Pacific Fishing June 2010

New groundfish rules: Collateral damage Western Fishboat Owners Association

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THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR FISHERMEN ■ JUNE 2010

Time to end the Sitka zoo zoo?

• Stay alive this season • West Coast salmon in 2011

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US $2.95/CAN. $3.95

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Editor's note

IN THIS ISSUE ®

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR FISHERMEN INSIDE:

The Sitka zoo Page 9

West Coast salmon Page 18

The Fraser mess Page 26

Drill, baby, spill Page 29 On the cover: Molly Majors of Ketchikan takes a nap between sets in 2009 in this photo shot by sister Amy Majors. Both fish aboard the F/V Karen Rae owned by their dad, Dan Majors.

VOLUME XXXI, NO. 6 • JUNE 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

You’re fired!

Over the years, I’ve had a tendency to disagree with my bosses. m Over the years, I’ve also had a tendency to get fired.

Think there’s a connection?

Don McManman I could have learned a lot from a guy named Favorinus of Arelata, a Roman philosopher who lived 1,893 years ago.

It was during the reign of Hadrian. You may have heard of the wall that Hadrian had built to corral savages in Scotland. But he also fancied himself as a philosopher, one as good as, say, Favorinus.

Hadrian, who as an emperor stood in line to become deified as a god, ordered a debate. Favorinus had no good options, so he had no objections. The sword-and-sandal crowd loved spectacle, and if there were no gladiator blood to be had, at least some pride might be spilt.

Favorinus threw the fight. He failed to use some of the most elementary arguments against his emperor. He was Muhammad Ali without the left jab.

He was humbled, but he still had his head on his shoulders.

Why, Favorinus’ fans demanded, had he thrown the fight. Sure, Hadrian was the 14th emperor, but was he also a philosophical pipsqueak?

Here’s what Favorinus said: “He who commands 30 legions is the most learned man of all.”

Nearly two millennia later, 30 regiments of heavy infantry never figured into my employment equation. I had the system down to a simple logic: Open your yap too often and you get canned.

Which brings us to today’s topic: Wisdom, and the lack thereof.

Commercial fishermen are going to need a lot of it in the next few years — not in deciding to pick a fight, but deciding which fights to pick.

Here’s a short list: Marine protected Emperor Hadrian areas, wave energy buoys projects, water for Sacramento salmon, water for Fraser salmon, clean water for Taku salmon, access to Skeena salmon, individual quotas, access to the Columbia’s main stem, and more.

There’s one overarching theme here: Your opponents. We are not talking about fighting with other fishermen over gear conflicts or total allowable catch.

Nothing that usual — or easy.

Rather, each one of these battles involves interests ashore. And I’ll tell you a secret: They’re a hell of a lot more organized than you are.

You can’t fight them all, because you’re guaranteed to lose them all. Wisdom is in picking your battles.

In fact, if you don’t start with wisdom, you’re guaranteed to lose whichever fight you choose. At least that’s what another old guy has to say.

Quintus Horatius Flaccus lived in Rome 84 years before Hadrian and, being Roman, also was obsessed with matters of conquest. Here’s his contribution to today’s discussion: “Force without wisdom falls of its own weight.”

Even if you have 30 legions behind you.

Don McManman, who edits this magazine, has aged to the stage when he had better acquire some wisdom.

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JUNE 2010

PACIFICFISHING 3

STATS PACK

Off the record

Fish houses less scared this year

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WESLEY LOY

After near-biblical plagues on fish farms, market looks good for North Pacific seafood 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.

If you’re a North Pacific seafood merchant, life is less threatening just now — at least compared to the near-death experience of 2009.

“We’re a little less scared than last year. But remember, it’s good to be kind of scared in this business,” said a Seattle executive.

Last year had the potential to be the absolute last for some fish houses.

“It was a threatening time.”

But the industry — at least in the North Pacific — avoided death.

“A lot of people didn’t make money, or didn’t make as much money as they wanted, but they didn’t have losses. I feel amazingly lucky, the way the year went.”

Today, product is available, as are customers willing to pay for it.

But remember the Scared-Is-Good Philosophy?

“It’s a great time for fresh, dangerous if it’s in the freezer,” the executive said.

Why? If you sell fresh fish, you get your money right away. With fish in the freezer, you’re gambling that the economy will be sufficiently supportive months from now, when you finally make the sale.

And most worrisome: Will consumers have enough confidence to pay prices that are noticeably higher than in 2009?

Fishermen will receive more money for their

catches. Columbia River Chinook opened this spring at $9.50 a pound. Those costs, plus everything in the middle, must be paid by consumers.

Still, an unexpected alignment of factors has opened new opportunities for seafood from the North Pacific.

“We have a curious situation. Disease problems, earthquakes, and volcanoes have reduced what was expected to be growth in the farmed sector.”

Disease and earthquakes in Chile have dramatically cut salmon farm output there. Flight cancellations after an Iceland mountain erupted disrupted movement of Norwegian and Scottish farmed fish.

Beyond that, there’s an increasing sense among consumers that wild fish is healthy fish — both for the environment and for the human body, the executive said.

This consumer awareness may erode resistance to wild fish, he said.

“To me, our problem has been the gatekeeper. The buyers and merchandisers have tremendous control of our fate. I would hope that they’ll see the volume and quality of our West Coast fish and do everything to promote it,” he said.

He wants to see all types of fish — farmed and wild — presented to consumers,“much like they sell wines and beer.”

“For years, farmed salmon was available at a very good price, which allowed merchandisers to pick up more margin. Now they see the opportunity to promote variety.”

The executive spoke to Pacific Fishing on the eve of the big seafood show in Brussels this spring.

“I’ve heard conversations. People are excited to see people from the West Coast and Alaska. I think everyone is a little more respectful.”

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2010 2010

YOUR BUSINESS

Staying alive

by John Driscoll

You could be right about life jackets.

Dead right!

The he crew of the F/V Wizard Wizard, wearing different types off tested personal floatation devices devices, pose with safety investigators.

F

or years, fishermen working in the treacherous waters off Alaska figured that they were as good as dead if they went overboard in bad conditions.

Frigid water and big waves made survival for more than a few minutes unlikely. They didn’t think that personal flotation devices could possibly improve their odds. They even abused the acronym, PFD: Person Found Dead.

But that perspective is almost certainly wrong.

Personal floatation devices do work — and you can work while wearing one.

A large trial of modern floatation devices in Alaska last year illustrated that commercial fishermen can get the job done while increasing the chances of surviving once in the water.

A survey by Jennifer Lincoln of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health involved 400 working fishermen from crab, trawl, longline, and gillnet fisheries in south-central and southwest Alaska.

Of those, 216 fishermen also agreed continued on page 6 WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

JUNE 2010

PACIFICFISHING 5

YOUR BUSINESS

Guy Cotton X-Trapped Bibs with Inflatable Suspenders

Staying alive continued from page 5

Mustang Survival MD3188 Inflatable

to test one of six brands of floatation devices. Three of the PFD brands were integrated into foul weather gear and three were stand-alone models.

Favorite product: The device most popular was the Mustang Survival inflatable, a lightweight rubber vest approved by the U.S. Coast Guard last year. A hydrostatic release triggers the inflation of the vest when it is submerged.

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JUNE 2010

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Regatta Fisherman Rain Gear, Flotation in the Bibs

Stormy Seas FSL1000 Inflatable Yoke

“A lot of guys didn’t know that these innovative PFDs existed,” Lincoln said, especially since many small safety supply shops in Alaskan ports don’t carry a wide selection.

The Mustang MD3188 device retails for about $250, with much of the expense related to the hydrostatic triggering device. It was the most expensive stand-alone product tested.

The survey recorded two accidental inflations from crabbers and one on a trawl boat, but those were due to large waves that soaked the fishermen wearing them, Lincoln said.

Women too: Few women were involved in the trials, Lincoln said, because few women work in the fisheries surveyed. Five or so women were surveyed, and their responses matched those of the men.

The cost of the products tested ranged from $60 to $300, with the PFDs incorporated into rain gear generally the most expensive. The Stearns Comfort Series Foam Vest I424 retails for around $60, with the Stearn 1339 costing about $125. The Stormy Seas inflatable yoke PFD was $200. The Mustang was $250.

For PFDs that are part of rain gear, Regatta Rain Gear with foam flotation retails for about $200. The Guy Cotton X-Trapper bibs with inflatable suspenders cost about $300.

The complete rankings of the devices tested will be published soon.

Fishermen die: A recent study showed that 71 fishermen died when they fell from commercial fishing vessels off Alaska between 1990 and 2005. None was wearing a PFD. The survey last year found that most fishermen don’t wear PFDs on deck — but that there are substantial differences among the four fisheries. Most trawl fishermen wear PFDs, Lincoln said, because the company boats they work on often require them. Crab fishermen responded that they typically wear PFDs when climbing onto the stack of pots on deck, but they less frequently wear them while working on deck, she said.

U.S. Coast Guard safety coordinator Ken Lawrenson in Juneau said that all man-overboard incidents are supposed to be reported to the Coast Guard, but most that end without an injury are not. That makes it difficult to know exactly how many fishermen survive with and without PFDs when they go in the water. But in

St ea S F

fatalities when a boat sinks or another major disaster occurs, he said.

Institutionalized fatalism: The “institutionalized fatalism” instilled in the fishing culture is beginning to fade, Lawrenson said, because PFDs are becoming more comfortable, Coast Guard general safety examinations have increased, and the pace of fisheries like king crab and opilio crab has been slowed due to rationalization.

As the fleet consolidated, the “cleanest” operators are the ones that are still in business, Lawrenson said. It has become more common for boat owners St earns Comfort Sterns Manual/Automatic and operators to require PFD use Series I424 Inflatable 1339 in fisheries in tough conditions, he said, though typically calmer Foam Vest weather fisheries like salmon trollLawrenson’s review of Coast Guard records, ing and seining have been more resistant.

The downside to inflatable PFDs is that one thing stands out.

“We’re pretty sure we’ve never had a they must be maintained. Lincoln said it’s fatality from an overboard who was wear- important that fishermen routinely check ing a PFD on the commercial fishing side,” them for holes and that the hydrostatic drum is in good working order.

Lawrenson said.

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out to fishermen, PFD manufacturers, and marine safety organizations with the aim to increase the use of the devices in commercial fishing.

Joe Childers with the Western Gulf of Alaska Fishermen said that use of PFDs appears to be more the norm on larger boats and for those operating in the worst ocean conditions.

Childers fishes out of Juneau and Sitka on the troller Wunderbar that he operates alone and the gillnetter Whisky Creek that he runs with two to three deckhands. Childers — also president of United Fishermen of Alaska — said that in the salmon fisheries, fishermen are split on wearing PFDs. While he encourages his deckhands to have PFDs, he has yet to require their use on board.

Close call: As a lone operator on his troller, Childers has had his own close call.

He’d rowed his dinghy to the Wunderbar and, while attempting to climb aboard, fell into the water, which he estimated was about 50 degrees. There was no one around to help, and he could not get aboard the dinghy either. But he was wearing a PFD, and he chose to swim about 150 yards to the beach. He was exhausted on arrival.

“If I hadn’t had it on,” Childers said, “I don’t know if I would have made it.”

More STAYING ALIVE continued on page 8

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JUNE 2010

PACIFICFISHING 7

YOUR BUSINESS

Staying alive continued from page 7

So, which is best? Too early to tell Although fishermen gave the Mustang Survival MD3188 Inflatable PFD the highest overall scores for satisfaction, the device might not be the best for you.

First of all, a variety of different deckhands tested the devices in different fisheries. One device, for example, might have scored high in crab fisheries but lower in other fisheries.

It might not have the highest overall score, but it could be best for crab fishermen.

The survey included crabbers, trawlers, longliners, and gillnetters.

In addition, different devices are designed to perform different functions. The Mustang, for example, came in first overall, but it’s deflated until you hit the water, when it inflates.

The second highest scorer — The Regatta Fisherman — had permanent floatation built into rain gear.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is studying its survey results and soon will release its analysis, which will give an indication of which PFD was preferred in which fisheries.

Pacific Fishing will have the complete analysis once NIOSH releases its findings.

In the meantime, here is a list of the products tested: Mustang Survival MD3188 Inflatable PFD Regatta Fisherman rain gear with flotation in the bibs Sterns Manual/Automatic Inflatable 1339 PFD Stormy Seas FSL1000 Inflatable Yoke Stearns Comfort Series I424 Foam Vest Guy Cotton X-Trapped Bibs with Inflatable Suspenders

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JUNE 2010

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YOUR BUSINESS

Safety

by Wesley Loy

Sierra Anderson photo

Will yet another characteristically combative herring sac roe derby in Alaska’s Sitka Sound finally push the fishery to more rational management?

One veteran purse seiner sure hopes so.

“It’s like going into an alley full of bullies,” says Scott McAllister, describing what fishing is like at Sitka.

With only 49 permitted boats, Sitka is hardly the biggest of Alaska’s commercial fisheries. But it’s surely the most hotly contested, a bruising scrum where crews can bag a fortune or go home broke after a few brief fishing periods.

And getting skunked isn’t the worst outcome.

In this year ’s fishery, which opened March 24 and closed April 2, at least two vessel collisions attracted the attention of state troopers and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Another seiner, in a letter last year to the Alaska Board of Fisheries, said boats form groups to compete and pool their catches.

“These groups try to catch the most fish by tactics that may violate the RICO Act,” wrote Darrell Kapp of Bellingham. “They have some in their group ‘block’ others or ram others to intimidate them and drive them from the fish on the opening. If successful, someone in their group tries to catch the fish. Sometimes two groups go at each other and the outcome is smashed

boats and run-over nets.”

Kapp referred to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO. Kapp added he knew of three collisions in 2008, with one costing his insurance pool $75,000.

McAllister and Kapp are among Sitka herring seiners who want a better way.

They advocate “equal shares,” where permit holders would divide the quota ahead of time and then fish a lot nicer, with more care for producing higher quality, roe-ripe fish with less waste and a better payoff from processors.

McAllister of Juneau heads a coalition of seiners called the Sitka Herring Group.

They’ve been paying a Juneau lobbyist, Bob Thorstenson Jr., at least $15,000 a year to promote equal shares.

So far, despite the annual carnage at Sitka, the Board of Fisheries hasn’t adopted the idea. The board shot down equal shares proposals in 2006 and again last year.

Thorstenson, himself a salmon seiner, vowed the Sitka Herring Group will offer the proposal once more in 2012, when the board is next scheduled to consider Sitka issues. He swears the majority of seiners support equal shares and is confident the board eventually will agree.

Says Thorstenson: “Are we waiting till

we kill somebody or what?”

McAllister also believes the board eventually will approve equal shares.

It would be an unusual, though n o t u n p re c e d e n t e d , m a n a g e m e n t arrangement among Alaska commercial fisheries. Although some have questioned whether the Board of Fisheries has the legal authority to impose equal shares, state lawyer Lance Nelson says he believes it does.

But several forces are working against equal shares. One is the incredible abundance of Sitka herring these days, McAllister says.

This season’s harvest was a record 17,743 tons, taken during four openers totaling just over nine hours of fishing time, according to a preliminary tally from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

With so much herring around, the fishery doesn’t feel as if it’s broken and in need of fixing, McAllister says.

Another factor weighing against equal shares: Some highliners would rather gamble for outsized catches than settle for the average. Seiners are plowing big money into gear to find and net more herring, and making those investments moot by changing the rules will be hard for some guys to swallow, McAllister says.

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

continued on page 10

JUNE 2010

PACIFICFISHING 9

YOUR BUSINESS

Safety

Has the annual Sitka

“bumper-car� derby gone too far?

The final judgment about a spectacular seiner collision this spring probably won’t be rendered until insurance companies face off in court — or reach an agreement before the judge makes an appearance.

The collision between the F/V Shady Lady and the F/V Confidence occurred during the first opening of the Sitka sound sac roe herring fishery. Video of the incident went viral on the Internet. Photos of the aftermath were exchanged around the world even before the final herring from the opening had been processed.

The initial collision left a hole the size of a basketball in the Shady Lady’s fo’c’sle crew quarters, right above the bunk where one of the owner’s daughters slept. The hole was well above the water line.

Exactly what happened depends on whom you talk to. But Dean Anderson, owner of the Shady Lady, believes the collision caused sufficient damage to put the vessel in peril just 90 minutes later.

The shock shuddered through the vessel. Screws popped out.

The Confidence’s anchor left scratches on the wheelhouse window of the Shady Lady. But the Shady Lady continued to close a sizeable set.

Later, as the tender Sea Warrior continued pumping, a bolt broke on the Shady Lady’s starboard vanging block, where the cable deadends. The weight of the set pulled the Shady Lady onto its beam.

Bringing the world to Alaska for 35 years

F/V Shady Lady is in distress following the first opener of the 2010 Sitka Sound herring fishery.

To save his boat, Anderson cut away the seine — a process that, with cables jammed aboard the Shady Lady, took 30 minutes. The rail was underwater. The Shady Lady’s lines were tangled with those of the tender. Shackles had to be cut.

As the Shady Lady rolled and people scurried over the continued on page 12

Sparks on the left side of this photo show Shady Lady’s skipper, Dean Anderson, grinding off a shackle to free his vessel from its net.

SAFETY continued from page 9

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Equal shares also have met resistance in the past from processors, who fear equal shares might give fishermen more power to demand higher ex-vessel prices, Thorstenson says. But he believes the processors are beginning to come around.

Sitka herring are prized for their roe, which mainly goes to Japan for sale in gift boxes. The Department of Fish and Game reported fishermen and processors agreed to a preseason price of $550 per ton, down a bit from last year. That puts this year’s fishery value at around $10 million, with possible market bonuses still to come.

McAllister, talking by cell phone from aboard his 58-foot boat the Owyhee, says the current management system at Sitka encourages crews “jacked up on testosterone� to stampede for the equivalent of hundred-dollar bills in the water. He pines for a better way. “At 57 years old, the testosterone doesn’t flow in my veins like it once did,� he says.

For now, to win at Sitka you gotta fight, McAllister says. Maybe even trade a little hull paint. During this year’s fishery, he confesses, “I put the moves on a few guys that are sorry.�

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YOUR BUSINESS

Safety continued from page 10

already issued a citation to Johns, alleging “failure to avoid a collision,” a violation of Rule 8. Johns refused to accept the citation when it was handed to him.

Anderson is a well-known Chignik seiner, who just bought the Shady Lady from another longtime Chignik fisherman, Dan Veerhusen. Anderson had never fished Sitka herring before this season but has vast experience in herring fisheries in other areas of the state.

Anderson had his family on board in Sitka. His wife, Susan, had a vivid account of the collision: “We were setting out our seine. We had maybe two-thirds out, setting to the left, when this guy came full speed at us and just rammed us. We were knocked to the deck. Everyone was in shock. I saw the guy’s [Johns’] face in the wheelhouse — completely no emotion.

“He never stopped to see if he had hurt anyone.

He went straight on out. He rammed us and took off.

It was nothing less than a hit-and-run,” she said.

And why?

Susan Anderson believes it was intimidation.

“This wasn’t just jostling. This was a ramming. I think he was a blocker for his combine,” she said.

Here’s Dean Anderson: “This was the first time I’ve been actually rammed, literally rammed, by someone not setting seine. It was purposeful. It In this partially out-of-focus photo, F/V Confidence wears a smudge of Shady Lady’s paint could be perceived as someone trying to intimidate a on its bow. Sierra Anderson photo new player.

“The best fishermen in the state of Alaska particistarboard rail, Gary Suydam pulled up in the Jill-Anne-I to pate in the [Sitka] fishery. They’re great boat drivers. Every Sitka herring skipper knows exactly what’s going on, as vessels move collect those not needed aboard the Shady Lady.

The skipper of the Confidence, Leroy Johns, downplayed the around him, especially after the flare goes off. He knew what he was doing. No question about it.” Dean Anderson said. incident.

As for authorities, here’s the official report from Alaska “There was a collision. … I don’t know this guy [Anderson] from State Troopers: Adam, so I can’t tell you a thing about them,” Johns said.

He didn’t mention it in an interview, but the Coast Guard had On 3/24/10 at approximately 1712 hours, a collision occurred

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during the Sitka sac roe herring fishery. The seiner F/V Confidence, operated by Leroy Johns, age 46, of Sitka collided with the seiner F/V Shady Lady, operated by Dean Anderson, age 51, of Chignik.

Both vessels were damaged. However, substantial damage was caused to the Shady Lady. No injuries were reported and alcohol does not appear to be a factor. The USCG Marine Safety Office was contacted and is investigating this incident. Investigation continues.

The Coast Guard investigation is finished, at least on the local level, said Warrant Officer Scott Durrer in Sitka.

That Johns refused to accept the ticket was a first for Durrer. “I don’t think I’ve ever had someone refuse before,” Durrer said.

So, Durrer issued a civil penalty against Johns for $1,000. The maximum possible penalty is $27,500.

The civil penalty was sent to Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C., where it

WHO TOOK THE PHOTOS? Most of the photos used in this feature were harvested from a huge supply that appeared soon after the first opening for Sitka herring. Trouble is, we don’t know who shot which photograph.

If you recognize any photo as yours, let us know at donmcmanman@ gmail.com and we’ll print a credit in a coming issue of Pacific Fishing.

was to be reviewed by a judge, who could change the amount of the fine or drop the citation.

As for the state, don’t expect more than the report, said Megan A. Peters, a spokeswoman for the Troopers.

“If anything, Troopers may issue a report to the D.A.’s office for review. There isn’t much law enforcement can do if what happened didn’t specifically violate a state statute,” she said.

Johns, the skipper of the Confidence, declined to describe the collision, but said, “I’ve never run into anyone deliberately. … I just got news in the mail of a claim against my insurance company. I’m a little distraught about the whole situation.”

A month after the collision, the Shady Lady was in the Delta Marine yard, and the estimate to repair the vessel from the collision and later events was $158,000.

It could have been much worse. When the Shady Lady was on its beam, water was well over the hatch coaming. As it was, there were only five to 10 gallons of water in the fish hold. “It was definitely prone to take on more water,” Dean Anderson said.

“It showed Danny Veerhusen’s [the previous owner’s] attention to detail related to water-tightness. In a situation like this, details

are everything,” he said.

As for the Confidence, “I haven’t had a surveyor out to take a look at the scratches on the hull to see if there was anything structural,” said Johns.

Ironically, even after the collision and up to the near-capsizing, the Shady Lady had a great herring season: The Sea Warrior had pumped out 150 tons of Anderson’s herring before he had to focus on damage control and cut away the seine. A substantial amount was abandoned with the net.

Dean Anderson stands atop the side of his wheelhouse as the Shady Lady rests on the tender Sea Warrior. Tom Elliot photo

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JUNE 2010

PACIFICFISHING 13

YOUR BUSINESS

Rationalization

by Cassandra Marie Profita

From terminal gear to supermarket counters

Groundfish rationalization to change just about everything

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The 2011 Pacific groundfish rationalization has shuffled the cards trawlers. f West Coast trawlers for Which hand will play the best in fish markets come Jan. 1?

That’s the $264 million question, said Pete Leipzig, director of the coastwide trawl group Fishermen’s Marketing Association.

Opinions vary on how groundfish marketing may change when the quota system kicks in. And no one knows for sure.

But a few things are certain: • There will be more rockfish and flatfish available for harvest than the fresh, domestic market can currently handle. Groundfish have been losing shelf space to farmed tilapia for years, resulting in lower ex-vessel prices for some groundfish species (by as much as 10 cents a pound) and catchable groundfish being left in the water.

• Sablefish will be the top-shelf target among the 86 groundfish species. Already, trawl permits up for sale are being priced largely on their shares of black cod, which can yield anywhere from $1 to $6 a pound.

• Fixed gear fishermen are eying trawl permits to aggregate more personal black cod quota, which they can target more efficiently.

• Fish buyers and boat owners with deep pockets are doubling and tripling up on permits per boat, making sure they have enough bycatch shares to go around.

As the reality of the catch share allocation sets in, more and more fishermen are looking at their species list and wondering whether it’s worth the risk to stay in the game.

Selling out: For Astoria dragger Kenny Johnson Jr., the answer was no. He sold his ownership of F/V Gods Will in April.

“The amount of fish I get to catch is half of what I’m catching now,” Johnson said. “There’s no way I can make it on half of what I’m making now. So I could make a move now or lose the boat down the road because I can’t make the payments on it.”

It wasn’t just that he had less desirable fish to catch. He was also missing shares of key bycatch species. His permit would get only about 2,300 pounds of halibut and 200 pounds of canary rockfish.

“If I made one bad tow, I have a possibility of getting shut down for the whole year,” he said.

The good news for him is he gets to keep running the boat for a percentage.

“I still got my job,” he said. “It was like getting a raise with benefits.”

For Johnson, it was safer to get out of debt and let someone else take the risk. A lot of fishermen in his position are looking at the same kinds of numbers and trying to build a new business plan: Should they pool their permits into a co-op with other boats, or would it be worth taking out a loan to buy a second permit?

Perhaps their bycatch species would be better used in the hake fishery? As they exhaust the possibilities, more and more fishermen are losing confidence in the virtues of the looming IFQ. “A handful of guys still think this is a good thing,” Johnson said.

“Maybe down the road it will turn out that they’re right.”

Expanding markets: Those with a rosier outlook on rationalization are examining opportunities for expanding groundfish sales into live and frozen markets overseas.

Dover and English sole, in particular, are under-harvested, said

Brad Pettinger, administrator of the Oregon Trawl Commission. So are chili pepper and yellowtail rockfish.

“Farmed fish has really taken a big hit,” he said. “We used to sell 4,000 to 5,000 tons of English sole. Now we sell 500 tons and our quota is 10,000 tons. It’s a lot of fish, and we’re leaving it there because the market that we had has been taken over by other products like tilapia.”

But Pettinger believes changing from the current management plan, with its twomonth catch limits and unsellable bycatch, will be key to opening up the potential for more entrepreneurial marketing.

“I think people will be more engaged in trying to make their fish worth more,” he said. “You have an asset that’s been given to you. You’re going to go someplace to find a market for that. Usually the processors have had the keys to finding that market. This is going to take it out of their hands. You’ll have guys, instead of being pulled along, they’re going to be pushing. You’ve got 100-plus boats with quota saying, ‘Where can I go with this?’”

Processed in China: Leipzig said he hopes fishermen will start exploring alternatives such as moving fish into the Midwest, Texas, China, or Korea.

“People would like to eat fish,” he said.

“Worldwide, there’s a shortage of white fish. There should be opportunities out there.”

The 2006 reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that fish caught through catch share programs be processed by U.S. vessels or on American soil, which limits trawl fishermen from directly tapping new markets overseas once the IFQ system is in place. But Leipzig said an amendment to the law could open the door to shipping whole frozen lingcod to China, having it processed there, and then sold back into U.S. markets to save on labor.

“If people were interested in whole, round fish, it would be easy to deliver and pack,” he said. “It doesn’t have to go there by airfreight. It can travel slower because it doesn’t go bad.”

The fishery could also expand into live fish markets, he said.

“There’s a fairly stable market for rockfish and flatfish there as well,” he said. “It’s not going to become huge. It will get saturated quickly, but instead of 30 cents a pound you can get $10 for a flatfish.”

In Coos Bay, Oregon Brand Seafoods has continued on page 16

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JUNE 2010

PACIFICFISHING 15

YOUR BUSINESS

Rationalization continued from page 15

already begun tapping the whole-frozen sole market, where international competition keeps prices low — but not a whole lot lower than the recent lows for Dover going into domestic fresh fillet markets.

Whole round Dover sole can sell for 28 cents a pound, compared with a price of about 30 cents a pound for fish destined for the fresh fillet market. Yet that fresh price can dip down to 20 or 10 cents a pound for volume over the trip limit.

“It’s really similar to what guys are getting paid for regular stuff going on the fresh market,” Pettinger said.

Rod Moore, director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, said the cost of observers and plant monitors will actually tilt the scales toward frozen product.

“The exact opposite is going to happen here from halibut and sablefish in Alaska,” he said, explaining how more flexible fishing schedules under the Alaskan quota system allowed fresh halibut to be marketed at a premium.

Shorter seasons: Under the groundfish IFQ, the cost of mandatory monitors will force the fishery to condense fishing trips into a few months a year and freeze whatever can’t be sold into

16 PACIFICFISHING

JUNE 2010

The Seeker off the Oregon Coast: Many groundfish quota holders will abandon that fishery and apply bycatch quota to the hake fishery. the fresh market.

Sablefish and short-spine thornyheads have always had a frozen market, he said. But the sablefish catch limit will likely be reduced next year because stock assessments are down.

Still, those who can afford to are buying stock in sablefish. Others are selling out while they still can.

For the first two years of IFQs, there

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will be a moratorium on transferring groundfish permits.

“The people who are in line to receive quota are looking at the projected amount of quota they would receive, and for the most part they’re incredibly disappointed,” said Paul Piercey, a broker with Dock Street Brokers in Seattle. “They don’t see how it will allow them to keep dragging.”

Piercey said there isn’t a glut of permits on the market, but they are “dribbling out.”

“I think some of them are seeing their best option is to sell before too many come on the market,” he said. “The ones that have sold at prices higher than they would’ve expected. … We’ve been finding a home for them just about as quickly as they’ve been coming on our website.”

Prices are all over the map. It used to be draggers were lucky to sell their permits for $90,000. In April, one permit sold for $600,000.

Longliners buying: Factors affecting the price of the permits include the shares of protected bycatch species and shares of desirable fish species: “Sablefish,” Piercey said. “Overwhelmingly, that would be the most desirable out there.”

And as far as who’s buying, the calls are “from hook and line guys — because they’re the ones who can be the most discriminate about what they’re catching,” Piercey said.

Pettinger said he, too, is worried about the allocation of bycatch species. Take yelloweye rockfish, of which there are only around 17 metric tons available for all fisheries coastwide and just 1,300 pounds for the trawl fleet. That means on average each of the 160 permits in the fleet has only 8 pounds to work with.

YOUR BUSINESS

Loan program

CRAB LOAN PROGRAM FOR DECKHANDS SLOWLY COMING TO LIFE “My fear is a fisherman could be doing everything to avoid them, and one fish could put a guy out of business,” he said.

“People are expecting too much from the fleet,” Piercey said.

Some fishermen are worried the market for English, Dover, and Petrale sole won’t change, that tilapia and other white fish will continue to edge fresh groundfish fillets off of grocery shelves, and the price will be low enough that it won’t be worth going fishing.

Leipzig shares those concerns.

“Potentially there’s a lot more fish of the species we currently land,” he said.

“If there’s too much fish, we could have some real problems — not just in the marketing sense. There are companies that own their own boats, and if the quota was large enough, their personal share of it could begin to displace other fishermen’s opportunity.”

Some boats might end up taking shorter trips and marketing the catch themselves.

Others might plan their year out so they take just a few big trips.

“It will bring change,” said Leipzig. “I just don’t know what that change will be.

We’re in a situation where any change has to be viewed as good.”

It has taken five years, but the loan program designed to help deckhands buy shares of Bering Sea crab finally began its move through the regulatory pipeline last week.

“It was filed in the federal register as a proposed rule for 30 days. They will then review the comments, file a final rule, and the program will be implemented sometime after that,” said Linda Kozak, a Kodiakbased fishery consultant who works with crab quota share holders.

The crab loans are backed with $8 million in federal funding, and will operate in the same way as the program for halibut and sablefish. Crabbers will be eligible for 80 percent of the purchase price of crab catch shares. The low interest loans can be repaid for up to 25 years.

Leo Erwin, chief of financial services at NOAA Fisheries, said the crab loan program should be up and running by the end of the federal fiscal year, which is Sept. 30.

That’s not soon enough, say the crabbers.

“We are asking them to please move

‘We are asking them to please move the process along faster so crab crew members can go out and find quota shares to purchase this summer.’ the process along faster so crab crew members can go out and find quota shares to purchase this summer, and utilize the loan program when the crab season starts in October,” Kozak said.

When the loan program comes on line it is not likely to fuel a run on buying, predicted Jeff Osborn of Dock Street Brokers.

“Crew shares are available now in bits and pieces, and there has not been a lot of interest. The loans might increase it, but there are bigger issues in play,” Osborn said, referring to uncertainties about how the five-year-old crab catch share program might be tweaked in December.

Osborn said crew shares of red king crab are listed now at $17 per pound, and $7 for snow crab. – Laine Welch

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JUNE 2010 PPACIFIC FISHING WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM JUNE 2010 ACIFIC FISHING 17

YOUR BUSINESS

West Coast salmon

by Cassandra Marie Profita

SALMON T TR TROLLERS: ROL OLL LLERS::

Any hope for the 2011 season?

Oregon trollers out of Garibaldi will have their first shot since 2007 south of Cape Falcon.

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JUNE 2010

The 2010 salmon trolling seasons are sending ripples of o optimism Oregon But they flat-line flat line at the through Washington and Oregon.

California border.

Hope for California boats may lie in the 2011 season — a distant hope that higher jack counts, Sacramento River flows, and plush ocean krill promise better fishing to come.

It will be awhile before anyone knows if the 2010 Sacramento forecast of 245,000 returning adult Chinook holds true. It will be even longer before anyone can affix a run size to the expected returns for 2011.

El Nino bad news: But scientists note the returning 2011 fish entered the ocean in the spring of 2009, just as water temperatures were rising and an El Nino cycle was kicking in. Warmer ocean temperatures generally mean less food for juvenile fish and lower survival rates during their critical first year at sea.

Meanwhile, water shortages remain a challenge for outmigrating smolts in the Sacramento and Klamath river basins.

And while Sacramento River jack counts in 2009 showed signs of improvement, the actual numbers of jacks are so low that they may be leading fishery managers to artificially inflate the expected run sizes.

Last year, managers predicted 122,000 adult Chinook would be returning to the Sacramento River, and only got 39,500 back.

California trollers were reluctant to go fishing at all this year, seeing as the catch will be small and the runs are already fragile.

“When the numbers get this low, the models tend to overpredict,” said Zeke Grader, executive director of the 1,500-member Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations.

“If we’re far off, it could do some real damage to the resource.

Moreover, it’s probably about enough fish for five to 10 boats having an average-to-good season.”

Grader said California boats might end up going out not to make money but to prevent being boxed out of future fisheries and disaster relief money. His group is asking the National Marine Fisheries

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California salmon fishermen, bruised from two years of no fishing and facing a heavily curtailed season, are maintaining their fight to reform how water is managed in the Sacramento River Delta even as the politics surrounding it intensifies.

After being dealt a token commercial salmon season by the Pacific Fishery Management Council in April, fishermen were watching a massive water bond on the November ballot they believe might undermine the future of the industry by institutionalizing policies that are bad for salmon in the vital Sacramento River.

The $11.1 billion bond is backed by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and irrigators who rely on the delta’s huge pumps, which can kill salmon and even reverse flows in some parts of the watershed. New dams, water projects, and development of a canal to pump water around the delta to cities and farms to the south are part of the package.

Also included: some $250 million toward the removal of

Service to make sure trollers won’t lose status in the fishery as a result of not going fishing this year.

Federal aid: West Coast communities have received $170 million in federal disaster relief to cope with the last two years of fishery closures. Grader said his group will be pressing for disaster relief funds again this year.

South of Point Arena, California has two four-day openers in J y Between Point Arena and Horse Mountain,, there are two July. four-day July openers and two quota fisheries of 18,000 Chinook in July and 9,375 Chinook in August.

This NASA photo shows one bottleneck in California salmon production: The Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers drain most of the state of California, collecting and concentrating rainfall and snowmelt form the Sierra Nevada and funneling it toward San Francisco Bay. “Economically, it doesn’t pan out,” said Grader. “There just isn’t enough fish. We’ll get a little fishing for Fort Bragg, and not much else. Local restaurants are going to be scrambling for that.”

Lots of krill: But he said there are reasons to expect better things to come in 2011. “Even if it’s El Nino, the ocean is full of krill, and jack counts are looking better,” he said. “I think we could craft a worthwhile season for next year.”

s salmon fishermen the Klamath River’s four main dams, called for as part of an agreement signed by California, Oregon, fishermen, tribes, and farmers in February. That river also affects how much fishing is allowed in California and Oregon.

Many of the groups that support dam removal have said they will not support the bond.

In the meantime, a federal judge has imposed delta pumping limits to protect threatened runs of salmon. Fishermen also are calling for a meeting with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who in February angered fellow Democrats by proposing to circumvent those rules to allow increased pumping.

Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations Executive Director Zeke Grader said the last time the salmon industry held a formal meeting with Feinstein was about 20 years ago in Eureka.

“She’s constantly hearing from agriculture,” Grader said, “but she really doesn’t hear from us.” – John Driscoll

Jeff Feldner, a Newport troller and Oregon Salmon Commission board member, said it’s been great to see all the activity on the docks of Oregon this year, but he’s still bracing for another nailbiter next year.

A report published in April by the Northwest Fisheries Science Center detailed less favorable ocean conditions for 2011 returning fish in Oregon and Washington compared with 2010 runs.

“I don’t think any of us are expecting we’re going to have any easi easier time with season-setting next year,” said Feldner.

“Fish herm are thinking it’s going to be a close call again.”

“Fishermen Or rego trollers are still coasting on the news that they can Oregon actua ally take a gander at the fishery this year. Many have been actually sigh sighted buying new gear and fixing up their boats after two ye years of dormancy.

“I don’t know if people are expecting a lot of fish,” said Fe Feldner. “Just the opportunity is really generating a lot of optimism.”

High demand: Demand for fresh salmon is also loo looking optimal.

“I’m hearing a lot of interest from small, local buyers to get the them directly,” Feldner said. “A lot of the fish will be worth $1 $100 each to the fisherman. That’s a pretty good incentive.”

South of Cape Falcon, there was a May fishery and there wi will be a July and an August 1,500-Chinook quota fishery fro from the California border to Humbug Mountain. From Cape Fa Falcon to Humbug Mountain the season is open from May 1 thr through July 6, with four four-day openers later in July and an August fishery.

Competition down: Darus Peake, chairman of the Oregon Salmon C Commission, said markets should be ready to pay generously for fresh, wild-caught salmon, even though a lot of restaurants switched to farmed salmon during the season closures of 2008 and 2009.

This year the Icelandic volcano that erupted in April disrupted the arrival of Norwegian farmed fish. An earthquake and disease problems in Chile have stunted the farmed-fish industry there.

“I don’t see any competition,” Peake said. “No major amount of fish.”

The outlook is even brighter for trollers up north.

Jim Olson, vice president of the Washington Trollers Association, said he’s expecting a lot more Washington boats will go fishing this year with the 56,000 Chinook and 12,800 coho commercial allocation north of Cape Falcon. The trend has been 80 to 100 boats, but there are 140 permits in the state’s fleet.

And with twice as many Chinook up for grabs this year, compared with 2009, more people are looking to get in on the action.

“There are guys running around looking for permits to lease,” Olson said.

He’s hoping there won’t be a lot of coho around to interfere with Chinook fishing.

“Why would you go for a $6 fish when you could go for a $60 fish?” said Olson.

May and June are dedicated Chinook fisheries north of Cape Falcon, with a 42,000 quota, and from July through September, trollers can catch 14,000 Chinook and 11,800 coho too. Trip limits are 150 Chinook and 50 coho.

“The market’s looking good,” Olson said. “We’ve got some demand to make up without California fishing.”

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JUNE 2010

PACIFICFISHING 19

BOAT OF THE MONTH

F/V Jamie Marie As with a growing number of operations, the Jamie Marie has alternating crews. The steel stays busy most of the year, while fishermen get time off.

“You can’t afford to let $2 million of investment stay tied up to the dock,” Downs said.

Miller runs the Jamie Marie for Dungeness crab, while Downs chases shrimp, hake, and groundfish during the rest of the calendar.

Make that, Downs used to chase groundfish. Once rationalization grabs the fishery in 2011, there’s no way the Jamie Marie can fish groundfish and stay legal.

Downs has figured his bycatch allocations that will go into effect next year. If he had been restrained by the same allocations this year, he would have exceeded the halibut quota on his first trip, exceeded his slope rockfish quota with his second set, and exceeded his Petrale quota on the third.

“I’d be over my IFQs in the first three tows of the year,” Downs said. “You go over just one, and you’re done for the year.”

So, is there a solution?

You don’t target bottomfish.

In 2011, the Jamie Marie will apply all of its bycatch quota to hake.

“With whiting, we see these [bycatch] species in small numbers.

We’ll take our groundfish IFQ and apply it to the whiting fishery.

Whiting is our big moneymaker,” Downs said.

But Downs and other skippers aren’t resigned to giving up on groundfish forever.

“We’ll figure this out. It’ll just take some time,” Downs said.

And therein rests one allure that the Jamie Marie holds for Downs: “What matters most is having the freedom to try some things, to improve.”

“The owner gives me a lot of leeway with new technology. He gives me room to take that boat and make money with it. We’ve really been successful.”

And it’s not just the skipper: “My crew comes up with ideas all the time. We try everything, and sometimes some of it works.”

When it comes to IFQs, Downs expects the Alaska experience to be repeated off the West Coast.

“In the long term, this is going to be a nice business, like up in Alaska. We’ll figure this out, but not everyone’s going to make it.”

Rationalizing some good from rationalization The Jamie Marie during her annual haul haul-out out at Delta Marine in Seattle Seattle. here’s an old cliché — “with challenge comes opportunity” — generally heard in motivational seminars for middle-management business suits.

But Ben Downs of the Jamie Marie has embraced the slogan as the West Coast groundfish fleet faces rationalization and some draconian bycatch restrictions.

“There’s a way we can catch the targeted fish and miss the rest.

We just have to figure out how,” Downs said.

Right now, Downs has been looking at trawl and escapement designs pioneered by the Alaska pollock fleet to help reduce bycatch of salmon. He’s also working closely with net manufacturers, using some of the newest fibers on the market to craft nets best suited to the Northwest fisheries.

But dragging new designs and new cord through the water tells you less than half the story. You have to know how the net acts and how fish react. So, Downs has installed an acoustic monitoring system on the trawl — equipment generally not used in the Northwest fishery until now — and he’s eager to mount underwater video cameras to monitor the fish.

Unlike many successful skippers, Downs wasn’t born into a fishing family. One day, when he and his dad were on a sport fishing vacation to Morro Bay, a commercial salmon boat was in a nearby slip.

“The guy invited me aboard and asked if I wanted some rockfish.

He gave me a cup of coffee off an old diesel stove. I went back and told my dad I was going to become a commercial fisherman.”

His dad knew a commercial fisherman out of Coos Bay — Roy Gunnari. “His crewman got thrown into jail, so I got a job. I learned most of the basics from Roy.” That was in 1976. Over the years, Downs owned several boats, but disagreements — with business partners and a divorce-bound wife — left him running boats for other owners.

Before the Jamie Marie, his latest gig was running F/V Conquest for Frank Dulcich of Pacific Seafood.

But when the skipper of the Jamie Marie — Randy Walker — died in 2007, Downs moved into the wheelhouse. Ron Miller owns the vessel. He preferred to let Downs do the talking for this article.

T

20 PACIFICFISHING

JUNE 2010

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Getting started SKIPPER BEN DOWNS sees a good future for young men and women who become commercial fishermen.

“We will have an industry. There are lots of fish out there, more than when I started in ’78.”

For success, Downs has three rules: • Pay your taxes. “A lot of fishermen lose their boats because they don’t pay their taxes.”

• “Be prepared to work as hard as you can. There’s no easy way into this business.”

• “Keep an open mind. Once you think you know it all, you’re ready to lose.”

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BOAT OF THE MONTH

F/V Jamie Marie continued from page 20

Who needs flume boxes? Knee-deep in Wynoochee River, skipper Ben Downs tests a new net design.

Ben Downs at home.

Getting the job done

Marine architect: Mid-Coast Marine Oregon Lengthening: Nichols Marine Ways, 1992 Sponsoned: Fred Wahl Marine Construction, 2002 Annual haul-out: Delta Marine, Seattle — Ron Miller, the owner of the Jamie Marie, and his family have a long history with Delta Marine.

“It is always a pleasure doing business there,” Downs said.

Permit broker: Dock Street Brokers Main: Cummins KTA38 MO 856 HP Diesel, Bevis air clutch front PTO with three-pump drive for hydraulic pumps Exhaust: Vertical dry, lagged. Passes through P&S mast supports with inline mufflers.

Hydraulic hoses: Harbor Marine & Supply, Westport Service for main: Westport Diesel Service “Owners Mark and Julie Woolsey take care of our entire diesel engine needs. Mark will come to the boat day or night to keep our engines going.

In the Pacific whiting fishery, one day missed means $30,000 lost. In the last three years, Mark has overhauled all three engines in the Jaime Marie,” Downs said.

Reduction gear: Twin Disc MG 530, 4.94 to 1 “Mill Log Marine in Kent, Wash., takes care of all our transmission needs. In May 2008, right before Pacific whiting season started, Mill Log came to Westport and did free transmission inspections for the fleet. Their mechanics found a problem with our clutch plates and replaced them before the season started. The 2008 season was our best ever,” Downs said.

Auxiliaries: Cummins NT-855, 300 hp, 125 kW 120/208 VAC / 3 phase AC generator; Front Drive Bevis air clutch PTO with Twin Disc pump drive for three hydraulic pumps Generator: John Deere 6068 TFM 50, 220 hp, New Age 115 kW — 120/208 VDC 3 phase AC generator Lubricants: Mobil DEL-VAC 15/40 multi-grade, supplied by Masco Petroleum, Westport Hydraulics: On the main, three 60-gallon Denison pumps.

On the 855 Cummins, the three hydraulic pumps are 40-gallon Vickers.

On the John Deere, the hydraulic pump is a 30-gallon Vickers.

Hydraulics service: Harbor Hydraulics, Aberdeen, and Warren Junes LLC, Astoria

Normally, when we spotlight a Boat of the Month, we devote a relatively small space to the products and services the skipper uses.

This year, however, Ben Downs had a lot to say about the Jamie Marie — and what he and owner Ron Miller use to keep the boat working. It’s good information, so we decided to print it all.

Here are some of the products and services Ben Downs uses to keep the F/V Jamie Marie fishing.

Vessel type: Trawler, crabber, tender Builder: Mid-Coast Marine Oregon Inc., Coos Bay

TRAWLMASTER TRAWL MONITORING SOLUTIONS

* Frustrated looking over the stern and wondering: - Are my doors spread optimally?

- Are my trawl wire marks right?

- Could I save fuel speeding up or slowing down?

“30% increase with Notus” Ben Downs, FV Jamie Marie (WA)

* Notus answers these questions and much more!!

NOTUS Electronics Ltd. Tel: +1 709 753 0652 saleinfo@notus.nf.ca

* Finance for $620 per month

www.notus.nf.ca Ken Johnson, Notus Rep. for West Coast, Oregon, ken@notus.ca, Tel: +1 503 468 2545 Jensen Communications, Inc., Oregon, ronwright@jensencomm.com, Tel: +1 503 861 2415

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Bainbridge Island in January 2008 with an idea for a totally new design for a shrimp net. I was talking to Steve Patterson, the salesman for Alaska, when Koji Tamura, one of Net Systems design engineers, looked up from his work station and saw my model.

“Steve introduced us and Koji asked if he could take a look at my model.

About that time Mario Perez, the shrimp net salesman for Mexico and other countries, introduced himself and showed me a model of a net made of their new webbing, Dyneema.

“Within a few minutes, all four of us retired to their conference room and started working on a shrimp net for a 1,000-hp boat that would both work on the bottom and as a mid-water net. This net is the one I use today,” Downs said.

Crab gear: Trilogy crab pots, Bellingham Power block: Warren Junes, Astoria “I have known Warren Junes for six years and trust his opinion on crab blocks, conveyer equipment, and almost all hydraulic equipment,” Downs said.

Winches: Two hydraulic trawl winches with piston motors and stainless auto spoolers A 40,000-pound tow of Dover sole off the Washington Coast.

Other deck machinery: Two Gearmatic hydraulic hook-line Refrigeration: PSER Inc. system with one each York refrigeration winches on forward mast with fairlead blocks. Gearmatic hydraucompressor driven by a 50-hp AC motor for RSW system in fish lic hook-line winch on aft port gantry. Hydraulic warping drum on aft starboard gantry, Marco 17” hydraulic line hauler block on davit holds, with 3 hp-AC, condenser water pump in engine room.

R-Plus deck walk-in freezer with a Larkin blast blower and with hydraulic arm. Forward hydraulic net reel and stanchions.

Hydraulic pot launcher fitted on main deck starboard side at Copeland motor-driven compressor Refrigeration service: Harbor Refrigeration serviceman, Pete bulwarks. Hydraulic net reel on aft gantry. Marco 24” hydraulic line hauler block. One hydraulic Marco anchor wench on bow.

Feneidi, who fished on the Jamie Marie when it was new.

“Pete and I have spent many late nights continued on page 24 keeping the refrigeration working properly,” Downs said.

Retailer for miscellaneous fittings: • Harbor Marine & Supply • Englund Marine & Supply “Englund Marine is the backbone of the marine supply business from Westport to Eureka. The RED AHL ARINE ONSTRUCTION NC needs of the fleet on the central West Coast are 100 Port Dock Road T Reedsport, OR 97467 unique, and Englund Marine has been outstanding in meeting those needs,” Downs said.

Tel: 541.271.5720 T Fax 541.271.4349 Bait: Ocean Gold Seafoods, Westport E-mail: reedsport@fredwahlmarine.com Web: www.fredwahlmarine.com Web: • England Marine Supply • Net Systems, Bainbridge Island • Swan Net USA, Seattle Web hanging: • Net Systems, Bering Sea combination trawl • Swan Net, mid-water trawl “We got our new Swan trawl in the propeller in the fall of 2007. Swan showed up at 7 p.m. that night, while we were unloading whiting, and put our net on their truck. After a long night of working in the net in Seattle, they rolled the net back on the boat as the sun came up at 7 a.m. You have got to love that,” Downs said.

• Net Systems, western shrimp trawl, 265’ 11” head rope/footrope 58' x 26' – Hull #10-58-30 48' x 18' – Hull #10-48-29 “I showed up in the Net Systems office on

F

W

M

C

,I

.

CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION & FOR SALE:

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JUNE 2010

PACIFICFISHING 23

BOAT OF THE MONTH

F/V Jamie Marie continued from page 23

On the deck of the Jamie Marie after a 40 minute tow that produced 12,000 pounds of shrimp.

Trawl doors: • Thyboron Type 2, 104” for bottom trawling • Net System Series 2000 mid-water trawl doors, 5.5 meter • Net System alloy mid-water door, 9 meter for the shrimp net “Net Systems trawl door designer Bob Mennucii has been working with me to identify what characteristics a trawl door would need to spread my shrimp net at a very slow speed — under 2 knots.

“We have decided to try an older style of mid-water door with less camber and no vents, as Bob thinks this would have a better water flow at low speed. Also, I will need a door twice the size as normal for a 1,000-hp vessel because of the slow speed.

“Bob has a set of 9 meter alloy mid-water doors that I will adapt a four-chain pull on the front, like a wood door, for stability,” Downs said.

Trawl sensors: Notus Electronics Trawl Master “I met Notus Marketing Manager Francis Parrot at the Jensen Communications electronics show in April of 2009, and I have not looked at trawling the same since Francis opened my eyes to the worldwide cooperation within the industry to develop more economic and eco-friendly ways to trawl and gain a better understanding of what is happening on the ocean floor.

“I was not aware that there were places on the Internet a fisherman could go to look for answers to some of the more elusive questions in trawling. The trawl sensors Notus provided me with, and the instructions Francis gave me on how to apply them, have proved indispensable in increasing our catch per unit effort by 30 percent.

“In the Pacific whiting fishery, fishing to maintain door spread seems to be the dominant factor. Bottom trawling wire length appears to be the most important variable for door stability. With my new shrimp net, after one trip of constant adjustments, the best spread I could get on my shrimp net was 83 feet. The shrimp gear should have a door spread of 210 feet.

I brought the net back to the dock and started looking for better ways to spread the net.

“I have decided — after talking to Bob McLwaine at Cantrawl Nets and looking at some of the experiments he has done with pulling on the center of the head rope to increase spread — that I would try this, along with Net Systems slow 9-meter door.

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“Francis is going to help me reconfigure my Notus sensors to show a true representation of what the three bridles are doing. I don’t think this could be done without the Notus sensors,” Downs said.

Chart system: • Coastal Explorer 2009 • Nobeltec Navigation 9.2 • Olex 7.18 • P-sea Windplot ll for Windows 7.19 VMS: Faria WatchDog Electronics: “Most of the electronics, and all of the new electronics, were purchased from and serviced by Jensen Communications of Warrenton.

Jensen has been handling all of my electronic needs for the last six years,” Downs said.

Sounders: • Furuno FCV -261 color video sounder • Furuno FCV-1100L color LCD sounder • Furuno CH-12 sonar Radio(s) and servicing: • Two Icom ICM-504VHF transceivers • One Icom IC-2100H transceiver • One Icom ICM802 SSB transceiver • Standard Horizon loud hailer VLH 3000 • Simrad PI32 catch monitor • Fruno CN10B head rope sounder • Icom automatic antenna tuner AT-140 • Bridge Watch monitor Radar: Furuno NavNet Radar GPS: Three Furono GPS WAAS Navigator units Autopilot: Simrad AP50 Weather service: WeatherWorks Galley equipment: • GE 4 burner AC range with oven and sea rails • Maytag side/side refrigerator/freezer • GE microwave oven • 19” Broksonic TV/VCR player recorder • Whirlpool stacked clothes washer and dryer in main head Galley provision retailers: Ted’s Red Apple grocery, Westport; Costco warehouse Fire suppression system: One 120-pound CO2 fixed system in engine room with remote control and automatic; two each 15-pound CO2 systems, 10-pound and five-pound chemical portables located in proper locations.

Hatches: Freeman Hatches Buyer: Ocean Gold Seafoods, Washington Crab Producers, Pacific Coast Seafoods Survival suits: Stearns Life rafts: Switlik six-person EPIRB: Alden Satfind 406 MHz EPIRB Safety equipment retailers: Englund Marine Supply Knives: Victorinox “We buy Victorinox knives by the box and use them for everything from screwdrivers to paint scrapers. They also make a great cutting tool,” Downs said.

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.

Photo: © Steve Lee

Photo: © Steve Lee

Alaska Salmon Value Growth: Ex-Vessel and First Wholesale

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

$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

niversary n A

1980-2010

V alu e ($ m illio n s)

$1,000

$1,600

30th

V alu e ($ m illio n s)

$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

YOUR BUSINESS

The resource

by Michel Drouin

First job for Fraser sockeye inquiry:

Deciding who can speak Before the Cohen Commission started its inquiry into the mysterious collapse of the Fraser River sockeye run, it had to whittle down the number of applicants for “standing.”

Everybody with a stake in the Fraser River sockeye fishery wanted a say, and everyone had a lawyer representing them to do the saying. Groups with “standing” may make oral submissions to the commission and propose and cross-examine witnesses.

The commission announced April 15 that it had narrowed down the number of groups with standing to 20. A total of 52 participants are represented either individually or in a coalition.

Potential federal funding was possible for legal counsel for participants.

Among the 20 with standing are the governments of Canada and British Columbia, the Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC), and the Aquaculture Coalition, including Alexandra Morton. Seven different aboriginal coalitions or groups, three separate commercial fishing organizations, two sport fishing groups, Rio Tinto Alcan Inc., the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association, and the Seafood Producers Association of B.C. also won standing.

The U.S. share: U.S. fishermen, who are entitled to 16.5 percent of the Fraser River sockeye harvest, have no standing, other

The Fraser River – once one of the West’s great sockeye resources – now is an industrial river, from big timber and mining upstream to industry near its mouth. than indirect representation by the Pacific Salmon Commission.

Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the inquiry on Nov. 6, 2009, naming British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen to lead it. The commission is to investigate the collapse and produce an interim report by Aug. 1 of this year and a final report by May 1, 2011.

The full scope of the inquiry is two fold: • To review and assess any previous examinations, investigations, or reports — and the government’s response.

U.S. fishermen stuck at 16.4 percent of Fraser harvest No matter what happens in 2010, the U.S. share of Fraser River sockeye is 16.5 percent of the total allowable catch.

According to the Pacific Salmon Treaty signed in 1985, the United States catch in areas managed by the Fraser River panel of the Pacific Salmon Commission is to not exceed 16.5 percent.

If there had been a 1 million allowable catch of the 10 million sockeye expected in 2009, United States fisheries would have had a harvest allowance of 165,000 fish.

If the allowable catch had been 2 million, the U.S. fisheries would have been able to target 330,000.

A more practical example of what was expected in 2009 is the 2005 fishery. The Fraser River sockeye run size was 8,720,000 sockeye, with 2,321,600 caught.

Canadian commercial fishermen got 128,600, and Canadian Aboriginal fisheries got 934,600, for a total of 1,063,200.

U.S. treaty Indian fisheries got 136,500, and U.S. non-Indian fisheries got 58,700, for a total U.S. catch of 195,200 sockeye. – Michel Drouin

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• To investigate and make independent findings of the causes for the decline of Fraser River sockeye salmon, the current state of Fraser River sockeye salmon stocks, and long-term projections for those stocks, and to develop recommendations for improving the future sustainability of the sockeye salmon fishery in the Fraser River, including, as required, any changes to the policies, practices, and procedures of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

The 2009 Fraser River sockeye run was eagerly anticipated. Commercial fishermen had not had a chance to target Fraser River sockeye for years and the anticipated 10 to 13 million run was supposed to provide opportunities for all sectors of southern licensed salmon vessels.

By mid-summer 2009, however, it was apparent that the run was in trouble, and

by September, the expected fish failed to appear. The Pacific Salmon Commission estimated on Sept. 11 that the entire run size was 1.37 million fish.

Former Fraser River gillnetter John Cummins, member of parliament for Delta Richmond–East and a former parliamentary critic for the Conservative Party, said that after dangerously low returns occurred in the mid-’90s, there were a number of investigations of the Fraser River fishery.

But those investigations lacked the ability to subpoena witnesses and take

commitment were fought at every turn by DFO and its allies,” Cummins said.

Collapse spurs probe: It was only the 2009 collapse that finally prompted the government to act.

Seiner Brent Melan reflected the opinion of many other B.C. fishermen when he said he is having a hard time believing any good will come out of the judicial commission hearings.

“I believe no one is actually really speaking for the fish,” he said. “I find it very sad that we have all been watching the demise of one of our greatest salmon rivers, and DFO has abdicated their responsibility to protect it at all costs.

“I guess risk-averse management means [you] just put the commercial fishery out of business, and that has almost been achieved. It’s one of the great injustices of our time. I really wish the salmon could be around for many more centuries, as it already has been, but it seems like an impossibility. All commercial fishermen want to see it survive because, without it, it means we are done too.

“I am also concerned that to be part of the inquiry, I Most scientists agree that floating salmon farming pens harbor vermin am told we need representation through a lawyer to make a that can kill out-migrating Fraser River sockeye. presentation,” Melan added.

“I’d like to have Alexandra Morton and Phil Eidsvik represent testimony under oath, leaving critical questions unanswered, me, because I believe in their honesty and integrity, which seems to including the impact of DFO’s management of the fishery. Because be in short supply when dealing with the bureaucrats,” he added. of perceived weaknesses in those investigations, there were calls Phil Eidsvik of the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition said the for a judicial inquiry, Cummins said. inquiry has been a long time coming since the coalition first The current Conservative government promised a judicial demanded a full judicial inquiry into the management of the Fraser inquiry during the 2006 campaign, but “Efforts to keep this continued on page 28

Uncertainty reigns in 2010 Fraser forecast The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has been reviewing its forecasting methods, and because there continues to be a high degree of uncertainty in Fraser River forecasting, DFO is basing its forecasting on a range of returns.

“In 2009 we saw a very poor return and declines in productivity,” said Jeff Grout, DFO’s regional resource salmon manager.

“Conservation is going to continue to be a priority.

“The in-season assessment of Fraser River sockeye return, based on our test fishing and Mission sonic sampling program, will be the key for determining the abundance of Fraser river sockeye.”

The forecast models took in a range of scenarios, and DFO is calculating there is a 1 in 4 chance that the run size will be 7 million fish, Grout said.

“Productivity of the stock is the key,” Grout said. “If we have low productivity as in 2009, and if it continues in 2010, it could be much lower than that.” – Michel Drouin

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YOUR BUSINESS

The resource continued from page 27

with similar concerns should share in single settled at the 20 accepted.

River fishery in 1992.

“While the commission received 50 grants of standing, bringing us down to Lawyers to the trough: Unfortunately, the process of gaining “standing” invites applications for standing — a number we 20,” said Brian Wallace, senior commission counsel. lawyers to the trough, Eidsvik “Those who did not receive said.

‘I believe no one is actually really speaking for standing can still be involved The first challenge for Cohen in the commission’s process by was to get the number of the fish. I find it very sad that we have all been lawyers down to a reasonable watching the demise of one of our greatest salmon attending public hearings and making written submissions, number, Eidsvik said. rivers and DFO has abdicated their responsibility which will be posted on our “There were 45 lawyers to protect it at all costs.’ website.” there,” Eidsvik said.

Wallace told Pacific Fishing With more than 50 groups seeking standing, the commission believe is higher than any other federal that even 20 was still a large number.

“It is going to be complex. We’ll hope encouraged groups with common interests commission of inquiry — Commissioner to form coalitions. In the end the number was Cohen determined that several applicants for cooperation,” he said. “I have been impressed by the applicants who have on their own joined with others. I expect there will be cooperation, and it will be necessary to make it work.”

First hearings: The commission’s formal work was to start with short hearings for a few days in June, and the commission planned to put out a discussion paper that will identify the issues that require further participation “This is a preliminary hearing,” Wallace explained. “There are so many possible issues, so we will narrow them down and give the participants opportunity to comment. There will be evidentiary hearings in the fall.”

Wallace defended the commission’s choice of David Levy as a fisheries research consultant.

Member of Parliament Cummins had claimed that Levy’s 2006 report for the Sierra Club on B.C. salmon declines clearly showed a bias for terminal inland fisheries.

“It is a serious error for Justice Cohen to select as his science advisor someone who has already concocted a solution to the problem before the inquiry has heard any evidence,” Cummins wrote.

“We looked hard to find the best qualified person we could find to manage our science program,” Wallace told Pacific Fishing.

“Dr. Levy is very well qualified with a lot of experience and expertise. You have to get it somehow. Everybody we looked at had a point of view.”

Wallace said that Levy was managing the science work of the commission, but that there will be other scientists retained as well, and all the scientific work will face the scrutiny of commission participants.

“It is not the final conclusion, and the participants will have an opportunity to challenge all the scientific evidence that goes before the commission,” Wallace said.

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YOUR BUSINESS

Bristol Bay oil

A hellish inferno consumed the oil drilling rig before it finally sank in the Gulf of Mexico this spring.

It’s time for permanent protection for Bristol Bay Dan Strickland is the Bristol Bay fisheries liaison for the Alaska Marine Conservation Council.

On March 31, President Obama announced that Bristol Bay and the Bering Sea were so valuable, and their fisheries

by Dan Strickland

so critical for the nation, that they were pulled off the leasing schedule for offshore oil and gas development.

Most folks heard this proclamation and logically thought that the debate had been put to rest. The reality, however, is far differDan Strickland ent, and the importance of understanding this cannot be overstated.

The region has come to be known by the ineloquent sobriquet “NAB,” short for North Aleutian Basin. A look at the history of the area shows that it was leased by a consortium of oil companies in 1986, a lease that was then litigated until the Exxon Valdez augured in to Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound three years later. Protections were rapidly put in place as a result of the devastation wrought by that oil spill — protections both congressional and presidential.

Both forms proved to be less than lasting safeguards.

Congressional protection was easily withdrawn because it was based on appropriations bills, which required annual approval.

Essentially Congress voted every year to allocate no funds for leasing the North Aleutian Basin. With rising gas prices and strident voices advocating for more offshore drilling, this protection evaporated in 2003, when Congress lifted its ban on oil and gas development in Bristol Bay. Over their respective terms, Presidents Reagan, Bush, and Clinton all signed a withdrawal, reinforcing, and augmenting protection for the NAB. This is precisely the same form President continued on page 30

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YOUR BUSINESS

Bristol Bay oil continued from page 29

Obama signed earlier this year. In 2007, George W. Bush rescinded nearly 20 years of protection and, with the stroke of a pen, opened up the North Aleutian Basin to leasing. The gauntlet had been thrown down, and the battle was on again.

Native groups and fishermen who had risen to the challenge before readily took up the sword. Nothing about the value of the fisheries or the worth of traditional subsistence resources had changed. Salmon, cod, crab, pollock, halibut, and groundfish — the species that had been the economic engine of Southwest Alaska and nurtured subsistence harvests for thousands of years — were as valuable, if not more so, now.

The oil companies touted new technology, which they claimed made it possible to operate offshore in an environmentally responsible manner. But pesky accidents around the world kept revealing that these promises were unsubstantiated. A blowout occurred off Australia, which spilled oil for 74 days before being plugged. Indonesian fishermen cried out that their fish stocks were devastated, only to be met with detached disbelief and litigation.

In April of this year, the Deepwater Horizon rig off Louisiana, a state-of-the-art operation that had set the world record for deepwater drilling (more than 35,000 feet) just the year before, exploded and burned spectacularly for a day before it sank into the depths.

Gas prices to rise: It is reasonable to assume that gas prices will rise in the future as fossil fuels become increasingly scarce. As oil companies push into new territories, reaching ever further for the last reserves, it’s inevitable that they will raise the cry to open the North Aleutian Basin to drilling.

The argument will be that technology can meet the challenges, that oil recovery under conditions of darkness, ice, and storms is feasible, and that fisheries can co-exist with oil development.

We’ve fought this war twice now, at considerable expense of time and sweat by a multitude of people. The essence of the debate will not change: Sustainable fisheries that provide almost half of our nation’s seafood harvest, that contribute close to $2.5 billion a

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This satellite photo shows an oil slick swirling in the Gulf of Mexico just off Louisiana and the delta of the Mississippi. Once the doomed oil drilling rig slipped beneath the water, the spectacle became a tragedy. Tar balls eight inches across washed onto alabaster beaches. Newspapers reported shortages of regional shellfish and fish. Oil giant BP said it was paying out $10 million a day in efforts to limit the spill and plug the well. Many observers said $10 million wasn’t enough. Meanwhile, the three companies involved in operating the doomed oil rig visited Congress and each blamed the others for the disaster. In mid-May, Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen said, “It has the potential to be catastrophic.� year to the economy and generate thousands of jobs, should trump a desperate attempt to satisfy a self-destructive addiction to oil, with its inherent, significant risks. The repetitive and predictable accidents on offshore platforms underscore that this is a dirty business. If oil is drilled, oil is spilled, and crab and fish and marine mammals don’t do at all well in an oiled environment.

We have the political momentum. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar called Bristol Bay a “national treasure,� and President Obama himself urged us to not fight “the same old battles over and over again.�

Let’s listen this time. If the next president bends to oil industry pressure, all it will take is a signature to begin the struggle all over again.

It’s a truism in life that rarely is anything permanent. All we can do is make it as long-lasting as possible.

A presidential withdrawal comes and goes on the whim of one individual. Legislative action may be the path to follow with respect to the North Aleutian Basin. Previously, the congressional moratorium was general and did not specify Bristol Bay and the Bering Sea. A standalone bill which directly targets protection for the North Aleutian Basin, if passed now, would require far more effort (and votes) to undo.

Please put your voice and your vote behind protection for Bristol Bay and the Bering Sea, which will protect them for perpetuity. A good place to start is the Alaska Marine Conservation Council: www.akmarine.org.

Let’s leave our children this legacy, rather than the shadow of a future battle they may have to enjoin.

Dan Strickland is a longtime Alaskan fisherman and writer who now works for the Alaska Marine Conservation Council. He resides in Palmer with his wife and family.

LETTER FROM UNALASKA

by Anne Hillman

Big fine for Westward, salmon exluders, and opies The major complicating factor was Bairdi Westward fine: Westward Seafoods in Unalaska was fined $570,000 by the Environmental Protection Agency in April for Tanner crabs. Fishermen had to spend a lot violating the U.S. Clean Air Act and the Emergency Responders and more time on deck sorting their crab because Western District Bairdi was closed. That meant Community Right to Know Act. The violations included operating generators without air control they couldn’t take any as incidental catch. equipment, which releases smog-causing, lung-irritating nitrogen They also had to watch out for hybrids, which count as either oxide into the atmosphere. The company also burned fuel with too Bairdi or opies, depending on their eye color and the shape of their much sulfur in it and did not report 80,000 pounds of ammonia to upper lips.

local emergency responders.

Salmon excluders: Gear developers from the North Pacific All of the violations occurred between 2002 and 2006, but prosecuting the case took many years in part because Westward Fisheries Research Foundation and fishermen seem to have finally failed to supply required information to the state and then the feds, fine-tuned a Chinook salmon excluder that’s effective. The flapper design was first developed in 2007. The flexible, weighted panel even after more than a half-dozen requests. changes the water flow in In addition to paying the upper part of the net. more than half a million Salmon swim differently dollars, the company than pollock and can take has to implement new advantage of this slower training, reporting, and moving water to swim management plans to out of the escape hatch. make sure such violations The excluder can be don’t happen again. A inserted into nets that Westward spokesperson fishermen already own said they have been coopwith only slight adaptaerating with the EPA since tions. John Gauvin and 2007, have cleaned up the others tested the design pollution, and are running in a flume tank in order to a responsible operation in fine-tune it and get the net Unalaska. to form the right shape.

For it to be as effecSmall boat harbor: tive as possible for each After months and months individual boat, it needs of sometimes excruciating to be weighted properly. deliberation, Unalaska’s Postcard: Opilio fishing in the Bering Sea in 2006 as photographed by Joshua Roper.

Gauvin says a technician city council has finally This year, the opilio fishery went smoothly, with almost all of the 43.2 allowable catch will be available at the made decisions about the harvested by April 1. beginning of “B” season new Carl E. Moses small to help out any boats that b o a t h a r b o r. T h e n e w harbor will have three floats, two of which will be equipped with want to use the device.

The motivation is high: The Chinook salmon bycatch hard cap individual slips for various sizes of boats. Each slip will have power goes into place in 2011. and water hook-ups.

The third float will be left without slips so larger boats can tie up Bottom trawl nets: It turns out that bottom trawl nets, which next to it two-boats deep. That float also will have a drive-down scrape along the bottom of the ocean, do in fact kill crabs that live working dock, though as of this writing, its specifications are being on the bottom of the ocean, but there is a way to lessen the impact. reconsidered one more time.

Craig Rose of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center says that the The new harbor also will have showers and restrooms, unlike the nets themselves kill between 10 and 30 percent of the crabs they other harbors in town.

In the end, the city will spend more than $43 million on the proj- contact, depending on the species and which part of the net hits ect. That doesn’t include the federal money used to build the break- them.

The sweepers only kill 5 percent of snow and Tanner crabs and 9 waters, which will total more than $12 million when the funding is percent of red king crabs, and it’s possible to reduce those numbers finally secured. even further.

The inner harbor project should be completed in November 2011, By attaching discs to the sweeper cables that keep the cables three even if the breakwaters are not complete. to four inches off the ocean floor, almost all of the Tanner and snow

Opie season: The Bering Sea snow crab season went rather crabs escape harm from that portion of the gear and only 3 percent smoothly this year, and almost all of the 43.2 million pound total of red king crabs die from the sweepers.

Rose says the number of crabs that die each year is unclear because allowable catch was harvested by early April.

Unlike last year, the ice didn’t come down early to block off the it’s unknown how many crabs come into contact with the nets. fishing grounds or close the harbor into St. Paul. The storms held off Pacific Fishing columnist Anne Hillman is news director of KUCB, Unalaska. until late in the season too.

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

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PACIFICFISHING 31

B.C. UPDATE Seals taking a big bite out of Fraser River salmon runs Seals: While the federally appointed judicial inquiry into the state of the Fraser River fishery kicks off, another problem for the salmon raises its sleek head.

A sport fishing lodge owner on the Pitt River, a tributary to the Fraser River near Vancouver, has been complaining of seals 16 kilometers up river from where it empties into Pitt Lake.

The seals staked out a canyon and were feasting on winter-run steelhead and Chinook salmon, he complained.

Veteran gillnetter Al Brown, who fished from the Fraser River up to Rivers Inlet from 1945 to 1996, said the government-sponsored cull kept seal numbers down and salmon numbers up in the 1940s and 1950s.

by Michel Drouin

British Columbia’s Priceless Coast,” released March 22 by Raincoast Conservation Foundation, says some wildlife could be destroyed by tankers and oil spills on the B.C. coast.

The report is based on a five-year study by Paul Paquet, adjunct professor of biology and associate professor of environmental design at the University of Calgary, and scientists from Duke University, the University of California Santa Cruz, and the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland.

If the Enbridge pipeline is built from the Alberta tar sands to Kitimat, an oil spill would have catastrophic effects on whales, salmon, and herring — and even grizzly bears and coastal wolves — that rely on salmon, the report claims.

Alex doesn’t quit: Alexandra Morton just won’t stop her relentless drive to bring the impact of salmon farming on wild stocks to the public and the provincial and federal governments.

After years of work demonstrating that salmon farms, and particularly the sea lice they infect wild salmon with, are bad for the

British Columbia seals have invaded rivers to eat winter-run steelhead and Chinook salmon.

“We didn’t have seals because we had a fishing fleet,” Brown said. “The government knew seals were a problem, and they supported a cull. We used to get five dollars a nose.

“Now, we’ve got seals in the Fraser River all the way up to Hope.

There’s no oolichan any more, and the spawned-out steelhead can’t survive either, because they swim only three feet below the surface, and they don t have a chance.”

Seals have been protected since 1970 and the population has exploded.

Some observers have suggested a contemporary seal cull in the Gulf of Georgia. where the seal population has exploded from 4,000 to 40,000 since the 1960s.

DFO, however, appears to be limiting the amount of information it chooses to release about seals in British Columbia.

In several April news stories, DFO biologist Peter Olesiuk at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo said that he had calculated 36 seals had killed 10,000 chum salmon in the Puntledge River on Vancouver Island several years ago. The seals also reportedly ate 3.1 million fry emerging out of the river in the spring.

A DFO seal cull removed 52 harbor seals from the Puntledge River in 1997 and 1998.

When contacted by Pacific Fishing, Olesiuk said, “I’m not commenting on that anymore, I can put you in touch with our communications department.”

Oil ports: As I wrote in the January issue, there’s alarm in B.C. about a potential home-made Exxon Valdez oil spill if Enbridge Inc. gets permission to build a pipeline to the coast to a proposed new oil port in Kitimat.

Now, a report entitled “What’s at Stake — The Cost of Oil on 32 PACIFICFISHING

JUNE 2010

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Alexandra Morton begins her “The Get Out Migration” walk of the length of Vancouver Island in another effort to illustrate the risks of floating net pen salmon farming. wild fish, Morton launched The Get Out Migration walk April 23.

In The Get Out Migration, Morton and supporters planned to walk nearly the length of Vancouver Island in an effort to make government place wild salmon before farm salmon. Morton had planned to arrive in Victoria on May 8 for a pro–wild salmon rally.

Also in salmon farm news, First Nations in the Broughton Archipelago, where Morton lives and works, launched a class action lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court April 12.

Eight First Nations, led by Chief Bob Chamberlin of the Kwicksutaineuk/Ah-Kwa-Mish First Nation and chairman of the Musgamagw-Tsawataineuk Tribal Council, attended a certification hearing against the British Columbia government with the aim of addressing negative impacts of salmon farming The certification hearing was to determine if the class action suit could proceed. If approved, First Nations that utilize the wild fishery in the area would have the opportunity to make a claim under the class action.

Pacific Fishing columnist Michel Drouin follows commercial fishing in the North Pacific from Vancouver.

MID-COAST REPORT Fairly good news with springers, pink shrimp, albacore

by Cassandra Marie Profita

Sweet spring on the Columbia: A lavish supply of Columbia pressing federal officials to fight the European River spring salmon was up for grabs in March and April — both in Union’s 18-20 percent tariff on their product. the river channel and in the off-channel terminal fishing areas.

The tariff was designed to protect the Norwe“It looks like the whole lower river is full of fish,” Astoria gian shrimp fishery, which lands the same kind gillnetter Jim Wells said in mid-April. “The last two days in Altoona of cold-water pink shrimp as Oregon boats, (Wash.) have been the hottest anybody’s ever seen.” pandalus jordani.

In one four-hour opener in April, gillnet boats landed 6,000 fish But West Coast processing giant Pacific Seafoods says that on the mainstem.

Norwegian fishery doesn’t meet market demand. The company’s “That’s excellent fishing,” Wells said. shrimp sales manager, Charlie Kirschbaum, says it’s time for the Salmon prices were equally satisfying for commercial gillnetters, tariff to end. He told members of the U.S. International Trade who started out earning up to $9.50 a pound for Chinook and settled Commission in March that eliminating the protective tax would for $6.25 to $7 a pound a month into the spring season. boost U.S. exports and create jobs in Oregon.

There was only one problem, but it’s a biggie: impacts to protected The Oregon pink shrimp industry pays the hefty fee to send wild upriver stocks. almost half of its finished product — 20,000 tons last year — to Both commercial and sport fisheries went over their limits on Europe, according to Pettinger of the Oregon Trawl Commission. incidental catch of threatened and endangered salmon.

The extra cost knocks down shrimp prices to boats by 6 or 7 cents So, the fishery was closed to wait for more fish to come in. a pound.

Fortunately, fishery managers had set a 40 percent buffer on the The competing Canadian fishery doesn’t have to pay the tariff, in estimated run size, giving them a thick cushion on impacts. In late part because it lands a slightly different product, pandalus borealis.

April, all eyes were watching the fish counts at Bonneville Dam to But Kirschbaum seems to think that with a little effort from Congress see if enough fish would come in to allow for more openers. and the federal government, the U.S. can be exempt too.

There was a good chance fishing would continue if the upriver “Our shrimp is very similar to Canadians, and they’ve got no run looked to be on track to hit 300,000 by the May 10 midpoint. tariff,” Pettinger said. “We’re such a small player, we’re not going to The run was forecast to be overwhelm those folks.”

477,000.

The gillnet fleet had Certified and ready to already doubled its 2009 fish: With freezers nearly catch in off-channel terminal empty and with high hopes fisheries by the time the seabecause of prevailing El son was called to a stop.

Nino conditions, the NorthMeanwhile, a ballot meawest albacore fleet was hopsure proposed to ban coming for a higher grounds mercial gillnets in Oregon price in May. was still without a pulse, all Ironically, though, the but assuring that the gillnettfishery’s new certification ers had survived another by the Marine Stewardship round against sport fishing Council may not give it a lobbyists in the Coastal Consales advantage over other servation Association. albacore fisheries.

The sustainability and Pink shrimp starts hot The mouth of the Columbia was particularly rich in salmon this spring. traceability certification in southern Oregon: Fuel covers the Canadian Highly prices were up by a lot more than pink shrimp prices as Oregon’s Migratory Species Foundation troll/jig fishery and the U.S.-based trawl fishery opened in April. Shrimp prices were up nearly 10 cents Western Fishboat Owners Association troll/jig and pole/line from last year, reaching around 40 cents a pound compared with last fisheries.

Together, the U.S. and Canadian fleets have a combined catch year’s 31 cents. But fuel had spiked by 80 cents a gallon since the of 15,000 to 20,000 metric tons, with the U.S. troll and pole fishery 2009 fishery.

Astoria shrimper Brian Peterson said he thought the shrimp price bringing in 11,580 tons in 2009.

Going into a May opener with promising El Nino ocean conditions should be more like 50 cents a pound, given the markets. In 2008, and not a lot of fish in the freezers, WFOA Director Wayne Heikpink shrimp boats were getting an average of 55 cents a pound.

“It’s artificially low,” Peterson said. “With fuel prices up again, kila said the outlook for albacore this year is good — even though it’s really hard to make a profit. We should be in much better shape the MSC label hasn’t started paying off yet with new marketing opportunities. than we are.”

In fact, he said, with so many other tuna fisheries already certified Brad Pettinger, administrator of the Oregon Trawl Commission, said the catch was “red-hot” off southern Oregon, bringing in 50,000 — in the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand — certification is getting to pounds a day in April. Fish plants should be ready to buy bigger be par for the course.

“If we didn’t have it, we’d really be in the back end of the car hauls, he said.

“The freezers were pretty bare when we started,” he said. “It’s here,” he said. “We’re glad it’s done, and we’re glad we have it. I know a lot of the processors are excited about it.” time to start buying.”

Pacific Fishing columnist Cassandra Marie Profita covers commercial fish Can we ditch that tariff yet? Pink shrimp processors are ing for The Daily Astorian.

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JUNE 2010

PACIFICFISHING 33

FISH FACTOR Good prices, Sitka helps fishermen, finding crew online

by Laine Welch

Nice prices: Fishermen were enjoying nice prices earlier Quantifying these removals strengthens fishery assessments and ensures that harvest this spring.

The big swings for halibut steadied from the inflated first of the limits accurately reflect fish abundance.

The market arm of the fishermen’s network season highs that topped $6 a pound to settle most recently into the $4 to $4.50 range at major ports. Most of the fish was landed at is called Alaskans Own Seafood, which claims to combine “the best in business with the best Seward and Homer, followed by Kodiak and Juneau.

Sablefish (black cod) was seeing strong landings with prices in conservation.”

“We are in the early stages of working out the details for ranging between $5 and $6 per pound, depending on fish size.

Seward, Kodiak, and Homer were the top ports for sablefish customers to pre-order locally caught fish. We want to work though our local processors so it strengthens the community as a whole, as landings.

Cod prices were creeping upward, going from 28 cents to 32 cents well as local fishermen,” Behnken said.

“In Southeast Alaska we are constantly working on improving a pound in Kodiak. The overall supply of codfish from Alaska is up 4.6 percent from last year, topping 500 million pounds. For Gulf of the quality of our fish, protecting the fisheries, and maintaining healthy fishing communities,” said Sitka fisherman Jeff Farvour.

Alaska fishermen, the cod quota is up 42.5 percent from 2009.

Behnken added that it is all part of a bigger movement by Winter trollers in Southeast Alaska were seeing strong catches for king salmon, with prices dropping to around $7.37 a pound, fishermen to show they are good caretakers of the resources they and their communities depend on for according to market watcher Ken Taltheir livelihoods. ley. Trollers will likely catch their limit “Our halibut and sablefish fleet is very of 45,000 winter kings. proud of the job they’ve done as stewards

of the resource,” she said. “We believe Sitka helps out: Sitka is doing somethey are best able to address any problems thing that a lot of fishing communities or challenges that come up, so managers spend a lot of time talking about — don’t have to close big areas to deal with investing directly in future generations bycatch or other issues.” of both fishermen and fish.

Learn more at www.alaskansown.com.

Through a newly formed Alaska Sus tainable Fisheries Trust, Sitkans are able Hiring hall for the fleet: A ready to invest in independent, communityworkforce is standing by for jobs on based fishermen who are committed to Alaska fishing boats and processing conservation and reward them through plants. Since 1998 the Alaska Fishing the marketplace. Funding comes Jobs Center (AFJC) has been connecting from the Oak Foundation, an interskippers and seafood companies with national philanthropic organization. crews eager to go to work.

“It has three components,” explained “What we ordinarily do if we need crew Linda Behnken, director of the Alaska is call a few buddies to see if they know of Longline Fishermen’s Association. “We anyone, or occasionally hire a green guy, want to help finance local fishermen to but generally speaking you’re operating be the next generation of halibut and from a really small pool of people,” said sablefish quota share holders, and proAFJC originator/operator Scott Coughlin, vide a favorable exit opportunity for Postcard: Ray Edens sends this reminder of winter a 24-year veteran of Alaska fisheries from people who have quota shares now. We fishing – the F/V Aleutian Lady, shown in Dutch Southeast to Nome.

Harbor in 2009. want the next generations to participate “I got to thinking, why shouldn’t every in taking care of the resource to make adventurous, motivated job seeker who dreams of coming to sure it is sustainably protected. And then we want to market that fish to places where people support that conservation ethic, and Alaska have the opportunity to directly connect with Alaska permit holders and have a shot at this.” believe in the communities and the people who catch the fish.”

Anyone with an Alaska fishing permit can register for free at the The Trust funds the longliner association’s Fishermen’s on-line job center.

Conservation Network, which aims to create cleaner, lower impact “If you hold a permit to fish in Alaska, that number is fisheries by combining science with fishermen’s knowledge of already in the system. All you need to do is enter the last five marine habitats.

Right now, for example, fishermen are working together to numbers of your permit card and the check digit, and you’re in,” generate three-dimensional bathymetric maps that identify Coughlin said. “You immediately have access to hundreds of crew “bycatch hotspots” for rockfish. That is being combined with job applicants.”

Go to www.fishingjobs.com. survey data and other habitat information from fishery managers.

“Then it is given back to the fishermen in a way that protects the confidentiality of their sets, but shows areas that are consistently high in rockfish bycatch,” Behnken explained.

The fishermen also are working with scientists to record acoustic data from whales that rob halibut and sablefish from their hooks.

34 PACIFICFISHING

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Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch has covered news of Alaska’s seafood industry for print and broadcast since 1988. Her weekly Fish Factor column appears in 20 Alaska newspapers; her daily Fish Radio program airs on 30 Alaska stations. Laine also has worked in seafood wholesale and retail businesses in New England and Alaska. She lives in Kodiak.

ALASKA NOTEBOOK Sound familiar? Don’t spend your ‘Carlson’ money just yet

by Wesley Loy

Carlson case grinds on: The Alaska Legislature in April at Quinhagak, or to tenders there. The fish appropriated nearly $75 million to repay nonresident commercial then will be hauled south to the Platinum plant, which has a daily freezing capacity of fishermen for overcharges on permit fees.

Thousands of fishermen could receive a piece of the money. But 150,000 pounds.

By consolidating into one plant, Coastal don’t start looking for a check just yet.

The potential refunds stem from the Carlson class-action lawsuit expects to employ 10 to 20 percent fewer processing hands this — litigation so lengthy and contorted it evokes the Dickens novel year compared to last, when nearly 300 were on the payroll. But the company feels the changes are prudent to maintain regional Bleak House.

Outside fishermen sued the state in 1984, upset that Alaska salmon and halibut operations supporting 1,500 fishermen, processors, and others, McCabe said. charged them triple what residents paid for fishing privileges.

Coastal is one of six Alaska companies holding catch rights to The epic case has made four trips to the Alaska Supreme Court.

The suit has succeeded in equalizing the annual “base fee” all Bering Sea groundfish and crab under the federal Community fishermen pay to obtain or renew a permit — though nonresidents Development Quota program. Coastal represents 20 villages in the Kuskokwim River region and uses its substantial pollock revenue continue to pay a “surcharge” of $140.

Anyway, government lawyers have battled with considerable to pay for such projects as the $35 million fish plant at Platinum. success through the years to whittle down the state’s liability under The plant opened in July 2009.

Carlson. Out of a class that once numbered 95,000 members, only No drilling, mixed feelings: Not everyone in Southwest Alaska 4,705 now stand to receive any money. These are limited entry permit holders; crew license holders no longer qualify for refunds. was pleased when the Obama administration nixed plans for oil and gas leasing in Under the latest Bristol Bay, at least ruling from state through mid-2017.

Superior Court The Bristol Bay Judge Peter Michalwithdrawal brought ski, the state owes relief for many in about $12.4 million Alaska’s fishing in refunds plus $62.4 industry who feared million in interest. drilling could jeopWhile the Legisardize the bay’s rich lature has approprisalmon, groundfish, ated these sums, and crab stocks. that doesn’t mean “Bristol Bay is the state is yet prea national treapared to pay out the sure that we must money. protect for future No, this 26-year generations,” Intecourt fight is not rior Secretary Ken over.

Salazar said.

O n M a rc h 2 4 , Postcard: Annina Giezendanner sends this photo taken in Cross Sound of the Fairweathers.

Others, however, the state attorney were displeased general appealed the Carlson case again to the Alaska Supreme Court, asking the that the government pulled the plug on a planned 2011 lease sale in justices to either toss the $62.4 million in interest or apply a lower what’s known as the North Aleutian Basin.

The local government neighboring the proposed lease area, the interest rate.

What does it all mean?

Aleutians East Borough, felt its commercial fishing community “We’re not about to cut checks,” said Bill McAllister, spokesman could live with a potentially lucrative natural gas development, as for the attorney general. energy giant Shell had envisioned.

“It’s unfortunate that Secretary Salazar chose to visit Dillingham Big changes out West: Coastal Villages Region Fund is last year. Dillingham is 200 miles away from the lease sale area,” revamping its processing operations for the upcoming salmon said borough Mayor Stanley Mack, a commercial fisherman from season. Instead of running two processing plants at Quinhagak Sand Point. and Platinum, the company will consolidate its fish processing in While many in Dillingham oppose leasing, Mack said residents the newer Platinum plant. Quinhagak, meantime, will serve as a closest to the sale zone are “almost all in favor of responsible gas buying and icing station. and oil development.”

“The fishermen won’t notice any difference,” said Trevor McCabe, operations director for Coastal. Fishermen will be able Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy has covered commercial to deliver their predominantly chum salmon catches dockside fishing in the North Pacific for more than a decade.

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PACIFICFISHING 35

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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.

P1784M – 37' ALUMINUM STERNPICKER, GMC 6V53 MAIN, BORG WARNER GEAR, FLUSH DECKED, HAYRACK OVER STERN, NEWER REEL W/AUTO LEVELWIND, POWER ROLLER, RADAR, SOUNDER, GPS, LAPTOP W/NAV, COMNAV PILOT. COMES WITH USED 5-1/8 NET, USED 5-3/4 NET AND NEW 5-1/8 NET. SE DRIFT PERMIT. COMPLETE PACKAGE, ASKING $170K.

P1785M – 1984 32' BECK GILLNETTER, TMD 70 VOLVO, NEW TWIND DISC 507 GEAR. RIGGED FOR LONGLINE AND POT FISHING. PACKS 8K SALMON, LONGLINE HAULER. ALUMINUM RIGGING, BOOM W/ HYD WINCH. ALUM/CANVAS BAIT SHACK. ROLLING CHOCKS. COMPLETE ELECTRONICS. WELL EQUIPPED BOAT, READY TO FISH IN SE. ASKING $80K.

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

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

Absolutely no cost for employers

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

We specialize in all positions including: • Deckhands & Processors • Mates & Captains • Engineers • Cooks • Etc.

Go to: AlaskaCrewFinder.com

58' Delta. F/V Cape Reliant is ready to fish your ifq’s in 2008. Safe and reliable. Flexible schedule/ terms. Call (907) 518-1652 or (907) 772-3737 or dispatch: 0703 or Sat. phone: (866) 621-8890.

Dock Street Brokers

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

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.

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.

SP2-005 32’ fiberglass gillnetter, built 1969 by Roberts, Cummins 6BT main, new hydraulics, helm pumps/hoses, fish holds, deck, and anchor winch, Asking $45,000.

HALIBUT IFQ 3A-C-B: 2,500 lbs.....asking $25.00 3B-B-B: 12,500 lbs.....asking $23.00 3B-C-B: 8,000 lbs.....asking $20.00 3B-C-B: 12,500 lbs.....asking $20.00 4A-B-U: 25,000 lbs.....asking $16.00 4A-B-B: 9,000 lbs.....asking $12.00 4A-C-U: 20,000 lbs.....asking $15.00 4B-B-B: 7,000 lbs.... asking $10.00 4B-B-B: 4,500 lbs.......asking $9.50 4C-C-U: 27,000 lbs.....asking $15.00 4C-C-B: 12,500 lbs.....asking $14.00 4D-B-B: 2,500 lbs.....asking $11.00

WANTED

CR8-025 110’x29’x9 Bering Sea crabber, built in 1972

by Martinolich. Cat 398 main rated at 850 hp. (2) Cat 150kw generators. Asking $650,000.

Selling your boat?

Low 5% Commission Call Today! (800) 683-0297

SABLEFISH IFQ AI-B-U: 20,000 lbs.....asking $3.00 Al-B-B: 7,000 lbs.....asking $2.50 CG-C-B: 3,300 lbs.....asking $18.00 WG-C-B: 2,700 lbs.......asking $8.50 WG-C-B: 2,500 lbs.......asking $7.50

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

TE9-002 99’x21’x8.4’ tender built in 1943. Cat 379 main. GM 671 50 kw generator. 50 ton RSW system. 185,000# capacity. Asking $220,000.

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. Asking $70,000.

TR10-006 38’x13.3’x7.4’ Fiberglass ice troller built by Thermodyne Marine in 1972. Detroit 4-71 rated at 115 hp. Rebuilt in 2006. New Twin Disc gear installed in 2007. Onan 9kw genset installed new in 2006.

Alaska Power Troll permit and Washington Troll permit available but not included. Asking 175,000.

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.

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

JUNE 2010

PACIFICFISHING 39

PACIFIC FISHING classifieds Boats/Permits/IFQs

Alaska Entry Permit Prices (as of 6-1-10) 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*

55+ 12028105 110+ 85+ 90+ 17 27 7560125032+ 8.531.510.5

53+ 119+ 25105+ 105+ 85+ 80 17 25 49 6012+ 4530+ N/A 3010.5+

52.8112.1+ 25.595.5 86+ 70.9+ 76.3+ 16.9 26.670.8 67.211.1+ 51.3 27.3+ 9.1 29.79.5-

16 5 600+ N/A 25 32 17 65 4

15 4 500 30 15 20 16 60 3

14.7 4290 10.3 9.3 21.3 18.466.63.6

1426 40+ 70 1529 70 1,500-2,750/FT 1,000-2,500/FT 400-1,500/FT+

14N/A 37+ 60 15 25 70+ 1,000-2,500/FT 800-2,250/FT300-1,000/FT

15.330.342.1 65 13.3 24+ N/A N/A N/A N/A

5 11+ 77-

N/A 9 75+

3.8 10.773.6

Prices in JUNE 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 continued to climb with recent sales hitting $105k. New listings were slowly coming out @ $110k and getting serious interest. SE permits were pretty quiet with offers in the low-mid $50s. PWS permits were getting scarce again, moving into the $120s. Cook Inlet permits available in the upper $20s. Area M permits were hard to find below $115k.

Seine: SE permits took another jump as buyback funding was shaping up. Permits were going in the mid $80s. Activity was still slow in PWS, with permits available in the upper $80s and offers @ $80k.

Kodiak permits were still quiet with permits in the upper $20s. Recent sales of Area M permits had them right around $60k.

Troll: Interest in Power Troll permits slowed with sellers asking in the low $30s. Hand troll permits edged up slightly to over $10k. Interest in Oregon permits was up recently with mid- to large size permits going for $5-7k.

Crab/Shrimp: Puget Sound crab permits were back on the move again, with recent sales pushing upwards of $70k. Interest in Lower 48 coastal permits remains slow. A little activity in SE crab and shrimp permits shows those down slightly.

40 PACIFICFISHING

JUNE 2010

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

BOX score

PACIFIC FISHING classifieds

Halibut & Sablefish IFQ Prices

Boats/Permits/IFQs

Recent market activity in halibut and sablefish quota shares

Species

Status Regulatory Vessel Poundage (blocked/ Area Category* (thousands) unblocked)

Ask

Offer

(per pound) Low High

(per pound) Low High

H

2C

D

1-10

B

21.00-25.00

20.00-24.00

H

2C

C/B

1-3

B

22.00-25.00

21.00-24.50

H

2C

C/B

4-10

B

24.00-26.00

24.00-25.00

H

2C

C/B

ANY

U

25.00-26.00

24.00-24.50

H

2C

A

B/U

N/A

25.00

H

3A

D

B/U

19.00-24.00

18.00-23.00

H

3A

C/B

1-5

B

20.00-24.00

19.00-22.00

H

3A

C/B

5-10

B

24.00-26.00

23.00-25.00

H

3A

C/B

>10

B

25.00-26.00

24.00-25.00

H

3A

C/B

>10

U

26.00-29.00

24.00-26.00

H

3A

A

B/U

28.00

26.00

H

3B

D

B

18.00-23.00

16.00-19.00

H

3B

C/B

1-10

B

17.00-20.00

17.00-18.50

H

3B

C/B

>10

B

20.00-23.00

17.00-19.00

H

3B

C/B

>10

U

20.00-23.00

18.00-19.00

H

3B

A

B/U

N/A

22.00

H

4A

D

B/U

10.00-14.00

9.00-10.00

H

4A

C/B

1-10

B

11.00-12.00

10.00-11.00

H

4A

C/B

>10

B

12.00-14.00

10.00-12.00

H

4A

C/B

>10

U

14.00-18.00

13.00-15.00

H

4B/C/D

C/B

1-10

B

9.50-13.00

7.00-8.50

H

4B/C/D

C/B

>10

B/U

11.00-15.00

9.00-11.00

S

SE

C/B

1-10

B

19.00-22.00

18.00-20.00

S

SE

C/B

>10

U

22.00-23.50

22.00-23.50

S

SE

A

B/U

24.00

23.00

S

WY

C/B

1-10

B

19.00-22.00

19.00-21.00

S

WY

C/B

>10

U

22.00-23.00

21.00-22.00

S

WY

A

B/U

23.00

23.00

S

CG

C/B

1-10

B

17.00-19.00

16.00-18.00

S

CG

C/B

>10

B/U

18.00-20.00

17.00-19.00

S

CG

A

B/U

20.00

20.00

S

WG

C/B

1-10

B

7.50-11.00

7.50-10.50

S

WG

C/B

>10

B

11.00-12.00

10.00-11.00

S

WG

C/B/A

>10

U

13.00-15.00

11.00-12.00

S

AI

C/B/A

B/U

1.25-5.00

1.00-2.50

S

BS

C/B

B/U

2.00-5.00

2.00-4.00

S

BS

A

B/U

7.00-9.00

5.00

*Vessel Categories:

®

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

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

Ex-vessel prices firmed up and the IFQ market got tighter than it already was. The only real deals left are from 4A and 4B and they are going away there. It’s going to be a very limited market for the foreseeable future.

For Blackcod, it’s hard to even put values on the shares anymore. There have been so few trades and so little available that it’s anybody’s guess what price the next sale will be at.

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

www.alaskaboat.com

IFQs

PERMITS

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

VESSELS

JUNE 2010

PACIFICFISHING 41

PACIFIC FISHING classifieds

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.

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.

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 FOR SALE GMC 653 engine block: rebuilt. Zero hours, $7000.00. Call: (206) 399-1699..

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.

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.

FISH WITH THE VIKING!

LETS FISH YOUR IFQ Halibut and Black Cod. F/V Sierra Mar 58' Delta, works all seasons and all areas and walkons, leases,crewing owners and all parteners are welcome to call. This boat, operation and crew are safe, clean and reliable. Marco Auto baiter, good grub, longtime crew and all area experience and best %’s with crew share, no #2’s and bycatch for Q owner make this boat a good call. Annual upgrades and maintainance done every off season.

Please call for more information, schedualing, references and possibilities fro 2010 and beyond. Kevin Seabeck (206) 399-9267 or kjs53@aol.com.

FOR SALE 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.

Call Pete (425) 205-0996

42 PACIFICFISHING

JUNE 2010

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

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

• Mustad Autobaiter • Great sea boat w/shelter deck • Outstanding crew • Can meet or beat any rates

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.

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.

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.

Maximize your IFQ return on the F/V Viking Spirit

F/V PROFIT - Bristol Bay Jet Boat: New. New construction, Banner Boatworks. Ready to fish 2010 season. Shallow draft, refrigerated jet boat. Quality construction. John Deere 375 hp. 15" Whitewater Jet. Open deck, spacious engine room, galley. Fishing machine.

Shallow, fast, economical. $330,000. Permit available with sale — at market. Dan (907) 399-1884; (907) 235-6612.

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.

Harvest your A, B, or C IFQ’s on the F/V Expatriate

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

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 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 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 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.

LONGLINE CLIPS Wanted to buy: Wagner 5" or similar longline clips. (509) 679-0384

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.

37' Fiberglass Troller/combo F/ TRADITION – 58' x 21' Tradition will fish F/V yo your halibut and blackcod IFQs, April through Se September. Outstanding experienced crew wi 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).

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

Economical Isuzu Diesel, electronics, exceptionally tidy, streamlined and turnkey.

Email for pictures. Located in Victoria BC – short walk from the Seattle/Port Angeles ferry. $69K/obo – cfvironmaiden@shaw.ca – (250) 642-3551.

F/V 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 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 OR TRADE IFQ-QS 18,000 lbs. Halibut Class C shares

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.

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

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.

REDUCED!!!

BB PERMIT, GEAR and BOAT, fiberglass. Built

by Kachemak Bay Marine, 300 Cummins with 800 hours. $229,000. Price reduced to $224,000 for whole package, or $124,000 for boat alone. Call (503) 267-9970.

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

FOR SALE

Sell or trade for: Black cod, western gulf and/or 4B Halibut No Brokers please.

Fax: (907) 235-5412 Cell: (907) 299-4026

NEW

WANT TO REACH FISHERMEN? CONTACT DIANE SANDVIK. She knows the fish business and she knows how to help your business.

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR FISHERMEN

To reserve space, contact Diane at (206) 962-9315 or dianes@pacificfishing.com

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

JUNE 2010

PACIFICFISHING 43

What's New...

SeaShare is working with the seafood industry to fight hunger in America. Food banks have seen a 30% increase in demand over the last two years, and protein is the hardest item to obtain. SeaShare works with fishermen, processors, and suppliers to generate truckloads of nutritious seafood; improving the quality of food bank offerings nationwide. A search of recent news items returned the following examples of the work SeaShare is doing in your seafood communities: Seattle, Washington – The Millionair Club Charity is a non-profit supported solely by private donations, serving Seattle’s working poor and homeless. Thanks go out to SeaShare for contributing more than $10,000 in seafood this season.

Kotzebue, Alaska – A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak HC-130 Hercules aircraft crew delivered 20,000 pounds of silver salmon fillets to Kotzebue Dec. 28, 2009. The fish fillets came from Sitka and were donated by SeaShare in Washington. The Coast Guard delivered the fish for a humanitarian effort which will feed 11 villages and more than 1,000 families in the area.

Boston, Massachusetts – SeaShare reports that 11,525 pounds of seafood were donated by exhibitors at the conclusion of the 2010 International Boston Seafood Show. The Greater Boston Food Bank wishes to thank everyone involved for providing much-needed protein for their clients.

Anchorage, Alaska – As part of its continuing effort to give back to America’s fishing communities, SeaShare sent a full container of canned red salmon to the Food Bank of Alaska last month. This donation represents at least 165,000 servings!

SeaShare believes everyone has something to give. Please contact SeaShare to find out how you can join the seafood industry’s efforts to fight hunger in your community. www.seashare.org

MAQ Sonar is proud to announce the release (June 28th 2010) of its new MAQ60 Omni directional sonar for the commercial fishing industry. This 60Khz full 360 Omni sonar was developed to be the best solution for all types of pelagic fishing.

Don’t be fooled by its small foot print. Although it fits into any standard 8” sea chest and can work with a standard 36” or optional 18” stroke hoist it will have a maximum detection distance of more than 5900ft (984fm) and high definition on weak targets.

As with all MAQ’s the MAQ60 has a 5 degree vertical beam for maximizing detection distance for shallow water fishing, also great performance for near surface and near bottom fishing. Because it works with our universal electronics you will get the entire high end features expected from a MAQ including: Auto Tracking, Dual Screen display, integration with GPS, Net Monitoring and other features too plenty to mention.

With more than 30 years of experience designing/ building only Omni Sonar, we have continued to listen to fishermen and develop the best sonar solution for the fisheries of the world.

From our factory and R&D center in Finch, Ontario, Canada we build test and assemble every sonar now being used from Alaska to Chile and from Russia to South Africa.

To find out more about the MAQ60 and to find a Dealer near you please visit our website at: www.MAQSONAR.com “What's New” is a service of Pacific Fishing's Advertising Department.

Contact Diane Sandvik at (206) 962-9315 for more information.

44 PACIFICFISHING

JUNE 2010

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

ON THE DOCKS

Stay St ay y ttogether oge og ether eth et Paul McCluskey, left, observer safety instructor with NOAA, teaches a group of NMFS observer trainees in Seattle to stay together while waiting for rescue. (You’re better seen that way.) Observers go through a three-week course, one week of which is devoted to water survival training. Training is also offered in Anchorage and Kodiak. There has been an annual average of 424 observers trained and employed in Puget Sound or Alaska in recent years. U.S. Coast Guard photo Petty Officer Colin White

Another oil port?

This poster was produced to help raise awareness about the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, which would connect oil sands deposits in Alberta, Canada, with the B.C. coast and turn Kitimat into another Valdez. You can download the poster by contacting CarlChaplin@shaw.ca for more information.

No drilling

California memorial The Fishermen’s Marketing Association of Bodega Bay proudly unveiled a new memorial to those lost at sea during a ceremony a few weeks ago at Spud Point Marina. The bronze statue was created by Alanna Roth of Sebastopol, Calif., who followed the Bodega fleet and determined the one thing every fisherman had in common was raising and lowering his poles when he left the harbor and again when he was coming home. Her sculpture depicts the fisherman doing just that. A crowd of about 100 people were on hand to watch Dave Yarger of the F/V Bataan unveil the memorial. – Lori French Honest fishmongers: The National Conference on Weights and Measures has announced the results of a voluntary multi-state investigation into honesty of weights in the seafood trade — specifically in frozen product.

The agency found “significant overcharges due to incorrect package weights on some frozen seafood products.”

But, of the 17 states that participated in the investigation, only Alaska was found to have zero violations.

Safety training: A Port Townsend outfit — John Sabella & Associates — is putting together a training video focusing on the horrific 2002 fire aboard the Alaska freezer-longliner Galaxy.

The training program features skipper Dave Shoemaker describing his decisions and how his crew fought for their lives.

You can get more information at www.johnsabella.com.

Sustainable fest: Seattle’s Greenfestival — June 5 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and June 6 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. — is featuring its own blue component. Former longtime Alaska fisherwoman Anne Mosness has organized a festival to celebrate wild and sustainable fisheries, continued on page 46

Here’s another view of the cont roversy over oi Columbia coas l on the British t. The Coastal W atch Society, a environmenta loose collectio lists, created th n of is image for yo resolution imag ur use. To get a e, go to www.p highacificfishing.co bottom of the m. There, on th page, you’ll see e “Resources.” Cl poster.” Feel fre ick, and find “B e to download .C. oil it from there.

Main Of¿ce: Astoria, OR Tel: 503-325-4341 Fax: 503-325-6421

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JUNE 2010

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PACIFICFISHING 45

ON THE DOCKS

continued from page 45

Need a deckhand?

Adele Fanning, age 11 months, gets a head start on her career in Juneau a few weeks ago. Her dad (Luke Fanning) has fished around Southeast for the past 10 years, so when he was studying up for the 2010 season, he assembled some back issues of Pacific Fishing â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and Adele took an immediate interest. Mom (Christine), Adele, and Luke (who in real life works for Wells Fargo) will be fishing their new gillnetter F/V Kelsie Dawn from Taku to Lynn Canal this summer.

New vessel built in Ketchikan

Hot work

uct ters in Kodiak cond Coast Guard firefigh ecialsp a o int d pe m pu was training after fuel ft burn, cra air r to simulate an ized pit full of wate to w ho on in tra efighters which helps the fir nt. The ide inc ft cra air an to respond effectively e 2009 department was th Kodiak-based fire ar and Ye e th of t en partm Coast Guard Fire De ard Gu t ghters. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; U.S. Coas ngen consists of 32 firefi He y arl Ch ficer 3rd Class photo by Petty Of

The 195-foot M/V Susitna, built at Alaska Ship & Drydock Inc. in Ketchikan, was floated for the first time in the Tongass Narrows in April. In 2005, the Office of Naval Research awarded Alaska Ship & Drydock a contract for the design and construction of the craft. The vessel is designed to operate with a deep draft in high seas, yet transition to shallow draft to act as a landing craft. The Matanuska/Susitna (Mat/Su) Borough will operate Susitna as a roll-on/roll-off passenger ferry and rescue boat as the Navy collects performance information.

continued from page 45

maritime businesses and unions, healthy oceans, and seafood.

This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Greenfestival will be held at the Washington Trade and Convention Center. Mosness has organized panels, films, and exhibits. She will speak about risks of marine feedlots, and Alexandra Morton will discuss the loss of wild salmon in British Columbia.

Mosness is co-producer of the educational Bluefestival, held last October in Seattle.

Restaurants looking up: Driven by a solid improvement in restaurant operatorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; outlook for sales growth, capital spending plans, and staffing levels, the National Restaurant Associationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Restaurant Performance Index rose to its highest level in 27 months in February.

John Enge: John Werner Enge, born Jan. 28, 1916, died May 7, 2010. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our father, grandfather, and great-grandfather died peacefully at home in Petersburg as the sun set over Petersburg Creek. His last words to Mom were, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The golden crowned sparrows are back.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x153;He was full of love for life and the natural world, especially the fish business, to his last breath. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll all miss him.â&#x20AC;?

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EVERY TIDE

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