ON DECK
Editor’s Log
Spring a trap Jessica Hathaway Editor in Chief jhathaway@divcom.com
ne year ago, when interviews via Zoom were new (and a little exciting, even), I sat down in my East Coast kitchen to talk with a fi shing family in the San Francisco Bay Area. Adam Sewall, 38, and Eleza Jaeger, 33, had spent the fi rst part of the year tracking production on their line of blackcod pots, while running their commercial and charter fi shing businesses, and managing schedules for their three young children. The fi shing family had an early warning of what was to come for 2020 when their Asia-based blackcod pot manufacturer shuttered in January as the virus caused shutdowns in nations on the other side of the Pacific. They watched the spread of covid-19 disrupt commerce and lives around
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the globe until it reached the shores of the U.S. West Coast. This time last year, Sewall and Jaeger’s most remarkable real-time innovation was shifting focus from their charter business, which would be shuttered by social distancing regulations, to selling their commercial catch through a local community supported fi shery and bringing their kids onboard to start what they call their School of Fish. But that didn’t stop the entrepreneurs from making headway with their other brainchild, now known as CodCoil or Slinky Pots. These collapsible, lightweight blackcod pots, developed with fellow fi sherman and biologist Alexander Stubbs, took off like a California wildfi re in the
On the cover Surfside Foods’ Executive VP Salvatore LaMonica with the fleet’s relaunched Christi Caroline, which went to Alabama’s Boconco yard for a total overhaul and later went to New Jersey for the addition of wing stabilizers.
Surfside Foods photo
West Coast and Alaska blackcod longline fi shery last year. And they show no signs of slowing. The product is being tweaked for use in other fi sheries and other types of gear. Read the full story from our Products Editor Brian Hagenbuch on page 24. In this next phase of the pandemic, the industry is looking back at a full year of changes in consumer appetites and taking advantage of increased demand for wild domestic seafood. Boats & Gear Editor Paul Molyneaux reviews changes in freezing, processing and delivery capacity for smaller operations on page 36, as well as boatbuilding trends on page 28. In my editor’s log last month, I made the regrettable error of transposing the names of the father and son who were lost with the F/V Scandies Rose in Alaska. They were Captain Gary Cobban Jr. and his son, David Cobban. Our online and digital publications have been corrected. My sincerest apologies to their loved ones who have been reliving the pain of the loss, following the Coast Guard hearings.
In partnership with Pacific Marine Expo The largest commercial marine trade show on the West Coast, serving commercial mariners from Alaska to California. www.pacificmarineexpo.com
PUBLISHER: Bob Callahan EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Jeremiah Karpowicz EDITOR IN CHIEF: Jessica Hathaway ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Kirk Moore BOATS & GEAR EDITOR: Paul Molyneaux PRODUCTS EDITOR: Brian Hagenbuch ART DIRECTOR: Doug Stewart NORTH PACIFIC BUREAU CHIEF: Charlie Ess FIELD EDITORS: Larry Chowning, Michael Crowley CORRESPONDENTS: Samuel Hill, John DeSantis, Maureen Donald, Dayna Harpster, Sierra Golden, John Lee, Caroline Losneck, Nick Rahaim ADVERTISING COORDINATOR: Wendy Jalbert / wjalbert@divcom.com / Tel. (207) 842-5616 NATIONAL SALES MANAGER: Susan Chesney / schesney@divcom.com / Tel. (206) 463-4819 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING: (800) 842-5603 classifieds@divcom.com SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION (800) 959-5073 or nationalfisherman@omeda.com Producer of Pacific Marine Expo and the International WorkBoat Show Theodore Wirth, President & CEO | Mary Larkin, President, Diversified Communications USA Diversified Communications | 121 Free St., Portland, ME 04112 (207) 842-5500 • Fax (207) 842-5503 • www.divcom.com
2 National Fisherman \ June 2021
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