National Fisherman — Winter 2022

Icemakers / Onboard Processing / PME Preview Winter / 2022

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

Trapped Bering Sea crabbers face shutout; Maine lobstermen fight back... Page 12

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WINTER 2022

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In this issue

In Business

14

Highmark Marine

National Fisherman / Winter 2022 / Vol. 103, No. 04

08

24

Meet the 2022 Highliners

Boatbuilding

Chris Brown of Rhode Island, Terry Alexander of Maine, and Mimi Stafford and Jerry Sansom of Florida are honored in the 47th year of NF awards.

Restoring a San Francisco fantail; Maine lobsterman’s race boat

Features / Boats & Gear

On Deck

12

Top News Bad news for Bering Sea crabbers; Florida fishermen scramble to recover from Hurricane Ian; Maine lobstermen’s lawsuit.

04

PME Preview See what’s on the agenda for Pacific Marine Expo Nov. 17-19 in Seattle.

06

18

36

Onboard Processing Carsoe builds complete factory layouts for freezer trawlers, from head and gut to surimi processing and product handling.

42

Fish Ice

Northern Lights Alaska fishermen must next navigate the perils of meeting season.

Downeaster Maine Lobster BoatRacing wraps up its 2022 season.

03

Editor’s Log

52

Crew Shots

Reader Services 46

Classifieds

51

Advertiser Index

Keeping it cool far from home.

National Fisherman (ISSN 0027-9250), is published quarterly by Diversified Communications. 121 Free St., Portland, ME 04112-7438. Subscription prices: 1 year – U.S. $12.95; 2 years U.S. $22.95.

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Highmark Marine aims to be one-stop shop for Alaska’s fleet.

ON DECK Now you can take Nati with you whereve environment, with warming waters in

Editor’s Log

Meet the Highliners Kirk Moore Associate editor, kmoore@divcom.com

or close to half a century now, National Fisherman has honored outstanding fi shermen from every corner of the U.S. coastline.

They work across the vast spectrum of the U.S. industry, from the decks of small boats working lobster and crab pots and gillnets, to dredges and trawlers and longliners.

The title of Highliner recognizes their success at the day-to-day business of fi shing, and the respect that brings within their communities. But the editors of National Fisherman have always looked closely too at how nominees contribute to the greater good of making sure those communities — and the fi sheries resources they depend on — thrive into

F

the future.

During my years of reporting I’ve interviewed and gotten to know some Highliners well. I’ve always heard from them the belief that they are blessed to be in a profession that they love.

They also have a strong protective sense of its potential fragility — if policymakers, fi shermen and managers make wrong decisions. Highliners are out there on the front line of management debates, pushing to do what is right for the resource, all fi sheries users and the U.S. public.

That role is as critical as ever, with the challenges now facing the fi shing industry and the environment it is working in. A changing climate is scrambling the ocean

On the cover Fishing during opilio season this year on the F/V Brenna A. are Will Jennings (left) and Cody Lipse. Jeff Ryan / @jarpictures photo.

the Northeast and North Pacific pushing fi sh stocks in dramatic new directions.

Introducing the brand-new National How U.S. policymakers respond to those designed to keep withBering our hard-wo trends — from turning offup stressed Seawhere crab fi sheries, to forging ahead on you are! developing off shore wind power — is Browse news and read the latest already having profound effects on longfromfishing voices in the industry established communities.

It’s Download a stressful time an industry that fullfor issues of National proved its ingenuity and resiliency during Fisherman Magazine for offline the covid-19 pandemic, doing its part for reading public health and the nation’s food supply, and coming outour better on the other marine side.

Access commercial Always there have for beenjob fi shermen marketplace postings, parts who step to do right more thing forforward sale and sothe much — and most importantly, to keep doing navigate Marine it year PLUS after year, buildingPacific confidence and Expo withinour interactive exhibitor credibility the process.

So here’s to the list, 2022 Highliners starting on page 8: Chris expo map, and show schedule Brown, Mimi Stafford, Terry Alexander and Jerry Sansom, the latest in a long tradition of the best.

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ON DECK

VIEWS FROM ALASKA

Cod, salmon at top of agenda as Alaska Board of Fisheries gears up

By Charlie Ess

hough autumn marks the end of the fishing seasons for herring, salmon, halibut and blackcod, there’s much afoot with changes in fisheries management when the Alaska Board of Fisheries ramps up for meetings beginning in October and running through March of 2023.

In the lives of Alaska’s proactive commercial fishermen, it’s either fishing season or meeting season.

For starters, the Board of Fisheries met jointly with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council on Oct. 13. The Joint Protocol Committee discussed small boat access in the state and federal Pacific cod fisheries. But the main event was the beleaguered crab stocks in the Bering Sea. The crab fleet was shocked Oct. 10 with sweeping closures.

Board of Fisheries action resumed Oct. 27 and continues with meetings that stretch through March 13, as the fish panel reviews 169 proposals that could spell regulation changes in commercial fisheries across major seafood production areas in the state.

The board will began with proposals for cod at Chignik, the Bering SeaAleutian Islands (BSAI) and Alaska Peninsula. Beginning on Nov. 29 the board will delve into proposals pertaining to Bristol Bay salmon.

Alaska’s far west salmon topics, including the collapse of runs in the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers, will be the focus of the meetings running from Jan. 14 through Jan. 18. Salmon and other finfish will again dominate discussions

T

4 National Fisherman \ Winter 2022

at the meetings scheduled for Feb. 20 through Feb. 25.

The meetings beginning March 10 through March 13 will consist of supplemental finfish discussions, wrapping up the meeting season until the board takes up fisheries issues in other areas of the state sometime in autumn 2023.

Many of the proposals in this cycle emanate from the internal branches of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game with the intent of making the regulatory language consistent with practices in the field. Other proposals strive to correct those practices, when language falls subject to interpretation with other user groups or with enforcement officers.

Proposal 76, proposed by longtime fisherman Seth Kantner, pertains to commercial gill net operation in the Kotzebue area and calls for redefinition of “attendance” to anchored salmon nets.

For years, local fishermen set and anchored their nets perpendicular to the shoreline for chum salmon, then returned to their camps and focused on other chores while the nets continued fishing offshore. When fishing was slow, they might be away from the net for hours at a time.

This past season, however, an enforcement officer’s interpretation of the current language constituted violations and subsequent fines for leaving the nets unattended during operation.

Kantner has been fishing Kotzebue Sound for 47 years, and the regulation had never come into question. He crafted his proposal with the help of the enforcement officer and others “…who are all in agreement that a small change would help clarify and improve this situation and bring regulations in alignment with actual practices here.”

In Bristol Bay, the board and the industry will visit 15 proposals focused on salmon net specifications and vessel operations. Some of these proposals call for extending the distance that set gill netters can operate their nets offshore in reaction to changing shoreline conditions, thus restoring their access to fish at historical levels.

Other proposals have been borne of technological changes in the fishery, mainly the introduction of shallow-draft jet boats, which have spawned increasing conflicts between drift nets and nets that are anchored and fastened to shore.

Cheryl Ess

Northern Lights

Alaska Llifelong resident Tom Hoblet pauses for stories and a few laughs with Charlie Ess and Joe Weber.

www.nationalfisherman.com

ON DECK

The upcoming meeting cycle Nov. 29 through Dec. 3 will feature proposals attempting to establish new rules about the length of the tow ropes that run between drift vessels and their nets. Though the proposals address safety concerns involved with up to 1,000 feet of tow rope trailing between the vessel and the net, another argument is that the long tow ropes allow vessels to remain tied to the net in deeper water while the net fishes with its leadline mired in the mud, making it essentially a set net.

“This gear style lends itself to fishing with a grounded net,” say Tim Gervais, the author of Proposal 38, which calls for a 25-fathom limit on towlines. “I don’t feel that this style of fishing is in the intent of drift gillnet operation.”

Other Bristol Bay finfish proposals (42-through 47) will revisit the practice of “permit stacking,” which allows two limited entry permit holders on the same boat and allows for fishing a single net of up to 200 fathoms. A boat with a single permit can legally operate 150 fathoms in a single net.

Some of those proposals have been predicated by changes in ex-vessel prices through the years. One argument holds that during the era of sub 50-cent-per-pound offers from processors, the economics of doubling up on boats reduced the overhead costs racked up between two skippers on two boats. In

Offshore wind and fisheries can coexist

the years since, ex-vessel prices have increased, and those in favor of repealing the 200-fathom limit assert that the stackedpermit boats create an unfair advantage in intercepting fish bound for vessels fishing the shorter nets.

Arguments from the opposing side contend that the longer nets allow for a more efficient harvest and maximize utilization of the resource. The 150-fathom versus 200-fathom drift gill net proposals have become a recurring controversy in each board cycle since its inception in 2010.

Other proposals attempt to rectify rightful access to fisheries resources among user groups. Proposal 80, submitted by John Lamont, calls for clarification in the legal uses of chinook salmon harvested on the middle Yukon River. Lamont’s proposal notes that fishermen in the lower Yukon, Area Y-1, have seen closures to their fishery under the assumption it operates as a cash-generating fishery, while federal laws provide for the harvest of fish upriver under “subsistence” and “customary trade” guidelines.

Charlie Ess is the North Pacific Bureau Chief for National Fisherman.

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ON DECK

Downeaster

The 2022 lobster boat race season wraps up

Jon Johansen photo

By Michael Crowley

At the Long Island races in Maine, Downeast Nightmare was the fastest boat at 48 mph, while sometimes going airborne to do it.

he Aug. 21 race in Portland, Maine, was the last of Maine’s 2022 lobster boat racing season, after 573 boats came out for 11 events starting with June 18 at Boothbay Harbor.

That number “is down about 70 boats” from the previous year, said Jon Johansen, president of Maine Lobster Boat Association.

Four races were in August, beginning with Winter Harbor and Pemaquid’s Merritt Bracket races on the weekend of Aug. 13-14, followed by two more races the next weekend at Long Island and Portland on Aug. 20-21. The Pemaquid races are officially titled the Merritt Bracket races in honor of a mechanic who, said Johansen, “could keep all the boats going.”

Both Winter Harbor and Pemaquid had good turnouts, Johnson said, with 100 boats arriving at Winter Harbor and

T

6 National Fisherman \ Winter 2022

69 racing at Pemaquid. When 21 boats signed up for the Diesel Class N race (40 feet and over, 751 hp and over) it was divided into two heats. Ten boats in one heat and 11 in the second heat.The seven fastest were then matched up in a finals race, won by Todd Pinkham’s Terrie J., a South Shore 42 with a 750-hp FPT, at 41 mph.

The biggest surprise was Jeremy Beal’s Maria’s Nightmare II, a Wayne Beal 32 with a 1,000-hp Isotta, that set the diesel speed record of 68.3 mph on July 2 at Moosabec Reach. At Winter Harbor, Maria’s Nightmare II was the only boat in her class race (Diesel Class L, 901 hp and over, 28 feet and over) and hit 56 mph.

At that point she was the fastest boat at Winter Harbor, but in the Fastest Lobster Boat race, the last race of the day, Maria’s Nightmare II finished 5th. The issue was faulty pistons; she was smoking

bad enough that Beal said of his boat, “now you can call the boat old smoky.”

A very competitive matchup was between Jeff Eaton’s La Bella Vita and David Myrick’s Janice Elaine. Both are Northern Bay 38s with 815 hp FPTs. Janice Elaine took took Diesel Class K (701 to 900 hp, 28 feet and over) – no speed was given – and the Diesel Free For All at 45 mph, but La Bella Vita came back for the last race of the day, the Fastest Lobster Boat race, and took it at 46 mph.

La Bella Vita was the only boat racing in the Winter Harbor races to make the 100-mile trip the following day to race at Pemaquid. There LaBella Vita ran up against Andrew Taylor’s Blue Eyed Girl, a Morgan Bay 38 with a 900-hp Scania, and came in second to Blue Eyed Girl in three races. Probably one of the more unusual engine choice for a lobster boat was in Chip Johnson’s Five Stars. That’s a Calvin 42 powered with a 750-hp Renault Mac that came out of a French tank. Five Stars ran in the 17th race of the day (Diesels 801-hp and over, 40 feet and over) and its tank engine put Five Stars first over the finish line at 36 mph but she fell to third behind Andrew Taylor’s Blue Eyed Girl and La Bella Vita in the Fastest Lobster Boat Afloat race. Andrew Taylor’s Blue Eyed Girl won at 49 mph.

The turnout for the last weekend of the season was about normal with 45 boats arriving at Long Island and 41 boats to Portland. The fastest boat on both days was Downeast Nightmare, a Mussel Ridge 28 with a 1,000-hp Chevy, winning both the Gasoline Free-for-All and the Fastest Lobster Boat races.

Downeast Nightmare’s fastest time was 48.4 mph at Long Island. That speed was despite the fact that the Long Island course had 1 to 2-foot chop running through it, and “if it’s wavy, that boat gets squirrely. It gets a little airborne, ” said Johansen.

Michael Crowley is the former Boats & Gear editor for National Fisherman.

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NATIONAL FISHERMAN

2022 HIGHLINERS

2022 Highliners Since 1975 the editors of National Fisherman have annually honored leaders in the U.S. commercial fishing community. The NF Highliners are, as the name implies, the best of the industry – not only at catching fish, but giving back far more to the community, America’s rich marine resources, and working to ensure their future.

Chris Brown

Mimi Stafford

Point Judith, RI

Key West, Fla



Terry Alexander Harpswell, ME

Jerry Sansom Cocoa, Fla

HIGHLINER ROLL CALL   

1975 Joe Easley, Spuds Johnson, Nels Otness 1977 Oral Burch, Adolph Samuelson, Wayne Smith, *Dr. Dayton L. Alverson 1978 Dan Arnold, John J. Ross, Larry Simns 1979 Louis Agard Jr., Bart Eaton, Barry Fisher 1980 Kenny Daniels, Joe Novello, Rick Savage 1981 Gordon Jensen, Ralph Hazard, Konrad Uri 1982 Richard Miller, William Sandefur Jr., Gabe Skaar 1983 Dave Danborn, Bruce Gore, John Maher 1984 Dick Allen, Paul Pence, James Salisbury 1985 Oscar Dyson, Mike McCorkle, Rudy Peterson 1986 Jake Dykstra, Richard McLellan, Bill Moore 1987 Al Burch, Earl Carpenter, Einar Pedersen *U.S. Coast Guard Station Kodiak 1988 Frank Mirarchi, Sonny Morrison, Louis Puskas 1989 Nat Bingham, Pete Knutsen, Francis Miller 1990 Arnold Leo, Fred Mattera, Mark Taylor 1991 Ron Hegge, Rick Steiner, Tony West *Clement V. Tillion 1992 David Cousens, Julius Collins, Jim McCauley 1993 John Bruce, Snooks Moore, Jimmy Smith 1994 Tim Adams, Nelson R. Beideman, Joseph Testaverde *Angela Sanfilippo 1995 Michael McHenry, Dennis Petersen, Gary Slaven 1996 William Foster, Robert Smith, Diane Wilson *U.S. Rep. Gerry Studds 1997 Jim Bassett, Mark Lundsten, Pietro Parravano 1998 Bill Amaru, Felix G. Cox, Gary Nichols 1999 Wayne Moody, Jay Stinson, Ray Wadsworth 2000 Scott Keefe, Patten D. White, Richard Neilsen Jr. 2001 Ginny Goblirsch, Jamie Ross, Tim Thomas 2002 George Barisich, Russell Dize, Luis Ribas 2003 Dan Hanson, Chris Miller, Arne Fuglvog 2004 David Goethel, James Ruhle Sr., Tony Iarocci 2005 Wilburn Hall, Bill Webber Sr., Bill Maahs 2006 Vito Giacalone, David Karwacki, Jim Lovgren 2007 Dave Bitts, Eric Jordan, Kaare Ness 2008 Rodney Avila, Tilman Gray, Craig Pendleton 2009 Linda Behnken, Kevin Ganley, Joel Kawahara 2010 Bob Evans, Jim Odlin, David Spencer 2011 Larry Collins, Dan Falvey, Bill Webber Jr. 2012 Dewey Hemilright, Kevin Wark, Wayne Werner 2013 Robert Heyano, Robert Hezel, Jerry McCune *Brian Rothschild 2014 Martin Fisher, Ida Hall, Russell Sherman 2015 John F. Gruver, Kathy Hansen, Jeremiah O’Brien 2016 Robert T. Brown Sr., Ben Hartig, Carl “Sonny” McIntire Jr. 2017 Bob Dooley, George Eliason, Bruce Schactler 2018 Ryan Bradley, Kristan Porter,*Bob Jones 2019 Dick Ogg, Heather Sears,*Jack Schultheis 2020 Jerry Fraser, Frank Patti Sr.,*Bonnie Brady 2021 Julie Decker, Jerry Dzugan, Benjamin Platt, *Jennifer Lincoln

8 National Fisherman \ Winter 2022

www.nationalfisherman.com

NATIONAL FISHERMAN

2022 HIGHLINERS

 Chris

Brown

Chris Brown has fished for nearly 40 years out of Point Judith, Rhode Island. He is president of the Rhode Island Commercial Fishermen’s Association; president of the Seafood Harvesters of America; advises the New England Fishery Management Council, and serves on the executive board of the Northeast Seafood Coalition.

Brown’s colleagues in Seafood Harvesters say he “consistently beats the drum of accountability and sustainability, reminding both our members and Congress that the bedrock of our management success is not just strong science, but also accurate catch reporting that helps to reduce uncertainty in management decisions.”

Brown’s voice is widely respected in the halls of Congress, throughout NOAA Fisheries, and across the industry nationwide. He is frequently called on to speak at Capitol Hill briefings, NOAA workshops, and with fishing organizations on every coast.  Mimi

Stafford

Mimi Stafford landed in Key West, Florida, fresh out of college after learning marine biology and microbiology in the early 1970s. Jobs in the field were hard to come by, and

with her husband “tried our luck with fi n fishing, diving for lobsters and specimens, and fishing for sponges, lobster and stone crabs.”

Since the early 1990s Stafford has run traps from a 24’ T-craft for lobster and stone crab, and spent much more time on sustainable fishing and habitat protection. Stafford has served on the Reef Relief environmental board since 1990, the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen Association, the Florida state and South Atlantic Fishery Management Council spiny lobster advisory boards, and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary advisory board among others.  Terry

Alexander

Terry Alexander of Harpswell, Maine, has fished for over 40 years, running his 62-foot trawler Jocka for Gulf of Maine groundfish and squid down into the Mid-Atlantic waters. His other boat the Rachel T can harvest northern shrimp, gillnet for groundfish in the late summer and winter and for monkfish in waters off Rhode Island. Alexander has hosted much significant cooperative research on both boats, from Nordmore grate work in the northern shrimp fishery to the industry-based cod survey for the State of Massachusetts in the Gulf of Maine.

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Winter 2022 \ National Fisherman 9

NATIONAL FISHERMAN

2022 HIGHLINERS

A fourth generation fisherman, Alexander has been fishing for 44 years since he started at age 19 running boats out of Cundy’s Harbor, Maine, and became a full time captain 21 of the 70-foot trawler Miss Paula. Around 1995 he began started getting involved in fisheries management as an advisor on different panels covering shrimp, groundfish and monkfish.

In 1999 Alexander bought a 62-foot fiberglass hull that had been sitting in a field in South Portland since 1984.

Following a design by boat builder Dain Bichrest it was rebuilt as the Jocka (prounounced ‘Joker’) and has been fishing since October 2002.

Alexander was appointed to the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council in 2009, served a term, and then was appointed to three terms on the New England Fishery Management Council from 2012 to 2021.

Now back on the boat full time, Alexander has participated in a wide range of Atlantic fisheries over his career, including scallops, shrimping, pogie seining, joint venture fishing, monkfish, groundfish, whiting and squid.

Alexander serves on the board of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a coalition of fishing

communities working to influence offshore wind energy development in U.S. waters. He has served with the Sustainable Harvest Sector and the Associated Fisheries of Maine.  Jerry

Sansom

Most of the Highliners spend their workdays on fish decks and at the helm. Over the years the editors have honored others with a Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing their lifelong work with fishermen and their communities. This year, that recognition goes to Jerry Sansom of Cocoa, Florida.

For nearly half a century, Jerry has been the voice for and the face of the individual commercial fishermen in Florida as the longtime executive director of the Organized Fishermen of Florida.

Fishermen and colleagues say Sansom’s efforts are a major reason that their community has survived in Florida, despite net ban campaigns of the 1990s and continuing political and development pressures. Whether working with fishermen or politicians, Sansom was always straight with his answers and recommendations, as well as outlining options and obstacles.

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FEATURE

TOP NEWS

Alaska

Alaska shuts down crab seasons after dismal surveys Industry foresees $500 million loss

By Kirk Moore

12 National Fisherman \ Winter 2022

Red crab season closed

NOAA

T

we could lose up to half or more with this decision.”

Gulf

After Hurricane Ian, reckoning looms for Southwest Florida Fishermen scramble to recover, get back to work

By Sue Cocking

asey Streeter lost everything to the monstrous winds and storm surge of Hurricane Ian when it roared over southwest Florida.

His Island Seafood Market in Matlacha? Gone. Home in St. James City on Pine Island? Gone. Retail market on Sanibel Island? Gone. It's pretty much the same for most of his commercial fishing colleagues and neighbors in the region.

“We are devastated here,” Streeter said.

“Four out of five fish houses in Pine Island are gone. The shrimp fleet is gone.

Nowhere to unload. No docks are here.

Everybody went out of business at one

C

A boat stranded by Hurricane Ian's storm surge at Matlacha, Fla.

Casey Streeter

he Alaska Department of Fish and Game canceled all opilio snow, red king crab, and blue king crab seasons for 2022-2023, in a devastating blow to North Pacific fishermen and processors after trawl surveys showed a continuing crash in abundance.

The announcement came Monday after Bering Sea crabbers had pressed the North Pacific Fishery Management Council during its October meeting to do more to reduce crab bycatch in trawl fisheries.

“On the heels of that decision came to an announcement that Bristol Bay red king crab will be closed for the second year in a row, and Bering Sea snow crab will close for the first time in the history of this fishery,” according to a statement from the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers.

The group projects lost revenue at $500 million and warned that “Many members of Alaska’s fleet will face bankruptcy, including second- and third-generation crabbers whose families are steeped in the culture of this industry. Long-time crew members who have worked these decks for decades will be jobless.”

“This decision just destroyed a fishing business of over 50 years and the crew that have a combined 100 years invested in it,” said Joshua Songstad from the F/V Handler. “Our crew of six has a combined 16 children to feed. No fishing model accounts for that.”

Andy Hillstrand from the F/V Time Bandit and the TV show Deadliest Catch said, “We’re going to have to let people go because there’s no work and we’ve lost the ability to make money for the upkeep of the vessel. Out of the 60-vessel crab fleet remaining since we consolidated years ago,

Biologists and fishery managers had been warning for months that preliminary indications show the stocks in trouble, with rapid declines suspected to involve multiple ecosystem conditions. Those range from variations in ocean temperatures and season sea ice extent to predator pressure.

“Clearly, there’s no smoking gun,” Mark Stichert, a groundfish and shellfish fisheries management coordinator with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, told National Fisherman in July. “We’ve been in this trend for quite some time, and something is preventing the young crab from entering the fishery.”

Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea snow crab fisheries were declared closed. Last year’s allowable snow crab harvest of 5.6 million pounds was the smallest in 40 years, a lingering effect of stock collapse after the sudden 2019 ocean warming of the Bering Sea.

time. We worked ten years and it was gone in ten hours. We're dealing with impossible things.”

Despite his overwhelming losses, though, Streeter vows he's not giving up on the commercial fishing industry www.nationalfisherman.com

FEATURE

TOP NEWS

here. He's got four grouper boats that got tossed around that he's hoping he can fix, and a seafood truck he's been using to ferry food, ice, and other supplies from the mainland to Pine Island, now that a temporary bridge has been erected.

“We're gonna build back, “ Streeter declared. “This is the next chapter of our island. It's important for our area to have a fishery. It'll be the people here that bring it back. We're not going to let this go away.”

Nick Ruland is not ready to throw in the towel either. His restaurant and dock on Fort Myers Beach were badly damaged, along with three of six fishing boats that harvested grouper, snapper and stone crab. He was prepared for waiting for a long rebuilding process.

“I'm going to do it one way or the other,” he said. “I can't really guess on when. I hope to be partially open within a month.”.

Northeast

Maine Lobstermen’s Association seeks expedited appeal Seeks overturn of whale rulings

By Kirk Moore

he Maine Lobstermen’s Association hired former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement to bring the association’s appeal of the new National Marine Fisheries Service rules to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

The association is challenging what it calls the “scientifically-flawed federal whale plan that will cripple Maine’s lobster industry.”

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“When we said we refuse to let a single judge’s decision be the last word and that MLA is preparing to go all the way to the Supreme Court, we weren’t kidding,” said MLA president Kristan Porter.

“This is a clear case of government overreach. It is no exaggeration to say that the fate of the Maine lobster fishery, a national icon, hangs in the balance,” Clement said.

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FEATURE

IN BUSINESS

Hitting the High Mark Cooper Curtis is creating a one-stop shop for vessels in Kodiak and the rest of Alaska

By Paul Molyneaux

ooper Curtis had big plans when he started Highmark Marine Fabrication in Kodiak, Alaska in 2014.

“I went to AVTEC, the Alaska Vocational Technical Center, for welding, and then I joined the Marine Corps. I started this business when I was still in the reserves,” says Curtis, 31. He now employs 50 people and works all over Alaska. “Our aim is to be one-stop shopping for marine services here in Kodiak,” he says, and he is well on his way.

After launching his business eight years ago, Curtis has rapidly expanded the company’s capacities and services, primarily for the vessels of Alaska’s fishing fleet. “We work on sailing vessels, yachts, and we do a lot on tow boats for the barges, but I would guess that 75 percent of our work is on fishing vessels,” he says.

Curtis began as a welder, but soon added marine coatings to what Highmark could offer. “Then we bought Kodiak Metals & Supply, 14 National Fisherman \ Winter 2022

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FEATURE

IN BUSINESS

and that made us the metals supplier on the island. Since then, we added commercial diving, engine work – we sell FTP engines. We recently took over operation of Kodiak Shipyard, which has a 660-ton travel lift and dry dock, so whether you need a quick fix or a total refit, we can handle it.”

One of Highmark’s specialties is fabrication of deck gear. When Curtis bought Kodiak Metals, he also bought their designs for some deck equipment, particularly scissors tables and pot launchers for the pot longline fisheries for black cod, Pacific cod and other species.

“Those are pretty much cookiecutter,” says Curtis of the pot launchers.

“Over the years we’ve tweaked them a To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

bit.You know, if someone comes in with one that’s been in service for a few years and we see it cracking somewhere, then we’ll strengthen that.We’re making deck gear for Alaska fishing boats, and it has to be strong enough to do more than its job. If a pot gets loose and slides into the scissor table, it has to be able to take it. Ideally, we want to make equipment that lasts.”

Besides scissor tables and pot launchers, Highmark makes davits for pot haulers and booms for salmon seiners. The company also designs and fabricates fish handling systems for tenders. “We also build longline systems for the black cod and cod pot fishermen,” says Curtis. “But we pretty much have everyone around here done

Cooper Curtis, seen here line boring a stern tube, started Highmark Marine Fabrication in Kodiak, Alaska in 2014 as a welding company, and has since grown his business to include many other services.

now.”

According to Curtis, he started building systems for boats that were switching from hooks to pots. “The first one, was about four years ago. They came to us and told us what they wanted.

I did some research, started talking to people and we put a system together.We don’t do the hydraulics, but after the line comes through the block it needs to go through a bunch of small stainless steel rollers to get it to the line bin, we do all that. We do the line bin with a trolley for coiling the line. Sometimes we Winter 2022 \ National Fisherman 15

FEATURE

IN BUSINESS

Before the advent of slinky pots over the last two years, most pot longline vessels used pots similar to the heavy one’s used for king crab, Highmark builds heavy davits to handle them.

put in a hopper for the slinky pots, or something for pot handling depending on what they’re using.”

Curtis notes that some bigger boats with room for traditional steel pots are still using them. “They have an investment,” he says. “But when slinky

pots came out a year or so ago, most of the small boats switched over right away.” Curtis notes that the longline systems are set up for snap-on gear “Usually we cut a slot out of the bulwarks on the stern or make a ramp for the pots to go out,” he says. “If they’re using slinky pots of course they don’t need as much, and we’ll make the slot smaller.”

Curtis notes that the systems Highmark sets up for longliners are usually modeled on what the boat already has, but they have also done some new builds. “The Aleutian Endurance was the last one we did,” he says.

“We got our power block from Island Hydraulics, and the scissor table from Highmark Marine,” says Blake Burkholder, who oversaw the Aleutian Endurance project for his family’s company Buck & Ann Fisheries, of

Highmark’s scissors table design came with its purchase of Kodiak Metals. The table can be lowered for the crew to empty pots into it, and then raised to make sorting fish or crab easier.

Warrenton, Oregon. Burkholder notes that they already have one boat, the Northern Endurance, and pretty much had the layout they wanted for the new boat.

Curtis notes that the tenders he builds equipment for usually have a

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Among the deck gear components that Highmark builds are dumping tables for vessels in the longline pot fishery for black cod and Pacific cod.

setup that works for them. “We just improve on it if we can. They’ll have a 10 to 12-inch vacuum pump, then a dewatering box that is like a series of rollers that the fish slide across and then down a chute to a sorting system with diverters that send different species

into different boxes. Then they go into smaller boxes for weighing that are controlled manually or hydraulically, and then down into the hold. We can help them streamline the process.”

Most of the components are made from aluminum and stainless steel, Curtis notes. “We’ve tried using some steel with coatings on it. We metalize it – it’s a thermal spray. But in the saltwater environment, it just doesn’t hold up.”

Besides making deck gear for various fisheries, Highmark provides its expanding services to every size boat in the region, including freezer trawlers.

“We usually work on them over at our East Point Dock because we can’t haul them here,” Curtis says of the Bering Sea behemoths.

Whatever the project, Curtis is driven to provide the best he can and continue expanding and improving what Highmark offers. “We enjoy the

As on the Alaskan Star most pot longline systems include a hydraulic block, heavy davit, dumping table, and line bin. Highmark cuts a slot in the stern to make deploying pots easier.

,design and engineering challenges, figuring out how to get things done.We like the problem solving,” he says.

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

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PACIFIC MARINE EXPO

PREVIEW

A PEEK AT THE 2022

PACIFIC MARINE EXPO November 17 – 19, 2022 • Lumen Field Event Center • Seattle

Thursday Alaska Seafood Market Updates and Opportunities ➜ Thursday \ Nov. 17 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM ➜ The Helm (Formally known as the Main Stage)

Join the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) and McKinley Research for a marketing update on the Alaska seafood industry. Learn about where Alaska’s catch is going, the value at home and abroad, and how the pandemic and global economics create challenges and opportunities for Alaska seafood.

Speakers: Ashley Heimbigner Sam Friedman

provide updates on the fi shing vessel safety program, statistical information including but not limited to; marine casualties, investigations, vessel losses and injury/fatality information. Also discussed will be trends in fi shing vessel safety observed by marine inspectors, vessel examiners and investigators during dockside examinations and at-sea boardings, any local regulatory updates or changes and a questions and answer session.

Speakers: David Schaeffer Kevin Williams Scott Wilwert Kaitlyn Moore

A Peek into the Wheelhouse: The Voices and Perspectives of National Fisherman

U.S. Coast Guard Presents: FY-22 Alaska Fishing Vessel Safety Update

➜ Thursday \ Nov. 17 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM

➜ Thursday \ Nov. 17

As the only publication dedicated to the entire U.S. commercial fi shing industry, National Fisherman exclusively features the news, insights and updates that matter

11:30 AM - 12:15 PM ➜ The Helm

This 45 minute presentation intends to

18 National Fisherman \ Winter 2022

➜ National Fisherman Member’s Box

most to fi shermen across the country.

Being able to do so is on account of the various writers and contributors that defi ne the articles, photos and perspectives that appear both in-print online. What are some of the biggest changes NF writers and contributors have seen as part of their coverage? Are there certain topics they haven’t been able to properly explore?

What developments are they looking forward to seeing take shape in 2023 and beyond?

Join a panel of National Fisherman writers and contributors to explore all of these questions and more. Members of the audience will be encouraged to ask questions of the panel but also connect on an individual basis with the people that are covering and promoting the commercial fi shing industry like no other.

Speakers: Bri Dwyer Megan Waldrep Kirk Moore Jeremiah Karpowicz

www.nationalfisherman.com

PACIFIC MARINE EXPO

PREVIEW

Lessons Learned: Beating the Odds in Emergencies at Sea ➜ Thursday \ Nov. 17 1:45 PM - 2:30 PM ➜ The Helm

A panel of representatives from marine safety agencies and commerical fishermen will present case studies of mariners who have surviced marine casualties. Some presenters will be the survivor themselves.

The case studies will focus on “what worked” in an emergency to increase their survivability. The outcome to attendees will be safety tips of how safety equipment, training or attitude helped in an emergency.

Time will be given more audience participation and sharing of their own stories/tips.

Speakers: Scott Wilwert Tele Aadsen Samantha Case

What is Going on in the North Pacific? Closures, Climate Change and Catastrophe ➜ Thursday \ Nov. 17

Salmon are of keen concern with warming and acidification. The future is uncertain.

Alaska fishermen are experiencing changes in our fisheries due to ocean warming and acidification. But the good news is there are ways to take action: we know steeply reducing carbon emissions is a central part of the solution – along with protecting natural habitats that sequester carbon, keeping it out of the atmosphere, and removing carbon from the atmosphere.

What policies and technologies are emerging to meet the challenge? Are they fishery friendly? How can the seafood industry be part of the solution? What do you want to be “for”? The first step is to get closer to where the action is. This session will be an overview of policies both underway and under discussion. Speakers will include policy specialists, NOAA scientists, and fishermen doing positive things.

2022 EXPO EVENTS one stop shop for everything that comes from Alaska

Alaska Hall

Special events, education and more!

Fisherman of the Year Contest Saturday \ Nov. 19 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Speakers: Sarah Schumann Linda Behnken Kent Barkhau

3:30 PM - 3:45 PM ➜ The Helm

The North Pacific fishing industry has been hit with a devastating blow by the closure of all opilio snow, red king crab, and blue king crab seasons for 2022 – 2023. The Gulf of Alaska cod fishery was mostly closed in 2020 when the population suddenly dropped as a result of an extreme marine heat wave. Groundfish have moved farther north in warm, low-ice years.

Friday U.S. Coast Guard Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Program

Fisher Poets

Saturday \ Nov. 19 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

➜ Friday \ Nov. 18 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM ➜ The Helm

The Coast Guard Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance, Fishing Vessel

HAPPY HOUR! — FREE BEER! Last hour of the expo all three days

Education Program and events are subject to change.

Download the National Fisherman mobile app or visit pacificmarineexpo.com for updates.

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

Winter 2022 \ National Fisherman 19

PACIFIC MARINE EXPO

PREVIEW

reviewing, analyzing, and acting on marine casualty safety recommendations; facilitating safety outreach, such as with the Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety National Communication Plan; and partnering with NIOSH in the execution of the Fishing Safety Training and Research Grant Programs. These aims, and more, strive to improve safety, save lives, and reduce casualties within the commercial fishing industry.

Speakers: Joseph Myers

Speakers:

AFDF Presents: Symphony of Seafood Safety Division administers the Coast Guard’s national Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety (CFVS) program, which involves overseeing and implementing a diverse set of responsibilities; such as maintaining certain Federal laws and safety standards;

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No Seat at the Table : U.S. Commercial Fishing and Offshore Wind

➜ Friday \ Nov. 18 11:45 AM - 12:30 PM ➜ The Helm

Since 1994, the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation (AFDF) has hosted and organized the Alaska Symphony of Seafood, an annual competition

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➜ Friday \ Nov. 18 12:45 PM - 1:45 PM ➜ The Helm

While the offshore wind industry is plotting for new wind farms across the U.S.,

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the commercial fishing industry is pushing for answers to understand how it will affect their livelihood. Commercial fishing is a vital industry keeping fresh fish on family’s tables. Attendees will hear from some of the folks on the front lines fighting for a seat at the table in the offshore wind discussions in order to protect both the fisheries and the fishermen’s livelihoods.

Speakers: Mike Conroy Lori Steele Bonnie Brady

‘America the Beautiful’ Conservation Initiative and the Commercial Fishing Industry ➜ Friday \ Nov. 18 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM ➜ The Helm

The Biden Administration’s America the Beautiful Initiative, which seeks to conserve 30 percent of US lands and waters by the end of the decade, has the potential to impact US commercial fisheries in many ways. Some view the initiative as a threat to their businesses or the imposition of marine protected areas that can shut harvesters out. Others view the effort’s elevation of Indigenous voices and communitysupported approaches to conservation as long overdue and part of a strategy to address fishery resource declines while continuing to allow fishing. Come hear

from policy experts who regularly engage on America the Beautiful & 30×30 to learn about and discuss how the initiative is developing and how to get involved.

Speakers: Noah Oppenheim Ray Hilborn Latise LaFeir Ephraim Froehlich Linda Behnken

U.S. Coast Guard Presents: Crimes at Sea ➜ Friday \ Nov. 18 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM ➜ The Helm

The Coast Guard Investigative Service (“CGIS”) endeavors to prevent, deter, and

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investigate criminal threats within the maritime under the jurisdiction of the United States. In recent years, CGIS has seen a rise in crimes of violence occurring aboard United States fl agged fishing vessels operating in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. CGIS seeks to engage fishing industry partners at the Pacific Marine Expo and present as to criminal trends observed, reporting mechanism, and broad considerations to be had prior to and following crimes of violence aboard U.S. fl agged vessels fishing in the North Pacific Ocean and Bearing Sea. Speakers: Adam Carron David Chaffin

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PACIFIC MARINE EXPO

PREVIEW

Saturday Fisher Poets ➜ Saturday \ Nov. 19 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM ➜ The Helm

The tradition that began decades ago in Astoria, Ore., continues here in Seattle.

Listen in as the renowned FisherPoets – Dano Quinn, Jon Branshaw, Jeb Wyman, Peter Munro, and Brad Warren – entertain you with colorful music and stories.

Fisherman of the Year Contest ➜ Saturday \ Nov. 19 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM ➜ The Helm

Put your skills to the test at the annual Fisherman of the Year Contest, which will consist of three heats – net mending, rope splicing and knot tying. The

winners from each heat will move on to compete in the survival suit challenge, and have the chance at taking home the title.

Sign up now online at www.pacificmarineexpo.com to reserve your spot – spots fi ll up fast!

Event co-hosts: Lindsay Layland & Sean Dwyer

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BOATS & GEAR

BOATBUILDING

BOATS & GEAR

BOATBUILDING

Fantail Fans The FV Leonilda gets a new lease on life thanks to a dedicated California couple.

Keith Andrews photos

By Paul Molyneaux

ome fishermen are drawn to wooden boats, and some just can’t escape them.

When his old wood and ferro-cement boat started to fall apart, southern California fisherman Keith Andrews and his wife Tiffani went looking for a steel boat.

“In 2018 we drove 70,000 miles looking at boats,” he says. “From southern California to Oregon.

“I wanted a steel boat,” says Andrews. “I’ve had a lot of wooden boats and I know what the maintenance is like.”

But the wooden boat habit is hard to break, even when you want to. For Andrews, his connection to wooden boats started innocently enough.

“When I went to trade school my roommate used to get WoodenBoat magazine,” he says. “While I was there, I built a dory to go on the lakes, then I came home and

S

24

National Fisherman \ Winter 2022

After 22 months in the yard, and receipts for $70,000, the Leonilda is ready to splash. A venerable craft saved from the wooden boat graveyard by Andrews and his wife’s commitment.

built a bigger one to go on the ocean.”

After a while he found he needed a bigger wooden boat. “Mick Cronman, who wrote for National Fisherman, gave me his old boat. A Monterey double ender.”

Andrews went through a few boats before he bought the Alamo, a 40-foot, 1947 Monterey trawler that had been coated with ferro-cement.

“There was an oil spill up north, and I was fishing close to it. I hauled out and the boat was covered with oil.” In cleaning the oil off his boat, Andrews damaged the coating on the ferro-cement.

“Water got in there, and the cement started coming off in big chunks,” he says. “I knew I had to get a new boat.”

www.nationalfisherman.com

BOATS & GEAR

BOATBUILDING

But the boat he got is far from new.

Andrews ended up buying the Leonilda, a 42-foot wooden trawler built in 1929. Restoring the vessel turned into a 22-month project, as replacing the bulwarks expanded into sistering frames, refastening the entire hull, and adding support to the deck.

“About two months into it, I woke up asking myself, ‘what the hell am I doing?’” says Andrews.

Boatyards all over the world are littered with wooden boats that people intended to fix up. The demands in time and money often overwhelm the faint of heart, but not Andrews.

“At first I was looking at a steel boat, which was like my dream boat,” he says.

But he found so many problems that his wife finally told him, no way, they weren’t buying that boat. “It was more of a recycling project than a boat,” he says.

“Finally, we went up to San Francisco, and found the Leonilda at Fisherman’s Wharf. To be honest, it was the first boat we looked at that the engine started, it shifted, and steered. It’s the only one that could leave the dock under her own power. And in theory I could transfer my halibut permit to the Leonilda.

“But I told the owner, I’m not buying until I look at the bottom. We took her across to Richmond – there was a yard there where they’d hauled her before – he said no problem if you don’t mind waiting a couple of days. So, we just stayed there on the boat.When we finally hauled her, everything looked good.”

The Leonilda is a 42-foot by 14-foot fantail hull, built nearby at San Francisco Boatworks in 1929. “They said she drew four feet, but with all the wood and gear we put on her, it’s more like six now,” says Andrews.

Late in 2018, Andrews paid $12,000 for the nearly century-old boat – which he believes is built of cedar planking on oak ribs – and took her south under her own power.

“We stopped in Santa Cruz for fuel and it was a little rough and she banged against the dock and tore off all the bulwarks on the port side. They just laid To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

Keith Andrews stripped the entire hull and coated it amply with marine epoxy, roughly following the West System recommendation for restoring wooden boats, but mostly improvising with materials at hand.

Once Andrews got going on the project, refastening seemed like a good idea. He put in 8,000 stainless steel screws and filled every screw head with epoxy.

Winter 2022 \ National Fisherman 25

BOATS & GEAR

BOATBUILDING

Keith Andrews says the Detroit 6-71 on the Leonilda is the quietest 6-71 he had ever run. It was rebuilt just a few years before he bought the boat and had only three crab seasons on it.

right down. And I thought, oh my God.” With the venerable craft hauled out at Port San Luis Boatyard, Andrews started thinking about how to turn her into the halibut trawler he wanted.

“I took a Sawzall and cut off all the rotten bulwarks flush with the deck, and stacked 4 by 8 pine, to make new bulwarks 20 inches high. A cabinet maker friend said we could probably do it in two or three long weekends, but in the end it was five or six months,” he says.

Andrews priced construction-grade

lumber for the job and found it would cost more than he’d paid the boat. “A friend of mine knew a guy who milled fallen pine from Yosemite. I called him up and he said the wood was a little soft, but if I was going to coat it in epoxy it should be fine – and it was $10,000 less.”

Andrews doused the salvaged pine with 5:1 fiberglass resin.

“I bet we used 40 gallons of resin just on the bulwarks,” he says. “I could have ordered good boat wood from back east, but it would have cost me $60,000,” he says. Using the same recipe of epoxy impregnated lumber, Andrews turned the Leonilda into something akin to a West System cold molded boat. “I bought the West System book on restoring wooden boats,” he says, but he used it more as a rough guide than strict formula to follow.

“We just used what wood we could get. I bought the resin from Fiberglass Hawaii down in Ventura. Their 5:1 marine epoxy is the same as West System, but cheaper.”

According to Andrews, once he got the bulwarks finished, he realized he needed to sister the ribs on the starboard side of the fish hold.

“Usually, the easiest way to put sisters in is from up top,” he says. “But I had just epoxied all that, so I put all the sisters in from the bottom.” Andrews notes that the

With his low-hour 425 Cummins engine in place, Winnie Alley keeps it covered to protect it from paint and fiberglass as he finishes the deck and cabin.

bilge is filled with concrete, so he cut slats 3 inches wide and a ¼-inch thick and, working from the concrete up, laminated them in next to the existing ribs – ten layers each.

“I ordered 3/16 stainless steel screws to put it all together, and after we got that done, my friend who was helping me said, we really ought to refasten this, so I ordered another 8,000 screws. The boat had already been refastened once, so we just put on of those big ones between the screw holes on each plank.”

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HYDRO-SLAVE But the learning experience wasn’t over for Andrews: “We were finishing up putting those stainless screws in when one of the marine surveyors came by and asked about it. He said we should have used galvy [galvanized]. He said stainless is not good below the waterline and we better cover them up good. So, I went through and rather than put wooden plugs in, I filled them with epoxy and Cabosil.”

According to the West System book he’d bought, Andrews should have used a circular saw to clean out all the seams.

“But I didn’t do that because most of the seams were good and a lot of them were wood on wood. We just sanded it down and I filled the seams where I could with the epoxy and Cabosil.”

With the hull sound, Andrews turned his attention to the deck, which would have to handle trawl winches, a gantry, and a net reel. “I fortified the deck, it was in good shape, it was replaced twenty years ago. I talked to an old guy who worked at San Francisco Boat Works and he said that when they replaced that deck, all the wood was one size up from the original, so instead of two inches thick, the deck is two and half inches thick.”

Andrews notes he did the same with the deck beams, going from the existing 3x6 beams to 4x8.

“It’s all fir, the decking and the deck beams,” he says. “But I didn’t want to crush anything down, so I put 4x8s upright from the engine bed to the bottom of the deck beam, and around the fish hold and winches.”

The Leonilda’s powerhouse is a roughly 200-hp GM high-block 671.

“That was one of the selling points,” says Andrews. “The engine was rebuilt at Shoreline Diesel in San Francisco and only had three crab seasons on it. It has the old Twin Disc 3:1 crash box gear.”

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BOATS & GEAR

BOATBUILDING

The Leonilda in the water off Port San Luis. Rigged for trawling halibut, she is approaching her 100th year on the water and still making money.

diameter.

Andrews bought the boat thinking it had a 30-gallon hydraulic pump, but upon closer inspection found that it was only eight gallons. “So, I put a

30-gallon pump on the back of the engine, and built out from there,” he says.

“Thank God for trade school.”

The Leonida will tow a 50-foot net with 3- by 6-foot homebuilt V-doors,

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and the hydraulic system will power the net reel and winches salvaged from Andrews’ previous vessel, the Alamo.

For electronics, Andrews went with all Garmin. “I got the 36-mile radar, fathometer, 7000 series plotter, auto-pilot – it’s all Garmin, stem to stern.”

The Leonilda will be day fishing, and crew accommodations are minimal. “The cabin is pretty small,” says Andrews. “There’s a little stove and sink, and a fold down table. Four bunks down in the bow.”

Andrews points out that he earns just enough to keep fishing. He likes it more than a 9-5 job. “You got to be a little bit gnarly to fish a wooden boat,” he says.

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

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BOATS & GEAR

Life In the Fast Lane Some Maine lobstermen build their boats more for racing than fishing

By Paul Molyneaux

eals Island, Maine, lobsterman Winfred “Winnie” Alley has a new boat – a Libby 34 christened the Faith Melle.

“It’s my wife’s name, it’s pronounced Faith Mellay,” says Alley.

“It’s an old family name.”

Theoretically, the Faith Melle is a commercial lobster boat that Winfred uses to set and haul lobster traps in the nearshore waters around Beals Island and along the adjacent coast. But fi shing is not what he really built it for.

“I built it more for racing,” he says.

“I bought the kit from Frank Coffi n over at East Side. He had the cabin right there on the ground, so we put that on there and I screwed it into

B

Winfred and Faith Melle Alley fish and lobster together on their new boat, the Faith Melle.

30 National Fisherman \ Winter 2022

place.”

After stabilizing the hull with additional framing, Alley had the boat hauled some 40 miles down the coast to Addison, where he rented a boat shop to complete the project.

“It used to be Uncle Bunks Boatshop,” he says. Working about five or six hours a day, he completed the boat in three months.

According to Frank Coffi n, the owner of East Side Boats in Machiasport, Maine, he had originally built the boat for himself. “But I never could fi nd time to fi nish it,” he says.

“Winnie asked me for it, and we agreed to a fair price, and he took it.

I love what he did with it, the colors.

He does good work, very meticulous.”

Alley took the engine from his old fi shing and racing boat, the Bounty Hunter, a Calvin Beal 34, and put it in the Faith Melle. “It’s a 425 Cummins,” he says. “It has low hours. I like it and I didn’t want to try and fi nd another.”

Alley put a 1.75:1 Twin Disc gear on the Cummins, which turns a 2-inch diameter shaft that is only 10.5 feet long. Alley ran the shaft to a 24” x 26” 3-blade propeller. “If I was building just for fi shing, I’d have probably used a four blade, more power,” says Alley. “But I think I get more speed out of a three blade. I don’t have anything to prove that, just my feeling that it goes faster.”

Alley and the Libby 34 go back quite a ways. “I’ve been lobster fi shing since I was 17,” says the 51-year-old Alley. “I worked with Earnest Libby Jr. hauling in the summer and fall, and in the winter, I’d work in the boat shop with him.”

At Libby’s shop, Alley helped build the mold for the original 34. “We built the 38 fi rst, then the 34. We built a wooden boat, fiberglassed it inside and out, smoothed it, and waxed the hell out of it,” he says. From that plug they made the mold and started offering the 34-foot lobster boat for sale.

“It’s 13-and-a-half-feet wide,” say Alley. “I’m not sure what she draws, it’s about 3-and-a-half feet.”

Frank Coffi n primarily builds the Libby 41, and his own lengthened version, the Libby 47. He had bought the 38- and 34-foot molds from the widow of Stewart Workman, who had bought them from Earnest Libby. “I just didn’t want to lose them,” he says.

www.nationalfisherman.com

Faith Melle Alley photo.

BOATBUILDING

BOATS & GEAR

Jon Johansen

BOATBUILDING

Running at speeds sometimes close to 40 knots, the high 30s at least, the Faith Melle beats out the competition in the Deisel F class at the Winter Harbor Lobster Boat Races on August 13.

“The 38 was destroyed, but we’ve made a new mold,” he says. “I had a 38 saved and we used that. I sold one to a fi sherman in Alabama. Another guy he knew bought the plug and loved it so much he ordered a 41.”

For the 10 years before building the Faith Melle, Alley ran a plug boat for the Calvin Beal 34 mold. That was another wooden boat coated with fiberglass and smoothed with fairing compound and lots of sanding. “It’s a lot of maintenance,” Alley says. “It’s like a cored hull, but kind of like

having a wooden boat. They use a lot of Polyfair to smooth it out, and in the winter when you haul out, it starts cracking and the paint peels off. So, you’re always smoothing and sanding and painting.”

Nonetheless, the boat was fast, and still is. “It’s what I race against,” says Alley. “My own boat.”

The Libby 34 was not perfect either, according to Coffi n, mostly due to the condition of the mold. “They didn’t put a lot into building the molds back then,” he says. “And it’s

never been reconditioned. It has a lot of dinks, and bumps. But it’s the biggest of the 34s. It’s always been the widest, and it’s high sided.” Coffi n plans to recondition the 34 mold this year.

“Hopefully we’ll get to it in the fall,” he says, though he notes that things take more time these days. “I spend a lot of time on the road. I can’t get anything. If I need something, I might just as well drive to Rockland [150 miles], and walk in and get it.”

With his long familiarity with the Libby 34 hull, Alley knows how to get the most out of it. He likes to play with the shape, hoping to pick up a little speed. “Earnest used to talk about why he shaped the hull the way he did, bringing the bilges down in the stern so she has something to sit on and things like that, but I was young and didn’t pay attention,” says Alley.

“Then when I got older and started building my own boats, I started to think about it more.”

When a hull comes out of the mold it’s just a shell, Alley explains. “You can change the shape a little. You can drop the bilges down, put more rocker in her. What I did was jack the bottom down to give it more rocker, and put the shaft risers in.” He then put

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BOATS & GEAR

in some temporary framing to hold everything in place and laid in the stringers and floor timbers. On the outside, he dropped the rails down, “to give her more lift,” he says.

In spite of the condition of the mold, Alley shaped and smoothed his new 34 into a fi ne looking racing machine, and after some losses, the boat is winning. At the beginning of the race season, in the June races in Boothbay Harbor and Rockland, the Faith Melle didn’t perform as well up against his old boat, the Bounty Hunter.

“I lost the fi rst race,” he says. “And I lost the second one, but it was close.

Then I figured out that the electronic throttle wasn’t opening all the way. I brought it over from the old boat, and I knew it had a problem. I knew it wasn’t opening all the way, but didn’t bother with it when I fi rst put it in. We got that fi xed and started winning.”

The Faith Melle came out ahead in

Faith Melle Alley photos

BOATBUILDING

Winfred Alley put the cabin roof and framing on his new boat at East Side Boats in Machiasport, Maine before transporting the kit to Addison where he added the coosa board sides.

July races in Bass Harbor, Jonesport and Stonington.

Faith Melle Alley points out that her husband’s expertise of building racing boats extends beyond his own boat. “I don’t know if anyone told you,” she says. “But Winnie worked

on five boats that are fi nishing fi rst and second in their divisions this year.”

According to Alley, the boats run a straight one-mile course, basically a drag race. “You have a boat going ahead with a person on the stern holding up a fl ag, and each boat has

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BOATS & GEAR

BOATBUILDING

Keeping things light and simple, Beals Island lobsterman and boatbuilder Winfred Alley lays fiberglass over the coosa board deck on his new lobster/race boat.

With his low-hour 425 Cummins engine in place, Winnie Alley keeps it covered to protect it from paint and fiberglass as he finishes the deck and cabin.

a fl ag on the stern. You go along at around 12 knots until they think everyone’s more or less lined up, and then they drop the fl ag on the lead board and off you go. It’s not perfect,

and sometimes you wonder about the starts but…” Alley’s boat hits speeds in the high 30s. “With a fair tide and the wind with you, you might see 40 or a little more,” he says.

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

Alley built the boat light for racing, and it’s usually just him and his wife on the boat for race day. “I used composite for the cabin, the deck and everything,” he says. “It’s called Coosa board. It’s very light. It’s all anyone’s using these days. I put that in and lay the fiberglass on it.”

Simplicity is what the Faith Melle is all about. “I don’t have any fi sh hold, just a lobster box on deck that holds about 400 pounds,” says Alley.

There are no bunks down forward, or amenities. When Alley and his wife head to more distant races like Stonington – a three-hour trip – or Boothbay Harbor – a six-hour trip – they stay ashore in a hotel.

Alley’s fi shing systems are simple: He has a 14-inch Hydro-Slave hauler, and his electronics are minimal.

“I have a Standard Horizon VHF and a chart plotter,” he says. He has no sounder. “I’ve been fi shing these

Winter 2022 \ National Fisherman 33

BOATS & GEAR

same waters for the last 25 years,” he says. “I tried going off shore. I bought a 41. But that was the year the price dropped. I traded that boat for a smaller one and got out from under the payments. Now I just fi sh inshore.”

Being so familiar with the waters he fi shes, he has no compass or radar.

“I had a radar on the Bounty Hunter, but never turned it on. I just use the chart plotter. I suppose I could get in trouble if that ever went out.” He has no deck lights or spotlights, only his running lights. “I leave after sunrise and come home before dark. I don’t plan on being out fi shing at night.”

Not having a super structure with lights and radar gives Alley a clean cabin top and cuts down on wind resistance, and that probably helps on the nose-to-nose wins.

At 51 years old, Winfred Alley is

Faith Melle Alley photo

BOATBUILDING

All ready for fishing and racing the Faith Melle, sits on a trailer ner the boat ramp on Beals Island on June 15, ready to taste salt water at for the first time.

probably far from done building racing boats that also fi sh lobsters – and when the team at East Side Boats reconditions the old Libby 34 mold Alley helped build as a teenager, he may

meet some new competition.

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

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ONBOARD PROCESSING

Carsoe autofreezer, the fully automated freezer line produces precision weighed fillet or surimi blocks.

FOLLOW THE LEADER For freezer trawlers in the U.S., the processing experts at Carsoe deliver.

By Paul Molyneaux

hen big vessels want processing systems that work, whether it be head and gut, surimi and pollock blocks, shrimp, or any other high volume fishery, one of the fi rst companies they talk to is Carsoe.

“I think for shrimp we are supplying the systems for all the big trawlers, maybe 100 percent,” says Jeppe Christensen, sales director at Carsoe, a Denmark-headquartered company with its U.S. division based in Seattle, Washington. “Certainly we are second to none.”

Shrimp has gained importance in Canada since the failure of the cod fishery, and is now a vital part of the Newfoundland fisheries. “We recently put a system on a vessel for Baffin Fisheries,” says Christensen. “It’s a combination shrimp and halibut trawler.” The $72.5 million, 262-foot vessel being built by the Inuit-owned Baffin Fisheries will be the largest trawler of its kind in Canada.

Carsoe systems are geared toward product flow and processing from the net to the freezer. “Every 36 National Fisherman \ Winter 2022

Carsoel photos

W

Much of the Alaska pollock catch gets processed into surimi, and Carsoe’s pollock and surimi system blends mince from rejected fillets and trimmings with other ingredients to produce frozen surimi.

project is a one off,” says U.S. sales vice president Rueben Nielsen.

“We talk to the customer about what they want and what they need.”

Nielsen and Christensen agree that while they pride themselves in building the best possible systems with top-notch products, about 80 percent of their business is rooted in personal relationships. “It’s about www.nationalfisherman.com

BOATS & GEAR

ONBOARD PROCESSING

A typical whitefish factory layout for an Alaskan freezer trawler, includes a sorting system, head and gut machine and fish packing and palletizing systems

A schematic shows the basic flow of product through the Carsoe hotel, palletizing system, and elevator system that also allows for simple offloading.

connecting with the customers and bringing our experience to the project,” says Nielsen.

Carsoe has a number of basic design templates for various fisheries: shrimp, pelagic, white fish, pollock and surimi, and crab. In the U.S., most of the systems the company sells are going aboard head and gut vessels fishing Atka mackerel, and flatfish, and pollock and surimi vessels - primarily in Alaska. “We mostly do conversions,” says Nielsen. “There are so few new boats being built in the U.S. What have we had, three in the last six years?”

But the fact that Carsoe puts the systems aboard most of the new boats To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

and conversions - the North Star, the Arctic Fjord, the Alaska Spirit, to name a few – is the best endorsement of the company’s quality and service.

The head and gut systems like the one on the Alaska Spirit are pretty basic, according to Nielsen. They consist of sorting systems and H & G machines.

“It’s hard to talk about specific projects without the vessel owner’s permission,” he says. “Usually me or Henrik Rasmusssen go meet with the owners and builders, usually Henrik. They tell us what they want to do, and we create a system for them. Our biggest advances in the last 10 years have been in the automation of product handling later in the process, the hotels, palletizing and

The Carsoe candling table allows processing line to carefully inspect fillets, for parasites and other imperfections.

Winter 2022 \ National Fisherman 37

BOATS & GEAR

ONBOARD PROCESSING

According to Carsoe’s Jeppe Christensen, the company’s automated product handling system is among the biggest advances in the last ten years and helps compensate for a shortage of labor.

A schematic shows the basics flow of product through the Carsoe hotel, palletizing system, and elevator system that also allows for simple offloading

elevators. The early stages of sorting and putting fish in place for the machines is still labor intensive.”

The whitefish processing systems start with de-heading and bleeding, then moving to weighing, batching and the packing line. Carsoe offers fully automated freezing, hotel and palletizing lines that eliminate manual handling from the weighing station to the cargo hold.

Carsoe’s surimi and pollock system starts with an adjustable

roller grader that can sort fish into 3 to 5 sizes, letting the small fish out fi rst while the larger ones continue till the end of the roller.

When the fish are fi lleted, workers inspect the product on a candling line. “A blower cleans water off the fi llets, and the fi llet spinners ensure uniform and effective inspections of fi llets for parasites and faulty fi llets on the candling table,” says the Carsoe website.

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38 National Fisherman \ Winter 2022

www.nationalfisherman.com

BOATS & GEAR

ONBOARD PROCESSING

The system sends trimmings and rejected fi llets to a mince packing line.

Carsoe can provide a roe line and milt line for collecting and packing these products, while the guts and excess products are automatically transported to the fishmeal plant for further processing.

The Carsoe surimi line moves pollock fi llets to a mincing machine, then to a wash that cleans all blood, small bones and impurities from the mince.

The mince is then drained, mixed with other ingredients, and sent to a packing station. An electrical controlled pump system then delivers an accurate dosage of the mince to the scales before sealing the product and moving it towards the freezing line.

In port, Carsoe’s automatic elevator solutions transport products from the cargo room to the deck, and subsequently onto trucks or other transport.

“This significantly reduces manpower and handling for offloading,” according to Carsoe. Christensen notes that a shortage of labor is driving the increase in automation.

Carsoe manufactures most of its machinery in a number of plants around the world. “We make most of the conveyors in the Seattle production facility,” says Christensen. “We make all our plate freezers in the UK and ship them where they need to go.”

But Carsoe doesn’t manufacture every component in its systems. “When we are putting together a system, we

A freezer trawler equipped with a Carsoe processing and product handling system offloading pallets of frozen fish and surimi in Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

bring in pieces from other companies.

We get our motors in Europe. We don’t get much out of Asia,” says Christensen.

Carsoe doesn’t make fi lleting machines for example. “We might use Baader or another brand,” says Nielsen.

“Whatever is the right machine to put between our products.”

In many cases Nielsen will set up a system at the factory and run it to makes sure all the pieces work. “Or we might set it up on the boat and work with it there on site,” he says.

Once a system is built and installed, a Carsoe technician will go to sea on the vessel for its fi rst trip or two. “We might go a couple of times to teach the crews and engineers,” says Christensen.

“On a vessel like the Baffin Fisheries shrimp and halibut trawler, we would go out for a shrimp trip, and then again

when they switch to halibut.”

In addition to a technician, Carsoe often provides a container of spare parts.

“Whatever they think they need,” says Nielsen. “And there are parts that wear out, so you have what’s needed for scheduled maintenance. In some cases, if there’s a problem we can talk to the vessel and usually fi x it. If necessary, we will send someone up to Dutch Harbor to meet the vessel.”

A busy time for Nielsen is when the big boat fleet returns to Seattle in the fall. “We are down on the boats for their maintenance, and making improvements,” he says.

Whatever it takes, Carsoe does what it needs to do to be competitive in keeping seafood moving on the boats that feed much of the world.

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

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Trident Seafoods

Scania

Pacific Rubber Inc

TRIM-LOK, INC.

Scantrol AS

TWG Tulsa Winch - LANTEC and Pullmaster Brands

MechPro Inc MER Equipment

Integrated Marine Systems Inc

Metalmec SA de CV

Integrity Machining Inc

MetOcean Telematics

Intellian Technologies

MFCP - Motion and Flow Control Products

International Marine Industries Inc International Pacific Halibut Commission

Omnisense Systems USA

Michelli Weighing & Measurement Michigan Wheel Marine

Isolv Technical Services

Miller-Leaman Inc

Itsaskorda

Millner-Haufen Tool Company

iXBlue

Mitsubishi Turbocharger and Engine America, Inc

JAG Welding Fabrication & Services

MJ Marine Exhaust Systems

Jastram

Modutech Marine Inc

Jetoptera

Moteurs Baudouin

JMP Corporation

Motor-Services Hugo Stamp Inc

John Deere Power Systems

Mountain Pacific Bank

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MPW Filter Worldwide

Jotun Paints Inc

MSSB, LLC dba Glide Bearings & Seal Systems

JT Marine KAPP USA

Mustad Autoline Inc

Optimar US Inc OptimERA xG Oregon Fishermen’s Cable Committee

S & W Wilson

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LFS Marine Supplies LifeMed Alaska

U.S. Navy UAS Maritime United Fishermen of Alaska United Tribes of Bristol Bay US Watermaker, Inc USCG Fishing Vessel Safety Program Vallation Outerwear Vancouver Drydock Company Ltd Victaulic Company W&O Wager Company

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Washington Emergency Management Division

Linde Gas & Equipment Inc Little Hoquiam Shipyard

Suzuki

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission

Schaeffer Manufacturing Co

Washington Machine Works Washington Maritime Blue

Palmer Johnson Power Systems

Schottel Inc Scurlock Electric LLC

Washington Sea Grant Washington Trollers Association

Penser North America Inc

Sea-Mountain Insurance Brokers Inc

Peoples Bank

Seadog Fishing Solutions, Inc.

WCT Marine

Performance Contracting Inc

Seatronx

WEG Electric Corp.

Seattle Fishermen’s Memorial

Weihai Fly Young Sports Co., Ltd

Nauticomp Inc

Petro 49, Inc. dba Petro Marine Services

Navroc Marine Electronics

Petrolquip Inc.

Seattle Marine & Fishing Supply Co

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NC Power Systems

PFI Marine Electric

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Western Fire & Safety

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Pivotel

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Whittier Seafood

Marine Exchange of Alaska

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Marine Exchange of Puget Sound

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North American Fishing Supplies

Marine Propulsion West, LLC

North Atlantic Pacific Seafood

Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-Op

Marine Systems Inc

North Coast Fishermen’s Cable Committee

Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council

Spears Manufacturing Company

North Pacific Crane

PRISM GRAPHICS INC

Spurs Marine Manufacturing Inc

North Pacific Fuel

Propspeed - Oceanmax International

Stabbert Marine & Industrial LLC

Propulsion Systems, Inc.

STANG Industrial Products

Zhejiang Longyuan Sifang Machinery Manufacture, Ltd.

Star Rentals

ZOLEO

Llebroc Industries Logan Clutch Corp Longsoaker Fishing Systems Lopolight Lunde Marine Electronics Inc Lynden International MacGregor USA, Inc. Machine Support Technologies, Inc. Mackay Communications, Inc (dba Mackay Marine) MAGNA Lifting Products Inc

Maritime Fabrications - LaConner Maritime Highschool/Northwest Maritime Center

Mustang Survival Inc N-Nine Enterprises Naiad Dynamics NAMJet LLC National Marine Exhaust Inc Naust Marine Nautican Research & Development Ltd

Maritime Publishing

North River Boats

Marport Americas Inc

Northern Air Cargo

MarWear

Northern Enterprises Boat Yard

Panel Components & Systems

Port of Seattle

PTLX Global

Si-Tex Marine Electronics Snow & Company Inc. Sound Propeller Services Spar Power Technologies Spencer Fluid Power

Standard Calibrations Inc

WatchkeepersUSA LLC

Wiehle Industries Inc. Wilkes & McLean, Ltd Woods Hole Group Wooster Products Inc WPL Industries BV Wrangell Ports & Harbors XTRATUF YNAGG Fishing Careers ZF Marine

BOATS & GEAR

ICE MAKING

THE ICING ON THE FISH Reliable icemakers let fishermen chill out on long trips

By Paul Molyneaux

Northstar

B

“I’m building a new boat,” says Oregon tuna fi sherman Michael Smith. “We’re going albacore fi shing starting in July, then we’re going to put an ice machine on in November for longer trips longlining. It’s either going to be a Buus or a Maja.”

Smith has chased tuna and other highly migratory species across the distant waters of the Pacific, and has plenty of experience with ice machines. “We used to use North

Northstar

uying ice in fi shing ports is usually no big deal – pull up dockside and spray a few tons of fl ake into the fi sh hold. But for boats making long trips or operating in remote areas where buying ice is not possible or practical, they need onboard ice machines. North Star, Howe and Buus are among the manufacturers, new and established, supplying commercial fi shing vessels with ice machines.

Technicians aboard the Seattle-based Gordon Jensen, preparing to connect a Northstar Teknotherm M-10 ice maker.

42 National Fisherman \ Winter 2022

www.nationalfisherman.com

BOATS & GEAR

Star ice machines,” he says. “And they work pretty good. I hear they still make a good machine.”

Space and power are major considerations when using ice machines on board. Smith is looking at putting two machines on his new boat. “We were looking at putting a single 3-ton machine, or two 2-ton machines.”

Smith says he is looking at Buus units from Denmark. He describes those ice machines as having a horizontal steel roller at minus 20 to minus 40 degrees that picks up water, freezes it instantly, and then scrapes it off with a blade. “It gets a layer of about a 1/16th to 3/16ths,” says Smith. “Then there is a razor-sharp blade that cuts it off as it comes around.”

Smith uses freshwater ice because saltwater ice will freeze the tuna. “The problem with saltwater ice is that it can go down to minus 6 degrees, and that

Buus

ICE MAKING

The Buus 3-ton horizontal flaker is a relative newcomer in the US market. Built in the Netherlands, the Buus ice flaker harvests ice from the outside of the freezing cylinder.

will freeze the fi sh,” he says. “We have two RO [reverse osmosis] machines on board that feed the icemakers. The tuna have a natural oil on the skin, and

they hold their color and quality well on freshwater ice. Saltwater ice actually discolors them more because it’s acidic.” Smith notes that they do add a

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Winter 2022 \ National Fisherman 43

BOATS & GEAR

ICE MAKING

“All of the parts and the machines are made here in the U.S., the evaporators, everything.

We’re proud of that.”

Northstar

— Logan Shepardson, North Star president

Icicle Seafoods processing vessel the Gordon Jensen uses ice to preserve the catch prior to processing and freezing.

Lying about my IFQ cost me $1 Million My name is James Stevens.

I am a longtime vessel owner and operator based in Kodiak, Alaska.

little salt to their ice at times to make it colder.

To keep the systems running, Smith bought a low-speed John Deere engine. “Albacore are a funny fish. I believe they are sensitive to engine noise and vibration. I was able to get a John Deere that makes about 33 kw at 1,200 rpms. And for the main I have an old Cummins truck engine that I marinized. It has a PTO that I can run another genset from and make another 20 kw. That should give me all the power I need.”

While Smith speaks highly of the European made ice machines, Buus and Maja, he started with North Star.

The Seattle-based company is the most common brand for ice machines in the Pacific Northwest.

“I think we have 96 percent of

I got caught. As a result, I went to prison, paid a $1 million fine and completed community service. Lying and cheating hurt the fishery, the fleet and my family. Don’t make the same bad choices.

44 National Fisherman \ Winter 2022

Howe

For more than three years, I lied about where I caught more than 900,000 pounds of IFQ halibut and sablefish in the Gulf of Alaska. I covered this up by falsely reporting more than two dozen fishing trips and submitting false landing reports, fish tickets and logbook entries.

The Howe Corporation in Chicago specializes in making ice machines for fishing vessels.

The Howe units range from one to three tons. www.nationalfisherman.com

BOATS & GEAR

market share for processing plants from Oregon to Alaska,” says North Star president Logan Shepardson. “Our primary focus is on the fi shing industry.”

According to Shepardson, North Star developed fl ake ice technology in 1950. Most North Star machines can be found in land-based processing plants all around the U.S. and the world, but Shepardson notes that they put ice machines aboard all types of fi shing vessels.

“We manufacture machines that make from 4.5 tons a day to 50 tons a day,” says Shepardson. “We see them being used on tenders and in all kinds of different fi sheries like tuna and black cod. And we see larger machines being used on catcher processors where they don’t use the ice to preserve the fi sh but to initially cool them before processing and freezing.”

Unlike the Buus ice maker that Smith is considering, the North Star ice makers cut ice from the inside of a cylinder. “As the harvesting tool goes around it’s followed by a spray that creates a 1.5 to 2 millimeter layer the harvester can scrape off on the next pass,” says Shepardson. “We might change the blade depending on whether a machine was making salt water or freshwater ice,” he says.

Shepardson notes that North Star machines are built for durability. “We have machines in operation out there that were built in the ‘60s,” he says. “All of the parts and the machines are made here in the U.S., the evaporators, everything. We’re proud of that. And though our machines are usually the more expensive option, we build for reliability. When you’re using ice to preserve your fi sh, you can’t go a day without ice.”

Another brand that sells ice machines for fi shing vessels is the Chicago-based Howe Corporation. “We make machines, we don’t do the engineering of the boats,” says Alex Pawlikowski, national sales manager for the Howe Corporation. “The designers and builders tell us what they need and we sell them the machine.”

Howe shipboard ice makers start at 1-ton machines, with models that make up to three tons of fl ake ice every 24 hours. “About two thirds of what we sell are seawater ice machines,” she says. “But I know that some boats like freshwater ice. The seawater ice is not good for certain fi sh.”

Pawlikowski notes that like North Star, the Howe machines are made in the U.S. “This year we are celebrating 110 years in business, and we are a fourth generation women-owned company,” she says. “We have a machine shop and make many of our own parts,” she says. “We make our own evaporators, they are chrome-plated carbon steel, which has much better heat transfer, so you don’t need as big a compressor to operate the ice machine. So, it’s more energy efficient.” Pawlikowski points out that the compressor can be located deep in a vessel to help lower the center of gravity.

To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

Howe

ICE MAKING

A 3-ton saltwater flake ice machine on deck of a Louisiana tuna vessel.

The Gulf of Mexico is one place fishermen do not want to be without ice.

For ice making onboard, there appear to be some good choices for dependable machines that give fi shermen and tenders the freedom to fi sh wherever the fi sh are.

Paul Molyneaux is the Boats & Gear editor for National Fisherman.

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Please contact: schikami@westpacfish.com 46 National Fisherman \ Winter 2022

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W W W. E L E C T R A - D Y N E . C O M 48 National Fisherman \ Winter 2022

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50 National Fisherman \ Winter 2022

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ADVERTISER INDEX

NOTICE

Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute ....................... CV3 American Clean Power Association ............................ 5 Arrow Marine Services ............................................... 39 Blue Ocean Gear ........................................................ 10 Bostrom, H.O. Co Inc ................................................. 27 Cascade Engine Center LLC...................................... 32 Discovery Health ........................................................ 38 Duramax Marine LLC ................................................... 7 Fraser Marine Products.............................................. 39 Furuno USA ............................................................. CV4 Grundens/Stormy Seas .............................................. 35 Highmark Marine Fabrication ...................................... 9 Imtra Corp ................................................................... 31 International Marine Industries Inc ............................ 13 James Stevens ........................................................... 44 KEMEL USA Inc .......................................................... 21 Klassen Diesel Sales Ltd. ........................................... 20 Laborde Products Inc................................................. 32 Marine Hydraulic Engineering Co Inc ........................ 27 Marine Jet Power AB ................................................. 23 Mitsubishi Turbocharger and Engine America, Inc ... 32 Modutech Marine Inc ................................................. 45 Motor-Services Hugo Stamp Inc ............................... 29 North American Fishing Supplies .............................. 43 Northrim Bank............................................................. 16 North River Boats ....................................................... 22 Pacific Marine Expo ............................................. 40+41 Pacific West Refrigeration ......................................... 33 Platypus Marine .......................................................... 26 Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-Op ........................... 34 PYI Inc ......................................................................... 34 RESOLVE Marine Group ............................................. 17 R W Fernstrum & Company ......................................... 5 Walker Engineering Enterprises................................. 28 WESMAR - Western Marine Electronics ................ CV2 Westec Equipment Int Ltd ......................................... 20 Wrangell Ports & Harbors........................................... 13 XTRATUF..................................................................... 11

Take the lead.

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Feeding seals and sea lions is Feeding leads to: • Habituation • Aggression • Depredation

Report violations

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STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION Section 3685, Title 39, United States Code October 1, 2022

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NATIONAL FISHERMAN is published monthly by Diversified Communications, 121 Free Street, PO Box 7438, Portland, ME 04112.

PUBLISHER: Bob Callahan, Diversified Communications, PO Box 7438, Portland, ME 04112 OWNER: Diversified Holding Co., 121 Free Street, Portland, ME 04101. Annual Subscriptions for National Fisherman: USA: $24.95 Canada: $34.95 All other countries: surface $49.95 INDIVIDUAL SHAREHOLDER OWNING OR HOLDING 1% OR MORE OF TOTAL AMOUNT OF DIVERSIFIED HOLDING CO. STOCK, AS OF OCTOBER 1, 2022: Josephine H. Detmer

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To subscribe, call 1-800-959-5073

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

Extent and Nature of Circulation:

Avg # Copies of Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months

Actual # Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date

18,112

17,426

424

505

Paid/Requested Mail

11,150

10,760

Total paid/requested circulation:

11,574

11,265

5,890

5,791

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

Free distribution by mail: Free distribution outside mail (show): Total free distribution: Total distribution: Copies not distributed (office/overs/spoilage):

0

0

6,090

5,791

17,664

17,056

448

370

TOTAL:

18,112

17,426

% paid/requested circulation:

63.90%

64.64%

Paid electronic copies: Total paid print & Paid electronic copies:

3,937

3,585

15,511

14,850

Total print distribution & Paid electronic copies:

22,049

21,011

Percent paid (Print & Paid electronic copies):

70.34%

70.68%

Winter 2022 \ National Fisherman 51

2

CREWSHOTS Send us your Crew Shots to Nationalfisherman.com/ submit-crew-shots or upload directly to our NEW mobile app! **Don’t forget to include IDs from left to right, the home port, fishing location, gear type and fishery.

1

3

4

Petersburg, Alaska 1 Alex Stewart on

the Southeast seining out of Petersburg, Alaska.

Pro cork slinger hard at work.

Georges Bank, Mass.

2 John Carpenter,

first mate Sergey Martsveladze, Jessie Sullivan, Doug Brennen, Mike Brown on the F/V All Lynn. This was a 2-week trip on Georges Bank.

52 National Fisherman \ Winter 2022

5

Sitka, Alaska 3 Southeast Alaksa

trollers Tele Aadsen and Jeytlin Thomas unload the F/V Nerka’s frozenat-sea king salmon in Sitka for Nerka Sea Frozen Salmon’s direct marketing.

Coos Bay, Oregon 4 The F/V Carter

Jon, homeport Coos Bay, Oregon, with a 8,000-pound tow of MSC certified pink shrimp.

Bristol Bay, Alaska 5 Maddy

Whitethorn fishing drift gillnet on Bristol Bay, out of her homeport Petersburg, Alaska.

www.nationalfisherman.com

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