National Fisherman September 2021

Chilling Onboard / Scandies Rose Report / Get Paid to Sleep September / 2021

Incorporating

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

Up to speed

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Maine Lobster Boat Races come charging back for summer runs

NATIONALFISHERMAN.COM

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In this issue

18

Deborah Rhoades

National Fisherman / September 2021 / Vol. 102, No. 05

What sank the Scandies Rose?

26

20

Chill out

Going offshore, in a big way Ethan Whitaker’s 60-foot Dixon is built for the deepwater Gulf of Maine lobster fishery, cruising at 13 knots into the fall and early winter season.

Features / Boats & Gear

On Deck 05

A letter from NMFS

Jon Johansen

NMFS assistant administrator Janet Coit sees the agency’s priorities ahead.

34

Around the Yards Lobster boat racing resumes; Southern and Northeast yards work together; a Texas two-step pilothouse.

38

Product Roundup ACR’s new fingertip satellite device; Grundéns’ eco-friendly packaging; new electric fillet knives from Old Timer.

Innovative, efficient new refrigeration systems are available for almost every size fishing vessel.

08

Northern Lights The time-honored fish ticket is a first step for ensuring Alaska seafood quality and traceability.

02

Editor’s Log

04

Fishing Back When

05

Mail Buoy

06

Dock Talk

10

Around the Coasts & Markets Reports

48

Last Set / Portsmouth, N.H.

Reader Services 40

Classifieds

46

Advertiser Index

National Fisherman (ISSN 0027-9250), September 2021, Vol. 102, No. 05, 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.

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Teknotherm

Asher Molyneaux

The National Transportation Safety Board says the captain was bound by a deeply flawed stability report.

ON DECK

Editor’s Log

Reefing the sales Jessica Hathaway Editor in Chief jhathaway@divcom.com

he recreational fleet in the Gulf of Mexico has long relied on the backward logic that overfishing their quota should result in the reward of more quota rather than limits. And now NMFS is, perhaps unwittingly, coming to the aid of those sport interests with new surveys.

(Read more in our Mail Buoy on page 5 and my report on page 10.)

NMFS implemented Fishing Effort Surveys in 2018. What they found is that sport efforts have historically been three to five times higher than previously believed.

This is valuable data, as it supports improved tracking of recreational landings around the country. Commercial fishermen are under more intense scrutiny every year. But they are not the only ones using the resource.

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However, NMFS’ tack instead is an effort to adjust quota allocations retroactively to give the sport sector more quota. To use proof of overfishing over the span of four decades to justify an increase in quota to the few over the many is the antithesis of sustainable fishery management.

It is also the calling card of flawed IFQ standards. One of the biggest hurdles of IFQ implementation is establishing the qualifying years so as not to reward fishermen who continued to fish a depleted stock. The fishermen who back off a stock in an effort to preserve sustainability often fear being cut out of quota history for their efforts.

This retroactive reckoning of the gulf reef fish quotas is in effect a reward for decades of overfishing in the sport sector. And why

On the cover Kimberly Ann (a Calvin Beal 42 with a 750-hp FPT) takes the win in a Maine Lobster Boat Race, followed by the Miss Madelyn (an Osmond 42 with a 700-hp Scania, right) and the Terrie J. (a South Shore 42 with a 750-hp FPT, rear).

Jon Johansen photo

are they supported? Because they’ve made persuasive arguments that sport fishing is vital to Gulf Coast communities.

Between commercial fishermen, seafood wholesalers, restaurants and the tourists who frequent them on the Gulf Coast, there can be no argument that feeding the market with local wild fish is invaluable to those communities. The sportfish lobby — which represents roughly 11 percent of the population — is using the consolidation of the commercial fleet post IFQ implementation to its advantage.

Commercial fishermen who target the Gulf of Mexico reef fish population are far fewer in number than they were 20 years ago.

But the catch of these few feeds the many.

If sport fleets represent 11 percent of the population, then perhaps they should work harder to justify why they get more than 11 percent of the quota. Commercial fishermen aren’t taking their haul home for the freezer.

They sell it into the domestic food supply so everyone can partake of our wild resources, not just those lucky enough to own a boat.

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 847-504-8874 or nationalfisherman@omeda.com Producer of Pacific Marine Expo and the International WorkBoat Show Theodore Wirth, President & CEO | Mary Larkin, President, Diversified Communications USA Diversified Communications | 121 Free St., Portland, ME 04112 (207) 842-5500 • Fax (207) 842-5503 • www.divcom.com

2 National Fisherman \ September 2021

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Fishing Back When September

By Jessica Hathaway

1991— High Seas Hit and Run: The four-man crew of the 42-foot F/V Carrabe survives a sinking after a freighter blew through the longliner on a moonless night.

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Maine lobstermen drive hard up Moosabec Reach between Jonesport and Beals Island for the title of World’s Fasted Lobsterboat.

On the cover: The trawler Miss Leona out of Blaine, Wash., hauls back during a Polish joint venture off the Oregon coast.

On the cover: The crew of the F/V Siren purse seines for Alaska salmon.

The Apollo reigns over the Pacific as the world’s largest tuna seiner.

Massachusetts Rep. Gerry Studds introduces a federal bill that would require the New England Fishery Management Council to draft a groundfish rebuilding plan. Options for the plan include a permit moratorium and buyout program.

The most severe outbreak of red tide in the Gulf of Mexico since 1947 is affecting roughly 500 square miles of gulf waters around Florida’s Tampa Bay, killing at least 1,300 tons of marine life.

Adult mullet, one of Florida’s leading commercial species, are among the hardest hit. The first to succumb included crabs, clams and oysters.

4 National Fisherman \ September 2021

The North Pacific council votes 9-2 to allocate 100 percent of the pollock and 90 percent of the cod in the Gulf of Alaska to the fleet delivering onshore.

Gulf of Maine, Maine Lobster and Gulf Wild follow the lead of the globally successful Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute’s Alaska Seafood brand to promote regional harvests, touting traceability and sustainability to hungry markets around the world.

Alaska fisherman and NF Highliner Bill Webber Jr. reports that his bowpicker F/V Gulkana is lost at the start of the fifth Copper River salmon opening while crossing the Kokenhenik Bar.

www.nationalfisherman.com

ON DECK

Mail Buoy

Restaurants need local fish embers of the Gulf Coast Seafood Alliance, representing seafood harvesters, distributors, and the restaurants serving their products, are deeply disturbed by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s proposal to reallocate 20 percent of the commercial red grouper quota to the recreational sector.

If approved, the council’s action will deprive the citizens of the United States access to 600,000 pounds of red grouper currently being caught by commercial fishermen and enjoyed by anyone who does not have the ability or opportunity to fish recreationally. It will also deprive restaurants of revenue from those landings and block both local residents and tourists from accessing our gulf seafood resources.

This decision demonstrates the success of an ongoing effort by the well-funded recreational fishing lobby to take a disproportionate share of the quota for their personal enjoyment, and for the profit of companies supplying fishing gear and recreational vessels.

Of America’s approximately 330 million citizens, only 38 million are holders of recreational fishing licenses, tags,

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permits and stamps, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The 11 percent of Americans who enjoy fishing recreationally, who can afford the gear, boats and charters needed to participate in this sport, certainly have the right to access this resource, but they should not have the right to monopolize the resource.

The other 89 percent of Americans nationwide who do not hold fishing licenses, tags, permits or stamps also have the right to access domestic seafood resources, which they currently do through the labor of our commercial fishermen and distributors, who supply wild-caught seafood to their markets and favorite restaurants.

Commercial fishing is just as important to the gulf tourist economy as recreational fishing, even though the benefits are often overlooked. Less grouper to catch means less grouper for restaurants, and that will inevitably lead to higher prices at the table.

Red grouper is one of the best-selling local seafood items at gulf restaurants.

Without ready access to it at prices customers feel comfortable paying, some restaurants may have to consider supplementing their wild-caught products with farm-raised fish from overseas.

A Letter from NMFS

On the horizon

By Janet Coit

’m honored that Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo appointed me Assistant Administrator for Fisheries. I very much look forward to working with the fishing industry and all of our partners to rebuild fisheries where necessary and to conserve endangered and threatened marine resources and their habitats.

Over the past 10 years, some of my most rewarding work in my home state of Rhode Island has been aimed at supporting a resilient marine fishing industry to supply fresh seafood to the nation and abroad. These efforts included improving fishing port infrastructure and services, marketing local seafood, and

I

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

Fresh, local seafood is one of the reasons people come from across the country to the Gulf of Mexico.

The council’s adopted proposal is not the last word, however. The council must now submit its proposed changes in Reef Fish Amendment 53 to NOAA, which must be approved by the Secretary of Commerce before it can be implemented.

Appointees to the council selected by former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross from the slates of nominees submitted by regional governors tipped the composition of the council in the direction of recreational fishing interests who derive their pleasure from our fisheries over those who derive their livelihoods from our fisheries.

As the former governor of Rhode Island, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo unquestionably understands the need to balance the rights of recreational fishing participants with the rights of citizen consumers.

Like our Gulf Coast, the Rhode Island economy has for centuries supported fishing interests — both commercial and recreational — as well as a robust tourist trade that sustains restaurants, markets and hotels filled with guests who enjoy local seafood.

We must continue developing methods to share our nation’s coastal resources and not exclude one sector in favor of another.

Gulf Coast Seafood Alliance

promoting sustainability through the application of fisheries science and management.

There’s a lot of work ahead. Under the Biden administration and on my watch, we will work with you to explore ways we can support the economic and environmental resiliency of our coastal communities.

One way we will do that is to provide the seafood industry with the critical resources needed for generating greater demand for U.S. seafood, expanding domestic supply — including through aquaculture — to level the playing field on trade, and modernizing for a more efficient supply chain.

These are complicated issues, and NOAA Fisheries will take them on with your input.

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

September 2021 \ National Fisherman 5

ON DECK

Dock Talk

Paid to sleep

By Rebecca Weil

leep deprivation has been a widely recognized and chronic problem in commercial fishing. Yet very little research has been done on the effects of sleep debt on fishermen, or on how to manage it.

“With so much news about the negative effects of sleep deprivation, fishermen have told us they also wonder how work will impact their cognitive ability as they get older,” said Julie Sorensen, director of the Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety.

The center is embarking on a two-year project with fishermen in Alaska, Oregon and the Northeast. The project — Assessments of Sleep Deprivation and Associated Health and Cognitive Impacts in Commercial Fishermen — aims to better understand fishermen’s concerns regarding sleep patterns and the possible effects of sleep deprivation on their health and safety.

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Robert Browning and the F/V Lady Lee out of Garibaldi, Ore.

The Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety, known for its Lifejackets for Lobstermen project, is also developing a podcast for fishermen, to share timely resources about health and sleep.

Many fishermen have told us they are curious about energy drinks, naps, their diet, and other areas that impact their sleep and health. We are hoping a podcast series will provide information in timely manner to quickly respond to the

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concerns we are hearing.

Over the next few months, the center and its partners will be inviting 200 randomly selected fishermen to participate in the project. Participants will be paid for their time.

The podcast is being formulated with AMSEA, Oregon University, Fishing Partnership Support Services, the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The sleep-deprivation project is funded through a grant from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the U.S. Coast Guard. Researchers and trainers from the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association, Oregon University and George Mason University are also participating in the project.

To learn more about the sleep project and other projects

and services, visit www.necenter.org or call (800) 343-7527.

The Northeast Center is funded through the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to address prominent occupational safety and health hazards in agricultural, forestry and fishing communities throughout the Northeast.

In addition to conducting research and developing innovative safety programs, the center offers safety trainings, health screenings and counseling services to workers in these three industries.

Rebecca Weil is the commercial fishing research coordinator at the Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety based in Cooperstown, N.Y. She is the project coordinator for the center’s sleep debt project.

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September 2021 \ National Fisherman 7

ON DECK

Northern Lights VIEWS FROM ALASKA

Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute

Tracing trailblazers

By John Burrows

s supply lines become ever more complex in the tightly interwoven fabric of the global economy, there is something inherently comforting in the modern foodscape in knowing (and trusting) the origin of our food, an attribute that is of increasing importance to consumers around the world.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization defines traceability as “the ability to follow the movement of a food through specified stages of production, processing and distribution.”

For seafood produced in Alaska, industrywide efforts to ensure this wild, public resource is synonymous with high quality have made the ability to trace seafood through the supply chain back to the state relatively easy.

Seafood producers in Alaska are already bound by federal regulations, which inherently include components of traceability; the USDA’s Country of Origin Labeling law and the U.S. Seafood Import Monitoring Program; as well as the FDA’s Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point plan, which requires recordkeeping ensuring that food safety requirements are met and documents the alteration of fish and shellfish into seafood products.

Yet, the traceability tool of perhaps greatest use has been one of the simplest: A piece of paper called a fish ticket. Much like traceability, a fish ticket is just as it sounds, a documentation form for any commercial fishing. The first receiver (any first purchaser, processor, exporter or transporter) of raw fishery resources, as well as catcher-sellers and direct marketers, must complete and submit a fish ticket to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Fish tickets in their original paper format are still used widely, but have also been incorporated into the Interagency Electronic Reporting System, better known as the eLanding system. While paper fish tickets are primarily for state managed species and fisheries, the eLanding system incorporates that data into a larger pool, representing a greater scope of the commercial operations in Alaska, adding to information gathered from the NMFS Alaska Region, responsible for federally managed waters and species off Alaska like groundfish, and the International Pacific Halibut Commission. While paper tickets are still available, the eLanding system automatically generates a printable fish ticket for submission to ADF&G, as well.

Fish tickets, be they paper or electronic, serve several functions: They document who caught the fish, whether fish are being sold, discarded, or retained, act as a receipt or bill

A

8 National Fisherman \ September 2021

Fish ticket data is collected at the first step of the supply chain and combined with other tools to track products all over the world.

of sale between the harvester and processor, and assist fishery managers in recording the taking of a public resource, allowing proactive management of species populations. The information required on a ticket includes species, weight of the catch, harvest dates, the fishing statistical area of the harvest (particularly important for tenders handling the catches of numerous vessels), individuals/entities involved, the vessel operator’s commercial fisheries entry commission number, and the processor’s license code. Fish ticket requirements have existed since 1969, and though the forms have expanded over the years, the initial information requested then is compulsory today, meaning there is more than 40 years of fish ticket data for managers to study and use for various allocation programs, economic data study, and management efforts.

This robust data set, collected at the very first step of the supply chain, is combined with other tools like batch numbers, bar codes, and even blockchain systems, all tracking products as they are received, processed, labeled and shipped all over the world.

In addition, many of the fisheries in Alaska are certified through independent, third-party sustainability programs like Responsible Fisheries Management and the Marine Stewardship Council, which have exacting chain of custody standards to evaluate and affirm a fishery’s traceability.

This following of the fish’s records through the supply chain means that not only can we trace Alaska fish back to Alaska, but to the vessel and harvesters responsible for hauling in the catch, with the same stringency and attention to detail as Alaska’s fisheries management, ultimately building trust and adding value in the competitive global marketplace.

John Burrows is the Seafood Technical director for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute in Juneau. With a background in seafood research, he acts as a technical and scientific information source for seafood quality, safety, nutrition, sustainability and regulatory affairs.

www.nationalfisherman.com

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AROUND THE COASTS

Gulf/South Atlantic Quota grab sets dangerous precedent, fleet warns

David Hills/Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders Alliance

Council amendment would reduce commercial share to less than 60 percent

Gulf Coast reef fish fishermen target snappers, groupers, amberjack, triggerfish and mackerel.

he Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council took final action June 25 on a change called Amendment 53: Red Grouper Recalibration and Reallocation.

If implemented by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, this amendment would reduce the commercial quota share from 76 percent to 59.3 percent, by

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about 600,000 pounds, starting in 2022.

“Taking 600,000 pounds of red grouper quota not only directly hurts hardworking American fishermen who rely on grouper for the businesses, but it also takes fish away from the American consumer who, through the covid-19 pandemic, proved that they are looking for more seafood and more domestic

MARKET REPORT: South Atlantic Flounder Prices rise, but Southern species cut back to rebuild stock

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seafood,” said Bubba Cochrane, president of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders Alliance, an industry trade group based in Galveston, Texas.

The commercial fleet unanimously opposed the reallocation in testimony to the council at the June meeting in Key West, Fla. “Hundreds of fishermen attended public hearings and the Gulf council meeting in Key West to tell the council how taking away red grouper quota will hurt their livelihoods, their businesses, and the American consumer,” said Eric Brazer, executive director of the alliance.

“This is a devastating blow to the commercial industry.”

A stamp of approval from NOAA and Commerce would also set a precedent for fisheries around the country.

“This action is devastating to the American consumer, the commercial fishermen, and enticing a new generation to the industry,” said Ed Maccini, president of the Southern Offshore Fishing Association. “Reducing allocation will put many fishermen out of business.”

The reallocation is based on new modeling made possible by Fishing Effort Surveys. NMFS has been using this method since 2018 to estimate recreational (private and charter boat) effort on the East and Gulf coasts. It replaces

the top of the list for the state’s inshore commercial fishermen. While the summer flounder fishery is expected to remain stable,

arvest of both summer and South-

purchasing products, we ended up with a lot

the inshore Southern flounder season has

ern flounder in North Carolina re-

of frozen fish and slim markets. Now the de-

changed dramatically. In 2019, the state

mained consistent for the past

mand has gone crazy.”

imposed substantial harvest reductions to

several years. Prices have also remained

According to Styron, his boats landed

consistent with the average retail price from

over 30,000 pounds of ocean flounder re-

$8 to $12 a pound for fillets and $4 to $5 a

cently, and then the price dropped.

rebuild the Southern flounder stock.

Southern flounder harvest reductions of 62 percent in 2019 and 72 percent beginning in 2020 were necessary to prevent

pound for whole fish. Price to fishermen has

“It’s normal. I paid $4 to fishermen last

varied between a low of $3.50 to $5 through-

week and then $2.75 this week. I won’t be

out the season.

surprised to see it drop to $2.50 next week.

“Our state has stepped up and taken

Jeff Styron of Garland Fulcher Seafood,

I’m just glad to see things pick up. Right now,

the lead on this issue,” says Glenn Skinner,

Oriental, N.C., says things are looking up

flounder fillets are going for about $8.50 a

executive director of the North Carolina

after a year of covid.

pound, and we’ve shipped out 2,000-3,000

Fisheries Association, who calls the cuts

to restaurants.”

"necessary to preserve and grow the fishery.”

“We were basically shut down last year,” says

Styron. “With few restaurants

10 National Fisherman \ September 2021

However, concern over prices is far from

overfishing.

— Maureen

Donald

www.nationalfisherman.com

AROUND THE COASTS

— Bubba Cochrane, GULF OF MEXICO REEF

Boat of the Month Tomalo

Yscloskey, La. / Shrimp

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hen fishermen’s advocate George Barisich, a 2002 NF Highliner, lost his beloved

shrimp boat Peruga to a fire in 2020, he knew it would be a matter of time before he was back out on the water

FISH SHAREHOLDERS ALLIANCE

earning a living, although the quest

the outdated Coastal Household Telephone Survey, which was a landlinebased survey.

The new estimates show that recreational fishing effort is three to five times higher than previous surveys indicated.

The council is moving to apply those numbers retroactively (to the qualifying years of 1986-2005), claiming these long-established quota allocations should be adjusted to reflect the new data in favor of the recreational sector. However, the reallocation does not account for new investors in the fishery under the established quota system.

“I recently purchased two longline vessels and longline endorsements along with red grouper shares with a total value of over $710,000 and moved my family to Madeira Beach (Fla.) to participate in the red grouper fishery,” said Sean Heverin, president of Fish Mafia Inc. “Not only am I a boat owner and fisherman, but I also run a fish house with 15 boats that I buy and sell fish from. Many fishermen will have to tie up to the dock for parts of the year due to lack of allocation available or learn other ways to make a living.”

“The science shows that when more quota is shifted to the recreational sector, it means they will discard more fish,” said Glen Brooks, president of the Floridabased Gulf Fishermen’s Association. “So by taking quota away from accountable commercial fishermen, more fish will be thrown overboard, dead and wasted.

How is that what’s best for the fish?”

— Jessica Hathaway

for a vessel that would meet both his

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

John DeSantis

“Taking 600,000 pounds of red grouper quota not only directly hurts hard-working American fishermen who rely on grouper for the businesses, but it also takes fish away from the American consumer.”

needs and deflated budget proved a challenge.

Fishermen’s Association and a president

“Did I want to take a chunk of my life savings and buy a new boat, or find something that I could fix up myself?”

of the then-fledgling Louisiana Shrimp Association in the early 2000s.

Five months later, the work was done,

The answer came in the form of a 50-

and Barisich was ready for Louisiana’s

foot, 37-year-old double-rigger that had

August shrimp season. Returning from

for six years been tied up in Dulac, La.

his final shrimping trip of the 2021 spring

“I looked the boat over and knew I could do her right,” Barisich said.

season, he stated that the boat — which he named Tomalo — is everything he

Bringing the boat from its Dulac berth

hoped it might be and more. Tomalo is

to his home port of Yscloskey, La. — a

Croatian, the Barisich family’s ancestral

20-hour trek in the best of conditions

tongue, which roughly translates to “take

— was out of the question. So Barisich

it easy.”

stayed with friends who lived not far

“It’s not what I had, but it’s what I got,

from the vessel’s dock and began what

and what I’m going to do with it,” Barisich

would be five months of tedious labor.

said. “I’ve had her in 7-foot seas, and she

“Everything rubber, everything that

took them better than I did.”

wasn’t stainless was rotten,” said

“The ride is not smooth with this flat

Barisich, who changed out the vessel’s

bottom,” Barisich said. “You can feel

hydraulic piping, then painted, patched,

every slap of every wave.”

and glassed where needed, and did

He doesn’t mind, and is grateful the

everything necessary to bring her to

vessel presented itself, and that he was

life. “I can’t say it was a labor of love,

able to do the work required.

but it certainly was labor of necessity.”

“I guess I resurrected the boat, and the

been

boat resurrected me,” Barisich said. “And

characteristic of Barisich’s career, as

now we are both doing what we were

founder of the United Commercial

designed to do.”

That

determination

has

— John DeSantis

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September 2021 \ National Fisherman 11

AROUND THE COASTS

Northeast Biden may reinstate Northeast monument restrictions

NOAA

Fishing advocates, environmental activists vie to convince administration

President Biden is considering whether to reverse the Trump administration’s executive order on fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument.

he Biden administration could reinstate commercial fishing restrictions on the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument — and bring a new court challenge from the fishing industry,

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just months after Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts indicated he would be open to hearing a new case.

In mid-June, reports emerged that Interior Secretary Deb Haaland wants to restore national monument boundaries

MARKET REPORT: Northeast Groundfish Some popularity for pollock as market sorts out from covid

reduced by former president Donald Trump, who in June 2020 issued a proclamation lifting commercial fishing restrictions in the 5,000-squaremile Northeast marine monument. At the urging of environmental groups, former president Barack Obama imposed the restrictions after creating the monument in December 2018.

Within hours of President Biden’s inauguration Jan. 20, environmental groups pressed him to reimpose fishing restrictions, and fishing advocates mobilized, hoping to head that off.

How Biden decides this could set the stage for a new challenge to presidential authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906, which critics say has expanded far beyond its original intent.

“A commercial fishing ban serves no conservation benefit,” said James Budi of the American Sword and Tuna Harvesters, which has urged the Biden administration to hold off on renewing restrictions.

Officials at NMFS themselves say “pelagic longline gear used to catch swordfish has no impact on habitat,” said Budi. “Fishing impact on the monument below us is like a bird flying over the Grand Canyon.”

Federal district and appeals courts upheld the Obama monument

At the Portland Fish Exchange in Portland, Maine, large haddock was $2.26 per pound, while pollock was averaging $1.69 for

n 2019, Maine’s total commercial

dogfish out there, and they’re having trouble

small, $2.54 for medium, and $2.66 for large

groundfish landings were valued

getting groundfish, over the whole Eastern

in early July.

around $4 million. In 2020, fleets in

Seaboard,” says George Parr, a longtime

“But right now, large pollock is getting

Maine landed just 58,730 pounds of cod, av-

fishmonger at Upstream Trucking in Portland,

around $3 for whole fish,” adds Parr. “Twenty

eraging $2.55 per pound at the dock valued

Maine. In recent years, dogfish have been

years ago, you’d be lucky to get 40 cents per

at $149,844, whereas 15.2 million pounds

showing up earlier and earlier in the Gulf of

pound.” Early July average auction prices for

had been landed a decade before.

Maine. While dogfish rarely prey on Atlantic

cod were $3.01 for market size and $5.10 for large.

I

A 2021 NOAA status update reported

cod, studies have looked into whether dog-

that in New England, 13 commercial species

fish populations may be limiting cod, by com-

are currently considered “overfished” includ-

petition or predation.

“Cod has been getting less than pollock lately,” says Parr. “Occasionally, cod is $2.35

ing: Atlantic cod (considered collapsed), yel-

“For every hundred pounds of [other]

a pound. And there is not always much on the

lowtail flounder, Atlantic halibut, winter floun-

fish they bring in, they bring in 500 pounds

auction. A lot of boats don’t come here any-

der, and Atlantic herring.

of dogfish,” says Parr. “They get 10 cents a

more. It’s nothing compared to what it used

pound for it.”

to be.”

“One problem is that there are so many

12

National Fisherman \ September 2021

— Caroline Losneck

www.nationalfisherman.com

AROUND THE COASTS

designation against a challenge from the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association and allied industry groups.

On March 22 the Supreme Court declined the plaintiffs’ plea to review the appeals court decision. That decision was remarkable for a statement from Chief Justice Roberts that spelled out his doubts about applying the Antiquities Act to the seafloor — and his willingness to hear a new case on the issue.

“Which of the following is not like the others,” Roberts asked ironically in opening his opinion. “(A), a monument, (b) an antiquity (defi ned as a ‘relic or monument of ancient times,’ Webster’s International Dictionary of the English Language 66 (1902)), or (c) 5,000 square miles of land beneath the ocean?

“If you answered (c), you are not only correct but also a speaker of ordinary English.”

Roberts went on to review the expansion of presidential monument declarations since the early 20th century.

Obama’s use of the law to set aside federal waters the size of Connecticut “remains part of a trend of everexpanding antiquities,” Roberts wrote. “Since 2006, Presidents have established five marine monuments alone whose total area exceeds that of all other American monuments combined.”

The Antiquities Act originated under President Theodore Roosevelt in reaction to widespread looting of pottery from Pueblo sites in the Southwest. It enabled presidents to “declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated on land owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be national monuments,” according to the statute text.

“While the Executive enjoys far greater flexibility in setting aside a monument under the Antiquities Act, To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

that flexibility, as mentioned, carries with it a unique constraint: Any land reserved under the Act must be limited to the smallest area compatible with the care and management of the objects to be protected,” Roberts wrote.

“Somewhere along the line, however, this restriction has ceased to pose any meaningful restraint.”

The trend toward more expansive use of the Antiquities Act means it “has been transformed into a power without any discernible limit to set aside vast and amorphous expanses of terrain above and below the sea,” Roberts wrote. “The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument at issue in this case demonstrates how far we have come from indigenous pottery.”

Roberts showed how the court could, under different circumstances, consider “how to interpret the Antiquities Act’s ‘smallest area compatible’ requirement… We may

be presented with other and better opportunities to consider this issue without the artificial constraint of the pleadings in this case.”

Roberts noted there are five other cases pending in federal courts concerning national monument boundaries.

One of those fishermen involved in the previous court challenges, Jon Williams, owner of the Atlantic Red Crab Co., told the Washington Post that Roberts’ opinion is “a road map to the Supreme Court.”

Budi said fishermen’s work over the Northeast monument is far from exploitation the Antiquities Act was written to prevent. He says about 25 percent of the U.S. East Coast swordfish and longline tuna catch comes from the region.

“In our case, we’re not stealing any pottery, and what we’re getting from there is legal,” he said. “And if we don’t use it, we’ll lose it.”

— Kirk Moore

Kodiak, Alaska Kavin Roberts and a shortraker rockfish aboard the 79-foot F/V Evie Grace off Kodiak Island.

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

September 2021 \ National Fisherman 13

AROUND THE COASTS

Alaska Salmon returns lag, but Bristol Bay sockeye soars

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Midsummer statewide totals running at par, while Southwest heads for second record

Sockeye salmon are the star of the show yet again for the Alaska salmon season.

t was catch as catch can in Alaska salmon fisheries with four of six species still lagging behind average across the region in high summer. Bristol Bay and the rest of Southwest Alaska continue to be a bright spot for the second year running, but not across all species.

As of mid-July, 99 percent of the state’s projected sockeye harvest had

I

been caught, while just 30 percent of the projected overall salmon harvest of 190 million fish had crossed the docks, according to McKinley Research Group’s weekly report for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.

Bristol Bay’s Nushagak District topped 1 million fish per day for seven consecutive days, edging the 2 million mark several times, and the boom

MARKET REPORT: Alaska Groundfish Covid’s hangover and bycatch caps slow the season

K

harvest then spread out to other rivers across the bay. The only damper on yet another year with strong sockeye returns is a smaller average fish size at 4.5 pounds, compared with 5.1 last year.

2021 is expected to be a big year for pink salmon, which typically bring boom returns in alternating years. The peak for pinks typically runs later in the summer, but an early surge came in mid-July in Prince William Sound.

Keta, or chum, salmon may have peaked for the season, as harvests had fallen off for two consecutive weeks.

If so, “the total keta harvest this year will be far below the five year average, although may still exceed last year’s total,” the report says.

Only Prince William Sound is showing king returns in the plus column over last year. But given that 2020 produced returns well below average for the region, the bar was set very low.

The record-breaking salmon hauls in Bristol Bay were met with tragedy on July 1, when the captain of the F/V Pneuma died after the gillnetter capsized in the Nushagak District fishery, sending the whole crew overboard.

Lance Eric Norby, 45, of Texas,

On the covid end of business, largescale processing plant closures in Dutch Harbor and at Akutan in winter prompted

ing salmon caps, covid and stiff

Trawlers will be able to fish on a new cap

the groundfish industry to petition NMFS to

tariffs on the China end of busi-

beginning Sept. 1.

open the rockfish directed fishery a month

ness have stymied the Gulf of

Even if the fleet had been allowed to fish

earlier than usual, to maximize the harvest

Alaska groundfish industry so far this year.

later, covid conundrums and tariffs put the

potential for this year’s quota of 47,211 met-

As of March 26, trawlers targeting Pacific

kibosh on moving product through process-

ric tons.

cod in the western gulf harvest area hit the

ing plants and toward end markets.

hard cap of 3,060 kings.

“It takes everything to make it work,”

“We don’t even have a flatfish market

says Bonney of harvesting quota allocations

Cod that have been scattered in their

this year,” says Julie Bonney, executive di-

in the rockfish complex. The petition was

concentrations during winter form into tight

rector of the Alaska Groundfish Data Bank,

granted, and trawlers went after a rockfish

schools as the calendar rolls toward March,

in Kodiak. “The plants can’t sell it and make

quota that had been increased by 24 per-

but king salmon inhabit the same waters.

any money,” she adds. As of July 9, land-

cent for this year.

Though the fleet can roll over unused caps

ings to plants in Kodiak totaled 4,060 tons.

“It paid off,” says Bonney. “Because of

from other fisheries, it wasn’t enough to

“We’ve caught 17,500 fewer tons than last

that, we got an extra 3,000 tons out of the

warrant the continuation of the fishery.

year at this time,” she says.

water.”

14

National Fisherman \ September 2021

— Charlie Ess

www.nationalfisherman.com

AROUND THE COASTS

Bristol Bay’s Nushagak District topped 1 million fish per day for seven consecutive days, edging the 2 million mark several times, and the boom harvest then spread out to other rivers across the bay. was identified as the captain, according to the Alaska State Troopers.

“Pneuma was stuck on a sandbar when a large wave knocked the entire crew overboard. The F/V Fortress, and tenders Provider and Last Frontier responded to the call,” said OBI Seafoods in a statement released over the weekend.

The Alaska Wildlife Troopers reported that they received a call just before 6 a.m. on July 1 that a commercial fishing boat was taking on water on the South end of Nushagak Bay. All three crew members went into the water, and two troopers patrolling the area in a skiff immediately responded. They were able to pull one of the survivors to safety aboard the skiff. The good Samaritan commercial fishing boats pulled the other deckhand and Norby from the water.

“Poor weather combined with an uneven fish load is likely what caused the vessel to capsize,” said Austin McDaniel spokesman for the troopers, based on the agency’s preliminary investigation.

A Coast Guard rescue swimmer assisted with initial medical care for the crew. Despite extensive life-saving efforts, the captain was declared deceased by Coast Guard personnel at about 9:40 a.m.

“OBI offers our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Lance Norby,” according to the statement.

“Lance was new to OBI’s fishing fleet in 2020, purchasing the F/V Barbarian To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

Snapshot Who we are Kyle Lee / Anchorage, Alaska / Salmon

A

s a deckhand, all I had to worry

Salmon (aksalmonco.com). When visiting

about is wake up, work hard,

the Lower 48, Lee says, “I’d run out to

pick fish. That’s about it.”

buy salmon and think, ‘What the heck?

So says Kyle Lee, who gillnetted one

This is nothing like the Alaska salmon

season with a college buddy on Alaska’s

we’re catching.’ Yet, it was labeled Alaska

Copper River Flats because it sounded

Salmon.”

like so much fun. He fished a few 24-hour

Lee’s parents own two restaurants in

openers and thought, “This is amazing!

Anchorage, Chop Sticks and Thai Garden.

You get to do this for a living? It was such

So he grew up in the food industry, knowing

a gorgeous day. I had so much After

he

the

good

fun catching fish.”

importance

quality

of

ingredients

while learning the ins

graduated

college, he weighed his

and outs of being a

options for returning

small business owner

the next season.

from

“I can either accept this job, or I can fish

his

parents,

who

immigrated

the

United

to

States

from Taiwan. From the

in one of the most

moment he bought in,

beautiful places on this

Lee started reaching out

planet,” said Lee. “I decided

to restaurants to offer direct

to lean into it and bought into commercial fishing. I figured I could

marketing and has been doing it ever

always find a corporate job somewhere,

since.

but commercial fishing was a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Though the last few seasons on the Copper River Flats have been on the

He found a gillnet package, got an

skinny side, Lee is optimistic about the

Alaskan state loan, and bought in.

fishery, noting that the 2021 season is

Looking back, he admittedly probably

going better than last year.

should have crewed a little bit longer,

“If I wasn’t optimistic, I don’t think I’d be

but he knew what he wanted — to be a

a fisherman.” Lee is also finding that since

commercial fisherman. “The perspective

covid, more people are trying seafood at

of a deckhand is completely different than

home after so many restaurants being

from a captain.”

closed. “If you had the same company

He started direct-marketing his first season. These days, Lee is focused on his direct-to-consumer business, Alaskan

out of Egegik and renaming it the Pneuma to fish in Bristol Bay. We also extend our wishes for a speedy recovery to the other crew members.”

The Alaska Wildlife Troopers also expressed thanks to the good Samaritan vessel crews for their assistance during the rescue operation.

Norby’s remains were sent to

before covid started,” he adds, “you’re not doing it right.”

— Jen Pickett

the State Medical Examiner in Anchorage. The deckhands declined further medical assistance.

The Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association published a series of best practices for safety onboard ahead of the season, which was forecast to be a big one.

— Jessica Hathaway September 2021 \ National Fisherman 15

AROUND THE COASTS

West Coast/Pacific Oceana sues NMFS over sardine management

NMFS

Debate over environmental factors, fishing and assessments headed to court

A catch of California sardines

lleging that West Coast fisheries managers are repeating mistakes of the past half-century, the environmental group Oceana is suing NMFS over its approval of the latest sardine management plan and demanding more action to rebuild the stock.

“Despite these hard lessons, NMFS repeats these management failures in Amendment 18,” states the group’s

A

complaint, fi led by the legal group Earthjustice July 14 in the U.S. District Court for northern California, naming Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, NOAA and the fisheries agency.

Oceana says NMFS should not have approved the Pacific Fishery Management Council’s amendment to the coastal pelagic species management plan, allowing managers to “choose a suite of already disproven, status quo

MARKET REPORT: West Coast Squid Better ocean conditions, catches and prices bring optimism

T

management measures that will keep this population at levels too low to support either the ecosystem or the primary fishery that relies on sardine for half a century or more.”

“Basically, we’re dealing with a rebuilding plan that’s not designed to rebuild,” said Geoff Shester, senior scientist and California campaign director for Oceana.

Environmental activists, managers and fishermen have long been at odds over sardines, foundation of the historic cannery industry that collapsed in the 1950s and stayed closed until 1974.

Sardines were found in 2019 to be overfished, but fishing advocates say offshore surveys are missing bodies of fish and young that fishermen see.

Managers recognize that the sardine stock size is primarily driven by environmental factors, and the inadequacy of surveys used in assessments, said Diane Pleschner-Steele, executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association.

“Oceana just refuses to acknowledge the reality,” said Pleschner-Steele.

“We’ve been arguing for years that the surveys don’t capture the (accurate number) of fish.”

The accusation of “status quo is

States and China entered full swing in 2018.

And since then, tariffs from both sides have hobbled product movement to the west.

he California squid fleet fished in

million short tons, according to converted

In 2019, China imposed a 35 percent

favorable ocean conditions as the

data from PacFIN. As of July in 2021, the fleet

tariff on many U.S. seafood products, includ-

season kicked off on April 1.

had landed 48.77 million short tons.

ing squid. Combined with domestic retaliatory tariffs, the total to importers reached 52

Last year’s ocean water temperatures

Though the fishery has been conducted

left an air of optimism that the effects from El

at night in years past, Pleschner-Steele noted

Niño conditions in 2018 and 2019 had swung

that boats had been fishing during the days

In September of last year, the USDA

through normal (ENSO) temperatures, and

and that some good catches had been com-

agreed to provide $530 million dollars to

that this year’s harvest would increase.

ing from the waters near Monterey.

sectors of the seafood industry impacted by

percent.

those stiff retaliatory tariffs imposed by the

“We’re having a better year,” says Diane

Another optimistic uptick for this year has

Pleschner-Steele, executive director of the

been that ex-vessel offers are hitting around

California Wetfish Producers Association, in

$1,200 per ton. That’s up from last year’s

In a July 8 perusal of the harmonized tariff

Buellton. “We saw the shift last summer, and

$1,000 per ton average. In recent years the

rate schedule for U.S. squid, it appears that

we’re back into La Niña.”

bulk of West Coast squid has been exported

the retaliatory rates have gone back to zero.

Landings for 2020 came in at 55.27

16

National Fisherman \ September 2021

to China. Trade wars between the United

United States, including squid.

— Charlie Ess

www.nationalfisherman.com

AROUND THE COASTS

misrepresenting management,” said Pleschner-Steele. The council and NMFS need flexibility to improve surveys and assessments, monitor environmental factors, and consider the fishing community needs with “the only reasonable rebuilding plan,” she said.

“It’s a balancing act between the biology of the fish and the well-being of the fishing community,” she said.

Efforts to build cooperative surveys

were sidetracked in 2020 by covid-19, but work is underway again with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife on acoustic trawl and aerial surveys, said Pleschner-Steele. Work this year has found large bodies of fish, she said.

“I’m hoping we’ll be coming to an update of the stock assessment by the end of the year,” she added, noting that could get the fishery “out of overfished jail.”

— Kirk Moore

Nation/World Study finds forage fish management is working Researchers say benefits unlikely from tightening already well-regulated fisheries

fforts to ratchet down fishing effort on species like herring and menhaden in the name of “extra precautionary management” in most cases are unlikely to bring additional benefits for stocks of predator species that eat them, according to a new study.

“Our results indicate that predator productivity was rarely influenced by the abundance of their forage fish prey,” wrote authors Christopher Free of the University of California-Santa Barbara, Olaf Jensen of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ray Hilborn of the University of Washington.

“Only 6 predator populations (13 percent of the total) were positively influenced by increasing prey abundance and the model exhibited high power to detect prey influences when they existed,” according to their paper, titled “Evaluating impacts of forage fish abundance on marine predators,” originally published in the journal Conservation Biology.

“These results suggest that additional limitation of forage fish harvest to levels well below sustainable yields would rarely result in detectable increases in marine predator populations.”

The fi ndings were released July To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

NOAA/Jerry Prezioso

E

A school of menhaden.

6 through the Science Center for Marine Fisheries, a cooperative effort to improve sustainability of fisheries and reduce uncertainty in biomass estimates with work by university partners led with the University of Southern Mississippi, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, as academic sites.

“Our work suggests that the sustainable limits that we already employ are sufficient for maintaining forage fish abundance above the thresholds that are necessary for their predators,” Free of UC Santa Barbara said in a statement describing the fi ndings. “Predators are highly mobile, they have high diet flexibility, and they can go and look for forage

fish in places where they’re doing well, switch species for species that are doing well, and have often evolved to breed in places where there’s high and stable forage fish abundance.”

The researchers used models incorporating data on 45 predator species, including fish, seabirds and marine mammals, and adding environmental factors. According to the models, those other factors, such as water temperature, “are more likely to influence predator populations.

These results are consistent with previous efforts to examine the relationship between predator and prey populations.”

Data sets going back to the 1950s and 1960s on predator populations were tapped from five regions around the world along with records of forage fisheries, Free said.

“We were able to link up these two data sets to ask the question: How has prey abundance influenced the population growth of these predators around the world?” he said.

“What we’ve done here that’s different from previous analyses is try to control for some of the other factors that influence predator population dynamics,” said Jensen of the University of Wisconsin. “In this case, we included in the models a covariate representing ocean temperature.”

The paper contributes to ongoing debates in U.S. fisheries management over how tightly to regulate fish at the lower end of the trophic scale that feed larger, more commercially valuable and recreationally sought fish, and protected species, including whales and other marine mammals.

“The study fi nds that, at least in forage fisheries that are already being well managed and are closely monitored, adopting additional precautionary measures will ‘rarely’ provide any additional benefits to predator population growth,” according to the Science Center for Marine Fisheries assessment.

— Kirk Moore September 2021 \ National Fisherman 17

FEATURE

SAFETY AT SEA

WHAT SANK THE SCANDIES ROSE? NTSB report zeroes in on stability standards

U.S. Coast Guard

Scandies Rose Facebook page

NTSB

U.S. Coast Guard/Courtesy Erling Jacobsen

By Jessica Hathaway

he National Transportation Safety Board held a public meeting Tuesday, June 29, to determine the likely causes of the F/V Scandies Rose sinking on Dec. 31, 2019.

In the meeting, board members repeatedly called out the vessel’s flawed stability instructions as well as systemic failures in weather prediction and icing calculations for the gear on deck.

The 130-foot commercial fishing boat and its seven crew members had left Kodiak, Alaska, on Dec. 30, 2019, to drop

T

18 National Fisherman \ September 2021

pots for the federal pot-cod fishery, followed by the opilio crab season.

Five of the seven crew members were presumed lost but not recovered. Two survivors testified during the two-week U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation hearings in February and March 2021, in which the NTSB participated in order to make its determinations for this report.

The stability instructions for the Scandies Rose were determined to have failed to include downflooding points on the vessel, and that they provided inaccurate

descriptions of parts of the deck space.

One of the standout observations in the overview and questions during the board meeting was that icing conditions worsened in the area of Sutwik Island, where Captain Gary Cobban Jr. was headed in an attempt to seek refuge from observed sea conditions and accumulating ice in open waters.

Although the weather conditions at the nearby weather stations were accurate, they did not accurately convey the conditions observed in the area of the sinking. www.nationalfisherman.com

FEATURE

One possible solution, said NTSB Meteorology Group Chairman Paul Suffern, is an experimental NOAA website that more accurately predicts freezing spray accumulations.

“None of the captains of the fishing vessels in the area interviewed at the Marine Board of Investigation public hearing were aware of the National Weather Service Ocean Prediction Center Freezing Spray website,” Suffern noted. “And [they] agreed that the graphical freezing spray information would be a useful resource when operating in areas where freezing spray was present.”

The combination of a flawed stability report, inadequate international standards for estimating ice accumulation on pot gear, and the unpredicted heavy spray conditions in the area of Sutwik Island culminated in a catastrophic scenario for the Scandies Rose, the board determined.

“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the capsizing and sinking of the commercial fishing vessel Scandies Rose was the inaccurate stability instructions of the vessel,” said Brian Curtis, director of the NTSB Office of Marine Safety.

“It resulted in a low margin of stability to resist capsizing, combined with heavy asymmetric ice accumulation on the vessel due to localized wind and sea conditions that were more extreme than forecasted during the accident voyage.”

Excluded from the board’s determination of contributing factors in the vessel’s loss were: • The captain’s decisions on loading and departure time • Operational pressures • Fatigue • Drug or alcohol use • Propulsion and steering systems • Hull integrity “The Scandies Rose did not capsize because the crew or the captain did not do their jobs, or because the vessel had been poorly maintained,” said Board Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt.“It sank because its captain only had partial access to the information that he needed to make the right decision. And the information that To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

NTSB / NOAA

SAFETY AT SEA

Though the Scandies Rose was accumulating ice throughout its trip, worsening conditions off Sutwik island reportedly were not captured by nearby weather stations, according to the NTSB.

“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the capsizing and sinking of the commercial fishing vessel Scandies Rose was the inaccurate stability instructions of the vessel.”

—Brian Curtis, NTSB Office of Marine Safety

he did have was inaccurate.”

Recommendations — which are not binding — include: • That the U.S. Coast Guard conduct a study to evaluate the effects of icing, including asymmetrical accumulation on crab pots and crab pot stacks; disseminate findings of the study to the industry; and establish regulatory calculations for fishing vessels to account for the effects of icing, including asymmetrical accumulation on a crab pot or pot stacks.

• That the Coast Guard revise Title 46 Code of Federal Regulations 28.530 to require that stability instructions include the icing amounts used to calculate stability criteria.

• That the Coast Guard develop an

oversight program for stability instructions of commercial fishing vessels that are not required to develop a load line certificate, for accuracy and compliance with regulations.

• That the North Pacific Fishing Vessel Owners Association notify its fleet of the dangers of icing and flawed stability requirements.

• That NOAA make an experimental website that reports more detailed icing conditions and predictions fully operational and accessible for commercial use, and that the agency increase observational resources necessary for improved forecasts in the area.

• That the Coast Guard require the use of personal locator beacons for all personnel employed on vessels in the coastal, Great Lakes and ocean service to enhance their chances of survival.

• That the Coast Guard require all owners, masters, and chief engineers of commercial fishing industry vessels to receive training and demonstrate competency in vessel stability, watertight integrity, subdivision, and use of vessel stability information regardless of plans for implementing the other training provisions of the 2010 Coast Guard Authorization Act. The last two recommendations to the Coast Guard were noted as having Continued on page 33 September 2021 \ National Fisherman 19

BOATS & GEAR

REFRIGERATION DESIGNS

Teknotherm

BOATS & GEAR

REFRIGERATION DESIGNS

JUST CHILLIN’

Designs that incorporate refrigeration innovations are helping vessels of all sizes land quality product

By Paul Molyneaux

ith most of the world’s commodity fisheries under some form of quota management, fishermen who want to increase profitability are looking at delivering the highest quality products to the markets — to do that, they rely on refrigeration.

In some cases, such as Louisiana shrimper Lance Nacio’s AnnaMarie shrimp operation, refrigeration is as simple as putting a freezer unit on the deck of his boat. But in many fisheries, adding and improving refrigeration and freezers is an integral part of the vessel design process.

“We did that with Lance,” says Kurt Ness, of Integrated Marine Systems. “We’ve done many other projects down there, working primarily with a company called Williams Fabrication in Bayou La Batre [Ala.]. We did some lobster and crab live systems, and we did a prechiller and other systems for an East Coast scallop boat built by Fleet Fisheries

W

20 National Fisherman \ September 2021

A classic 450-kW Teknotherm skid with compressor, electric motor, cooler, pump and other supporting accessories.

in New Bedford [Mass.].”

While many East Coast fisheries still rely on ice from shoreside suppliers to keep fish fresh, fisheries in the distant waters of Alaska are another matter, and according to Ness, that’s where IMS puts most of its focus — primarily in the Bristol Bay gillnetter fleet and other boats, like seiners, trawlers and tenders that use refrigerated seawater.

“We offer a wide range of products from 3-ton through 60-ton self-contained RSW systems,” says Ness. IMS works with a number of builders of Bristol Bay boats, such as Basargin Boats in Alaska, Mavrik Marine in Washington, and builders of larger craft, like Fred Wahl in Reedsport, Ore. He notes that while there is often a lot of back and forth with builders and owners to determine the best system for the boat, with other builders, it’s plug and play. “We supply www.nationalfisherman.com

BOATS & GEAR

all the RSW for the beautiful seiners Fred Wahl builds,” says Ness. “We just send them the equipment, and they do the install.”

IMS also did a 10-ton titanium keel-cooled RSW system for the Haldrada, a Bristol Bay boat built by North River in Roseburg, Ore. “The keel-cooled design is going to work great for jet boats that go into the shallows, due to the closed-loop condenser circuit, as opposed to raw water being pumped in — think of the debris that can be sucked up into the system via the condenser pump,” says Ness. He points out that with the keel-cooled system, the condenser loop includes a “holding tank” of water that is then circulated through aluminum pipes — keel coolers on the bottom of the vessel.

For big boats, Ness suggests several IMS 60-ton systems. “If a boat packs a million pounds of product, for

IMS

REFRIGERATION DESIGNS

IMS offers a variety of power options for its RSW systems — diesel, electric and hydraulic, including this 10-ton hydraulic system.

example, you can go with one massive system and risk something going wrong with it and then losing your tendering or fishing season, or go with several smaller systems and have the assurances of redundancy,” he says.

IMS setups are powered with either electric, hydraulic or diesel drive.

“The diesels are powered with a 3-cylinder Isuzu engine mounted onto the unit,” says Ness. He notes that IMS usually sells its products on a self-

“We supply all the RSW for the beautiful seiners Fred Wahl builds. We just send them the equipment, and they do the install.”

— Kurt Ness,

North River Boats

INTEGRATED MARINE SYSTEMS

IMS offers a keel-cooled refrigeration system that reduces the intake of debris, and North River Boats was the first to put the system on Bristol Bay boats like the Haldrada.

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

contained skid for easy installation and reduced chance of leaks.

“We also provide standalone components for various reasons,” says Ness. “Most commonly due to space constraints on the vessel.”

Pacific West Refrigeration, in Saskatchewan, Canada, is another company focused on the West Coast — of Canada — but also supplying East Coast boats. “We sell a lot to the snow crab boats in eastern Canada,” says company owner, David Nowell. “And we did some freezer cabinets for slime eels, for some boats in Maine. Those were custom built.”

September 2021 \ National Fisherman 21

BOATS & GEAR

According to Nowell, some crab boats have gone to single-phase generators, “so we started building single-phase packages. We just fi nished one, a 36-ton that has six Copeland scroll compressors on it in parallel. The nice thing about them is that because they’re only 6-hp they start up really smooth, not like if you were starting a 36-hp. We built that in order to fit with the single-phase generators where you can run computers and stuff, and it’s a cleaner power.”

According to Nowell, the company has concentrated on building transom coolers for Bristol Bay gillnetters. “We build transom coolers and keel coolers.

We kind of stopped building the keel coolers. There’s a few out there, copper nickel on fiberglass boats and aluminum on aluminum boats. Pretty much most of the new jet boats go with Signature Pac West transom cooler.”

Pacific West Refrigeration

REFRIGERATION DESIGNS

Pacific West’s 3-ton hydraulic RSW can chill around 6,000 pounds of fish and water from 55 to 34 degrees F in 5 hours.

Nowell built his fi rst transom coolers with Tom Aliotti at NTG, in Everett, Wash. “There were a lot of guys that said they wouldn’t work — and they don’t work so good when

we test them in our shop — but up in Bristol Bay, they work like crazy.”

Nowell and Aliotti got together to figure out a new system because Aliotti didn’t want the drag of the cooling

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“We can connect to the main communication system on the vessel and see how the system is performing and what kind of issues they are facing, and we can make improvements remotely without a service technician getting on the boat.”

— Osman Colak, TEKNOTHERM

systems on catcher-processors such as for North Star, America’s Finest, Nancy Elizabeth, and many others. “In the

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pipes. “Before long, more guys jumped on, and they’re building more and more every year.”

While the transom cooler chills the refrigeration systems, Nowell notes that the boats use skin coolers to cool the engines. “Just two layers of aluminum. But for the refrigerant, you need too much cooling. You’d run too high a head with a skin cooler.”

Nowell got his start in the refrigeration business making ice for skating rinks. He went from there to freeze walleye from the freshwater fishery in Lake Athabasca located in the far north of Saskatchewan. “I still buy the walleye from up there,” he says. “And that is a good eating fish.”

While companies like IMS and Pacific West can build units on skids for easy installation, refrigeration systems on larger freezer trawlers and longliners require much more cooperation between manufacturers and vessel designers. Osman Colak is the CEO of Teknotherm, the U.S. branch of Teknotherm Norway, which is in turn owned by the Dutch company Heinen & Hopman.

“We are partnering with a lot of vessel designers,” says Colak. “We work with Skipsteknisk, Kongsberg, Salt, and many other designers in Norway, as well as local consultants in the U.S.” Colak points out that while Teknotherm also does high-capacity RSW systems and ice machines, they are best known for plate freezing, cargo freezing, and IQF systems.

“We are manufacturing many components in-house that are crucial for the system — compressor skids, chillers, condensers, and some other supporting equipment like pressure vessels and level indicators. When it comes to electrical components, we are building them in our shop in Seattle. We are doing all the software design and building control cabinets ourselves, and this is our main strength in the market.”

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BOATS & GEAR

REFRIGERATION DESIGNS

“When it comes to electrical components, we are building them in our shop in Seattle.

We are doing all the software design and building control cabinets ourselves.”

Teknotherm and the client can monitor remotely a wide array of data, including refrigerant pressure, amperage, and other measures that can lead to more efficient operation.

via satellite. “We’ve started putting remote control on all the systems that we provide,” he says. “We can connect to the main communication system on the vessel and see how the system is performing and what kind of issues they are facing, and we can make

Pintafish photos

“That is the shortlist of suppliers that the designer recommends to the owner or the yard.”

According to Colak, freezing and cold storage areas usually consume upward of 30 percent of a freezertrawler’s hull space. Teknotherm systems for large vessels are electric powered. “If a boat is freezing 200 or 300 tons a day, they may have a generator producing around 1,000 kW,” says Colak.

Among the newer innovations for large-scale refrigeration systems is the refrigerant itself. Colak points out that many systems are switching to natural refrigerants. “Majority of the vessels in the U.S. fleet are using R22, which was phased out in 2020. R22 is still available, but in the next couple of years, all the vessels will consider switching to ammonia and CO2,” he says.

What most excites Colak is automation and remote system control

Teknotherm

— Osman Colak, TEKNOTHERM

Refrigeration has improved the quality of Bristol Bay sockeye, leading to increased demand around the world.

24 National Fisherman \ September 2021

improvements remotely without a service technician getting on the boat.

Furthermore, we are able to deliver fully automated refrigeration systems that are capable of running without operator interference.”

According to Colak, customers with boats in the Bering Sea are able to monitor data like cargo hold and RSW temperatures, power consumption, NH3 Concentration, and amount of refrigerant in the system, and tracking for EPA, from their offices in Seattle.

“Users prefer this,” he says. “They can see the performance history and increased efficiency.”

From big boats to small boats, innovation is improving efficiency in refrigeration and increasing the quality of the seafood these boats bring to market.

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

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BOATBUILDING

SEIZE THE DAY AND SLAY Ethan Whitaker’s outsized Carpe Diem dwarfs other Maine lobster boats, but is built for the future

By Paul Molyneaux

than Whitaker’s Carpe Diem is built to fish the deep waters of the Gulf of Maine through the late fall and into winter. The 60-foot Dixon hull, powered with a 1,200-hp MAN, can cruise at 13 knots.

Fishing out of Winter Harbor, Maine, the Carpe Diem is designed for overnight trips as far out as Jordan Basin.

“The fall fishing is when we make most of our money,” Whitaker says of his decision to build an offshore-style boat. “If you get a week when the wind’s blowing, it can

Asher Molyneaux photos

E

26

have a substantial impact on your paycheck.”

So Whitaker decided to build a boat that could follow the lobsters to the limit of Lobster Conservation Management Area 1, about 40 miles offshore. If he wanted to go farther, Whitaker would need to buy an Area 3 permit.

“Later in the season, we fish right out to the line,” says Whitaker. “I’ve always like fishing offshore. I had a 45 Dixon, she’s been a hell of a seaboat, but it was hard to get everything you need on a boat that size. With

The Carpe Diem, a 60-foot Dixon, is built to fish offshore in the worst weather, when catches are big and prices are high.

National Fisherman \ September 2021

www.nationalfisherman.com

BOATS & GEAR

BOATBUILDING

the 60-foot we can carry the bait and everything we need to haul through everything in a couple of days.” Around 2017,Whitaker started looking at bigger boats and how they were set up.

“I like Dixon. My father has one, and so does my brother. Dixon’s had a twoor three-year waiting list, so I took some time and went over to Grand Manan [New Brunswick] and looked at a 60foot Dixon there. I went down [to New Hampshire] to look at the Shafmaster boats and how they were set up.”

Jonathan Shafmaster’s offshore boats have become well-known in New England. They have the hauler set up aft of the wheelhouse so crewmen don’t have to lift the traps onto the rail. “It lifts it up, so it just drops onto the table,” says Whitaker.

Whitaker took his collection of ideas over to Gary Dixon at Dixon’s Marine Group in Lower Woods Harbor, Nova Scotia, and the veteran boatbuilder began crafting the Carpe Diem.

Beginning in the early 1990s, Dixon had developed a series of hull designs culminating in the Dixon offshore 50, which he lengthened by 10 feet for Whitaker.

“We started off with a 42-foot Osmond Beal mold that we bought from H&H in Steuben, Maine, in 1993,” says Jeanine Dixon, Gary’s daughter. “We

“It’s different building for Americans.

They pay a lot more attention to detail.

We had a lot of fun with this one.

With the hauler set up the way it was, the cutouts were different.”

—Jeanine Dixon, DIXON’S MARINE GROUP

The 17-inch-diameter hauler from Clare Machine Works (center), is set up offshore style and is the Carpe Diem’s workhorse, hauling 20-trap trawls in onto the table with ease.

Inside the Carpe Diem Home port: Winter Harbor, Maine Owner: Ethan Whitaker Builder: Dixon’s Marine Group, Lower Woods Harbor, Nova Scotia Hull material: Fiberglass Year built: 2021 Fishery: Lobster Length: 60 feet Beam: 20 feet Draft: 6.5 feet Engine: MAN D2862 LE435, V12-1200, rated 1,200 hp @ 2,100

Generator: Northern Lights M20CRW3 rated 20 kW @ 1,800 Power train: Twin Disc MG5146a 2.5:1, 3-inch-diameter Aquamet 22 shaft, 41 x 38, four-blade propeller Top speed: 19 knots Cruising speed: 13 knots Hydraulics: Two 75-gpm pumps, one on front of main engine, one on gear Deck gear: 14-inch Hydro-Slave hauler; 17-inch Clare Machine Works hauler; take out winch Fuel capacity: 1,500 gallons Hold capacity: 96 crates

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

Freshwater capacity: 165 gallons Crew accommodations: Bunks for four Electronics: Furuno DRS4NXT 36-nm, 4-kW radome; HMS TZ4 Nav-PC system with two 23-inch LCDs, MaxSea Remote; HMS Olex Nav-PC System, Olex Remote; Koden FX2 sounder, TM052 transducer; Furuno DFF3D MultiBeam Sonar; Simrad A2004 Pilot with Jog Remote; Furuno GP39 GPS Receiver with SCX21 Sat Compass; Icom M506RM DSC VHF; Icom CommandMic IV Remote Mic; Rugged Spar 4X EngCam; Icom MA500 AIS transceiver; KVH TV5 satellite TV dome system; HMS EZ-Box remote; TZ Zone alarm

September 2021 \ National Fisherman 27

BOATS & GEAR

BOATBUILDING

A 1,200-hp MAN V-12, gets the Carpe Diem off the coast of Maine out to the deep waters of Jordan Basin, cruising at 13 knots.

Carpe Diem’s 20-kW Northern Lights generator keeps pumps and other critical electronics running offshore when the MAN is shut down.

built about 60 hulls with that. Then we wanted something bigger, so we built our 45 mold.” According to Jeanine, they built a model of the 45' x 16' 8" hull and tested it in a flume tank in Halifax.

When they went even bigger with their 50' x 20' mold, Gary pretty much eyeballed it.

“Dad just knows,” Jeanine says of how her father built the company’s latest mold. “I don’t know how he does it.”

At the shop, they popped a 50-foot hull out of that mold and added another 10 feet to the stern and keel.

“It’s different building for Americans,” says Jeanine. “They pay a lot more attention to detail.We had a lot of fun with this

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28 National Fisherman \ September 2021

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the front to the engine and one off the gear.

“The one on the front runs my bow thruster and washdown hose, and the one on the reverse gear runs my haulers and lobster tanks,” says Whitaker. “We have two separate

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A 14-inch Hydro-Slave hauler for use when hauling traps nearshore can also come in handy when untangling snarls.

one. With the hauler set up the way it was, the cutouts were different.”

Whitaker bought a 1,200-hp V12 MAN, a 2.5:1 Twin Disc gear, and a 20-kW Northern Lights generator from Billings Marine in Stonington, Maine, and trucked it over to Nova Scotia himself. In December of 2020, Whitaker put the 5,000-pound engine, along with the gear and genset, onto a trailer and headed for the Canadian border, which was closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. “We had to have a lot of paperwork,” he says. “But we got across.”

Nonetheless, the border remained a problem during construction.Whitaker recalls that the only time he could get over to see the boat was if he was taking parts. “They were really good at Dixon’s, though,” he says. “They sent me lots of pictures and videos, and we had a lot of calls.”

Dixon’s installed the engine and gear, and lined up the 24.5foot, 3-inch-diameter Aquamet 22 shaft through a PYI dripless stuffing box to a 41 x 38, four-blade propeller. Whitaker is running two hydraulic pumps off the main engine — one off

The 17-inch-diameter Clare Machine Works hauler face-on.

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BOATS & GEAR

BOATBUILDING

Whitaker doubled up with both Olex and TimeZero systems for bottom imaging.

Multiple cameras on deck and below deck help owner and operator Whitaker keep his crew safe.

systems, so if one were to fail, there’s a couple of valves that I can switch it over.”

Whitaker has two haulers onboard, a 14-inch-diameter Hydro-Slave set up near the steering station, as is common on Maine lobster boats, and a 17-inch-diameter hauler made by Clare Machine Works in Clare, Nova Scotia. The Clare hauler

is the workhorse on the vessel. It is set up on a raised housing almost amidship along the starboard rail. Traps come up through a block forward, where Whitaker or a crewman simply slip the gangion out of the block and drop the 85-pound trap onto a table, where they can empty it of lobsters, rebait it and stack it on deck ready to be set out again.

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BOATS & GEAR

BOATBUILDING

Whitaker points out that he has a simple pumping system to keep the tanks flooded and oxygenated. With a capacity of over 8,000 pounds and average lobster prices around $5 a pound, a full load aboard the Carpe Diem could bring in over $40,000.

“If anything ever happens with lobsters, we could rig up to go scalloping,” says Whitaker. “And she’s big enough, we could go fish dragging.”

During summer, Whitaker takes two deckhands, sternmen in Maine parlance, and will add a third when the lobsters start to run. He set up the Carpe Diem with four bunks in the fo’c’sle, and a galley in the ample wheelhouse.

“We got the bunks down forward, and the table and oven and refrigerator and all that stuff up in the wheelhouse,” says Whitaker. The crew has satellite TV from DirecTV. When offshore, Whitaker

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Flush-mounted Icom VHFs keep owner and operator Ethan Whitaker in touch with the other fishermen.

Like many bigger boats working deeper water, Whitaker sets 20-trap trawls anchored on both ends. “We get all our traps from Friendship Trap,” he says. “We use those ones with the liteload runners.” Friendship Trap builds a model of traps with innovative polymer coated steel runners that it says are lighter on deck and heavier in the water.

The Carpe Diem has five live-tanks below deck, with a capacity to hold 96 90-pound crates of lobsters. “We have a fish hold in the center with three tanks forward of it and two aft,” says Whitaker. The hatches are all from Skipper Fisheries in Pubnico, Nova Scotia, and

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Fishing dusk to dawn and thick-a-fog, the Carpe Diem sports a powerful light array for finding buoys and high flyers.

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September 2021 \ National Fisherman 31

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The Carpe Diem carries a crew of three, including Whitaker, when fishing inshore; four when the bugs are running.

uses a Garmin inReach to text home via satellite.

Hines Marine of Woods Harbor put the electronics package aboard the Carpe Diem.

“She’s well equipped,” says Ivan Hines.

(See full specs on page 27.)

For radar, Whitaker wanted a 4-kW Furuno open array, a solid-state unit.

“Back-orders what they are, we could only get the 6-kW open array,” says Hines. “So he upgraded for a pretty good deal.”

With the bottom-building technology, probably the most important electronics on the vessel, Whitaker has doubled up with both Olex and TimeZero systems.

“We connected the Olex to a Koden sounder and nav system, and the TimeZero to Furuno,” he says. Whitaker brought the Carpe Diem home to Winter Harbor in April 2021, and she has caught some eyes.

“There’s more videos of her online than you can shake a stick at,” says Hines.

“She sure stands out in the harbor,” says Whitaker, who raced the boat at Bass Harbor Lobster Boat Races in early July, pulling in second place. But she’s first all the way for this Maine lobsterman.

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

32 National Fisherman \ September 2021

www.nationalfisherman.com

FEATURE

SAFETY AT SEA

Safety at Sea Continued from page 19

already been recommended and denied.

All findings and recommendations were unanimously approved by the board.

“Regarding the final recommendation,” wrote the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association in a post on its site, “we will note that the 2010 Coast Guard Authorization Act requires that fishing vessel captains obtain hands-on training in vessel stability and hold a valid certificate issued under a course meeting the requirements of the 2010 Act. In the 11 years since the passage of the 2010 Act, the Coast Guard has yet to issue the regulations needed to enforce this requirement.”

AMSEA offers a U.S. Coast Guardaccepted Fishing Vessel Stability course.

For more information, email the organization at coursecoord@amsea.org.

“The Scandies Rose did not capsize because the crew or the captain did not do their jobs, or because the vessel had been poorly maintained. It sank because its captain only had partial access to the information that he needed to make the right decision. And the information that he did have was inaccurate.”

—Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt, NTSB

Following the 2015 loss of the cargo vessel El Faro, the NTSB recommended the use of PLBs on commercial vessels. The Coast Guard responded in 2018 that, at the time, PLBs did not provide the accuracy needed to pinpoint locations. The NTSB disagreed and reported in the meeting that the Coast Guard is reviewing its determination.

“Commercial fishing is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States,” said Board Member

Michael Graham. “Every year, more than 40 lives are lost. The Centers for Disease Control estimates a fatality rate of 35 times that all U.S. workers. For an industry that supports more than 700,000 jobs and contributes more than $50 billion to the economy, these workers deserve better. We must do more to protect those who have been risking their lives to feed all of us.”

Jessica Hathaway is editor in chief of National Fisherman.

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September 2021 \ National Fisherman 33

BOATS & GEAR

AROUND THE YARDS

NORTHEAST

It’s time to put everything on the line for Maine’s lobster boat racing season

By Michael Crowley

Jon Johansen

At Boothbay, Heather Thompson in Gold Digger, a Wayne Beal 36 with a 675-hp Scania, wins the Diesel Class J race — 551 to 700 hp, 36 feet and over — hitting 43.9 mph.

aturday, June 19, was the day — the first race of the 2021 Maine lobster boatracing season. That was in Boothbay Harbor, which last year canceled its race because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Four more races would also be canceled.) The Rockland Lobster Boat Races were the next day, followed on June 25 by races in Bass Harbor, and on July 3 at Moosabec Reach.

Altogether there are 11 races on Maine’s racing circuit, with the last one scheduled for Aug. 22 in Portland. The Maine Lobster Boat Racing Association runs each event with 28 to 30 races, over a course averaging just under a mile long.

At Boothbay, 44 boats arrived to sign up for a racing schedule that started off with Class-A skiffs 16 feet and under powered by outboards up to 30 hp and ended with the Fastest Working Lobster Boat Race. Jon Johansen, president of the Maine Lobster Boat Racing Association figures bad weather kept more boats from showing up.

Spectators watched from the shore, and from 30 to 40 boats that lined the course.

A race that got a lot of attention was Diesel Class K — 701 to 900 hp, 28

feet and over. Blue Eyed Girl, a Morgan Bay 38 with a 900-hp Scania, won that race at 50.6 mph, just ahead of Maria’s Nightmare II, a Mussel Ridge 28 with an 800-hp Nanni, which crossed the line at 47 mph.

Maria’s Nightmare II then edged out Blue Eyed Girl in the Diesel Free For All at 50.1 mph, but Blue Eyed Girl won

34 National Fisherman \ September 2021

Jon Johansen

S

Class K at 50.6 mph, the Diesel Free For All against seven other boats at 47.5 mph, and the Fastest Lobster Boat race at 45.6 mph.

A boat that still brings back memories is the 32-foot Foolish Pleasure that when owned by the late Galen Alley and powered with a 2,000-hp alcohol running engine, set the record of 72.8 mph (there was an unofficial time of 80 mph).

Mark Freeman, her current owner, put a smaller, 650-hp engine in Foolish Pleasure. Still, that was good enough to win the Gasoline Free For All at both Rockland and Boothbay with a best time of 46 mph.

Miserable weather predictions knocked down the enthusiasm of some would-be racers as only 36 boats showed up for race No. 3 at Bass Harbor on Mount Desert Island. That was down by about 14 boats down from a normal Bass Harbor race day.

There was a breeze and some chop on the course that sent at least one boat airborne. Notable for taking flight was Foolish Pleasure in Gasoline Class D,V-8, 376 to 540 cid, 28 feet and over. When nearing the finish line, Freeman hit the throttle and Foolish Pleasure went airborne with over half of her keel out of

At Bass Harbor, Mark Freeman’s Foolish Pleasure started to go airborne at 39 mph after hitting some chopping seas.

the fastest working lobster boat race at 51 mph.

At the end of the day about 35 lobster boats set off on a 40-mile run to be in Rockland for the next day’s races, where 64 boats showed up for racing.

Blue Eyed Girl continued her dominance in Rockland, winning Diesel

the water at 39 mph.

With so few boats showing up, some races combined boats from different classes. That’s what happened in Diesel Class K where Janice Elaine, a Northern Bay 38 with an 815 hp FPT, went up against Gold Digger, a Wayne Beal Continued on page 37 www.nationalfisherman.com

BOATS & GEAR

AROUND THE YARDS

SOUTH

Southern fleets look north for supplies; a builder’s life is measured in skiffs

By Larry Chowning

hesapeake Bay and Mid-Atlantic fishermen have been growing business relationships with Gulf of Mexico boatyards as a result of their interaction with the bay’s growing oyster fishery.

Mid-Atlantic and Southern commercial fishing entities are also tied to New England’s maritime infrastructure because of their longtime interaction in the Atlantic scallop fishery.

A case in point is Bill Mullis of B&C Seafood. in Newport News, Va., who has nine Atlantic scallop fishing vessels. Mullis is a past employee of a seafood firm in New Bedford, Mass., where he worked as a buyer directly from the boats establishing a broad relationship within the industry.

B&C Seafood was founded in February 2001 by Mullis and his longtime friend and fishing partner, Charles Olsovsky. Through his New England relationships, Mullis has worked closely with R.E. Thomas Marine Hardware of Hancock, Maine; Fairhaven Shipyard & Marina, in Fairhaven, Mass.; and Rose’s Marine Supplies of Gloucester, Mass. Fairhaven Shipyard is a major player in hauling and maintaining Mullis’ New England-based trawler fleet, he says.

Mullis says most of the large commercial fishing boats on the East Coast are now working out of New England, and

Larry Chowning

C

George Butler is building this rowing 12-foot skiff out of white cedar in Reedville, Va.

Larry Chowning

there is a strong repair and maintenance infrastructure located in that region. On the Chesapeake Bay, however, large boats are no longer a main player in the fisheries. “The businesses that used to build, haul and repair the big commercial fishing boats are just not around here anymore,” Mullis says.

He recently had two projects that were equipped by trips north to get supplies. Mullis’ son-in-law and Gloucester County, Va., waterman Ryan Waddell purchased a Maryland-built 32' x 10' fiberglass head boat for $1,100. Mullis and Waddell have 300 acres of leased oyster ground on James River. They have been “pouring” seed onto the grounds for two years, and it is about ready to harvest, says Mullis.They are having the boat rebuilt to

The Linda Carol got a new custom-made shaft from Fairhaven (Mass.) Shipyard & Marine.

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

dredge oysters off those grounds.

Boatwright David Rollins of Poquoson, Va., was hired to do the rebuild.

The large headboat-style house/pilothouse was removed, and a small traditional bay style house/pilothouse will be installed. “The old house took up a lot of space,” says Rollins. “Ryan will need as much workspace as we can get for him to work the dredge and carry payload.”

Rollins rebuilt all the structural elements under the ceiling and installed a new glass ceiling (interior floor). A new 6BTA 5.9 220-hp Cummings Diesel engine will be installed. The custom made 1-1/2" stainless steel shaft and cutlass bearings were provided by R.E. Thomas Marine Hardware. The hydraulic washdown and power steering pumps, two helmsman stations and steering rod for the rudder were supplied by Rose’s Marine Supplies.

An example of Mullis’ close relationship with northern suppliers was highlighted by his recent need for a shaft in his 55.6' x 14' x 4.7' Chesapeake Bay buyboat Linda Carol.

Linda Carol is a labor of love for Mullis. As a young man, he crab dredged aboard the boat under the tutelage of renowned skipper, the late Morris Snow. As a grown man, Mullis purchased and restored the boat out of his fondness of having worked aboard her and his love of the heritage and culture surrounding it.

In June, he had her up on the hard at York Haven Marina in Poquoson. Mullis was getting the boat ready for the 17th annual Chesapeake Bay Buyboat rendezvous in July when it was discovered the boat needed a new shaft. “The problem I was facing was where was I going to get a shaft made around here before the rendezvous in July?” he says.

He called his contacts at Fairhaven Shipyard, and they had the custom-made Aquamet 22 stainless steel shaft ready in two days and had it shipped to Virginia on one of Mullis’ seafood trucks coming south. Mullis had the shaft installed in the Linda Carol in less than a week. “It pays to know the right people in this business,” Continued on page 37 September 2021 \ National Fisherman 35

BOATS & GEAR

AROUND THE YARDS

WEST

Better visibility for Texas step-pilothouse; boat carpenter clamps down worst leak he’s seen

By Michael Crowley

Fashion Blacksmith

The Mary Lu left Fashion Blacksmith with a new stepped pilothouse that provides better visibility all the way around, especially toward the back deck.

n May 27, Fashion Blacksmith in Crescent City, Calif., launched the Mary Lu, and on June 1, the 57' x 25' Dungeness crabber and shrimper was back shrimping while sporting a new pilothouse, a new main mast and shafting.

It wasn’t the first time Fashion Blacksmith hauled the Mary Lu. Four years ago, she was sponsoned and lengthened.This time “the house was the main thing,” says Fashion Blacksmith’s Ted Long. He refers to the “house” as a Texas-style step-pilothouse.

The previous house had limited visibility looking from the helm station to the aft deck. Now when going from the lower house to the helm station, the steps go up an additional three feet. “It is a much taller step-in house,” says Long, which allows for larger windows and thus better visibility when looking back over the house.

In the process of building the pilothouse, the deck needed new steel. “We cut out a lot of the original deck. It was rusted through from windows and doors leaking.”

Sharing shop floor space with the Mary Lu was the Gladnik, a 68' x 25' 6" crabber and tuna boat built at Fashion

Blacksmith in 1971, who then lengthened and sponsoned her three years ago.

This time the Gladnik was in for a new pilothouse and a new main engine. The original engine, a 275-hp, 8-71 Jimmy was underpowered for the lengthened and sponsoned hull. A 525-hp John Deere is taking its place. “Since the boat had been sponsoned, the easiest way to get the engine out was through the deck,” says Long.

Once the wheelhouse was removed and the deck opened up, “they just decided to redo everything while the engine room was opened.” The Gladnik had a 65-kW John Deere generator; now a second 65-kW John Deere generator

36 National Fisherman \ September 2021

David Peterson

O

David Peterson is stripping down the Sea Wolf’s anchor guard and will then cork the salmon and albacore troller’s hull.

is going in, along with a 25-kW Northern Lights hotel pack, plus new engine coolers, new circulation plumbing and new hydraulics.

Over all that goes a pilothouse on a new whaleback deck and a new square tubed, double-legged mast.

Down the coast from Crescent City, in Samoa, Calif., David Peterson, a longtime boat carpenter who specializes in working on wooden commercial fishing boats, recently completed a number of repair jobs at Zerlang & Zerlang.

That includes the 50-foot Sea Wolf, a salmon and albacore troller built in 1949 that was hauled out the first part of June. Peterson corked the hull with cotton and oakum, stripped down the anchor guard, then installed a new guard.

The Sea Wolf ’s previous owner was Jack Carlson who died at the beginning of the year of cancer. “He was very near and dear to everyone,” says Peterson, “but it looks like the boat’s new owners will take as good of care of her as he did.”

Prior to the Sea Wolf ’s arrival, Peterson replaced a 4-foot length of cutwater in the Rian Faith’s stem after the 52-foot salmon troller was involved in a collision. “The inner stem and the planks were intact,” Peterson notes. He installed a partial bow iron that enables the Rian Faith to go fishing; a full bow iron will go on when she’s hauled.

In early May, Peterson corked parts of the Trio 3, which he describes as a northern house forward halibut schooner-type hull built about 1945. “Corked here and there, mostly refastened over pretty much the whole boat.” Threeinch stainless screws replaced galvanized cut nails, which Peterson notes, “don’t last that long.” The frames were in good shape.

At the end of May, the West Coast, a 45-foot albacore boat built in 1942, went back in the water without leaking. “It was the worst leak I ever had,” Peterson says. After corking the outside of the hull didn’t stop the leak and the fact the boat only leaked when it came off the boatyard’s carriage, told www.nationalfisherman.com

Around the Yards: Northeast

36 with a 675-hp Scania and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, a Crowley Beal 33 with a 650-hp FPT. Both Gold Digger and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot normally run in Class J, 551 to 700 hp, 36 feet and over.

Out of the start, Janice Elaine had a slight edge and held off Gold Digger at 43 mph. Gold Digger was second at 41 mph. Both got points for winning their class and points toward the yearend standings.

In the Diesel Free For All, Janice Elaine took second behind Right Stuff, a Libby 34 with a 500-hp Cummins, which won at 44 mph.

Six days later on July 3, 102 boats were signed up for the Moosabec Reach races. That’s 21 boats more than last year. Moosabec Reach runs between Jonesport and Beals Island and is considered by many to be the home of Maine lobster boat racing and a place where speed has always been highly valued.

Of those 125 boats, 27 were skiffs that run in the Work Boats Under 24 Feet class. “No other place gets that many skiffs,” says Johansen. “They

Jon Johansen

Continued from page 34

At Moosabec Reach, Eric Beal’s Kimberly Ann, a Calvin 42 with a 750 FPT, beat four boats in Diesel Class M(B) — 40 feet and over, 501 to 750 hp — at 34 mph.

shove the biggest outboards they can find on the skiffs.” The dominant skiff was Alpex with a 90-hp outboard in the Work Boats Under 24 feet races.

Johansen says Alpex hit 50 mph, winning her race.

A good race was Gasoline Class D, where Shawn Alley’s Little Girl, a 28 Calvin, went up against Foolish Pleasure. Alley, notes Johansen, “calls his engine a mongrel because it’s made up of about three engines.” Little Girl took Foolish Pleasure by a little more than a boat length at 45 mph.

It should be obvious that when the race starter’s flag drops and lobster boats head up the course with throttles pegged hard down, engines are being pushed to their limits. A good example was in the rematch between Little

Girl and Foolish Pleasure in the Gasoline Free For All. Little Girl was a full length ahead when suddenly she started slowing down, allowing Foolish Pleasure to move past her and win the race.

When Little Girl crossed the finish line and came to a stop, Alley picked something up from the deck and waved in the air for all to see. It was the Little Girl’s shredded blower belt that had blown off the engine.

A couple of boats that have yet to show up to race are Starlight Express, ex-Motivation, with a 900-hp Mack that Johansen says reportedly has four blowers; and Wild, Wild West, a West 28 with a 1,050-hp Isotta that’s capable of 70 mph. But seven races remain, so there’s plenty of time for them to show up.

Around the Yards: South

Around the Yards: West

Continued from page 35

Continued from page 36

says Mullis.

Moving over to Reedville, Va., a recent visit to George Butler’s sideyard boatshop revealed a 12-foot skiff underway. Wooden boatbuilders usually start out their professional life building a skiff.

When they move on to building and repairing larger boats, they never forget that first skiff.

When time and age take over, it seems universal that none can give up building boats and when they recall the emotion, excitement and reward that came from building that first skiff they often go back to their roots — building skiffs.

The skiff is for his wife, Becky, to row about on Cockrell Creek.The 12-foot skiff is made of white cedar with a tongue and groove bottom that he plans to fiberglass. It has a tuck stern similar to the style built on late 19th-century sailing schooners where the deck line extends farther aft than the waterline. George Butler’s retirement and the sale of the Reedville Marine Railway was announced in an earlier column.

A boatbuilder’s life is often measured in skiffs!

Peterson the keel bolts were probably the culprits. “We ended up putting nine keel bolts in and pinching it shut,” he says.

Keel bolts went into the aft part of the shaft log and then keel bolts went forward of the shaft log. A 3/4-inch bolt went down through the center of the horn timber. A steel bracket was built around the back end of the keel with a tab “that’s tabbed up through the bottom of the horn timber with a single half-inch bolt. Essentially, it’s a steel sling in the back end of the keel for a bolt.”

During the repair work, the West Coast was periodically lowered into the water and slid off its carriage to see if the hull still leaked. “We put him back and forth in the water five times to get the leak.” Only on the fifth trip off the carriage did the West Coast’s hull prove to be tight.

“When it comes to leaking in boats,” says Peterson, “as long as you have victory, nothing else matters. I’ve always been able to find the leak, but this one was scaring me.”

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

September 2021 \ National Fisherman 37

BOATS & GEAR

PRODUCT ROUNDUP

Satellite comms in your hand ACR’s new Bivy Stick has one-touch tracking and SOS

By Brian Hagenbuch

CR Electronics is billing the new ACR Bivy Stick as the “world’s smallest and most simple satellite communication device,” and it certainly is sleek and simple. At just 100 grams (3.5 ounces) and 4.5 by 1.8 inches, the device fits easily in the palm of your hand, and has just three small buttons, two tiny lights, and a USB port.

The Bivy Stick pairs with a cell phone but can then be used when there is no cell phone service. One of the buttons — the check-in button — will send a prewritten, queued up message to set recipients, along with your GPS coordinates. A signal light will blink indicating the message has been sent.

There is also an SOS button on the device, which is activated by lifting a flap and holding a button down for five

A

seconds. This will send an emergency message along with your location, updated at various intervals, from anywhere in the world to Global Rescue, an industry leader, providing 24/7/365 medical, security, and evacuation.

Simple instructions for SOS and check-in messaging are on the back of the device, as is an easy-to-read key on the signal and status lights on the side of the Bivy Stick.

When used in conjunction with a smartphone and the ACR Bivy app, the device also has a weather screen, which will update via satellite when the phone is out of cell or WiFi service. Satellite weather forecasts can take a few minutes to process, depending on the satellite signal, and can be purchased in three-day, three-hour increments; or seven-day,

Get the power of satellite technology in your palm.

two-hour increments.

A tracking mode on the device also lets a third party get the Bivy website and view your location, which is updated every 10 minutes.The device itself has an MSRP of $349.95, and flexible plans mean fishermen can pay for the months during the season. An unlimited plan costs $49.99 a month with no annual fee.

Usage plans are $40 for 100 credits and $18 for 20 credits, with one credit per SMS message, tracking interval, location report, or basic weather report.

ACR BIVY STICK www.bivystick.com

More fishing, less plastic Grundéns introduces compostable packaging

By Brian Hagenbuch

any of us fish in the same waters as the Great Pacific garbage patch, a vortex of trash — mostly plastics — that, depending on the source, is either as big as Texas or twice as big as Texas.We’re not innocent, of course; our fishing gear sometimes gets lost in the ocean, and our worn out deckwear will labor somewhere on earth for a very long time after it starts to leak on our sweats.

According to foul-weather gear leader Grundéns, just 1 percent of the some 500 billion plastic bags that are used around the world annually are recycled, and the Washington State-based company is doing its part to cut down on plastic waste by rolling out fully compostable packaging.

M

38 National Fisherman \ September 2021

“With plastics in the ocean playing a major role in the health of many fisheries around the world, we’re taking the lead in bringing an alternative to poly bags to the market,” said Grundéns CEO David Mellon.

Instead of the plastic sleeves Grundéns used to sell their gear in, all new products shipped this year will be in a 100 percent biodegradable packaging made from the glucose in corn starch.

When cut into strips, the packaging decomposes in under a year and is suitable for either home or municipal composting systems.

“This new compostable packaging will allow customers to drop it into their own home or municipal compost stream, confident they aren’t adding

Cut into strips, the new packaging is soil in a year.

plastic waste into the environment,” Mellon added.

Grundéns is producing the packaging in six sizes, which means they can make the biodegradable packaging fit the product. Extra packaging means needless air is shipped along with products, and the packaging project is open source, with supplier information printed on the outside of the package.

Grundéns hopes to serve as example and bring other companies along on its mission to reduce plastic packaging.

GRUNDÉNS www.grundens.com

www.nationalfisherman.com

BOATS & GEAR

PRODUCTS AT A GLANCE

Historic pocket knife brand OLD TIMER has launched two new electric fillet knives — the LITHIUM ION and the 110V ELECTRIC FILLET. Drawing on more than six decades of knife making, Old Timer has turned out two quality, durable electric blades that won’t break the bank. After more than a year in the making, these knives have sufficient cutting power and battery life to stand up to several field fillets. Each has an ergonomic handle and a nice curvature to the cutting blade for all-day filleting.

OLD TIMER

www.oldtimerknives.com

Sounder beam innovator WASSP has rolled out the S3, which improves hardware and software from the previous S-Series and provides high-powered, cost-effective multibeam mapping.

The latest version of this dedicated hydrographic survey MBES has a new Real-time Processing Module for more accurate bathymetric mapping. The WASSP multibeam sounder can survey up to 10 times faster than a single-beam sounder, cutting a 120-degree swath.

Easy to mount on pole or hull, the S3 also improves on waterproof ratings.

FURUNO has two new kits for importing external video to the NavNet TZtouch3 line of Multi-Function Displays. The VICSH8L imports from the CSH8LMK2 Omni Sonar as well as other Furuno sonars and any VGA video output source. A second kit — the VI-HDMI — easily imports video from household sources like PCs and DVDs, as well as boat electronics that have HDMI output, such as many sonars and fish finders. The kits simply hook up to the video source and are then connected to NavNet’s converter box.

FURUNO

www.furuno.com

As electric engines shoulder their way into the commercial market, the UK’s FISCHER PANDA has a new electric pod solution to drive smaller commercial vessels. Quiet and emission-free, this pod motor comes in two sizes, a 1.7-kW pod with 2,300 rpms and a 3.8-kW version with 3,000 rpms. Both are clean, highly maneuverable options for low-speed operation. The pod is easy to use, with a push-button start and steeples power control that allows to switch between forward and reverse without shifting.

Because no one likes to linger around a macerator pump, RARITAN ENGINEERING has made servicing one quick and easy with the 53101 MACERATOR PUMP WITH WASTE VALVE. This little pump keeps waste at bay by disconnecting from its own gate valve housing, which means spill and smell are kept to a minimum. The sturdy pump is also made to minimize service once its installed, with an epoxy-cased motor, stainless fasteners, heavy-duty chopper blades, and quality impellers made by Raritan.

RARITAN ENGINEERING

www.raritaneng.com

GLOMEX’s latest version of its 4G antenna — the WEBBOAT 4G LITE EVO — checks in with three improvements the company hopes will give it an advantage over competitors.

The first is an automatic APN that connects the antenna to carrier with no setup from the user. The second is an advanced SMS function that manages internet consumption, and lastly automatic satellite passthrough allows the antenna to connect to V-SAT/ SAT signals, an onboard router, or a five-band internet connection.

WASSP

FISCHER PANDA

GLOMEX

www.wassp.com

www.fischerpanda.com

www.glomex.us

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September 2021 \ National Fisherman 39

CLASSIFIEDS

BOATS FOR SALE

REDUCED! 31’ JC EAST COAST 1979 LOBSTER BOAT Split hull design, Wheelhouse raised about 16”, New B Series, Turbo Road 250h Cummins with 1500 hrs. Two bunks.

12” crab block and davit. Furuno radar model, a 1622 Furuno GPS navigator ICOM, ICOM 45 VHF, Garman GPS map 2006, ComNav auto pilot w/ exterior joystick, AM/FM CD player w/ interior & exterior speakers, Deck lights, new large electrical panel, 3 access points to engine room, two 8D batteries, Dripless shaft packing, Three blade bronze prop.

Price: $44,000 Contact: Doug 805-218-0626

2018 BRUCE ROBERTS 40’ TRAWLER She’s made of heavy steel, powered by 2018 turbo diesels 350 hp each only 25 hours.The boat is ready to go.

Fully equipped with Electronics, Generator, Air conditioning and heat, galley, head, and more.

Price: Only $179,000 Contact: Randy @ randyworstell@yahoo.com or call 903-870-6419 cell.

40 National Fisherman \ September 2021

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CLASSIFIEDS

BOATS FOR SALE

43’ CHESAPEAKE BAY - 1973 Build (1973) Wood Port Haywood, VA.“Margaret-Mary” documented.“Fishery” Draft 5” – Net tons 13-17 GRTPower Detroit, V8-71 235 HP, F.W.C., 2 ½ to Trans: 2” 5/5 shaft 4 blade brass, enclosed head. Tow-Bar 6’ 5.5. open stern aluminum Tower Hydraulic – steer Diesel fuel tanks-100 gal-each (200.) Windlass/Bow 12 knots – 8 GAL/HR. Strong. Multi-use – Year 19912015, on hard restoration, fish plates. New “oak” keel end cutlass skeg keel shoe. Rudder assembly rebuilt. R/E tow boat. Fishing Parties. Cruise. Mooring details. Recreational. Search and rescue. Needs Navigational electronics, Buzzards Bay, MA. Price: Priced to sell! Reasonable offers accepted! Contact: Earl 508-994-3575.

46’ NEWTON Totally new inside and out. 700 HP luggers, “0” hours. 8 KW new phasor generator. 3 steering stations.

All new hydraulics by 3 steering stations. All brand-new electronics upstairs and down. Brand New Simrad NSO/NSS. All new wiring through the entire boat. Full bath, full showers. Too many extras to list. Beautiful Boat!!

Price: Asking $399,000 OBO Contact: Gary 305-393-1415 To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

September 2021 \ National Fisherman 41

CLASSIFIEDS

HELP WANTED

We are LOOKING for Captains, Mates and Deckhands Resume can be sent to:

jeremyreposa@ksjseafood.com Please have resume list experience with references.

We are based out of Point Judith, RI. Mailing address is PO BOX 49, Wakefield, RI 02879

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

LAW

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

to talk with Carolyn Latti or David Anderson

www.lattianderson.com

Please contact: schikami@westpacfish.com

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

Popular Seafood Restaurant for Sale!!

Business Been Open for 25 Years!

Retailer, Wholesale & Gift Shop Located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia of the Chesapeake. Tourist Route. 4200 square feet. Quality building, 6 acres.

Gross sales $1.6 M– Selling for $1.5 M FUN BUSINESS! - RETIRING

cobbisland@gmail.com 757-709-0480 42 National Fisherman \ September 2021

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CLASSIFIEDS

MARINE GEAR

BOOKS

MARINE GEAR

THE L ARGEST

COMMERCIAL FISHING SUPPLY IN USA.

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

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September 2021 \ National Fisherman 43

CLASSIFIEDS

MARINE GEAR

®

●

PARTS ● SALES

● SERVICE

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

Keel Coolers

90 Bay State Road Wakefield, MA 01880 Phone (781) 246-1810 Fax (781) 246-5321

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

Trouble free marine engine cooling since 1927!

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

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

Hydrocontrol Valves, Hoses

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

44 National Fisherman \ September 2021

STRONGEST

Rope Eye

2,0 bre 00lbs + stre aking ng th

Made in USA

888.607.4790

www.mondopolymer.com

Contact us (631) 377-3040 www.nationalfisherman.com

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.

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

FOR SALE

Shellfish Far ming and Processing Operation

   



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

(2) Brand N ew Volvo D11 Engines FOR SALE Includes: Drivelines, gauges, wiring and harness and one control head.

Factory set up for keel cool and dry exhaust.

D-11 625 hp, factory keel cooled ZF 305-3 1000 SAE 2 Package New- $183,000

Selling For- $160,000

Laconner, WA

⬧ Heidi -360-421-4921

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073



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



SE US clam and oyster farming, processing and marketing operation.

Nationally recognized brand, national distribution, high end restaurant clientele Thirty-acre growout site, high salinity, high productivity and farmed clams supplier network.

Excellent growth potential.

Twenty-year old clam mariculture, oyster live storage and processing permits in place.

On shore facilities available separately include processing plant, one bedroom apartment and a two bedroom house.

Committed full transition services available.

Location: Charleston County, SC

Asking Price: $275,000

For more information, call Mike Wilson at:

843-693-2138

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 September 2021 \ National Fisherman 45

CLASSIFIEDS

MARINE GEAR

NOTICE

SEAFOOD / BUSINESS

Covid Proof Cash Cow!

New England Seafood Restaurant For Sale

PERMITS & SERVICES

Located in Southwest Florida

In business 11 years (owner retiring) selling New England Seafood. Increased gross this Covid year and still growing . We built it ready for you take it to the next level… Huge opportunity for grow…

Landlord on board for expansion lease in place.

Large New England population in area .

Asking $699,000

LOBSTER BAIT FOR SALE *FRESH MENHADEN*

$$$ BY THE TOTE, BARREL OR VAT $$$ CALL ERIC 774-217-0501 SOUTH SHORE, MA

(401) 465-0227

ADVERTISER INDEX Boatswain’s Locker Inc ................................................................3

International WorkBoat Show ....................................................47

Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute .......................................CV2

Kinematics Marine Equipment Inc.............................................30

American Clean Power Association ..........................................30

Laborde Products Inc.................................................................28

Behringer Corporation ...............................................................29

Marine Hydraulic Engineering Co Inc ........................................32

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

Mitsubishi Turbocharger and Engine America, Inc ...................28

Cascade Engine Center LLC......................................................28

Pacific Marine Expo ................................................................CV3

Duramax Marine LLC ...................................................................6

Port of Port Townsend ...............................................................25

FPT Industrial ...............................................................................9

PYI Inc .........................................................................................22

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

R W Fernstrum & Company .......................................................29

Gaski Marine Fishing Supplies Inc. ...........................................37

Teknotherm Marine AS ...............................................................32

Integrated Marine Systems Inc ..................................................31

Wescold Systems, A Div of IMS ................................................23

46 National Fisherman \ September 2021

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We know that the WorkBoat Show is your annual chance to network, shop, connect, and get in the know among the best in the business. It is a maritime industry tradition. And through good times and bad, this is the marine industry’s show.

With many things changing in the world right now, we want you to know that the International WorkBoat Show will be held as scheduled, December 1-3, 2021.

We also want to take this opportunity to assure you that the WorkBoat Show always has, and will continue to make the health of our visitors, exhibitors, partners and staff our absolute top priority as we continue to make preparations for the 2021 event.

For over 40 years the WorkBoat Show has been here for you and this year, more than ever, we can’t wait to host you in New Orleans.

NEW IN 2021

WorkBoat + Wind and the WorkBoat Executive Forum “Doing the Business of WorkBoats” Go to workboatshow.com for more information.

DEC. 1 - 3, 2021 NEW ORLEANS Morial Convention Center, Halls B, C, D, E & F

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Presented by

BRIAN GAUVIN PHOTO

Last

set

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. The F/V Heidi & Elisabeth heads toward the commercial fishing pier in Portsmouth on a late summer evening to off-load her daily catch of groundfish, sold at local farms through the Daily Haul.

Photo by Eric Gendron @ericgendronphotography

48 National Fisherman \ September 2021

www.nationalfisherman.com

BRI DWYER PHOTO

CONNECTED The largest commercial marine trade show on the West Coast, serving commercial mariners from Alaska to California returns Nov. 18-20, 2021.

Don’t miss out on important Expo announcements!

Become a National Fisherman member and stay connected.

Nov. 18-20, 2021 | Seattle, WA Lumen Field Event Center

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Top Picture: Elevation Bottom Picture: Hardness

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WASSP Gen 3 3D Multi Beam Sonar

CH500/600 Searchlight Sonar

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FCV1900G tracks fish size using CHIRP™*

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CH500/600 series offers fast scan speed and high-res images *FCV1900G with TruEcho CHIRP™ Compatible transducer

SearchLight SONAR

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