And They're Off - Sort Of....

"We're starving. I've got my credit cards maxed out. I'm coming off of a terrible, nonexistent salmon season. I'm broke." That is a quote from a fisherman down in Newport, Oregon.

Meanwhile, the guys are frustrated that the strike has made the fishery dangerous as it finally begins. The fleet makes most of its money during the first two months of the season, so the boats are more likely to race out in marginal weather when it's delayed. And that has certainly been the case. Prior to the storm lashing delivered by Mother Nature this week, some brave or foolish souls – you can chose which you think applies – hit the ocean and started setting gear.

The severe weather visited upon the west coast saw seas of over 40 feet, and wind gusts of over 100 mph. That creates havoc with both the gear and the boats. When the seas are that big, the wave action and currents can drag the crab pots for dozens of miles. Along the way they come upon one another, wrapping their buoy line and floats tight against each other until they are a ball of crab gear varying in numbers from 2 to 500.

Next, weather conditions were so dangerous that Coast Guard commands up and down the coast deemed most river bar crossings too dangerous and closed the bars to all traffic. This led nearly one hundred freighters to “jog in place” in the ocean, near to the crossings, catching up crab gear with every turn, creating their own gear wads and at times cutting the pots free from their buoys. Gear washes into the ocean going tug lanes and is dragged or cut off.

These crab gear wads are a serious danger to navigation and to the fishing grounds as well. Each fully rigged crab pot is worth approximately $175, and the loss of fishing that pot can be in the tens of thousands. As the crab boats try to maneuver among the set gear, they can run into these wads, severely damaging their hulls, propellers and possibly endangering their lives.

Next comes the issue of "stuck" gear. The crab pots, weighted with heavy iron bars so they will stay in line, become filled with muck and silt. The boats then must "pump" on the gear. They use a huge hose with a custom made nozzel to try to free the gear, pulling with their hydraulics. It is a very dangerous exercise.

Well today the ocean appeared to be “coming down” and the boats that did not already set gear, or still had more gear to get out, are on their way. That is of course, with the exception of the boats that are electing or are forced to wait it out in order to fish above the 13 mile limit.

Those guys are broke and hungry too.

December 16 and there is almost no non-tribal crab yet on the market. The weather for the time set aside for the original pre-soak was good. The weather for the first week of the non-tribal crab season was spectacular.

Nice. Real nice.

Stay tuned.

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