covered with old military installations, a steep trail up one edge, and the airport’s weather station. When hiking by the weather station, the two people slipped on the shale into a ravine and couldn’t get out. Luckily, all they bruised were their tailbones and egos. A Coast Guard helicopter had to be mobilized and a rescue swimmer hoisted them out of the ravine in a sling. No press release went out about the incident, but rumors were running around town less than 20 minutes after the rescue happened.
every other boat also was scrounging around for the relatively small quota. They didn’t catch many pollock in January and early February, but they didn’t catch many salmon or halibut either. On the flip side, for those who waited around, the snow mostly sucked for skiing.
Unalaska Bay trawl closure decision: The Alaska Board of Fisheries made a final decision on trawling for pollock in Unalaska Bay Postcard: at its February meeting. Lauri Krey shot this Community members photo from Ballyhoo Mountain in October wanted trawling to be pro2008. hibited in the entire bay year-round because that’s where residents go to subsistence fish. Because they have small boats and skiffs, residents find it unwise to travel far from the community to look for salmon, halibut, crab, and other subsistence species. People say they also have gear conflicts with the trawlers who are catching their salmon. Trawlers, however, note that there are no formal reports of gear loss, and that the pollock boats are catching Chinook and chum salmon, which don’t return to the rivers on Unalaska Island. Some pollock boats, especially those fishing for Icicle and Westward, rely on pollock caught in Unalaska Bay because they are large fish that can be quickly taken to processors and turned into fillets. The short travel time helps improve the fish quality. The Board of Fish agreed on a compromise solution. Unalaska Bay will be closed to trawling until Aug. 1, at which time trawlers can come into the half of the bay that is farther from town but that is traditionally fished for pollock. Many industry players seem happy with the decision, but some residents say it favors the industry over the community.
Boat harbor price tag: The city of Unalaska is building a new small boat harbor for vessels up to about 150 feet. Each of its individual slips will have power outlets and water hook-ups. On land, fishermen will have easy access to bathrooms with showers. It might even have a drive-down dock with small cranes to help folks load and offload their gear. But along with the convenience comes a hefty price tag. The inner harbor and building will cost between $28 million and $31 million. Don’t worry; the city doesn’t plan on setting rates high enough to cover the costs of running the new, state-of-the-art facility. If city leaders use money from bank accounts to cover the building costs, instead of going in to debt to build it, the harbor will operate at a loss of only about $400,000 per year. If they go into debt, it could be Pacific Fishing columnist Anne Hillman is news director for KUCB, Unalaska. a loss of up to $1.2 million per year. WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM
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What's New... ALASKA COMMERCIAL FISHING AND AGRICULTURE BANK (CFAB) owners, restaurateurs and more. Not unlike most new businesses CFAB’s early years were marked by a steep learning curve, and in fact it faced near disaster. CFAB learned from these years and has become an expert in dealing with the challenges faced when providing financing to some of Alaska’s most volatile industries. Since inception CFAB has successfully navigated through strikes, processor bankruptcies and closures, oil spills, market turbulence, run failures, lawsuits as well as legislative and regulatory changes. It is in these situations that CFAB’s true value and expertise are apparent. CFAB not only has survived (when many doubted it could) CFAB has thrived. Although not a large institution, it has made possible the success of countless small – and mostly family owned – Alaska businesses. It was (30) thirty years ago-April 2, 1980-that the Alaska Commercial Fishing and Agriculture Bank (CFAB) opened its doors for business. The result of several years of planning and legislation, it was originally created to provide rational and effective financing to Alaska’s commercial fishing and agriculture industries, expanding to include tourism and other resource based businesses in 2000. Formed to address the shortage of financing available to these industries, the Legislature sought to provide a private-sector, industry owned and controlled credit institution. They settled on a “cooperative” patterned after the successful Farm Credit system. As a cooperative CFAB member/borrowers are its owners, and have a vote for and can serve on its Board of Directors. Also as an owner they share in its profits through dividends and patronage payments. By statute CFAB lends exclusively to Alaskan residents and is the only private lender authorized to use limited entry permits for collateral. Its Borrowers, in general, are individuals or businesses, who have demonstrated that they are competent financial managers and have achieved a level of stability in their financial affairs. CFAB’s Borrowers are comprised of farmers, fishers, processors, tour operators, charter boat operators, lodge
Electronic Charts
Over the years it has learned how to deal with the uncertainties of the industries it serves in a rational and non-destructive, but effective way. CFAB takes great pride in its ability to be flexible and work with member/borrowers during times of economic stress. After residing in the same location for its first twenty eight years, in 2008 CFAB moved into its own building across from Lake Hood at 3040 Lakeshore Drive, Anchorage. Throughout its existence CFAB has been fortunate to have a dedicated Board and Staff. This, in addition to the commitment of its membership, has made CFAB the stable, financially strong lender it is today, serving the commercial fishing, agriculture, tourism and natural resource industries of Alaska. All of us at CFAB appreciate the opportunity to serve our fellow Alaskans and are anxiously looking forward to the next 30 years. For more information contact CFAB at (800) 544-2228 or (907) 276-2007 (in Anchorage) or through their website at www.cfabalaska.com.
Enjoy a “BUSMAN’S HOLIDAY” in Astoria, Oregon Sept 18-19, Pier I, Port of Astoria
Ele Electronic Charts (ECC) has released a new re regulatory add-on for the ECC-GLOBE navigation sof software system. Stat Area is a chart layer add-on s that shows the Alaska Statistical Reporting Areas an numbers. Stat Area joins the Stellar Sea lion outlines and Rookeries and the Essential Fish Habitat — ECC’s other regulatory add-ons. Stat Area was created to help ground fishers, crabbers and anyone else who uses eLandings as part of their reporting requirements. Stat Area was created at the request of a fishing vessel master who was having a difficult time accurately recording statistical areas required for eLandings filings. Working with the fisherman and regulatory agencies, ECC developed an add-on that shows the Statistical areas on the chart screen — making it extremely easy to see which Statistical Reporting Area the vessel is fishing in and when a vessel crosses from one statistical area to the next. By using marks you can easily record the percentage of the catch taken in each statistical area. Other advantages include easy marking of Statistical Reporting Areas that have been closed, easy marking of areas that the vessel wants to avoid fishing due to excessive bycatch and areas that cannot be fished due to quota limits. Contact your marine electronics dealer for more information — or call ECC at 206-282-4990 or 1-800-488-3459.
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E the Captain Phil Harris Highliner Enter Competition! The competition runs C contestants through a grueling series of commercial fishing related tasks that include stacking seven 100 lb. crab pots, coiling crab line, net mending, a buddy rescue using a 175 lb. firefighter dummy, r aand concluding with slugging down a brew (rootbeer). (rootbeer The clock stops when he finishes the brew slapped by a barmaid. and is slap Last year AAstoria commercial fisherman Mike Giles won both the Highliner for his class and overall Highliner H earning earnin him $1000 in cash plus hundreds of dollars in pprizes from Englund Marine Industrial Supply and Grundéns. The Festival’s mission is to offer fishermen and industry professionals an opportunity to bond and share information that will save lives, improve productivity, increase demand for seafood products, and promote job opportunities. The mission is also dedicated to educating the public about the fishing industry including the steps fishermen have taken to ensure a renewable resource for the future. The Commercial Fishermen’s Festival is the biggest most informative fun-filled commercial fishing celebration in the region. Witness a search and rescue helicopter demonstration by the US Coast Guard and see historic and modern fishing equipment worth millions of dollars. Festivities include demos, industry sales, food, music, crafts, culinary stage with celebrity chefs, beer garden and a kid’s area for a fun actionpacked weekend. Visit www.commercialfishermensfestival.com or call: 503-325-1010.
IceMachines for Gillnetters NavNet 3D Becomes the Most Versatile Chart Plotter, with the Addition of “C-Map by Jeppesen” Charts Coming early this spring, NavNet 3D will further expand its chart versatility with the addition of “C-Map by Jeppesen” MapMedia charts. These new vector charts will be available worldwide, with the East Coast & Bahamas being released first, and the rest of North America to follow shortly thereafter. NavNet 3D will be the only chart plotter on the market providing users the ability to choose from pre-loaded official NOAA raster and vector charts, or optional “C-Map by Jeppesen” and “Datacore by Navionics” (outside U.S.) vector cartography. To top it off, all of these chart formats are easily viewed in traditional 2D or incredible 3D, using NavNet 3D’s patented TimeZero technology. Being able to display all of these different chart formats and letting the user choose what they want, is another first brought to you by NavNet 3D. This may be one small step for NavNet 3D, but it certainly places it one giant leap in front of all other chart plotters. For more information on the new charts for NavNet 3D or Furuno’s full line of award winning marine electronics, visit Furuno U.S.A.’s Web site at www.FurunoUSA.com.
Icom Creates Unique, Smart Class B Transponder AIS (Automatic Identification System) is a marine safety tool that has quickly grown in use, especially as shipping lanes have become busier. Until recently, AIS has been used primarily by commercial shipping. With the introduction of the MA-500TR AIS transponder, a Class B transponder for non-SOLAS vessels, owners of leisure and small craft can benefit from this safety technology. The MA-500TR is a compact, waterproof Class B AIS transponder that actively notifies other vessels of your exact position. The MA-500TR also has a dual channel receiver allowing boat owners to receive AIS information (both Class A and Class B AIS signals) on two channels simultaneously. This real-time information is then displayed on its large, backlit full dot-matrix display giving the boat owner real-time vessel traffic information thus aiding navigation and collision avoidance. The MA-500TR has several collision-risk management functions. It identifies a target list (those in a local area), dangerous list (those you could potentially collide with) and what the closest point of approach is. A collision alarm and external alarm connection to optional external audio equipment gives the boat owner extra warning of potential impact. The MA-500TR is an affordable alternative that will look great in any installation, offering a complete nav + com station that is easy to set up and use. For more information, please contact our National Marine Division Manager David McLain at 443-486-2211or davidmclain@icomamerica.com. To learn more about Icom, please visit www.icomamerica.com!
The preservation of catch has never been more important for the fishing industry than right now. Competition is tough and customers demand the best quality right out of the water. Chilling fish with ice immediately as it comes on board is a proven method for maintaining quality. The BUUS Flake Icemachines, represented in the US over the last 15 years by Highland Refrigeration in Seattle, have been specifically designed to accommodate the needs for on board flake ice production, allowing fishermen independence of ice suppliers. The smallest, self-contained true marine type SM flake icemachine produces up to 1450 lbs/24h (1 lb per minute) of dry, subcooled (220F) free flowing seawater or freshwater ice. This amount will supply cooling for 7200 lbs of fish from 600F to 320F. The ice can be made in advance and stored. The icemachine weighs approximately 150 lbs, draws 3,5 kW and needs hook up only to a 220V single phase power and to the water for ice production. The unit is air cooled, allowing the system to sit dry on shore. Dimensions are only 43 x 27 x 22. The unit may be installed outdoors. Hundreds of these machines have proven their reliability in the industry over many years. Highland Refrigeration supplies self contained BUUS icemachines up to 11t/24h and BUUS Industrial Flake icemachine marine and shore based up to 75T/24h. Highland Refrigeration is a Marine and Industrial Refrigeration Company with 20 employees, mechanical engineering department service engineers and a large parts inventory (available 24/7), located in Fishermen’s Terminal, Seattle, WA.
IMTRA IM MTR TO DISTRIBUTE NORSAP CHAIRS Imttra, th Imtra, the leading manufacturer and importer of quality marine prod ducts, is the distribution partner for NorSap, the prominent products, Norw Norwegian manufacturer of helmsman and operator chairs. Imt will stock, sell and support NorSap chairs in the American Imtra com commercial marine market. NorSap customers will benefit from Im mtra’s renowned customer support, knowledgeable staff and Imtra’s timely service. Kenneth Aas, export sales manager, NorSap commented, “Demand for our helmsman and operator chairs is growing and we feel confident that our partnership with Imtra will not only provide a domestic contact for orders, inventory and support, but will provide the level of service that is consistent with the quality of our commercial chairs.” NorSap’s chairs are well-suited for a variety of vessels including: supply ships, fishing and pilot boats, passenger ferries, cruise ships and tugboats. Constructed principally of aluminum to minimize weight and maximize corrosion resistance, the chairs offer correct ergonomic form and function to provide operators and pilots a platform to perform their work in comfort and ease, while minimizing discomfort and overall fatigue. Imtra will stock the NorSap 800 series models, as well as the 1000 and 1500 series models including their control and joystick options. In addition, Imtra will support orders for the purposebuilt NorSap 1700 series and higher models that are designed to an individual customer’s specifications to provide the ultimate in customized functional control. For more information on NorSap helmsman and operator chairs, Imtra or its entire marine product line, please contact 508-995-7000 or visit www.imtra.com.
“What's New” is a service of Pacific Fishing's Advertising Department. Contact Diane Sandvik at (206) 962-9315 for more information. WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM
APRIL 2010
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PACIFIC FISHING market focus Advertisers Index Alaska Air Cargo ................................................................. 48 Alaska Boats and Permits................................................ 43 Alaska Division of Investments..................................... 10 Alaskan Quota & Permits ................................................ 41 Black Pearl IFQ Fisheries .................................................. 43 Cascade Engine Center.................................................... 22 Coastal Marine Engine, Inc. ............................................ 43 Copper River Boat & Permits, LLC ................................ 11 Cummins Northwest ........................................................ 25 Dana F. Besecker Co .......................................................... 36 Dantrawl ..................................................................................8 Delta Western ........................................................................6 Diesel America West ......................................................... 37 Dock Street Brokers .......................................................... 39 First Bank .............................................................................. 44 FloScan .................................................................................. 44 Foss Shipyard ..................................................................7, 36 Fremont Maritime Services, Inc. ................................... 18 Gibbons & Associates, P.S. .............................................. 37 Hans Johnson ..................................................................... 42 Highland Refrigeration .......................................................9 Hockema & Whalen Associates..................................... 37 Inlet Fish Producers .......................................................... 16 Jackson, Morgan & Hunt ................................................. 37 Kodiak Boatyard ................................................................. 26 KVH Industries .................................................................... 17 Law Office of Paul L. Anderson, PLLC ......................... 37 LFS, Inc................................................................................... 14 Lynden Transport .............................................................. 47 M&L Research ..................................................................... 39 MARCO Global .................................................................... 45 MER Equipment ................................................................. 36 Mikkelborg Law Offices ................................................... 37 Mill Log Equipment Co., Inc. .......................................... 36 Net Systems/Stormline/Garware ................................. 27 Norm Pillen .......................................................................... 39 Northport Fisheries........................................................... 36 NPFVOA................................................................................. 42 NW Farm Credit Services ................................................ 40 Osborne Propellers Ltd.................................................... 37 Pacific West Refrigeration ............................................... 12 Petro Marine Services ...................................................... 21 PROMENS ............................................................................. 19 Rigby Marine ....................................................................... 36 Ryco Equipment................................................................. 15 Seabrooke Enterprises LLC............................................. 42 Seattle Marine & Fishing Supply Co. ........................... 28 Silver Horde Fishing Supplies ....................................... 37 Spurs Line & Net Cutter Systems.................................. 46 The Nor-Fishing Foundation ......................................... 13 The Permit Master ............................................... 38, 40, 41 Tom Pope, Marine Surveyor........................................... 37 Vancouver Shipyards........................................................ 23 Viking Net Supply .............................................................. 36 Viking Spirit ......................................................................... 42 Warren L. Junes Ltd. .......................................................... 37 WESMAR- Western Marine Electronics....................... 20 Wrangell Boatshop ........................................................... 37
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Bellingham (Tony) Office 360-676-1606 Cell 360-739-3656
PACIFIC FISHING market focus www.osbornepropellers.com
Professional Services
Tom Pope ams #881 Marine Surveyor
since 1935
Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors
Specialists in Marine Propeller Design, Manufacture and Repair
360-452-3455 Email: popsurvey@aol.com
1865 Spicer Road, North Vancouver, BC, V7H 2V2 Bus 604-929-8407 Fax 604-929-7121
Survey appointments now being scheduled for: Early May in Juneau & Sitka Early June in Ketchikan, Wrangell, and Petersburg
props@osbornepropellers.com
(No travel charges for these dates)
Serving the West Coast commercial fleets since 1967
LAW OFFICES OF MIKKELBORG, BROZ, WELLS & FRYER, PLLC
Hockema & Whalen Associates Naval Architects • Marine Engineers
Fishing Vessels Tug & Barge Dredging Floating Cranes Cargo & Misc. New Vessels Conversions Stability Analysis
“Serving the Maritime Community for 43 years.” Representing clients in all maritime actions including: • Maritime Contracts & Shipyard Disputes • Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith • Maritime Casualties & Salvage • Business Formation & Transactions HYDRAULIC AND MACHINE WKS.
Splice King Power Block All Stainless Construction Greaseable Seal Built into Hub to Protect Motor Shaft Direct Drive Tapered Shaft Char-Lynn Motors Stainless Backup Plate Fully Adjustable Stainless Peelers Stainless Sheaves Stainless Hub 6 Sizes Available
Gibbons & Associates, P.S.
Contact: Jess G. Webster 1001 Fourth Avenue Suite 3600 Seattle, Washington 98154 (206) 623-5890 Fax: (206) 623-0965 jgwebster@mikkelborg.com www.mikkelborg.com
Over 25 years experience
Jackson, Morgan & Hunt, PLLC
LINE COILER ALSO AVAILABLE
P.O. BOX 385 ASTORIA, OR 97103 (503) 325-0630 FAX (503) 325-0534 1-800-425-0630
5450 Leary Avenue NW #252 Tel: 206 365 0919 Seattle WA 98107 E-mail: boatstuff@hockema.com
Gibbons & Associates, P.S. 4123 California Ave SW #101
email svg@gibbonslawgroup.com www.jmhseattle.com
Covered Railways — Fiberglass, wood and metal professionals for all your vessel repair and maintenance. (907) 874-4669 Wrangell, AK
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APRIL 2010
PACIFICFISHING 37
PACIFIC FISHING classifieds
THE PERMIT MASTER IFQs • VESSELS • PERMITS EXCEPTIONAL FULL SERVICE BROKERAGE — PERMITS — —IFQ— EXCEPTIONAL “FULL” SERVICE BROKERAGE SAMPLES ANY# “B/C” SE BCOD UNBLKD @ WANTED ANY# “B/C” WY BCOD UNBLKD @ WANTED ANY# “A/B/C” CG BCOD UN/BLKD @ WANTED 8,000# “B” WG BCOD BLKD @ $11 4,000# “A” AI BCOD BLKD @ $3 4,000# “A” AI BCOD BLKD @ LEASE 30,000# “B” BS BCOD BLKD @ $4.50 1,500# “D” 2C HAL BLKD @ $20.50 ANY# “C” 2C HAL BLKD @ WANTED ANY# “B/C” 3A HAL UN/BLKD @ WANTED ANY# “B” 3B HAL UN/BLKD @ WANTED 9,500# “B“ 4A HAL BLKD @ $12 15,000# “C” 4A HAL UNBLKD @ $14 ANY# “B/C” 4B HAL UN/BLKD @ WANTED 25,000# “B” 4C HAL UNBLKD @ $15 NEW LISTINGS DAILY. CALL FOR QUOTES OR CHECK OUT OUR COMPLETE LIST ON THE WEB
HERRING SITKA SEINE .................... WANTED PWS SEINE ...................... WANTED COOK INLET SEINE ...................N/A KODIAK SEINE ....................... $32K SE GILLNET ........................... $16K KODIAK GILLNET ................... $10K NORTON SOUND ..................... $2K HOONAH POUND ............. WANTED CRAIG POUND ................. WANTED PWS POUND .............................N/A SALMON S.E. DRIFT.............................. $60K PWS DRIFT ...................... WANTED COOK INLET DRIFT ............. $25.5K COOK INLET SET ................ $12.5K AREA M DRIFT ..................... $105K BBAY DRIFT ........................... $89K BBAY SET............................... $30K SE SEINE................................ $80K PWS SEINE ............................ $90K KODIAK SEINE ....................... $29K CHIGNIK SEINE ...................... $90K AREA M SEINE ....................... $65K
KOTZEBUE GILLNET ................ $5K POWER TROLL ...................... $31K HAND TROLL ......................... $10K PUGET SOUND DRIFT............ $16K PUGET SOUND SEINE............ $80K SHELLFISH SE DUNGY 300 POT..................N/A SE DUNGY 225 POT............... $40K SE DUNGY 150 POT............... $26K SE POT SHRIMP .................... $16K SE TANNER ............................ $65K SE RED .................................. $85K SE RED/TANNER .................... $85K SE RED/BRN .................... WANTED KODIAK TANNER.................... $29K PUGET S CRAB ........ $75K W/POTS DIVE SE GEODUCK ......................... $80K SE CUCUMBER ...................... $11K MISC. CAL LOBSTER ........................ $62K CAL SPOT PRAWN ........... WANTED CAL SQUID ...................... WANTED CAL SQUID LITE BOAT........... $70K CAL SWORDFISH GILLNET.... $20K
LISTINGS WANTED!!! IFQ: ALL AREAS BOATS: ALL KINDS PERMITS: ALL TYPES JOIN OUR LIST OF SATISFIED CUSTOMERS. CALL TODAY. BUYERS ARE WAITING.
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PARTIAL LIST/CALL IF YOU DON’T SEE IT!
P1748M – 58' FIBERGLASS SEINER/LONGLINER, KTA 1150M CUMMINS MAIN, PERKINS AUX, W/ HYRAULICS OFF BOTH ENGINES. PACKS HONEST 100K SALMON BELOW DECKS. ACCOMODATIONS FOR 7, SEPARATE HEAD AND SHOWER. ADMEASURE DONE, BOAT HAS ALREADY FISHED IN U.S. $399K.
P1754M – 34' BRANKO BOAT, VOLVO MAIN, TWIN DISC GEAR, COMPLETE ELECTRONICS, LOADS OF SPARES, 4 NETS FOR AREA M. TURNKEY PACKAGE, READY TO GO, REDUCED TO $140K FOR BOAT, GEAR AND AREA M PERMIT. BOAT AND GEAR $45K.
P1764M – CUSTOM 38' ROBERTS TROLLER, ECONOMICAL, LOW HOUR JOHN DEERE, TWIN DISC GEAR, ALL ALUMINUM RIGGING, CRAB BLOCK, GREAT LIVEABOARD CABIN, FURUNO RADAR, PLOTTER AND COLOR SOUNDER, LAPTOP W/NOBLETEC INTERPHASE W/COMNAV PILOT. EXCELLENT CONDITION, READY TO GO FISHING. ASKING $110K.
P1771M – 32' AMERICAN COMMERCIAL, 3208T CAT MAIN, 506 TWIN DISC GEAR, ARTICULATING REEL W/AUTO LEVELWIND, COMPLETE ELECTRONICS INCLUDING AUTO PILOT. VERY WELL MAINTAINED. NEW INSULATED HOLDS FOR SLUSH. NEW RUNNING GEAR. NEW JABSCO. ASKING $65K.
P1772M – ALL AMERICAN BOW/STERNPICKER, TWIN 400HP CUMMINS, PITTS CLUTCHES DRIVING 291 HAMILTONS, 7.5 TON IMS RSW, COMPLETE ELECTRONICS. AVAILABLE AFTER 2010 SEASON. ASKING $200K.
P1774M – 32 X 13 ALUCRAFT, 3208T CAT, NARROW REEL W/AUTO LEVELWIND, ALL HYDRAULIC HOSES NEW IN ‘07, ALL NEW BRAILERS, PROPANE STOVE, DIESEL HEATER, NEW FRIDGE. COMPLETE ELECTRONICS. VERY WELL MAINTAINED W/ANNUAL UPGRADES. ASKING $105K.
P1776M – 1982 MARCO 32, 1990 3208T CAT W/3500 HOURS, ARTICULATING REEL W/LEVELWIND, 2 GARMIN GPS, GARMIN SOUNDER, WATCH ALARM. VERY WELL MAINTAINED. BOAT COMES WITH 13 - 50 FATH SHACKLES, 11 WITH NEW WEB. BOAT AND GEAR ASKING $115K.
P1781M - 32' DANIELS STERNPICKER, 6-71 GMC, SLIDING REEL W/LEVELWIND, NEW HYDRAULIC PUMP AND VALVE, GARMINS, NEW STOVE, NEW FRIDGE, HEAD W/SHOWER. WELL MAINTAINED, READY TO GO. ASKING $74K.
CALL FOR A COMP L E T E L I S T O F V E S S E L S F O R S AL E
IN C L U D IN G MA NY BOAT/PERM IT PACKAGES
Toll Free: 888-588-1001 ONLINE @ www.permitmaster.com
Email: vessels@permitmaster.com Fax: 360-293-4180 4302 Whistle Lake Rd • Anacortes, WA 98221
PACIFIC FISHING classifieds PACIFIC FISHING classifieds FOR SALE: 60 tubs dogfish/cod gear, 70 tubs halibut gear, 20 anchors, 14 flagpoles,chute, 12 buoys, gurdy, herring seine,10 “ herring pump, powerskiff-6 cyl ford with nozzle, salmon seines 5.75, 8.75. ph 604-241-0594
Need great CREW? Use AlaskaCrewFinder.com to help fill your open positions: • FREE Job Postings! • FREE Resume Searches! • FREE Company Profile!
FOR SALE 45 ft. glass Sunnfjord longliner/troller: 6552 lb. 2C-C Halibut quota, Choice beachfront cabin/property in Port Alexander, Alaska. Boat (only): $130,000. Contact (907) 738-8294.
ALASKA FISHING INDUSTRY JOBS Use AlaskaJobFinder.com to help you land your next position – deckhands, engineers, mates, captains, processors, cooks, management, etc. Try it FREE at: www.AlaskaJobFinder.com/trial
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58' Delta. F/V Cape Reliant is ready to fish your ifq’s in 2008. Safe and reliable. Flexible schedule/ terms. Call (907) 518-1652 or (907) 772-3737 or dispatch: 0703 or Sat. phone: (866) 621-8890.
Dock Street Brokers TE9-002 99’x21’x8.4’ Tender built in 1943. Cat 379 main. GM 671 50 kw generator. 50 ton RSW BB9-020 32’ Bristol Bay jet boat system. 185,000# capacity. Asking with RSW built by Raider in 1989. Volvo TAMD 71B 380 hp main $220,000. with 1,675 hours on rebuild. 20 kts cruise, 30 kts top speed. Asking HALIBUT IFQ 3A-B-B: 5,500 lbs.....asking $24.00 $95,000. 3A-C-B: 2,500 lbs.....asking $25.00 Selling your boat? 3B-B-U: 7,000 lbs.....asking $20.00 Low 5% Commission 3B-B-U: 3,500 lbs.....asking $20.00 3B-C-B: 3,000 lbs.....asking $17.00 Call Today! (800) 683-0297 3B-C-B: 12,500 lbs.....asking $17.00 4A-B-U: 60,000 lbs.....asking $16.00 4A-B-B: 7,500 lbs.....asking $15.00 4A-C-U: 20,000 lbs.... asking $15.00 4A-C-B: 10,000 lbs.....asking $12.00 4B-B-B: 7,000 lbs.....asking $10.00 4B-B-B: 4,500 lbs.......asking $9.50 4C-C-U: 27,000 lbs.....asking $15.00 4D-B-B: 6,000 lbs.....asking $12.00 4D-B-B: 2,500 lbs......asking $11.00 CH9-018 50’x14’x5’ charter vessel SABLEFISH IFQ built by Rawson in 1963. John AI-B-U: 60,000 lbs......asking $3.00 Deere 12.5 liter 450 hp main. Twin BS-A-U: 100,000 lbs....asking $7.00 Disk 2.5 to 1 gear. Northern Lights BS-B-B: 10,000 lbs....asking $16.00 5 kw generator. COI good for 49 WG-C-B: 2,700 lbs.......asking $8.50 passengers and 3 crew. Must sell!! WG-C-B: 2,500 lbs.....asking $7.50 Make offer.
F/V Nancy Ellen is available to catch Halibut Quota in areas 3B, 4A and 4B. Interested parties please call Byron or Paula at (907) 359-3655 or (907) 246-8510. Or email: singley_inc@yahoo.com.
(206)789-5101 (800)683-0297
58 ft Delta, New L.P. paint, New U.H.M.W. guards and cap rails, new tail shaft, new intermediate shaft, new bearings, new John Deere aux., rebuilt refrigeration, A.M. Aluminum 8” boom w/slider, 28” Marco powerblock with tire and swivel, new Valvoil hydraulic valves, two new picking booms, new #8, two #4’s, and vanging pullmaster winches, new air boot p.t.o., newer electronics. Asking $800,000; contact Tom at (310)505-8194.
CR9-012 99.5’x34’ crabber/tender, built in 1978 by Bender, sponsoned 10’ in 1999. Cat 398 main rated at 850 hp, completely rebuilt in 2009. Asking $850,000.
BOAT FOR SALE LOA 95’; Beam 25’; Gross Tons 160; Net Tons 48. Built in Bayou Labatre, AL. Year 1999; Engine CAT-3412; H.P. 671; Auxiliary CAT-3056. Price: $450,000 USD. Location: Ensenada, B.C. Mexico. Recently hauled (February) new paint ,new zincs and clean! Contact Luis Castaneda at: 484 Bonito Ave., Imperial Beach, CA 91932 USA. Or email: luis_castava@hotmail.com.
RS9-003 39’x14’x6.6’ research/ gillnet sternpicker built by AlumaTech in 1991. Twin Volvo mains rated at 260 hp each. 37 knot top speed. 12” aluminum A-frame and gillnet reel and power roller included. Asking $165,000.
Come see us at www.dockstreetbrokers.com WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM
APRIL 2010
PACIFICFISHING 39
PACIFIC FISHING classifieds Boats/Permits/IFQs
Alaska Entry Permit Prices (as of 4-1-10) Species
Spend your time looking for fish. Not financing. We Finance t 1FSNJUT t 3FBM FTUBUF t 7FTTFMT t &RVJQNFOU t 3FQPXFST t 0QFSBUJOH MJOFT PG DSFEJU t :PVOH BOE CFHJOOJOH GJTIFSNBO
800.372.0112 farm-credit.com/fisheries
Fishery
SALMON S SE DRIFT S PWS DRIFT S COOK INLET DRIFT S AREA M DRIFT S BRISTOL BAY DRIFT S SE SEINE S PWS SEINE S COOK INLET SEINE S KODIAK SEINE S CHIGNIK SEINE S AREA M SEINE S COOK INLET SET S AREA M SET NET S BRISTOL SET NET S LOWER YUKON S POWER TROLL S HAND TROLL HERRING H SE GILLNET H KODIAK GILLNET H SITKA SEINE H PWS SEINE H COOK INLET SEINE H KODIAK SEINE H SE POUND SOUTH H SE POUND NORTH H PWS POUND SHELLFISH S SE DUNGY 75 POT S SE DUNGY 150 POT S SE DUNGY 225 POT S SE DUNGY 300 POT S SE POT SHRIMP S KODIAK TANNER <60 S PUGET SOUND DUNGY S WASHINGTON DUNGY S OREGON DUNGY S CALIFORNIA DUNGY SE ALASKA DIVE SE AK Dive URCHIN SE AK Dive CUCUMBER SE AK Dive GEODUCK
Asking Price*
Offer*
State Value*
60+ 120 25 105 89+ 75 90+ 17 29+ 90 59.5 12.5 50 30+ 11 31 10+
53 11025 102 8575 75 17 28 49 50 12 N/A 29.5+ 10 30 9
53+ 110.6+ 25.895.5 85.3+ 70.576.2+ 16.9 27.8+ 70.8 69.710.7+ 51.3 27+ 9.1 29.99.7-
165.5 N/A 44.5 19 32+ 1765 4+
124 500 30 15 N/A 16 60 3
14.7 4.3 290 10.3 9.3 21.3+ 18.967+ 3.6-
16 25 40 70 16 30 70+ 1,500-2,750/FT+ 1,500-3,000/FT+ 400-1,200/FT
15 16.3 N/A 31.6 35 42.1 60 65 16+ 13.3+ 25 23.8 67+ N/A 1,000-2,500/FT+ N/A 1,000-2,500/FT N/A 300-1,000/FT N/A
5 11 80
N/A 10 73
3.8 10.8 73.6
Prices in APRIL vary in accordance with market conditions.* in thousands + denotes an increase from last month. N/A denotes No Activity. – denotes a decrease from last month.
By Mike Painter and the Permit Master Gillnet: Interest in Bay permits quieted down even more through February. Permits were available in the high $80s, but offers were down to mid $80s. Interest in set net permits for the Bay picked up slightly in the last month. Asking prices moved to $30k+. Activity in SE permits slowed, but fewer permits available looked like prices might firm up in the high $50s. PWS permits were still available around $120k, but recent offers were just $110k. Cook Inlet permits were still trading in the mid to upper $20s. Interest in Area M permits was down with permits available @ $110k. Seine: SE permits were holding in the mid to upper $70s. Activity in PWS permits continued to be slow for a second month in a row. Kodiak permits were available right around $30k, with little activity for February. And the market for Area M remained quiet. Troll: Power Troll permits were still in the low $30s, with a steady supply. Hand troll permits were trending up slightly to $10k or a little more. Crab/Shrimp: Puget Sound crab permits were still selling in February. Recent sales were in the mid to upper $60s. A few crab permits for the lower coast were coming on the market. Prices for 500 pot permits for Oregon/Washington were $2,500 - $3,000/ft.
40 PACIFICFISHING
APRIL 2010
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BOX score
PACIFIC FISHING classifieds
Halibut & Sablefish IFQ Prices
Boats/Permits/IFQs
Recent market activity in halibut and sablefish quota shares
Species
Status Regulatory Vessel Poundage (blocked/ Area Category* (thousands) unblocked)
Ask
Offer
(per pound) Low High
(per pound) Low High
H
2C
D
1-10
B
20.00-24.00
18.00-22.00
H
2C
C/B
1-3
B
20.00-23.00
19.00-21.00
H
2C
C/B
4-10
B
23.00-25.00
21.00-22.00
H
2C
C/B
ANY
U
25.00-26.00
22.00-23.00
H
2C
A
B/U
N/A
21.00
H
3A
D
B/U
18.00-22.00
17.00-20.00
H
3A
C/B
1-5
B
20.00-22.00
18.00-21.00
H
3A
C/B
5-10
B
21.00-22.00
19.00-21.00
H
3A
C/B
>10
B
22.00-23.00
20.00-22.00
H
3A
C/B
>10
U
23.00-24.00
22.00-23.00
H
3A
A
B/U
28.00
24.00
H
3B
D
B
15.00-18.00
13.00-15.00
H
3B
C/B
1-10
B
17.00-20.00
17.00-18.50
H
3B
C/B
>10
B
20.00-23.00
17.00-19.00
H
3B
C/B
>10
U
20.00-23.00
18.00-19.00
H
3B
A
B/U
N/A
22.00
H
4A
D
B/U
11.00-14.00
10.00-11.00
H
4A
C/B
1-10
B
11.00-13.00
10.00-12.00
H
4A
C/B
>10
B
12.00-14.00
10.00-12.00
H
4A
C/B
>10
U
14.00-18.00
13.00-15.00
H
4B/C/D
C/B
1-10
B
9.50-13.00
7.00-9.00
H
4B/C/D
C/B
>10
B/U
11.00-15.00
9.00-11.00
S
SE
C/B
1-10
B
18.00-21.00
18.00-20.00
>10
U
21.00
2000-21.00
B/U
22.00
22.00 18.00-20.00
S
SE
C/B
S
SE
A
S
WY
C/B
1-10
B
18.00-20.00
S
WY
C/B
>10
U
20.00-21.00
20.00-21.00
S
WY
A
B/U
21.00
21.00
S
CG
C/B
1-10
B
15.00-18.00
14.00-17.00
S
CG
C/B
>10
B/U
17.00-19.00
16.00-18.00
S
CG
A
B/U
20.00
20.00
S
WG
C/B
1-10
B
7.50-10.00
7.00-8.00
S
WG
C/B
>10
B
10.00-11.00
7.00-9.00
S
WG
C/B/A
>10
U
13.00-15.00
12.00-14.00
S
AI
C/B/A
B/U
1.25-5.00
1.00-2.50
S
BS
C/B
B/U
2.00-5.00
2.00-4.00
S
BS
A
B/U
7.00-9.00
5.00
Alaskan
Quota & Permits â&#x20AC;&#x153;Working hard for fishermen so they can go do what they do best, fish.â&#x20AC;? Keeping our finger on the pulse of the ever changing â&#x20AC;&#x153;fair market valueâ&#x20AC;? of your commercial fishing assets is our business, contrar y to a â&#x20AC;&#x153;quick saleâ&#x20AC;? mindset. In 2010 lean on the experience of a company who has a proven track record for
*Vessel Categories:
A = freezer boats B = over 60â&#x20AC;&#x2122; C = 35â&#x20AC;&#x2122;-60â&#x20AC;&#x2122; D = < 35â&#x20AC;&#x2122;
quality ser vice, integrity and your best
NOTE: Halibut prices reflect net weight, sablefish round weight. Pricing for leased shares is expressed as a percentage of gross proceeds. ** Too few to characterize.
By Mike Painter and the Permit Master
interest at hear t. We are just a phone call away!
1-888-347-4437 Offers for 2C and 3A Halibut quota continued to increase, up at least a $1/lb in most sizes. Asking prices for new listings were going up also. Still not much change in 3B and 4A pricing. Starting ex-vessel prices look to be decent, so demand for quota should continue to push prices for quota up. Blackcod quota for SE, WY and CG continues to get snapped up as soon as it hits the market. There are hardly any sellers, so buyers jump on anything that comes along.
4"-&4 t 163$)"4&4 t 53"%&4 %*''*$6-5 53"/4'&34 &45"5&4 t -*&/4 t &9$)"/(&4 t .6-5* 1"35: 53"/4"$5*0/4 t -&"4&4
www.alaskabroker.com Close working relationships with Various Divisions of State and Federal Government, Lending and Banking Institutions, Attorneys & 1031 Facilitators. WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM
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APRIL 2010
Â&#x2026; PACIFICFISHING Â&#x2026; 41
PACIFIC FISHING classifieds
FV Carlynn is available to harvest halibut in areas 2c, 3a, and 3b. Black cod in areas SE, WY, and CG. Flexible rates and scheduling good references. All #1 fish and best prices at time of delivery. Please call to plan for ’09 and beyond. Rob at (907) 321-0486 or (907) 364-3813.
Seabrooke Enterprises LLC, owners of F/V Seabrooke, are interested in LEASING CRAB QUOTA. We offer: skipper (father/ son team) with over 30 years of combined experience; vessel professionally operated/managed, above average catch history, exceptionally well-maintained (hauled every two years), economical to operate with all Caterpillar power, current survey on request, competitive harvest rates, desire to stay actively involved in fisheries. If you are interested in LEASING CRAB QUOTA, please contact us: office (541) 938-3542, (509) 522-5252; cell (509) 520-0911, (509) 200-9508; fax (541) 938-8164; email kcampbell3542@charter.net.
F/V Quik Set-32x13, 1987 Alucraft BBay sternpicker. 3208T Cat diesel with approx. 6000 hrs. HD hydraulics, narrow drum w/ auto levelwind. Packs 18000+ under hatches. Exceptional maintenance of boat-equipment by same owner for 13 years. Turn key with many recent upgrades. Owner will help commission for 2010 season. Call Brad at 253-261-5340 or 253-852-5513 wk. for pictures/specifics. Located Dillingham, Ak. 105K
F/V TRADITION 58' x 21' Tradition will fish your halibut and blackcod IFQs, April through September. Outstanding experienced crew with great catch record. We catch ‘em fast and always target the best grade. We shop for the hightest prices, traveling the distance when needed. VERY competitive rates. Call Blake (503) 440-1523 (please leave message).
click www
com
Home of FOR SALE OR LEASE 54' F/V Kodiak Sockeye. PWS Market and Permit Holder willing to go aboard. Call (360) 379-5650 or harderpaul@hotmail.com.
Updated weekdays for your reading pleasure
37' Fiberglass Troller/combo
Harvest your A, B, or C IFQ’s on the F/V Expatriate
A fully equipped and well maintained 58’ Delta. Experienced captain and crew with a reputation for quality; best markets for your catch. Buyer references available.
Call 907-772-4856 weekdays OR mobile 602-320-9050
FISH WITH THE VIKING! Maximize your IFQ return on the F/V Viking Spirit
Economical Isuzu Diesel, electronics, exceptionally tidy, streamlined and turnkey. Email for pictures. Located in Victoria BC — short walk from the Seattle/Port Angeles ferry. $69K/obo — cfvironmaiden@shaw.ca — (250) 642-3551.
F/V SARSEN 53' ketch rigged motor sailer. Price $210,000 cash or trade. Boat built 1994 Port Townsend, Skookum mold, Blue Water boat. Engine 6-71 Detroit, 36inch prop, FG construction. Fish hold: 28,000 lbs., frozen 25 minus. 2,000+ gal. fuel, sails perfect condition, Northern Lights gen. 121/2 kW, all electronics, top brands, VHF, radar, weather fax, low-freq. radio, autopilot, GPS. Worked tuna three years, bottom painted and checked every season. Selling due to other business, no time to fish. Phone Capt. Mark Pratt, (pager) (206) 595-3146 or F.W. Pratt, (406) 671-5080. Boat in Ilwaco, WA.
• Mustad Autobaiter • Great sea boat w/shelter deck • Outstanding crew • Can meet or beat any rates
Call Pete (425) 205-0996 FOR SALE WOOD SEINER BUILT IN 1963, SEATTLE 54' X 16' wide, 3306 Cat — rebuilt 3 years ago. Big packer, holds 70,000 lbs. Excellent hydraulics, electronics. Lots of recent work — comes with 4 strip S.E. Seine and 2 power blocks. Asking $85,000 OBO. For more info, contact Dan Marsden at (907) 617-5918. FOR SALE Togiak Herring Seine and Skiff. $5500 OBO. Seine hung by Jack & Joe of Bellingham. 50% web hung in. Good shape. Skiff 16’ fiberglass Olsen. Needs outboard motor. Ph# 360-951-6058 Fish double drift permit in Bristol Bay. I have permit and experience in BB and Prince William Sound. You have boat and Bristol Bay permit too. Call Kirk at (206) 533-3405.
FOR SALE Three Hamilon 321 jet pumps for sale. Each unit comes with two impellers (valued at 5K apiece new). Each unit has been totally gone thru and rebuilt. Spare impeller is new for each unit, impeller in the pumps are rebuilt. Each unit is in “like new” condition. Asking 20K obo for each unit. Please call 360-961-5747 or email: geoduck1@comcast.net CALL THE CLAM MAN For all your clam needs. Cockles, steamers butters and horse necks. Human consumption or bait. Also commercial diving supplies. Call Doug’s Diving, (503) 322-2200 or (800) 355-DIVE, www.dougsdiving.com. Cathy Peek Artworks fishing boat nautical chart art is available on calendars, mugs, prints and many other gift items at www. zazzle.com/CathyPeekChartArt. Her other art at: www.zazzle.com/nordicpeek.
FOR SALE BB PERMIT, GEAR and BOAT. Russian-built fiberglass Bay Boat: 300 Cummins with 800 hours. $229,000. Call (503) 267-9970. F/V POST POINT 32 X 13.4 1990 ALFA/NW Marine Fabrication Bristol Bay Gillnetter; 3208 Cat TD5111 Gearbox; IMS RSW Bowthruster; power steering; load sense hydraulics; powered off gearbox PTO; 200 fathom piston drive reel w/autolevelwind; flush deck and much more. This boat is easy to maintain and fish located at Leader Creek Naknek Alaska. FOR SALE after 2010 Salmon Season. 360-223-3583.
42 PACIFICFISHING
APRIL 2010
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FOR SALE F/V O-See-O. Length: 44', weight: 13', depth: 7', engine — new 6.7 Gimmy. All geared for power trolling. Please call 1 (907) 874-2484 or email oseeo@aptalaska.net.
PACIFIC FISHING classifieds PACIFIC FISHING classifieds
FOR SALE 58' x 24' Jensen designed steel limit seiner, Dual refrigeration, Cat power, Packs over 150,000#s. 95% complete. Serious inquiries only. (714) 401-8239.
LETS FISH YOUR IFQ Halibut and Black Cod. F/V Sierra Mar 58‘ Delta, works all seasons and all areas and walkons, leases,crewing owners and all parteners are welcome to call. This boat, operation and crew are safe, clean and reliable. Marco Auto baiter, good grub, longtime crew and all area experience and best %’s with crew share, no #2’s and bycatch for Q owner make this boat a good call. Annual upgrades and maintainance done every off season. Please call for more information, schedualing, references and possibilities fro 2010 and beyond. Kevin Seabeck (206) 399-9267 or kjs53@aol.com.
FOR SALE 1979 Gulf fiberglass, 41'/14.5 fr. turn key. Ready for your longline, port fishery. Excellent maintenance, many recent upgrades. $115,000.00. Call: (907) 617-1514. CAPTAIN/CREW LOOKING FOR WINTER FISHERY Owner/operator of PWS salmon seine and gillnet operations looking for winter fishery. Have experience in squid seining, swordfishing, long-lining, setnetting, dungie and tanner crabbing. Contact (907) 253-3692 for more info. FOR SALE Two California purse seiners available. Ready to fish. Complete boats with market squid permits and sardine permits. Priced to sell quick at $429,000. Call Don (949) 279-9369. FOR SALE Three California light boats available with or without permits. One boat and permit at only $79,000. One 12 ton brail or light boat permit at only $52,000. All priced to sell. Call Don (949) 279-9369. F/V Elizabeth S (47 ft. Delta) available to harvest c class 2c, 3a halibut and SE blackcod. Competitive rates for hired skipper, medical transfers, or walk-ons. Small blocks welcome. Contact Daniel Smith at (907) 209-2215.
32x14 Curry Gillnetter at Naknek. Built 1984. 6V92 Detroit with 6,243 hours. 509 Twin Disc. $175,000 OBO. Call (907) 235-4021 or (507) 221-4144
PRICE REDUCED — 32' PACIFIC BOWPICKER 32'x12'8"x3' glass Pacific Bowpickers gillnetter - built in 1989. Consistently well maintained. Set up for gillnet salmon. Twin 215 hp heat exchanged Volvo AD41P-A mains. Volvo DP-E outdrives. Full electronics package. Bow and cabin helm stations. 56" diameter x 45" Pacific Marine aluminum gillnet drum on aluminum frame. Roller Stator drive. Spiral-cut levelwind. Powered aluminum bow roller/lead slinger. Roller fairleads. Tanked, glassed and insulated 5-compartment fish holds with total capacity of about 10,000 lbs. 1 double and 1 single berths in stateroom. Front galley dinette converts to double bunk as well. Enclosed shower, and enclosed separate head. Sink and vanity in stateroom. 250 gallons of fuel in 1 aluminum tank. 95 gallons of water in 1 plastic tank. 6 gallon stainless hot water heater. Complete galley with sink, stove, fridge, and storage. New Dickenson cabin heater. Very well equipped and well cared for combination vessel. Good packer and really moves when light. Surveyed replacement value is $315,000. Asking $60,000. All serious offers considered. Contact John @ (907) 643-1057 or johnweemes@yahoo.com for more information and photos. Volvo-TAMD 122B Excellent running condition with approximately 15,000 hours. Upgrading to tier II engine. Available after halibut season in Kodiak. Best offer. (907) 486-2527 or pete@gci.net.
F/V Lisa Gayle is available to fish your IFQ. Flexible rates, comfortable boat. Call to schedule a convenient time to fish. (503) 791-2887 cell. (541) 568-4051. Great rates for large quotas! FOR SALE: Mustad Auto Baiting System for sale. Includes Baiter, Combe, 20 magazines of gear, and all rails and hangers. Fits on a 58 foot boat. $45,000 for all OBO. Call: (907) 253-7435 or email: rmckenzie@ctcak.net
For Sale 39' BHM 1987 New QSM11 350-450 H.P. (200hrs.) New 10Kw gen. (50 hrs.) Split Wheelhouse, Hyd., Puller, 2 Radars, GPS Plotter, Fishfinder, Autopilot, VHF, AM-FM-CD. Ca. Lobster permit, Socal. Nearshore permit, Gillnet permit, Salmon Permit. Boat with permits $295K Boat only $225K. Lobster permit-$95K. Nearshore permit-$50K. Gillnet permit-$10K. After sale of boat only.(805) 290-5370
EXXON PLAINTIFFS (lien agents) Has distribution of your Exxon funds taken over 6 months to receive? Join a specialized class action to petition Exxon Qualified Settlement Fund to promptly process your payments. If interested, you may fax your request to (425) 671-0053, Curt Peterson, co-plaintiff. Requests will be collectively forwarded to E.Q.S.F. If plaintiffs would like monthly updated progress reports, provide an email address. California light boats and purse seiners for squid and sardines with permits available now. Call Don (949) 279-9369.
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LETTERS To the editor:
When I was younger, approximately 40 years ago, it was really a big event to see a whale. Back then, I had been purse seining close to Hoonah on F/V Yvonne Denise. It was about 3 a.m., we were on our way home back to Metlakatla, and it was my wheel watch. We were coming down Clarence Strait. It was starting to become daybreak. I saw what looked like a huge log on the water. I started to go around it, and suddenly the spout blew. It was a whale, the first humpback I had ever seen. The captain, Henry Littlefield, stopped the boat so the whole crew could see the whale; it was hard to believe. The point I’m trying to make is there are a lot more whales now than before. And now we all have to be really concerned about the uncontrolled population increase, mainly in humpback whales. The main reason is the amount of food these animals consume per day. It can range anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 pounds — conservatively. If we do some math, these numbers are staggering. The humpback whale population from Alaska to Hawaii has increased beyond sustainable numbers. These whales are killing everything in their path. They no longer migrate to Hawaii. They stay in Alaska year around
consuming anything they can. This is where everyone should be concerned. In 2008, The National Geographic magazine estimated the Alaska-Hawaii population at 18,000 to 20,000 — with a birthrate of 7 or 8 percent annually In one day, 20,000 whales consuming 1,500 pounds each will eat 30 million pounds. This equals 15,000 tons per day. The total human harvest in Southeast Alaska is approximately 25,000 tons per year. This is including all commercial, seine, gillnet, troll, winter bait, and pound fisheries throughout Southeast Alaska. Where is all this food coming from to feed all these whales? A great part of it is coming from Alaska. It is coming from our streams, our hatcheries, our herring stocks, salmon stocks, and if you watch closely, I think you’ll see they eat anything and everything. If we do nothing about this, the future does not look good for any of us, especially for the younger generation. There has to be some type of control on these animals, from controlling birthrates to a controlled harvest annually. We have to decrease these numbers. As it stands now, these whales are affecting all fishing groups, salmon seining, getting tangled in gillnets, being run over by cruiseships and ocean freighters, taking fish from long liners, trollers, sports fisher-
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men, charter boats, and subsistence users. Just today, there is a long article in the Anchorage Daily News about how they believe the whales are eating the herring stocks in Prince William Sound, keeping the biomass down below threshold levels. That’s why they cannot conduct a fishery. It is my belief that the whales are also affecting the salmon stocks in this area. The main purpose of this letter is to address the concerns for future generations of responsible people who will use the resources wisely. We will lose it all if nothing is done. I’m not saying kill them all, but I do believe there is a middle road, something we all can live with. I don’t have a formal college degree. I do have 50 years on the water in Southeast Alaska . We are going to save all the whales at the expense of what? All other marine animals? I am concerned about all species that live, not just one. Jim Scudero, Ketchikan F/V Etika (907) 617-5208 Pacific Fishing welcomes your letters. Send them to donmcmanman@gmail.com.
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44 PACIFICFISHING
APRIL 2010
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ON THE DOCKS
by Michel Drouin
Postcards Here are two photos by Jack Armer that show the view from his office: The troll fleet west of Cape Spencer (left) and the Fairweather Range from Cross Sound (below).
Enviros howl with MSC suggestion to certify B.C. sockeye The Marine Stewardship Council raised eyebrows in B.C. recently when it announced that â&#x20AC;&#x153;the British Columbia sockeye salmon fishery should be certified in accordance with the MSC standard.â&#x20AC;? The timing seemed a little odd, as British Columbians and other Canadians continued to be puzzled over the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye run in 2009 when a mere 1.3 million sockeye returned to the Fraser River, when a run of over 10.5 million had been anticipated. A judicial inquiry, which has the legal power to compel witnesses to testify, has been called to look into the collapse but has not begun. It is to report back to the federal government by May 2011. The MSC pointed out that the determination was just that, a â&#x20AC;&#x153;determination,â&#x20AC;? and that it was not a final certification result. The group invited formal objections to the determination. Objections: The Watershed Watch Salmon Society, the SkeenaWild Conservation Trust, and the David Suzuki Foundation filed notices of objection with the MSC. Jeffery Young, aquatic biologist at the David Suzuki Foundation, said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are concerned with current determination that all B.C. sockeye be certified, given the situation in the Fraser.â&#x20AC;? Specifically, Young mentioned â&#x20AC;&#x153;the endangered sub-species of sockeye, along with the really low productivity and a fisheries management system that continues to put threatened salmon at risk.â&#x20AC;? He contended that the fishery is managed around the aggregate abundance of
returning salmon at the expense of weaker stocks. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We commend DFO for not having opened Fraser sockeye for commercial fisheries last year,â&#x20AC;? Young said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But that was because there was simply not enough fish. Despite that, we are still concerned with fundamental flaws in the fisheries management system. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our recommendation is that that MSC certification for Fraser sockeye be delayed until the end of the judicial inquiry,â&#x20AC;? Young said. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) is also looking at all British Columbia sockeye, including the Fraser River stocks. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The results of that investigation will be critical to identify what is to be done,â&#x20AC;? Young said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Until that time, it is inappropriate to proceed with certification at this time.â&#x20AC;? Young pointed out that the David Suzuki Foundation has been an active stakeholder participant in the certification process for Fraser River sockeye and is supportive of eco-labeling. The problem with labeling a fishery that includes troubled Fraser sockeye is that it makes a sham of such labeling, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Certification of fisheries of this type will undermine the effectiveness of this labeling tool for consumers,â&#x20AC;? Young said, adding that another questionable fishery approaching MSC certification is the Atlantic longline swordfish fishery.
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ON THE DOCKS Fishing family Marcus and Sherrie Lyon are justly proud of their fishing family, so they sent a couple of photos. Their sons — Dylan and Kobi — are shown pulling subsistence crab pots in Captain’s Bay in Unalaska. Their daughters-inlaw — Kerbey and Megan — are shown trolling salmon on the Fairweather grounds. Their boat is the F/V Julia Breeze.
Ed Hagemann dies: The Northwest marine community lost a good friend and highly respected consulting engineer on Dec. 29, 2009. Edward (Ed) Carl Hagemann passed away in his sleep at his West Seattle home. He was 71 years old. Ed grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., and Vancouver, Wash. He earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Washington and his master’s degree in naval architecture from U.C. Berkeley. In 1962, Ed came back to Seattle to work for W.C. Nickum & Sons. He continued with WCN&S until 1971, when George Nickum and Phil Spaulding merged their two companies to become Nickum & Spaulding Associates. During his years at Nickum’s and later at N&SA, Ed served in numerous positions including chief naval architect, vice president of engineering, and chief hydrodynamicist. When N&SA closed its doors at the end of 1987, he started his own consulting business,
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Hage-Marine, which he owned and operated for the last 24 years of his life. – Jay Miner, Delta Marine Industries Phil Harris honored: The board of the Commercial Fishermen’s Festival unanimously approved renaming its signature competition to honor Captain Phil Harris, who passed away Feb. 9 following a stroke. Captain Harris is best known for skippering the F/V Cornelia Marie on Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch hit television series. “Phil was a close and personal friend who fished alongside me on the Bering Sea for over 20 years,” says Festival Board President Rick Quashnick. “He had the bigger boat and I had the smallest — yet I could always count on him during the roughest of seas to be there if I needed him.” To honor his memory and his contribution to the commercial fishing industry, the festival is renaming its signature event as the Captain Phil Harris Highliner Competition. Marc Moats dies: Long-time Sitka fisherman Marc Moats (F/V Teasha) lost a short but determined battle with cancer on Feb. 16, 2010. Marc was a well-known and respected fisherman, trolling and longlining up and down the Alaska coast, with some trips off the West Coast and the South Pacific, chasing albacore thrown in for good measure. I’ve known Marc since we were teenagers, both of us starting our fishing careers in Port Alexander, spending quite a few years as codding partners and many hunting trips together, telling stories, trading paperbacks we’d read, hoisting a few beers, peeling fresh shrimp, and enjoying life to the fullest. Marc was a unique individual, with his own way of expressing his thoughts, and was an expert in devising sayings that would baffle the Moats uninitiated, until someone came along to explain what “slidin’ over to the co-op to get some cubes” or “slogging up the sawtooth to bag a mossyback right there” really meant. Then there was the Moatsy uniform — wool jacket, mackinaw hat, horn-rimmed glasses, Carhartts, and Xtra-Tufs that left no doubt who was coming down the dock to have a cup of joe and try to relieve the unwary of some hard-earned coin on the cribbage board. All kidding aside, Marc was a loving husband to his wife, Kathleen, an honest and caring man, and always willing to lend a hand, with a kind word and sound advice for the up and coming in the fleet. He was involved in his community, serving on the Sitka ports and harbors commission and serving as a director on the SPC board, representing those he fished alongside. – Norm Pillen
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