National Fisherman September 2020

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 Incorporating

September / 2020

NATIONALFISHERMAN.COM

Fish forward

Pressure bleeding and ikejime methods help small scale fleets land quality prices

Not a ferry tale Alaska’s transportation woes put damper on tough season

Aarsheim Junior The 104-foot Northeast scalloper built in Florida, made for an engine TAG US! #NATIONALFISHERMAN

We Work Hard So The World Demands Alaska Seafood.

Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute breaks through the barriers of distance. With marketing programs established across the U.S. and in over 40 countries worldwide, ASMI’s international and domestic marketing efforts build demand across the globe.

This is just one example of how Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute puts all hands on deck to tell the story of wild, sustainable Alaska seafood so you and your family can focus on fishing today and for generations to come.

alaskaseafood.org Stay updated via our fleet-focused page!

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ON DECK

National Fisherman / September 2020 / Vol. 101, No. 5

18

Bruce Buls

In this issue

Alaska’s transportation travails

28

22

Quality controllers Alaska salmon fishermen use pressure bleeding, while the Japanese ikejime method raises the bar for East Coast fishermen to deliver quality catches of groundfish.

Boatbuilding: The Cat needed a good home Knute Aarsheim got the deal of a lifetime on an engine; next step was to build a boat to go with it.

Boats & Gear

On Deck 06

A Letter from NMFS

Larry Chowning

The agency goes under sail with robots for research.

34

07 Around the Yards Repowering a Chesapeake bowpicker; curtain call for Washington boatshop; allcomposite lobster boat.

38

Product Roundup Digitizing fish quality; RinseKit’s freestanding shower; new WiFi radars from Sitex

Northern Lights Despite its challenges, the pandemic presents opportunity for Alaska seafood.

02

Editor’s Log

04

Fishing Back When

06

Mail Buoy

08

Around the Coast

16

Market Reports

33

Permit News

48

Last Set / Craig, Alaska

Reader Services 40

Classifieds

47

Advertiser Index

National Fisherman (ISSN 0027-9250), September 2020, Vol. 101, No. 5, 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, P.O. Box 15116, North Hollywood, CA 91615. 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.

Duckworth Boats

John McCarthy

The state’s ferry system crisis and airline industry problems further complicate the 2020 fishing season.

ON DECK

Editor’s Log

Something old, something new Jessica Hathaway Editor in Chief jhathaway@divcom.com

ishermen are no strangers to tectonic shifts in the marketplace.

That is the nature of doing business with a highly perishable product. Lifetimes of experience with variability and vulnerability are one of the reasons the U.S. fishing industry has exhibited widespread resilience in the face of significant market shutdowns, slowdowns and inconsistent recoveries this year.

The sector with the biggest pandemicresponse advantage has been direct marketers and small-scale suppliers who focus first on quality handling and customer service.

Our cover story highlights a business model that’s been a long time coming. If

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you ask me, it’s long overdue. Gulf of Maine Sashimi is the brainchild of Jen Levin, the former sustainable seafood program director at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.

I visited her operation in mid-March, the week everything began to shutter around us as the threat of covid-19 bore down on American cities. At the time, she was shuttling sushi-grade groundfish (for which there was practically no market before this business was born) from a handful of adventurous fishermen to a pristine processing facility on the waterfront in Portland, Maine, and then to discerning chefs around the country.

They were just getting their feet under

On the cover Joe Letourneau fishes his 42-foot F/V Lady Rebecca out of Newburyport, Mass., bringing high-quality cod and other groundfish to the market.

Gulf of Maine Sashimi photo

them, carving out a niche in the market where New England groundfish could compete on quality, not just cost.

Like so many business models, everything changed for them when restaurants closed, and the majority of the market dried up faster than you could slap on a FedEx label.

Boats & Gear Editor Paul Molyneaux profiles the adjustments so many small processors and direct marketers have had to make with their fish in these heady days, when mail-order is bigger than ever, people want to support domestic food suppliers, and quality is becoming a valuable commodity among a growing cadre of home chefs. Sales are up, but this gig is still not an easy buck.

Technological advances have always affected the feasibility of direct sales, from small-scale gear for quality onboard handling to accessing buyers through social media. But perhaps the best kept Gulf of Maine Sashimi secret is that their key to quality fish on a small boat (Joe Letourneau on the cover fishes a 42-footer) is not about high-tech gear, it’s about technique and time. Paul’s feature on page 28 covers all that and more success stories from around the country.

In partnership with Pacific Marine Expo The largest commercial marine trade show on the West Coast, serving commercial mariners from Alaska to California. www.pacificmarineexpo.com

PUBLISHER: Bob Callahan EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Jeremiah Karpowicz EDITOR IN CHIEF: Jessica Hathaway ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Kirk Moore BOATS & GEAR EDITOR: Paul Molyneaux PRODUCTS EDITOR: Brian Hagenbuch ART DIRECTOR: Doug Stewart NORTH PACIFIC BUREAU CHIEF: Charlie Ess FIELD EDITORS: Larry Chowning, Michael Crowley CORRESPONDENTS: Samuel Hill, John DeSantis, Maureen Donald, Dayna Harpster, Sierra Golden, John Lee, Caroline Losneck, Nick Rahaim ADVERTISING COORDINATOR: Wendy Jalbert / wjalbert@divcom.com / Tel. (207) 842-5616 NATIONAL SALES MANAGER: Susan Chesney / schesney@divcom.com / Tel. (206) 463-4819 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING: (800) 842-5603 classifieds@divcom.com SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION (818) 487-2013 or (800) 959-5073 GENERAL INFORMATION (207) 842-5608 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 \ September 2020

© 2020 Diversified Business Communications If you prefer not to receive such mailings, please send a copy of your mailing label to: National Fisherman’s Mailing Preference Service, 121 Free St., Portland, ME 04112. PRINTED IN U.S.A.

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ON DECK

Fishing Back When September

By Jessica Hathaway

1990 — Handliner Fred Fox yanks a mackerel aboard off Hatteras Island, N.C. Handliners and drift gillnetters are fighting over allocations of king and Spanish mackerel in the South Atlantic.

1 9 7 0

1 9 9 0

2 0 1 0

The Polaris, the most recent addition to the U.S. tuna fleet, in sea trials following the launch from J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding in Tacoma, Wash.

Jim Clarke baits hooks on the longliner Polaris near Kodiak Island in Alaska.

Shrimpers in the Vessels of Opportunity program assist in the cleanup of oil leaking of Grand Isle, La.

New England groundfishermen are tasked with reducing effort and catch by more than 50 percent in a call to revitalize stocks of cod, haddock and flounder. The Massachusetts Groundfish Task Force claims the reductions would still require six to 10 years to pay off.

New England’s groundfish catch shares opened in May. The fleet is now establishing itself as part of sectors or the common pool, which includes individual fishermen with individual allocations.

Reports of a Bristol Bay bonanza out of King Salmon, Alaska, include a catch of 19.5 million sockeye salmon through July 16 with projections for a season total of up to 38 million fish. The run, however, was forecast at 45 million to 65 million. At roughly $1.25 each, the haul could be worth $80 million.

The Maine Lobstermen’s Association looks for ways to drum up support when only 25 lobstermen show up its the annual meeting in Ellsworth.

4 National Fisherman \ September 2020

Seattle’s Fisheries Management Foundation writes to Congress to urge action on limited entry plans for commercial fisheries, getting support from fisheries leaders nationwide.

NOAA Inspector General Todd Zinser reports to Administrator Jane Lubchenco that the Office of Law Enforcement’s penalties fund is “neither transparent nor conducive to accountability, thus rendering it susceptible to both error and abuse.”

www.nationalfisherman.com

WE’VE LAUNCHED

Our team is excited to announce the launch of a fully redesigned nationalfisherman.com.

The site has been rebuilt from the ground up with the needs of our commercial fishing audience in mind at every step of the way, and we cannot wait for you to check it out.

If you have signed up for Fish e-News, follow us on social, or subscribe to the digital edition of National Fisherman magazine, you already know we are committed to making our digital dispatches lively, current and customized.

The new site allows you to search for content by species, by region or navigate directly to the breaking news that is important to you. The redesign emphasizes the visual, improves readability and is designed with your mobility in mind. Commercial fishermen are on the go, and now NF fits right in your pocket.

The NF crew has been facilitating industry conversations for more than 70 years. The new nationalfisherman.com takes it to the next level with the NF Forum. Moderated by our editors as well as some industry leaders, you can use this space to ask questions, get feedback on gear, or just be social.

We hope you take a moment to visit the new site and let us know what you think. We built it just for you.

Experience the new nationalfisherman.com

ON DECK

Mail Buoy

Observing with safeguards [The following is excerpted from a letter to Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator Michael Pentony and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Jon Hare.] ishing Partnership Support Services is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health and safety of commercial fishing families throughout the Northeast. Given the state of the covid-19 pandemic and the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we are gravely concerned by your decision to reintroduce observers to fishing vessels at this time. For the safety of our fishermen and observers, as well as their families, we ask you to change course and extend the waiver until you can work with the fishing community and public health officials: 1) to analyze the risk of the observer program to safety at sea, and 2) to develop effective protocols that minimize transmission of covid-19.

The CDC has been clear that older adults and people with underlying medical conditions are at highest risk of developing a severe illness from covid-19.

The median age for New England Fishermen is over 50 years old, compared to the nation’s median age of 37.9 years of age.

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Many of the fishermen we work with are over 60 years old. Furthermore, fishermen and their families also suffer from underlying medical conditions at rates higher than the general population. We functioned as a health insurance company for fishing families for 14 years, and during that time, we compared our membership to another company that managed health care for approximately 150,000 self-insured individuals. FPSS family members were found to have higher rates of multiple health conditions than non-FPSS individuals, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (73 percent higher), hypertension (56 percent higher), and high cholesterol (114 percent). These are some of the underlying medical conditions listed by the CDC as putting a person at higher risk of developing a severe illness from covid-19.

The resumption of the observer program poses an unnecessary and avoidable health risk for fishermen, and their families.

The observer deployment guidelines listed in your letter — including deploying individuals to the same ports and vessels “as much

A letter from NMFS

Setting saildrones

By Chris Oliver

s we are all well aware, your industry and our operations continue to be impacted by the ongoing coronavirus.

While my staff and I have maintained an extremely high level of efficiency during these disruptions, we are also looking to technology to collect needed data.

We recently launched three saildrones — unmanned, wind-powered surface vehicles — to collect critically needed data to support management of the nation’s largest commercial fishery for Alaska pollock.

The saildrones were launched from California and will sail to

A

6 National Fisherman \ September 2020

as possible,” and a 14-day isolation period “before the first deployment” — are not sufficient to mitigate the risks posed to fishing workers, particularly after observers have begun servicing multiple vessels.

There are no effective treatments for the disease, nor is there a vaccine against it. Social distancing is difficult if not impossible onboard fishing vessels. With tight working areas, poorly ventilated living quarters, and bunk berthing, there is no way to reduce the risk of transmission aboard a fishing vessel.

A terrifying example of this occurred last month on the West Coast aboard the factory trawler American Dynasty when at least 84 of the crew contracted covid-19.

We urge you to extend the waiver of observer requirements during the pandemic to enable commercial fishing workers to safely continue their vital work — and, in doing so, maintain their own health and safety.

J.J. Bartlett President and CEO Fishing Partnership Support Services

What’s on your mind?

Send letters to jhathaway@ divcom.com. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity and style.

Alaska to complete a 60-day survey. The oceangoing robots will cover roughly the same area normally covered by standard research vessels, to estimate pollock abundance using low-power sonar.

The saildrones are also equipped with solar-powered instruments to measure oceanographic and meteorological conditions; wind, solar radiation, surface temperature, and salinity measurements will be made along the way.

These unmanned vessel surveys are helping our scientists provide key data supporting the annual estimation of the pollock population.

NOAA Fisheries and I are dedicated to finding innovative ways to overcome the challenges presented by the novel coronavirus and are doing everything we can to support a quick rebound for the commercial fishing industry.

Chris Oliver is the director of the National Marine Fisheries Service. Oliver oversees the federal agency responsible for recreational and commercial fisheries.

www.nationalfisherman.com

ON DECK

Northern Lights VIEWS FROM ALASKA

Meeting the covid market

By Jeremy Woodrow

he business of seafood didn’t stop with the pandemic, but it sure took a few unexpected turns. While covid-19 has created some hurdles, especially at foodservice, which typically represents twothirds of domestic seafood consumption, it’s also created opportunities for Alaska seafood.

According to IRI, 90 percent of Americans are eating at home more often, 73 percent are taking more time to prepare meals, and 53 percent are creating more meals from scratch. In May, frozen seafood retail sales were up 66 percent year over year, and in the U.S., online shopping saw a 95 percent increase.

Consumers are paying attention to proteins that provide healthy, immune-boosting benefits and come from a stable and sustainable supply chain, and Alaska seafood checks all of these boxes. As an industry, it’s our job to convert these first-timers to lifetime consumers of Alaska seafood by ensuring they have an enjoyable experience from the start.

With the global coronavirus pandemic affecting virtually every step of the Alaska seafood supply chain, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute utilized market research and industry relationships to respond to rapidly changing consumer behavior and global markets, and ensure Alaska seafood continued to meet the demand for healthy, delicious and sustainable wild seafood.

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Cooking with confidence When people around the world looked to their quarantine kitchens with new enthusiasm, bread wasn’t the only thing they were trying out at home for the first time.

ASMI leaned into the trend in the U.S. market with an integrated communications plan featuring at-a-glance cooking tips and recipes to help consumers build confidence in cooking wild Alaska seafood at home. This campaign focused on consumers filling pantries and freezers this spring.We also amplified our revamped Cook It Frozen! techniques and materials through popular cooking and media To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

platforms. For one of ASMI’s longest-running campaigns, it feels especially relevant today.

In May, ASMI’s Japan program increased its at-home cooking support with recipe development tied to a hosted Instagram promotion of Herring Roe Day on May 5. Originally planned as a series of in-store promotions for the holiday, which is meant to encourage consumers to eat herring roe (kazunoko) beyond the traditional New Year’s holiday, the program shifted to an online campaign featuring preparation tips and serving suggestions after the coronavirus forced the cancellation of all in store activities.

In the UK, ASMI tapped into the new normal, which found consumers needing new recipe ideas for breakfast, lunch and midday snacks as well as dinner, by partnering with chefs and dieticians on a series of seafood brunch, bowl and snack recipes, including an Alaska Seacuterie board.

E-commerce emerges strong ASMI rapidly shifted global promotions to support increases in online shopping.

ASMI’s China program was ahead of other markets in terms of experience with online and e-commerce models, and well positioned to support the even greater shift to online ordering. ASMI began a new online promotion targeting home cooks, particularly those 56 percent of Chinese parents who were now cooking at home with their children.Two quickly executed e-commerce promotions in China in March and April resulted in more than $2 million in Alaska seafood sales with a small investment from ASMI. In Germany, ASMI partnered with a popular direct-to-consumer shopping app to deliver targeted Alaska Seafood content to consumers as part of an overall BBQ grilling themed promotion within the app.

Media and importer education In Southeast Asia and China, ASMI is diversifying opportunities for products that

suffer from declining monopolistic markets in Japan through in-person seminars and culinary demonstrations. To keep momentum moving, these programs are shifting to virtual seminars and sending sample product deliveries to key chefs, importers and media.

Here in the U.S., we have directed efforts toward sending product samples to media and culinary partners who were staying home, cooking more and sharing their recipes on their social and digital media platforms. This led to a steady stream of press coverage with a 153 percent increase in year-over-year media impressions highlighting how people were enjoying Alaska seafood at home.

Supporting our partners Another priority has been to support our foodservice and trade partners around the globe. In Spain, ASMI partnered with restaurants and chef associations to serve critically needed healthy meals of Alaska seafood dishes at hospitals and for families in need. As restaurants began reopening, ASMI’s Southern Europe program partnered with local distributors to offer a “reopening gift” to select restaurants, including a one-week supply of Alaska seafood to help stabilize the important foodservice sector during uncertain times.

A recent Datassential consumer study showed that seafood is the second most craved restaurant menu item domestic consumers miss from restaurants. ASMI’s U.S. domestic program worked with sustainable seafood advocate Chef Barton Seaver to develop tips for restaurant chefs to prepare those craveable seafood favorites for takeout menus. ASMI also joined the Seafood Nutrition Partnership’s “Eat Seafood, America” campaign to support the seafood supply chain by promoting domestic consumption of U.S. seafood.

The last six months have taught us to be more nimble than ever and the importance of our relationships across our global industry.

We continue to learn from and build on these lessons as the seafood and consumer landscapes change to best position our world class, wild, sustainable Alaska seafood resource.

Jeremy Woodrow is the executive director for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute in Juneau.

September 2020 \ National Fisherman 7

AROUND THE COASTS

AROUND THE COASTS NEWS FOR THE NATION’S FISHERMEN

NOAA

The Department of Commerce and NOAA are seeking recommendations for a new national seafood trade strategy.

Nation / World

“The agency will work closely with interagency partners to develop a comprehensive interagency seafood trade strategy.”

— Chris Oliver, NMFS

Washington gears up for new U.S. seafood trade policy Call goes out to fishermen and seafood industry to document overseas barriers

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federal Interagency Seafood Trade Task Force now organizing at the Department of Commerce is seeking recommendations for a new seafood trade policy called for in President Trump’s May 7 executive order.

In a July 10 notice in the Federal Register, NOAA officials asked for written advice “from interested parties on how best to achieve the objectives of the Seafood Trade Task Force as described in the executive order. NOAA Assistant Administrator Chris Oliver has said “the strategy will identify opportunities to improve access to foreign 8 National Fisherman \ September 2020

markets through trade policy and negotiations; resolve technical barriers to U.S. seafood exports; and otherwise support fair market access for U.S. seafood products.”

The order aims to expand sustainable U.S. seafood production with “more efficient and predictable aquaculture permitting” and research and development efforts, according to NOAA officials. They also foresee “regulatory reform to maximize commercial fi shing,” and enforcing food safety and quality requirements on seafood imports that do not meet U.S. standards.

There is plenty in the order that sounds

good to the U.S. industry, from New England groundfi sh fleets chafi ng under years of restrictions, the Gulf of Mexico shrimpers undercut by years of low-priced and lowerquality imports.

The new survey sought for the seafood task force looks for direction on pursuing the overarching trade strategy.

Among questions for seafood businesses, the agency is asking for specific details on what kind of seafood products they are exporting and to what countries, along with how they hope to fi nd more customers in other nations.

“Are there issues in the markets that you currently export to that limit your exports, or unnecessarily increase the costs for your exports?” the notice asks.

The agency likewise asks for specific examples of barriers and “issues that affect the competitiveness of your product in foreign markets.” NOAA looked to have those answers in hand by Aug. 1.

— Kirk Moore www.nationalfisherman.com

First offshore wind towers for Virginia power project Debate grows on turbine spacing

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ominion Energy and offshore wind developer Ørsted installed the first two wind turbines on a federal lease in late June, a milestone in what backers hope is a first step toward arrays off Virginia producing up to 2.6 gigawatts of power.

The 459-foot wind turbine installation vessel Vole au Vent raised the first turbine to its tower June 20. The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot project could be operational and producing electricity for the company’s grid in late summer or early fall, said G.T. Hollet, director of generation projects for Dominion.

Dominion plans the pilot program as a precursor to three phases for a utility-scale wind project on its federal lease, using much larger 14-MW Gamesa wind turbines, to be online in 2026. The fate of those plans and other wind energy leases off the East Coast hinges on findings from the Bureau of Ocean

Energy Management, in its ongoing environmental analysis of the 800-MW Vineyard Wind project in southern New England waters.

In a series of five online public hearings, wind power advocates urged BOEM to accept a proposed 1 nautical mile grid layout for turbines as proposed by Vineyard Wind and other New England developers. That concept was endorsed by a Coast Guard marine traffic study, which recommended against designated four-mile-wide transit lanes sought by fishing advocates of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance.

Requiring the transit lanes “will substantially reduce the area available for development without substantially improving the safety of navigation,” said Abby Watson, head of government affairs for turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa North America.

RODA came back with its own formal challenge, telling the Coast Guard its Massachusetts and Rhode Island Port Access Route Study “contains serious foundational

A Coast Guard port access study recommended against four-mile-wide transit lanes in wind turbine arrays.

and analytical errors that merit correction” because they will inform BOEM’s future decision-making on such projects.

Among other shortcomings, the Coast Guard analysis relied heavily on Automatic Identification System vessel tracks to assess maritime traffic around the Vineyard Wind site — despite cautions from the fishing industry and other sources that commercial fishing vessels rarely use AIS, the RODA paper says.

— Kirk Moore

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AROUND THE COASTS

The Cons dation se of fishing

AROUND THE COASTS

Alaska / Pacific

“Pebble Mine is a threat to Alaskan jobs, America’s food security, and a salmon resource unparalleled anywhere on the planet.”

— Andy Wink, BBRSDA

Sockeye season in swing — with Pebble decision looming Late salmon return seen with early Bristol Bay landings; awaiting mine decision

Charlie Ess

Setnet Selfie: This Bristol Bay Ugashik crew set up a GoPro for pics between picks.

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orking amid restrictions and fears and economic chaos caused by covid-19, Alaska fishermen waited to learn if the development of a massive gold and copper mine that’s been hanging over their heads for two decades will get a greenlight from the federal government.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

was expected to unveil its decision on the permit application by Northern Dynasty of Vancouver, Canada, to build the Pebble Mine at the sprawling mosaic of headwaters that provide the spawning and rearing grounds for the region’s salmon.

Three decisions are possible for the mine: issue a permit, issue a permit with conditions,

or deny the application.

“As Bristol Bay’s fishermen head out to the fishing grounds for the next six weeks, we are counting on Congress to protect the 14,500 workers directly employed by the commercial salmon fishery,” said Andy Wink, executive director of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association. “Pebble Mine is a threat to Alaskan jobs, America’s food security, and a salmon resource unparalleled anywhere on the planet.”

Such calls for help appeared to go unheard

by Alaska’s political leaders. The state’s two Republican senators and lone representative have staunchly stood behind the Pebble project’s right to go through a rigorous and fair permitting process and remained tightlipped about their opinions in the meantime.

Out on the water, Alaska’s salmon catch was nearing 14 million fish as of July 7; more than two-thirds were sockeyes, mostly from Bristol Bay, where catches continued to build.

The year-to-date “statewide harvest of about 9.7 million sockeye is 56 percent and 62 percent behind the 2019 and 5-year average pace, respectively,” said Garrett Evridge of the McDowell Group, in a weekly report for the state. “The deficit is improving, though, due primarily to Bristol Bay, which exceeded daily harvest of 1 million fish for the first time this season on Friday,” July 3.

Evridge also noted that the second week of July is typically the peak for Bristol Bay

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servation Law Founeeks a suspension g for Atlantic cod

production, but that the data so far “indicates a late salmon return. Most other sockeyeproducing regions have improved from last week but generally lag historical levels.”

Anecdotal reports said the average sizes of sockeye are down at Bristol Bay and the same for pinks at the Alaska Peninsula.

King salmon in Southeast also are smaller, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The kings were weighing in at 11.7 pounds on average, down 2 pounds compared to the past five years. Trollers can catch more than 85,000 king salmon this summer, a 51 percent increase from last year.

The summer fishery opened July 1 and was expected to last about one week.

— Laine Welch

California crabbers say new rules an overreaction

AROUND THE COASTS

The Center for Biological Diversity submitted its own comments insisting the rule doesn’t do enough to promote the use of ropeless crab traps.

Dungeness crabbers have worked with the environmental group Oceana to experiment with different pop-up systems that release floats or buoys to retrieve gear without vertical lines that hand in the water column, but with mixed results so far (see “Pop-up

Pots,” NF April 2020, page 34).

“Converting to ropeless gear is the only way to truly eliminate the entanglement threat to endangered whales and sea turtles,” said Kristen Monsell, the center’s oceans legal director, in a statement. “It’s good to see California officials finally getting serious about preventing these whale entanglements.

But this rule fails to end the threat to endangered marine life.”

— Kirk Moore

Snapshot Who we are Jeremy and Jason Muermann Lanoka Harbor, N.J. / Blue crab

T

he seafood industry’s coro-

softshells.

navirus crisis hit early in New

“It’s staying in New Jersey for the

Jersey, and Jeremy Muermann

most part. A lot of it is going to the cit-

Whale activists call for ropeless gear

was making new calculations even be-

ies,” he said. “We’re going to have to get

roposed rule changes for commercial Dungeness crab fishing in California drew fire from both fishermen and environmental activists, with captains saying the plan overreacts to the hazard of whale and sea turtle entanglements in gear.

On the other side, the Center for Biological Diversity — whose 2017 lawsuit against the state Department of Fish and Wildlife pressured the agency to make changes — says the changes don’t go far enough and should mandate a conversion to so-called ropeless gear.

“The consensus among industry is the proposed regulations constitute an existential threat to our livelihoods, and in fact the continuation of the entire West Coast commercial fishing industry,” said Ben Platt, president of the California Coastal Crab Association, during a June 29 online public hearing on the state’s Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program.

“Humpback whales, the only species listed under ESA (Endangered Species Act) which has any actual co-occurrence with the fishery, is a thriving and robust population growing at a rate of 8 to 10 percent a year.The rare interaction with commercial Dungeness crab gear also rarely results in serious injury and has zero impact on the health of the species,” said Platt.

fore the crabs started moving around in

creative after Memorial Day, because ev-

P

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

erything will happen.”

Barnegat Bay.

Restaurant

“My motto for this whole

the

thing has been just keep it

closings

summer

into

continued

small,” said Muermann,

to hobble New Jersey

42, who with his broth-

fishermen. Muermann,

er Jason, 38, works

clam growers and tile-

the bay with a 35-foot

fish longliners took to

Chesapeake-built

social media to cross-

Ev-

promote their products,

ans. They stopped the

and Muermann helped his

winter dredge season two

in-laws’ Shady Rest seafood

weeks early and talked with

restaurant keep their ex-

buyers to carefully gauge how

the

panded take-out busi-

uncertain

ness going.

spring might pan out.

The

With supply chains

brothers

learned crabbing with

from other Mid-Atlantic

their father, Bill Muer-

states stalled out, local

mann,

demand was still surpris-

whose

bushel

crabs were a staple for

ingly good. But supply dis-

summer residents in Ocean

ruptions worked the other way too, and menhaden for bait could be

County beach resorts and bayside

suddenly hard to locate.

neighborhoods. In a family photo from

“For the spring the market has been

1983, Bill holds Jason on his shoulder

decent,” Muermann said in May, when

by his truck alongside the road in Bay-

the brothers pulled 12 to 20 bushels a

ville, N.J.

night in their early season. “That’s not bad for this time of year.

“That’s where we started this business, with roadside stands,” Muermann

“We’ve been told our shedder season

said. “For a lot of people, it feels like

is out… you’d think you’d be able to sell

we’re going back there.” — Kirk Moore

September 2020 \ National Fisherman 11

AROUND THE COASTS

“It’s time for immediate action to protect these whales — NOAA should expand mandatory speed restriction zones and require ships to slow down when whales are present.”

— Whitney Webber, Oceana

Vessel strikes blamed in first 2020 right whale death International conservation group moves species status to ‘critically endangered’

Georgia DNR/CMARI

Right whale #3560 with her calf off the coast of Georgia in December 2019.

T

he fi rst reported North Atlantic right whale death in U.S. waters this year was a young male calf found dead off New Jersey June 27, likely the victim of two vessel strikes weeks apart.

It was bad news for the highly endangered species — now numbering only around 400 animals — that seemed to have some good luck with 10 young born during the 2019-20 calving season off Georgia and Florida.

Experts with the New England Aquarium and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission identified the dead whale as the male calf of a female right whale known as #3560, fi rst seen together of the coast of Georgia in mid-December 2019.

A Coast Guard boat crew towed the carcass to the nearby beach at Sandy Hook, N.J., for a necropsy. The exam documented evidence the calf had been struck by vessels at least twice.

Propeller wounds across the head and chest “were likely several weeks old, but were serious enough they may 12 National Fisherman \ September 2020

have significantly impaired the whale,” according to a summary released by NOAA officials. A second vessel collision left wounds across the tail stock “and were likely the cause of death.”

Vessel strikes and fi shing gear entanglements are major causes of accidental right whale deaths and injuries, with 31 animals dead and 10 seriously injured in Canadian and U.S. waters since 2017, according to NOAA. The International Union for Conservation of Nature said July 9 that it is changing the status of the North Atlantic right whale from “endangered” to “critically endangered” on its Red List of Threatened Species, “recognizing that the species faces an extremely high risk of extinction.”

Some whale advocates say the federal government needs to take a harder line with mandatory speed limits when whales are sighted around shipping lanes and East Coast port approaches.

“Studies have found that slowing ship speeds to less than 10 knots in areas

where these whales may be encountered can reduce the lethality of collisions by 86 percent,” said Whitney Webber, a campaign director with the environmental group Oceana.

The group issued a report in March that used vessel tracking data to fi nd apparently widespread disregard for NOAA’s voluntary speed limit advisories when whales were reported south of Nantucket in January to March of 2020.

The Oceana analysis calculated that 41 percent of 446 vessels tracked during that period exceeded the 10-knot limit for vessels 65 feet and larger.

“It’s time for immediate action to protect these whales — NOAA should expand mandatory speed restriction zones and require ships to slow down when whales are present,” said Webber. “The future of this species depends on what we do now, and this calf ’s death should be a wakeup call that change needs to happen now.”

— Kirk Moore

Coral amendment adjusts management of monument New England council reclaims fishing area

A

June 5 presidential proclamation ended a prohibition on commercial fi shing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument and returned management of the area to the New England Fishery Management Council.

“We’ve said from the beginning that

NEFMC

Atlantic

The New England council is implementing fishing rules for the Northeast monument.

www.nationalfisherman.com

AROUND THE COASTS

fishery management councils are best suited to address the complicated tradeoffs involved in managing fisheries, and we appreciate regaining our control to do so in the monument area,” said Council Chairman John Quinn.

The nearly 5,000-square-mile Atlantic monument southeast of Cape Cod was established in 2016 by President Barack Obama. It was the first (and is currently the only) Atlantic monument. Before the designation, key areas were managed as essential fish habitat through the New England council.

On June 17, the council laid out its management of the area and announced the pending implementation of its Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment, which will expand fishing restrictions in the canyons area.

“To the best of our knowledge, zero fishing activity takes place on the seamounts,” said Janice Plante, public affairs officer for the council. “We’re not aware of any real groundfish fishing activity in the canyons portion of the monument area either.”

Tilefish, monkfish and squid fisheries are restricted around Oceanographer and Lydonia canyons. The coral amendment will restrict all fishing — except for deepsea red crab pots — between those canyons roughly 600 meters (about 330 fathoms) and deeper out to the 200-mile limit.

Some press coverage and public responses to the news indicated that the policy reversal would blow the area wide open to unregulated commercial fishing, leading to destruction of long-protected habitat.

“This is not true at all,” said Tom Nies, the council’s executive director. “The monument area will not be ‘wide open to industrial fishing.’”

All eight regional fishery management councils submitted a letter opposing commercial fishing bans in monument areas, stating that the designations work in opposition to sound fishery management practices, and “hinder the councils’ ability to sustainably manage fisheries throughout their range.”

— Jessica Hathaway To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

Boat of the Month Bully net boat Key Largo, Fla. / Spiny lobster

A

t

age

26,

commercial

Largo

He scoops one up in his net and

fisherman

drops it into a fiberglass hold in the

Key

Ernie Piton III has become

stern that can hold 200 pounds of

quite the boat rehabber; his sixth and

live lobster. Then he continues along,

latest re-creation is an aged, unnamed

bumping his rebuilt 1997 Mercury

fiberglass skiff rebuilt for bully netting

115-horsepower

lobster in the shallows of the Florida

out of gear and using lights powered

Keys and Miami’s Biscayne Bay.

by a 2,000-watt Honda Powerhorse

Almost every night during lobster season, which begins in August and runs through March, Piton can be

outboard

in

and

gasoline generator.

On a decent night, he says he averages 100 pounds.

found cruising slowly through flats and

“I can fish every day and not put a

channels, standing at the helm on the

ton of money into it and still be able to

reinforced bow of his unnamed 17-foot

make good money,” Piton said of bully

Mako skiff, looking for crustaceans

netting.

crawling on the lit-up bottom.

He also runs lobster traps but says

With one hand on the throttle and

the trap tags are too expensive to fish

the other clutching a 14-foot-long pole

a large number. And he operates three

attached to a mesh net, Piton can see

other boats he rebuilt himself for the

the creatures clearly within the radius

stone crab, live bait and yellowtail/

of his twin, foldable 500-watt, 120-

amberjack fisheries.

volt underwater lights encased in PVC piping.

“I do it all,” Piton said.

— Sue Cocking

Boat Specifications HOME PORT: Key Largo, Fla. OWNER: Ernie Piton III BUILDER: Mako Boats YEAR BUILT: 1978 FISHERIES: Spiny lobster HULL: Fiberglass LENGTH: 17 feet BEAM: 7 feet DRAFT: 15 inches CREW: 1 MAIN PROPULSION: 115-hp Mercury twostroke outboard PROPELLER: Stainless steel three-blade SPEED: 25 knots FUEL CAPACITY: 30 gallons ELECTRONICS: Garmin Echomap Plus 64 CV chartplotter/ sounder

September 2020 \ National Fisherman 13

AROUND THE COASTS

Gulf / South Atlantic

“As long as the dead zone persists, our way of life, and the rich seafood culture of the region, is in danger.”

— John Williams, Southern Shrimp Alliance

Gulf dead zone damages tallied at $2.4 billion annually

M

ississippi basin river flows 30 percent above average will bring an expanded “dead zone” of hypoxia to the Gulf Coast but fall short of a record-setting 2017 blight, according to NOAA. The agency’s scientists calculated the region of low- to no-oxygen water lethal to fi sh and marine life will expand to 6,700 square miles at its peak. That’s beyond the average annual measured size of 5,387 square miles, but far short of a recordsetting 8,776 square miles of sea — bigger than the land area of New Jersey — that

was charted in 2017.

Sine 1980, annual loads of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds washing out with the rain from farmland and urban centers throughout the vast Mississippi watershed have caused $2.4 billion annually in damages to Gulf of Mexico fi sh stocks and habitat, according to a Union of Concerned Scientists study issued days before NOAA’s forecast came out.

“Gulf Coast communities know that the dead zone impacts their livelihoods, but research has never put a dollar value

Cordova Bay, Alaska Bobby Newcomb and Austin Dixon pull prawn pots aboard the F/V William out of Craig, Alaska.

This is your life. Submit your Crew Shot nationalfisherman.com/submit-crew-shots

14 National Fisherman \ September 2020

The annual summer “dead zone” off the Gulf Coast reached a record-setting 8,776 square miles in 2017.

on its damage to the fi shing industry,” said Rebecca Boehm, an economist with the group who authored the report. “This study quantifies both the amount of nitrogen flowing to the gulf from farms upstream, and the toll it is taking economically on the foundation of the gulf fi shing industry.”

“Lots of factors cause shrimpers to lose business, but covid-19 may completely shut many of us down,” said John Williams, a longtime shrimp captain and executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance.

“Hopefully the industry will get through this health crisis, and in the meantime, we need to address what we can to ensure the gulf ’s long-term sustainability,” said Williams. “As long as the dead zone persists, our way of life, and the rich seafood culture of the region is in danger.”

The report recommends more fi nancial and technical support to help farmers change their operations, such as discounts on crop insurance for farmer who prioritize better soil management and expand existing conservation programs so more farmers can participate.

“Midwest farmers and gulf fi shers are in this together,” said Boehm. “Nitrogen pollution and unhealthy soil hurt the ecosystem upon which the gulf fi shing economy is based. With technical and fi nancial support, farmers can work the land to increase their own resilience, while also protecting the vital gulf fi shing culture and economy downstream.”

— Kirk Moore www.nationalfisherman.com

NASA

Scientists predict summer 2020 zone will expand to cover 6,700 square miles

AROUND THE COASTS

South Atlantic red snapper survives as a ‘mini-season’ 42,510-fish limit after closure threat

decade after an ominous stock assessment posed the threat of a 35-year total fishery closure, South Atlantic red snapper fishing was back in July — sort of.

Recreational anglers flocked to Florida’s Atlantic coast for their four-day opening on the July 10-12 weekend and July 17. With a one-fish possession limit and catch target of 29,656, it’s typical of truncated seasons since 2010.

Back then, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council and NMFS were looking at a crash course in reef fish protection that could have closed for many years the EEZ from McClellanville, S.C., to Melbourne, Fla. (see “Bottoming Out,” NF February 2010, page 22).

The South Atlantic stock is still classed as recovering and managed under rules established in 2018 by Amendment 43 to the

Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

A

The commercial South Atlantic red snapper fishery lingers with a 75-pound trip limit.

South Atlantic snapper-grouper fishery. Today the vestigial commercial incidental fishery that opened July 13 has a target catch of 124,815 pounds, with a trip limit of 75 pounds.

It’s a far cry from the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery, split by joint federal and state management, and a 15 million-pound annual catch limit shared between recreational

for-hire, private boat and commercial individual fishing quota permit holders.

“Everybody wants to go catch red snapper,” captain Brian Godwin of Savage Pursuit Fishing Charters in Fort Pierce, Fla., told the Treasure Coast News as the charter fleet was gearing up. “If we had a 45-day fishing season like they do in the Gulf of Mexico, I’d have — Kirk Moore 45 trips booked.”

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September 2020 \ National Fisherman 15

MARKET REPORTS

AT L A N T I C

G U L F / S O . AT L A N T I C

Groundfish

Flounder

Retail sales recovering but prices stay low; USDA buying soon

Summer landings on track; cuts coming for southern allocations

ell, we’ve had an interesting first part of the fishing year,” says Bert Jongerden, general manager of the Portland Fish Exchange on Maine’s waterfront. “Prices have been very weak — I’m surprised by how much the lack of restaurant markets is impacting the pricing of groundfish.”

Generally, Jongerden notes, “a groundfish trawler averages around $2 a pound. But, right now, trawlers are getting around $1.25 to 1.30 a pound. It’s about 65 percent off this year, compared to last year.” Amid the continuing covid-19 closures, supermarket retail has been steadier, but it hasn’t made up for restaurant demand.

As New York City markets are beginning to open back up, “pollock, haddock and hake are moving along pretty well, but at reduced prices, while flatfish like dabs, grey sole and monk tails are weak,” says Jongerden.

In Massachusetts, big processors like Blue Harvest, a New Bedford company with a fleet of about nine groundfish boats, are hoping new government contracts will help. In early May, NOAA announced plans to distribute $300 million to fisheries, with Massachusetts receiving $28 million.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is finalizing plans to purchase $20 million of pollock, redfish and Atlantic haddock in a program that supplies U.S. food banks. This system has potential to boost East Coast seafood producers hard hit by the pandemic.

“It’s limited to what are considered ‘underutilized’ species, so haddock, redfish and pollock,” says Gene Bergson of Blue Harvest. The fish is frozen and packaged into 2-pound retail bags.

Rick Speed, vice president of sales and marketing at Blue Harvest adds, “This is a real opportunity to resurrect the fishery. We worked closely with the USDA to develop this plan, and the USDA put a dollar value of $20 million for one year.”

Speed credits the USDA for pulling it together.

“There has been a quick turnaround, and a lot of stakeholders are involved.The best part is that it is a U.S. product — and U.S. owned. “ In the past, markets could only handle so much fish before the prices would collapse. “If we can make this program available to more regularly,” Speed adds,“we can stabilize markets.” — Caroline Losneck

ummer flounder is a popular commercial fishery in the Mid-Atlantic region, with North Carolina allocated the largest share at 27.44 percent. Despite the widespread disruption in markets from covid-19, the state’s fleet by early summer was on track for landings just slightly lower than 2019.

Preliminary statistics show 69 North Carolina vessels representing 131 trips had landed 744,479 pounds of summer flounder by late June, with a value of $2.67 million distributed to 16 dealers. Retail prices ranged from $8 to $15 per pound.

“Landings of summer flounder appear to be somewhat down from last year, but the trend seems similar,” said Lee Paramore, biologist supervisor with the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries. “Since we can modify trip limits to stay within quota, it may be possible to allow for increased harvest if landings remain down relative to last year.

“There a lot of factors that can impact landings, and we haven’t yet determined if covid will play a part, but currently the fish houses here that typically land summer flounder have been operating at same level.”

According to the 2019 stock assessment, summer flounder are not overfished and not subject to overfishing. Not the case for North Carolina’s other flounder season — the valuable southern flounder fishery.

The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission voted to accept the recommendations of the Division of Marine Fisheries to reduce the southern flounder harvest for both commercial and recreational fishing by 62 percent starting this fall and a 72 percent reduction in harvest beginning in 2020.

Local Seafood, headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., had a quick response to the plan.

“We support the state’s efforts to improve stocks and create a sustainable southern flounder fishery,” according to a statement from the company. “However, the reduction time line is too drastic for North Carolina’s seafood industry to withstand.We feel the reduction time line should be expanded to alleviate the burden on commercial fishermen.

“In 2020, the season for both recreational and commercial fishing for flounder would reopen in mid-August. The recreational season would last until the end of September, while commercial fishermen would again have their season set geographically.” — Maureen Donald

W

“

16 National Fisherman \ September 2020

S

www.nationalfisherman.com

MARKET REPORTS

PA C I F I C

ALASKA

Squid

Groundfish

Trade hurdles to China remain, but prices steady at almost $1,000/ton

Flatfish landings ahead as rockfish lag, prices lower ‘across the board’

T

he California squid fleet faced stiff tariffs, covid-crimped markets and a slow start to the season. Oceanic conditions, on the plus side, appear to have improved for the 2020

season.

“It’s been going OK,” says Diane Pleschner-Steele, executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association, in Buellton.

“I don’t think they’re setting the world on fire, but they’re catching.”

According to PacFIN, the 2020 harvest of squid for California, Oregon and Washington stood at around 42,000 short tons as of early July. Based on data from previous years, Pleschner-Steele adds that this year’s preliminary catch of 10,107 short tons for California (according to California Department of Fish and Wildlife as of June 26) and other oceanographic data suggests that the fishing grounds indeed felt the effects of El Niño conditions in 2018 and 2019.

With the pendulum swinging toward the middle in terms of longterm average ocean water temperatures and rainfall patterns — back toward ENSO neutral — squid production promises to rise.

“Conditions are turning in our favor,” says Pleschner-Steele.

Meanwhile, trade agreements with China — where about 80 percent of West Coast squid wind up — remain less than favorable.Two years ago, squid exported to China carried a 27 percent tariff, and last year the United States imposed an additional 25 percent for a total of 52 percent (value-added charges and duty combined). Whether those rates will see significant reductions anytime soon remains to be seen. In the meantime, that adds tremendous cost to importers wanting to bring product into China.

In 2019, U.S. exports of squid in various product forms to China added up to 10.27 million kilos for a value of $21.98 million.

Though the majority of West Coast squid are consumed in China, much of the remaining volume undergoes reprocessing and exportation from China to Europe in product forms that wind up in retail markets.

Those markets have gone stagnant since the onset of the covid-19 virus.

The good news for the squid fleet is that exvessel prices for the 2020 season remain steady at just under $1,000 per short ton, according to data from fish and wildlife.

— Charlie Ess

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

roundfi sh trawlers working the Gulf of Alaska received lower ex-vessel prices in 2020, and the pace of landings for fl atfi sh had usurped last year’s as of July 1. The rockfi sh harvest, meanwhile, lagged behind last year’s during the same time period.

Better yet, the trawlers hadn’t hit limits for incidental catches of king salmon and halibut.

“It’s going good,” says Julie Bonney, executive director of the Alaska Groundfi sh Data Bank, in Kodiak. “We’re not having any issues at this point.”

The cap for the incidental take of king salmon in recent years has been set at 2,700 fi sh, and more recently a “performance buffer,” rewards lower salmon bycatch in the previous year.

For this year’s season, the incidental halibut cap had been set at 1,706 metric tons while the cap for incidental king salmon for non-pollock species had been set at 4,080 for vessels fi shing in the non-rockfi sh program sector and 2,700 for vessels participating in the rockfi sh program sector.

As for target species, the Gulf of Alaska groundfi sh TAC for 2020 had been set at 276,878 metric excluding fi sheries directed for the harvests of pollock and cod. That TAC includes deep- and shallow-water fl atfi sh and myriad species of rockfi sh.

“We’re ahead of our harvest of fl atfi sh from last year by about 2,000 metric tons,” says Bonney. “With rockfi sh, we’re behind.

Right now, we’re at 50 percent complete, and this time ( June 30) we were 70 percent complete.”

When it comes to ex-vessel prices, groundfi sh, like most other Alaska species, have been hit by the effects of covid-19. But the sector is suffering the additional whammy of stiff tariff s in trading agreements with China.

“I’m seeing ex-vessel prices go down across the board,” says Bonney. “I think it’s caused by the tariff s and the covid.”

Bonney adds that many of the boats take on salmon tendering contracts in late June and July then resume trawling for fl atfi sh later in the year and for pollock during the C and D seasons, which begin in August.

— Charlie Ess

G

September 2020 \ National Fisherman 17

FEATURE: TRANSPORTATION

Ups and downs Alaska’s remote fishing hubs grapple with ferry and flight shutdowns, but some companies see the end of the tunnel

By Bruce Buls

Bri Dwyer

Getting in and out of Dutch Harbor was never easy, but an October accident plus covid-19 led to a RavnAir shutdown and bankruptcy filing.

f you’ve ever flown into Dutch Harbor, you know it can be an adventure. I remember a jet landing in which the pilot immediately reversed thrust and hit the brakes so hard that my head hit the seatback in front of me. At least we didn’t run off the end of the runway.

Unfortunately, that’s what happened to a PenAir/RavnAir fl ight last October. The aircraft was a twin-engine turboprop Saab 2000 with 39 passengers, including a swim team from Cordova.

Another passenger, David Oltman, a 38-year-old man from Wenatchee, Wash., was killed when the plane crashed into rocks and a broken propeller blade slashed through the cabin.

The accident highlighted ongoing problems with the Dutch Harbor/Unalaska airport. Built at the edge of Amaknak Island, the runway is relatively short and narrow, 4,500 feet (total) long by 100 feet wide, with water at both ends and along most of the southwest side. To the northeast: the base of a mountain. Winds

I

18 National Fisherman \ September 2020

are notoriously strong coming off the Bering Sea and extremely variable. When the PenAir plane landed — on a second approach after one go-round — the wind was nearly 30 knots and on its tail.

That the pilots hadn’t turned around and landed into the wind puzzled many observers. Neither pilot had logged much time in the Saabs.

Back in the ’80s, Dutch Harbor/Unalaska enjoyed mainline jet service, provided fi rst by Alaska Airlines and then MarkAir. Both flew Boeing 737-200s, which were capable of landing and taking off from the short strip, if barely. But Alaska stopped flying 737s, and MarkAir went bankrupt after a failed expansion to the Lower 48. PenAir, another regional Alaska airline with national ambitions, also went bankrupt.

The most recent casualty is RavnAir, the state’s largest regional airline. In 2018, it had purchased PenAir assets after its bankruptcy.

Ravn, with PenAir’s planes, provided daily service between Anchorage and Dutch Harbor with Saab 2000s and Dash-8s. After www.nationalfisherman.com

FEATURE: TRANSPORTATION

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

Cut off in Cordova

Cheryl Ess

the October accident, service stopped completely for about a month. Alaska also curtailed its code-share and marketing arrangements with Ravn after the accident.

The coronavirus pandemic was the next hit. Air travel plummeted everywhere.

With a stated 90 percent loss of revenue, RavnAir Group stopped all operations on April 5, grounding 72 aircraft, laying off 1,300 employees. It fi led for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In a letter to customers, Dave Pfl ieger, Ravn CEO, said these actions would “give us time to ‘hit pause’ while we seek federal CARES Act grants... and emerge successfully once [the pandemic] has passed.”

Suddenly, Dutch Harbor/Unalaska was again without scheduled airline service.

Even during a pandemic, the top seafood port in the country needs a way to fly people in and out, regularly.

“We’re seeing a lot of companies charter planes out of Anchorage,” said Stephanie Madsen, executive director of At-Sea Processors Association, in Juneau.

“And around May 15th, Alaska Airlines set up a hub in Cold Bay, like back in the good old days.”

Because it has a huge runway, Cold Bay has historically been used for large planes thanks to its two paved landing strips built during World War II, one of which is over 10,000 feet.

For many years, Reeve Aleutian Airlines used Cold Bay as a hub for both Lockheed Electra turboprops and Boeing 727 jets. Reeve provided scheduled service between Cold Bay and Anchorage, and also, in the late ’70s and early ’80s, direct fl ights between Seattle and Cold Bay. In 2000, Reeve ceased operations.

“Reeve didn’t really change with the times, and none of the kids wanted to take it over,” said Madsen, who lived in Unalaska from 1980 to 1999. Her husband, Tom Madsen, was a well-known bush pilot in the Aleutians. He died in an accident near Juneau in 2002. The state of Alaska renamed the Dutch Harbor/Unalaska airport in his honor that same year.

So for several months this spring and summer, the only scheduled service to Dutch was an Alaska Airlines jet to Cold

Cordova’s off-season was even quieter this winter with no ferry access.

Of all the commercial fishing ports

is buying a second trailer: one for the

in Alaska, Cordova has the largest

road-system side and one for Cordova.

fishing fleet. About 750 boats fish Prince

“But that can be an astronomical ex-

William Sound yearly, many of them

pense for a small business owner,” said

trailerable gillnetters. And while Cor-

Haisman.

dova may be the center of the sound’s

After a long winter without any ferry

fishing industry, it’s not a year-round

service, Cordova has finally been re-

home to about half of those seasonal

connected to the road system in Val-

fishermen. Many of these people live on

dez and Whittier, but only once every

the road system in places like Anchor-

two weeks, when the Kennicott passes

age, Wasilla and Homer and move their

through. In the old days, Prince William

boats back and forth to Cordova on the

Sound was also served by the Chen-

state ferry.

ega, a fast catamaran that carried cars

In the old days, before the Alaska

and trucks every day. With that ferry,

Marine Highway System went broke

one could get from Cordova to Whittier

and tied up most of its boats, many

in three hours, and from there to An-

fishermen would arrive in April for reds

chorage in a few more by driving. That

and kings, and then leave in October

ferry is now laid up near Ketchikan be-

following silvers. But last fall, the ferry

cause of its high operating costs. It is

system shut down all service to Cordo-

up for sale along with its sistership, the

va on Sept. 19 and didn’t resume until

Fairweather.

May 15.

The other option for getting from

“Quite a few fishermen had to cut

Cordova to Anchorage for, say, a doc-

their season short and weren’t able to

tor’s appointment, is to fly. Ravn used

stay through the end of silver [salmon]

to offer several daily flights between

season,” said Chelsea Haisman, ex-

Cordova

ecutive director of the Cordova District

said, but those were eliminated sever-

Fishermen United. “This year, folks

al years ago. Now the only scheduled

weren’t able to come into Cordova as

service is provided by Alaska Airlines,

early as they wanted, and we had the

which offers one northbound and one

pandemic on top of it.” Another option

Continued on page 20

and

Anchorage,

Haisman

September 2020 \ National Fisherman 19

NOAA

FEATURE: TRANSPORTATION

The Dutch Harbor/Unalaska airstrip can be unforgiving in high winds, fog and bookended by water.

Bay on a Wednesday or Saturday with a Grant Aviation shuttle to Dutch Harbor.

Weather permitting. If not, welcome to Cold Bay. Many people flew on charters, but that was more expensive and more difficult to manage. A Facebook page was set up to help coordinate available seats on charter flights.

In early July, Ravn Air Group’s assets were put up for auction, and many of its smaller planes were sold. Grant Aviation bought 15 smaller Cessnas. Other small

Cut off in Cordova Continued from page 19 southbound flight per day. The cost of a ticket from Cordova to Anchorage is $264 each way.

In season, Alaska also flies cargo planes in and out of Cordova for quick delivery of the area’s salmon harvests to markets in Seattle and beyond.

The other transportation link for moving Prince William Sound fish this summer is tug and barge. Lynden’s Alaska Marine Lines provides weekly

container-on-barge

service

to Cordova and Valdez. In Southeast

planes were purchased by Yute Commuter Service, Wright Air Service and ACE Air Cargo.

Ravn’s two larger assets, the so-called Part 121 airlines, Ravn Air Alaska and PenAir, were not sold at auction, although there were bidders. But within days of the auction, Ravn suddenly announced that the Part 121 airline certificates and most of the associated aircraft had been sold to a buyer from Southern California, Float Shuttle.

Float Shuttle is a recent start-up that

“Quite a few fishermen had to cut their season short and weren’t able to stay through the end of silver [salmon] season. This year folks weren’t able to come into Cordova as early as they wanted, and we had the pandemic on top of it.”

Alaska, the service is twice weekly.

— Chelsea Haisman,

Alaska Marine Lines also provides

CORDOVA DISTRICT FISHERMEN UNITED

seasonal barge service to western

20 National Fisherman \ September 2020

operates a fleet of nine-passenger Cessna 208Bs between general aviation airports in the Los Angeles area. “Vanpool in the sky!” for $1,250 a month, on a subscription basis.

Two of the company’s executives have lived and worked in Alaska, and they say they understand what they’re getting into.

Naturally, there are skeptics, but people in remote locations like Unalaska, Homer, Unalakleet, Aniak and Kotzebue can anticipate the return of scheduled flights.

And other smaller, remote communities may get improved service from Ravn’s smaller aircraft purchased at auction.

Dutch Harbor/Unalaska will still have a short runway with water at both ends, and the notorious weather will cancel many flights. But with the Ravn sale, it looks like the number-one seafood port will get daily air service once again.

Ferry Service Another scheduled transportation option for getting people and freight to and from Unalaska is the state ferry system.

In season, the Alaska Marine Highway System runs the Tustumena between Dutch Harbor and Homer, Seldovia and Kodiak. This year, on the first trip from Homer to Unalaska, one of the crew members tested positive for covid-19 after docking in Dutch Harbor on June

Alaska, including Dillingham and Naknek in Bristol Bay and Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians.

Alaska Marine Lines’ barges are towed by tugs from Seattle-based Western Towboat. The tug crews also load and unload containers using forklifts, which they carry with them from port to port. When loading/off-loading, the operators never get off the forklift while it’s on land, as per agreement with the state of Alaska. “If we need groceries or other supplies, we have a local AML employee bring it over to the barge,” said Russell Shrewsbury at Western Towboat. “Our crews don’t get off on the land in Alaska, period.”

— B.B.

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FEATURE: TRANSPORTATION

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“We’re seeing a lot of companies charter planes out of Anchorage.

And around May 15th, Alaska Airlines set up a hub in Cold Bay, like back in the good old days.”

— Stephanie Madsen, AT-SEA PROCESSORS ASSOCIATION

has until the end of September to come up with recommendations to be implemented in fiscal year 2023.

Robert Venables, executive director of the Southeast Conference and chairman of the state’s Marine Transportation Advisory Board, is also a member of the reshaping group. He says Alaskans want ferry service that is consistent and dependable. Getting there may mean changing the governance

structure. “The powers that be will establish a budget. But to have a maritime enterprise, we really need to have maritime business people at the helm,” he said.

Venables recommends a seven-member board that includes maritime professionals, business finance experts and labor.

Bruce Buls is the former technical editor for WorkBoat magazine.

Vigor

6. The infection was identified by the Iliuliuk Family & Health Services clinic on the island. Twenty-one passengers had already boarded in Dutch Harbor, but they had to get back off the boat after the test result became known. The ferry then headed back to Homer, where additional testing revealed six more crew members were positive for the coronavirus, but no passengers.

All other crew members and six passengers who had already been on the boat got off in Homer. The seven infected crew members stayed in isolation on the Tustumena, a 296-foot ferry that carries up to 211 passengers and 36 vehicles.

The Alaska Marine Highway System had said it would return to service on June 27 but that was pushed back to July 2 as a result of “ongoing covid-19 mitigation,” according to the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.

While the Tustumena was tied up because of covid, only two of the other 11 boats in the fleet were active. Nine of twelve Alaska ferries were either out of service or in layup, including the two newest boats, the Hubbard and the Tazlina, both of which were recently built at the Vigor shipyard in Ketchikan.

Even before the pandemic, the Alaska Marine Highway System was in crisis. In early 2019, the newly elected governor, Mike Dunleavy, proposed a 75 percent budget cut for the state ferry system.

Many legislators cried foul, but the system budget was still cut by about 50 percent, and service to many communities was curtailed or cut off completely through the winter months. Even this summer, when tourist volume is the highest, several boats will remain in layup because of insufficient operating funds or need for repair. The system’s two fast catamarans were pulled from service and put up for sale.

A new working group has been established to address the system’s problems and propose solutions. Adm. Tom Barrett, recently retired president of the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. and former Deputy Secretary of Transportation under President George W. Bush, chairs the nine-member “reshaping” group, which

The 280-foot, 300-passenger Alaska-class ferry Tazlina is a dayboat that runs between the Southeast Alaska towns of Juneau, Haines and Skagway.

September 2020 \ National Fisherman 21

BOATBUILDING

BOATBUILDING

EVERY ENGINE NEEDS A BOAT Knute Aarsheim got a great deal on an engine, so he built a boat around it

By Paul Molyneaux

T

the engine; I had to build a boat.”

Aarsheim got a bargain on a $760,000 engine and then called Junior Duckworth, a longtime boatbuilder in Tarpon Springs, Fla. “Junior and I are on the same wavelength,” says Aarsheim.

Duckworth Steel Boats had built a boat for Aarsheim in 2018, the 104-foot Selje, and the Aarsheim Junior is an exact copy of the Selje, designed by John W. Gilbert Associates in Hingham, Mass.

“Gilbert designed my first boat,” says Aarsheim, referring to the Act I. Harvey Gamage built the Gilbert-designed boat on spec and sold it to Aarsheim in 1973. “It was one of the last boats he built,” says Aarsheim. “He died the next year.”

Aarsheim has had a number of boats but has now trimmed

Knute Aarsheim has spent decades in the New Bedford, Mass., scallop fishery.

In December 2019, he and his son Keith took delivery of the Aarsheim Junior.

22 National Fisherman \ September 2020

Duckworth Steel Boats

he way Knute Aarsheim tells it, the story of his newest boat, the Aarsheim Junior, started with an engine, a beautiful 1,350-horsepower Tier III 3512 Cat. “I bought it 15 days before the law went into effect,” says Aarsheim, referring to emissions regulations that now require engines over 800-hp to be Tier IV. “I’ve known Kevin Hampson at Caterpillar for a long time,” says Aarsheim. “He called me up and said, ‘The next time you buy an engine it’s going to cost you $750,000. But I so happen to have an engine right here, and I have a deal for you, but you have to act quickly.’ They called me because I’m a real schmuck. I discovered years ago that I’m hopeless, not useless, just hopeless. So I said, OK. I bought it. So then I had

www.nationalfisherman.com

BOATBUILDING

Aarsheim Junior Home port: New Bedford, Mass.

Owner: Aarsheim Fishing Corp.

Builder: Duckworth Steel Boats, Tarpon Springs, Fla. Hull material: Steel Year built: 2019 Fishery: East Coast Scallops Length: 104 feet Beam: 28 feet Draft: 14 feet

Duckworth Steel Boats

Engine: 1,350-hp 3512 Cat Diesel

The engine that started it all: Behold the 1,350-hp 3512 Cat that Knute Aarsheim bought at a bargain and had to build a boat around.

his fleet down to two, the Selje, and the Aarsheim Junior, which he owns in partnership with his son. “Two boats is perfect,” says Aarsheim. “So you can keep good people.”

Because of the limited number of fishing days available for one boat, the captain and crew of the Selje will take over the operation of the Aarsheim Junior, as well, giving them all enough fishing days to stay busy.

Like Aarsheim, Junior Duckworth at Duckworth Steel Boats has a long history with the fishing industry. His yard has built a number of boats for some of the bestknown names in New England fishing, such as Frank O’Hara, Roy Enoksen, and of course Knute Aarsheim.

“She’s a pretty typical scalloper,” Duckworth says of the Aarsheim Junior. The 104foot vessel, like its predecessor the Selje, has a 28-foot beam and draws 14 feet loaded.

“She’s 8/36 steel plate,” says Duckworth.

“It’s all ABS, they put a stamp on it. It’s all American steel now, there’s no more foreign steel.”

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Duckworth starts with heavy transverse and longitudinal framing before shell plating the hull. While many boatbuilders use computers to create C&C files that enable them to precut all the plate, Duckworth does not.

“We do all the layout and cutting ourselves, the old-fashioned way,” he says. “I find I can save a lot of material that way.”

At Duckworth, a team led by men who have been with the company for as long as 25 years welds the plate from the inside.

“Then we back gouge almost through to the inside weld so when we weld it makes a solid weld all the way through. It’s stronger,” says Duckworth.

Duckworth adds strength on the decking where the hefty 15-foot dredges will be landing repeatedly, sometimes with a bang in rough weather. “The plate there is 1 inch,” says Duckworth. “With 6-inch by 4-inch, 3/8-inch angle framing every 24 inches.”

Duckworth installed Aarsheim’s 3512 Cat with a German-made Reintjes 6:1 reduction gear turning a 7-inch Aquamet-17 shaft and

Power train: Reintjes 6:1 reduction gear, 7-inch Aquamet 17 shaft, 84" x 78.75" four-blade propeller in a nozzle Fuel capacity: 19,200 gallons Hold capacity: 100,000 pounds Electronics: Furuno NavNet TZTouch 12-kW and Furuno FR8065 6-kW radars; Furuno SC33 satellite compass; Furuno 220WX Ultrasonic Weather Station; Furuno RD33 color remote display; Furuno FCV295 and DFF-1 Black Box Echosounder Module for TZTouch; Icom M605 25-W VHFs with Shakespeare 476 antenna and Command mics; Simrad AP70 MK2 autopilot with additional control head; S35 NFU (non-follow up) steering lever, FU80 Steering lever (full follow up); two Simrad NSS evo3 GPS units; Nobeltec TZ Professional w/PBG Module; two P-Sea Windplot II units; GlobalStar Satellite phone; KVH TV5 in wheelhouse, galley and captain’s bunk Deck gear: Marine Hydraulics MH 195 main winches; Pullmaster H-12 boom winches

September 2020 \ National Fisherman 23

Duckworth Steel Boats

BOATBUILDING

The Aarsheim Junior’s 1,350-horsepower Cat turns this 83" x 78.755" propeller, enabling the vessel to easily tow its two 15-foot scallop dredges.

24 National Fisherman \ September 2020

tack weld the angle iron to the deck. “Then they lift the winch off, bolt down the angle iron,” says Wheeler. Then the MH-195s — which can hold 350 fathoms of 11/8 cable and haul it at mean speed of 245 feet per minute — get bolted back to the angle iron.

Duckworth Steel Boats

an 84" x 78.755" four-blade propeller in a nozzle. For auxiliary power, the boat has a 65-kW John Deere genset. “They have a 600-horsepower Cat C-18 to drive the hydraulics. It’s a 600-gallon system with a Sunstrand pump,” says Duckworth. “It’s actually two tanks, so if you lose fluid on one side you can open up the other and you don’t have to go back in. Marine Hydraulics did all the winches.”

According to Jerry Wheeler, general manager at Marine Hydraulics in New Bedford, they’re running four pumps off the Cat C18, and powering two Marine Hydraulics MH-195 winches, a pair of Pullmaster H-12 boom winches and smaller PO5s for the outriggers. “We sent the whole package to Duckworth,” Wheeler says. “We send schematics for the installation and provide tech support.”

According to Wheeler, the winch is bolted to heavy angle iron; workers run a line from the center of the winch to the towing block, and when it is perfectly aligned they

Wheeler notes that because they use Hagglunds motors, the winches can freewheel without any drag.

All the deck gear can be operated from an aft-facing control station in the wheelhouse.

“We fabricate a drop-in control panel that they can just cut a hole for and install,” says Wheeler.

According to Duckworth, besides the hydraulics, the wheelhouse is packed with electronics. “A lot!” he says. “But don’t ask me what. Tony Vieira from T&K electronics did all that work.”

Vieira, also based in New Bedford, made three four-day trips to Tarpon Springs to install the electronics on the Aarsheim Junior.

“I was down there for 12 days all,” says Vieira, the owner of T&K Marine Electronics.

“He’s got two Furuno radars with remote displays. He’s got the TimeZero Nobeltec bottom builder and a PC windplot chart plotter.”

The extensive list of electronics Vieira installed also includes: two Furuno LH5000 loud hailers, a Furuno FA170 AIS, Furuno SC33 satellite compass, Furuno 220WX ultrasonic weather station, Furuno RD33 color remote display, two Furuno sounders (FCV295 and DFF-1 black box echosounder module for TZTouch), two Icom M605 25-watt VHFs with Shakespeare 476 antennas and Command mics, a Simrad AP70 MK2 autopilot with additional control head, S35 NFU (non-follow up) steering lever, FU80 steering lever (full follow up), Dirigo

A drop-in control panel, fabricated at Marine Hydraulics in New Bedford, allows the captain to control the winches from the wheelhouse.

www.nationalfisherman.com

Steve Kennedy

BOATBUILDING

The ample wheelhouse, equipped with a shucking station for the captain and TimeZero Nobeltec bottom builder that has become standard equipment on scallop boats.

6-inch magnetic compass, two Simrad NSS evo3 GPS units, two Fusion BT stereos w/ SiriusXM, Nobeltec TZ Professional chartplotter w/PBG Module, a P-Sea Windplot II, and a Globalstar satellite phone.

“He’s got full controls in the back of the

wheelhouse,” says Vieira. “And in his shucking house, he’s got the TZTouch, remote display, the TZ Nobeltec GPS and the Simrad FU80 to steer.”

On deck and in the shucking house, the crew has Fusion BT stereos with SiriusXM.

Scallops are cleaned and bagged in the shucking house and sent down a chute into the hold.

“He’s got two holds,” says builder Junior Duckworth. “One is a regular hold where they just keep the scallops in with ice, the other is a freezer hold. But they’re not using the freezer yet.” Duckworth estimates that the boat can hold around 100,000 pounds of scallops.

The crew limit for the Aarsheim Junior is seven people, Duckworth notes. “But we built her with bunk space for 13 or 14,” he says. “That’s how many they used to take, and I guess they hope someday they can go back to that. There’s the captain’s stateroom with its own shower, a two-man stateroom, a four-man stateroom, and six-man stateroom. They all have their own showers, so they don’t have to wait around.” Duckworth points out that there is also a head on deck.

“That way they don’t have to come inside with all their gear,” he says.

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26 National Fisherman \ September 2020

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BOATBUILDING

“We built her with bunk space for 13 or 14.

That’s how many they used to take, and I guess they hope someday they can go back to that.”

Besides the high-end sound system for the crew’s entertainment, the boat has a KVH TV5 satellite TV in wheelhouse, galley and captain’s stateroom.

Aside from the suite of electronics, the Aarsheim Junior is, as Duckworth says, “a regular scallop boat,” but she carries decades of heritage. As Knute Aarsheim says, he and Duckworth are on the same wavelength, both men started in the 1970s and both are working with their children to continue their legacies, one as a Gulf Coast boat builder, the other as a New England fisherman. While Aarsheim partners to an

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

Steve Kennedy

— Junior Duckworth, BOATBUILDER

While crew size is limited to 7 people on East Coast scallopers, many new builds have space for twice that many, in case regulations change.

extent with his son Keith, Duckworth’s two sons Joel and Jason and daughter Joy, keep much of the work going at Duckworth Steel Boats.

Within the context of the pandemic, neither operation has been hampered.

“We just keep on going,” says Junior Duckworth.

Paul Molyneaux is the Boats & Gear editor for National Fisherman and author of “The Doryman’s Reflection.”

September 2020 \ National Fisherman 27

BOATS & GEAR: ONBOARD PROCESSING

KILLIN’ WITH A PURPOSE Direct sales of top-quality seafood flourish as fishermen adjust to market shifts

By Paul Molyneaux

he covid-19 pandemic has disrupted seafood supply chains around the world, but some smallscale fishermen and processors have managed major shifts by expanding their direct marketing efforts, and focusing on quality and price.

Before starting Gulf of Maine Sashimi, a small-scale fish processing and distribution company, President and CEO Jen Levin had worked for the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, managing the organization’s sustainable seafood program.

“I looked at the volume of some fisheries like Icelandic haddock and Norwegian cod and the prices they can sell for. We can’t compete. Last year, we harvested just 17 percent of the Georges Bank/Gulf of Maine quota for haddock, 8 percent of the pollock quota, partly because fishermen can’t afford to fish at these prices.” While Levin acknowledges that the price of quota for choke species like cod and flounder is part of the problem, she believes the main factor is price at the dock. “We started looking for high-end markets. And we started working with fishermen to train them to land a high-quality fish.”

The process Levin teaches to the fishermen who sell to her is what the Japanese call ikejime.

“It means, to kill with purpose,” she says. Levin buys from

about 20 boats, including hook boats, draggers making short tows and gillnetters making short sets, so the fish come aboard alive. “And we have one weir fisherman who brings mackerel,” she says.

“The fish are killed with a brain spike, then followed with two cuts to bleed them, one at the throat and one at the tail.

Then they are put into a bleed tank, which is just a tote with water and a little bit of ice in it, we don’t want it too cold because we want the fish to move around and get the blood out. Then the fish are put into an ice-saltwater slurry, and that’s how we get them.” It’s low tech, but according to Levin, she is also talking to the processing equipment manufacturer, Baader. “They sell a machine you can mount on the rail that stuns and bleeds the fish, so they can go right into the slurry.”

While Levin was selling to high-end chefs all over the country before the virus hit, the closure of most restaurants hurt business initially, but Gulf of Maine Sashimi has bounced back.

“We’ve had to just bootstrap and find ways to move fish,” she says, having just dropped an order to this writer’s daughter, Oona Molyneaux at Farm Drop in Portland — small world.

The bootstrapping worked, according to one of Levin’s primary harvesters, Joe Letourneau, who fishes his 42-foot boat the

Joe Letourneau’s 42-foot Lady Rebecca, powered with a Cummins QSL9, heads out to sea from Newburyport, Mass.

Letourneau sorts haddock, cod, cusk, pollock and redfish into slush ice aboard the Lady Rebecca.

Joe Letourneau photos

T

28 National Fisherman \ September 2020

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BOATS & GEAR: ONBOARD PROCESSING

“We started looking for high-end markets. And we started working with fishermen to train them to land a high-quality fish.”

— Jen Levin, GULF OF MAINE SASHIMI

The clear black eyes, firm flesh and bright color of these cod reveal the high quality of the fish Joe Letourneau lands.

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

September 2020 \ National Fisherman 29

Lady Rebecca out of Newburyport, Mass. “When [covid-19] fi rst started, I was very close to buying a box truck and hiring somebody to sell fi sh,” says Letourneau. “But Jen shifted back to selling direct to consumers and started taking all my fi sh again.

It’s great because she guarantees a certain percentage over the auction.”

Letourneau lands high-quality fi sh that are not always met with correspondingly high prices at the auction. “One trip we landed 2,100 pounds of pollock and got 35 to 45 cents at the auction. Our fuel bill was $21 higher than what we got for our fi sh after processing fees.”

According to Letourneau, his main fi shery is groundfi sh, caught with four DNG jigging machines and rod and reel, but he also longlines and uses the jigging machines for mackerel. “I built and designed most of the rigging for the mackerel,” says Letourneau.

Longlining, Letourneau fi shes a quarter-mile groundline with 80 hooks in areas with big cod or haddock, and he also catches an occasional halibut. “And when we flood our mackerel market and want a day off, we go tuna fi shing,” he says.

Letourneau’s crew performs ikejime on groundfi sh as soon as they come aboard. “I have a guy who brain spikes it,” he says.

“Then he cuts the gill, but not the artery, then the tail cut. Then

Winch Power. Built to Order.

30 National Fisherman \ September 2020

Scott Breneman photos

BOATS & GEAR: ONBOARD PROCESSING

On the 31-foot F/V Circle Hook, Scott Breneman and crew land a swordfish caught using deep-set buoy gear.

we put it in a bleed tank, which is just a tote without holes, with a hose in it and some ice. We put about 10 fi sh in there for about 10 minutes and then load into a 1,000-pound insulated vats. It’s got about 700 pounds of fi sh and seawater ice slurry.”

Letourneau delivers the fi sh in the vats, noting that the core temperature of the fi sh is between 32.2 and 32.8 degrees. “It’s a lot of time and effort, but we have gotten very proficient at it.”

With tuna, Letourneau has a different process. “We tail rope them and put a mouth hook in, and swim the fi sh until it recovers and tries to outswim the boat, about 30 minutes. Then we brain spike it, cut the gill membrane and the tail, and tow it backward for another 10 minutes.” He then brings it aboard and cuts the gills, guts it and packs it with ice in a tuna bag from local gear supplier Tightlines Tackle.

With mackerel, Letourneau reports he does not bleed them.

“They go straight into slush,” he says. “We get $2 a pound for food grade.”

On the West Coast, Scott Breneman of the Newport Beach Dory Fleet Market has a somewhat vertically integrated operation, catching fi sh for his own market. With two 31-foot boats, the Isla Rose and the Circle Hook, Breneman fi shes blackcod and thornyhead with longline; rockfi sh with rod and reel; and swordfi sh using deep-set buoy gear.

“I was landing live fi sh, primarily for the Asian market. But with the restaurants closed, I’m selling more to a couple of people who deliver direct. They’re doing a few hundred orders a week,” Breneman says, noting that he can tell the orders are coming from some of his regular customers. “I can tell by the way they want their fi sh cut.”

“When the pandemic started, we had a terrible week, I was worried. But now people are desperate, now demand has doubled. People are tired of the frozen hamburger they bought.

They are lined up to get into the market.” According to Breneman, whereas once everyone would come to the market, he sees individuals coming to buy for a group.

Breneman notes that he has always focused on quality and www.nationalfisherman.com

BOATS & GEAR: ONBOARD PROCESSING

“Demand has doubled. People are tired of the frozen hamburger they bought. They are lined up to get into — Scott Breneman, NEWPORT BEACH DORY FLEET MARKET the market.”

“We start out the day with the fi rst set and just let the net hang loose. We don’t want to tug on the fi sh.” Fick fi shes a 200-fathom gillnet 60 meshes deep. “We use 5- to 6-inch mesh, just enough to get the head stuck. When we haul, we like to see them

Breneman fishes longline with up to 12,000 hooks targeting lingcod and other species.

fi nding buyers willing to pay what that quality is worth. His boats are small, fast and versatile. “I need speed. We’re fi shing sometimes 100 miles out. Because of quotas, I don’t need a lot of space, just get out there and back.” Breneman has boxes on deck that he had specially made in China. “I worked through a company called Ali Baba and had to order 60,” he says. “They’re like Yeti, hard plastic, but shaped to fit the boat.” Breneman fi lls the boxes with saltwater ice, and uses an aerator to keep his fi sh alive. “It’s a primitive system,” he says.

Breneman notes that the deep-set buoy gear he uses for swordfi sh is different because when he gets a fi sh the buoy pops up.

“When we get a fi sh, we harpoon it and bleed it,” he says. “We have two big insulated fi sh holds belowdeck for when we get a nice catch of swordfi sh.” He also buys salmon and other fi sh from fi shermen as far north as Washington state, and the Hepp family of Santa Barbara, Calif.

In Southeast Alaska, Tyson Fick fi shes for Taku River Reds — part of Yakobi Fisheries — which ships salmon all over the United States and to Europe. Fick reports that mail-order sales have tripled in response to the covid-19 pandemic.

“We’re proving the value of delivering a high-quality product,” he says, “so that more independent fi shermen can make more on their fi sh.” To that end, Fick and the team at Yakobi Fisheries go to great lengths to produce a quality fi sh.

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just swimming statically.” Once aboard, Fick and one or two crew members pull the gills on the salmon and put them in totes of saltwater to bleed.

Once the net is hauled, the fi sh are gutted and pressure bled. Pressure

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September 2020 \ National Fisherman 31

John McCarthy photos

BOATS & GEAR: ONBOARD PROCESSING

Aboard the Heather Anne, Tyson Fick cuts off the head of a salmon prior to pressure bleeding.

Fick inserts a low-pressure hose into a salmon’s main artery along the backbone to flush out its blood.

High-quality Alaska salmon are unloaded at the dock in Juneau. Some will be sold fresh, the rest frozen for buyers around the world.

bleeding is the key to quality, according to Fick. “I learned it from the previous owner to the boat,” he says. He and his crew put the headed and gutted salmon into a tray and then shoot a low-pressure water needle to the main artery along the backbone of the fi sh and essentially flush

out the remaining blood.

“Then we rinse the fi sh and pack the bellies with ice and pack them in slush ice in the hold,” says Fick. “I always have plenty of ice.”

Fick sorts the fi sh by species and ices them into Nomar brailing bags in four

side holds, and loads up to 1,000 pounds into two totes in his center hold. “When we have too many, we off-load to a tender, the Marsons,” says Fick.

Chris McDowell owns the venerable wooden tender the Marsons. “We bought her about 10 years ago,” says McDowell. “The fi rst thing we did was put in an 18-ton IMS [Integrated Marine Systems] refrigerated seawater system,” says McDowell. “It’s electric, so we also put in a 27.5-kW MER genset.” Depending on distance from the processing plant, McDowell loads the salmon into the RSW hold, or keeps the iced fi sh in totes on deck. Either way, the fi sh are tracked from boat to consumer, enabling the buyer to know their fi sherman, as the company website promotes.

According to one of Fick’s European customers, Caroline Bennett, owner of Sole of Discretion, a silver lining of the pandemic is what it has done for smallscale operations. “It may well have saved us,” says Bennett, who visited Fick in 2019, before buying. “We sat at his dining room table, and I’ve never satiated myself so fully on salmon roe as I did there, it was truly memorable. Our sales have tripled, and as prices on the market collapsed, finally the fi shers saw virtue in landing to a co-op that offered fi xed prices.”

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32 National Fisherman \ September 2020

Paul Molyneaux is the Boats & Gear editor for National fi sherman and the author of “The Doryman’s Refl ection.” www.nationalfisherman.com

SEPTEMBER PERMIT NEWS

Dock Street Brokers

(206) 789-5101 (800) 683-0297 www.dockstreetbrokers.com For all the latest permit & IFQ listings please call or visit our website.

IFQ NEWS *Price differences reflect the range from small blocks of D or C class on the lower end to unblocked B class unless ortherwise indicated.*

HALIBUT The ongoing global pandemic continues to result in limited sales activity. Reports from the grounds are largely positive but lower dock prices continue to result in reduced quota prices. We expect activity to stay relatively quiet until indications of market stabilization and subsequent increase in demand from end users.

The latest is as follows:

AREA

ESTIMATED VALUE

2C $45.00/# - $57.00/# - No activity despite reduced asking prices.

3A - Unblocked available

$35.00/# - $44.00/#

3B - Buyers looking for unblocked.

$22.00/# - $27.00/#

4A $10.00/# - $15.00/# - Buyers available at reduced asking prices.

4B $10.00/# - $18.00/# - Blocked and unblocked available.

4C - No activity.

$10.00/# - $18.00/#

SABLEFISH Market activity has remained quiet during the summer months. Typically sought after unblocked quota remains available in most areas. Fishing reports are cautiously optimistic but there continues to be an abundance of small fish. We are hopeful that the market will rebound quickly when the grounds prices improves. The latest is as follows:

AREA

ESTIMATED VALUE

SE $12.00/# - $18.00/# - Limited activity despite reduced asking prices.

WY $14.00/# - $18.00/# - Unblocked available, offers encouraged.

CG $9.00/# - $14.00/# - Recent activity, unblocked available.

WG $6.00/# - $10.00/# - Some recent sales at reduced prices.

AI - No activity.

$1.50/# - $8.00*/# (A class)

BS $1.50/# - $8.00*/# (A class) - Recent activity, limited availability.

See all our listings at www.dockstreetbrokers.com

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

ALASKA PERMITS

ESTIMATED VALUES

Power Troll

$25k

Area M Drift

$190k

Area M Seine

$170k

Area M Setnet

$55k

Bristol Bay Drift

$155k

Bristol Bay Setnet

$63k

Cook Inlet Drift

$26k

Kodiak Seine

$36k

PWS Drift

$140k

PWS Seine

$140k

SE Dungeness (75 - 300 pot)

Variable - Sellers wanted

Southeast Drift

$70k

Southeast Herring Seine

$100k

Southeast Salmon Seine

$175k

SE Chatham Black Cod

$420k - Permit available

WEST COAST PERMITS

ESTIMATED VALUES

California Crab Variable - Call for info Sales activity remains limited. Recent sales have occured at reduced prices. We expect that trend to continue until market conditions become clearer. Permit values remain difficult to determine due to the limited number of sales.

The latest is as follows: - 175 pot: $30k - $50k range - 250 pot: $45k - $60k less than 40’. $50k - $100k for 40’ - 60’ + - 300 - 350 pot: $70k - $150k, low availability - 400 - 450 pot: $100k - $280k, value dependent upon length - 500 pot: $250k - $450k+, highest value in 58’ and above CA Deeper Nearshore

$33k

CA Halibut Trawl

$70k - $100k

California Squid

Variable - call for info

CA Squid Light/Brail

Variable - call for info

Oregon Pink Shrimp

$60k - $75k

Oregon Crab Variable - call for info Some demand for 500 pot permits over 58’ - 200 pot: $45k - $65k - 300 pot: $110k - $200k - 500 pot: $200k - $300k for <50’ & $6k - $7k per foot for >50’ Puget Sound Crab

$135k

Puget Soun Drift Drift

$12k

Puget Sound Seine

$100k

Washington Crab Variable - call for info Recent listings at reduced prices, offers encouraged - 300 pot: $90k - $160k depending on length - 500 pot: $300k - $400k depeneding on length Washington Pink Shrimp Washington Troll

$70k - Leases available $21k

Longline - Unendorsed $110k - $130k - Cash buyers looking, sellers wanted. Leases available.

Longline - Sablefish Endorsed Variable -Tier 2 and 3 permits available, prices reduced A-Trawl

Variable - Call for info

September 2020 \ National Fisherman 33

AROUND THE YARDS

New power for a 25-footer in Chesapeake Bay; Wright skiff is ready for sale in Deltaville, Va.

Larry Chowning

By Larry Chowning

This Parker 25 worked by Nathan Everett on Chesapeake Bay recently got a new 300-hp four-stroke outboard engine.

athan Everett of Still Kickin’ Seafood in White Stone, Va., uses every square inch of his 1991 model Parker 25 to crab pot, gillnet and dredge for oysters in Chesapeake Bay. In April, Everett and crew were crab potting when his Yamaha 250-hp outboard with 8,000 working hours on the engine blew up, requiring a tow home.

Everett purchased a new 300-hp fourstroke outboard from Jett’s Marine in Reedville, Va., and Lee Haynie of Bull Neck Marine in Reedville installed the engine.

With the 300-hp outboard, Everett has picked up 15 percent better fuel consumption and 3 more knots in speed. “With the new motor, we can fi sh two more 1,200foot gillnets in a day than we could with the old engine,” says Everett.

As a young boy, Everett started his commercial fi shing career on the Pamlico River in Beaufort County, N.C., working on a crab boat. He eventually got his own boats and moved to fi shing in the Atlantic Ocean and Carolina Sounds out of Hatteras Village, N.C. Some years later, he met his future bride in Virginia and moved from offshore Carolina fi shing to inshore Chesapeake Bay fi shing. As part of that move, he left behind

N

34 National Fisherman \ September 2020

a 42-foot fiberglass vessel built by Provincial Boat & Marine Ltd. out of Kensington, Prince Edward Island in Canada. He still owns the boat and has someone fi shing it in North Carolina waters.

With the move to the Chesapeake, Everett had Tim Cahoon of Belhaven, N.C. modify the Parker 25. The modification included installation of a used Privateer center-console wheelhouse; modification of the stern and bottom, originally designed for inboard/outboard power; and raising of the ceiling (floor) inside the boat. A Stainless Marine motor bracket was installed to extend the engine aft to provide maximum work and gear space inside the boat.

The 25' x 9.5' x 2' Parker has a gillnet reel mounted at about amidships and an

aluminum bowpicker extending from the bow. On a day fi shing this spring, Everett and crew caught 10,000 pounds of menhaden. “She was loaded down to the gunwales, but she brought us home,” he says.

Everett does his own maintenance on the boat by hauling it out at Robbins Boat Yard’s boat ramp located next door to Still Kickin’ Seafood’s crab house. “We just pull it out on a trailer, put her up on the hard, and take care of the maintenance,” says Everette. “She is a lot easier to maintain than the bigger boats that I have owned.”

Moving to Deltaville, Va., we announced the retirement of 84-year-old boatbuilder Lewis G. Wright of Deltaville in the October ’86 NF Around the Yards.

Wright learned to build wooden boats from his father and three uncles who were pioneers in the development of Chesapeake Bay deadrise and cross-planked wooden boats at the turn of the 20th century.

Wright’s cinderblock boatshop on Jackson Creek in Deltaville, with its sweet aroma from heart pine wood chips, linseed oil and copper paint, has long since been replaced with a fi ne waterfront home.

Wright’s boatbuilding legacy, however, lives on in Deltaville as boatbuilder John England of Urbanna, Va., and the Deltaville Maritime Museum continue to build Lewis Wright style skiffs in the museum’s boatshop.

Inside the museum’s shop in June, a 19' 8" x 6' 2" x 18" Lewis Wright deadrise style skiff was nearly complete. The museum uses the new boatshop to provide a cultural experience for visitors and as an outlet to sell Continued on page 37

John England of the Deltaville Maritime Museum is building this 19' 8"x 6' 2" deadrise skiff at the museum’s boatshop in Deltaville, Va.

www.nationalfisherman.com

Larry Chowning

SOUTH

AROUND THE YARDS

WEST

Washington builder prepares to close its doors; new boatyard takes shape in northern California

Petrzelka Brothers

By Michael Crowley

Petrzelka Brothers will be finishing off this 32-foot Norcraft hull for Bristol Bay with a Scandia engine and Namjet propulsion package.

P

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

the boat required new bottom plating for the holds and new keel cooler boxes.

The third gillnetter, the Erin L had been barged down to Petrzelka Brothers the previous two winters. This past winter the boat’s owner brought it back to have the refrigeration system worked on, a new power steering system installed and the single Traktor Jet upgraded with a new impeller.

Of the two gillnetters that need to be finished off by spring 2021, one of them is currently in the shop. It’s from Dick Smitha

Continued on page 37

Reincke Marine Fabrication

etrzelka Brothers sent three rebuilt gillnetters to Bristol Bay this spring.

Two new gillnetters will be finished off next winter, and two older gillnetters will be repaired. After that, Petrzelka Brothers, a family owned and operated boatshop in Mt. Vernon, Wash., since 1977, will probably close its doors.

The Bristol Bay gillnetters that were rebuilt this spring were all between 25 and 30 years old. “One was a pretty major reconstruction,” says Jon Petrzelka. That would be the St. Elias, which received new aluminum decks, new fish hold and a refrigeration system. The fish hold was expanded because “he was a little shy on hold space.” Raising the deck and adding a fish hold solved that issue, which also required moving the two fuel tanks farther aft.

The Jade was another gillnetter that fell into Petrzelka’s “pretty major reconstruction” category. Both the hydraulic system and the refrigeration system needed replacing. Then the bow plate had “some real bad dents,” which Petrzelka attributed to “fishing conditions. Running into other people.” As a result, the bow plating was replaced on both sides.

Corrosion in the fish holds and bottom of

of Norcraft Marine & Design in Anacortes, Wash., and work will begin on it this summer.

The make of the second boat hasn’t been determined, and work won’t start on it before October.

Of the two gillnetters in for repair, one is to be repowered with a MAN diesel.The second gillnetter needs to be rebuilt after catching fire in Bristol Bay this spring. Once those boats leave, “we might be about done,” says Petrzelka. “We’ve (Jon, Joel and Paul Petrzelka) talked about it enough; it’s just how quick it all happens.”

Reincke Marine Fabrication, also known as RMF, didn’t exist four years ago.

What there was in Field’s Landing, Calif., a small community at the southern end of Humboldt Bay, was the Fields Landing Boatyard. It was basically a boat storage and doit-yourself boatyard with a 150-ton Marine Travelift operated by the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District.

Then four years ago Tod Reincke took over the lease and started Reincke Marine Fabrication. Before that he ran a boatyard in Tennessee for 14 years followed by a yard in Stockton, Calif., for 12 years. Now instead of the do-it-yourself yard, Reincke describes RMF as “a full-service yard. We do everything: metal fabrication, lengthening, refits.

Everything is full service. There’s nothing we do not do.” RMF has the 150-ton Marine Travelift and a building large enough for a 100-foot boat.

A recent project was the three-year-old

Reincke Marine Fabrication lengthened the fiberglass crabber High Hopes from 42 to 51 feet.

September 2020 \ National Fisherman 35

AROUND THE YARDS

NORTHEAST

More horsepower is driving force for new boat; boatyard expands lineup with 38-foot model

Eugene Harrington

By Michael Crowley

The Salt Shaker, a 42-foot Mussel Ridge hull was finished off by Simmons Boatworks for Friendship lobsterman Eugene Harrington.

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36 National Fisherman \ September 2020

Most boatbuilders have experienced delays in obtaining equipment for new boats and repair work, and Simmons Boatworks is no different, primarily when it comes to windows.

“Been able to get everything but windows,” says Simmons. Bomar windows for the Salt Shaker “were ordered months ago.” Thus the Salt Shaker went in the water with temporary windows. “When we get the Bomar windows, we’ll have to change them out — it’ll be expensive.”

Now that the Salt Shaker has been launched, it’s hard to say how many lobster

Continued on page 37

Taylored Boats

his past winter and spring Gilbert Simmons and his son, Jason, operating as Simmons Boatworks in Friendship, Maine, finished off one lobster boat, instead of the usual two boats they’ve done in years past. Reducing the output by one was to create more time for them to be lobstering in the summer. The boat they launched in June is the Salt Shaker, a 42' x 15' Mussel Ridge for local fisherman Eugene Harrington.

It’s finished off using all composite construction. There’s a split wheelhouse, two lobster tanks underneath the platform, and V-bunks and shelving up forward. A small door is built into the transom. “The Mussel Ridge is pretty high sided,” says Gilbert. The door makes “it much easier to get aboard.”

The Salt Shaker is the second boat Simmons Boatworks has built for Harrington.

The lobster boat it replaces is also a 42 Mussel Ridge. Horsepower is the major difference between the two boats; the new lobster boat comes with a 1,000-hp MAN, as opposed to Harrington’s previous 42 Mussel Ridge with a 700-hp Caterpillar C12. “He wanted more power. He wants to go fast,” says Simmons, adding, “He probably will be racing.”

traps the Simmonses will be hauling this summer. “The season doesn’t look good for lobstering,” says Simmons. “Between the [covid-19] virus and the whales, I don’t know,” he notes, referring to proposed federal rulings to protect the North American right whale by restricting the use of lobster traps.

Just in case Gilbert’s worst fears come to fruition and Maine’s lobster season isn’t as lucrative as it has been in the past, the Simmonses have a fallback option, a 38 Calvin hull with a 476-hp Caterpillar C9 that’s been sitting in the yard to be finished off as a spec boat. “I haven’t got to it,” says Simmons, “but I might work on it some in the summer and launch it in the fall.”

After a fire and explosion destroyed the R.P. Boatshop in Steuben, Maine, on March 1, 2010, along with all its Willis Beal designed R.P. molds, most fishermen assumed that was the end of the R.P. boat line. But they didn’t figure on Peter Taylor of Taylored Boats in Addison, Maine, who worked at R.P. Boats early in his career. Taylor, with the help of Willis Beal, has been creating the next generation of the Willis Beal designs by using existing R.P. hulls as a plug to create a mold and by lengthening and expanding hulls to make larger sizes.

The latest example is the 35-foot Karen Marie, an R.P.-built lobster boat out of Yarmouth, Maine, that Taylor figures was built at least 15 years ago. In early June, the Karen Marie was at Taylored Boats for repairs and to be extended to 38 feet by adding 3 feet at the stern, “following the lines that Willis had done years ago,” says Taylor.

The Karen Marie, an RP-built lobster boat, was stretched from 35 to 38 feet by Taylored Boats and then used to create a 38 Willis Beal mold.

www.nationalfisherman.com

AROUND THE YARDS

Around the Yards: South

Around the Yards: West

Around the Yards: Northeast

Continued from page 34

Continued from page 35

Continued from page 36

skiffs when completed.

This new skiff is the third one at the museum’s boatshop that has been built in stages. The skiff is built out of Georgia heart pine, white cedar and pressure treated wood.

Keel, stem and stringers are built out of pressure-treated wood; chine log, timbers and transom from heart pine; and bottom and side planks and removable floorboards from white cedar. The floorboards and entire inside of the skiff are coated with a mixture of turpentine and linseed oil. “This is easy long-term maintenance,” says England.

The deadrise bottom is made from two layers of white cedar planks laminated with epoxy. The bottom is coated with Pettit Hydrocoat 1640 Red Ablative Antifouling paint, and a semi-gloss white latex paint is on the sides. The boat is fastened with 3/16" stainless bolts and stainless nails. Inside the skiff, a riser strip attached to frames holds seats or can be used to tie down side bumpers.

The skiff will be powered by a used 65-hp outboard Suzuki engine, and when completed will be on the market. This is the second Lewis Wright style skiff built by England. The fi rst skiff was based on a Willard Norris style.

High Hopes, a fiberglass crabber out of Half Moon Bay, Calif., that was built by H&H Marine in Steuben, Maine. The High Hopes was hauled at RMF as a 42-footer and left as a 51-footer, after being extended at the stern. The additional 9 feet not only allows the High Hopes to carry more crab pots, but reduced its fuel consumption by 30 percent, says Reincke, though the top speed is down by 6 knots to 18 knots.

Another project involved the Mary C, a 46-foot wooden crabber and tuna boat built in 1942. The original wooden mast, trolling poles and standing rigging were all removed and replaced with new standing rigging and an aluminum mast and trolling poles.

Reincke points with pride to the new paint jobs on fishing boats that leave the yard.

“I’ve got fishing boats that look like motor yachts,” he says. The secret to the motor yacht paintwork is “lots and lots of prep work.” The most recent example is the 40-year-old Celtic Aire, a 65-foot steel crab and albacore boat launched on April 26.

Future work includes the sponsoning and lengthening of the Miss Cynthia in August. It’s a 56-foot steel crabber out of Eureka, Calif., that will be stretched 8 feet at the stern and given 8 feet of additional beam. She’ll also be getting a new whaleback and pilothouse.

A one-off splash mold was used to fabricate the stern extension, which was then fiberglassed and bolted to the hull. Then the now 38-foot Karen Marie was used to create a 38 Willis Beal mold.This follows the introduction of the Willis Beal 50 in October 2019.

“What we can make right today,” says Taylor “is the 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 42 and 44, and the 50, though there’s no mold for that. Have to make it out of the 42,” which is done by adding 5 feet of beam to a 42 hull — pushing it out to 19' 6" — and lengthening the hull in the middle by 7 feet.

A new Willis Beal 44 with an 800-hp Scania is currently being built for a local lobsterman and should be completed by September or October. It will have a split wheelhouse with a baiting room on the back of the house.

Taylored Boats, like Simmons Boatworks, has experienced delays in getting equipment for new and existing boats. Taylor’s major hardware supplier went from being “a good supplier to a terrible supplier. I waited five to six weeks for multiple, multiple things.”

In early June, Taylor had still not received a propeller for an existing fishing boat from another supplier that had been ordered in December. “Unless you are really a well-stocked boatbuilder, which I am not, it really can hurt.”

Marine Medical Kits

MADE IN MAINE

Cost effective on-board medical supply kit and educational material to prepare the commercial fisherman for at-sea injuries.

- REORDER FORM FOR QUICK ONLINE ORDERS - TRAINING AVAILABLE FOR THE MOST MARITIME INJURIES - ALL IN HD STORM LIKE CASES - EASY TO USE FOLLOW THE NUMBERS

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1-800-272 3008

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7 Calvin Beal & 9 Young Brothers Models To Choose From

42’ Calvin Beal

207-667-7427

swboatworks@gmail.com www.swboatworks.com September 2020 \ National Fisherman 37

BOATS & GEAR: PRODUCTS

Product Roundup

Seafood cells Certified Quality Reader looks to improve, organize fish quality data

By Brian Hagenbuch laska-based company Certified Quality Foods is trying to improve the way the seafood industry collects, organizes and analyzes quality data of fish up and down the supply chain.

Co-founder Keith Cox, who has a PhD in fish physiology and bioenergetics, worked for years to develop the Certified Quality Reader, a device that collects cellular data on seafood quality.

Certified Quality Foods partner and vice president Chuck Anderson, a longtime grocery store seafood buyer, explained that the device has four electrodes that send electricity through the fish, which then rebound back to the handheld reader.

“We’re essentially measuring the cells to

A

determine how fresh the fish is. Depending on how fast or slow it comes back, we can determine how much water and fat is in and around the cells. And once you can determine that, you can tell a lot,” Anderson said.

“To evaluate seafood products, the FDA uses organoleptics; sight, smell, texture. You have to be able to differentiate between 30 different smells, and these scores were very subjective, making for very noisy data,” Cox said, adding these scores were generally handwritten and then digitized, making them difficult to compile and analyze.

After working with their original version of the Certified Quality Reader with everyone from major processors like Trident Seafoods and Icicle Seafoods to independent

CQR rolls out new software with a waterproof reader.

fishermen, Cox and Anderson took feedback and went back to work.

For smaller processors and direct marketers, the Certified Quality Reader can pinpoint top quality when it is time to make market.

“They are able to tell buyers that certain fish is in the top 5 percent of what they got for the season. They can say, ‘This is the best fish that came out of Bristol Bay this season,’ and they can charge more for it,” Chuck Anderson said.

CERTIFIED QUALITY FOODS

certifiedqualityseafoods.com

Portable wash and rinse RinseKit to the rescue with freestanding shower and hand-washing stations

By Brian Hagenbuch e all know sanitary conditions are sometimes not the best on fishing boats, especially smaller independent vessels. With more pressure on fleets to stay cleaner amid the pandemic, the pressurized portable shower units from RinseKit are a good option for smaller boats without bathrooms.

RinseKit was originally designed by California surfer Chris Crawford, who wanted a portable post-surf shower to wash off the saltwater and sand before he got in his car to drive home. After an appearance on Shark Tank, the product took off with outdoor enthusiasts and sport fishermen, and provides a good alternative to solar showers for commercial fleets.

Two models, the RinseKit Pod and the

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38 National Fisherman \ September 2020

RinseKit Plus, come with the same shower head with five settings, from the shower setting to a mist setting. The Pod holds 1.75 gallons of water and is a smaller, easily stowed unit for smaller vessels, while the Plus will hold up to 2 gallons of water and will run for five minutes on the center setting and mist for up to 10 minutes. The shower heads have a metal hook on the back to hang them, or act as a kickstand for hands-free use.

Adapters connect the RinseKit tank to a hose bib or sink faucet, and the tank takes on the water pressure from that hose or faucet up to 65 psi, pressuring in just 30 seconds.

Fishermen, however, will likely want to fill the tank with still water and pressurize with it an accessory hand pump.

“With the Pressure Booster Pump,

RinseKit provides up to five minutes of pressurized water.

pressure will stay in the RinseKit Pro and Plus for up to a month.We have a lot of commercial fleet drivers who are on the road for five days or longer, and they use it to shower,” said Hailey Martinez, RinseKit’s director of sales and operations.

The tank can be filled with hot water, or the water can be heated with another RinseKit accessory, the Hot Rod Water Heater, a stainless immersion heater that plugs into a cigarette lighter and screws directly into both models.

RINSEKIT

www.rinsekit.com

www.nationalfisherman.com

AT A GLANCE

OCEANLINK from VERATRON is a simple, versatile way to monitor engine data. The modular system integrates into any SAE J1939, NMEA2000, or analog input system and doles out engine data for easy display on a 7-inch TFT screen, a 4.3-inch version, or one of several 85-millimeter round gauges. The 7-inch screen can provide information on up to four engines. Light sensors on all readouts adjust for easy reading, and users can customize layouts on everything from fuel, water, and oil levels to navigation and weather.

VERATRON

www.veratron.com

SEABORNE’S SEA VENTURE AUTOMATIC WATCH is inspired by vintage dive watches, but updated with rugged modern materials. The Duxbury, Mass.-based company housed the watch in a marine-grade, 316L stainless steel screwdown caseback and capped it with a sapphire crystal window. A K1-hardened crystal bezel holds the two pieces together, and the watch is water resistant to 330 feet. Seiko Instruments keep the luminous hour, minute and second hands ticking along, and Seaborne donates 5 percent of profits to coastal community organizations.

SI-TEX MARINE ELECTRONICS recently introduced a new WiFi radar system that is compatible with its NavPro Series. The 24-inch MDS NETWORK RADOME antenna can be wirelessly synced to the NavPro to turn it into a 36-nm range radar that delivers high target resolution and more precise navigation. The NavPro is also available with a black box or CHIRP sonar for better fish finding capacity. The Hybrid Touch Control has keys, a pad and rotational knobs that makes the radar easy to use.

GRUNDÉNS has added to its popular NEPTUNE line with the THERMO JACKET. This polyurethane-coated pullover jacket comes with a cozy fleece backing for colder-weather fishing, providing warmth while allowing for freedom of movement. The anorak-style coat has a sleek, active fit with few snag points. Neoprene cuffs help keep water out of the sleeves, and a longer tail on the coat keeps it from riding up over bibs. The coat has a snapping breast zip pocket and an elastic pull-cord in the waist hem.

SI-TEX MARINE ELECTRONICS

GRUNDÉNS

www.si-tex.com

www.grundens.com

JMP MARINE has added four new cooling pumps to its lineup for John Deere engines. These full drop-in replacement pumps have heavy-duty cast-bronze bodies and deliver strong raw water flow. Stainless wear plates, nonmagnetic shafts, and corrosionresistant fittings give the pumps long life. Plus each one comes with JMP’s proprietary wax-infused impeller, which was tested by the U.S. Navy. Their results found the pumps lasted longer than other brands. The four pumps fit 35 models of John Deere engines.

XTRATUF’s 6-inch ankle boots took off as a popular, light-duty alternative to the 15-inch Legacy boots, but some fishermen found they were not up to the rigors of deck work. The people at Xtratuf heard them and produced the WHEELHOUSE BOOT, a commercialgrade ankle boot. The Wheelhouse has an SRC-rated outsole for slip resistance and is reinforced in high-wear areas. Front and back pull-on loops have been shored up, and the boot has a wider fit and thicker insole to accommodate for long days on your feet.

SEABORNE

JMP MARINE

XTRATUF

www.seabornewatch.com

www.jmpusamarine.com

www.xtratuf.com

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

September 2020 \ National Fisherman 39

CLASSIFIEDS

BOATS FOR SALE 1997 ISLAND HOPPER Equipped with a Cummings C 350 Hp Engine Total hours: approx 3,000 Large Fishing Well, Tackle Center, Stern Thruster, Much more...

Price: $70,000 Contact: 631-587-8670 or Email dan@simssteel.com

46’ WESMAC SPORTFISH 2005 Cat C18 803 hp with 1400 hrs. Extended warranty to 3500 hrs Or March 2021, 18-20 knot cruise @80% load,750 gal. fuel. 9k generator, 3 stations, 4 plotters, 2 heat pumps,water maker, 600 lb. ice maker, 3 fighting chairs, Rupp outriggers.

Price: $575,000 Contact: Call Bill @ 252-241-2651 or email at: a1a.bvs@gmail.com

55’ GILLNETTER 55” Gillnetter - Cat 3406 with a twin Disc 514 4.5 to 1 ratio for $90,000. Also a new twin Disc mg5114 dc 3.43 1 housing with Vulcan silicone torsional input coupling for $16,500.

Price: $90,000 Contact: Brian 781-724-4960

46’ NEWTON Totally new inside and out. 700 HP luggers, “0” hours. 8 KW new phasor generator. 3 steering stations. All new hydraulics by 2 steering stations. All brand new electronics upstairs and down. All new wiring through the entire boat. Too much extras to list.

Price: $425,000 OBO Contact: Call - Gary 305-393-1415

40 National Fisherman \ September 2020

www.nationalfisherman.com

CLASSIFIEDS

BOATS FOR SALE JARVIS NEWMAN 36’ FLY BRIDGE CRUISER 1980 Semi Displacement Trawler/Long Rang/, New England Pilot House Fishing/Workboat. 370 Yanmar - 14 knot Cruise. 2380 hrs. on engine. Boat located, Florida West Coast.

Price: Asking $68,000 Contact: Call Rick at (713) 249-0351

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-Bir 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: $68,000 Contact: Earl 508-994-3575

BOATS FOR SALE How to place a Classified ad?

You can place a classified advertisement in National Fisherman by using one of the following methods: ONLINE You can place your ad 24 hours a day, 7 days a week online at nationalfisherman.com

By Phone or Email You may place your ad, correct or cancel by calling 800-842-5603 or email our classifieds sales rep.

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

September 2020 \ National Fisherman 41

CLASSIFIEDS

Dock Street Brokers (206) 789-5101 (800) 683-0297

TE19-009 105’x30’x9’ wood power scow built by Martinolich. Twin Cummins NT855-N main engines rated at 430 hp each. Twin Disc 5114-DC gears with 4.86:1 ratio, new 2019.

100 kW GMC 8V71, 150 kW GMC 671, and 40 kW John Deere gensets. 7.5k gallons fuel capacity in (3) tanks. Packs 400k# in (3) holds. RSW system includes (4) IMS chillers and Carrier compressors. Updated electronics. Asking $350,000.

CR19-032 109’x30’x14’ crabber built by M.D. Phares Boat Construction in ‘79. Twin CAT 3412 mains, rebuilt in 2019. ZF 3710 gears with 5.952:1 ratio. 185 kW John Deere 6090L, 65 kW CAT 3306 gensets. Packs 365k# salmon, 175k# crab in (4) holds.

IMS RSW system, (2) 50 ton, installed new in 2017. New hydraulics in 2017. Lots of recent work. Asking $1,900,000.

SE19-008 58’x17.7’x9.5’ steel whaleback, combination seiner/crabber built by Marine Power & Equipment in 1974. Cummins KTA 19-M3 rated at 500 hp w/ Twin Disc MG516.

Isuzu 60kw and Lugger 20kw gensets. Packs holds. IMS 25 100k lbs in (2) insulated ton RSW system. Kolstrand deck winch.

Aluminum main boom, and (2) steel picking booms. SE permit available. Reduced to $475,000.

CO20-010 58’x19’x7’ steel hull, aluminum house, combination vessel. Built in 1978 by Morro Boat, then wedged at Fashion Blacksmith in 2012. Cummins QSL9 main rated at 285 hp w/ Twin Disc 509 gear. 40kW Isuzu/ Mer genset. 3,000 gallon fuel capactiy in (5) tanks. Packs 28k lbs crab and 24 tons tuna hold. Deck equipin tanked/insulated ment includes Junes crab block, bait chopper, Kolstrand gurdies, Junes tuna pullers, and bait tank. Electronics include (3) GPS, VHF, SSB, (2) radar, sounder, plotter, Furuno sonar, ComNav autopilot, and computer. INCLUDES CA and OR 500 pot crab permits and OR/ Asking $1,200,000.

CA salmon permits. Turn-key package ready to CR19-037 32’x11.8’x2’ aluminum crabber/ combination vessel, built by Hard Drive Marine in 2016. Dual Yamaha F300NCA outdrives w/ 1,600 hours and new lower units in 2019. 30kt cruise at 4,400 rpm, burning 1.2 gph total. 13hp Honda power pack. (3) tanked holds pack 3,000#. Articulating davit, 15” Junes hauler, and deck equipment. Price reduced to $195,000.

TE20-002 98’x27.5’x12’ combination tender/dragger built by Master Marine, Inc in 1992. Cat 3512 rated at 1750 hp w/ top end rebuild in 2017. Reintjes reduction gear. Cat 3408 300 kW and Cat 3306 150 kW gensets. Packs 300k lbs total in (4) holds. Wesmar bow thruster, new in 2017.

RSW systems includes 70 ton and 50 ton compressors, titanium chillers w/ 507 converpump, dewatering box, sion. (2) knuckle cranes w/ extension. TransVac sorting table and chutes. Recent upgrades include hydraulic heat exchanger, replaced all shaft bearings, couplings, Kort nozzle rebuilt, and prop trued.

Redundant electronics package. Asking $1,200,000.

www.dockstreetbrokers.com 42 National Fisherman \ September 2020

HALIBUT IFQ 2C-C-B: 3A-B-U: 3A-B-U: 3A-C-B: 4A-B-U: 4B-B-U: 4B-B-B: 4C-B-B:

3,700 lbs...........asking 12,000 lbs.........asking 20,000 lbs.........asking 1,100 lbs...........asking 15,000 lbs..........asking 21,000 lbs..........asking 5,700 lbs...........asking 3,600 lbs...........asking

SABLEFISH IFQ $48.00 $46.00 $46.00 $40.00 $19.00 $20.00 $16.00 $15.00

AI-B-U: CG-C-U: CG-C-B: SE-B-U: SE-C-B: WG-B-B: WY-C-U:

10,700 lbs..........asking $2.00 41,000 lbs...........asking $17.00 4,300 lbs.............asking $13.50 18,000 lbs...........asking $20.00 2,600 lbs.............asking $18.00 4,100 lbs..........asking $10.00 9,000 lbs...........asking $20.00

LL19-022 82’x22’x10’ steel longliner/ combination/tender vessel built by Bender in 1970,

by Yaquina in 2010. Isuzu main engine rated at 505 hp. Twin Disc 5170DC gear with 5.95:1 ratio. John Deere 6068 99 kW and John Deere 6080 172 kW gensets.

10k gallons fuel capacity (4) integral tanks.

Packs 145k# in (1) hold. 30 ton RSW unit.

Full electronics package. Fully rigged for Asking $1,200,000 for the multiple package.

BB20-013 32’x14’x32” aluminum, Bristol Bay gillnetter, built by All Points in 1988.

Lugger L6125A rated at 440 hp w/ Twin Disc MG 509 gear. 6 cube & 4.9 cube hydraulic pumps. Key Power 10” bow thruster. Cold Sea Industries 7.5 ton RSW chills 12k lbs in (7) insulated holds. Kinematic internal drum drive and 36” stern roller. Upgrades in 2019 include new starter, dripless bearing, rebuilt shaft, prop and more. Complete and bridge w/ Lexan winredundant electronics package. Full wrap around dows and heat. Spacious galley, (4) berths, head, shower. Asking $290,000.

BB20-014 32’x13’x40” deck, RSW, top house, Jumbo Wegley, completed in 1991. Lugger 6125 rated at 440 hp w/ new injectors and rebuilt Twin Disc 509 gear. IMS 7.5 ton RSW system. Packs holds. Updated bow 14k lbs in updated thruster. Rex Roth drum drive and new Maritime Fab Big stern roller. 6 and 4.8 cube hydraulic pumps w/ updated lines and valve banks throughout. Aluminum top house w/ bunk, rebuilt cabin, galley and engine room.

Complete and updated electronics. Diesel and Red Dot heat, propane cook top, (4) berths plus top house bunk. Call for a survey and complete list of upgrades. Package available. Asking $248,000.

TE20-004 90’x26’ steel crabber/tender built in Fairhaven Shipyard in 1983. Dual Caterpillar 3406, rated at 375 hp each.

Tonanco TM729D gear with 4.5:1 ratio. 16K gallons fuel capacity. 105 kW Cat 3304 and 40 kW Mitsubishi gensets. Packs 220k# in (3) tanks. Westcold 30 ton RSW unit. Full tendering, longline, and crab equiment packages included. Electronics include (3) GPS, (4) VHF, (2) computers, radar, sounder, plotter, and autopilot. Call for equipment details and survey. Asking $950,000 for the package.

LL19-020 52’x16’x9’ combination longliner/freezer troller, built by Little Hoquiam in 1974. 320 hp GMC 8v71 w/ Twin Disc 509 gear. Isuzu 23 kW genset. Blast freeze system w/ 15 ton compressor. Packs 50,000#. Mustad Autoline system, new in 2018, bait shed, wave wall, and longline gear included. Complete electronics. Very well rigged longliner. Asking $650,000.

www.nationalfisherman.com

CLASSIFIEDS

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

BUSINESS FOR SALE BOAT BUILDING & FIBERGLASS FABRICATION Southeast coastal North Carolina.

Complete operation. 15 thru 22ft.

In active production owner retiring.

Call Pete at: 910-675-1877

HELP WANTED Seeking potential US Licensed Chief Engineers and Mates

**LOOKING FOR A USCG LICENSED CHIEF ENGINEER**

South Pacific Tuna Corporation is currently seeking qualified and experienced individuals for the following positions aboard a Class Six purse seine fishing vessel:

For an uninspected fishing vessel, a Tuna Purse Seine operation with 4000HP and 1500 MT Cargo Capacity. Must hold a current USCG Engineerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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

MASTER CHIEF ENGINEER CHIEF MATE

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.

Please contact: schikami@westpacfish.com

MATES/CHIEF ENGINEERS WANTED Tradition Mariner LLC is looking for qualified Mates and Chief Engineers to serve aboard their fleet of 1000 ton to 1400 ton capacity High Seas Tuna Vessels for extended voyages at sea.

For more information, please visit our website:

www.traditionmariner.com

LAW

For details, please refer to our webiste www.sopactuna.com or contact: Robert Virissimo bobbyv@sopactuna.com

Place a Marine Gear Ad! Call Wendy (207) 842-5616 wjalbert@divcom.com

MARINE GEAR CONCH Processor for Sale

Two individual motors for cracking conch, 3-phase or 220, ready to go.

Asking $20,000 firm.

CALL WAYNE

252-725-3129 To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

September 2020 \ National Fisherman 43

CLASSIFIEDS

LAW

MARINE GEAR

MARITIME INJURIES LATTI & ANDERSON LLP

Over 50 years experience recovering multimillion dollar settlements and verdicts representing Fishermen, Merchant Seamen, Recreational Boaters, Passengers and their Families nationwide.

CALL 1-800-392-6072 to talk with Carolyn Latti or David Anderson

www.lattianderson.com MARINE GEAR

COMPLETE FRONT POWER TAKE-OFF SYSTEMS Multiple Options for Every Engine Front SAE Bell Housings & Flywheels SAE Hydraulic Pump Mounts Live Power Take-Offs Multiple Clutch Options

East Coast Dealership Opportunities Available

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

800.777.0714

MARINE ENGINES & PARTS

All Island Marine is an authorized dealer of all these brands. Everything you need for boating is located in our showroom.

Stop by and see us.

Ship Daily UPS/FedEx

480 Reina Rd, Oceanside, NY 11572 ⬧ 516-764-3300

www.allisland.com

To locate a dealer visit

www.merequipment.com

Volvo Engine for Sale CTAMD 63L—236 HP @2500 RPM- 1450 Bobtail Merries up to #3 bell house. 7000 plus hours.

$12,000

Divorcee—MUST GO!

CALL Doug —805-218-0626 44 National Fisherman \ September 2020

TWIN DISC MARINE TRANSMISSIONS, CATERPILLAR & CUMMINS ENGINES & PARTS. New and rebuilt, Biggest selection of used ENG & Gear parts in the world.

Worldwide shipping.

Best pricing. Call Steve at Marine Engine & Gear 781-837-5424 or email at twindiscgears@verizon.net

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 www.nationalfisherman.com

CLASSIFIEDS

MARINE GEAR

N-Virodredge™ USA N-Viro scallop dredge… Anything else is a drag!

• Cleaner catches • Less bottom impact (207) 726-4620 office (207) 214-3765 cell ◼

®

• Saves fuel • Protects junvenile stock 736 Leighton Pt. Rd., Pembroke, Me. 04666

www.n-virodredgeusa.com ◼ tim@gulfofme.com

●

Protected under International patent application No. PCT/GB2009/002002

THE L ARGEST

COMMERCIAL FISHING SUPPLY IN USA.

PARTS ● SALES

● SERVICE

432 Warren Ave Portland, ME 04103 Phone (207) 797-5188 Fax (207) 797-5953

90 Bay State Road Wakefield, MA 01880 Phone (781) 246-1811 Fax (781) 246-5321

Since 1982 we are a leading provider in quality commercial fishing supply in the United States. We warehouse a huge selection of ready to ship products

SHOP NOW AT WWW.LEEFISHERFISHING.COM For further questions, please call 800.356.5464 or email graymond@leefisherintl.com

MARINE GEAR COMMERCIAL GEAR Catalog Available

 Exsum Monofilament  Siltlon & Marinmax Monofilament  Dexter Russell Knives

1112 Main Street Sebastian, FL 32958 (772) 589-3087 Fax (772) 589-3106

www.snlcorp.com

 Grundens ® Foul Weather Gear  Mustad ® & Eagle Claw ® Hooks  Chemilure Lightsticks

◼

Email: snlcorp@bellsouth.net

Inshore and Offshore Fishing Gear (800) 330-3087 AK, HI, PR, US VI (800)824-5635

Same Day Shipping!!

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

Keel Coolers Trouble free marine engine cooling since 1927!

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

September 2020 \ National Fisherman 45

CLASSIFIEDS

MARINE GEAR PARACHUTE SEA ANCHORS From PARA-TECH,the NUMBER 1 name in Sea Anchors Sea Anchor sizes for boats up to 150 tons Lay to in relative comfort and safety with your bow INTO the weather Save fuel, save thousands due to “broken trips”

PARA-TECH ENGINEERING CO.

On Sale!

1580 Chairbar Rd. • Silt, CO 81652 (800) 594-0011 • paratech@rof.net • www.seaanchor.com

P-Sea WindPlot II

NEW! P-Sea FishFinder with Hardness and Roughness

This Windows program turns any IBM computer into a chart plotter that displays our library of bathy. charts, FREE NOAA BSB raster charts, Navionics and C-Map MAX vector charts with tide and currents. Interfaces with GPS, ARPA radar, AIS, temp. or depth. Track and record other vessels paths with the ARPA/RADARpc option. Features include: virtually unlimited waypoints, marks and tracks. NOAA Fishing Logbook. Boundary builder for setting fishing zones. Vessel and cursor positions can be set for either TD’s or Lat/Long. with TD grid overlay TD to Lat/Long conversions with optional ASF correction table for GPS/TD accuracy. See the sea bottom in 3D with the 3D option or rebuild the bottom in 3D with the P-SeaBed Builder option. Record bottom hardness, roughness, biomass and temperature down to one hundredth of a degree with the new P-Sea FishFinder option and the Koden 1000 watt dual-frequency sounder module. See for yourself all of the latest features and download the online demos via our website now or call for a mailed CD or dealer referral at 800-88-RADAR.

MARINE GENERATORS Save Fuel Run Cooler Last Longer

9kW - 550kW Gensets

Manufactured by MER Equipment, Inc.

P-Sea Software Co.

800.777.0714

P.O. Box 1390, Morro Bay, CA 93442 USA

To locate a dealer visit

www.merequipment.com

Only rely on the

STRONGEST Rope Eye 2,0 bre 00lbs + stre aking ng th

Made in USA

888.607.4790

www.mondopolymer.com

46 National Fisherman \ September 2020

Ph. order dept: (800) 887-2327 • Ph. Info: (805) 772-4396 • Fax: (805) 772-5253 E-mail: info@p-sea.com • Internet: www.p-sea.com

(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. $1,795.00 view more on tinyurl.com/ycob7ruh Cell/Tx: 707-322-9720 or Contact: david@satinbiz.com

CATCH A DOORMAT THIS SEASON.These lifelike, beautifully detailed coarse bristled mats will catch anyone’s eye on home/business doorstep, dock or cockpit.

Ideal fisherman, boaters gift. Fluke (brown, black) small (30”) $19.95, Large (43”) $36.95, Stripers (38” grey, black) $27.95, Red snappers (43” red, black) $28.95, Largemouth bass (43” green, black) $29.95, scallop (24” brown, black) $27.95. Send check or MO to A. McDonald, 629 Main St. Greenport, NY. 11944. MC or Visa accepted. Add $5.95 S&H to all orders. $10.95 Gulf/ West Coast, AK, HI. Retailers welcome. (631) 377-3040 www.nationalfisherman.com

CLASSIFIEDS

MARINE GEAR

 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,

New England’s Most Complete Packaging Supplier www.skipsmarine.net

Hydrocontrol Valves, Hoses

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

Place a Marine Gear Ad! Call Wendy (207) 842-5616 wjalbert@divcom.com

PERMITS Fresh Spot Prawns

PERMIT FOR SALE Longline permit, Tuna, incidental sword & shark 91' 166 ton. Call George 804-691-7021 $9,000.

New Bedford, MA

◼

(508) 993-9446

Ocean run spot prawns caught in southeast Alaska.

PLACE YOUR ORDER TODAY FOR THIS FRESH DELICACY!!!

100 lb. minimum

907-401-0158

SERVICES WANTED Complete vessel documentation service to USCG regulations NMFS ◼ Permit Transfers

(207) 596-6575

342 Gurnet Road, Brunswick, ME 04011

coastaldocumentationii@gmail.com

Wanted To Buy. Offshore Live Lobsters.

Top Dollar $$ Paid.

Call Pier 7 (located on Gloucester waterfront)

John (617)268-7797

ADVERTISER INDEX Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute ................................................ CV2 Boatswain’s Locker Inc ......................................................................... 3 Duramax Marine LLC ............................................................................ 9 Furuno USA ...................................................................................... CV4 Imtra Corp ............................................................................................ 10 Integrated Marine Systems Inc ........................................................... 31 Kinematics Marine Equipment Inc...................................................... 26 La Conner Maritime Service................................................................ 15 Marine & Construction Supplies ......................................................... 26

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

Marine Hydraulic Engineering Co Inc ................................................. 32 Marine Medical Systems ..................................................................... 37 Pacific Marine Expo ......................................................................... CV3 Patti Marine Enterprises, Inc............................................................... 25 R W Fernstrum & Company ................................................................ 15 SW Boatworks ..................................................................................... 37 TWG Canada - LANTEC and Pullmaster Brands ............................... 30 Walker Engineering Enterprises.......................................................... 27

September 2020 \ National Fisherman 47

Last

set

CRAIG, ALASKA Michael Douville, commercial fisherman and lifelong resident of Craig, Alaska, is teaching his daughter Heather how to hang a new beach seine net. The net is used to harvest wild sockeye salmon, an important resource for his family and community.

Photo by Heather Douville @akmoosie

48 National Fisherman \ September 2020

www.nationalfisherman.com

THE DATES ARE IN! The 2020 edition of Pacific Marine Expo will take place Tuesday, Dec. 1 through Thursday, Dec. 3!

Check out www.pacificmarineexpo.com for the latest updates on this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Expo.

Be a part of the largest and longest running commercial fishing and commercial marine tradeshow on the West Coast. Source new products, catch up with old friends and stay up-to-date on the latest industry news.

DECEMBER 1-3, 2020 CenturyLink Field Event Center

Seattle, WA Presented by:

Produced by:

We want to take this opportunity to assure our customers that our crew at Pacific Marine Expo will continue to prioritize the health and safety of our visitors, exhibitors, partners and staff, as we always have. As details are confirmed, we will be sharing an outline of the measures we will be taking to make sure your experience at this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s show is safe, positive and productive.

MAXIMIZE YOUR TIME AT SEA TARGET YOUR CATCH WITH FURUNO

When your living depends on your catch, every trip counts, so you need to make the most of your time at sea.

Furuno's acoustic sensing technology finds fish faster by seeing farther and wider, as well as measuring fish size and school density in multiple locations simultaneously. Even in deep water, Furuno sensors maximize your time and effort. We make it simple, so youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll always know the situation at a glance, and be ready to hit that quota by targeting your catch.

SearchLight SONAR

FCV1900/2100 TrueEcho CHIRP

CH500/CH600

Searchlight Sonar

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3D Bottom Profiler

www.furunousa.com