Pacific Fishing July 2010 by Peter Hurme

Halibut boats to carry observers Cordova District Fishermen United

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THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR FISHERMEN ■ JULY 2010

Strong prices for salmon

• California crab pot limits • Limits to hagfish • Seiner buy-back

63126

US $2.95/CAN. $3.95

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Editor's note

IN THIS ISSUE ®

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR FISHERMEN INSIDE: Don McManman

A good year for Alaska fishermen Page 4

West Coast trolling rewarding Page 6

Observers on halibut boats Page 8

California crab pot limits Page 10 On the cover: Skipper Bae Olney-Miller photographed son Kai Olney-Miller, son Jordan Olney-Miller, Jack Joseph, and Joe Pavlik aboard F/V Tsiu in 2009. For more about the photo, see Page 45. VOLUME XXXI, NO. 7 • JULY 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

Casting blame

In 1989, at just about the time the Exxon Valdez was hemorrhaging its filthy bile into Prince William Sound, a new Bronco rolled out of Ford’s Michigan Truck Plant. The Bronco eventually became mine, although not right away. I don’t buy new cars. I prefer my automobiles seasoned, aged like a vintage merlot. Except, unlike merlot, aged cars are cheap. I’ve owned the Bronco for 11 years now, and figure I’ve just about got my money’s worth. During that time, I pumped about 15,785 gallons of gas into its gullet. Which makes me an expert on what’s happening in the Gulf of Mexico right now. As for everyone else, they don’t know squat. Take Bobby Jindal. He was the Republicans’ go-to guy for the official rebuttal to President Obama’s first State of the Union address. Just 15 months ago, the Louisiana governor demanded that government get off his back. Now that his beaches are oiled, with even more just over the horizon, the governor wants government back on his back — along with a lot of our tax dollars. Then there’s Sarah “Drill-Baby-Drill” Palin. She said President Obama was at fault because he was in the pocket of Big Oil. More than Bush-Cheney or McCain-Palin? You betcha! Meanwhile our friends in the federal Minerals Management Service have added a whole new dimension to the concept of public service. They triggered the gag reflex in even the Bush II Administration by boozing and sleeping with Big Oil. Specifically, the damning report cited “substance abuse and promiscuity” with those they were supposed to regulate. We have to mention BP, which earns $14 billion a year. They cut costs. Killed men. All to make a few bucks, which they promised to deliver in a stockholder dividend to coincide with the 75,000,000th gallon of crude to ooze into the gulf. Hubris. Arrogance. Avarice. What could be more American? (But, of course, they’re British.) But wait! Sarah Palin re-entered the fray. It wasn’t that Obama was in the pocket of Big Oil. Rather, the former Miss Congeniality has decided the whole BP thingy was caused by environmentalists. Huh? Darn tootin’! BP brass had to drill where they did because the enviros wouldn’t let them drill someplace else. It’s kind of like blaming Alaska voters if you resign in the middle of your term. If they hadn’t elected you, by golly, you wouldn’t have had to quit. Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Rick Perry took a metaphysical approach when he declared it wasn’t BP’s fault. No siree! The disaster was an act of God. Which brings up an interesting conjunction: If Palin says it was the environmentalists, and Perry says it was God, doesn’t that mean the enviros are doing the work of the Lord? No, I’ll tell you who’s at fault. Me. Every time I fill up, I’m casting my vote for oil and, ultimately, for a disaster like the Exxon Valdez or BP’s Deepwater Horizon. There was only one moment in the past 11 years when I doubted my own wisdom — a couple of years back, when gasoline was more than $4 a gallon. Therein rests the only way to kick our addiction to oil. Don McManman edits Pacific Fishing. WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

JULY 2010

PACIFICFISHING 3

STATS PACK PREFERRED PUBLICATION OF:

CORDOVA DISTRICT FISHERMEN UNITED UNITED FISHERMEN OF ALASKA WASHINGTON DUNGENESS CRAB FISHERMEN’S ASSOC. WESTERN FISHBOAT OWNERS ASSOC.

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WESLEY LOY Field Editor

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BRIANNA MORGAN PRODUCTION OPERATIONS:

Off the record

For Alaska salmon fishermen, it'll be a strong year

Alaska Salmon Harvest (2009) and Forecast (2010) 20 200 15 150 2009 2010

10 Millions 100 5 50 0 Chinook Sockeye Coho

Editor’s note: For Stats Pack articles such as this, we often allow fish house executives to speak off the record. They’re more willing to talk that way. It’s a great year for salmon fishermen, and a bad year for processors. Three reasons: • A short year for many Alaska salmon runs. • Strong consumer demand that will push up grounds prices to the fishermen. • Tight, and expensive, credit. “For the next 12 months, if you’re in the salmonprocessing business, there’s not going to be a whole lot of blue sky,” said an executive of a major seafood processor in Seattle. Pinks: Let’s start with pinks. “It takes a lot of fish to cover your overhead. Pinks pay the bills. If you don’t have a bunch of pinks, you’re in trouble,” the executive said. It’s an even year, which is an off year for pink abundance. Alaska managers predict 69 million pinks for 2010. For 2009, Alaska fishermen harvested 96.7 pinks. (The harvest last year reflects a collapse of some runs in Prince William Sound, resulting in the third-worst harvest in the previous 20 years.) pink As for 2010 pi p nk runs rrun unss in Russia, R Rus ussia, no one offers

Production Manager

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4 PACIFICFISHING

JULY JUL Y 2010 2010

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Pink

Chum

Total

a guess. Last year, there were tales of mountains of pink salmon rotting because of abundant runs and decrepit processing plants. Other reports had Russian infrastructure improving, plus fresh pinks shipped to China for initial processing. “No one knows what’s going on in Russia,” the executive said. “Where did last year’s harvest come from? No one has an idea.” If there was a glut of processed pinks out of Russia from 2009, it’s pretty much gone now. “The market cleaned it up.” Sockeye: Managers predict another strong run in Bristol Bay, with 30.5 million reds expected to be harvested, compared to a harvest of 30.8 million last year. This, however, is bad news, according to the executive. While there’s strong demand for canned pinks right now, canned sockeye is far too expensive for the market. “It’s quite profitable to can pinks, but the reds are in oversupply. Five years ago, you could make a profit on reds in the can. No longer.” The problem is, big Bristol Bay processors have to put sockeye in cans if they hope to keep up with the region’s massive runs. So, a statewide processor will have too few cans of pink salmon, which he can sell profitably, but too o many cans of sockeye salmon, which he can’t sell m because the raw ingredient cost him too much. b The grounds price for pinks and sockeye will remain high simply because there is consumer demand and h rrelatively low inventories from 2009. Early signs of the strong salmon market appeared in winning bids for Alaska hatchery cost recovery harvests. The prices were as much as 50 percent above v those of last year. th “In Brussels (for an international seafood show in May), no one could talk about anything else. There’s M no roe market right now, so no one could figure out n the price,” the executive said. th “The Japanese are not going to step into the roe market this early. The East Europeans have come back m a little for inexpensive pink roe, but not enough.”

STATS PACK

PIGS

Euro woes to hurt Pacific cod and Northwest albacore

Sales of cod from the North Pacific will be affected by financial woes of some European countries. Katy McGauley took this photo of the F/V Excalibur II and the F/V New Life on the opening day of the 2007 B season cod fishery in Kodiak waters.

Decline in roe prices leads drop in autumn salmon value Here is the final 2009 Alaska salmon price report, as summarized by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. The Alaska Salmon Price Report — September through December of 2009 — covers wholesale volume and first wholesale value, by species and area, for six key Alaska salmon products. It is the primary data source for most of the salmon market analysis published by the Seafood Market Information Service. The report as published by the Department of Revenue is specific to area but is summarized into statewide totals here. Total wholesale value for the September-December period was down 9 percent, from $437 million in 2008 to $398 million in 2009. The value decline is primarily from a major drop in salmon roe prices. Despite similar sales volume for the period, total wholesale value of roe products dropped by half in 2009, from $124 million to $61 million. Species unit values were down 30 percent to 52 percent. Salmon roe values of 2008 represent a market-driven spike, and the price declines of 2009 reflect a return to more typical levels. Gains in frozen H&G value offset some of the roe value decline. Total H&G frozen wholesale value for SeptemberDecember 2009 was $147 million, up from $128 million for the same period in 2008. Both chum and sockeye showed significant value improvement for the period: chums up 9 percent from $1.17 to $1.28 per pound and sockeye up from $2.52 to $2.74 per pound. Wholesale value of canned salmon was down slightly for the period, from $140 million in 2008 to $133 million in 2009. Average case price for 48-tall canned pinks remained at a 20-year high point (more than $75 per case) on slightly lower sales volume. Average case price for 48-half canned sockeye was down from the low-$70 range to $65 per case, also on slightly lower sales volume. Frozen fillet sales volume and price both showed improvement for the September-December period. Sales volume was up from 7.8 million pounds in 2008 to 9.6 million pounds in 2009, with an average price increase from $4.48 to $4.85 per pound. Average wholesale price for sockeye fillets increased to $5.23 per pound, marking the first time that product has reached the $5 per pound benchmark.

Bad bookkeeping in a few European capitals will affect any product you want to sell into Europe. Most notably at risk are Pacific cod, much of which is sold into Portugal, and Northwest albacore, one-third of which goes to Spain. Beyond those fisheries, any product heading to Europe will bring in significantly less money simply because of devaluation of the euro. Here’s what happened: Over the past 11 years, 16 European nations — with the U.K. and Scandinavia as notable exceptions — have extinguished their traditional currencies and accepted the continental euro. The uniform currency was seen by some as another step toward the unification of Europe. Other observers were not impressed. They said a bundled currency created a chain that was only as strong as its weakest link. Weakest link: In this case, make that the four weakest links — namely, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain, collectively known by the unfortunate acronym PIGS. Traditionally, if a nation hits hard economic times, one of the first actions is to reduce the value of its currency — or have the market devalue the currency anyway. Thus, the nation’s output would become cheaper in global trade, increasing exports, while making imports pricier. Devaluation coupled with governmental austerity would heal the national economy. However, while the euro nations had a common currency, they had 16 different economic policies, and some policies were far more effective than others. Should the weak economy of Portugal be permitted to drag down the economic powerhouse of Germany? Not surprisingly, the Germans didn’t like the idea. Germans: To make the medicine even more bitter for the Germans, it turns out that Greece had taken lessons from Enron and Lehman Bros. The Greeks were cooking the books. The euro was strong against the dollar in 2009, which was good news for any fisherman selling product destined for Europe. Then came the first flutterings of worry out of Greece, to be joined later by bad economic news from the other nations in the PIGS quartet. On Dec. 5, the euro was worth $1.49. By the end of May, the euro was down to $1.21, a decline of 19 percent. To put it differently, your $4-a-pound sockeye became worth only $3.24. During the slide, there were worries that Greece would declare bankruptcy. And what would that mean to other nations using the euro? No one knew. It was like this: If you had a family and your 6-year-old kid somehow filed for bankruptcy, could creditors take your house or your paycheck? In the case of the euro, no one knew, and no currency traders wanted to find out as long as they were holding euros. Eyes fell on Germany. At first, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she’d guarantee a portion of Greece’s debts — until she heard screams of German voters. It took until the end of May for Germany to officially prop up the Greek budget. Still, you’re looking at lower prices than last year based upon currency exchange rates alone. WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

JULY 2010

PACIFICFISHING 5

YOUR BUSINESS

Lower 48 salmon market

by Cassandra Marie Profita

Some nice paydays in Northwest fisheries Oregon and Washington boats had some nice While prices Whil price i and abundance didn’t have Northwest fishermen leaping for joy, “Everybody h l — nothing thi huge h i the th first fi t few f k off hauls — in weeks did pretty well.” ocean trolling. In Washington, trollers landed 2,400 Chinook in the first two than last year — they’re averaging at 10 pounds compared with weeks and then another 3,000 in the third week of May before the last year’s 12 to 13.” weather took a turn for the worse. Most Oregon boats were fishing south of Cape Falcon in the “Everybody did pretty well — before the storm drove them off early days of the fishery, according to Eric Schindler, ocean salmthe water,” said Doug Milward, Washington Department of Fish on manager for Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. North and Wildlife ocean salmon manager. “The size of fish is smaller of Cape Falcon, the fishery was on its way to 3,000 Chinook after three weeks of fishing. Up to 60 fish a day: Some boats in Newport, Charleston, and Port Orford reported catching up to 60 fish per trip, while others were quite a bit lower, according to Nancy Fitzpatrick, administrator of the Oregon Salmon Commission. “They’re looking and finding,” she said. “I haven’t heard any huge counts, but as the weather is acceptable, they’re going out.” Prices started up in the $6 range, said Fitzpatrick, then sank to between $3 and $4 three weeks into the season. The return of Enhance your ability to communicate through the the Copper River salmon might have had an impact on the price, most cost effective, effective well supported satellite she said. service in North America. Whether at land or at Oregon Salmon Commissioner Mark Newell, who runs the fish sea the AlaskaNet Satellite service will marketing business Newell Fisheries in Newport, said the supkeep you connected. ply of Oregon Chinook has been solid, with fish ranging from 10 to 15 pounds apiece and earning fishermen $5 to $6.50 a pound. Contact us today. The price for consumers was between $15 to $20 a pound for fillets and steaks. T: 206.321.6896 “The fishermen are pretty happy with that price,” he said. Good price: Boats in Newport are averaging about five to 10 fish 1.800.GLENTEL per day, Newell said, “not too bad considering they’re worth $70 to $100 apiece.” www.satellitealaska.com Early in the season, competition from Columbia River salmon dominated the market, Newell said, and Youngs Bay fish were still coming into the market in mid-May. Copper River salmon had just gone on sale, too, he said, but they’re in a league of their own. There have been stories of Copper River fish selling for up to $60 a pound retail. Since the Oregon and California seasons have been closed the POWERED BY past two years, restaurants and fish markets had been buying more

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Postcard: Paula Burgner takes care of spring kings caught by the F/V Rosalyn in Cross Sound. Erik Peterson photo

Market may be better for Bristol Bay fish Reports coming out of Japan say sales prices for Bristol Bay sockeye salmon are likely to start at around 600 yen per kilo in Japan, compared to about 575 yen last year. In dollars and pounds, that equals just over $3 per pound at wholesale, up from $2.88 a pound in 2009. The current price of Bristol Bay sockeye in Japan is $3.36 a pound for 4-6 pounders. The total sockeye salmon catch for Alaska this year is pegged at 46 million

salmon from Alaska, which is more than $20 a pound retail by the time it gets to the West Coast. Demand strong: With more local supply on the market this year, prices for Oregon and Washington ocean troll salmon are a little less than they have been in previous years, Newell said, but demand remains strong. “The markets really like ocean troll fish,” he said. Oregon Salmon Commissioner Darus Peake, who owns the Tillamook Boathouse custom processing facility in Garibaldi, said the fishing was very slow north of Cape Falcon — partly because of bad weather. He’d only bought about 40 fish in the first

fish, compared to 43 million last year. More than 30 million of those reds should come from Bristol Bay, similar to last summer’s catch. Japan is no longer the biggest customer for Alaska sockeye salmon, but higher prices there bode well for all markets. And a report by the Japanese government said salmon has overtaken horse mackerel as the most popular fish to eat at home. – Laine Welch

three weeks of the fishery. “The troll fishery’s doing extremely well off Westport and Coos Bay, but there’s nothing in our area,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of effort, either.” Between 40 and 50 boats were fishing out of Newport and a similar number were active off Coos Bay, according to Newell. Some California boats with Oregon permits had started to move north to fish as the word spread that there were fish to be caught. “The fact that guys caught fish right out of the gate has a lot of guys switching over from crab,” Newell said. “The outlook is good for the price to hold up. Guys are pretty optimistic they’re going to make some money this year.” WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

JULY 2010

PACIFICFISHING 7

YOUR BUSINESS

Observers

by Wesley Loy

Proposal would require observers on Alaska halibut vessels Postcard: Longliners such as the F/V Lisa Jean out of Sitka may soon be forced to carry observers. Eric Jordan photo

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Hundreds of Alaska halibut longliners and other fishermen might soon have to accommodate federal fisheries observers as part of an overhaul of the North Pacific observer program. Under the most likely scenario, these fishermen would carry an observer on their boats during selected fishing trips and would pay 2 percent of the ex-vessel value of their landings to cover the costs. This would apply to halibut vessels as well as boats under 60 feet long that take part in federal groundfish fisheries. Neither fleet currently is required to carry observers. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council was scheduled to weigh options for restructuring the observer program at its Sitka meeting. Final action, however, won’t come until later. Large observer force: Established in 1990, the North Pacific observer program has become one of the world’s largest. Typically young biologists ride aboard vessels to record the makeup and position of the harvest and bycatch. Observer data has become an increasingly important tool for fishery managers. Observer coverage is constant on the biggest vessels, such as Bering Sea pollock factory trawlers, with only partial or no coverage on smaller vessels. During 2008, a total of 464 observers worked 39,344 days on 296 vessels and in 21 processing plants, at a total cost to industry of $14.4 million. Five companies hold permits from the National Marine Fisheries Service to

provide observers: Alaskan Observers Inc., NWO Inc., Saltwater Observers Inc., TechSea International, and MRAG Americas Inc. While the observer program generally has been regarded as successful, the council and NMFS have worked for years to reform it to cure certain problems. Control: NMFS believes it needs more control over when and on which vessels to deploy observers. As it stands, the many vessels requiring observer coverage only 30 percent of the time are free to decide which fishing days will be observed. This invites biased catch data, regulators say, as crews might change their normal fishing habits to offset the cost of observers they hire from observer providers. For example, a boat might fish unusually close to shore to save time and fuel, or haul gear immediately before and after midnight to log two days of observer coverage for less than 24 hours of effort, a council analysis says. Under the proposed program overhaul, NMFS, not the industry, would contract with observer providers and determine when and where observers go. Another problem with the observer program is fairness: Owners of smaller vessels say they face disproportionately high observer costs relative to gross earnings under the current pay-as-yougo system. In 2008, each “observer day” cost an estimated $366, which is a bigger deal to small boats than to the behemoths of the Bering Sea. Postcard: Matt Langdon brings a halibut aboard the Paying for it: Under the proposed restructuring, many or all F/V Cape Reliant in the Gulf of Alaska. Michael J. Byrer photo sectors would simply pay a 2 percent ex-vessel fee to fund the observer program. Fishermen would pay half the fee and processors would pay the other half, the council analysis says. Fee collections could start in mid-2012. The council and NMFS also want to close the gaps in observer coverage in the Bering and the Gulf of Alaska. Hence, the proposed extension of observer coverage to halibut vessels and boats under 60 feet targeting cod and other groundfish. Federal figures show 1,157 vessels landed halibut in 2008 in the individual fishing quota fishery. Many of these same vessels are under 60 feet and also target groundfish, including sablefish. So why do halibut boats need observers? NMFS wants better information on discarded fish, seabird bycatch, potentially including the endangered short-tailed albatross, and interaction with marine mammals. Finding space for an observer on a small boat could be a problem, so NMFS is considering options such as electronic monitoring and independent “chase vessels,” says Dan Hull, a halibut fisherman Providing the only large capacity boat lift in Prince William Sound, Cordova’s facility includes a and council member. 150 metric ton Marine Travel Lift, wash down facilities and maintenance yard with utilities. Local Captains would have to call NMFS services are also available for all your maintenance and repair needs. at least 72 hours in advance of a fishing trip to learn whether they need to take Call 907.424.6400 or email: harbor@cityofcordova.net an observer.

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PACIFICFISHING 9

YOUR BUSINESS

Pot restrictions

California task force recommends tiered pot limitation plan A California Dungeness crab task force has called for pot limits and a mechanism to constrain â&#x20AC;&#x153;latent,â&#x20AC;? or unused, permits. The recommendations are part of a final report assembled by the California Dungeness Crab Task Force. The Legislature established the group in 2008. The task force also recommended a suite of additional changes to limit the capacity of the crab fleet in California. Currently, there are about 450 active permits in the fishery and 145 latent permits. The task force specifically said that, as management tools, it does not a support a total allowable catch mechanism, individual catch shares, or transferable quotas. The task force wants the fishery regulated by limiting effort, as opposed to catch. Management should use pot limits and vessel size restrictions and continue the use of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;three-Sâ&#x20AC;? (sex, season, size) system. Pot limit: The task force endorsed a tiered pot limit Candee Mooslin out of Eureka works gear aboard the F/V Blue Dolphin. Bob Bligh photo system somewhat similar to those in Oregon and Washington. Under the system, the most productive permits, as determined during a control period, would be allotted the most pots going forward. The recommended control

period is Nov. 15, 2003, to July 15, 2008. The top producing 55 permits, as measured in landings during the base period, would be allowed to fish 500 pots each going forward. The next highest producing

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Spreading the painâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

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Members of the California Dungeness Crab Task Force did about as good a job as possible, according to an ex officio member of the body. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There were some emotional exchanges and heated exchanges throughout the course of the meetings, but no animosity,â&#x20AC;? said Rich Young, Crescent City harbormaster, who held one of the two non-government organization seats on the task force. Representatives arrived at the meetings with the knowledge that everyone involved in the industry was going to have to sacrifice, Young said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They were kind of poles apart in the initial meeting,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always the big-boat, little-boat, north, west, south, east â&#x20AC;&#x201D; all sorts of opinions out there. But the guys worked really hard on it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They tried to spread the pain. I thought it was a remarkable achievement,â&#x20AC;? Young said.

55 permits would get 450 pots each, followed by the next tier of 55 permits with 400 pots â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and so on. At the low end of active fishermen, 172 permits would be allocated 250 pots each. Although it was estimated in 2004 that there were 170,000 pots in use in California, no one knows the exact number now, but many task force members, â&#x20AC;&#x153;both commercial and sport, believe there are too many pots in the water,â&#x20AC;? the task forceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s report said. If a pot limit system is begun, there should be an appeals body that will offer special consideration to fishermen who were not able to fish during the window. For example, some experienced fishermen might have had health problems during that period. Also, the task force indicated its tiered pot limit recommendation could evolve over time and be adapted as managers evaluate the limitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s effectiveness. The task force has asked the California Attorney Generalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Office if the total amount of crab caught by a vessel in Oregon or Washington need be included in the California base-year tally for each boat. Some observers reason that the federal Magnuson-Stevens Act would require the

Unloading and stacking gear at Half Moon Bay are, from left, Mark Alley, Bob Berry (F/V Donald B), Bill Webb (F/V Cricket), and Gary Thurston (F/V Becky Ann). (Mark Alley has a new boat, but we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know the name.) Faces of California Fishing photo by Lori French consolidation of catches. If so, the task force latent permit activation.â&#x20AC;? The task force defined a latent permit said it would reconsider the number of pots as 1) a permit used to land less than 5,000 in the allocation. Latent permits: The task force said Cali- pounds between Nov. 15, 2003, and July 15, fornia must â&#x20AC;&#x153;reduce the potential threat of continued on page 12

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Pot restrictions continued from page 11

Kenny Burns hauls a pot aboard the F/V AL-W out of Eureka. Bob Bligh photo 2008, or 2) a permit purchased after July 15, 2008, that had less than 5,000 pounds landed between Nov. 15, 2003, and July 15, 2008. Under those definitions, there are about 140 latent permits. The task force recommended one step toward discouraging the activation of latent permits. It would allow each of those permits only 175 pots in the tiered system. Pilot project: The task force suggested that pot limits be imposed for a two-year

trial in all crab fishing areas of the state. When the project will go into effect will depend on action in the Legislature. The task force urged that, although pots should be limited, there should be a mechanism to allow new fishermen to enter the fishery. The task force didn’t describe how that mechanism would work. Vessel size: Current regulations restrict the transfer of a California crab permit to only vessels that are less than five feet longer at the water line than the vessel on which the permits were originally used. However, the code is silent on increases in horsepower, beam, or length overall, all of which increase a vessel’s efficiency and capacity. The task force said a more comprehensive equation should be developed that would more accurately reflect limits on vessel capacity. Paying for it: The statewide pot limit pilot program would be paid for with a fee on pot tags. Washington and Oregon have similar fees. Not paying for it: The task force said California didn’t need pay for a separate commission to promote marketing of crab, “due to Dungeness crab marketing efforts in other states” — read, Oregon.

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Who represented you Here’s how the California Dungeness Crab Task Force operated: There were 27 members — including 17 representing commercial fishing interests, two representing sport fishing, two representing crab processing, one representing sport charter boats, two representing non-governmental organizations, one from Sea Grant, and two from the California Department of Fish and Game. There were five “ex-officio” members: both non-governmental organization representatives, the single representative of Sea Grant, and two from the Department of Fish and Game. Members decided all decisions should be made through consensus — for them, it meant two-thirds of the vote. The task force had a complex voting system, in which each member could vote “thumbs up, thumbs sideways, thumbs down,” and “abstention.” R e p re s e n t i n g t h e c o m m e rc i a l fleet were: ➧ Bill DeBacker ➧ Lee Wilson ➧ Brett Fahning ➧ Gerry Hemmingsen ➧ Mike Zamboni ➧ Don Standley ➧ Michael Cunningham ➧ William Forkner ➧ Vince Doyle ➧ Stan Carpenter ➧ Chris Lawson ➧ Lawrence Collins ➧ John Atkinson ➧ Jim Anderson ➧ Geoff Bettencourt ➧ Bill Blue ➧ Randy Smith Processor fleets: The task force voted to support an objective that would deny processors the opportunity to buy crab permits. “Studies suggest that allowing processors to purchase fishing permits can lead to the consolidation of the fishing fleet,” the report said. Pre-season testing: The task force wants to standardize pre-season test fisheries. Now, the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission pays for the pre-season fill tests, and the Portland-based West Coast Seafood Processors Association reimburses

YOUR BUSINESS

Management

Bristol Bay noted in scientific journal A landmark study on salmon, fisheries, and ecosystem science was the cover of the June 3 issue of the prestigious journal Nature. Lead authors Daniel Schindler and Ray Hilborn of the University of Washington were responsible for the study and article, “Population diversity and the portfolio effect in an exploited species.” The message: Population diversity is vital in maintaining commercial fishing — and fishermen — alive. The authors call population diversity “insurance against the unexpected,” covering everything from climate change to oil spills. This realization is a game-changer for managing fisheries and ecosystems because global rates of population loss are An article estimated to be a thousand times in Bristol Bay the journal Nature higher than species extinction. sp a managem s the epitome of goo otlights ent. d fisheries

the commission. However, the association pays only 20 percent of the California costs, because the group says its members buy only about 20 percent of the crab in California. In many other fisheries in the North Pacific, product caught for testing is sold to help pay for the testing. Not in California. It’s against the law. The California task force said the law should be changed to allow for the sale of product to pay for test fisheries. Any additional test product remaining after paying for the fisheries would be donated to charity. Next: More work should be done on behalf of the Dungeness fleet, the task force said, but the group has run out of funds now that its final report has been issued. The task force likely will meet again, with members paying out of their own pockets for the meeting. The Ocean Protection Council will provide limited administrative support. The panel will discuss any pending legislation related to task force recommendations and how the group plans to function moving forward. The task force will continue on a limited basis until the Legislature acts on the group’s recommendations and the task force’s future.

It challenges business-as-usual thinking, especially with regards to hatcheries practices and “technofixes” to ecosystems such as dams and flood control structures. The salmon story from Bristol Bay has broad implications for protecting and restoring fisheries in Alaska, British Columbia, and around the world. It underscores the importance of having a diversified portfolio of fish stocks to keep an economy afloat. The authors have more than 50 years of data showing that different populations within species act like a diversified investment portfolio and buffer fisheries and incomes from the ups and downs of particular stocks. For example, if the Bristol Bay sockeye fishery were stripped of its current diversity, it would have to close once every two to three years.

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YOUR BUSINESS

Making ends meet

by John Driscoll

Hagﬁsh ﬁshery may not have much room to grow West Coast fishermen appear to have found the limit on the hagfish fishery. Hagfish had carried dozens of fishermen through the tightest salmon fishing years in the past decade. Now, keenly aware that restrictions on salmon are likely to come and go in the future, fishermen and buyers of hagfish are looking to maintain the fishery at moderate levels. After a brief foray in the 1980s and 1990s into catching hagfish for use as leather or skins in Korea, the West Coast fishery today is largely to supply the Korean taste for live eels, which are typically served barbecued, with a chaser of booze called soju. The new table market picked up first in Oregon in 1999, with fisheries following in California, then Washington. California’s fishery grew with tightened restrictions on salmon fishing aimed at protecting weak stocks in the Klamath and Sacramento rivers. Eureka fisherman Sky Wood saw an opportunity to put his 34-foot boat Ashlyn D to work when buyer Peter Chu set up shop to supply the Korean live hagfish market. With children to care for at home,, Wood was looking for something close to port. ““H H “Hagfish sounded like w going to be a home it was fish fishery,” Wood said, who typ typically makes day trips to hag hagfish grounds. Hagfish live in 40 to 200 f t fa fathoms of water, and eat m mostly invertebrates. They al enter the orifices of also d dead or dying fish to fe feed, which make them a n nuisance in the longline f fishery. Hagfish are often called e Pacific off e bottom of th th ss ro ac s er “slime eels” because they A hagfish slith mpic Coast. NOAA photo Oly ree release a protein through Washington’s their pores that binds with water when it’s in distress. It took time to learn how to make traps from 5-gallon buckets with funnel entrances and holes to allow small slime eels to escape, Wood said. There was a period of experimentation on where to fish the traps, for how long, and with what bait. Initially, Wood said, it was lucrative. For a time, fishermen could use cheap bait like fish scraps, and Wood even used mink carcasses from fur farms. But out of concern for product quality, Chu put restrictions on less-than-appetizing bait, Wood said. Buyers learned through trial and error how to ship hagfish across the Pacific alive and in good condition. Chu said that hagfish need to be sealed in bags with enough air and the correct ratio of water to eels to ensure survival and limit air freight costs. In 2008, when salmon fishing was closed along much of the West Coast, a surge of fishermen made a go at hagfish. In Oregon, about 1.6 million pounds were landed. California saw 1.8 million pounds landed, and Washington’s fledgling fishery swelled to 395,400 pounds by mid-2008, with 16 permits issued. Unlike California, which only permits the use of 5-gallon buckets, Oregon and Washington fish with 55-gallon drums. Prices in 2008 were high, said Mike Erdman with Oregon Brand Seafoods in Charleston. Without salmon to target, there was a rush to gear up for hagfish. 14 PACIFICFISHING

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Scientists Ju hold one stin Marshall an d o trap. NOA f the “disgusting h Tammy Frank, bo th agfish” ca A photo ptured in of NOAA, Frank’s “A lot of the fleet was moving to anything they needed to survive,” Erdman said. The market flooded and demand dropped, he said. The following year, Oregon landings fell to about 400,000 pounds. With salmon available again this year in Oregon, he said, many fishermen are opting to fish for salmon at $5 a pound, instead of hagfish at 80 cents per pound. While there are more profitable fisheries, Erdman said, he’s unwilling to sever relationships with Korean buyers who helped carry many American fishermen through the tough times, which could appear again. While state and federal agencies seem to agree that West Coast hagfish are an enormous resource, it is not supply that limits the fishery. It’s that Korea is the only country that buys live hagfish. Fisheries in Korean and Japanese waters provide a substantial amount of the hagfish Koreans consume, and probably always will, said Chu, who runs Hag Fish Corp. g Demand is shifting to some degree, Chu said, because Koreans are becoming familiar with the darker eels of U.S. waters. Also, the exchange rate is currently in the United State’s favor, and West Coast production costs are lower. Still, there’s a limit to the market, Chu said, and so a limit to the amount of hagfish the company can take at any one time. Chu has only a handful of boats fishing for him, and one of them he owns. During good summer weather, Chu’s tanks will fill up in two to three days and he’ll have to stop Hag Fish Corp. manager James Nichols deliveries until the prepares hagfish for shipping at the company’s product is shipped out. Fields Landing, Calif., site. To get the slime eels to “I’ve got boats here Korea alive – where they are typically grilled and left and right that want served with liquor – handlers must combine the to do it,” Chu said, right ratio of fish to water in plastic bags, which “but my capacity is my are placed in styrofoam coolers and then sent capacity.” by air. John Driscoll photo

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YOUR BUSINESS

Courtroom fishing

by Wesley Loy

A convoluted and confusing legal row over control of the local seafood plant has left lonely Adak (Pop. 318) stymied as it attempts to create a community out of what once was a military base.

Legal conflict clouds fate of lonely Adak’s idled fish plant After a tumultuous year, the lone fish plant on Alaska’s distant Aleut Enterprise, which has gone to court seeking to evict the Adak Island continues to face extreme uncertainty. fish packer. The new occupant, Adak Seafood, bought the processing operaMeantime, Adak Seafood is asking state utility regulators to force tion out of bankruptcy in late 2009 and now is battling landlord the landlord to sell desperately needed diesel to the processor to run its backup power generator. Aleut Enterprise owns the island’s only fuel supplier and is using its monopoly power to either “kill” Adak Seafood or force it to sign an “outrageous” new lease on the plant, a lawyer for the fish company contends. As of June, the plant was shut down and the legal wrangling continued. The processor hopes to reopen for this winter’s mainstay cod fishery, assuming it can stave off eviction. It’s an ugly situation for a processing plant and an island that appear to have much potential, if not for the feuding. HD850 Searchlight Sonar Adak is a decommissioned naval outpost in the Aleutian chain No sonar in the world can some 350 miles west of Dutch Harbor. Local residents are trying to find dispersed fish like the build a civilian town, and the fish plant is a big part of those plans. powerful HD850! Cod is abundant in area waters. Split Screen Forward Scan, But trouble and drama have swirled around the plant for years. Bottom Profile Fish to Starboard Last August, founder Kjetil Solberg bowed out of what was then known as Adak Fisheries, and on Sept. 11 the company filed TCS780 Trawl Sonar for bankruptcy. The processor subsequently was sold in November to Adak SeaMonitor catch volume, catch food. Details about the new owner emerged during an Anchorage quality, and save fuel! bankruptcy hearing: Asbjorn Drevik of Norway testified he would TCS780 Split own 49 percent of the company and serve as managing director, Standardize with WESMAR Screen of Net with two partners in Portugal also involved in the venture. The Stainless Steel Dual Prop thrusters, stabilizers, APU’s, Hydraulics owner of the remaining 51 percent would be none other than Solberg, who would be plant manager responsible for production. Solberg’s involvement didn’t sit well with Aleut Enterprise executives and lawyers, who said they’d had a belly full of unpaid bills and other problems they attribute to Solberg. Aleut’s key legal contention is that the processor’s former owner Bow & Stern Thrusters Stabilizers APU’s Hydraulics missed a deadline to renew the lease on the plant, and so the lease expired on Dec. 31. Western Marine Electronics Aleut promptly hit the new occupant with a notice to vacate the (425) 481-2296 www.wesmar.com premises, and soon thereafter sued to boot out Adak Seafood.

Your Partner in Fishing

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Cod has long been abundant off the Aleutian Islands, as thi s photograph from the 1920s illustrates.

But the processor argues the lease is still good, and it’s been able to remain in the building thanks to a federal judge’s Feb. 25 ruling that the landlord-tenant dispute, which involves a Rhode Island bank with millions of dollars in loans tied up in the plant, was too complex for a quick eviction. Much of the conflict has played out before the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA), which governs utilities. Adak Seafood is asking the commission to regulate Adak Petroleum, an Aleut Enterprise subsidiary, as a public utility obliged to sell fuel to the processing plant. In a commission filing, Adak Seafood said the fuel supplier repeatedly refused to sell diesel, even under dire circumstances. On March 1, hurricane-force winds knocked out electrical power to the plant, the filing said. The processor “begged” Aleut Enterprise to sell it some fuel prepaid by wire transfer, and sent photographs of “fish rotting in the plant, waiting to be processed.” On March 3, three boats tried to offload fish at the plant, but they had to be turned away for lack of fuel, Adak Seafood told the commission. Thereafter, the processor said it “lost virtually all of its fleet to its offshore competitor, and was forced to shut the plant.” Lawyers for Adak Petroleum admitted the supplier had declined to sell Adak Seafood fuel, due to its “unlawful possession and use of the Adak fish plant.” But Adak Petroleum said that in light of the judge’s ruling, it would sell fuel to Adak Seafood pending resolution of the lease dispute. The commission twice has declined to regulate the fuel supplier, with the latest decision coming May 28. Adak Seafood planned to keep asking, saying it “has no choice but to fight for its very existence.”

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YOUR BUSINESS

Direct marketing

Catching fish in this kind of scenery is the easiest part

Sun sets over Cook Inlet, the location of the Alldrin family’s setnet sites.

Your toughest job is selling your fish back home Dragging web, picking fish, scrambling in soft sand — no one ever said setnetting is easy. But for Lance Alldrin, the toughest job was back home in Northern California. Alldrin wanted to sell his catch to his neighbors. Butte County had other ideas. Learning to fish: Alldrin first tasted commercial fishing in Cook Inlet in the mid-’80s, when he was working construction at a Soldotna Bible camp. A former teacher of his happened to run a driftnetter out of the Kenai River. Alldrin tried it for a trip and got very sick very fast. “I vowed never to be caught on the water again.”

A few days later, he was walking Kalifornski Beach at an ebb tide, and some guys let him help with a setnet. “This appeared to be the greatest summer job in the world.” He dreamed about the Kenai beach as he became a high school industrial arts teacher and counselor. He took a respite for five years building composite, ocean-going, multi-hull sailboats but grew allergic to epoxy. Back to the classroom. In 2005, with a brood of three boys (Caleb, Tim, and Luke) and an understanding wife, Mary, Alldrin bought three setnet sites just north of the Kenai River. With 30,000 pounds the first summer, he did OK, but nothing like the 100,000 pounds neighboring setnetters were landing. In the face of ever-shortening openings, he needed a better site. Alldrin found one near the Kasilof River, but back at home his teaching schedule changed, making it impossible for him to arrive in time for the Design - Installation - Service - Repair late June openings of that district. Serving the Southeast Alaska Fleet So, back on the market, he found some since 1988 sites on the east Forelands Point in Nikiski. We work with all manufacturers to supply a Part of Alldrin’s education came in Kasisystem that’s right for your requirements. lof. He joined a driftnet and setnet co-op Now installing systems using ozone-safe called Alaska Seafood Harvesters. The EPA-approved refrigerants. group focused on quality: live-bleeding, slush ice. But in moving to Nikiski, Alldrin Wally McDonald, Owner was too distant to stay part of the co-op. (907) 772-4625 • ƀeetref@aptalaska.net He’d done a lot of moving around just to

FLEET REFRIGERATION

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fish for five days in 2008 and eight days in 2009. Following the Adam Smith Rule of Economic Survival, if you don’t have many kumquats, you’d better sell each for more money. “With the grounds price they’re paying, and the limited days of fishing, if you want to make your payments and pay the crew, you have to do something.” Direct marketing became an imperative, not a semi-profitable pastime. Getting legal: You’d think it would be easy to put a little walk-in freezer on your place and sell frozen salmon fillets to your neighbors. Not in Butte County, California. The building permit was fine. Alldrin has 2.5 acres and plenty of room. He built his own walk-in with 18-inch walls stuffed with insulation to fight off the Chico heat and still maintain -15 degrees F inside. The Health Department had its own ideas, though. Officials demanded a mop sink and bathroom be attached to the freezer, even though it was a one-family operation, and that family — with bathrooms and plenty of sinks — lived only steps away. After six months of jawboning, Alldrin prevailed in the bathroom fight. He wasn’t so fortunate in the next battle. “I had started to sell to a restaurant in town and word got out to the county and then state health officials.” To sell wholesale, Alldrin must pay $2,000 annually in fees and inspections, plus take a three-day course in hazard

Selling the product back home: From left, Lance Alldrin, Luke (11), Tim (13) and Caleb (16) peddle fish at a farmers market. analysis (HAACP). “Comparing the potential wholesale profits from one small restaurant vs. cost of being ‘legal’ was easy for a non-finance major to determine. Wholesale was not a route that I would go.” Getting it home: It probably is more difficult for setnetters to maintain quality than for other fishermen. Ice is tough to continued on page 20

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YOUR BUSINESS

Direct marketing continued from page 19

maneuver across sand. To pick a wet set means battling Cook Inlet’s currents. To pick a dry set means stoop labor. Just getting your product off the beach can be exhausting. In Nikiski, Alldrin started selling to Astoria-based FishHawk Fisheries. “I couldn’t ask for a better bunch of guys.” FishHawk provides the usual services for its fishermen: off-season storage, showers, laundry, and competitive grounds prices. Kenai River Seafoods custom-cuts and freezes product Alldrin has picked for his home market. Alldrin makes arrangements with an Alaskan freight consolidator and flies home. A few weeks later, a reefer truck arrives at his front door. Total holding and transportation bill: about 75 cents per pound. Making the sale: Alldrin likes the Chico Farmers Market. To succeed in any form of retail, you have to be a people person. But, public food markets demand even more peopleness. Most patrons of farmers markets want not just food, but also a story behind their food. “Customers are intrigued that a high school counselor from California spends

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Lance Alldrin picks the net on a rocky Cook Inlet beach. summers in Alaska. Of course, their perception of the fishery is based on Deadliest Catch reruns. I usually let them carry on about how dangerous it must be, that I’m putting my kids’ lives at risk, and what does my wife think — blah, blah, blah.” Alldrin likes the give and take with customers, but if you can’t put up with the “blah, blah, blah,” you’d better find another — and perhaps less profitable — way to sell.

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The Alldrin clan tells a story — about the fish, about Cook Inlet, about a family working as a team. The story sells fish. Pricing: Generally, Alldrin sells his 2009 fish for $8.50 a pound. “I hear some complaints from other fishermen. But I’m selling to customers who are comparing my fish to the fish at Costco. A lot of people will pay $8.50. At $9? No way.” But does a business model — one taking

The product. Alldrin doesn’t expect big sales. “It’s been word of mouth, classifieds, farmers markets: Just the other day, I sold 140 pounds at the market, and not one person bought more than two single portions. “But most, they’re interested in what they’re buying. It gives us an opportunity to tell our story.”

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Lance Alldrin of ten direc ts his customers to his website for more information about the fish, the fishery, and the family. Son Caleb, now 16, designed and operates the site. You can see it at www. alldrinsalmon.com. There, customers can find more than they’ll ever want to know about the piece of sockeye they’re about to eat. One caution: Video for the site was taken last year when, because of a predicted low harvest, Alldrin took only Caleb north. “On the days we were bleeding and doing slush ice, we didn’t have anyone left over to stand there with a camera,” Alldrin said.

YOUR BUSINESS

Competition

by Wesley Loy

Southeast Alaska seiners could vote on buyout next year Proponents of a plan to reduce capacity in the Southeast Alaska salmon seine fleet are hopeful permit holders can vote by early next year on whether to buy out some of their fellow fishermen. The effort got a boost this spring when the state Legislature passed a bill supporting the buyout. Purse seiners remaining in the fishery would shoulder a 40-year federal loan of up to $23.5 million to retire potentially dozens of fishing permits. An election could be held in January or February for seiners to decide whether to go with the buyout, says Rob Zuanich, manager of the Southeast Revitalization Association, a Juneau-based nonprofit pursuing the consolidation effort. The timeline largely depends on the National Marine Fisheries Service, which first must publish a detailed notice with the particulars of a buyout. Until recently, NMFS had “not been excited” about a buyout for a state-waters fishery, Zuanich says. But the agency now seems committed to the program, which supporters have sought for five years. The buyout would proceed as a reverse auction — that is, seiners would offer to surrender their state limited entry fishing permits for a given price. Only the permit would be retired, not the vessel.

Currently, the Southeast salmon seine fishery has 379 permit holders, with about half claiming Alaska residency. Buyout organizers aim to trim the fleet to as few as 260 permits. That’s plenty of boats to harvest large salmon runs, buyout supporters say. Tom Manos, a permit holder on the board of the Southeast Revitalization Associa-

‘Guys just dropped out. Most of us were just kind of hanging on, hoping things would get better.’ tion, says he believes a buyout has strong support through the fleet. In voting, seiners will have to decide whether it makes sense to pay up to 3 percent of the ex-vessel value of their catch each year to finance the removal of a block of permits. “My sense is, the buyback does make sense,” Manos says. Southeast seiners have seen plenty of

turbulence over the past decade. After salmon prices tanked in the face of competition from fish farmers and overproduction of canned pink salmon, the active seine fleet shrank considerably. “Guys just dropped out,” Manos recalls. “Most of us were just kind of hanging on, hoping things would get better.” Things are better now, with the price of chum, pink, and sockeye salmon significantly improved. A key indicator of the industry’s improved health is the value of Southeast seine permits. In April, permits were worth an estimated $72,000 versus as little as $18,600 in 2002, state Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission records show. Industry revival is great, but it’s also the main worry of buyout proponents. Most, if not all, of the permits expected to be relinquished in a buyout are so-called latent permits not being actively fished — but with the potential to pile back into the fishery as conditions improve. The goal is to prevent this from continued on page 22

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on Costco — work? “I’ve got such a positive response here that I’ve applied for a shore-based processor license. I won’t be processing, but buying from my neighbors.” Alldrin figures he’ll need 10,000 to 15,000 pounds of fillet product for direct sales after the 2010 season, and he won’t reach that figure from his own sites with the poor Cook Inlet forecast for 2010. The bottom line: Here are Alldrin’s own numbers: Last year he got $1.25 a pound grounds price for sockeye, so an eight-pound Kenai red brought in $10 in the round. That same eight-pound sockeye produces four pounds of finished fillets, which he sells for $8.50 a pound — for a total of $34 from each fish. That means Alldrin’s fish is worth $4.25 a pound. In short, he’s making $3 a pound more for each sockeye he markets himself.

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happening, preserving a profitable base for those seiners remaining in the fishery, buyout organizers say. State data shows fleet dynamics in response to rising salmon prices and fishermen expectations. In 2009, for example, the number of Southeast seine permits fished rose to 256 compared to 212 the year prior. In support of the buyout, legislators in April passed House Bill 365, which gives NMFS access to confidential state records on the value of fish harvests. Federal regulators wanted this as a way to verify that the industry promptly collects and remits the appropriate taxes to repay the buyout loan, Zuanich said. If completed, the buyout will mark the second round of consolidation for the Southeast seine fleet. In 2008 the fleet used $2.9 million in federal grant funding to retire 35 permit holders. The average amount paid to those selling out was $82,020.

YOUR BUSINESS

Dreamboat

Lugger 600 hp passes on This comes from Colin Puckette at Nor thern Lights Inc. The 600 hp Lugger is no longer in our current product lineup. Our highest output Lugger is a 525 hp, but for this type of application, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d probably be looking at the 370 hp or 425 hp rating of that engine. The engine is called the L1276, with all the speciďŹ cs available on our website (http://www.northernlights.com/). The 600 hp model has a serious cult following among ďŹ shermen and other commercial operators, which is a big reason we are so sad to see it go. But the engine block manufacturer decided not to make a version of the engine that meets current emissions regulations.

Nick Nelson stands in front of two vessels that are already in his family.

Thinking big:

Got an ideal boat in mind? We got a note from a fisherman a few weeks ago. He thought it would be instructive to learn, not what fishermen own today, but what they would drive if they could design their own vessel. Their dreamboat, if you will. Good idea, we thought. So, the first guy we picked on was Nick Nelson, who fishes out of Juneau. Nelson is 27, but heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s got family tradition pushing him. His granddad, Ole Nelson, still fishes the F/V Christian. His dad, Norval Nelson Jr., fishes F/V Star of the Sea, as does his brother Norval Nelson III. Nick fishes F/V Lovey Joann, a classic wood boat built in 1963 by Sagstad. But he used the Star of the Sea for Sitka herring this year. Turns out, the herring fishery has a lot to do with the boat of Nelsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dreams: â&#x20AC;˘ A 58x22 or 21 fiberglass hull by Delta â&#x20AC;&#x201D; not a whaleback design, but a more modern design like the Super Deltas. Fiberglass is low maintenance, and Deltas are proven safe. â&#x20AC;˘ Bulbous bow with bow thruster. â&#x20AC;˘ A 600-hp Lugger main, with two 55-kw Isuzu generators, both with PTOs and Pitts clutches. â&#x20AC;˘ Hydraulics off the main, also with a Pitts clutch. â&#x20AC;˘ A 7-kw hotel pack genset to save on fuel. â&#x20AC;˘ Stainless steel hydraulics. â&#x20AC;˘ Stainless steel pot guards and cap rails. â&#x20AC;˘ Free-standing mast. â&#x20AC;˘ A main boom with a hydraulic ram slider. â&#x20AC;˘ A swing-through picking boom. â&#x20AC;˘ Self-pursing winch. â&#x20AC;˘ Two sonars. â&#x20AC;˘ 72-mile fast whip radar. â&#x20AC;˘ Stainless steel plumbing. â&#x20AC;˘ A 30-ton IMS chiller.

â&#x20AC;˘ Satellite TV and satellite phone. But why did Nelson want a relatively narrow vessel when the fleet appears to be moving to the broader beams? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The reason for a narrower boat is because herring fishing is a fast-paced, derby-style fishery. A boat with a beam of 26 feet would make it hard to get into tight spots that 48 herring seines create.

!,!3+! 4%2-).!,3

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Unfortunately, most people canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a different boat for every fishery, so a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;combinationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; vessel is what most people have to work with. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A 58x22 or 21 would be a perfect platform for me to be aggressive in crab fishing, being able to pack all my crab pots, seine on the outside and still pack lots of fish (probably 130,000 pounds or so), and be able to be aggressive in Sitka for sac-roe.â&#x20AC;? If you have a boat of your dreams in mind, let us know at donmcmanman@gmail.com.

3OUTHEAST !LASKA (AINES *UNEAU 7RANGELL 9AKUTAT 7ESTERN !LASKA "RISTOL "AY "ETHEL $ILLINGHAM .AKNEK !LEUTIANS 0RIBILOFS $UTCH (ARBOR 3T 'EORGE 3T 0AUL

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YOUR BUSINESS

Finance

by Charles E. Morgan, CPA

Construction fund changes vital to many commercial fishermen Capital construction fund (CCF) reform legislation is pending before Congress. The bipartisan Murkowski/ Wyden bill provides for a voluntary one-time-only, penalty-free withdrawal of CCF money by fishermen without requiring them to re-invest in over-capitalized fisheries. In 2008, more than $200 million was held in 3,000 CCF accounts nationwide. There are account holders on every coast of the United States. Two types of fishermen will benefit from this legislation: • The small account holder with funds trapped in the program who has a qualified vessel project but still has to comply with the annual administrative burdens of the program. • The large account holder whose only option is to build a new vessel for what is likely to be an already over-capitalized fishery such as crab. Under the proposed legislation, both categories of CCF participants will have the option of withdrawing their restricted funds for other uses. Currently a non-qualified withdrawal is taxed at the 35 percent maximum rate and incurs a harsh interest penalty. With the pending tax relief proposal, fishermen choosing to exit the program will pay tax on their withdrawals at their regular tax rates, ranging from 15 percent to 33 percent, depending on their other income. They also will be able to use income averaging for the withdrawal, which will result in a lower tax obligation. For fishermen exiting the CCF program, the harsh interest penalty will be waived. The penalty is calculated as interest for each year that taxes are deferred. The rate is reset on a retroactive basis each year. Currently the penalty interest rate is low at about 3 percent per year, but it has been much higher in the past (more than 15 percent in 1982). As interest rates rise, the potential penalty will increase dramatically.

A chance to rescue your money from the legal lockup An example: DESCRIPTION

CCF deposit in 2000 Tax on withdrawal at 35% Tax on withdrawal at 25% Interest penalty - 10 years @ 4% Tax and penalty Fishermen's money

CURRENT

6,000 2,100 840 2,940 3,060

PROPOSED

6,000 1,500 0 1,500 4,500

In exchange for the proposed tax relief, CCF account holders choosing to exit the program will be required to terminate their CCF accounts and will be prohibited from establishing a CCF agreement in later years. Corporations and partnerships with multiple owners will be able to divide their CCF accounts so that each owner can make their own choice on whether to exit the CCF program or to continue participation. This will allow a partner near retirement to exit while a younger partner can continue to use the CCF program. The current version of the legislation requires that an election to exit the program must be made for the 2011 tax year. The Coalition for CCF Reform has requested that the date be extended until at least 2013 because of the delay in getting this bill introduced.

You can help

Senate bill 3276, which was introduced by Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), is the result of a six-year effort funded by a coalition of fishermen known as the Coalition for CCF Reform. The effort was organized by Paul MacGregor, a well-known fisheries attorney in Seattle. He and I have contributed hundreds of hours to this reform effort. All donated funds have been used for lobbying efforts and expenses associated with efforts to get this bill introduced. Anyone wishing to know more about the Coali• Representing working ſshermen for nearly a century tion for CCF Reform, or who may be • Sustainable Harvesting Methods • Professional Standards • Fair Compensation interested in helping us to support the • Inƀuential in the political arenas of ſxed gear ſsheries proposed legislation, can contact Paul MacGregor at (206) 669-4074 or via We’re best when YOU put the “U” in Union. Join us today. e-mail at pmacgregor@mundtmac.com. (206) 783-2922 or www.dsfu.org – Chuck Morgan

Attention all Crab and Longline Fishermen

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YOUR BUSINESS

Dumb management

by Michel Drouin

New book chronicles legacy of bad management in B.C. Even though he claimed, at the launch of his book Still Fishinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The B.C. Fishing Industry Revisited, that his editors had tried to keep him off his lecturing â&#x20AC;&#x153;high-horse,â&#x20AC;? Alan Haig-Brown still managed to get in a few licks against some familiar targets. An ex-seine crewman himself, Haig-Brown introduced the book and delivered a slide show at the book launch, held recently at the Britannia Heritage Shipyard in Steveston, B.C. If there is a single point made clear in the book, Haig-Brown emphasizes the failure of the Canadian fisheries management system on the West Coast to protect salmon. In fact, several different times in the book he emphasizes those management efforts, which were designed to cure the perception of â&#x20AC;&#x153;too many boats chasing too few fishâ&#x20AC;? but did the opposite. The fleet was eventually cut down, but it was able to catch more fish. Licensing regimes punished marginal producers who made a living but didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get rich, forcing smaller boats and lesser producers out of the business, while encouraging the building of bigger, more efficient boats. In fact, a misguided management method that permitted investors to purchase gillnet licenses, combine the tonnage, and then build seiners actually caused the seine fleet to increase from 400 to 530 boats. Then, when that number was capped, anyone wishing to build a new seiner had to decommission an older wooden one and invariably built a beamier, deeper, harder-fishing boat than the old one. A government effort to reduce the fishing power of the fleet by dividing up the coast into two licensing areas backfired when companies retired older boats, leaving whole families without work, and transferred the licenses to newer vessels that could now fish more efficiently in both the northern and southern areas. Haig-Brown does not hesitate to point out the contradictions in federal government policy: â&#x20AC;˘ On the one hand, DFO refused to permit the Homalco Band in Bute Inlet to rebuild the salmon runs in its territory, claiming it was an infringement on the â&#x20AC;&#x153;common propertyâ&#x20AC;? salmon resource in the area.

Author Alan Haig-Brown today and in 1962 aboard seiner Departure Bay #3 waiting for the tide.

Haig-Brown also follows the Assu family, with whom he personally fished in the 1960s and â&#x20AC;&#x2122;70s, as they pursue a chum salmon fishery in 2001, describing how the family continues to fish the same traditional areas using generations of knowledge An admirer of fine wooden boats, Haig-Brown also describes the preservation of the Eva, a classic 29.5-foot Fraser River gillnetter, and the resurrection of the 66-foot former Bering Sea halibut vessel Sleep-Robber from certain destruction after a devastating grounding. He describes Steve Martinolichâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s love affair with the family seiner, the 61-foot Marsons, keeping and maintaining it as a family vessel even after the fishing license was sold. Still Fishinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, 288 pages, paperback, is available from Harbour Publishing, www.harbourpublishing.com, for $26.95.

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â&#x20AC;˘ Then, the government permitted salmon farms and a hydro project in the same area, which impacted that same â&#x20AC;&#x153;common property.â&#x20AC;? But it is not all hopeless. Ever the optimist, Haig-Brown follows the quest of 20-year-old Russell Sanderson for a boat of his own. Having grown up on his parentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s troller, he sought to lease a boat in 2007, and Haig-Brown follows Sandersonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first season as skipper. Haig-Brown also focuses on veteran fishermen branching out into new areas. He follows the career of seiner John Lenic, who works on a new seine fishery on revived sardine stocks.

5625 48th Dr. N.E. Unit B Marysville, WA 98270 1IPOF r 'BY

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The

YOUR BUSINESS

Life

The life

Men and women describe the life of commercial fishing We are pleased to present an opportunity for those involved in commercial fishing in the Pacific to describe the way they work, the way they live. If you have a story to tell, send it to editor@pacificfishing.com.

Greenhorn braves the guns (yikes!) of banana republics on the way to a berth aboard a tuna boat

More recently, aboard an Alaskan pollock vessel.

A kid from Pedro and extraordinary things Tom Giacalone is from a fishing family with its origins in Sicily. As a chief engineer, he worked from the tropics to the Arctic, on harpoon boats to factory trawlers. He’s now a manager at Maximum Performance Hydraulics in Seattle, but his first “real” job came years ago aboard a tuna vessel, the Conte Bianco. s a young man it was always my intention to do extraordinary things. While my friends were washing dishes and boxing groceries, I was working on the garbage scow. (What could be more cosmopolitan than collecting garbage from a ship whose last port of call was Singapore?) I was on a first name basis with insects that had yet to be discovered by science and had daily discourse, if not physical contact, with multilingual rats. Of course, there were other jobs too: engine shops and sport boats, the water taxis and an occasional scuba job, to name a few. Actually, there were eight different establishments that I worked for between my 14th birthday and somewhere around my 20th. I also was very often down at the wharf with my father when he was home from those 1,000-day tuna trips, getting in his way (when I was younger), giving him a hand (when I was older) and receiving the same training my grandfather had given him. My father was a friend of Steve Vilicich and sometimes the engineer aboard one of Steve’s boats, so it was a natural progression for me to end up spending time at Hy-C-Tane, which was Steve’s fuel dock, fleet repair shop, and the first stop for a morning bullshit session as the old dagos made their daily walk down to the fish market. My father encouraged me to try fishing because I couldn’t seem to focus on a formal education or a steady job. I had no desire to abandon the exciting workdays on the waterfront and wild evenings spent howling at the moon. And what for? A life of hardship and pain, if you listened to the Old Man. Steve had pretty much seen me around since my dad had changed his flag from the San Diego to the San Pedro fleet, and looking back I think Steve always had a plan for me. For sure, he

26 PACIFICFISHING

by Tom Giacalone

JULY 2010

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

knew I was going fishing before I did, and of course he wasn’t going to send me out there 'til he knew I could take care of his boats. The day arrived when Steve decided either 1) I was ready to be his apprentice or 2) he was buried up to his armpits in broken equipment so ancient the blueprints were scribed on papyrus. I like to think that he needed me to sort it all out, but if Steve had been given the spec sheet of the Ark of the Covenant, we wouldn’t be dealing with radical religions today because he could improve anybody’s designs. No, he didn’t need that sort of help. Maybe he just wanted someone to keep him awake while he was performing machinery resurrections at 2 in the morning. Either way, he hired me away from the engine shop where I was working that particular week and began to teach me the chants — mostly questions and answers he mumbled to himself when in deep concentration. He also would persuade the stubborn machinery along with very gentle curses which were never uttered out of anger or frustration but flowed in a thoughtful, coaxing fashion, and when these chants were performed in rhythm with his talented hands, magical things would happen and the stubborn machines would come back to life. Yeah, Steve was pretty damn good, and he made sure I was paying attention and learning and not just handing him wrenches. One day, after a couple of years had passed under Steve’s tutelage, I noticed him and his brother in deep conversation on the dock. John ran the local agency that handled the other needs of the fleet: documentation, customs, licenses and anything else necessary to get the boats out and back in again. As they talked, John kept glancing my way. After a few minutes John took off and Steve approached me to casually open the first major chapter of my life. “Tommy, the assistant engineer on the Conte Bianco wants to come home. Why don’t you fly down to Panama tomorrow and take over the job”? Having worked on the garbage scow, I was no stranger to international commerce, and I had always planned to do extraordinary things, but I was secretly scared to death and looking for a way out. “Well, Steve, I don’t know that I’m skilled enough to tackle a job like that.” “You’re ready.” Reaching desperately, I said, “I’ve got an awful lot of stuff going on right now...

There’s more To read the rest of Tom Giacalone’s remembrance of a callow youth in Panama, go to PacificFishing.com. At the bottom of the page, you’ll see a link that will take you to “The Life” section. Or, go to www. pacificfishing.com/life/index. html. Look for “Terrorists and Cockroaches: Fishing in Panama.”

Surviving Panama and ready for the Western Pacific in 1980.

YOUR BUSINESS

Your turn

by Wayne Heikkila

Is this the end game for U.S. commercial fisheries? Wayne Heikkila of the Western Fishboat Owners Association was reflecting recently on the group’s latest campaign to get Americans to eat American albacore. Trouble is, once Americans discovered the fishery, there may be few American albacore boats left. The gloomy equation led to this article, which Heikkila says is his own opinion and not that of the association.

healthful alternatives in food. Markets for seafood are now diverse and expanding. A trend toward consuming more local seafood is gaining momentum. Unfortunately, consumer access to sustainable, locally harvested seafood is threatened to be derailed by regulation based more on agendas and politics than on sound basic science and common sense. Consumers are often left confused by an avalanche of Like an unending drip of water over the past few years, there has misinformation spewed by editorials, publications, and other been a drumbeat of negative edimedia. This leads to consumer torials and pronouncements on hesitancy in the marketplace and the declining state of the world’s ‘Many coastal residents do not recall the to less healthful choices. oceans and commercial fishing. commercial fishing fleet when it numbered in Sadly, the U.S. commercial fleet Environmental N o n - the thousands and brought sustained economic is growing old. Very few new Governmental Organizations vessels and younger fishermen (NGOs) and government agen- benefits to coastal communities year round.’ are entering the U.S. fisheries. cies like to tout the eco-friendliDespite this, the U.S. government ness of many U.S. commercial fisheries while all along engaging in and NGOs seem determined to control effort by U.S. fishermen, tactics that either directly or indirectly destabilize the industry. knowing all along that foreign fishing, both legal and illegal, U.S. commercial fishermen, who risk their lives daily to cannot be effectively curtailed. In most of these targeted fisheries, supply the public with healthful, sustainable seafood, are becoming the U.S. share of overall catch worldwide is less than 10 percent. discardable bycatch. Fisheries that contribute to the economy are Concurrently, port infrastructure, fish buyers, processors, threatened to become nothing more than a commodity share caught marinas, and support businesses have disappeared. Once thriving up in an illusion of proper fisheries management. Once viable businesses have been replaced by boutiques, sailboats, yachts and, fisheries, self-regulated by weather and economics, have become worst of all, rotten pilings and broken docks. targets of one-size-fits-all centralized management, as well as a History forgotten: Memories of the past are also a casualty fund-raising opportunity for NGOs. continued on page 28 Consumers want our fish: Consumers are seeking more

New Telecommunications Cable in SE Alaska Installation of CGI’s high capacity Àber-optic communications system linking the communities of SE Alaska is now complete. The Àber optic system is now fully operational and has a minimum service life of 25 years. The cable provides a vital communication link between Alaska and the rest of the world. By avoiding operations directly on the cable route, you can prevent cutting this link, and possibly damaging Àshing gear. If you have entangled gear on the cable, or believe your gear has been in contact with the cable, please report the incident by calling:

Juneau

Angoon Petersburg

Sitka

Wrangell

1-888-442-8662

Ketchikan

(24 hours, 7 days a week) 5151 Fairbanks Street Anchorage, AK 99503-2781 1-888-442-8662 (907) 777-5513 Fax www.alaskaunited.com brein@gci.com

Call for complete position list and free charts

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JULY 2010

PACIFICFISHING 27

YOUR BUSINESS

Your turn continued from page 27

The few informed people in the NGOs and government of time. Changing demographics have resulted in history being forgotten. Many coastal residents do not recall the commercial communities have been, or are being, replaced. It leaves no one to fishing fleet when it numbered in the thousands and brought defend U.S. fishermen from a zeal to make them an example to the world. More troubling in fisheries management is that it is often sustained economic benefits to coastal communities year around. incestuous, with bureaucrats Unfortunately, in ports along becoming lobbyists or officials in the West Coast of the U.S., the ‘More often than not, regulation does not fit the NGO community. fishing industry is nothing more the science, but science has to be juggled to fi t Science to fit politics: Some than faded photos on restaurant regulatory schemes.’ in the science community seem walls adding ambience for tourunder pressure within their ists to look at while consuming agencies to recommend political solutions to scientific problems. farm-raised or imported seafood. When other industries were displaced in the past, they failed More often than not, regulation does not fit the science, but science because of new technology, less demand, or innovations. New, more has to be juggled to fit regulatory schemes. As we are forced efficient ways to supto unilaterally limit ply the consumer the ourselves, foreign same or new products nations fill the void. or services stepped Complicit in this forward, displacing tragedy is our own the old. government, where With fishing, the agencies are parademand for seafood lyzed by fear of legal products has not action from NGOs gone away, like the posing as “stakedemand for items holders.” such as steam engines Without a new and whale oil. direction and pubDemand for seafood, lic support of local in fact, has increased products, the U.S. as the population has will soon become a grown. country exclusively No young fishof imported seafood ermen: There is no products. Although new technologically there is nothing advanced commertechnically wrong cial fleet manned with imported seawith young fisherfood and, as menAs foreign fleets are constantly updated, U.S. fishing boats – and the fishing industry – are men about to appear crumbling, like these vessels in Charleston. tioned, early procesfrom over the horisors need to adapt, zon. By contrast, in many foreign fishing industry publications, there are numerous it seems wrong that we have to outsource our food production in articles on new vessels entering fisheries and stories of new and the U.S. Consumers and fishermen have to recognize we are caught in a exciting innovations in fisheries and consumer choices. By contrast, most U.S. fishing magazines are very slim and mostly devoted to system that is reaching critical mass. Fishermen tend to want to be left on their own and not have sales of existing boats, many that have been on the market for a very anyone encroach on their business. That is beneficial for a trip or a long time. Many U.S. fishermen are trying to run out the clock to an uncer- season, but there are forces out there much larger than a few oceantain retirement. Most have no pensions, no retirement funds, no going competitors. Those forces want fishermen off the water. It is employee health care, and little value in their vessels. Most have not blatant, and at times is not even the intention, but bureaucracies given their whole life to supplying food to consumers without — whether they be government or NGOs — have to support themselves by public funding or donations. asking very much in return and have only been made the villains. U.S. fishermen for more than 100 years have done most things In 2010, the challenges are increasing at unprecedented speed. right as far as being eco-friendly and sustainable; unfortunately, Management and regulation, with pressure from NGOs and govwe are just a target. Fishermen, consumers, and regulators have to ernment agencies, have taken the fast track in the U.S. to heal probrecognize this soon, or the U.S. will not have a fishing industry and lems that may or may not exist. a supply of local fish. The mantra from our own government is to push for such measures as individual catch shares and ocean zoning as manage- Wayne Heikkila is executive director of the Western Fishboat Owners ment tools. These are easy tools for bureaucrats to manage the U.S. Association, an organization representing albacore fishermen. You can fleet unilaterally, but do little to address actual global issues. reach him at wfoa@charter.net. 28 PACIFICFISHING

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B.C. UPDATE B.C. halibut catch and prices stronger than in Alaska

by Michel Drouin

Halibut season strong: The B.C. halibut fishery kicked off with first aid, sanctuary for shipwrecked maria bang in March, with both landings and prices going through ners, search and rescue, “and whatever the day brings.” the roof. After considerable public opposition to the By May 12, the total catch in Canada had reached 2,667,330 pounds, which is 41.7 percent of the Canadian quota of destaffing plan, Bergh said that in September of last year, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail ail Shea backed off 6,386,499 pounds. “We don’t usually get 40 percent out of the water until the end somewhat and declared that a final decision on de-staffing would of May,” said one industry source. “In my opinion we are way not occur until a comprehensive review of all lightkeeper services ahead, and we have been way ahead all year. Last year we had 29.4 was conducted. Now Bergh is appealing to all supporters of manned light percent out of the water at this time. Our average catch is double stations — including those in the U.S. — to write to the that of Alaska.” Alaska’s catches are greater than last year too. The Senate Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, which is state’s halibut fleet had taken 10,933,833 pounds in the reviewing the services provided by the lightkeepers at the currently same period, 27 percent of their quota, somewhat ahead staffed light stations. “Be sure to send copies to your government representatives as of 21 percent of their quota taken in the same period well,” Bergh said. “This is one in 2009. of the ways that you can make Prices in B.C. are at the democracy work. Please feel high end too. free to contact me as well at At the start of the season, newdawn@lincsat.com.” the price opened in Canada at $6.20 per pound for 10- to Submissions may be sent to 20-pound halibut, $6.40 for the committee’s mailbox at the 20- to 40-pound fish, and following address: fish-peche@ $6.80 for fish over 40 pounds. sen.parl.gc.ca. For comparison, prices in There is more information Bellingham opened at $6.25 at www.canadianlightkeepers. across the board. Homer ’s org. prices were $5.95, $6.05, and $6.25 for the three weight Protesting against net classes. pens: A crowd of thousands Juneau’s opening prices gathered at the Provincial were $5.75, $5.95, and $6.15 Legislature steps in Victoria, for the same size grades. B.C., on May 8 to celebrate the More British Columbia lighthouses – used by U.S. fishermen to and from “Those are the highAlaska – would be “destaffed” if the federal government has its way. end of Alexandra Morton’s est prices I’ve ever seen in two-week, 500-km walk nearthe opening,” the indusly the length of Vancouver Island to protest salmon farms. try source said, predicting that the fishery will slow down, The well-known salmon farm activist launched her walk — with fish trickling in right to the end of the season on Nov. 15 as other fisheries such as prawns in B.C. and salmon in Alaska dubbed “The Get Out Migration” — on April 23 in Sointula, B.C. Morton and supporters then walked to Victoria demanding that kick in. wild salmon take higher priority than farm salmon. During the course of the walk, Morton was joined by First Lightstations threatened: It just doesn’t seem to stop. Nations groups, opposed to salmon farms in their traditional areas, Canada’s federal government is again trying to de-staff another and other supporters. round of lighthouses, and lighthouse keepers are fighting back. A protest meeting was held in Campbell River against the The keepers were told in September of last year that the CanaNorwegian salmon farms there. dian Coast Guard brass had plans to cut jobs. A flotilla of about 30 boats welcomed Morton and supporters The Canadian government has been working on destaffing in Surge Narrows and escorted everyone to Quadra Island for a lighthouses on Canada’s coasts since the 1980s. A number of light stations were destaffed in the 1990s. There are ceremony and feast in Heriot Bay. currently 51 manned stations in Canada, with 27 of them on the Other walks from places like Tofino on the west coast of B.C. coast. Vancouver Island joined up with the walkers along the main route. “By being automated that means Canadian Coast Guard There were several water-borne “migrations” coordinated with the has installed a light that they think will run without human walk as well, including a canoe trip down the Fraser River from intervention,” said Steve Bergh, president of B.C. Lightkeepers Mission. School children in the Greater Vancouver area took the Local 20232. opportunity to release salmon smolts into streams to commemorate “This is not true. Snow, ice, and algae, switching mechanisms, the protest as well. battery, and bulb failure all require human intervention.” Staffed light stations provide a myriad of other services as Pacific Fishing columnist Michel Drouin covers commercial fishing well, Bergh added, such as weather observations, coast watching, from Vancouver, B.C. WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

JULY 2010

PACIFICFISHING 29

MID-COAST REPORT Black cod down, spring Chinook up, shrimp Europe-bound

by Cassandra Marie Profita

Black cod scarce: Trawlers are having trouble finding enough mainstem this spring and more than 17,500 black cod to meet their trip limits as the stock assessment for the fish in the off-channel select areas, sendPacific Fishery Management Council shows declining numbers of ing millions of dollars into lower river communities. the top-shelf fish. “It’s like taking a money hose and spraying The council’s options for setting the 2011 and 2012 black cod catch include cuts of around 25 percent from this year’s limit it on the whole community,” said Astoria gillnetter Gary Marin—from 6,471 metric tons in 2010 to 4,961 tons in 2011 and 4,689 covich, who caught 350 fish for the season while some boats landed 500 each. tons in 2012. “It’s unbelievable to have fish like that,” he said. “Unheard of.” “The stock assessment outlook is certainly going down,” said The first fish of the season on the mainstem brought in $9 a Kelly Ames of the Pacific Fishery Management Council. “On top of that, the trawl survey itself is seeing fewer fish. There aren’t as pound, which was scaled back to $6.25 as fishing moved offchannel. Prices went down to $4.25 and $3.25, but later rebounded many in the north as there are in the south.” to $3.90. The drag fleet is already coping with Jim Wells, an Astoria gillnetter and the overfished listing of Petrale sole, president of the commercial fishanother valuable catch in the grounding organization Salmon for All, said fish fishery. Ames said the last stock last year gillnetters caught 7,000 fish assessment of black cod placed the total in the mainstem and off-chanspecies in the “precautionary zone.” nel zones, compared with more than Over the past year, allocated shares 20,000 fish this year. of black cod have become the sole determinant of a trawl permit’s value Pacific Shrimp upgrades Newin the run up to the 2011 groundfish port plant: Pacific Shrimp is remodelindividual fishing quota system. ing its processing plant in Newport to Prices for black cod at the docks tap the European market for Oregon were on the rise in May, ranging from pink shrimp. $1.50 a pound for the smallest fish The multimillion-dollar upgrade is to $2.70 per pound for fish 7 pounds designed to improve food safety and and up. hygiene to meet standards for certi“It’s like the gold standard,” said fication by the British Retail ConsorAstoria trawler Tom Morrison. “I’m tium — a trade association that holds targeting black cod my whole trip and the keys to the European retail fish taking everything else that comes with markets. it incidentally. That’s where there’s BRC standards require processors to any money in it.” separate raw and cooked products and While Petrale sole can net $1 to $1.20 use ventilation that prevents airborne a pound, most other groundfish yield pathogens. Once the certification is much less to fishermen. Dover sole is complete, Pacific Shrimp will be the the fleet’s next highest-priced species only processing facility on the West at around 30 cents a pound. Workers unload at the Pacific Shrimp plant in Newport Newport. Coast certified by BRC for shrimp. Brad Pettinger, administrator of The facility is being remodeled as part of a marketing push Bob O’Bryant, marketing director the Oregon Trawl Commission, said into Europe. for Pacific Shrimp parent company fishermen aren’t finding as much black cod as they have in the past, but they are seeing a lot of smaller fish Pacific Seafoods, said the certification provides another level of quality assurance and will open up new, European markets for that will fill out the fishery in the next few years. “It seems like this is a knee-jerk reaction,” he said of the proposed Oregon pink shrimp. He said he doesn’t know if it will bump up catch limit cuts. “You can take precautionary to the nth degree if prices for the product as well. “It’s a substantial market,” he said. “They usually buy shrimp you like. I think they’re taking this to the extreme.” out of Norway. This will allow us to compete against Norwegian and Atlantic shrimp meat.” Youngs Bay flush with salmon: Adding to an already rosy The competing shrimp product caught off the Atlantic coast is spring salmon season on the mainstem Columbia River, commeralso BRC-certified, he said. cial gillnetters were flush with fish in Youngs Bay this spring. Meanwhile, shrimpers reported a heftier catch off southern The fleet had landed 14,801 spring Chinook in the Youngs Oregon in May with an average price around 36 cents a pound — Bay net pen fishery by May, more than twice the previous catch up from around 31 cents last year. record. The previous high commercial catch at Youngs Bay for the winter-to-summer season was 6,916 in 2004. Pacific Fishing columnist Cassandra Marie Profita covers commercial Overall, commercial gillnet boats caught 9,200 fish on the fishing for The Daily Astorian. 30 PACIFICFISHING

JULY 2010

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ALASKA NOTEBOOK American seafoods divorce, slow shrimp, Angoon fish ladder

by Wesley Loy

Business breakup: Bering Sea fishing giant American Seafoods Department of Fish and Game on April 15 of Seattle in May announced it was buying out one of its major opened part of Prince William Sound to comowners, Anchorage-based Coastal Villages Region Fund. mercial pot shrimpers for the first time in No money changed hands in the deal. Rather, Coastal received nearly two decades, setting what seemed like one of American’s pollock factory trawlers, the 341-foot Northern a modest quota of 55,000 pounds. Hawk, plus three cod freezer longliners: the Deep Pacific, the Lilli Lots of guys went after the shrimp at first, with 68 vessels landAnn, and the North Cape. ing 13,000 pounds in the first four days. Effort tailed off quickly Perhaps most significantly, Coastal also received a substan- after that, however, and through mid-May only 24,000 pounds, or tial piece of American’s pollock quota, people familiar with the 44 percent of the quota, had been taken. Most likely a lot of boats deal said. had to shift away from shrimping to get ready for the Copper River The split coincided with the refinancing of American’s debt, salmon fishery, which opened May 13. the size of which was not dis closed but involved at least $400 Washington watch: U.S. senamillion, according to financial tors from Alaska, Washington, and media reports. other states on May 14 introduced The breakup marks the end of legislation, S. 3372, giving many Coastal’s 10-year investment in commercial and charter fishing vesAmerican, which runs the largest sels three more years of relief from fleet of Bering Sea factory trawla requirement to have Environmeners. Coastal owned 46 percent of tal Protection Agency permits for American. polluting discharges. The current Coastal is one of six Alaska compatwo-year moratorium on such pernies formed in 1992 under the federmits for vessels under 79 feet long al Community Development Quota is set to expire on July 31. Sen. Lisa program to manage the harvest of Murkowski, R-Alaska, said more Bering Sea fish and crab quotas study is needed to see whether disreserved for the benefit of Western charges from these smaller vessels Alaska villages. need to be regulated. Coastal is thought to be the “In Alaska, the 9,700 vessels that richest of the CDQ companies. make up the commercial and charWhile many of the firms have ter fishing fleets would be adverseachieved partial shares in the most ly affected if the moratorium powerful of Alaska’s fishing vessels, Coastal’s outright ownership of the expired,” Murkowski said. “Given Northern Hawk is an unprecedentthe near impossibility of the EPA to ed milestone. have a permit in place by July 31, Postcard: Wayne Painter of Juneau sent along this photo “American Seafoods has been a these vessels would immediately of his grandson, Stephan, and the youngster’s first fish, fantastic investment,” said Morgen be in violation of the Clean Water caught in Lynn Canal. Stephan seems dubious about the Crow, executive director for CoastAct for an incidental discharge of entire endeavor. al, which represents 20 villages in any kind.” the Kuskokwim River region. He suggested the company someday might establish harbors in the Climbing the ladder: You might recall my item a few issues ago remote region big enough to accommodate its newly acquired about how the state and U.S. Forest Service had canceled a solicitaSeattle-based fishing vessels. tion for a consultant to complete an environmental impact study While none of the official press releases said so, it was common on a possible fish ladder to boost the small Kanalku Lake sockeye knowledge within the industry that relations had been strained salmon run near the village of Angoon. between the top brass at American and Coastal. Well, in late April, officials again posted the $120,000 consultBut American said it “will provide management and marketing ing job. Keeping the Kanalku run healthy is important, as a crash services” to Coastal as part of the buyout. in the stock could result in restrictions for commercial fisheries in the region. Slow shrimping: Alaska’s enormous spot shrimp, or spot prawns as they’re often called, have to rank with king crab, sablefish, and Yukon River Chinook as the most delectable of the Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy has covered commercial fisheries state’s seafood. And so it was with some rejoicing that the Alaska in the North Pacific for more than a decade.

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JULY 2010

PACIFICFISHING 31

ALASKA WATCH Acid and pollock, wolffish aquaculture, using fish waste

by Laine Welch

No matter what you believe about climate change, ocean chem- halibut, or cod, there are many others that istry doesn’t lie. Even toy store chemistry tests will show that the would not compete with commercial fisheries seas are becoming more acidic, and the off-kilter levels can have a — notably, wolffish. scary impact on sea creatures: It dissolves them. “We had a trade delegation tell us that if Scientists estimate the ocean is 25 percent more acidic now than we sent live wolffish to Korea, they would it was 300 years ago. pay $40 a pound,” Smiley said. “Now people have talked about Corals, oysters, and clams in the wild already show corro- value added — $40 a pound is really adding value. There are other sion from the rising acid levels, and tests on king crab have been species of equal interest; monk fish is another one. Quite a few speunderway in Kodiak labs for several years. At a seminar last cies, as a matter of fact.” month, reports of potential impacts on pollock, Alaska’s largest fish Smiley says he does not believe offshore aquaculture will take resource, raised eyebrows and more questions. off in Alaska simply because the winter waters are too nasty. But In tests on 1-year-old pollock at varying levels of pH, researchers inshore waters pose a different picture. at NOAA Fisheries Newport Lab discovered that the fish seemed Fish waste: Fish feed made to compensate for increased from Sitka herring trumped levels of carbon dioxide by anchovies from Peru in fish-feedboosting levels of bicarbonate in ing trials, and Sitkans believe it their blood has the makings of a $6 million “Bicarbonate is just a bufnew local business. fer. It’s like drinking Milk of “What is produced here Magnesia when you have a should be consumed here, and stomach ache. It buffers the acid that applies to the fish and game in your stomach,” explained food web as well. So the notion Jeremy Mathis, a chemical oceanof making food from local herographer at the University of ring and feeding it to Alaska Alaska Fairbanks. hatchery salmon really fits,” said “So the bicarbonate in their John Stein, director of the Sitka blood is just buffering the change Sound Science Center. “We’re of pH. The fish that were treated creating local-vores.” in the lowest acidity had the Alaska spends $20 million highest concentration of bicaron fish feed each year for its 33 bonate in their blood, so it’s salmon hatcheries, buying it prialmost like they overcompenmarily from South America. The sated for the pH effect that they Sitka center and local stakeholdwere being exposed to.” ers aim to prove that feeds made Pacific Fishing columnists – Laine Welch, left, and Wesley Loy – The big pollock question from local fish are every bit as constitute two-thirds of the panel during the traditional Kodiak is where that bicarbonate tasty and nutritious as the forcandidates’ debate that attracted a crowd and was heard in more comes from. eign stuff. than 330 communities over public radio. Journalist Margaret “Fish can take bicarbonate “It’s something that has been Bauman also was part of the panel that questioned candidates. in through their gills from sea looked at for 30 years, and we Louis John Garcia photos water, or they can dissolve bone still haven’t figured out how to in order to get bicarbonate in their blood,” Mathis said. “If they compete with the big producers,” Stein said. started dissolving bone, that opens up a whole ’nother can of In the Sitka “drag race” feeding project, herring feed made from impacts of size, growth and health.” local fish was pitted against the Peruvian anchovy pellets used “Even if they were absorbing it from sea water, that is energy by Alaska hatcheries. After 10 weeks, coho salmon fed on the they are spending on regulating pH that they are not spending on herring diet “were slightly above those eating the standard feeds,” growth and reproduction and foraging,” he added. “So either way Stein said. there was likely an energetic cost to the fish.” Results of the pollock More feeding trials are needed before hatchery managers will be bone tests should be ready in August. convinced to try something new on their $200 million fish crops, Stein said, but he is convinced that local fish meals and oils mean Aquaculture — a wolf at the door: Aquaculture poses big business for Sitka. tremendous opportunity in Alaska, if it’s done responsibly and in Questions? Visit www.afdf.org. cooperation with communities. That is according to Dr. Scott Smiley of the University of Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch has covered Alaska Alaska’s Fishery Industrial Technology Center in Kodiak. fishing since 1988 through her Fish Radio program and Fish Factor Smiley said that while Alaska should not farm species like salmon, newspaper column. 32 PACIFICFISHING

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DUTCH HARBOR REPORT Drugs, lawsuits, war, oil, and $1 million up for grabs

by Wesley Loy

The DEC document lays out a recovery Busted: Illegal drugs had Unalaska buzzing this spring as authorities charged at least 17 people after a number of police plan for harbor waters and calculates how investigations. Among those charged, police said, was a young much pollution they can take and still meet production assistant working on the popular cable show Deadliest water quality standards. A positive for the Catch, which follows Bering Sea crabbers. fishing industry is that the agency probCourt papers said Matthew J. Schneider worked a deal to sell ably won’t allocate individual limits to potential sources of oily $300 worth of cocaine to Patrick Bliss, whom the city hired in pollution, such as fish-processing plants, which are not believed to January as an undercover officer to troll Unalaska’s bar scene under be sources of oil pollution. the assumed name Nathan Hyde. The DEC is recommending Among others charged was a taxi more focus on “best managedriver accused of selling cocaine and ment practices” at docks, along marijuana to Bliss from her cab, local with continued environmental radio station KUCB reported. Most monitoring of the harbors and a of the arrests came down April 25. better watch on stormwater Nearly $82,000 worth of cocaine, runoff, especially at northern OxyContin pills, and other drugs Dutch Harbor. were seized, Unalaska Public Safety Director Jamie Sunderland said. He Remembering the fallen: and Mayor Shirley Marquardt honSpeaking of the war, Gov. Sean ored officers with commendations for Parnell ordered state flags at their work, which was partly funded with a Justice Department grant, the half-staff on June 3 to mark Anchorage Daily News reported. the 68th anniversary of the Japanese bombing of Dutch Cold war: Kloosterboer opened its Harbor on June 3-4, 1942. new cold storage on Ballyhoo Road with considerable fanfare last summer, Trench trip: It’s long, deep, touting the enormous plant as part of and mysterious. And the a seafood logistics chain linking South federal government wants Korea, Alaska, Atlantic Canada, and to know more about it. The The Netherlands, where Kloosterboer Office of Ocean Exploration is based. and Research (OER), part of But the happy story has a nagging the National Oceanic and problem in Anchorage, where KloostAtmospheric Administration, erboer is locked in a court battle on June 1 published a notice with West Construction Co., which seeking proposals “to search, worked on the foundation and new An environmental team collects sediment samples in Dutch investigate, and document dock for the cold storage. West sued, Harbor in September 2008. Photo by Laura Eldred, Alaska DEC. poorly known and unknown claiming it was owed more than $3 million from Kloosterboer, which countersued saying the areas of the Aleutian Trench.” contractor did faulty work, overcharged, and denied access to The trench in the floor of the North Pacific runs along the south billing records. Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski has sent at side of the Aleutian Islands. It’s about 2,200 miles long, 50 to 100 least part of the dispute to arbitration. miles wide with a maximum depth of over 25,000 feet. The OER is offering up to $1 million in funding for “bold, Oil in port: How much petroleum pollution is in Dutch Harbor innovative, and interdisciplinary” proposals to explore the and neighboring Iliuliuk Harbor? Aleutian Trench. Winners will have a chance to carry out their The answer isn’t as dirty as you might think, according to a proposals aboard a ship that will be spending 60 days in the trench new document from the Alaska Department of Environmental for mapping operations. Conservation (DEC). The OER set a Sept. 10 deadline for proposals and says Here’s the best news: Surface water quality meets acceptable universities, nonprofits, commercial organizations, foreign, standards under the Clean Water Act. The heavy vessel traffic and Tribal governments, and other federal agencies are eligible associated with Unalaska’s seafood and shipping industries is not for awards. harming water quality much. Now, here’s the downside: The harbors remain listed as “impaired” due to oil in bottom sediments. This is believed to be chiefly a legacy of World War II. Unalaska had large tank farms, and these tanks sometimes released large volumes of fuel because of bombing damage or because they were drained rapidly as a defense.

Longtime journalist Wesley Loy prepared this report. Pacific Fishing’s Unalaska columnist, Anne Hillman, has taken a new full-time job that will keep her too busy to continue writing the Letter from Unalaska. She’s stepped up from news director of KUCB to station manager. We’ll introduce a new columnist in a few weeks. WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

JULY 2010

PACIFICFISHING 33

CORDOVA REPORT Cordova fishermen getting legal while towing boats in town

by Beth Poole

Getting legal: Last summer, the Department of Transporta- Fishery management shifts from sockeye to tion (DOT) started ticketing fishermen towing boats around town coho around the third week of August, and without the proper permits. Such traffic regulations have existed the average run size is about 345,000 fish. Pricing the past three years has remained for a long time but weren’t enforced in Cordova, where there’s no highway, and fishermen typically move their boats only short more constant than for other species — averaging about $1 a pound. distances, between a few yards to a couple of miles. Now, fishermen are required to placard their trucks and boats Seafood screening: The Transportation Security Adminwith oversize-vehicle signs, flashing amber lights, flags, and in istration (TSA) has added a new hoop for shipping fish via air some cases, be escorted by pilot cars. Along with the DOT permit, the total cost for a move is a couple cargo. Effective this spring, 100 percent of cargo shipments must be screened, which means more work for TSA agents — and hundred dollars. Cordova District Fishermen United managed to get the permit potentially delayed shipments. Here in Cordova, Alaska Airlines handles the vast majority of price reduced from $450 for six months to a more reasonable $50 seafood shipments, and despite worries leading up to the season, for fishermen operating in some rural areas. it’s been up to the chalDOT may not be back in lenge. Bigger processors town to enforce the regulaall have been certified tions, but local police and by TSA to screen their troopers can issue citations own fish and are now if they see trailers out of certified cargo-screening compliance. Some fisherfacilities (CCSF). men are balking. Others Smaller shippers, are joining with others to mostly direct marketers, purchase and share the don’t qualify as CCSFs, required gear. so they have a bigger challenge. They are Copper River hooprequired to get their fish la: The start of the Copboxed and to the airport per River salmon season at least four hours before always generates media a flight. interest — people are hunSo far, things have gry for fresh salmon, and generally worked well, mid-May traditionally according to Alaska marks the start of summer Airlines, major procesgrilling. sors, and direct marThis year brought key keters. This might be buyers up to Cordova to due to a slow start handpick their Copper A different perspective: Glacial silt along the Copper River is picked up by the wind and to the season, which River kings, a chef cookcarried out over the Gulf of Alaska. This true-color MODIS image from Oct. 26, 2001, means fewer fish and off on the tarmac at SeaTac shows a large gray dust plume spreading out over the gulf. To the west of Copper River, more time to work out airport hosted by Alaska you can see Cook Inlet filled with sediment. NASA photo the kinks. Airlines, and release of “No problems whatsoever,” said Mikal Berry of Wild Copper River Reds on the Run salmon art painted by Alaska artists. To be fair, I have to mention that Copper River is not the first Catch Direct. fresh wild Alaska salmon of the season. Southeast troll-caught MAP saved: Last I wrote, the Marine Advisory Program (MAP) kings are delivered all winter long, and they are top quality. faced a reduction in its coastal offices, which had been supported in The price: Early season Copper River salmon is known for its part by now dried-up grant funding. In order to secure long-term sustainable funding from the high prices. In the end of May, processors were paying fishermen $6 a pound University of Alaska, MAP was encouraged to appeal to the for kings and $4 a pound for sockeye, compared to 2009 pricing of Legislature, and appeal they did. Alaska House and Senate finance committees took public com$5.25 and $3.50, respectively. Traditionally, the early season pricing ment from throughout the state and were overwhelmed by the holds for about two weeks, then it settles out as more wild Alaska number of people speaking on behalf of MAP’s request. Cordova salmon runs arrive to compete in the marketplace. A lot of retailers, restaurants, and consumers still assume that alone had at least five speakers at each hearing, and many more Copper River is only available for a month or so, although the sea- from Dillingham, Petersburg, Homer, and other communities. The Legislature got the message loud and clear and secure, son stretches all the way through the end of September with coho. long-term funding was approved by Gov. Sean Parnell. Silver lining: Copper River coho season is when things really get interesting. The weather is guaranteed to be terrible, the days are getting shorter, and a chunk of the fleet heads south to avoid it all.

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Pacific Fishing columnist Beth Poole is the executive director of the Copper River–Prince William Sound Marketing Association.

What's New... BriarTek ORCA TX-104 Life-Saving Technology at Sea WONDERING IF YOUR TRAWL IS ON BOTTOM – NOTUS HAS THE ANSWER Notus Electronics Ltd. (Notus) of Canada has released a new Bottom Contact Sensor. This sensor provides vital information pertaining to if the trawl is on bottom. The sensor is essential for all trawl types and scientific surveys. The Bottom Contact Sensor attaches to the combination wire just behind the footgear. An inclinometer is used to provide the angle of the sensor. Essentially, when the trawl is on bottom, the sensor is horizontal and provides an angle of about 90°. When the trawl comes off bottom, the sensor is oriented vertical and displays an angle of approximately 0°. A number of sensors have already been delivered to the US and Europe with excellent results reported. The trawl can come off bottom for various reasons. For example, not enough trawl wire is used. Another cause could be fishing too fast into currents which can lift the trawl off bottom. Regardless of the reason, when a bottom trawl comes off bottom, fishing is greatly reduced. This is an essential tool when pelagic trawling in that it can greatly reduce tear-ups by indicating if the trawl has touched bottom. This Bottom Contact Sensor is also important for scientific studies as bottom contact information is essential for swept area calculations. A video of the Bottom Contact Sensor can be found at www.notus.ca. For more information, please contact Notus at Tel: +1 709 753 0652, francis@notus.ca, or see www.notus.ca.

Global Marine Safety and Regatta of Norway are excited to introduce the Regatta Fisherman Oilskins with 50N of built-in foam ﬂotation. The Fisherman bibs are the result of extensive research by Regatta and input from over 300 professional Norwegian fishermen. Their ideas were combined to create the ultimate safety workwear for all types of commercial fishing. And the US fishermen agreed, rating the Regatta Fisherman Oilskins third in overall performance in the recent NIOSH (Nat’l. Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) commissioned PFD study. The Oilskins are lightweight, durable, and very comfortable to wear. The closed cell foam flotation is neither bulky nor cumbersome and is contained in the front and back of the bibs, which cushions the wearer against minor bumps and knocks. The flotation is fixed and cannot be damaged or compromised if accidentally cut or punctured. The PVC coated polyester fabric is impregnated with an anti-oil finish, enabling it to withstand hydro-carbon oils, fish oils, etc., keeping it cleaner, longer. The Fisherman bibs have articulated triple layered knees with pockets allowing for greater range of motion and the inclusion of knee pads. The bibs have comfortable, wide, and adjustable braces with large quick release buckles. On each side of the bibs are ventilation patches for breathability and two hip pockets with storm flaps and zip closures. An elasticized waistband ensures a comfortable, snug fit. For full coverage from the elements the Fisherman Oilskin bibs can be paired with the matching Fisherman Parka. Fish smart. Fish safe in Regatta’s Fisherman Oilskins with built in flotation. Read more at www.globalmarine-safety.com or contact Global Marine Safety: info@globalmarine-safety.com or (425) 772-1664.

The flagship of BriarTek’s ORCA line of Man Overboard Indicator (MOBI) devices, the ORCA TX-104 beacon has proven itself time and again aboard the vessels of the United States Navy, and has saved the lives of dozens of U.S. servicemen and women along the way. Activated within 3-to-5 seconds of a man overboard submersion in either fresh- or saltwater, ORCA TX-104 signals the ORCA receiver aboard a user’s ship and illuminates its integrated strobe light for improved visibility. Once activated, ORCA TX-104 has a 24-hour battery life. Factory-programmed to signal all other ORCA receivers within range, ORCA TX-104 is the perfect life-saving accessory for use in fleet operations. The model not only broadcasts its user’s location, but the user’s identification information, as well. ORCA TX-104’s beacon can be tracked by any Search and Rescue (SAR) assets utilizing Radio Direction Finders (RDF), and provides continuous relative bearing to the user’s location. The unit’s trackable distance depends on antenna height and weather conditions, though U.S. Navy experience has documented an effective range of up to 18 nautical miles (nm), aiding in swift and life-saving recovery efforts. Measuring 2.4 by 1.7 inches, and weighing in at only 2.5 ounces, ORCA TX-104 is significantly smaller than comparable units, allowing for easy integration into a user’s work uniform or floatation device. The device may also be worn as a lanyard. Offered with a standard one-year limited warranty, BriarTek’s ORCA TX-104 is available for purchase online at www.briartek.com, and has a suggested retail price of $300 USD.

Seattle Se eattle Fishermen’s Memorial Is 2 22 ye years old Twenty-two years ago 15 fishing industry individuals got TTwenty-t togethe together and decided that the industry needed a memorial where families could go to honor their loves ones lost at sea. TThis steering committee of 15 hired Ron Petty, a local artist who designed and constructed the bronze statue down at Seattle Fishermen’s Memorial. The monument stands over 30 feet in height and just celebrated turning 22 this yea year. From creating this monument, Sea Seattle Fishermen’s Memorial has grown into a strong no non-profifit organization offffering rebates on any safety classes, marine fire fighting clclasses and medical first aid. In 2009 we sponsored over 336 fishermen with rebates ov over $50,000.00. We also have a scholarship program for students that have lost a pa parent at sea. This year we have 9 students in the program at attending institutions all over the United States. We have ne never turned a student away. W We are a board of 16 volunteers in the fishing industry plus 2 paid employees, an administrator and a grief counselor on st staff that spend many hours making this organization happen. OOur fund-raising efforts include a yearly banquet/auction in NNovember, a fund-raiser BBQ that will be held on July 9th at th the Elks club in Ballard as a kick-off to Ballard Sea-food fest an and a Fall Fishermen’s Festival held at Fishermen’s Terminal Se September 25, 2010. It is because of all of your support in the industry that we are he here and have this monument for all to reflect, have good m memories and heal. Co Contact: www.seattlefishermensmemorial.com, in info@seattlefishermensmemorial.org, 206-782-6577.

“What's New” is a service of Pacific Fishing's Advertising dvertising Department. Co Contact Diane Sandvik at (206) 962-9315 for more information. i WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

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541-265-8100

FULL SERVICE SHIPYARD PROVIDING: One stop solution for all your vessel needs • Enclosed paint facility • Very competitive haul out rates and no lay day charges • Specializing in large fishing vessels • Quality workmanship • Exchange rate advantage •

“Make a stop in Vancouver, BC for on time, on budget, friendly service. It may be your best catch”

Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd. 50 Pemberton Ave., North Vancouver, BC V7P 2R2 Call Randy at (604) 990-3315 Fax (604) 990-3290 Email: info@vanship.com www.vanship.com

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

JULY 2010

PACIFICFISHING 37

PACIFIC FISHING classifieds

THE PERMIT MASTER IFQs • VESSELS • PERMITS EXCEPTIONAL FULL SERVICE BROKERAGE — PERMITS — —IFQ— EXCEPTIONAL “FULL” SERVICE BROKERAGE SAMPLES 2,700# "C" SE BCOD @ $20 ANY# "B/C" WY BCOD @ WANTED ANY# "A/B/C" CG BCOD @ WANTED ANY# "B/C" WG BCOD @ WANTED 4,000# "A" AI BCOD BLKD @ $3 4,000# “A” AI BCOD BLKD @ LEASE 30,000# "B" BS BCOD BLKD @ $4.50 2,000# “D” 2C HAL BLKD @ $19 FISHED ANY# “C” 2C HAL @ WANTED ANY# “B/C” 3A HAL @ WANTED ANY# “B” 3B HAL @ WANTED 3,500# "D“ 4A HAL BLKD @ $11 ANY# "B/C" 4B HAL @ WANTED 25,000# “B” 4C HAL UNBLKD @ $15 NEW LISTINGS DAILY. CALL FOR QUOTES OR CHECK OUT OUR COMPLETE LIST ON THE WEB

P1670M – 88 X 24.5 STEEL TUNA LONGLINER, 12V149 GMC MAIN, BOWTHRUSTER, DECK CRANE, 2 HOLDS WITH PLATES AND BLAST TO 20 BELOW, BACK UP SYSTEMS AND LOADED W/SPARES. REDUNDANT ELECTRONICS. VERY WELL MAINTAINED THROUGHOUT. COMPLETE LONGLINE SYSTEM WITH 3,000 HOOKS. TURNKEY OPERATION INCLUDES HAWAII LONGLINE PERMIT. ASKING $750K.

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.

HERRING SITKA SEINE ........................ $600K PWS SEINE ...................... WANTED COOK INLET SEINE ...................N/A KODIAK SEINE ....................... $32K SE GILLNET ........................... $16K KODIAK GILLNET ................... $10K NORTON SOUND ..................... $2K HOONAH POUND ................... $65K CRAIG POUND ....................... $17K PWS POUND .............................N/A SALMON S.E. DRIFT........................... $67.5K PWS DRIFT .......................... $135K COOK INLET DRIFT ................ $29K COOK INLET SET ................... $14K AREA M DRIFT ................. WANTED BBAY DRIFT ......................... $110K BBAY SET............................... $32K SE SEINE................................ $95K PWS SEINE ...................... WANTED KODIAK SEINE ....................... $30K CHIGNIK SEINE ...................... $90K AREA M SEINE ................. WANTED KOTZEBUE GILLNET ................ $5K

POWER TROLL ...................... $31K HAND TROLL ......................... $10K PUGET SOUND DRIFT............ $22K PUGET SOUND SEINE............ $80K SHELLFISH SE DUNGY 300 POT..................N/A SE DUNGY 225 POT............... $40K SE DUNGY 150 POT............... $24K SE DUNGY 75 POT.............. $11.5K SE POT SHRIMP .................... $16K SE TANNER ............................ $65K SE RED .................................. $85K SE RED/TANNER .................... $85K SE RED/BRN .................... WANTED KODIAK TANNER.................... $29K PUGET S CRAB ...................... $72K DIVE SE GEODUCK ......................... $80K SE CUCUMBER ...................... $11K MISC. CAL LOBSTER ........................ $60K CAL SPOT PRAWN ........... WANTED CAL SQUID ...................... $6K/TON 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.

www.permitmaster.com

PARTIAL LIST/CALL IF YOU DON’T SEE IT!

P1713M – 34' COMBO RIGGED FOR CRAB AND GILLNET, ECONOMICAL 6-354 PERKINS, DAVIT AND BLOCK, FURUNO SOUNDER, ECHOTEC PLOTTER, COMNAV PILOT. GREAT BOAT FOR THE SOUND AT A GREAT PRICE. MUST SELL, REDUCED TO $10.5K.

P1720M – 32' BUFFALO CRABBER/COMBO BUILT IN 2006, VOLVO D-4 MAIN GIVES 21 KNOT CRUISE, EXTENDED CABIN FOR CHARTERING, FURUNO NAV PACKAGE. EXCELLENT ALL AROUND BOAT, LIKE NEW. REDUCED TO $129K.

P1761M – 32' ROBERTS, 6BT CUMMINS MAIN, SLUSH TANKS W/BRAILERS, HEAD WITH SHOWER. TONS OF RECENT WORK. ALL NEW DECKS FROM HOUSE AFT. NEW INSULATED FISH HOLD, NEW HYD HOSES, REBUILT HYD VALVES, NEW CONTROLS, NEW PACER, NEW GPS. READY FOR NEXT SEASON. ASKING $45K.

P1782M – 64' POWER SCOW, TWIN 6-71 GMC, 12KW AUX, 4 CYLINDER ISUZU FOR DIRECT DRIVE RSW (RSW NOT OPERATIONAL), PACKS 50K IN DECK TANK, COMPLETE ELECTRONICS. ALL IN GOOD CONDITION. PERFECT LITTLE TENDER OR CONVERT TO ALMOST ANY USE. $35K.

P1791M – 34' 43 X 14.6 DONELLE LOBSTER BOAT BUILT IN 1998, C SERIES CUMMINS 350HP MAIN, 14KW ISUZU AUX, RSW, 14" HYDRO-SLAVE HAULER, FURUNO RADAR, SIMRAD COLOR PLOTTER, FURUNO SOUNDER, COMNAV PILOT. COMPLETE TURN-KEY OPERATION INCLUDES 500 POTS AND CALIFORNIA SPOT PRAWN LICENSE. ASKING $700K.

P1792M – 42' DELTA, 8V71 GMC MAIN, TWIN DISC GEAR, POWER TAKE OFF FRONT AND BACK FOR DECK GEAR AND RSW, TWIN PICKING BOOMS W/WINCHES, MAIN BOOM W/TOPPING AND VANGING. HYD DRIVEN RSW AND 6KW GEN SET. ASKING $165K.

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 875 meshes x 300 F WC salmon seine from BC. Shirt line and SS rings, well maintained. $4,000. (604) 619-6090 or oceanventure@ telus.net.

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

Absolutely no cost for employers We specialize in all positions including:

Use AlaskaJobFinder.com to help you land your next position – deckhands, engineers, mates, captains, processors, cooks, management, etc.

• Deckhands & Processors • Mates & Captains • Engineers • Cooks • Etc.

Try it FREE at: www.AlaskaJobFinder.com/trial

Go to: AlaskaCrewFinder.com

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.

Dock Street Brokers

LL9-005 62.5’x16.4’ halibut schooner. Deere 350 hp main, 12 kw gen set. Really nice condition. Comes with locker full of gear. Asking $210,000.

HALIBUT IFQ 3A-C-B: 3B-C-U: 3B-C-B: 3B-C-B: 4A-B-B: 4A-C-U: 4A-C-B: 4B-B-U: 4B-B-B: 4C-C-U: 4D-B-B:

2,500 lbs......asking $25.00 22,000 lbs....asking $24.00 8,000 lbs......asking $20.00 12,500 lbs....asking $20.00 13,500 lbs....asking $17.00 17,000 lbs....asking $18.00 4,700 lbs......asking $16.00 10,000 lbs....asking $12.00 7,000 lbs......asking $10.00 27,000 lbs....asking $15.00 2,500 lbs......asking $10.00

SABLEFISH IFQ AI-B-U: 20,000 lbs........asking $3.00 BS-B-B: 10,000 lbs........asking $3.00 WG-C-B: 2,500 lbs.......asking $7.50

SP9-005 36’x11.7’ Mel Martin gillnet sternpicker built in 1978. 340 hp Volvo 71 A main with only 6,500 hours. 10,000# capacity. Accepting offers.

(206)789-5101 (800)683-0297

BB10-008 32’x12.9’x36” fiberglass Bay boat built by Nordic in 1980. Detriot 671 main with aprox 4,500 hours. Full head w/shower. Asking $75,000.

Selling your boat? Low 5% Commission Call Today! (800)683-0297

CA10-001 100’x24’x10’ wood cargo vessel built in Denmark in 1978. GMDSS 3 rated (any ocean), Ice Class. Scania 420 hp main. Asking $325,000.

SE10-003 54’x17’ fiberglass seiner, longliner, crabber, built by Hoquiam in 1986. Cummins NTA855-N 400 hp main, rebuilt in 2004. Isuzu C240 25kw aux installed in 2004. Cummins 4BT 50kw aux rebuilt in 2004. Cold Sea RSW with new IMS chiller installed 2009. Extensive yearly upgrades. Rare opportunity for a top producing vessel in excellent condition. Asking $730,000.

Come see us at www.dockstreetbrokers.com. WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

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.

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, 36-inch 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.

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.

JULY 2010

PACIFICFISHING 39

PACIFIC FISHING classifieds

BOX score

Boats/Permits/IFQs

Alaska Entry Permit Prices (as of 7-1-10) 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*

65+ 135+ 28 120+ 110 95+ 110+ 17 30+ 75 65+ 14+ 50 32 8.5 3110-

62+ 135+ 27+ 115+ 110+ 87+ 100+ 17 29.5+ 70+ 60 14+ 45 30 N/A 30 10-

55.5+ 113.526.8+ 106.3+ 93.4+ 74.3+ 85.3+ 16.9 26.473.3+ 59.713+ 50.6+ 28.4+ 9.1 29.19.8+

16 5 600 N/A 25 32 17 65 4

15 4 500 30 15 20 16 60 3

14.9+ 4 290 10.3 9.3 21.3 18.8+ 62.52.9-

11.52440 70 15 29 72+ 1,500-2,750/FT 1,000-2,500/FT 400-1,500/FT+

10N/A 37 60 15 25 72+ 1,000-2,500/FT 800-2,250/FT300-1,000/FT

15.3 28.640.867+ 15.3+ 24.8+ N/A N/A N/A N/A

5 11 77

N/A 11+ 75

3.510.7 77+

Prices in JULY 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: Bay permits were up another notch to the $110k – 115k range. Interest in SE permits was up and prices jumped into the $60s. PWS permits jumped to their high of the season with a recent sale @ $135k. Cook Inlet permits were steady in the upper $20s. Area M permits crept up to $120k. Seine: SE permits were scarce and asking prices were pushing into the $90s. PWS permits picked up were selling at around $100k. Kodiak permits were up slightly to around $30k. Area M permits moved up a little into the low $60s. Troll: Interest in Power Troll permits remained slow with recent sales right around $30k. Hand troll permits were steady at right around $10k. Washington permits were in demand with recent sales in the mid teens. Crab/Shrimp: Puget Sound crab permits were still up. A sale at press time was pending in the low $70s. Just before the summer season opens SE crab permits were still down slightly. Interest in SE shrimp permits was up slightly, but prices were steady in the mid – high teens.

40 PACIFICFISHING

JULY 2010

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

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

1-10

21.00-25.00

20.00-24.00

C/B

1-3

22.00-25.00

21.00-24.50

C/B

4-10

24.00-26.00

24.00-25.00

C/B

ANY

25.00-26.00

24.00-24.50

B/U

N/A

25.00

B/U

19.00-24.00

18.00-23.00

C/B

1-5

20.00-24.00

19.00-22.00

C/B

5-10

24.00-26.00

23.00-25.00

C/B

>10

25.00-26.00

24.00-25.00

C/B

>10

26.00-29.00

24.00-26.00

B/U

28.00

26.00

18.00-23.00

16.00-19.00

C/B

1-10

17.00-20.00

17.00-18.50

C/B

>10

20.00-23.00

17.00-19.00

C/B

>10

20.00-23.00

18.00-19.00

B/U

N/A

22.00

B/U

10.00-14.00

9.00-10.00

C/B

1-10

11.00-12.00

10.00-11.00

C/B

>10

12.00-14.00

10.00-12.00

C/B

>10

14.00-18.00

13.00-15.00

4B/C/D

C/B

1-10

9.50-13.00

7.00-8.50

4B/C/D

C/B

>10

B/U

11.00-15.00

9.00-11.00

C/B

1-10

19.00-22.00

19.00-21.00

C/B

>10

22.00-23.50

B/U

24.00

23.00

C/B

1-10

19.00-22.00

19.00-21.00

C/B

>10

22.00-23.00

21.00-22.00

B/U

23.00

C/B

1-10

17.00-19.00

16.00-18.00

C/B

>10

B/U

18.00-20.00

17.00-19.00

B/U

20.00

C/B

1-10

7.50-11.00

7.50-10.50

C/B

>10

11.00-12.00

10.00-11.00

C/B/A

>10

13.00-15.00

11.00-12.00

C/B/A

B/U

1.25-5.00

1.00-2.50

C/B

B/U

2.00-5.00

2.00-4.00

B/U

7.00-9.00

5.00

(206) 784-3703 FAX (206) 784-8823 4300 11th Ave. N.W. Seattle, WA 98107

*Vessel Categories: A = freezer boats B = over 60’ C = 35’-60’ D = < 35’ 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.

www.coastalmarineengine.com

By Mike Painter and the Permit Master

Alaska Boats & Permits, Inc. PO BOX 505, HOMER ALASKA 99603

FULL SERVICE MARINE BROKERAGE FAX: 907-235-4965 E-MAIL: abp@acsalaska.net Asking prices for quota share remained strong for the month of June. It was getting harder to even find relatively cheap deals out west. Offers to buy were everywhere, but nobody wants to sell. No changes for Blackcod. Prices are high across the board. Buyers are standing by with cash. We should start to see fished quota coming on the market any time, but don’t expect to see it at much of a discount.

800-992-4960 907-235-4966 UPDATED LISTINGS ON THE WEB

www.alaskaboat.com IFQs

PERMITS

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

VESSELS

JULY 2010

PACIFICFISHING 41

PACIFIC FISHING classifieds

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 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.

37' Fiberglass Troller/combo

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.

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.

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

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.

FOR SALE

FOR SALE 58' x 24' Jensen designed steel limit seiner, Dual refrigeration, Cat power, Packs over 150,00#s. 95% complete. Serious inquiries only. (714) 401-8239.

FISH WITH THE VIKING! Maximize your IFQ return on the F/V Viking Spirit • Mustad Autobaiter • Great sea boat w/shelter deck • Outstanding crew • Can meet or beat any rates

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.

LET'S 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.

Call Pete (425) 205-0996

F/V FISH TRAP - Bristol Bay Jet Boat. 2006 Banner Boatworks, twin 6108 Luggers, 330 hp, 13" Doen Jets, 7.5 ton RSW-IMS. Proven design, sleeps 6, open deck, set off the bow or stearn. $310,000. Drift permit available with sale - at market. Dan (907) 399-1884; (907) 235-6612.

FOR SALE S.S. 4 Blade Prop. Skewed Kaplan style, 5" Bore R.H., 63" Dia. x 58" Pitch. $9,000. Call: (360) 671-1354.

42 PACIFICFISHING

JULY 2010

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

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 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

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.

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.

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.

California light boats and purse seiners for squid and sardines with permits available now. Call Don (949) 279-9369.

Call 907-772-4856 weekdays OR mobile 602-320-9050

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.

CAT D375 LOCATED IN PETERSBURG. 30,000 HOURS IN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE, VERY WELL MAINTAINED. REPOWERING VESSEL – MAKE OFFER. (907) 772-4625.

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 875 meshes X 300 F WC salmon seine from BC. Shirt line and SS rings, well maintained. $4,000. (604) 619-6090 or email oceanventure@telus.net.

FOR SALE Salmon seine, herring seine, power skiff with nozzle, 3/8 Everson halibut tub gear, buoyline, bladders, anchors, flagpoles, gurdy. 65' boat with freezer, rigged for tuna, halibut, salmon, herring, tuna gurdys and gear all discounted 75%. (604) 241-0594. http://us.mc655.mail. yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=captmike@shaw. ca"/t"_blank" or email: captmike@shaw.ca.

PACIFIC FISHING classifieds PACIFIC FISHING classifieds LONGLINE CLIPS Wanted to buy: Wagner 5" or similar longline clips. (509) 679-0384 FOR SALE GMC 653 engine block: rebuilt. Zero hours, $7000.00. Call: (206) 399-1699..

FOR SALE 2 mid-water nets; 1 alum halibut longline reel; 1 new Hansen 30" crab hauler; 250 shrimp traps 48"; 1 Carrier 5H40 and 40hp elec. motor; one 8" and one 10" Sekich herring pumps; 2 Rapp Hydema drag winches (big motors) with 1200 fathoms 19mm (3/4") new wire. (604) 576-0511.

FOR SALE

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.

Marco 26" block with power gripper and open shieve, w/o hydraulic swivel. Ten years old: $7,500 or best offer. Call: (206) 915-8345, email: 1wildfish@comcast.net.

NEW Kaplan style prop, 59.5" diameter by 60" pitch. 4" standard taper with 70% DAR: RH. For sale at $8,000. Contact: Steve Drage, (503) 338-6190.

SMALL BOAT TRAWL WINCHES Approx. 550 H.P., 500 fath. 5/8 wire. Starting at $19,500. Available Nov. 2010. Call: (360) 671-1354.

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.

WANTED 2C unblocked halibut quota. Will pay $24/lb. Call Roger: (907) 789-9504 or (907) 723-4642 (cell). Email: walling_roger@ hotmail.com.

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 To 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. Phone (360) 951-6058.

FOR SALE OR TRADE IFQ-QS 18,000 lbs. Halibut Class C shares

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).

Sell or trade for: Black cod, western gulf and/or 4B Halibut No Brokers please. Fax: (907) 235-5412 Cell: (907) 299-4026 WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

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PACIFICFISHING 43

ADVERTISERS INDEX Alaska Boats and Permits .....................................41 Alaska Crew Finder ...............................................37 Alaska Job Finder .................................................37 Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute .....................47 Alaska United/GCI ................................................27 Alaskan Quota & Permits......................................41 Baier Marine ..........................................................7 Ballard Electric .....................................................36 Black Pearl IFQ Fisheries .......................................41 City of Cordova .......................................................9 Coastal Marine Engine, Inc. ..................................41 Copper River Boat & Permits, LLC .........................43 Dana F. Besecker Co ..............................................37 Deep Sea Fishermen’s Union of the Pacif ..............24 Delta Western ......................................................23 Diesel America West .............................................42 Dock Street Brokers ..............................................37 Fleet Refrigeration ...............................................18 FORS.....................................................................36 Foss Shipyard .......................................................36 Gibbons & Associates, P.S. ....................................37 Hans Johnson .......................................................42 Hockema & Whalen Associates .............................37 Inlet Fish Producers ..............................................13 Inmarsat North America .........................................2 Inventive Marine Products ...................................11 Jackson, Morgan & Hunt ......................................37 Kinematics Marine, Inc. ........................................25 KVH Industries .....................................................15 Ladner Traps .........................................................36 Law Office of Paul L. Anderson, PLLC ....................37 LFS, Inc.................................................................12 Lynden Transport .................................................48 MER Equipment ...................................................36 Mikkelborg Law Offices ........................................37 Mondo Polymer Technology .................................21 Norm Pillen ..........................................................37 Northport Fisheries ..............................................36 NPFVOA ................................................................45 NW Farm Credit Services ......................................40 Ocean Traps ..........................................................36 Osborne Propellers Ltd. ........................................37 Petro Marine Services...........................................17 Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op .........................8 Rigby Marine........................................................37 Rocky’s Marine .....................................................20 Ryco Equipment ...................................................19 Satellite Technical Services .....................................6 Seabrooke Enterprises LLC ....................................42 Silver Horde Fishing Supplies ...............................43 The Permit Master ................................................38 Totem Ocean Trailer Express, Corp. HQ ..................22 Vancouver Shipyards ............................................37 Viking Bank ..........................................................10 Viking Spirit .........................................................42 Warren L. Junes Ltd. .............................................36 WESMAR- Western Marine Electronics .................16 Wrangell Boatshop ..............................................36 44 PACIFICFISHING

JULY 2010

YOUR BUSINESS

Marketing

Camille Padilla back home in Sitka.

You’re never too young or too far away to sell wild fish It’s a long way from Southeast Alaska to Middlebury College — and not only in miles. Snuggled in the Vermont hills, Middlebury is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the nation. It draws children of diplomats and senators. In 2003, it also drew Camille Padilla of Sitka, a community not necessarily known for its diplomats or senators. When she arrived there, she didn’t know much about Middlebury. But she knew one thing: The salmon served at Middlebury College wasn’t wild and wasn’t Alaskan. “They had a [farmed] salmon dinner one night, and you could

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definitely tell the difference,” Padilla said. “So I spoke with the dining director about serving Alaska wild salmon, even occasionally,” she said. Padilla knew what she was talking about. She grew up commercial fishing with her father, John Padilla, during her school summer vacations. She found an eager listener in Matthew Biette, dining services director at the college. “She said she came from a fishing village in Alaska, and maybe, sometime while she was here, we could serve this salmon once,” Biette said. “I said I’ll trump that, and we shifted to Alaska salmon on our menu. “We’re a very environmentally conscious college. … Using Alaska salmon seemed the right thing to do,” Biette said. Padilla also converted fellow students to the cause. “A lot of people didn’t know much about the difference. But when they heard, they were eager to try Alaska fish,” she said. Padilla even called back to Sitka and enlisted a supplier: Seafood Producers Cooperative, a 60-year-old organization owned by more than 500 member fishermen that specializes in selling line-caught salmon, halibut, and black cod.

ON THE DOCKS What’s missing?

Middlebury College is a venerated institution in New England. “It’s been a fun perspective to see a kid change the eating habits of a college,” said Jeff Reynolds, sales manager for Seafood Producers. “But it also shows how much colleges are listening to the kids, making them part of the decisionmaking process.” The change to wild salmon yielded benefits beyond student appeal. “We made a big deal out of it,” said Biette. “We got some good press. When our college president was being inaugurated, we featured Alaska salmon at a big dinner for 1,700. We had a big tent. The salmon was preferred.” Even though Padilla graduated from Middlebury in 2007, the college continues as a regular customer, said Reynolds of Seafood Producers. “It’s become an annual thing, moving product back there,” Reynolds said. “It’s been good for the co-op and good for them.” Over the years, he’s sold Chinook, chum, and coho — all troll-caught — to Biette, who feeds 2,500 students three Alaska salmon – especially Malabar Steamed times a day. Salmon with Basmati Rice – has become a As for Padilla, she tradition for celebrations on the Middlebury graduated with concampus. Drop us a line (editor@pacificfishing. com) and we’ll send you the recipe. centrations in political science, economics, and Spanish and now works for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco — closer to wild fish, but still a long way from Sitka. “I miss Alaska and fishing a lot, especially when fishing season is just around the corner. There is something to be said for being able to just jump in your skiff whenever you want,” she said. As for now, Padilla is enjoying San Francisco but is pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to handle life “down south” if it were not for the shipments of Alaskan fish she receives on a regular basis from her friends and family back home.

Take a look at the cover photo for this month’s issue: What’s missing? There are no women. Over the past several years, we’ve noticed that photos from the fleet show an increasing number of women. That this photo had none makes it noteworthy to a certain degree. A woman sent the photo, so we asked her why. The answer: There was plenty Jennifer Olney-Miller enough work to do at home. Here’s a brief description of the life of a fisherman’s wife from Jennifer Olney-Miller. I grew up in the small town of Yakutat with an extended family that commercial fished. As a young girl I just knew I was not going to marry a fisherman and I was NOT going to live in Alaska. Too many uncles lost to the seas. I didn’t want anything to do with it! Then I met Bae. He was born on a boat, grew up trolling with his parents, and wanted to continue fishing for his livelihood. Fishing Mother Mo oth t er a and nd w wife ififee Je Jennifer enn nnifiiffer er Olney-Miller Oln neyy-M -Milille illle ler er took took to ok is in his blood, and this photo of husband Bae Olney-Miller he is a natural when and their two youngest children: daughter it comes to the seas Marina and son Rowan. and his boat. So, here I am, living in Alaska and married to a fisherman! He is gone for almost half of the year because of all the different fisheries he does (crabbing, longlining, tendering, and seining). It is hard to take care of our children alone when he is gone. It’s like being a single mom, and I don’t enjoy that so much. Although, not cooking and picking up after another person is a nice little break. We all miss him like crazy when he is gone, but they say distance makes the heart grow fonder, right? We are always so excited when we get the call that he is “almost home” or “come see me, we are unloading now.” We have four children: son Jordan (16), son Kai (15), daughter Marina (5), and son Rowan (3).

Start selling!

For all of you direct marketers who have big dreams, here’s a list of the world’s top food retailers as compiled by Supermarket News. Countries listed show only the location of continued on page 46

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PACIFICFISHING 45

ON THE DOCKS

continued from page 45

headquarters. For example, Wal-Mart is based in Arkansas, but does business around the world. 1. Wal-Mart Stores, U.S. 2. Carrefour, France 3. Metro Group, Germany 4. Tesco, U.K. 5. Schwarz Group, Germany 6. Kroger, U.S. 7. Rewe, Germany 8. Costco, U.S. 9. Aldi, Germany 10. Target, U.S. 11. Edeka, Germany 12. Auchan, France 13. Seven & I, Japan 14. AEON, Japan 15. Woolworths (AUS) 16. Safeway, U.S. 17. SuperValu, U.S. 18. Ahold, The Netherlands 19. Casino Group, France 20. Coles Group, Australia 21. J Sainsbury, U.K. 22. Leclerc, France 23. Delhaize Group, Belgium 24. Loblaw Cos., Canada 25. ITM (Intermarché), France

Be smart Some school kids in Ballard came up with a good sentiment for fishermen when they decorated this bus stop shelter with this quote from Mark Twain: “I would rather be careful a hundred times than be killed once.” We don’t think it’s a coincidence the kids added a life ring to the message.

and $7 million to $22 million of fish oil.” – Laine Welch

• Flathead sole (Hippoglossoides elassodon) • Arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias) • Alaska plaice (Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus) • Northern rock sole (Lepidopsetta polyxystra)

Certified: Alaska’s flatfish fisheries have been certified by the Marine Stewardship Council as sustainable and well-managed fisheries. Products from the flatfish fisheries off Alaska are now eligible to bear the blue Fish waste: Alaska’s world class MSC ecolabel. The Gulf of Alaska trawl-caught fisheries produce a lot of leftovers in the The certification applies to all major flat- species form of heads, guts, skin, bones, and fish fisheries off Alaska in designated areas • Flathead sole (Hippoglossoides other trimmings, called byproducts or in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea and elassodon) co-products. Aleutian Islands. • Arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes Each year, 1.25 million metric tons of Here are the fisheries: stomias) these “industrial wastes” are produced Bering Sea–Aleutian Islands • Rex sole (Glyptocephalus zachirus) by fish-processing operations across • Northern rock sole (Lepidopsetta Alaska. In a 2008 report entitled “Alaska trawl-caught species polyxystra) • Yellowfin sole (Pleuronectes asper) Seafood Byproducts: Potential Products, • Southern rock sole (L. bilineata) (also known as Limanda aspera) Markets, and Competing Products,” by Anthony Bimbo, he calls the potential value of Alaska fish meals and oils a real eye-opener. “Assuming a five-year average price for meal and oil from 2000–2007, Alaska could have produced somewhere between $80 million and $170 million of fishmeal

Inflation A bunch of folks gathered in Vancouver, B.C., a few weeks ago for a simultaneous inflation — and not of their egos. Rather, safety agencies and Mustang Survival wanted to illustrate how comfortable modern personal floatation devices are and how quickly they can be inflated.

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The ﬁrst wholesale value of Alaska salmon reached $1,069,400,000, and the price paid to ﬁshermen reached a 13-year high, boosting state and local economies and the private sector.

Alaska Salmon Value Growth: Ex-Vessel and First Wholesale

Alaska Ex-vessel Value, Key Commercial Species $1,200 $1,000

$1,600 $1,200 $800

2007-2008 Increase 14.4%

$400 $2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Source: ADF&G, NMFS, SMIS estimates Combined value of salmon, pollock, P-cod, sablefish & halibut, shellfish, other groundfish

V alue ($ m illions)

$2,000

$800 $600 $400 $200 $0 2002

2003

Ex-Vessel

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

First Wholesale Value, selected products

Source: ADF&G, AK Dept. of Revenue Selected products: fresh and frozen H&G, fresh and frozen fillet, salmon roe, canned salmon

30th

Check out the industry e-newsletter Newsbrief on the Seafood Industry portion of the ASMI website, www.alaskaseafood.org. Subscribe to Newsbrief and Seafood Market Information Service. Check out Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute on Facebook, where you’ll ﬁnd a link to a new 60-second video on Youtube about Alaska bears, whales and ﬁshermen.

niversary n A

1980-2010