National Fisherman December 2021 by National Fisherman

75 Years in the Making / F/V Indiana Refit / Expo Preview December / 2021

Incorporating

I N F O R M E D F I S H E R M E N • P R O F I TA B L E F I S H E R I E S • S U S TA I N A B L E F I S H

Julie Decker

Jerry Dzugan

Wrangell, Alaska

Sitka, Alaska

2021 Highliners Ben Platt

Anchorage, Alaska

Crescent City, Calif.

V. 1

20 ,

EG IS

TE R

TO DA Y!

Jennifer Lincoln

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In this issue

Doug Stewart

National Fisherman / December 2021 / Vol. 102, No. 08

PME Preview: Back to Seattle

Cover Story \ 2021 Highliners Meet the National Fisherman Highliners: Julie Decker, Jennifer Lincoln, Jerry Dzugan and Ben Platt.

Features / Boats & Gear

A Letter from NMFS

Elizabeth Becker

Another $2.2 million coming for bycatch reduction projects and research.

Boatbuilding

Around the Yards New boat design for Maine’s marine patrol; salvaging after Hurricane Ida; Bristol Bay buyers are back.

Product Roundup Propspeed foul-release coating; Inmarsat’s woven networks; a Vicky pocket knife.

Editor’s Log

Fishing Back When

Retrospective 1946

Mail Buoy

Around the Coasts & Markets Reports

Boat of the Month

Crew Shot

Snapshot

Last Set / Neets Bay, Alaska

Northern Lights Imagining Alaska seafood in 2050: AI, robotics and remote sensing.

Rebuilding Indiana: A classic wooden State Boat.

Captains share their favorite systems for building bottom views.

On Deck 09

What’s in your wheelhouse?

Gear Profile You have the power: Mitsubishi’s line of mechanically controlled engines gives fishermen more options in remote fishing grounds.

Reader Services 64

Classifieds

Advertiser Index

National Fisherman (ISSN 0027-9250), November 2021, Vol. 102, No. 08, is published monthly by Diversified Business Communications, 121 Free St., Portland, ME 04112-7438. Subscription prices: 1 year - U.S. $22.95; 2 years U.S. $43; 3 years U.S. $62. These rates apply for U.S. subscriptions only. Add $10 for Canada addresses. Outside U.S./Canada add $25 (airmail delivery). All orders must be in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank. All other countries, including Canada and Mexico, please add $10 postage per year. For subscription information only, call: 1 (800) 959-5073. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, Maine, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes only to Subscription Service Department, PO Box 176 Lincolnshire IL 60069. Canada Post International Publications Mail product (Canadian Distribution) Sales Agreement No. 40028984, National Fisherman. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Circulation Dept. or DPGM, 4960-2 Walker Rd., Windsor, ON N9A 6J3. READERS: All editorial correspondence should be mailed to: National Fisherman, Portland, ME 04112-7438.

Owen Smith

Pacific Marine Expo returns after a oneyear hiatus with everything you’d expect.

ON DECK

Editor’s Log

Systems overhaul Jessica Hathaway Editor in Chief jhathaway@divcom.com

don’t consider death important. Did you live?” Whenever I had a conversation with Clem Tillion, I took notes. He was a natural storyteller with the dual gifts of experience and expression. Even when we didn’t agree, I had a lot to learn from him. This month has been a lot of saying goodbye. We’ve recently lost two powerhouse Highliners — Clem and Mike McHenry. Ernie Koepf ’s homage to McHenry, who died in August, starts on page 8. Clem, 96, left this world and joined his beloved wife in the next shortly before we went to press. Then just four days later, news spread that Trident Seafoods founder Chuck Bundrant had died at age 79 at his home in Edmonds, Wash.

“

It adds to the bittersweet that this will be our last monthly issue. NF will still be printed as a quarterly edition. We understand that many of our readers like to have that hard copy for the wheelhouse. We are trying to strike a balance between tradition and shifting market demands. To that end, our lineup now includes an app that is available for Android and Apple (visit your app store and search for National Fisherman, or scan the QR code above with the camera on your phone). What that means is that you can download NF to read even when you’re offshore and out of cell range. We are focused on meeting our readers where they are by creating a platform that is independent of the whims of social media giants. In fact, we are launching the app on

On the cover Our 2021 Highliners hail from the West Coast and Alaska: Julie Decker of Wrangell, Alaska; Jerry Dzugan of Sitka, Alaska; Jennifer Lincoln of Anchorage, Alaska; and Ben Platt of Crescent City, Calif. Congratulations!

the heels of a major social media blackout that still has no explanation. What an app provides is consistent access to NF, like before, only paperless. In the meantime, our staff is feeding our stories to more platforms every year — most of them digital. We will still be present at NationalFisherman.com on any browser, through our email newsletter, and via Facebook and Instagram, as well. NF began as a monthly publication 75 years ago as Maine Coast Fisherman. (Check out our first-issue retrospective on page 6.) When I started at NF in 2006, we published the monthly magazine and had a website that was updated occasionally. Times sure have changed. I don’t need to get too deep into the weeds of the publishing industry. But paper is suffering from its own supply chain problems that show no signs of going away. What we’re not changing is our approach to storytelling, news coverage, new products, boats and gear, and talking to the people who make this industry great. It will all still be here — and there and everywhere! We’ll see you on the other side.

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 GROUP SALES DIRECTOR: Christine Salmon / csalmon@divcom.com / Tel. (207) 842-5530 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING: (800) 842-5603 classifieds@divcom.com SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION 847-504-8874 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 \ December 2021

© 2021 Diversified Business Communications If you prefer not to receive such mailings, please send a copy of your mailing label to: National Fisherman PO Box 176, Lincolnshire IL 60069. PRINTED IN U.S.A.

www.nationalfisherman.com

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Fishing Back When December By Jessica Hathaway

2011— Mustang saves Ford: Bristol Bay setnet skipper Shannon Ford was bringing in her skiff with crewmen Don Ward and Tyler Schuldt in heavy weather when the skiff got hung up on another net, flooded and dumped the crew. Fortunately, they were all wearing Mustang PFDs.

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Delta Marine in Seattle launches the 42-foot fiberglass purse seiner Alpha Centauri, powered by a Detroit Diesel.

On the cover: Diving for urchins in Maine’s winter fishery. Skipper Bimbo Carter loads a skiff with the catch from diver Ray Stevens before transferring the haul from the skiff to the lobster boat Miss Nancy out of Rockport, Maine.

A hovercraft, also called an air cushion vehicle, is scheduled to run six months of trials in Chesapeake Bay for the Coast Guard Rescue Station on Milford Haven between the Rappahannock and York rivers. The crew of the Massachusetts-based Point Allerton Life Saving Station gathers with family of Joshua James, a celebrated lifesaver, to form his funeral cortege in 1902, complete with a horsedrawn lifeboat. 4 National Fisherman \ December 2021

Three major water-control structures form the backbone of Louisiana’s diversion plan to restore the proper salinities to valuable marshlands. The Bonnet Carre, Caernarvon and Davis Pond spillways will affect nearly 1.5 million acres. Kodiak fishing group launches 150-foot longliner Alaskan Leader out of Alabama.

2 0 1 1 NF announces our 2011 Highliners from the West Coast and Alaska: Bill Webber Jr., an inventive and innovative salmon gillnetter from Cordova, Alaska; Dan Falvey, Sitka, Alaska-based salmon troller and blackcod longliner; and Larry Collins, a veteran San Francisco fisherman who launched the San Francisco Community Fishing Association on Fishermen’s Wharf. The wooden halibut schooner Tordenskjold celebrates 100 years of fishing, having been built and launched by John Strand in Ballard, Wash., in 1911.

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Digging fisheries for 75 years Maine Coast to National: Opening and closing a chapter on a monthly print magazine ometimes you can find what you might call a Professional worm digger.” Those were the words of a profile by C.L. Dinsmore on the timeworn Maine vocation of worm digging in the flats of tidal rivers along the state’s rocky coast, in the first issue of Maine Coast Fisherman, July 1946, 75 years ago. The monthly paper would take the title of National Fisherman in 1960 with the acquisition of Atlantic Fisherman (which started in Boston and moved to New Hampshire); but the national scope truly took hold in 1966 with the procurement of the publication Pacific Fisherman. So in a sense, we could celebrate at least three anniversaries. This year, we’re 75, 61 and 55, depending on which version of NF feels most true to you. (To be fair, Maine Coast Fisherman started as a newspaper column circa 1921, so in a way, we’re 100 this year, too!). We have always liked to think of ourselves as having something for everyone. Worm-digging, clamming, scalloping, lobstering and dragging were the hot topics that filled the 30 pages of that premiere issue of the monthly that would become the paper of record for the U.S. commercial fishing industry for more than 50 years. The top story: “Russia Buys Iceland’s Fish” was the result of a phone call to the iconic then-Rep. Margaret Chase Smith (R-Maine), who confirmed the sale of 30 million pounds — more than a third of Iceland’s 80 million-pound annual production of fish — to Russia for delivery by Dec. 1. A headshot of then-Maine Gov. Horace Hildreth graced the cover, along with a letter the state’s top executive wrote to the paper: “It is my belief,” wrote the

“

6 National Fisherman \ December 2021

governor, “that the Maine Coast Fisherman can perform a great service for those who obtain a living garnering the products of the sea and shore. “Since the beginning, our commercial fishing industry has been an important cog in the state’s economy,” the governor went on. “The Maine Coast Fisherman can play an important role in this future development by keeping our citizens along the coast fully advised of the latest trends in the industry.” Hildreth founded the company that would become Diversified Communications, which owns the magazine today. “There is nothing independent or impartial about this paper,” declared the first editorial under a masthead that announced C. Owen Smith as the editor. It was titled “Our Axe.” “The fishing industry in all its ramifications, the production of byproducts and boatbuilding are industries which are natural to the coast and belong here. We want to see these natural industries prosper and will do all we can to publicize and promote them. “In spite of the fact that today there is an unprecedented demand for the products of the sea, the fishing industry as a whole is faced with difficult long-range problems which can only be met by concerted action.Through these pages, those who are interested can keep abreast of current trade news along the coast.” I’m proud to say these are the same principles that have guided me in my tenure at the helm of this publication, decades later.

Though I sincerely doubt the men who started this magazine could have imagined its next phase would be through an application that lives in the palm of your hand and keeps the world at your fingertips with daily news updates from remote reaches of the industry. (In the meantime, those who remain dedicated to print will still get our quarterly print publication — available as always for keeping you company in the wheelhouse or the head.) Those pioneers likely couldn’t envision a woman leading this publication, nor many women at the helms of their own boats, in engine rooms, and hauling gear on deck. The world around us changes. And if we can keep finding ourselves in it, we’ll have persevered to see another day. I strive not just to keep my own footing but to help our coastal communities thrive and our fisheries flourish. But most essential are the people at the heart of it all. “The conscientious editor,” Hildreth wrote, “can win no greater reward than that of helping his readers gain added prosperity and happiness.” Here’s to you, for making us what we are, will be, and ever have been. Jessica Hathaway is the editor of National Fisherman. www.nationalfisherman.com

ON DECK

Mail Buoy

In memory of a Highliner s the story was told, Victor McHenry, an airline pilot at Pan Am Airways, had a boat that had sunk on its mooring in California’s Pillar Point Harbor. He told his son Mike one day: “You can have that boat if you want to refloat it.” That was enough for Mike to hear. He began his fishing career at the age of 15, fishing in the summers until he graduated from Half Moon Bay High School in 1961. After that, he went full-time on the water. Prior to all this, he was a daily fixture on Romeo’s pier with a fishing pole. “Mike was a great kid, always fishing from the pier and helping us unload or whatever. Then later, he had the little GG. He’d go down to Three Rocks every day and come in with that boat loaded with ling cod,” said John Koepf, several years senior and a retired abalone diver. In 1965, Mike bought the F/V Pescadero and continued his career, now as a salmon fisherman. When his abilities outgrew that boat, he built the Merva W and launched her in 1971, the legendary “blue boat.” She was a steel 63-foot salmon, crab and albacore fishing boat. He made a name for himself throughout coastal California and Oregon as a fun-loving Irishman and a salmon fisherman extraordinaire. Fishermen were drawn to him as a natural leader, and he developed a following nicknamed the Z Squad. In the early ’80s he pioneered the squid fishery in Half Moon Bay, and he was the first fisherman to send

What’s on your mind? Send letters to jhathaway@ divcom.com. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity and style.

8 National Fisherman \ December 2021

truckloads of squid to market from the bay. The iconic blue boat was by then synonymous with the harbor at Pillar Point, and even those who never met Mike felt his presence in the community. Mike was called upon to refloat a boat once again in 1985 when he sunk the Merva W with too many squid. “Squid ink you. Then sometimes, squid sink you,” said Mike at the time. However, this was not to be the end of the boat that Mike had built and named after his mother. He refloated her and towed her back to the harbor, where he began to tirelessly rebuild the Merva W over the next nine months. Then, the iconic blue boat was born again and continued to deliver millions of pounds of seafood until Mike decided to retire in 2015. Mike was ready to hand off the boat to his son Porter, but not before sponsoning the boat with air chambers. He was not about to chance another sinking of the blue boat at the hand of his son. The Merva W left the shipyard in Richmond, born yet again by Mike’s hands, and better than ever. He retired with his wife and partner, Kim, to their Old Crow Farms in Maxwell, Calif. This August, Mike D. McHenry lost a long battle with prostate cancer. Throughout Mike’s long career, he recognized that it was not enough to just catch fish, it was necessary to lobby for fishermen and to steward the resource. He spoke in front of the California Fish and Game Commission on numerous occasions, and you could hardly find one game warden or official who did not know his name. For his activism and dedication to a lifetime of fishery issues, he was named a National Fisherman Highliner in 1995 and the Highliner of the Year in 2012 by the Pacific States Marine Commission. But perhaps his greatest achievement was his contribution to the salmon resource. Mike brought the idea of

creating the Salmon Stamp to the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations at their directors meeting in Sausalito in 1979. Charlie Fullerton, director of the California Department of Fish and Game, was present at that meeting, and he liked the idea of commercial fishermen taxing themselves to help propagate the resource. Soon thereafter, the salmon stamp was born into existence along with a stamp committee to oversee its one objective: to raise more salmon. Raising salmon to smolt-size and trucking them past the Delta was wildly successful. Four years after its inception, California had the record year for landings in 1988, and fishermen enjoyed 25 years of salmon abundance thereafter. The 300 percent increase of the ocean abundance of salmon was all the result of raising and trucking smolt size salmon. When the trucking of smolts bogged down in bureaucratic and ideological missteps decades later, Mike stepped in and took the Merva W up the Sacramento River and loaded it with salmon smolts for the next consecutive six years. He barged them down to the Golden Gate in the Merva W and released them. He personally showed the Department of Fish and Wildlife how to save the salmon from extinction. This year, 1.3 million salmon smolts were released by Fish and Wildlife at the Golden Gate — the total number of all hatchery production in California went to sea from trucks at this location. Mike requested that no Celebration of Life nor any other type of public memorial be held in his honor, and his partner and wife, Kim, will honor that request. He only wished that people might privately raise a glass and toast him when he was gone. An era has passed. Mike, know we toast you and the memories you gave us. Ernie Koepf F/V Ursula B Half Moon Bay, Calif. www.nationalfisherman.com

A Letter from NMFS

Reducing bycatch for the better

WE’RE HERE FOR YOU

By Janet Coit

ishermen sometimes catch and discard animals they do not want, cannot sell, or are not allowed to keep, creating what we know as bycatch. Left unaddressed, bycatch affects threatened and endangered species and protected marine mammals and can close directed fisheries, significantly impacting U.S. economic growth. Reducing bycatch delivers many benefits to our marine resources and can actually increase fishing opportunities and efficiency, as well as catch rates for target species. Bycatch reduction is a key component in managing and maintaining sustainable fisheries and supporting America’s coastal communities. In fact, it’s one of the 10 National Standards under which U.S. fisheries are managed. In the last decade, NOAA Fisheries committed over $20 million to fund more than 100 projects through the Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program. This year, we announced $2.2 million for 12 bycatch reduction projects. NOAA works collaboratively with partners to find creative approaches and strategies to reduce bycatch, seabird interactions, and post-release mortality in federally managed fisheries. We work side by side with fishermen on their boats to develop and test fishing gear and other technologies to confront some of the top bycatch challenges facing our nation’s fisheries and their habitat. We will continue to study and address bycatch to maintain sustainable fisheries, recover protected species, and support the Blue Economy.

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Janet Coit is the assistant administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service. She oversees the federal agency responsible for recreational and commercial fisheries.

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

December 2021 \ National Fisherman 9

ON DECK

Northern Lights VIEWS FROM ALASKA

Alaska Seafood 2050 By Garret Evridge

hat will the Alaska seafood industry look like in 30 years? Given the pace of innovation, it’s not hard to envision an industry transformed by artificial intelligence, cloud computing, robotics, remote sensing, and electric motors and batteries. This transformation is already occurring across manufacturing, agriculture, and transportation sectors, among others. Consider the possibilities for the fishing and seafood industries. Fishing vessels could operate on electric or hydrogen power, serving as

hubs for connected devices, including sensors and unmanned vehicles. Fishing gear could be “smart,” able to distinguish between targeted and nontargeted species. Advanced tools

informed by machine learning could suggest the optimal place to set pots or longlines based on historical data and current conditions. Seafood could be sorted automatically on deck with no human intervention; pots could passively discard undersized crab on the seafloor. Plant managers could have their operations at their fi ngertips, with real-time data about production, packaging, and shipping only a click away. Deliveries could be seamlessly coordinated with processing and shipping capacity. Advanced analytics, machine vision, and other forms of automation could increase product yield, enable predictive maintenance, and free staff from repetitive and injury-prone tasks. Regulators, too, could use smart sensors and real-time data to shift from periodic stock assessments to a dynamic

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management system. With onboard cameras, automatic scanning, and satellite imagery, fishery managers could simplify and reduce the cost of reporting while increasing surveillance of illegal, unreported, and unregulated activities. Unmanned drones could remain at-sea year-round, actively monitoring the location and health of fish stocks. Achieving what is possible in 2050 is not a minor task. But the main challenges are not technical — many of these things are feasible today or will be soon. Instead, the roadblocks include fi nding people in the industry willing to experiment with early-stage technology, myopic fish politics, access to fi nancing, and a regulatory environment that can limit innovation. Alaska is already moving in the right direction. Processors have invested millions of dollars into advanced fi lleting, handling, and freezing technologies, while the trawl fleet has used underwater cameras, excluders, and information sharing to reduce bycatch. Last year, NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center piloted the fi rst stock survey using autonomous vehicles provided by Saildrone, a landmark achievement that enabled managers to complete the stock assessments during unprecedented challenges due to the covid-19 pandemic. But more can be done, particularly when it comes to helping early-stage companies critical to developing and scaling new technologies. That’s why the Alaska Ocean Cluster is supporting founders working on the next wave of transformative ocean products and services. Take, for example, Blue Ocean Gear’s (blueoceangear. com) Farallon smart buoy. The seven-inch buoy transmits location, temperature, and other parameters to a vessel or owner onshore. This past year saw its fi rst deployment in the Bering Sea crab fishery. The successful pilot project reduced time spent looking for gear, saved thousands of dollars in potential lost gear, and withstood one of the most difficult

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December 2021 \ National Fisherman 11

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The receiving end of Blue Ocean Gear’s Farallon smart buoy’s transmissions can save thousands in lost gear.

environments on earth. Or SafetyNet Technologies (sntech.co.uk) which offers a portfolio of products designed for modern fisheries. Their

Pisces light takes advantage of how fish and crab react to light underwater, attracting target species while repelling others. Early deployments in Europe have supported bycatch

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reductions up to 90 percent in some cases. Others are working to make wild fisheries more cost competitive. PolArctic (polarcticllc.com), a pioneering data sciences and oceanographic company offers advanced remote sensing and machine learning capabilities to forecast ice conditions in the Bering Sea, conduct advanced seafood data analytics, and map coastal conditions. The fi rm is the fi rst in the world to integrate local indigenous knowledge into an applied artificial intelligence model.

“Given the pace of innovation, it’s not hard to envision an industry transformed by artificial intelligence, cloud computing, robotics, remote sensing, and electric motors and batteries.” Support services are vital to the industry, with improvements in transportation rates, reliability, and technology a key component of a modern sector. OpenTug’s (opentug.com) online marine shipment platform allows shippers and customers to coordinate efficiently, offering rate reductions of 20 percent or more. Savings of this magnitude across the industry would save hundreds of millions of dollars annually. These are just a few of the startups the Alaska Ocean Cluster supports. Working with entrepreneurs is the primary reason we remain optimistic about the future, even with the myriad challenges faced by our fisheries. We are excited to help startups, industry, and other stakeholders realize the full potential of the Alaska seafood industry.

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Garrett Evridge is from Kodiak. He’s fished commercially across the state, conducted analysis as a seafood economist, and now manages the Alaska Ocean Cluster (alaskaoceancluster.com).

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December 2021 \ National Fisherman 13

AROUND THE COASTS

Northeast Maine Lobstermen’s Association sues over whales

NF Crew Shots

Lawsuit contends NMFS rules are targeting U.S. fleet to make up for Canada losses

Xander Amuso, 12, apprentice to Rick Alley, watches as Alley checks the bait trap off Little Cranberry Island, Maine, before the pair heads out to haul lobster traps.

he Maine Lobstermen’s Association fi led a Sept. 21 lawsuit challenging NMFS’ new rule for Northeast lobster and Jonah crab fi sheries. Then in an Oct. 16 order, U.S. District Court Judge Lance Walker granted the Maine Lobstermen’s Union application for emergency

relief from an impending closure under the rule to stop fi shing in area LMA1, from off shore Casco Bay to Mount Desert Island, until January 2022. The rule, fi led on Aug. 31, is a modification of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan and is supposed to reduce the risk of

MARKET REPORT: Northeast Surf Clams Recovering from pandemic, but smaller clams as water warms

s its longtime foodservice customer

David Wallace of Wallace & Associates, a

base slowly returns in the aftermath

longtime clam industry consultant.

entanglements to North Atlantic right whales in U.S. waters. The association says the modifications address only the perceived risk of Maine fi sheries, which have no documented right whale interactions. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association lawsuit, fi led against NMFS and the Secretary of Commerce in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, argues that “the federal government’s draconian and fundamentally fl awed 10-year whale protection plan… will all but eliminate the Maine lobster fi shery yet still fail to save endangered right whales.” The result would put both fi shermen and whales in harm’s way, industry leaders have said. The push for a new rule followed a particularly deadly season for right whales, after their territory extended into Canada’s Gulf of Saint Lawrence in 2017. The Canadian shipping industry and lobster and crab trap fi shing fleets had not yet undergone the same scrutiny or modifications of the U.S. northeast fleets because the likelihood of whale interaction was not considered to be a threat. Maine lobstermen, on the other hand, had begun making voluntary gear modifications in 2009.

seven major processors in 2020 was around $23 million, down from $28 million reported in 2019, according to the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. Smaller frozen packs of clam strips

of covid-19 shutdowns, the North-

With no sources for the ubiquitous East

sold very well for years in retail frozen mar-

east surf clam industry is pushing more into

Coast fried clam dinner, those faithful cus-

kets, although imitators jumped in and “put

retail sales of ready-to-cook home products.

tomers were lost for more than a year. The

400 pounds of breading on it and ruined the

The marketing moves recall bygone days

industry is looking to help consumers bring

market,” Wallace recalled. So the thinking is

it home.

high-quality convenience product could re-

when Howard Johnson’s chain restaurants

capture that segment.

popularized the clam strip dinner, and the in-

“We’ve been focusing on how do we get

dustry spun off lines of frozen food. But it’s

significant foothold in the retail trade,” said

Out on the ocean, sea clammers are

a much tougher supermarket business these

Wallace. “Everyone’s working on new prod-

dealing with changes in the climate. Warming

days.

ucts, and getting our products on supermar-

waters in the southern reaches of the clam

ket shelves is very demanding.”

range are reducing plankton, that clams feed

“The real problem is about 100,000 restaurants went out of business in 2020, and

With demand pushed down, total ex-

the rest were closed most of the time,” said

vessel value of surf clams purchased by the

14 National Fisherman \ December 2021

on, so they are not growing as large. — Kirk Moore

www.nationalfisherman.com

AROUND THE COASTS

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

Boat of the Month Cape Fear

Seattle / Halibut, blackcod

ith big dreams, a degree in anthropology and a penchant for adventure, Phyllis Shirron

arrived in Alaska with a backpack 18 years ago. Her travels soon took her to the mouth of the Yukon River where she worked as a fisheries assistant, made a Phyllis Shirron

Northeast U.S. fleets began to worry they would be targeted to make up for Canadian losses since it can be difficult to track gear entanglements without international standards on gear modifications or a better understanding of damages caused by ship strikes, which largely go unseen. “NMFS is targeting Maine lobstermen because it is easy. We’re a bunch of small, owner-operated businesses. Taking on Canada and the shipping industry is hard,” said Kristan Porter, president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association and a lobsterman based in Cutler, Maine. “Maine lobstermen understand the need to protect right whales, but if NMFS really wants to save right whales, they should be going after the things we know are actually killing them rather than dismantling our fi shery piece by piece.” As Gulf of Maine waters warmed, the whales’ migration pattern changed, sending them farther north in search of food and into occupied fi shing grounds. In 2017, there were a total of 17 confi rmed dead stranded right whales, and 12 of those were in Canadian waters, according to NMFS. Ten of 12 domestic incidents since 2017 — 83 percent — have been attributed to ship strikes. None can be linked to the Maine lobster industry. Following that deadly 2017 season, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence snow crab fleet lost its MSC certification — issued in 2013 — and has yet to regain the ecolabel’s approval. The losses sparked a lawsuit — Center for Biological Diversity v. Wilbur Ross (then-Commerce Secretary). U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg ruled that NMFS’ management of the American lobster fi shery was in violation of the Endangered Species Act and gave the federal agency nine months to address its shortcomings and reduce the risks of whale interactions. “NMFS got it wrong. The

lot of friends and connections to people who would lead her on a long — and fun — journey that ultimately ended with her working the decks of a seiner. “From that moment, I knew that I was

“I test drove it and four others,” says

going to be a fisherman,” she says of her

Shirron, who has since taken up residency

first day on a boat.

on the boat in the Cordova harbor for most

Her experiences on fishing boats since

of the year. The deciding factors, she says,

2005 all culminated in the purchase of

were its stability, its amenities for comfort

a Prince William Sound drift permit and

in the cabin and safe fishing out on deck —

a bowpicker, the Cape Fear, last year.

and a fresh new pair of Cummins diesels

Shirron says the Cape Fear has won

in the bilge.

notoriety around the state for its stability

“I knew I wanted diesels and jets,” she

as a fishing and a research vessel, and

says of her shopping criteria. “Then, I

she was betting that it would suit her well

found out that the engines had only 2,000

during her rookie year in the sound and

hours on them.”

beyond.

— Charlie Ess

Boat Specifications HOME PORT: Cordova OWNER: Phyllis Shirron BUILDER: All American Marine, Bellingham, Wash. YEAR BUILT: 1998 FISHERIES: Salmon gillnetting, pot shrimp HULL CONSTRUCTION: Aluminum LENGTH: 32 feet BEAM: 12 feet 6 inches DRAFT: 16 inches CREW CAPACITY: 2 TONNAGE: 20 tons gross/15 tons net FISH HOLD CAPACITY: 15,000 pounds MAIN PROPULSION: Twin Cummins QFB 5.9 liter at 355 horsepower each GEARBOX: Velvet Drives 1:1 PROPELLER: Hamilton Jets 273 THRUST: 11.5 kW NOZZLE DIAMETER: 10.5 inches FUEL CONSUMPTION: 26 gallons per hour when she’s running for a set FUEL CAPACITY: 300 gallons FRESHWATER CAPACITY: 130 gallons ELECTRONICS: Raymarine radar, depth sounder, plotter, 3-D bathymetric; Garmin plotter 3210; Standard Eclipse and Standard Explorer VHF radios, Uniden CB radio; Sitex CVS 210 depth sounder

science does not support the agency’s plan. Using worst case scenarios that hold Maine lobstermen accountable for right whale deaths occurring in Canada won’t help protect right whales, but it will decimate Maine’s lobster industry,” said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association.

Meanwhile, the Marine Stewardship Council reinstated its certification for the Gulf of Maine lobster fi shery based on NMFS’ action. The certification had been suspended following Boasberg’s ruling. — Jessica Hathaway Section continued on page 23 December 2021 \ National Fisherman 15

AROUND THE COASTS

Alaska Trawl brawl as fishermen tussle on kings and crabs

ADF&G

Contention grows over federal waters fisheries affecting coastal non-trawl fishing

Alaska king salmon landings, 1975-2020, by number of fish.

nimosity toward Alaska’s trawl fleet reached a fever pitch over the summer. In most parts of the state, where salmon fishing would have kept stakeholders busy, lackluster returns and some closures instead gave thousands of fishermen more time to mull over answers to where the fish may have gone. Although Alaska’s overall salmon

returns have been strong this year, the results are stratified. King salmon returns, specifically, have been in a long and steady decline. Statewide, king landings — by number of fish — have declined by more than 70 percent in the last 40 years, from a high of 875,630 fish in 1982 to 265,081 in 2020. The harvest so far for 2021 is about 212,000 fish. When accounting for landings by

weight, the reduction is almost 85 percent over the same period, from 16.9 million pounds in 1982 to 2.9 million in 2020, according to the Alaska Department of Fish & Game. As council meetings went virtual during the pandemic-induced shutdowns, participation and feedback from local stakeholders increased significantly. Heading into the October meeting (which opened with a one-day session Oct. 6 and continued Oct. 10-15), two letters from Bering Sea crab as well as coastal salmon and halibut stakeholders urged Alaska’s governor and the council to improve management of bycatch for the sake of non-trawl fisheries. “Trawlers are allowed to fish as though all of the populations of fish they discard as bycatch are in good health, while the rest of Alaska’s user groups are making the sacrifice of significantly reduced access or complete closures in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of those same stocks. It’s a bad deal for Alaskans,” said Sommers Cole, a gillnetter in Southeast Alaska and manager of the Alaska Salmon Habitat Information Program. The disparities create a quandary for fishery managers. Bycatch among the trawl fleet is determined by the federal North Pacific Fishery Management

MARKET REPORT: Alaska Salmon

species) increased by 35 percent over 2019

Harvest, sales and prices rose despite covid-19 challenges

cent. This season, base prices in the bay

while sales of fresh seafood grew by 24 per-

laska’s preliminary salmon harvest

more than double its 2020 harvest of 2.85

started out at $1.25 per pound as the fish

numbers are in, and the fleet put in

million.

went to markets that had been long-depleted.

a decent season with a five-spe-

Prince William Sound seiners, mean-

Alaska’s pink salmon prices rose by a

cies total of 222 million fish. That’s up sharp-

while, put in 64.86 million pinks, besting its

nickel per pound from 2020 to ’21 and av-

ly from last year’s 113.56 million fish, and the

2019 harvest of 46.58 million. (The pinks

eraged 35 cents per pound. Chum salmon

uptick this year was led mainly by surges in

return on a two-year cycle.) In Southeast

prices averaged between 50 cents per

the sockeye, pink and chum harvests.

Alaska, seiners caught 45.37 million fish for

pound and 85 cents per pound depending

a vast improvement over the 21.11 million fish

on harvest areas, beating out the 2020 av-

they caught in 2019.

erage price of 43 cents. Coho prices more

Bristol Bay’s harvest of 40.35 million sockeyes came in just above the 2020 harvest of 39.79 million. Other areas contribut-

Southeast and Prince William Sound

than doubled at $2.50 per pound over last

ing to a grand total of 54.18 million sockeyes

also proved to be the dominant chum har-

year’s $1.17 per pound. Troll-caught king

(116 percent of the preseason forecast) in-

vest areas with respective totals of 6.31 mil-

salmon hit $6.73 per pound, besting the av-

cluded the Alaska Peninsula posted a sock-

lion fish and 2.57 million fish.

erage $5.07 of last year.

eye harvest of 6.77 million fish, which was

16 National Fisherman \ December 2021

In 2020 frozen seafood sales (all Alaska

— Charlie Ess

www.nationalfisherman.com

SUZIE MARINE GENSETS Council under NMFS. However, management of salmon fisheries and escapement falls to the state.The divide deepens along ownership lines, as well. Many coastal Alaska fishermen see the trawl fleet as representatives of corporate Seattle ownership of state resources in federal waters, especially the pollock fleet. “It’s time to manage these ecosystems for more than just a single species — pollock — which has been the status quo,” said Alexus Kwachka, who fishes out of Kodiak and Bristol Bay and has served on the Advisory Panel for the North Pacific council. “Our goal here should be getting the gulf and Bering Sea back to their former levels of health and abundance. If trollers, gillnetters, seiners, sportfishers and tribal citizens throughout Alaska are being forced to go without fishing while trawlers keep their nets in the water, we have a serious management problem, and it is beyond time to right that ship.” Bycatch of king salmon and halibut in the trawl fleet is not a new topic in coastal Alaska or as a contentious council topic. “Halibut has been declining since 2011,” according to an industry community consultant. “The proportion that has been taken as bycatch compared with what is taken as a directed fishery has gone up.” “The last time to we tried to reduce halibut bycatch, it took about five years — from about 2010 to 2015,” the consultant says. “In the Amendment 80 fleet, it was reduced by 25 percent. We had asked for a 50 percent reduction. The council said at that time that this was just the beginning, that they wanted to continue to reduce bycatch. We started in 2016.” Meanwhile, trawl bycatch and species interaction are also bubbling up for the state’s king and snow crab fisheries. The Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers put out a statement responding to the closure of the Bristol Bay red king crab season — a first in 25 years — and a dwindling biomass for other crab populations. “We’ll be looking to the council and NOAA Fisheries to conserve important crab habitat and spawning grounds as highlighted by crab scientists over 10 years ago, to create meaningful incentives to reduce crab bycatch in other fishing sectors, to reduce fishing impacts on molting and mating crab, and to estimate unaccounted for bycatch from unobserved fishing mortality from bottom and pelagic trawl nets, as well as pot and longline gears,” the statement said. Though the trawl fleet has made wide-ranging efforts to reduce bycatch through gear modification and fleet collaboration, habitat protection and bycatch reduction continue to be the rallying cry behind the movement to change the way bycatch is managed at the federal level. “Right now, the council is optimizing trawl harvest at the expense of Alaska’s fish and fisheries. That needs to change,” says Linda Behnken, a Sitka-based fisherman, executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, and an NF Highliner. “We need to protect fish habitat, reduce bycatch, and prioritize Alaska’s historic fisheries before it is too late.” — Jessica Hathaway To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

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December 2021 \ National Fisherman 17

AROUND THE COASTS

Gulf/South Atlantic Crew escaped when explosion claimed shrimper

Coast Guard

NTSB officials recommend fishermen keep fuel cut-off valves outside engine rooms

The Master Dylan ran aground and burned while being towed off Louisiana.

generator explosion in the engine room of the Gulf of Mexico shrimp trawler Master Dylan triggered a fi re that forced the crew to abandon ship on Dec. 1, 2020. Despite rescue and fi refighting efforts by responding vessels, an initial knockdown of the fi re ended with a flareup as the boat was under tow, leading to a total $300,000 loss, according to a

National Transportation Safety Board report. NTSB investigators found the Master Dylan crew was unable to cut off diesel fuel lines feeding the fi re because the valves were inside the burning engine room. The agency recommended that fishermen, boat designers and builders should think about putting cut-off valves for fuel and lubrication

MARKET REPORT: Gulf/South Atlantic Swordfish Lingering covid effects, cheap imports depress market

oil outside of engine rooms where they can be closed off in an emergency. When an engine room fi re erupts, “it is imperative to remove the source of available fuel to the fi re found in the fuel oil and lube oil systems,” according to the NTSB report. “In this accident, the vessel had no remote emergency cut-off valves outside the engine room, and thus fuel to the fi re could not be stopped, and the vessel was eventually consumed by the flames. Vessel designers, builders, owners, and operators are encouraged to install, regularly test, and have emergency drills that incorporate remote cut-off valves for fuel and lube oil lines.” The Master Dylan was trawling around 7:45 a.m. when one of two 70kW John Deere generators apparently blew up. The crew heard a loud explosion in the engine room, and saw fi re and black smoke. The captain rushed from the wheelhouse to the engine room door. Smoke and flames kept him from entering, so he tried discharging a B-2 dry chemical fi re extinguisher through the open engine room door. It had no effect on the intensity of the fi re, and the captain and crew could not reach engine fuel supply valves, or shut the engine room door or any doors to

from NMFS for January through the end of July, U.S. fishermen have caught about 477 metric tons of swords — only 16 percent of

ow production, the ongoing co-

Covid’s impacts on the restaurant industry

the annual quota of nearly 3,000 metric tons.

vid-19 health and economic cri-

which drives U.S. demand for swords; new

Landings for the same period in 2020 totaled

sis, and a flood of product from

U.S. government regulations, including gear

more than 530 metric tons.

Canada are depressing the U.S. commercial

restrictions and the possible closure by the

Taylor fears the United States will be

swordfish market in the Gulf of Mexico and

Biden administration of New England’s fish-

forced to forfeit its unused quota to countries

South Atlantic, according to some industry

rich Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Ma-

not bound by any environmental or occupa-

members.

rine National Monument; a deluge of cheaper

tional safety regulations.

“Production levels are the lowest they’ve

product from Canada dumped in U.S. mar-

Cappy Cheshier, who operates a fleet of

been since the beginning of time,” lamented

kets recently; rising fuel prices; and a lack of

three buoy gear swordfish boats in Pompano

Scott Taylor, operator of Day Boat Seafood in

new blood entering the U.S. commercial fish-

Beach, Fla., has a slightly more optimistic

Fort Pierce, Fla. “There have been no positive

ing industry.

outlook. Cheshier said boat prices are hover-

developments whatsoever. I have more boats sitting at the dock than I have fishing.” Taylor cited a litany of hits to the fishery:

18 National Fisherman \ December 2021

Taylor said the average boat price is about $4, which he calls “unsustainable.” According to the latest landings estimates

ing between $4 and $6 per pound, which he considers “fair.” — Sue Cocking

www.nationalfisherman.com

the deckhouse because of the fi re and smoke. At that point the captain decided the fi re was out of control and ordered them to abandon ship to another shrimp fishing vessel that came to their aid. Responding vessels fought the fi re under control, and the Master Dylan was taken under tow. But as the boat ran aground on a sandbar, the fi re flashed up again. The Master Dylan rolled and sank on the bar, a total constructive loss with an estimated value of at $300,000, according to the NTSB. The vessel’s main engine and generators had been rebuilt five months before, and the owner said there had been no issues since the overhaul. The NTSB laid probable cause of the fi re on catastrophic failure of the diesel generator, with the location of the fuel shutoff valves within the engine room as a contributing factor. — Kirk Moore

King Cove, Alaska Candace Mack: 11 years old and 11 reds long! Setnetting in Area M on the F/V Matt Michelle out of King Cove

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December 2021 \ National Fisherman 19

AROUND THE COASTS

Pacific Investigators link containership to pipeline spill

Coast Guard

Rupture spilled 25,000 gallons off Orange County; fishermen sue operators

Vessels tow a boom toward floating oil a day after a subsea pipeline leaked.

oast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board officials boarded a containership at the port of Long Beach on Oct. 16, suspecting the 1,200-foot vessel may have dragged its anchor 10 months before and damaged a 40-year-old oil pipeline. The MSC Danit, operator MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co., S.A. and owners Dordellas Finance Corp. were designated

as parties of interest in the investigation of an Oct. 2 spill estimated at 25,000 gallons. “Multiple pipeline scenarios and additional vessels of interest continue to be investigated,” according to the Coast Guard. Two lobster fishermen filed a lawsuit against pipeline operator Amplify Energy Corp. and its subsidiaries in a California federal court. The plaintiffs claim Amplify

MARKET REPORT: Pacific Herring Survey reports will permit Jan. 1 opening, 750-ton quota

did not immediately notify the U.S. Coast Guard of the spill entering into the San Pedro Bay area. The spill prompted the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to close offshore fisheries while its staff test waters in the area. As a result, lobstermen Bradley Bitton and Kirk Schoonover, among others, aren’t able to access a critical area for their businesses, they said in their suit. “Lobster fishermen are unable to bait and trap lobster for the short harvesting season, which was set to begin on Oct. 6, 2021,” the complaint stated. “Many fishers and trappers have lost significant revenue because they have not been able to collect any of the fish or shellfish in their already-set traps.” Another lawsuit was filed by Quality Sea Food and LBC Seafood, along with local fishermen Steve Legere and Jack Buttler, seeking class-action certification. Quality Sea Food, which has operated in the area for nearly 70 years, said it serves as a first landing site for many local fishermen. The company fears a significant economic loss, which might last long-term. “Since the oil spill, Quality Sea Food has noticed that customers are already hesitant to purchase seafood,” the complaint stated. — Steve Bittenbender and Kirk Moore

As for quotas, they’ve been set as high as 10,399 tons since 1973, when the fishery began, and have fluctuated wildly through

ast year’s herring season didn’t

fishing quota has been split between even-

the years. Since the 2013-14 season, how-

happen for San Francisco gillnett-

and-odd numbered permits.

ever, quotas have seen a precipitous decline.

ers, but biomass estimates have

A new program provides permanent

The combination of spawning surveys

swung toward the positive, and the industry

limited entry permits which will allow hold-

and other stock assessment information

is hopeful for a fishery in January.

ers to fish two, 55-fathom nets in the San

warranted reopening the fishery on New

Dismal biomass estimates put the last

Francisco fishery while other holders were is-

Year’s Day of 2022.

two seasons on hold. That and waning in-

sued transitional permits which allow for the

terest in salted herring roe skeins in Japan

operation of a single net in the fishery. The

have left the fleet operating at a fraction of

transitional permits may be combined for a

Though prices have been depressed

what it was in the heyday era of the ’80s and

total of two nets for the fishery, but by 2025

along the West Coast and in Alaska, seiners

early ’90s.

“This year, we’re going to have a 750-ton quota,” says Greiner.

those permits will be phased out, according

in the far west herring grounds of Togiak had

The commercial fishery began in 1973,

to Tom Greiner, environmental scientist with

been fishing for $50 per ton in recent years,

and a formal limited entry permit system was

the California Department of Fish and Wildlife

but received $100 per ton for their catch in

implemented in 1977. Through the years the

in Santa Rosa.

the ’20 and ’21 seasons.

20 National Fisherman \ December 2021

— Charlie Ess

www.nationalfisherman.com

Snapshot Who we are Zach Smith / Jonesport, Maine / Lobster

or Zach Smith, lobstering means 4 a.m. wake-up times,

“Performing is an act of

10-hour days, and hauling more than 300 traps four times

rebellion, because that’s what

a week. The six-month Maine lobster season from May to

self-expression is,” Smith says.

November is perfect for Smith because it affords him valuable time

“My purpose as an artist is to take

off to rest and focus on his other passion: Music.

people on a journey, to make them feel

Smith is sternman for his father, Chris, on the F/V Pamela Jane (named for his mom). The father-son crew works out of Jonesport,

something.” Smith’s lyrics often touch on bigger issues and conversations.

Maine, a small commercial fishing community with about 1,500 full-

“I think that until the presence of racism, sexism, transphobia,

time residents. Jonesport is a peninsula 6 miles out into the Gulf of

etc., at the very root of our civilization is acknowledged and

Maine, where boatyards, lobster boats, blueberries, loons, grebes

accepted by the powers that be and the public, we would finally be

and eagles are just about as common as people. As a youngster,

working toward a solution. There is a huge divide right now amongst

Smith would go out fishing with his dad, but he never imagined he

people, with so much misinformation and hatred, it’s scary.” In the world of commercial fishing, which the U.S. Department

would earn his own living on the ocean. “I worked other jobs in high school, studied sociology and

of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics has identified as a dangerous

theater in college,” Smith says. It was not until after Smith finished

occupation, it may seem just as risky for a sternman to perform

college that his father offered him a position on his boat.

in drag in communities that have not always been receptive to

He says his father has taught him a ton and that “it’s been a growing experience for us working together. I pick up things from him all the time on how to be a better person as well as a better

differences, of any sort. “Some fishermen know I do drag, but nobody seems to care,” says Smith. Beach Trash is currently on hiatus, but Smith says there may be

businessman.” While they typically don’t talk much while they’re out on the

a reunion. In the meantime, he is still out every day before sunrise

water, when they do, it’s “about music, the gear we are hauling,

with his dad, which he says “gives me a lot of creative ideas, but

marine life,” Smith says.

also it’s just a time to be present and work hard.”

Until recently, Smith was the lead singer of a five-piece surfadjacent punk band called Beach Trash, when he was on dry land. The band formed in 2017, and Smith says he started creating music “because I heard the calling to it, literally hearing music in my head.” In Beach Trash, Smith performed in drag, usually heels and brightly colored dresses, as Sandy River.

Smith also has a new blues album in the works. But for now, he says, “I am just trying to get through the lobster season.” In 20 years, Smith will be almost 50 years old. What might he be doing then? “Massage therapy practice? Famous singer?” Ultimately he lands on, “hopefully a full and happy life.”

— Caroline Losneck

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December 2021 \ National Fisherman 21

AROUND THE COASTS

Nation/World Biden administration wants more wind leases

DOE

Interior Department looking for seven additional areas off every coast by 2025

Five years after the first U.S. offshore wind turbines were built at Block Island, the Biden administration is pressing to have utility-scale projects off every coast.

he Biden administration’s latest goal for offshore wind power is to have up to seven new offshore wind lease sales by 2025, from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico and in the Pacific off California and Oregon. “This timetable provides two crucial ingredients for success: increased certainty and transparency,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in an

address to the American Clean Power Association’s offshore wind conference in mid-October. “Together, we will meet our clean energy goals while addressing the needs of other ocean users and potentially impacted communities,” Haaland said. “We have big goals to achieve a clean energy economy, and Interior is meeting the moment.” With the Bureau of Ocean Energy

Management accelerating its timetable to review wind developers’ plans and prepare future lease offerings, agency officials are insisting they learned from mistakes dealing with the commercial fishing industry, and will work with “to minimize confl ict with existing uses and marine life.” “We are working to facilitate a pipeline of projects that will establish confidence for the offshore wind industry,” BOEM Director Amanda Lefton said. “At the same time, we want to reduce potential confl icts as much as we can while meeting the Administration’s goal to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. This means we will engage early and often with all stakeholders prior to identifying any new Wind Energy Areas.” Those future leases would be in the Gulf of Maine — requiring use of floating turbines in deep water — the New York Bight and Mid-Atlantic to the Carolinas, the Gulf of Mexico and off California to Oregon, like Maine requiring floating installations. The Department of Energy said it is putting up $13.5 million to fund four projects “that will inform offshore wind siting, permitting and help protect wildlife and fisheries as offshore wind deployment increases.” — Kirk Moore

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AROUND THE COASTS

Northeast Continued from page 15

Biden restores Atlantic monument restrictions Return to Obama declaration will end lobster, red crab and longline fishing

Iadministration n

another

reversal of Trump moves, President Biden reinstated all restrictions to the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, including plans to phase out commercial fishing for red crab and lobster by Sept. 15, 2023. Former president Barack Obama originally declared the monument area south of New England on that date in 2016, and former president Donald Trump rescinded the rules with some fanfare including an in-person meeting with fishing industry representatives in June 2020.

Commercial fishing advocates, who mobilized after Biden inauguration to argue against reinstating the monument rules, said the decision shows politics trumped consistent ocean policy. “This is an unfortunate decision that is opposed not only by those affected in the commercial fishing industry, but by all eight fishery management councils and NOAA Fisheries,” said Bob Vanasse of Saving Seafood, an industry advocacy group. The Northeast marine monument includes Oceanographer, Gilbert, and Lydonia canyons; and Bear, Mytilus, Physalia, and Retriever seamounts, some 4,913 square miles in all — about equal to the land mass of Connecticut. While recreational fishing can continue in the monument area, crab, lobster and longline fishermen say excluding them is an unjustified end-run

around the federal and council management process. “In March, before (Interior) Secretary Haaland was confi rmed, industry members were given just one hour with staff to express their concerns. We have since requested an opportunity to meet with the Secretary — as we did with her two predecessors — but our request, though acknowledged, has gone unanswered,” according to Vanasse. “The Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management councils have already done their job, and have protected the deep-sea corals in the region with public input using their authority under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Marine sanctuaries should be created with public input as outlined in the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, not by the stroke of the presidential pen via a misuse of the Antiquities Act.” — Kirk Moore

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December 2021 \ National Fisherman 23

BOATS & GEAR

BOATBUILDING

BOATS & GEAR

BOATBUILDING

F/V INDIANA REINSTATED A Prince William Sound fisherman keeps his classic wooden State Boat in pristine condition for her 104th season By Brooks Townes

n even 50 wooden commercial fishboats got hauled out in Washington’s Port Townsend boatyards this spring. Most of them were down to Puget Sound from Alaska, many as old or older than their owners. One that checks all of those boxes was the bright red 56-foot seiner Indiana, built in 1917, in one fishery or another all of her 104 years, that was nearly derelict when Marty McCallum bought her 33 years ago. He’s her fourth owner. The second-generation commercial fisherman knew what to look for in old wooden boats,

Elizabeth Becker photos

saw potential, and he could afford her. He nicked along fishing her that fi rst season. He’s fished her every season since, and made improvements in every off-season. In June, the Indiana was about to steam north again, once more better equipped for seining Prince William Sound’s pink salmon. In 1988, because the Indiana was affordable without a loan, McCallum had money for upgrades that might have gone to pay off a lender for a modern metal vessel. His boat’s configuration and gear are now up to date after this fourth extensive round of work in Port Townsend’s Boat Haven. She’s seen a lot of smaller upgrades under

Delays in getting materials during the pandemic meant the projects continued into summer — afloat in Port Townsend’s Commercial Basin.

National Fisherman \ December 2021

www.nationalfisherman.com

BOATS & GEAR

BOATBUILDING

McCallum’s pay-as-you-go plan, many done in Alaska. But this time, the boat was out of the water for seven months because of a taffy-pull getting materials during the pandemic The big jobs in PT have been spread over years, so still no banker owns a piece of the Indiana. Healthy pink runs in Prince William Sound have certainly helped, and they show no sign of slacking. McCallum, who grins remembering several three-broom days, said he’d be happy if anything over 30 million fish come into the sound: Alaska fish biologist Jeremy Botz said 50 million fish were expected this year. As of press time, the region had seen more than 64 million. In the yard Blocked up stem to stem with the newer, also red, also wooden seiner the Wonderland, the Indiana this year got a new coach roof, including framing to support the new top house (her first), plus new galley joinery and equipment, several new Douglas fir planks forward, a new toilet. Removing the last piece of her original gear — her rusty old windlass — was a momentous change. “It has been working reliably for the last 30-plus years. Original equipment, it would be 104 years old, still operating but losing features; [it] doesn’t freewheel, clutch doesn’t work, but the hydraulic motor whines the gear in and out,” McCallum wrote on the boat’s Facebook page. “This is a new era, [with a] top house, self-pursing winch, combined with an earlier installed Marco power block, a sliding boom,” he said, adding that the only original piece on the boat now may be the keel. During earlier big jobs, the Indiana was shortened some 8 feet — to 56 — which incidentally put her within limit-seiner rules. A new stem, forefoot, framing and planks forward got rid of several bad timbers. But then she trimmed down by the stern, so in 2014, McCallum replaced her hold, reducing its capacity to 21,000 cubic feet, now plumbed for refrigerated To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

Shipwright Dave Thompson prepares the new windlass for hoisting aboard.

The Indiana’s ancient windlass was the last piece of her original gear.

Door hardware from 1917 tells the Indiana’s age. It still works just fine.

seawater. With the new hold snugged up to the engine room bulkhead, there was room aft for a new 800-gallon fuel tank. Knowing the new hold, fuel tank, a new, lighter main engine, and now the new coach roof and top house affected trim and stability, McCallum contracted

with local designer Antonio Salguero of nearby Coastwise Marine Design, who applied his laser and CAD programs. “He got her spot-on,” said the skipper. It’s costly to ship to Alaska all the heavy gear, parts and other things a full-service boatyard needs, plus it’s cold working December 2021 \ National Fisherman 25

BOATS & GEAR

BOATBUILDING

New planks are clamped up to take the shape of the hull before being fastened in place.

outside. The choice for big jobs is often to steam south to Puget Sound — plus McCallum lives only 15 minutes from the Port Townsend yard. Also, it would be hard to find another with so many marine trades in one place capable of handling just about any job on any kind of vessel under some 300 tons of any material, but

26 National Fisherman \ December 2021

especially on traditional wooden vessels. Few other yards let you do your own work or pick and hire your own help. This year the Indiana had plenty of company in Port Townsend’s Boat Haven: Shannon Meehan, in charge of haul-out scheduling, said in May there were 29 larger fishboats and power-scows hauled,

14 of them wooden, and of the 38 smaller commercial boats, including McCallum’s, 36 were wooden. Local marine trades employ some 400 people and provide 20 percent of the county’s tax revenue, according to an economic impact study completed by international port specialist Martin Associates three years ago.The study was commissioned by the Port Townsend Marine Trades Association when it appeared gentrification could mean the end of the boatyard. Voters and civic leaders were surprised by the Martin report, by the robust health and contribution of local maritime enterprises. Efforts hostile to the trades ceased, and a revamped Port administration fostered practices that brought even more business to the yard and trades even before this year and last — both banner years for the yard and trades apparently in part because of the pandemic. Since commercial fishermen are vital

www.nationalfisherman.com

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BOATS & GEAR

BOATBUILDING

Boat carpenter and sheep-shearer Gensy Stone shapes a piece for the new galley.

food suppliers, repairing their boats was declared “essential business” early in the pandemic, said retired local shipwright Diana Talley who remains active in the trades association. A number of Alaska canneries and processor vessels became

covid-19 spreader hot-spots and closed midseason last year, making it a good time to get major boat work done. “The yard [has been] at about 95-98 percent occupancy all year,” Talley said, with Alaska boats representing most of that state’s fisheries on the hard through spring with more tied to work docks. With so much work competing for craftspeople, McCallum had a local-boy and repeat-customer advantage in finding the right people for his many jobs, the Indiana again blocked up next to his friend Dave Thompson’s shop. A dean of local shipwrights,Thompson knows the appropriate freelancers and companies for whatever the task, McCallum noted. Fortunately, all those boats in the yard meant people working on Indiana could find other work while waiting for materials this year, so the Indiana didn’t lose them and McCallum did not have to pay them for make-work.

Metal fabricator and welder Dylan Mackay grabs the long-awaited tophouse door.

Planks got replaced and caulked by independent contractor J Galloway. Shipwright Erik Falstrom of Compass Woodwork ripped out the old galley and built a new one. Carpenter Davee Bolt insulated and paneled out the new top house.

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fter we installed an OXE 150 diesel outboard on the skiff, the boat immediately became 42% lighter and started consuming 36% less fuel. Because the OXE 150 outboard design allows the motor to tilt completely out of the water when not in use, maintenance became a breeze, with no need to relocate the vessel. The ability to store the motor out of water also solved the vessel’s issue with barnacles growth and water-bogged manifolds.

GAME-CHANGING RESULTS EXCELLENT FUEL ECONOMY

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BOATS & GEAR

BOATBUILDING

Second-generation fisherman and longtime husband of the F/V Indiana, Marty McCallum is getting a bottom-painter’s tan.

Back in the water, it took a couple days for the planks to make up and the pumps stop after seven months on the hard.

“Alan Kats did the new roof top and fly bridge replacement, after that I had Antonio Salguero do the design and stability work for the top house. Dylan MacKay did the fitting and welding,” McCallum

said. “The metal was precut by Alaska Copper and Brass using Antonio’s lofting program.” Electronics were the work of Joe Smith of Ocean Systems from the other side of the sound.

State boats The Indiana is a “state boat,” McCallum said, explaining that near the end of World War I, our federal government wanted to boost food production, improve the wartorn economy “and provide jobs for returning soldiers — and there was all this highly skilled labor and excellent timber in the Northwest.” Plans for a typical Northwest seiner of the time were drawn up and supplied to several regional builders, each boat to be named for a state. McCallum believes 42 were built by Puget Sound yards. His and maybe three others — the Wisconsin,Vermont and Kansas — survive with their original names. The Indiana was built in Tacoma almost entirely of “beautiful old-growth fir,” her skipper said, though he isn’t sure which yard — information lost in the mists of time along with her designer’s name, though he knows she was first fished by one Tony Anaich.

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A sheet from Tacoma builders Barbare Brothers dated 1917 called for “a typical Puget Sound salmon seiner of 22 tons displacement measuring 65' on deck with a 16' 6" beam, an 8' hull depth and a 6' draft fully loaded” — or what the designer considered fully loaded. He didn’t count on McCallum’s practice of plugging the hold with pinks until the work deck’s nearly awash. Plan and profile drawings from the era show a long, low, narrow hull, a flush deck, low bulwarks, a small boot-heel pilothouse well back, a net platform on her stern and a skylight over the foc’s’le. The Indiana’s original house was replaced in 1965 with one of similar layout, a bit larger and now without the boot heel roofline. The boats were to be fished with sheer-leg, tackle and double-drum winch by a crew of nine. Now she’s fished with four with a lot more complicated gear. The design called for Douglas fir over double-sawn Doug fir frames, and a 2,500-cubic-foot hold. State boats were to carry 3,000 gallons of fuel, 400 gallons of water and be driven by an 85-hp unspecified engine. McCallum said he replaced a Detroit 8V71 in 2014 with a digitally controlled 330-hp John Deere 6165, burning 5.5 gallons per hour instead of the Screaming Jimmy’s 8.5 gpm. It’s considerably smaller and lighter than the Detroit but still drives through the same 514 Twin Disc gear. Among her modern electronics is a Raymarine Axiom chart plotter with Real Vision 3-D sonar — “a game changer,” McCallum said when it came aboard in 2017; now there’s a repeater in the new top house — at 74, McCallum was tired of being cold on an open bridge — along with port and starboard joysticks, throttle, shift, and redundant electronics on each side. A family affair The Indiana’s crew are mostly old friends now. McCallum considers them family, but for four or five years in her earlier days, he said the crew was literally family. His wife, Rosemary, worked the deck and cooked. “She’s a wonderful boat cook.We’re noted for being a good restaurant,” he said, recalling many raft-ups. His son Sam was on deck from age 5 or 6 hanging out, then he ran the deck from around age 12, and Sam’s sister Monica was the skiff driver beginning when she was 13. “She was a good skiff driver,” he adds. His grandson Cyrus has also fished with the family; all have become successful adults.. Name a West Coast fishery, and chances are Marty McCallum worked it — salmon and halibut in Southeast, herring on San Francisco Bay, some Dungeness crabbing. He skippered a power-scow as a young man and owned a 38-foot aluminum gillnetter. McCallum said he began seining pinks in the sound in 1978, then grins recalling hauls when he had to call the buyboat over to vacuum his catch off so he could keep going, making sets while the sun shined. Brooks Townes was an editor for National Fisherman in Maine 45 years ago and is now retired in the Pacific Northwest. To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

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PACIFIC MARINE EXPO

PREVIEW

A PEEK AT THE 2021

PACIFIC MARINE EXPO November 18 – 20, 2021 • Lumen Field Event Center • Seattle

Offshore Wind & the U.S. Commercial Fishing Industry ➜ Thursday \ Nov. 18 10:30 AM – 11:15 AM ➜ Main Stage

Join us for a state of the industry update where panelists discuss the recent developments to U.S. Offshore Wind and the effects they are seeing on the commercial fi shing industry. We will discuss the multiple off shore wind projects across the nation, as well as the differences between floating and fi xed wind farms, and how these may affect fi shing operations.

NOAA’s New Administration: Ensuring Resilient Marine Fisheries and Strengthening the U.S. Seafood Industry ➜ Thursday \ Nov. 18 11:25 AM – 12:10 PM ➜ Main Stage

As the Biden administration’s Assistant Administrator for Fisheries at NOAA, Janet Coit is excited to work with the fi shing industry and other partners to 32 National Fisherman \ December 2021

ensure resilient marine fi sheries in the United States and strengthen our seafood industry. This presentation will focus on rebuilding fi sheries where necessary, and protecting and conserving endangered and threatened marine resources and their habitats. Among Coit’s priorities are ensuring the economic and environmental resiliency of our coastal communities by providing the seafood industry with the critical resources needed for generating greater demand for U.S. seafood. Her agenda includes expanding the domestic seafood supply, leveling the playing field on trade, and modernizing for a more efficient seafood supply chain. Priority issues include climate change, the future of off shore wind energy, and the order to conserve at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030.

Building a Career on the Water: Workforce & Professional Development Tips to Craft a Career in Commercial Fishing ➜ Thursday \ Nov. 18 1:00 PM - 1:40 PM ➜ Main Stage

Join representatives from three maritime workforce and professional development organizations as they discuss programs they have been putting into place to help fi nd, train and retain enthusiastic workers in the maritime industry. We will discuss initiatives that will help younger generations set themselves up for success building a career on the water.

After the Scandies Rose: A Discussion on Stability, Safety & Survival ➜ Thursday \ Nov. 18 1:50 PM - 2:35 PM ➜ Main Stage

This session will discuss what the industry learned from the Scandies Rose and Destination losses, and how we are moving forward with updated rules and regulations pertaining to vessel stability to improve safety and increase survival during a capsizing. Attendees will learn about stability checklists, understanding your stability report, stability requirements, main causes of instability in F/Vs and much more. www.nationalfisherman.com

PACIFIC MARINE EXPO

PREVIEW

Protecting Bristol Bay: Permanent Protections Against Pebble Mine ➜ Thursday \ Nov. 18 2:45 PM – 3:30 PM ➜ Main Stage

Panelists discuss the latest updates with the Pebble Mine project, as well as permanent protections against the project.

USCG Presents: Arctic Shield and the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Task Force ➜ Friday \ Nov. 19 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM ➜ Main Stage

Over the last three years, Sector Anchorage has acted on an initiative to prioritize awareness, outreach, education, and training as it pertains to the overall USCG Arctic Strategic Outlook, known as Arctic Shield. Sector Anchorage developed the Marine Safety Task Force as a solution to the many operational challenges within the unique area of responsibility. The multimission nature of this program required significant collaboration with different entities of the Coast Guard, stake holders, native communities, and civil air patrol. The $1.1 million operation resulted in an increased number of commercial fishing vessel exams. During 2020, examiners were able to complete 450 exams, beating their 2018 record. In this presentation Coast Guard personnel will present the work the men and women at Sector Anchorage have done to enhance safety in the areas such as Bristol Bay, Naknek, Kotzebue, Port Moller, and more. In addition, Coast Guard personnel will share plans for FY22 and inform folks on how they can help to make this mission a success.

that are taking big steps toward reducing pollution in the ocean.

AFDF Presents: Connecting Alaska Seaweed with New Markets ➜ Friday \ Nov. 19 1:00 PM - 1:40 PM ➜ Main Stage

The potential for growing seaweed in Alaska is immense, and recent interest by fi shermen and processors has led to hundreds of people attending training workshops and the submission of dozens of new aquatic farm lease applications. This is a predictor of significant future growth of the industry as the cumulative effect of increased private sector interest grows. If all of the new applications for seaweed farms are approved, the acres under production will have increased from zero in 2015 to approximately 2,500 in 2021. To achieve Alaska’s potential for a new seaweed industry, more buyers of seaweed are needed. However, new buyers must identify prices, demand and markets that are a match for the species, product forms and cost structures that Alaska can produce. In order to address this bottleneck for industry growth, the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, with grant support from the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, partnered with McKinley Research Group and other key industry stakeholders to assess current and potential new markets for Alaska seaweed in order to enable industry growth. Join us to hear from a panel consisting of AFDF, McKinley Research Group and other experts about the Alaska seaweed industry, including its growth, market potential and how we are helping industry foster its development.

Responsible Fishing: Recycling, Sustainability, & Repurposing Your Gear

Mammal/Gear Interactions & Innovations in the Industry

➜ Friday \ Nov. 19

11:25 AM - 12:10 PM ➜ Main Stage

1:50 PM - 2:35 PM ➜ Main Stage

Trash, particularly plastic waste, is having a major effect on the ocean, our environment and ultimately our livelihoods as fishermen. Now hear from some of the companies

This panel will convene to discuss mammal and gear interactions, changing research and regulations, and emerging tech solutions.

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

2021 EXPO EVENTS

Seattle Kitchen Radio Show Chef Tom Douglas and Crew

one stop shop for everything that comes from Alaska

Alaska Hall Special events, education and more!

Fisherman of the Year Contest Saturday, Nov. 20, 11:45 p.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Fisher Poets Saturday, Nov. 20, 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

HAPPY HOUR! — Beer Garden Last hour of the expo all three days

December 2021 \ National Fisherman 33

AFDF Presents: Symphony of Seafood Awards & How to Develop a New Product ➜ Friday \ Nov. 19

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Since 1994, the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation has hosted and organized the Alaska Symphony of Seafood, an annual competition for commercial-ready, value-added products made with Alaska seafood. The Symphony encourages companies to invest in product development, helps them promote those new products and competitively positions Alaska seafood in national and global markets. Product development is critically important to the entire Alaska seafood industry and the fi shing communities that depend on it. Innovative products position the industry to remain competitive and relevant to consumers. Covid-19 demonstrated how important it is to respond to shifting consumer demands. The increase of quality at the point of harvest improves quality all the way throughout the supply chain. This allows more value-added potential, because the quality can support additional processing and diversification of products. The Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association and AFDF work together to support and promote the development of more valueadded products coming out of Bristol Bay. AFDF is proud to announce the 2021-22 1st Place Winners of the Alaska Symphony of Seafood, exciting changes to the event and collaboration with our major sponsor, BBRSDA. The 202122 Symphony will feature Salmon and Whitefi sh product categories in addition to Retail, Food Service and Beyond the Plate. In addition, special awards categories will include: Grand Prize, Seattle People’s Choice, Juneau People’s Choice and the Bristol Bay Choice.

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Please note that the schedule is subject to change. Check the website or National Fisherman app for regular updates.

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COVER STORY

HIGHLINERS

2021 Highliners n 1975, the editors of National Fisherman began a tradition of calling attention to a class of fisheries leaders. Although our Highliners are fishermen, this honor is in recognition of their dedication to improving the future of our fishing communities. We also reserve the occasional honorarium for someone who may not have been a commercial fisherman but whose dedication to the industry and fishing families befits the honor of a Lifetime Achievement Award. This year, that distinction is reserved for Jennifer Lincoln for her literally life-saving work at the National Institute of Safety and Health Center for Maritime Safety and Health Studies Alaska office — by way of Indiana. Julie Decker, of Wrangell, Alaska, is the longtime executive director of the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation — but

that’s just one of the many hats she wears. Decker also fishes the F/V McCrea with her husband and partner, Gig Decker. Jerry Dzugan is nationally recognized as the executive director and safety trainer extraordinaire for the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association out of Sitka. Dzugan has fished commercially in Alaska, but his focus for decades has been changing the way commercial fishermen think about safety and training. Ben Platt is the owner and operator of the F/V Miss Heidi and founder and executive director of the California Coast Crab Association out of Crescent City, Calif. He established the group to voice the concerns of the local Dungeness crab fleet as legislative and activist groups threatened the livelihoods of the coastal communities that rely fisheries. Join me in congratulating these Highliners for a job well done. — Jessica Hathaway

HIGHLINER ROLL CALL 1975 Joe Easley, Spuds Johnson, Nels Otness 1977 Oral Burch, Adolph Samuelson, *Wayne Smith, Dr. Dayton L. Alverson 1978 Dan Arnold, John J. Ross, Larry Simns 1979 Louis Agard Jr., Bart Eaton, Barry Fisher 1980 Kenny Daniels, Joe Novello, Rick Savage 1981 Gordon Jensen, Ralph Hazard, Konrad Uri 1982 Richard Miller, William Sandefur Jr.,Gabe Skaar 1983 Dave Danborn, Bruce Gore, John Maher 1984 Dick Allen, Paul Pence, James Salisbury 1985 Oscar Dyson, Mike McCorkle, Rudy Peterson 1986 Jake Dykstra, Richard McLellan, Bill Moore 1987 Al Burch, Earl Carpenter, Einar Pedersen 1988 Frank Mirarchi, Sonny Morrison, Louis Puskas 1989 Nat Bingham, Pete Knutsen, Francis Miller 1990 Arnold Leo, Fred Mattera, Mark Taylor 1991 Ron Hegge, Rick Steiner, Tony West, Clement V. Tillion 1992 David Cousens, Julius Collins, Jim McCauley 1993 John Bruce, Snooks Moore, Jimmy Smith 1994 Tim Adams, Nelson R. Beideman, Joseph Testaverde, Angela Sanfilippo 1995 Michael McHenry, Dennis Petersen, Gary Slaven 1996 William Foster, Robert Smith, Diane Wilson, U.S. Rep. Gerry Studds 1997 Jim Bassett, Mark Lundsten, Pietro Parravano 1998 Bill Amaru, Felix G. Cox, Gary Nichols 1999 Wayne Moody, Jay Stinson, Ray Wadsworth 2000 Scott Keefe, Patten D. White, Richard Neilsen Jr. 2001 Ginny Goblirsch, Jamie Ross, Tim Thomas 2002 George Barisich, Russell Dize, Luis Ribas 2003 Dan Hanson, Chris Miller, Arne Fuglvog 2004 David Goethel, James Ruhle Sr., Tony Iarocci 2005 Wilburn Hall, Bill Webber Sr., Bill Maahs 2006 Vito Giacalone, David Karwacki, Jim Lovgren 2007 Dave Bitts, Eric Jordan, Kaare Ness 2008 Rodney Avila, Tilman Gray, Craig Pendleton 2009 Linda Behnken, Kevin Ganley, Joel Kawahara 2010 Bob Evans, Jim Odlin, David Spencer 2011 Larry Collins, Dan Falvey, Bill Webber Jr. 2012 Dewey Hemilright, Kevin Wark, Wayne Werner 2013 Robert Heyano, Robert Hezel, Jerry McCune, Brian Rothschild 2014 Martin Fisher, Ida Hall, Russell Sherman 2015 John F. Gruver, Kathy Hansen, Jeremiah O’Brien 2016 Robert T. Brown Sr., Ben Hartig, Carl “Sonny” McIntire Jr. 2017 Bob Dooley, George Eliason, Bruce Schactler 2018 Ryan Bradley, Kristan Porter, Bob Jones 2019 Dick Ogg, Heather Sears, Jack Schultheis 2020 Bonnie Brady, Jerry Fraser, Frank Patti Sr.

36 National Fisherman \ December 2021

Julie Decker

Seafood champion

By Jessica Hathaway

t’s been almost 30 years since Julie Decker made her first summer run to Alaska from Chicago to work as a patcher for Alaska General Seafoods in Ketchikan. She went back to Chicago for the winter. But she would find herself in Ketchikan again the next year at age 22. This time she was back as a graduate — both from Northwestern University and from cannery work. Decker walked the docks, determined to find a spot on a boat. She worked as a greenhorn deckhand on a gillnetter, and that was it. The pull of Alaska was too strong to resist. She came back to crew on the same boat the following summer after spending the winter in her hometown of Detroit, waiting tables, teaching English and working at a domestic abuse shelter.That experience seemed almost prophetic when she found herself on deck with an abusive captain. Realizing she was stuck on a boat in remote area with her assailant, she was determined to find a safe exit. When the boat was unloading at the tender, she called the captain of another gillnetter to pick her up and take her to Wrangell. That gillnetter was Gig Decker, and as luck would have it, he was looking for a deckhand. “The first time I saw her on the back deck, I could see that she was hard-working and focused. Then, when I met her, Continued on page 38

www.nationalfisherman.com

COVER STORY

HIGHLINERS

Jerry Dzugan Power trainer

By Kirk Moore

Crab boss

Safety captain

By Paul Molyneaux

or anyone who believes in an orderly universe, Jerry Dzugan’s path from the South Side of Chicago schools to teaching fi shing safety in Alaska could be an inspiration. “When I came up here in 1978, I thought this was the kind of place I was looking for,” recalled Dzugan, who had been teaching in his hometown’s public schools since 1971. “Sitka was the place I wanted to move to.” Dzugan, 73, stayed in the city until 1979, after that fi rst trip had crystallized a plan. Over the next few years he built a new life in the north, working at fi shing, surveying and construction — and with local emergency medical technicians. His experience teaching led him into training fi rst responders on land. Meanwhile the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association was organized in the early 1980s, seeded with grant money from NOAA as part of a Coast Guard outreach effort to improve fi shing vessel safety. Dzugan was recruited to AMSEA’s board of directors, and then as its executive director. Over the coming years, AMSEA grew to put 24,000 people through its training programs, and became a go-to model

he never saw the ocean until she was 18 years old, but Jennifer Lincoln has established a strong bond with the sea and the commercial fi shing industry. “When I was in college, I went to Alaska for a summer internship,” says Lincoln. “It was only supposed to be that summer, but I met my husband. He was stationed there in the Air Force. We met in 1990 and got married in ’91.” In 1992, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health opened a field office in Alaska, and Lincoln began her career safeguarding the lives and health of fi shermen. “Part of my job was to read the newspapers and keep track of all work-related deaths in Alaska,” says Lincoln. “I knew that fi shing had the most deaths. And as an epidemiologist, I was looking for patterns related to those injuries. I come from a small town, and a lot of those values translate to the fi shing industry. I understand that the desire to do this work, fi shing, is generational, much like farming, and I wanted to look at this in ways that were relevant to fi shermen.” Lincoln looked at more than just numbers. She analyzed injuries and fatalities as they related to fi sheries

Continued on page 40

Continued on page 42

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Benjamin Platt

Jennifer Lincoln

By Nick Rahaim

ust when you think you know someone in the commercial fi shing industry, they’ll floor you with a backstory that seems straight out of a Hollywood movie. For Benjamin Platt, 59, Crescent City-based commercial fi sherman and president of the California Coast Crab Association, this backstory actually includes Hollywood. A climate-related spike in reported whale entanglements in Dungeness crab gear put California crabbers in the crosshairs of governmental regulators and environmental organizations in 2015. Since that time, Platt has taken a lead role in pushing back against draconian demands of litigious NGOs while also getting fi shermen and women to change their practices on the water to mitigate potential effects on migrating whales. He has also been an outspoken voice, giving interviews and penning opinion pieces that have been published in a variety of media outlets, including the San Francisco Chronicle. Through this advocacy, Platt has become one of the most recognizable names in West Coast fi sheries. But few know he’s also an accomplished artist and musician who worked in Hollywood set design as a painter and was the bassist for the Bottom Continued on page 44

December 2021 \ National Fisherman 37

COVER STORY

HIGHLINERS

Julie Decker Continued from page 36

of a fishing family in Southeast Alaska. Their kids grew up on the family boat, F/V McCrea, fishing in the summers. Sig attended the University of Southern California, and Helen went to the University of California at San Diego. In the summer of 2020, both Sig, 21, and Helen, 19, were seining on the F/V Vigilant with family friends. On a stop-off in Petersburg, they and two other crew members died in a car accident on the island. The other passengers were Ian Martin, 29, of Petersburg, and Dennis Lord, 37, of Elmira Heights, N.Y., who were fishing on the seiner Magnus Martens. The news rippled through the industry, causing an outpouring of support. In a summer studded with pandemic-related fears and coronavirus precautions onboard, a tragedy like this seemed almost unimaginable. “Julie and Gig will always be the most amazing parents,” says Marsh. “They would come to my boat, passing Sig and Helen over the rail. The deaths of Helen and Sig are painful, but the support of community from all over exemplifies how much good work and respect Julie has built over the years and that these values of family and community that Julie and Gig hold dear are real and long-lasting.” The accident propelled an existing plan for the Wrangell Mariners’ Memorial. Naturally, the Decker family had already been leading the way on arranging funding, planning and siting for the project, with Gig Decker serving on the board since 2017. Everyone in the industry knows Julie Decker, but not because she’s self-promoting. In fact, it’s the opposite. She is tirelessly committed to promoting the work and ingenuity of those around her.

Decker family photos

she was friendly, interesting and different. She enjoyed fishing and being in Alaska, yet we could talk about any topic. There was something mysteriously attractive about all that,” says Gig Decker. They finished the season together, harvesting salmon, then diving for cucumbers and urchins. After learning the cucumber and urchin dive fishery, the pair began working to set up the Southeast Alaska Regional Dive Fishery Association from their home port of Wrangell. In 1999, Decker became the association’s executive director, which garnered the experience of guiding an organization through early growing pains. Since then, Decker has dedicated her onshore time to promoting the interests of fisheries stakeholders and fishing communities. “Julie has always been dedicated to her family and community, and this shines through in her advocacy for Alaska’s fisheries and a bright vision for future generations and our coastal communities,” says longtime friend, commercial fisherman and Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute board member Tomi Marsh, of Ketchikan. In 1999, the Deckers married on Valentine’s Day and welcomed their son, Sig, that year. Their daughter, Helen, was born in 2001. In 2006, Decker joined the staff of Wrangell Seafoods, which was formed to take over the local seafood plant in the hopes of retaining the community’s vital processing capacity. The hurdles proved to be too high for an independent, fledgling company, and

Trident Seafoods purchased the operation in 2009-10. Soon thereafter, Decker served on the board of the nonprofit Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation. She was hired as the development director in 2011 and became executive director in 2014, a position she still holds. “Julie sees the larger picture in the many hats she wears, not only in the benefits for industry and the environment, but the socioeconomic benefits for coastal Alaska communities,” says Riley Smith, deputy director of the foundation. “She really cares about people, relationships and family, and it really shows.” The foundation has been integral to the evolution of the seafood industry through research and development since its founding in 1978, including the Alaska Mariculture Initiative in 2013. Under Decker’s leadership, that initiative led to the creation of the Alaska Mariculture Task Force by then-Gov. Bill Walker in 2016. Decker became the chairwoman of the task force in 2017.Their work produced the Alaska Mariculture Development Plan, which projects a $100 million-dollar Alaska industry in the next 20 years. “One of her greatest strengths that I’ve observed is her ability to bring the right people together to address common needs and move forward shared visions,” says Jeremy Woodrow, executive director of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. “Whether she is at the head of the table or not, she’s always a leader in the room. Our industry needs more people like Julie who are always looking to improve what we have and not settle for just ‘good enough.’” The Deckers have carried on the traditions

Helen Decker; Nina Schlossman of Global Food & Nutrition; Julie Decker; Sen. Lisa Murkowski; and seafood marketing consultant Pat Shanahan at the 2018 NOAA Fish Fry in Washington, D.C.

38 National Fisherman \ December 2021

With the kids seining on the F/V Vigilant for the season, the family gathered during a break between commercial openers. Gig, Helen, Sig and Julie Decker posed for a family snap in Wrangell on Father’s Day 2020.

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Julie presents Keith “Corky” Singleton and Alaska Leader Seafoods with an Alaska Symphony of Seafood award at Pacific Marine Expo in 2019.

Julie and Gig Decker met gillnetting for salmon. They raised their kids on the boat, fishing together in the summers.

“Julie is also the most gracious host and friend, she is always thinking of others, not in a self-serving way but because she likes people and their quirks,” says Marsh. “She can see connections and potential, and links people together because she knows they have common goals or will just enjoy each other. The table at Julie and Gig’s is always open with good food, drink, conversation, and laughter.” Decker’s natural penchant for bringing people together in collaboration has benefited the industry as a whole. “Julie Decker is a constant source of support and advocacy for Alaska’s seafood industry and our story of sustainability,” says Julianne Curry, Public Affairs manager for OBI Seafoods. Through the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, she took the reins of the Alaska Symphony of Seafood, which celebrates innovation in product development from Alaska’s commercial fisheries. Under her guidance, the annual competition has focused global attention on Alaska, seafood products, and innovation, including the introduction of a

new category called Beyond the Plate, promoting utilization of byproducts, which provides more value from the resource. “We are incredibly lucky to have Julie opening new doors for seafood product development to expand beyond traditional markets for Alaska seafood,” Curry says. “I’m incredibly grateful for all she has done to increase the value of Alaska seafood.” And the admiration is mutual. “I am grateful to know and work with incredible people, in a wholesome industry that deserves to be celebrated, not only for the superior food it supplies to the world, but also the embodiment of traditional values of family, hard work, responsibility to one another, and prudence for the environment,” says Decker. “The evolution of the seafood industry to integrate new opportunities in ways that benefit us all is the next challenge that I look forward to.” Jessica Hathaway is the editor of National Fisherman.

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December 2021 \ National Fisherman 39

COVER STORY

HIGHLINERS

Jerry Dzugan

40 National Fisherman \ December 2021

There is more widespread acceptance of the need to spend time and money on safety equipment and training, but training sessions show there is still a strong need for education.

we’re up and running, we do about 100 classes a year,” said Dzugan. Average class size now is around five, down from 10, ap-

of new crew coming up,” Dzugan noted. Now, with disruption from covid-19 and economic conditions, the industry is re-

“There seems to be more of a safety culture among younger people. They like training because it’s hands-on and a group activity.” — Jerry Dzugan, ALASKA MARINE SAFETY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

parently a function of both saturation — some 18,000 in Alaska have been trained — and fewer people in the industry. “In the 1980s and ’90s there were a lot

Alaska Marine Safety Education Association

for fishing communities and advocates working to save lives off their own coasts. That started when one of AMSEA’s safety instructor courses attracted someone from the NMFS observer office in Seattle, Dzugan recalled. “I realized this is not just an Alaska thing,” he said. “This need exists everywhere.” Now AMSEA instructor training sessions routinely bring in students from other states, “and then people started coming from other countries,” said Dzugan. When Congress worked on the 1988 Fishing Vessel Safety Act, Dzugan was tapped to be an adviser. With other advocates, he argued that mandatory safety training was needed. But there was heavy resistance in the industry, and Dzugan saw one reason why. “I realized they were shooting it down because they had no access” to training programs and resources, he recalled. “We realized we need to bring everyone in.” As AMSEA’s training programs and reputation grew, its influence spread to other coasts. After a disastrous January 1999 when four East Coast sea clamming vessels sank and took 10 lives in 13 days, the knowledge and experience of AMSEA was one of the first resources the industry and Coast Guard reached for. The Coast Guard convened its Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Task Force, drawing on government, industry and safety consultants from around the U.S. coasts. The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which pioneered the nation’s first individual transferable quota management system — in part to improve the surf clam fishery’s bad safety record in the 1980s — questioned if the system was safe enough. A safety surge ensued: More training and emergency drills for fishermen, Coast Guard vessel safety examiners walking the docks, new emphasis on properly maintaining life rafts, survival suits and emergency position locating beacons. The pandemic forced cutbacks in the instructor training schedule, but “when

Alaska Marine Safety Education Association

Continued from page 37

Jerry Dzugan down at the docks, where he can be found much of the year in ports nationwide.

porting problems recruiting, he added. On the positive side, “there seems to be more of a safety culture among younger people,” said Dzugan. “They like it (training) because it’s hands-on and a group activity.” During a National Transportation Safety Board online roundtable discussion on fishing safety Oct. 14, 2021, Dzugan talked about the other, long-term positive changes he’s seen. “There has been a sea change in the attitude of fishermen compared to 30 or 40 years ago when I started fishing,” Dzugan told the group. “It has not been a revolution.” There is greater acceptance of the need to spend money and time on equipment and training, but training sessions show there is still a strong need for education, he said. Fishermen “score about 60 percent before the test on simple basic items” about safety knowledge, Dzugan said. “So www.nationalfisherman.com

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comes to reducing” vessel casualties, said Morgan Turrell director of NTSB’s Office of Marine Safety. Dzugan responded that the Coast ivertrace – US Watermaker – Filtrex - Enecon – Guard should use more of its existing authority for checking vessels. He said one Greenoil Standard good example had been new efforts in Alaska to check and weigh crab pots — which is showing the gear often is heavier than expected, with all the implications for vessel stability. It has been more than 40 years since Jerry Dzugan is a constant presence at Pacific Marine Expo’s conference sessions in Seattle, including this safety session in 2019. Dzugan left the classroom, to now advisll new ing equipment for the below and more: federal safety agencies. Even at the motorcycle, “my prized possession,” ar“I know. I’m his son… I know all start, there was a fi shing connection. rived in Sitka. Soon he was making conabout you.” Back in Chicago in 1979, Dzugan had nections, walking the docks, and then fi shThe younger Jeff rey told Dzugan how told his department chairman, Earl Jeff rey, ing. The fi rst fi sherman he met was Moe his father had gone right to work in the aval, Riley-Beaird & ROUS Watermaker) of the decision to move north. Dzugan was Johnson. Chicago school system after college to supastonished when Jeff rey told him Sitka was Years later AMSEA was holding threeport his family, “and his dream was always hell- Alfa Laval, APV, Sondex, WCR) a good place. Jeff rey had worked in Alaska, day kids’ fi shing safety workshops for to be in Alaska.” fi shing during his college years, and gave teachers from Native villages, when Dzu“I said, ‘You’re living your father’s him the name of aSanitation) Native Alaskan cap- gan got a call from a teacher on Prince of dream.’” Mariner)& Ahead tain, Moe Johnson, he had fi shed with and Wales Island asking about the program. He “Exactly.” rine, Mahle, HeliSep, Village, Sigma, BOSS) knew well. asked the man’s name. And now, Dzugan added, “his father ekma, Shimadzu, “I put that inBilgmon) my hip pocket and “It’s Earl Jeff rey,” the teacher said. comes up every year.” thought, ‘I’m going to look this guy up “Wow, that’s such a coincidence, that Technical Marine & Industrial, LLC Kirk Moore theW associate editor for National when I get there,’” Dzugan recalled. was my former department chairman in 24121 56thisAve GEMENT (Alfa Laval, DeNora, Rivertrace) Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043 Fisherman. In May 1979 Dzugan and his BMW Chicago.” 206-717-4466

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Doug Stewart

RY TRAINED:

COVER STORY

HIGHLINERS

to a meeting of researchers and fi shermen, and there were people there who wanted to focus on dermatitis and crab asthma. I said and vessel types, so that solutions could be this is an industry where almost everyone tailored to the realities of how vessels and knows someone who has died in the last crew work. three years. We have to talk about what “I don’t believe in one size fits all,” she matters. If you’re talking to crabbers, you says. “I didn’t know fi shing, but I knew talk stability. If you’re talking to Bristol how to listen. It struck me when I went Bay gillnetters, you talk about man-overboard and how not to get tangled up in the gear.” Lincoln notes that while everyone hears about the major sinkings like the Destination or the Scandies Rose, crew members who fall overboard or suffer career-ending injuries don’t always Capt. Jennifer Lincoln speaking at Coast Guard Capt. Chris Woodley’s make the news. retirement and testifying during the NTSB Scandies Rose hearings. Jennifer Lincoln

NF File Photo

NIOSH

Continued from page 37

“We need to move down the scale of severity and talk about the important things at the right time,” says Lincoln. “For example, I went to a meeting of the Fishing Vessel Advisory Committee, which advises the Coast Guard on safety regulations, and there was a guy there, Jimmy Ruhle, from North Carolina, and he was really mad. We were talking about PFD research and he said, ‘Why don’t you give these life jackets to us, and let us tell you what we think?’” Lincoln listened to Ruhle (also an NF Highliner), and combined her statistical research with what fi shermen tell researchers about what will work for a crewman on deck. In addition to Alaska, Lincoln now works nationally, and her work inspired another pilot project to prevent man-overboard incidents in the Northeast lobster fi shery, called Lifejackets for Lobstermen. “One of the great things that came out of that PFD research was that a company

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called Kent Safety Products came up with a vest, called the Rogue Vest, based on the information NIOSH collected from fi shermen,” she says, adding that she would rather see vessel owners require life vests that work for their vessels and fi sheries than see a life jacket mandate at the federal level. She has also voiced concerned with how regulations can contribute to vessel loss, noting that some boats may take excessive risks to establish catch history prior to a fi shery being rationalized, or managed through individual fi shing quotas. “It might be useful to have someone knowledgeable at the table when regulators are making the rules,” she says. In addition to her work in Alaska and in other parts of the country, Lincoln is also recognized internationally. She has served on an Expert Consultation to the FAO on how fi sheries management affects safety. She is also leads the organization of the International Fishing Industry Safety and Health Conference (IFISH). While many fi shermen appreciate Lincoln’s work, she’s no stranger to industry pushback. “I was at a trade show and a fi sherman got mad at me because I suggested requiring safety training,” she recalls. “I can statistically demonstrate a decline in injuries from safety training. So he and I talked, and in the end he agreed that a free, eighthour safety training course was something he wanted.” She notes that safety training should also be refreshed. “If you took a course in the 1990s, you should update that, because technology and methods change.” While fi shing remains a dangerous occupation, NIOSH statistics show a general decline in fatalities and injuries. Lincoln has earned her recognition by being part of that positive change, and she is quick to point out that one of the key factors is that fi shermen’s attitudes toward safety are changing. “I was talking to an older fi sherman in Alaska,” says Lincoln. “And he thought it was because his generation of fi shermen got older, they started families and they became more concerned with safety.” To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

NIOSH

HIGHLINERS

Jennifer and her colleague Ted Teske walking the docks in Dutch Harbor enrolling participants in the NIOSH PFD study.

However we came to be here in the midst of changing attitudes about safety, we’re lucky to have leaders like Lincoln who support the industry with compassion for the people who are out there on the

boats in all kinds of weather. Paul Molyneaux is the Boats & Gear editor for National Fisherman and the author of “The Doryman’s Refl ection.”

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Benjamin Platt Continued from page 37

Feeders, a notable band in the 1990s Los Angeles punk rock scene. But the excesses of the rock n’ roll lifestyle left him homeless on the streets of LA with a drug and alcohol addiction. A near-fatal stab wound in 1997 left him temporarily disabled, but also put him on the path to recovery and a second chance at life. “I’m often reluctant to publicly talk about the depths of my addiction and my time living on the streets,” Platt says. “But I got lucky. I got a second chance. We all know people struggling with addiction in this industry. So if even just one person sees there is hope from my story and gets the help they need, then it’s worth it.” Newly sober, Platt was fishing out of a plastic kayak for live rock cod. Fast forward two decades, he now owns the 58-foot F/V Miss Heidi and fishes for Dungeness crab in California, Oregon and Washington; salmon in California and Oregon; pink shrimp in Oregon; and albacore tuna wherever the schools might take him. Platt spent his early years in Claremont, Calif., where his father, Buzz Platt, coached water sports at the Claremont Colleges, even having some swimmers make Olympic teams, Platt says. His father was also a veteran of the Korean War, but in the politically divided times of the 1960s, he took the side of students protesting the Vietnam War and was fired in 1969. He moved his family north to Point Arena, where he took up sheep herding, carpentry, and other odd jobs before settling on commercial fishing the following year. Platt began learning the trade salmon trolling with his father in 1971 when he was 9 years old. As he grew, he spent more time on boats and in different fisheries. When his senior year of high school came around, he stopped going to classes altogether to fish Dungeness crab on the California coast. He did end up graduating through continuation classes and was accepted to Humboldt State University where he studied art for four years, but kept fishing to support himself through college. “I wanted to be a comic book artist, 44 National Fisherman \ December 2021

but instead I became a sign painter,” he says with a chuckle. Platt started a sign painting business in Eureka in 1985. This was before digital design and high-quality screen printing took over, so business was good. But in 1988, at 26 years old, he aspired to be a rock star and moved to Los Angeles to pursue the dream. He formed the Bottom Feeders with three others and took the stage name “Ben Halen.” The group got signed by a record label, cut albums, and took their irreverent punk rock on tour through the United States with Platt on the bass. But they remained underground and couldn’t live off their music alone. After another stint sign painting, Platt landed a job as a scene and sketch artist in the film industry, working on mostly music videos and commercials. Over the years, he was an artist working on sets of some of

“I thought I was going to die. I thought I was going to bleed out right there,” he says. But someone on the street made the emergency call and stuck around. Paramedics were able to get him to the hospital for live saving-treatment. When he was healthy enough to be discharged, Platt was checked into a drug rehabilitation center in Mendocino County near his family. “LA just about killed me. I had to get the hell out of there,” he says. The stabbing also caused nerve damage, rendering him unable to play bass. But as he recovered from his wounds and addiction, he was able to get day passes to leave rehab and go fishing with his dad. He still had limited use of his left hand, but the fine motor skills needed to bait hooks and run fishing gear acted as physical therapy and allowed him to slowly regain his strength and dexterity.

“I got lucky. I got a second chance. We all know people struggling with addiction in this industry. So if even just one person sees there is hope from my story and gets the help they need, then it’s worth it.” — Ben Platt, F/V MISS HEIDI

the 1990s top musicians, including Michael Jackson, Lenny Kravitz, Rod Stewart and Paula Abdul, he says. He even traveled to Martha Stewart’s Connecticut home to install a mural of the Venus de Milo on the bottom of her pool. He also worked on the sets of commercials that appeared during the Super Bowl. There was a dark side to the glamor of being a punk rocker in Hollywood. After years of maintaining work even with his excesses, his drinking and drug use got out of control. He would find himself out of work, and soon after out of the band in 1997. For nearly a year he lived on the streets of LA, in and out of jail, always looking for the next high. But one night a fight broke out in the alley where he was living, and Platt was stabbed through his back left shoulder and left arm, severing a main artery, he says. Typically, no one called 911 in those situations, with most wanting to avoid police at all costs.

“Fishing really helped me,” he says. Shortly after Platt was released from rehab, his father got sick and died suddenly in 1998. He was able to avoid falling back to drugs and alcohol through this time of grief. He took over his father’s 16-foot aluminum skiff to fish live rock cod out of Fort Bragg, but that sank after it took on water getting too close to a reef in a large winter swell. So, he started commercial fishing out of a kayak for almost a year before upgrading to a Boston Whaler. In 1999, he upgraded to a fiberglass salmon troller and started entering new fisheries. For the next decade he would fish hard, save, and invest his income into larger boats and fishing permits, expanding his business. He purchased the F/V Sea Star, a 47-foot wood boat, in 2010. Then he bought the 50-foot Seeadler in 2018 but continued to fish the Sea Star until the new boat came out of the Fashion Blacksmith boatyard at 58 feet long and 24 feet www.nationalfisherman.com

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Platt bought the 50-foot Seeadler, then had her lengthened, sponsoned to 58' x 24' and renamed at Fashion Blacksmith in Crescent City, Calif.

Platt started commercial fishing from a skiff and a kayak. Today, he runs the 58-foot Miss Heidi, named for his wife.

in beam in the fall of 2019, renamed the Miss Heidi. It’s the last boat he’ll own, he says. Through the years of building his operation, he also moved around the California coast, from Fort Bragg to Half Moon Bay in 2011, then to Bodega Bay in 2015, having bought a house inland near Santa Rosa. When the Miss Heidi was launched, Platt and his wife, Heidi, made another move to Crescent City, where they are now based. And while he bounced around fi shing ports, he still maintained a growing presence in fi sheries politics. When his father passed, Buzz Platt was the president of the Salmon Trollers Marketing Association of Fort Bragg and was its representative at Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. He was also a member of the Pacific Fishery Management Council groundfi sh advisory panel. Ben Platt said it was through his father that he learned the value of being engaged in fi sheries management and advocating for the interests of fi shermen. In 2006, Platt fi rst took a leadership role, acting as the spokesman for the Salmon Trollers Marketing Association of Fort Bragg in a lawsuit they attempted to bring against the federal government for diverting Klamath River water to farmers and ranchers, resulting in mass salmon die-off s. Those die-off s resulted in a complete closure for one season and heavy restriction for two, he says. From that time, he became active with PCFFA, staying involved in a variety of West Coast fi sheries. When the Dungeness crab fi shery started making headlines for whale entanglement, Platt became one of the most outspoken defenders of California crabbers, and was critical of the legal settlement agreed to by the Center for Biological Diversity, California Fish and Wildlife, and PCFFA. Seeing the need for an organization run by crabbers and for crabbers, Platt was among a group of fi shermen who launched the California Coast Crab Association in 2019 to advocate full time for the fi shery. In his current leadership role, Platt has led the charge to inform the public that crabbers do not pose a threat to recovering whale populations. He

also helped launch a coastwide lost-gear clean-up at the end of the fi shing season. “If we can’t save Dungeness crab, the whole of our fi sheries won’t survive,” he says, referring to the economic clout Dungeness crab has in northern California. Platt witnessed the fall of timber and groundfi sh and saw how the industrial loss led to economic decay and social plight in small coastal communities. “I can’t bear to see that again,” he says. While he’s pushing 60, Platt doesn’t see himself slowing down anytime soon, there’s still many fi sh to catch, battles to be fought, and bridges to be built.

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Nick Rahaim is a writer and commercial fi sherman based in Monterey, Calif. Check out his website, outside-in.org, and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @nrahaim.

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BRI DWYER PHOTO

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BOATS & GEAR

facebook.com/relentlesslbi

FISHERMEN’S FRIENDS

Captain’s

CHOICE What’s in your wheelhouse? We asked the experts to name their must-haves By Paul Molyneaux

n every fishery and on every boat, captains have some electronics that are their go-to for making a safe and profitable trip. Owen Smith had a close call with his 80-foot scallop boat Relentless late this past summer. He managed to keep his electronics safe, including his favorites. Heading out for an 11-day trip on Aug. 29, a saltwater intake line broke

48 National Fisherman \ December 2021

and quickly flooded the engine room. Luckily he was only four miles out from Barnegat Light, N.J., and managed to get the boat back to his dock, where he beached her with no major losses. “I have two Olex bottom builders,” says Smith. “Down here it doesn’t matter so much. But in New England, where you have rocky bottom, up in the Nantucket area you’ve got sand dunes, and up in the channel you’ve got all that crazy stuff on the bottom, the

Owen Smith relies on a suite of electronics, particularly his two Olex bottom builders, to keep the Relentless on the scallops and out of the rock piles.

Olex creates a visual picture. And you can actually roll it three-dimensionally, so it’s like you’re going through these canyons.” The Olex bottom builder is something Smith doesn’t like to be without, and that’s why he has two. He has one connected to a Furuno GPS, the other to a Northstar GPS. “One is 12volt, the other is 24-volt,” Smith says. “We’re doing the redundancy thing, so if we lose one, we still have the other.” Smith also likes to have two systems because he has noticed that position coordinates of wrecks and other hangs can vary, depending on the GPS. “There’s something about their internal calculations,” he says. “If somebody gives you numbers for a wreck and they’re using a Furuno system, www.nationalfisherman.com

BOATS & GEAR

Owen Smith

FISHERMEN’S FRIENDS

When scalloping on hard bottom, Owen Smith runs two Olex bottom builder machines, this one with a windplot and Furuno Navnet 3 overlay.

“I have two Olex bottom builders. The Olex creates a visual picture. And you can actually roll it three-dimensionally, so it’s like you’re going through these canyons.” — Owen Smith, F/V RELENTLESS

another transducer that is connected to his Furuno Navnet 3. “We really like them, when you find a little hole or a neat looking little groove you can say, oh they’re hiding there. I remember a couple of times in that Nantucket area, you can sneak in

Jake Smith

Owen Smith

those numbers might be dead on if you have a Furuno system, too. But if you’re using the Northstar set-up, you might be off as much as a quarter mile.” Smith keeps both Olex systems running all the time, reading soundings from a Furuno 293 sounder and

The scalloper Relentless has seen many electronics upgrades in her 43 years fishing out of Barnegat Light, N.J. To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

Owen Smith loves that the Olex has the ability to roll into 3-D so he can maneuver through rockpiles like these near Nantucket.

and find places where there’s a lot of scallops.” Smith actually picked up on the bottom mapping idea from a 2002 NF article, when the Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, scallopers were pioneering the technology. Almost 20 years later, few scallop boats are without a bottom building system. For Ronald Dufrene, who fishes his 103-foot shrimp boat Mister Jug out of Lafitte, La., the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico offers little in the way of topography, but plenty of obstacles in the form of wrecks and decommissioned oil rigs turned into reefs. “We like our Furuno split-beam color sounder,” Dufrene says of his Furuno FCV 295 sounder. “It’s got 200 and 50 kc. We have P-Sea WindPlot for navigation, two Furuno radars. I got a Lowrance side-scan sonar. It’s actually made for a bass boat. I’d like to get a bigger one. StructureScan, it’s called. It shows a lot of stuff on the bottom.” Dufrene makes two-week trips that take him, and his crew of three or four, all over the gulf, and he has a satellite phone and satellite TV. “Can’t do without that Direct TV when we’re gone from home so long,” he says. Dufrene, whose little community was swamped by Hurricane Ida in early September, helped his father build the Mister Jug in 1980 and has fished the boat since then. He knows the bottom and could probably fish blind. “After 42 years, you could point at a spot on the map, and I could tell you the depth of the water,” he says. The two devices Dufrene really counts on are his P-Sea WindPlot for keeping him off the wrecks and rigs to reefs, and his split beam sounder. “The sounder actually sees activity on bottom,” he says. “If we see some activity, we’ll slow down and make a little sample try with a small net.” Dufrene catches mostly white shrimp and brown shrimp, landing anywhere from 40,000 to 60,000 pounds per trip. Since 2015, Dufrene has been required to have AIS on his vessel and he December 2021 \ National Fisherman 49

BOATS & GEAR

Ronald Dufrene photos

FISHERMEN’S FRIENDS

For more than 40 years, Ronald Dufrene has fished the 103-foot Mister Jug, which he helped his father build in 1980.

Dufrene uses a Lowrance StructureScan to avoid wrecks and old oil rigs, fishing out of Lafitte, La.

Dufrene with his grandson in the wheelhouse of the Mister Jug, Dufrene’s two boys went shrimping with him when they were young.

is not too happy about it. “It cost me a lot of money to figure out how to fish this bottom without tearing up our equipment. Now, other people can follow our track and just go right back on it.” While Gulf of Mexico hurricanes pile a lot of bad weather into a single

punch, in the Bering Sea the challenges are amplified by foul weather so frequent people just have to get used to fishing in it. TJ Durnan runs the Alaska Spirit for O’Hara Corp., and his wheelhouse has a suite of electronics that would rival a NASA rocket. “It will look like that when it’s done,”

says Durnan. “You know the history of the Alaska Spirit, right?” The O’Hara Corp. bought the 230-foot, 47-year old dragger in 2017 and has been upgrading the vessel every year. “The wheelhouse is next,” says Durnan. “But right now she’s still that 1960s style, and everything is sort of patched together.” While the configuration awaits a modern wheelhouse, Durnan has all the electronics he needs to fi nd fish and avoid bycatch. “It’s a pretty standard trawl complement, really,” says Durnan. “The heart of it, obviously, is the fish fi nders. Our primary sounder is a Simrad ES80, that’s a split beam. It’ll do a biomass calculation for you, but for most of what we fish for, which is sole, they are not very sounder friendly.” According to Durnan, the flatfish that he mostly targets lack swim bladders and are close to bottom. “Even at 1.28 milliseconds, you still have like a 4-inch dead zone, so two fish or even three can mark as one fish. So what you see as a 42-centimeter fish could be two 30-centimeter fish overlapping. It’s really most accurate when we are targeting Pacific ocean perch, or Atka mackerel. But I rely on that one more than any other.” Durnan’s ES80 can send pulses between 200 and 50 kHz, or lower, and he monitors each frequency on its own screen.

“If we see some activity, we’ll slow down and make a little sample try with a small net.” — Owen Smith, F/V RELENTLESS

The workhorse of Dufrene’s wheelhouse is his Furuno split screen sounder, which he uses to spot activity that could mean shrimp. 50 National Fisherman \ December 2021

www.nationalfisherman.com

BOATS & GEAR

FISHERMEN’S FRIENDS

“Our primary sounder is a Simrad ES80, that’s a split beam. It’ll do a biomass calculation for you.” — TJ Durnan, F/V ALASKA SPIRIT

O’Hara Corp.

“Our highest frequency on the Spirit is 120 kHz, and then 38 kHz on the low end,” says Durnan. “We also have two Furuno FCV 1200s. I know the frequency on one is 50kHz. In total I have four screens I’m looking at,” says Durnan. “The two for the Simrad, and each of the Furuno’s has its own display.” While he has pretty much gotten skilled in analyzing what he’s seeing, Durnan admits he has gotten fooled. “The big boner in the Bering Sea is getting a big bag of Pacific ocean perch instead of pollock, because that comes off the directed fishery quota. I was thinking, who can’t tell the difference between pollock and POP, but then I went out and did the same damn thing, because they’ll present almost the same as pollock. But you know, for the most part, we have a good idea what we’re looking at.” A few other machines vital for catching fish and reducing bycatch are the Alaska Spirit’s net monitoring and bottom building systems. On the net monitoring, Durnan has been working

TJ Durnan brought the SmartCatch video system from the O’Hara boat Constellation to the company’s Alaska Spirit when he took over running her.

SmartCatch

O’Hara Corp.

with a California company called, SmartCatch, which makes a video monitoring system that can help reduce bycatch. “We were the first to implement that in Alaska, on the Constellation,” says, Durnan, who ran O’Hara’s Constellation prior to taking over the Alaska Spirit. “I brought all that equipment with me to the Alaska Spirit. It’s amazing what the video will show you compared to the acoustic net monitor. That’s the big promising thing down the road for bycatch reduction.”

When he skippered the Constellation, TJ Durnan used SmartCach video cameras to reduce bycatch. To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

Durnan now runs the Alaska Spirit, and is looking forward to a comprehensive electronics setup in the new wheelhouse.

In addition, Durnan works some hard-bottom areas in the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutians, and uses a couple of bottom building programs. “Our main system is the ECC Globe System,” says Durnan. ECC, the Electric Chart Company, sells bathymetric charts and the Globe terrain building systems. In addition, Durnan has an Olex bottom building system for backup. On the crew comfort side, the Alaska Spirit has satellite internet that its 50-person crew can access at various times of day. “We turn it on for a couple of hours on either side of the shift changes, so they can check email and Facebook,” says Durnan. “You can’t keep crew without it.” Durnan has gotten used to it, too. “Gone are the days of trying to find the BBC on the sideband to see if there’s still a world out there.” There is still a world, and captains all around the U.S. coasts are using their preferred tools to catch the fish that feed it. Paul Molyneaux is the Boats & Gear editor for National Fisherman and author of “The Doryman’s Reflection.” December 2021 \ National Fisherman 51

FEATURE

GEAR PROFILE

Take back the control Mitsubishi preserves the mechanical engine option

By Brian Hagenbuch ost commercial fishermen specialize in mechanical skills and are the first to admit they’re not computer scientists. Many, in fact, are on the water to avoid the trappings of technology.They can fix an engine but are left in the lurch with a computer glitch. While most manufacturers are turning out complex, electronically controlled engines to meet the escalating demands of EPA emissions regulations, Mitsubishi is putting the control back in the capable hands of fishermen. The Japanese engine manufacturer is turning out EPA-compliant engines in Tier 1 through Tier 4 with simple, mechanical controls. The engines, available from 429 to 1,686 horsepower, grabbed the attention of industry pillars like Fred Wahl of Fred Wahl Marine Construction in Reedsport, Ore., and veteran Alaska fisherman, Buck Laukitis. “When those computers go down, you’re shut down,” said Laukitis. “You can’t fish, and you’re just waiting. Reliability is a big deal.” Laukitis just completed his third season on the Wahl-built F/V Halcyon, a 58-foot vessel that’s powered by Mitsubishi’s S6R engine, a 630-horsepower engine that runs at 1,600

52 National Fisherman \ December 2021

rpm. He said the S6R has lived up to its billing as a simple, reliable engine, and he found the fuel efficiency to be a nice surprise. And the biggest advantage may be yet to come: Laukitis noted that a rebuild on the mechanical engine

“When those computers go down, you’re shut down. You can’t fish, and you’re just waiting. Reliability is a big deal.” — Buck Laukitis, F/V HALCYON

should be far simpler than one with electronic controls. Another satisfied fishing customer is Lars Vinjerud II, who runs Fleet Fisheries out of New Bedford, Mass. Vinjerud’s 106-foot Viking Power runs Mitsubishi’s S12R engine, and it is the third boat he’s had with Mitsubishi engines. His experience led him to choose Mitsubishi again when it came time to replace the engines on some of his lobster boats. “The mechanical engine… and they’re reasonably priced,”Vinjerud said. Paul Strasser runs a pair of S6Rs on the F/V Independence, a 112-foot boat he relies on to safely shuttle 30 or more fishing guests down the Baja California Peninsula from San Diego. Strasser said the 630-horsepower Mitsubishi outperforms the 700-hp 1,800-rpm engines that he replaced — and here we find another Mitsubishi advantage. As electronic engines have proliferated, competitors have increased horsepower with smaller-displacement engines. In the 600-hp class, for example, most competitor engines offer the 600-hp with only 18- to 19-liter displacement engines. This means they are demanding about 33 horsepower per liter out of their engines to produce 600 horsepower (600 hp/18 = 33 hp/L). In contrast, the Mitsubishi S6R pulls its 630 horses out of 24.5 liters, which means they are only taking 25.7 Buck Laukitis drives the Halcyon with the 630-hp Mitsubishi S6R for reliability and efficiency in remote regions of Alaska.

Hatton Marine

LaBorde Products

Lars Vinjerud’s 106-foot Viking Power harvests scallops out of New Bedford, Mass., running on the Mitsubishi S12R.

www.nationalfisherman.com

FEATURE

horsepower per liter (630hp/24.5 = 25.7 hp/L). Other engines in this class are working harder — 27 percent harder — and that extra load takes a toll. Bigger displacements equate to longer running and more reliable engines. Another point: Most continuousduty fishing boats run at 1,800 rpm, while some Mitsubishi engines are available as low as 1,400 rpm. This means slower piston speeds, less wear and tear on the pistons, and more hours out of the engine. Mitsubishi now has Cascade Engine Center distributing for the West Coast, Alaska, and Hawaii. Cascade’s network of dealers, which includes at least one in each state, provide sales and service support in that region. “There’s a lot of interest in a fully mechanical solution, as opposed to what’s out there now,” said Dave Conrad, manager of Cascade’s marine division. “Fishermen are looking to have a simplified solution.” Mitsubishi also has Laborde Products, covering the Gulf of Mexico and the East Coast, along with inland waterways. Outside the United States, on Canada’s Pacific side is Frontier Power, with Sansom Equipment covering Canada’s Atlantic dealings. Mitsubishi’s distributor and dealer coverage across the U.S. and Canada allows for parts and service support that is strategically positioned to meet the needs of all customers. Beyond the spare parts available from dealers and distributors across the nation, they can be ordered from warehouses in the United States and Japan. Brian Hagenbuch is the Products editor for National Fisherman.

Hatton Marine

GEAR PROFILE

The San Diego-based charter boat Independence relies on twin 630-hp Mitsubishi SR6s, which the owner says outperform the twin 700-hp engines they replaced.

Mitsubishi Turbocharger and Engine America (MTEA) is responsible for the distribution of Mitsubishi Marine Propulsion Engines in the Americas, including Canada, Mexico, and Central and South America. MTEA is a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engine Turbocharger, LTD, a Global Corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and a major division of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Mitsubishi has been manufacturing marine diesel engines for more than 70 years. For more information about our Mitsubishi marine engine line-up and distributor network, visit our website at www.mitsubishi-engine.com.

MITSUBISHI RELIABLE MECHANICAL MARINE ENGINES 429hp-1676hp

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

Booth 1439

December 2021 \ National Fisherman 53

BOATS & GEAR

AROUND THE YARDS

NORTHEAST

Boatshop finishes Maine’s newest patrol boat; 23-footer has been generating a lot of interest By Michael Crowley

arrin’s Boatshop in Walpole, Maine, launched the Endeavor on Aug. 1. It’s a boat Maine fishermen will undoubtedly encounter now and then, because the Endeavor is the Maine Department of Marine Resources’ newest patrol boat. She replaces the Monitor, a 35-foot Young Brothers that caught fi re on Feb. 24, 2020, at the Department of Marine Resources dock in Boothbay Harbor. The Endeavor is a 42 Calvin with an 800-hp MAN that pushes her to a 21-knot cruising speed and a top speed over 25 knots, says Bruce Farrin of

Jon Johansen

Farrin’s Boatshop. When the Endeavor is checking out lobster traps, she has a 17-inch hydraulic pot hauler, and for serious pursuit work there’s a 14-foot, hard-bottom inflatable. “That sucker goes over 50,” Farrin notes. A deck winch hauls the inflatable back aboard through the open transom. The boat Farrin’s Boatshop is currently building, he describes as “an interesting one.” It’s a 42 Mussel Ridge lengthened to 46' x 15' for a customer in the Santa Barbara and Ventura stretch of the California coastline. It’s an area, says Farrin, “we have sent quite a few boats to.”

The Endeavor, built by Farrin’s Boatshop, is the Maine Department of Marine Resources newest patrol boat.

54 National Fisherman \ December 2021

From the main aft-bulkhead forward “it will be nicely fi nished, like for a family cruiser,” he says. But step out of the wheelhouse into the cockpit, and there will be a 14-inch hauler, a fish hold and a live-well bait tank; that’s because while the boat’s owner is a businessman, “his hobby is fishing crab traps.” The boat should be completed by fall 2022 with a 1,150-hp Cat for power. Sargent’s Custom Boats in Milbridge, Maine, launched a 45 Dixon for a Vinalhaven, Maine, lobsterman the second week of August. The True North is built with all composite materials and “has one of our own custom tops,” says the boatyard’s Joe Sargent. “We don’t do molded tops. They really restrict you on what you can do with the boat.” Instead of the usual Dixon molded top, the crew at Sargents pulled the main bulkhead back “and built a traditional Downeast-style top, like we do on every boat we build.” That’s part of a split wheelhouse, while back aft is an open transom with a tailgate. Beneath the deck is space for 40 crates of lobsters in three separate tanks. “The most I’d done prior was 22,” Sargent says, but the Dixon being a deep boat allowed him to stack crates two high. The True North’s 800-hp MAN gives the 45-footer a 25-knot top-end speed. After the True North was launched, Sargent’s Custom Boats began building a 42 Mussel Ridge for a lobsterman in nearby Lamoine. The second week in September the forward cabin was nearly completed, and a 1,000-hp FPT was sitting on its beds. “Oh man, they want to go fast,” noted Sargent. A lifting strake was added to the bottom of the hull, “to help pick her up a little more. Break her free of the water a little bit.” Like the True North, the 42 Mussel is 100 percent composite construction. “Everybody’s going 100 percent with us,” says Sargent. “Then they can have the boat the rest of their lives if they want to. Otherwise every www.nationalfisherman.com

BOATS & GEAR

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15 years, you’ve got to tear it apart and replace everything.” On a smaller scale, Sargent has been receiving “plenty of inquiries” for the 23-foot Crowley Beal, whose mold he acquired. So far, all but one of the hulls pulled from the mold has left as a kit boat. The one that Sargent’s Custom Boats fi nished was the Miss Christina for a lobsterman in Owls Head, Maine, with a 170-hp Suzuki outboard. “It has a small wheelhouse and looks like a little lobster boat,”

Sargent’s Custom Boats

The 23-footer has a reputation for being a good boat in tough weather. Sargent was recently out in “some hellacious weather” while hauling traps.

The Miss Christina, a Crowley Beal 23-foot lobster boat fishing out of Owls Head, will be powered by a 170-hp Suzuki outboard.

Sargent says. The 23-footer has a reputation for being a good boat in tough weather. Sargent was recently out in “some

hellacious weather” while hauling traps. It was blowing in the 20s, and he remembers it as “pretty snotty outside. It was rough, but she handles it good.”

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BOATS & GEAR

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SOUTH

Hurricane Ida’s mess still a long way from fixed; Maryland celebrates wood and wind power with races By Larry Chowning

though, was that we were all safe.” The boatyard fared even better, as there was no major damage, and the two boats at the yard under repair and construction were unscathed. A shrimp boat was at the yard for installation of new rigging and a nearly completed new-construction, 100-foot charter boat were both safe.

“Many of the boats are near the edge of the water, but are also in places where it is going to be hard to get heavy equipment to.”

Hurricane Ida left many Louisiana shrimp boats high and dry.

errebonne Parish, La., is home to a large portion of the state’s commercial shrimp boat fleet. On Aug. 29, winds from Hurricane Ida left many in the fleet high and dry on the bayou marshes. Robbie Portier of Portier Fabrication of Chauvin, La., in Terrebonne Parish was home with his family when Ida hit. “I was cooking a pot of jambalaya when the worst (of the storm) hit,” he says. “I really shouldn’t tell you that, but we had done everything we could to prepare at home and at the boatyard. We were just home waiting.” The Portier family had cleaned out a large closet under the stairway at their home and padded the walls with mattresses. The family, which includes four children between the ages of 10 and 17, crawled into the closet and rode out the storm.

“When it was over, 90 percent of the roof on my home was compromised, and water was running down the sheetrock walls in most of the rooms,” says Portier. “The main thing,

56 National Fisherman \ December 2021

The area’s shrimping fleet was not so fortunate, says Portier. “I know where there are at least 10 shrimp boats in the marshes, and I think I’m going to reach out to the insurance companies to let them know I’m available to help,” he says. At his yard, Portier does not use a traditional railway or boat lift to launch boats. He rolls vessels into the water using rubberized cylinder-shaped airbags. The deflated airbags are maneuvered under the boats and then blown up. “Many of the boats are near the

Hannah Straub

Robbie Portier

— Robbie Portier, PORTIER FABRICATION

The 62nd annual Deal Island Skipjack races were held on Monday, Sept. 6. www.nationalfisherman.com

BOATS & GEAR

AROUND THE YARDS

edge of the water, but are also in places where it is going to be hard to get heavy equipment to,” says Portier. “I think we can get these boats safely back in the water by using my airbags.” This was no ordinary hurricane, says Portier. “My buddy was hanging onto his boat looking at his wind gauge, when the gauge showed wind speed at 170 mph, and then the wind gauge blew away,” says Portier. “It was one hell of a storm.” Portier reported in mid-September he still had no electricity at his home or at the boatshop, and he says he has been told it could be October before current would be turned back on. “When something like this comes through, the thing you worry the most about is if everyone is safe. The rest can be fi xed,” he says. Moving up to Deal Island, Md., the 62nd annual Labor Day Deal Island Skipjack Races were held on Monday, Sept. 6. Capt. Wade Murphy of Tilghman Island, Md., in the sloop/skipjack rigged Rebecca T. Ruark, won in the Working Skipjack Class. The vessel is the oldest sailing dredge boat on the bay and in 2003 was named to the National Historic Landmark list by the U.S. Department of the Interior. The skipjack was built at Taylor’s Island, Md., in 1896. Captain Wade, at 80 years old, is the oldest working skipjack captain in the race. He was assisted by his son Captain Wade Murphy Jr. Over the years, Rebecca T. Ruark has been a traditional winner at the Deal Island races. Capt. Jerry Ormsby of Onancock, Va., was at the helm of the skipjack Messenger, which took fi rst place overall in the race. The Messenger was formerly named Charlotte E. Foster, a three-sail bateau built for pleasure in 1975 by Fred Davis at Richardson Boatyard in Lloyds, Md. She was rebuilt in 2016-17 and reconfigured into a skipjack. On another skipjack note, the 45' x 15.8' City of Crisfield is at Scott’s Cove Marina in Chance, Md., undergoing To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

a complete restoration. The skipjack was built in 1949 by C.H. Rice and his son, Ed, at Reedville, Va. She was owned for many years by the legendary Captain Art Daniels Jr., who purchased the vessel in 1951 and owned it until his death in 2017. After his death, his family gifted the vessel to the Skipjack Heritage Inc. in Chance, Md. Formed in 2007 as a nonprofit organization with a goal of preserving

the history and heritage of the bay’s skipjack, the group’s main project is restoration of the City of Crisfield. Maryland’s skipjack fleet is the last working sailing fleet in the United States. For conservation efforts, Maryland’s General Assembly has passed laws over the years restricting the use of motor-powered vessels in the state’s oyster dredge fishery. This has encouraged the sailing skipjacks to sail on!

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December 2021 \ National Fisherman 57

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WEST

Washington boatshop is back in the game; Bristol Bay gillnetter gets first Hill waterjet By Michael Crowley

t Rozema Boat Works in Mt. Vernon, Wash., the boatbuilding projects are very different than they were a year ago. That’s when Rozema Boat Works’ Dirk Rozema thought he had some deals for Bristol Bay boats. What happened next, he remembers, “was a hesitancy among some of the buyers. They were nervous about parts and pieces and what if we had to shut down,” and they backed out. He refers to it as the “covid hesitancy.” Now, “that hesitancy appears to be going away in a big way, and some of the guys who backed off are back. We’re back in the fishing business in a big way.” That explains signing contracts by

Rozema Boatworks

the third week in September for three aluminum Bristol Bay gillnetters, as well as two — and maybe more — seine skiffs. The 32' x 15' Bristol Bay gillnetters are an elevated pilothouse design with the house aft. That allows the gillnet reel to slide stern to bow beneath the pilothouse for setting off the stern and hauling back over the bow. Two of the reels are from Maritime Fabrications and one from Kinematics Marine Equipment. The gillnetters will be powered with twin 600-hp Cummins 8.3 diesels matched up with UltraJet 340HTs. That power combination should get them into the “upper 30-knots,” says Rozema, and allow them to carry 10,000 pounds on

Rozema Boatworks completed this raised-pilothouse Bristol Bay gillnetter in spring 2020. The three gillnetters currently under construction will be nearly identical.

58 National Fisherman \ December 2021

plane. Beneath the deck hatches, “there’s easy storage for 20,000 pounds,” to be kept chilled with a 10-ton RSW system. Accommodations in the fo’c’sle include four berths, dinette table, galley, refrigerator, propane stove, sink and engine room access. One of the supporting pilothouse towers has a head and shower. The other is for storage and engine room access. Rozema calls the skiffs “the Rozema classic 20-foot skiff. It’s been well proven.” Both 20' x 15' skiffs are powered with a single 330-hp John Deere 6068 with a steerable Kort nozzle and a 28inch fixed propeller in a tunnel. One of the skiffs will be fishing Southeast Alaska and the other Prince William Sound. Aliotti Enterprises in Bellingham, Wash., is another builder of aluminum gillnetters with boats to build. Work has started on four Bristol Bay gillnetters that will be completed by the 2022 Bristol Bay season. As of the third week in September, three of the boats had been sold, and one was still available. The 32' x 15' 6" house-forward design remains very much unchanged from the Aliotti Enterprises gillnetters built the past couple of years, with one major exception for two of the boats. These will be dual-purpose boats. When not gillnetting, they will be going crabbing, says Aliotti Enterprises’ Tom Aliotti. The changeover that’s required consists of quickly installing hauling davits, removing the gillnet reel and plugging in the hydraulics for crabbing. Seattle Marine “is doing all our hydraulic packages to make it more multifunctional, so we can set it up easy for crabbing.” On the hull’s starboard side is a shield to protect the hull when hauling pots. Aliotti doesn’t know how many crab pots will go on the deck. “We haven’t figured that out yet, but we’ll know shortly.” Hold space for crabs shouldn’t be an issue as “we’ve got lots of hold space with PacWest RSW,” says Aliotti. A pair of 530-hp FPT EVO diesels matched up with waterjets will provide www.nationalfisherman.com

BOATS & GEAR

Aliotti Enterprises

AROUND THE YARDS

The Aliotti Enterprises shop floor shows three of the new gillnetters. The one on the left is completed. The two next to it were under construction, as of the end of September.

the power for each of the four gillnetters. The waterjets on two gillnetters will be Ultrajet 340HTs; one gillnetter will carry Doen jets, and one gillnetter

will be the fi rst to pack a pair of the new Hi400 jets from Hill Innovations, which were designed by Leonard Hill. The advantage of the Hi400 jet over

a high-speed jet is increased thrust, says Hill Innovations’ Jason Hill.The gillnetter powered with the Hi400 “is not going any faster than the boats with the highspeed jets, but between 15 and 20 knots there’s 25 to 30 percent more thrust.” He estimates that the Hi400 jet on the Aliotti gillnetter “will increase the total weight on-step by 5,000 to 7,500” pounds more than what a gillnetter with high-speed jets can pack. “What we are doing with the Hi400 is giving more reliability and better weight carrying on plane with less power.” Fo’c’sle accommodation space includes room for four bunks, a full galley with refrigerator and freezer, a dinette table, along with a large TV in the galley. Besides the current Bristol Bay building projects, Aliotti says he’s trying to “get into other markets for other fisheries, but that’s in the developmental stage.”

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BOATS & GEAR

PRODUCT ROUNDUP

Major props Propspeed’s foul-release coating for commercial vessels By Brian Hagenbuch

ew Zealand’s Propspeed, an underwater coatings leader, is looking to expand its presence in the commercial market with the new Commercial Kit, which includes enough coating for more than 153 square feet of metal surface below the waterline. Propspeed’s CEO Chris Baird said the new, larger kit came from more and more interest from larger commercial boats, including fishing vessels. “We’ve seen tremendous interest in our product line in the commercial space. Whether a fishing boat, ferry, tug or luxury yacht, owners, operators and shipyards around the world are applying Propspeed for the protection from growth and corrosion it provides. We decided to offer our established product in a more convenient package for these

vessels and look forward to making it just a little easier for marine industry professionals to purchase and apply the best foul-release coating,” Baird said. Propspeed’s ultraslick coating is designed to prevent marine growth and corrosion on metal in propellers, as well as struts and shafts and other underwater metals. The coating, which includes an etching primer and a clear coat, bonds to metal surfaces, making them slick and growth-free. This helps achieve optimal speed, save on fuel, and prevent the spread of invasive aquatic species from region to region. Many fishermen have been using Propspeed as an easy way to increase efficiency. Andrew Stark, CEO for Ocean Fisheries, said Propspeed has become routine maintenance for the vessels in his fleet.

The underwater coating improves efficiency.

“The benefits of Propspeed are definitely noticeable in terms of a much cleaner propeller when we haul the vessel for survey, maintenance and repairs. Application of Propspeed has now become a must-do job at all haul-outs,” Stark said. Tuna skipper Bob Cook, from National Geographic’s show “Wicked Tuna,” has also had success with Propspeed. “Last season, I had Propspeed products applied on my wheel, rudder, underwater lights and transducer. Fat Tuna looks as fresh hauling out as the day she went in for the season,” Cook said. PROPSPEED www.propspeed.com

Mesh connect Inmarsat weaves networks for faster connectivity By Brian Hagenbuch

nmarsat has announced two new technologies to improve connectivity on the water: Orchestra, a “network of networks,” and a new global narrowband network called Elera, which is a component of Orchestra. Orchestra will tie GEO, LEO and 5G into “one harmonious solution,” according to Inmarsat, creating what the company calls a dynamic mesh network to deliver high-speed connectivity anywhere in the world. “By combining the distinct qualities of GEO, LEO and 5G into a single network, we will deliver a service that is far greater than the sum of its parts. Our customers will benefit from dramatically expanded high-throughput services around the world,” said Inmarsat’s CEO

60 National Fisherman \ December 2021

Rajeev Suri. According to Eric Griffin, the vice president of Inmarsat’s offshore and fishing division, Orchestra will solve critical slowdowns at crowded ports, where boats often need connectivity the most. “Orchestra will eliminate the industry-wide challenge of congested hot spots, such as fishing ports like Dutch Harbor and Seattle. It delivers the highest average speed, lowest latency and provides a unique resilience for missioncritical applications of any network, planned or existing. Through its use of a unique multidimensional dynamic mesh network, which integrates both space-based technologies and terrestrial networks, Orchestra also enables

Orchestra and Elera will help keep fishermen connected.

next-generation capabilities for fishing boats such as condition-based monitoring and predictive maintenance,” Griffin said. The Elera network, meanwhile, will provide the reliability and security for required catch reporting as well as vessel monitoring services. Elera’s “unprecedented connectivity,” Griffin added, will keep crews happier with fast, reliable connectivity while improving possibilities for telemedicine on boats. Assets and sensors that monitor refrigeration and fish processing will be connected via these networks. INMARSAT www.inmarsat.com

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PRODUCT ROUNDUP

The new SALMON SISTERS WOMEN’S LEGACY CLOGS are the latest collaboration between XtraTuf and Alaska’s Salmon Sisters. These slip-on clogs come with many of the same features as the staple Legacy Boot from XtraTuf — the classic grippy chevron sole, triple-dipped shells, and hand-layering of material on stress points — but in an easy step-in version. The inside of the boot has the Salmon Sisters puffin print lining. For half-sizes, XtraTuf recommends ordering up.

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VERATRON has introduced the J1939 a single-function gateway module that sends engine and vessel sensor readings to smart phones, tablets, and other digital devices. The module, as part of the growing LinkUp suite, monitors and displays 23 sets of engine data, with standards like fuel and oil levels and specialized readings like fuel pressure and transmission gear. It has 14 supported alarms and is installed with a simple plug-in to the NMEA 2000 backbone.

The serrated paring knife from VICTORINOX — affectionately known as a Vicky — is one of the most ubiquitous and indispensable tools on fishing vessels. Now the Swiss knifemaking masters have come out with a foldable version, in both serrated and straight blades. The SWISS CLASSIC FOLDABLE PARING KNIFE, with an ultrasharp, 4.3-inch stainless blade that folds back safely into a polypropylene handle, will find its way into the pockets of thousands of fishermen.

The GRUNDÉNS DILLINGHAM TECH HOODIE offers a more practical alternative under raingear than the traditional cotton sweatshirt. The majority recycled polyester blend — it also has some cotton and spandex — is warm, blocks the wind, and dries faster than all cotton, while the finish beads water. The double layered hood is cozy and adjustable, although the plastic tabs will need to be snipped for net fisheries. The large marsupial hand pocket includes a zippered phone pocket.

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FLUORAMICS has released LOX-8 NF OIL, a low-viscosity, inert PCTFE lubricant that does not fluoresce under black-light inspections. The oil prevents galling on mating surfaces, and can be used for O-rings, seals, and rubber gaskets, as well as for maintaining gas and supplies and filters for laser systems. The LOX-8 oil kit comes in 5-mL container with four microfiber swabs to facilitate thin-film applications. Sets of 25 microfiber swabs are available in larger sizes.

There is nothing like a true horn when someone is asleep on anchor in the district. The STAINLESS STEEL TRUMPET HORN from SCHMITT & ONGARO MARINE PRODUCTS put out an arresting tone — the single horn model produces 120 decibels and the double version cranks out 125 decibels — to let your fishing colleagues know you mean business. These horns look good, too, and have stainless steel components inside and out, along with a patented drainage feature.

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62 National Fisherman \ December 2021

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BOATS FOR SALE 43’ CHESAPEAKE BAY - 1973 Build (1973) Wood Port Haywood, VA.“Margaret-Mary” documented.“Fishery” Draft 5” – Net tons 13-17 GRTPower Detroit, V8-71 235 HP, F.W.C., 2 ½ to Trans: 2” 5/5 shaft 4 blade brass, enclosed head. Tow-Bar 6’ 5.5. open stern aluminum Tower Hydraulic – steer Diesel fuel tanks-100 gal-each (200.) Windlass/Bow 12 knots – 8 GAL/HR. Strong. Multi-use – Year 1991-2015, on hard restoration, fish plates. New “oak” keel end cutlass skeg keel shoe. Rudder assembly rebuilt. R/E tow boat. Fishing Parties. Cruise. Mooring details. Recreational. Search and rescue. Needs Navigational electronics, Buzzards Bay, MA. Price: Priced to sell! Reasonable offers accepted! Contact: Earl 508-994-3575.

REDUCED! 31’ JC EAST COAST 1979 LOBSTER BOAT Split hull design, Wheelhouse raised about 16”, New B Series, Turbo Road 250h Cummins with 1500 hrs. Two bunks. 12” crab block and davit. Furuno radar model, a 1622 Furuno GPS navigator ICOM, ICOM 45 VHF, Garman GPS map 2006, ComNav auto pilot w/ exterior joystick, AM/FM CD player w/ interior & exterior speakers, Deck lights, new large electrical panel, 3 access points to engine room, two 8D batteries, Dripless shaft packing, Three blade bronze prop. Price: $44,000 Contact: Doug 805-218-0626

1999 ELLIS 36’ HARPOON BOAT Daytona Marine E7 Mack 600 hp, 4,000 hours harpoon boat. Boat was in storage from 2004-2014 when I purchased her, and rigged the boat back into a harpooning platform. The boat was fished both rod reeling and harpooning (harpoon category 20/21) Boat is available turn key, with all harpooning gear, rod reel gear optional. This boat is one of a kind, and one sneaky rig, for more information specs. Price: $200k Contact: Corky Decker 850-586-0817 email: maggierosaine@hotmail.com

64 National Fisherman \ December 2021

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BOATS FOR SALE 2018 BRUCE ROBERTS 40’ TRAWLER She’s made of heavy steel, powered by 2018 turbo diesels 350 hp each only 25 hours.The boat is ready to go.Fully equipped with Electronics, Generator, Air conditioning and heat, galley, head, and more.

Price: Only $157,000 Contact: Randy @ randyworstell@yahoo.com or call 903-870-6419 cell.

HELP WANTED **LOOKING FOR A USCG LICENSED CHIEF ENGINEER** For an uninspected fishing vessel, a Tuna Purse Seine operation with 4000HP and 1500 MT Cargo Capacity. Must hold a current USCG Engineer’s License, have a minimum 3 years experience with this type of operation. This Full Time position operating out of American Samoa and several other Western Pacific Ports and Requires experience and working knowledge of EMD and CAT engines, R717 Refrigeration / Freezing system, Hydraulic Systems, etc.Please submit Resume and license info to PPFisheries@gmail.com

Seeking potential US Licensed Chief Engineers and Mates That have experience operating and maintaining large scale tuna purse seiners operating in the South Pacific. Carrying capacity of the vessel is 1600MT of Tuna and trip lengths vary from 30 to 60 days. Contract is on a trip by trip basis.

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(New) SpinClearView S-300 Commercial grade marine clear view 12V window. Used on yachts, fishing, police, military, commercial vessels. The SpinClearView S-300 keeps a glass disk free of rain, snow and sea water by a nearly silent and fast rotation of 1500 rpm. $1495.00 OBO view more on tinyurl.com/ycob7ruh Cell/Tx: 707-322-9720 or Contact: david@satinbiz.com

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THE WALTER MACHINE CO, INC Tel: 201-656-5654 • Fax: 201-656-0318 www.waltergear.com

REDUCED!

Volvo Engine for Sale

CTAMD 63L—236 HP @2500 RPM- 1450 Bobtail Marries up to #3 bell house. 7000 plus hours.

$7900.00 (was $12,500) Divorcee—MUST GO!

CALL Doug —805-218-0626 Only rely on the  Manufacturers of Hydraulic Deck Equipment: Pot Launchers, Crab Blocks, Trawl Winches, Net Reels, Sorting Table, Anchor Winches  Dockside Vessel Conversions and Repairs  Machining, Hydraulics and Fabrications  Suppliers of KYB Motors, Rotzler Winches, Pumps, Cylinders,

Hydrocontrol Valves, Hoses

Phone: 541-336-5593 - Fax: 541-336-5156 - 1-800-923-3625 508 Butler Bridge Road, Toledo, OR 97391

68 National Fisherman \ December 2021

STRONGEST

Rope Eye

2,0 bre 00lbs + stre aking ng th

Made in USA

888.607.4790

www.mondopolymer.com

CLASSIFIEDS

MARINE GEAR

DEPENDABLE 12 VOLT ELECTRIC TRAP HAULERS

ELECTRA-DYNE CO.

quick

POWERFUL

RUGGED QUIET and in stock

P.O. BOX 1344, PLYMOUTH, MA 02362 508-746-3270 Fax: 508-747-4017

W W W. E L E C T R A - D Y N E . C O M

BEST BRONZE PROPELLER Sick of pitted and pink props after one session? Ours hold the pitch longer and recondition more times than the brand name props you have been buying and reconditioning every year for the few years they last. Built to your specs not taken off theshelf and repitched or cutdown. (781) 837-5424 or email at twindiscgears@verizon.net

FOR SALE!!

DNG c-6000i Computerized Jigging Reel 2 Brand new, never used jigging machines. Sold my boat before I could use. Machine comes with all parts and manual. 4k each or $7500 for the pair.

PERMITS

PERMIT FOR SALE New York Corporate Food Fish with Fluke and Stripe Bass Endorsement Send Offers/Inquires to: Corporate License Bids—PO Box 345, Montauk, NY 11954

Commercial Saltwater Fishing License for Sale State of Rhode Island

Principle Effort License– (PEL)

PLOGBK— PMWPT—PNFIN — PPURSE Serious inquires only—$40,000

413-668-7381

Place an Ad! Call Wendy (207) 842-5616 wjalbert@divcom

SEAFOOD BUSINESS 907-317-2461 ⬧ twingster@yahoo.com

NOTICE

Seafood Business For Sale! Princess Anne, Maryland

71 year old seafood business for sale due to health reasons. Located on a quiet, prestine creek on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Near excellent fishing, commercial crabbing and oyster harvesting. Shedding tanks for soft crabs also good for growing oyster spat; water quality perfect for it. Very good wholesale and retail sales of soft crabs, hard crabs and fishing bait. Located next to county boat ramp, county wharf, and the county boat harbor with buyers and freight company nearby. Boat, equipment and harvesting licenses for sale additionally.

Serious inquiries only! Pictures available.

410-713-2359 or 410-651-2371

Place an Ad! Call Wendy (207) 842-5616 wjalbert@divcom

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

December 2021 \ National Fisherman 69

CLASSIFIEDS

ADVERTISER INDEX Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute .............................. 35

KVH Industries Inc .......................................................... 61

Bekina Boots .................................................................. 59

Laborde Products Inc..................................................... 53

Blue Ocean Gear ............................................................ 19

LFS Marine Supplies ........................................................ 9

Boatswain’s Locker Inc .................................................... 3

Marine Hydraulic Engineering Co Inc ............................ 34

Bostrom, H.O. Co Inc ..................................................... 34

Marine Jet Power AB ..................................................... 63

Cascade Engine Center LLC.......................................... 53

Maritime Fabrications - LaConner ................................. 31

Diesel Outboards LLC .................................................... 29

Mitsubishi Turbocharger and Engine America, Inc ....... 53

Duramax Marine LLC ..................................................... 10

Motor-Services Hugo Stamp Inc ..................................... 7

Eastern Shipbuilding Group ........................................ CV3

Nor’eastern Trawl Systems Inc, dba NET Systems Inc 13

Electric Fishing Reel Systems, Inc. ............................... 23

North American Fishing Supplies .................................. 21

FPT Industrial ................................................................... 5

Northrim Bank ................................................................ 42

Fraser Marine Products.................................................. 43

Pacific Marine Expo ...............................................46 & 47

Furuno USA ................................................................. CV4

Pacific West Refrigeration ............................................. 26

Fusion Marine Technology, LLC....................................... 9

Patagonia ........................................................................ 12

Gaski Marine Fishing Supplies Inc. ............................... 45

Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-Op ............................... 28

Grundens/Stormy Seas .................................................. 27

PYI Inc ............................................................................. 11

Highmark Marine Fabrication ........................................ 39

REDE Rescue Systems LLC .......................................... 43

Hockema Whalen Myers Associates ............................. 17

RESOLVE Marine Group ................................................. 30

Hydro Dynamics Solutions............................................. 41

R W Fernstrum & Company ........................................... 13

International Marine Industries Inc ................................ 31

SmartCatch, Inc. ............................................................. 11

KEMEL USA Inc .............................................................. 22

Westec Equipment Int Ltd ............................................. 28

Kent Safety Products .................................................. CV2

Wrangell Ports & Harbors .............................................. 55

Kinematics Marine Equipment Inc................................. 55

ZF Marine ........................................................................ 57

Klassen Diesel Sales Ltd. ................................................. 7

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION Section 3685, Title 39, United States Code October 1, 2021

NATIONAL FISHERMAN is published monthly by Diversified Communications, 121 Free Street, PO Box 7438, Portland, ME 04112. PUBLISHER: Bob Callahan, Diversified Communications, PO Box 7438, Portland, ME 04112 EDITOR: Jessica Hathaway, PO Box 7438, Portland, ME 04112; OWNER: Diversified Holding Co., 121 Free Street, Portland, ME 04101. Annual Subscriptions for National Fisherman: USA: $24.95 Canada: $34.95 All other countries: surface $49.95 INDIVIDUAL SHAREHOLDER OWNING OR HOLDING 1% OR MORE OF TOTAL AMOUNT OF DIVERSIFIED HOLDING CO. STOCK, AS OF OCTOBER 1, 2021: Josephine H. Detmer

Daniel W. Hildreth

Thomas W. Hildreth

Zareen Taj Mirza

Malcolm B. Hildreth

Anita Sundaram

121 Free Street Portland, Maine 04101 121 Free Street Portland, Maine 04101

Extent and Nature of Circulation:

Avg # Copies of Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months

Actual # Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date

19,041

18,602

398

546

Total # copies printed: Paid/Requested Circulation thru dealers, etc. (not mailed): Paid/Requested Mail

12,616

11,749

Total paid/requested circulation:

13,014

12,296

5,413

5,899

Free distribution by mail: Free distribution outside mail (show): Total free distribution: Total distribution: Copies not distributed (office/overs/spoilage): TOTAL: % paid/requested circulation: Paid electronic copies:

5,413

5,899

18,427

18,194

614

408

19,041

18,602

68.4%

66.1%

4,536

4,187

Total paid print & Paid electronic copies:

17,550

16,482

Total print distribution & Paid electronic copies:

22,963

22,381

74.4%

72.3%

Percent paid (Print & Paid electronic copies):

70 National Fisherman \ December 2021

www.nationalfisherman.com

Now you can take National Fisherman with you wherever you go! Introducing the brand-new National Fisherman mobile app – designed to keep up with our hard-working readers, no matter where you are! • Browse news and read the latest from voices in the industry • Download full issues of National Fisherman Magazine for offline reading • Access our commercial marine marketplace for job postings, parts for sale and so much more • AND see what’s coming up at Pacific Marine Expo with our dedicated Expo section

This is just the beginning for the National Fisherman Mobile App! Download today, create your free membership, join our community, and grow along with us!

Go to the App Store on your mobile phone and search: National Fisherman Download the app and take us wherever you go!

Produced by:

Last

set

NEETS BAY, ALASKA Christina Ripley and Damion Ripley take a moment to capture chum fishing shenanigans onboard the F/V Crimson Clover. Photo submitted by Damion Ripley

72 National Fisherman \ December 2021

www.nationalfisherman.com

Next Generation Vessels

Superior Craftsmanship, On-Schedule Performance Today’s next generation factory trawlers are highly sophisticated and represent a much higher risk profile for a ship owner when it comes to selecting the right shipyard. Eastern Shipbuilding has a proven track record of successfully engineering and building these highly integrated vessels. With the addition of our Port Saint Joe outfitting facility, we have increased our capability to perform the extensive outfitting, testing and trials of these deep draft vessels. Eastern Shipbuilding is the low risk solution you can trust to deliver your next generation asset on time, every time. New Port St. Joe Facility - Opened in 2021

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National Fisherman December 2021

Articles inside

Product Roundup

Boatbuilding

Snapshot

Northern Lights

Retrospective 1946

A Letter from NMFS

Editor’s Log

Fishing Back When

Mail Buoy