Commercial Fishing

[Wetwoodshunter]

Great write up so far Skillet and I wish you the best in your commercial fishing endeavors. I additionally am tied into commercial fisheries through my work and support commercial and rec fisheries.

Aside from the tribes with salmon there is one huge difference between Alaska and Washington salmon management. The Alaska uses an abundance based management strategy for the fisheries, so like you showed in your write up Alaska schedules large derby style fisheries with short duration to catch its quota in a relatively quick manner. What this ends up doing is if a particular run from a particular stream is migrating or feeding through the area when the Alaska commercial fishery gets opened the run gets hammered. A good example of this is the Hoko River in WA, 98% of the chinook that are commercially harvested are harvested in AK even though it is Washington river.

In Washington the salmon are managed under weak stock management. In this scenario as opposed to abundance based management you are only allowed "X" impact on your weakest stock until the fishery gets shut down, this allows the weak stock to meet its escapement goals. The Washington fisheries are managed on a much longer time scale with smaller limits in order to spread the impact over many runs.

With weak stock management you tend to see lower quotas in mixed stock fisheries (e.g. ocean troll, ocean gillnet, setnet, and seining) But in the river systems where the runs are healthy, where you know where your impacts are occurring to specific runs, you can have increased sport fishing pressure and commercial fisheries.

With the upcoming signing of the Pacific Salmon treaty I would love to see AK move to weak stock management as it helps protect the salmon runs for the future. But politically the mixed stock AK fishermen may not like this approach because it could potentially cost them money since a longer season with lower trip limits increases the expense/profit margin of running a vessel.

Anyway, food for thought from the policy side.

[7mmfan]

Aside from the tribes with salmon there is one huge difference between Alaska and Washington salmon management. The Alaska uses an abundance based management strategy for the fisheries, so like you showed in your write up Alaska schedules large derby style fisheries with short duration to catch its quota in a relatively quick manner. What this ends up doing is if a particular run from a particular stream is migrating or feeding through the area when the Alaska commercial fishery gets opened the run gets hammered. A good example of this is the Hoko River in WA, 98% of the chinook that are commercially harvested are harvested in AK even though it is Washington river.

While I'm sure this has and does happen, I think it is less prevalent than some people think. We caught a lot of hatchery fish up there. The fish checkers always took the heads from hatchery fish and sent us back the run info on those fish. Not once did I ever get information from the same river on the same day,(other than the Medvejie Hatchery right in Sitka) even though all those fish were caught out of the same school of salmon. One day that stands out to me involved 4 hatchery fish. 1 was from the Medvejie hatchery right in Sitka, 1 from Wenatchee River, 1 from the Humptulips River, and 1 from the Trask River in Oregon. It was an eye opener for me.

Now that is only 4 drops in a giant bucket compared to the number of fish taken during the summer king opener, but it goes to show how mixed those fish are in that area. It is where almost every single king salmon on the west coast goes to grow up, so the stocks are very mixed.

I will add, that certain runs of fish did appear to frequent certain areas, usually inshore areas close to the islands. Those fish were different than the open ocean fish, and I felt they were a specific run of fish. I also saw the same thing in small holes along the coast. Places where there might only be a few dozen fish at any one time, and they all shared similar characteristics. These spots were not spots frequented by trollers though, as they were to tight and confined to fish effectively that way.

In reality, I feel that as a whole, we know very little about fish migration, and the intricacies of it from stock to stock. There is a lot to learn.

[Skillet]

Thanks for the thoughts wetwoodshunter and 7mmfan.
Hoping to keep this thread positive with a focus on the stories, the techniques and the lifestyle, and leaving the politics (and inevitable debate) to other threads since there are so many ways to present information to argue for one position or another.  Happy to engage in those debates elsewhere, to the depths I can intelligently.
Thanks!

[7mmfan]

Thanks for the thoughts wetwoodshunter and 7mmfan.
Hoping to keep this thread positive with a focus on the stories, the techniques and the lifestyle, and leaving the politics (and inevitable debate) to other threads since there are so many ways to present information to argue for one position or another.  Happy to engage in those debates elsewhere, to the depths I can intelligently.
Thanks!

Sorry boss, I'll do better next time   

[Wetwoodshunter]

Awesome Skillet!

I would love to see some video or pictures of you and your crew running the rail this year. So much fun!

[Skillet]

Ha, no worries.  It can get really contentious, people are passionate about it!
FYI, rubbing bioka reef right at the line now. Lots of humpbacks working it.

[7mmfan]

Ha, no worries.  It can get really contentious, people are passionate about it!
FYI, rubbing bioka reef right at the line now. Lots of humpbacks working it.

Always got excited when the whales were there, usually game on!

[RB]

Ha, no worries.  It can get really contentious, people are passionate about it!
FYI, rubbing bioka reef right at the line now. Lots of humpbacks working it.

 

[DOUBLELUNG]

I appreciate you and anyone else "living the dream" sharing your experiences.  I briefly considered becoming a professional hunter (not in the US) after my divorce in 1994, decided instead to marry a great American girl and raise a family with a traditional career.  I don't regret my decision, but I am glad I seriously considered other alternatives before settling on a "conventional" life.

[WAcoueshunter]

Cool stuff Skillet, keep it coming!   

[Skillet]

Thanks man, I appreciate that. Doubleling, the personal and financial sacrifice has been tremendous, but it has been worth it for me.

Here's a vid that is a bit cheesy, but I think it captures a bit of the hope, trepidation and peace I feel as I push the boat through Canadian waters on my way to AK each spring. 

https://youtu.be/4eYF03b-jq4

[Whitpirate]

Great read and what I know of men willing to go full time fishing is that the offseason is never off and when on the grounds it is time to grind. 

My question when you are on the long term grind delivering to tenders what's your average food day look like?  How do you resupply?  Got any boat box deals in the end of seasons as I'd be interested in purchasing direct.

[plugger]

Spent 3 summers in  the late 80s working on the Valle Lee out of Sitka (Based in Port Angeles) trolling and we would hit the halibut opening on occasion, weather permitting. They were 24 hr openings back then. Wouldn't trade the experience for anything, but I would never do it again LOL. Nothing funner than the kings. Crazy when those big ones would hit, stretching out the springs on the tag lines, shaking the poles, busting 100 lb test on the inside deep like nothing. Good times for sure.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

 

[Night goat]

skillet



thanks for an awesome thread

im a fisherman myself, and have fished off and on for years and work as a marine diesel mechanic when not up north. I have seined, gillnetted, crabbed dungies and opilio, tendered and engineered on seiners, and every trip is worth a lifetime of stories. made me who I am today, and damned proud call myself a commercial fisherman!