A Blessed Christmas and a Seafod New Year

Hello Fishies!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

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PS Make sure you have a good variety of sea food on your Holiday table! Yum!

Crab Sharecroppers?

Hello Fishies!

What follows is from an article appearing in the Daily World about a week ago. While it is a bit dated, as in the season has begun, the information is still very relevant and will help you to understand what the boats go through.

“None of the major packers have made an offer we can live with, even though the market is much stronger than last year,” said Toste, head of the Washington Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Association. “It appears the entire coastal fleet will remain tied up until the packers make a reasonable offer and quit treating the fishermen like sharecroppers.”

Toste said there are “some small, independent buyers who are willing to pay a reasonable price for the crab, but they are not capable of handling much product and they live in fear of market reprisal by the major packers when they buy and sell.”

Both coastal tribal communities and the department tested crabs in Long Beach and Westport in October to determine the meat recovery rate, said Reed, of the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“Meat pick-out” testing determines the percentage of meat in the crab and the state requires that 23 percent of the crab’s weight be in meat, Reed said. Tribal fleets are not bound by the state requirement and are able to choose their own percentages, she said.

The department tested Long Beach again in November and found the crabs met the requirement and were ready for harvest. The department could not test Westport again in November due to harsh weather, so it applied the findings in the first Westport test against Long Beach’s rate to project how much the Westport crabs had grown.

The projection “indicated those crabs were a little behind the crabs off Long Beach in their recovery,” Reed said. The crabs are expected to reach the 23 percent standard in early December, she said.

Overall, Toste said the fishermen are uncertain of how they should proceed with the season.

“The decisions made by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife affecting our seasons are drawing a lot of criticism from Washington fishermen,” he said. He said these decisions are creating feelings of “frustration, anxiety and uncertainty.”

The staggered season is “not giving us much bargaining power” with the packers on the price per pound, Toste said. “Washington fishermen are in a very bad position to market fairly because only a small area opens on Dec. 1,” he said.

He said the price negotiations are affecting well over 1,000 boats and estimates that upwards of 10,000 people are affected when the fisherman don’t bring in their crab, including crabbers, processors, supply companies, support staff and the families of all those workers.

“No one knows what to do,” he said. “We are just dying here with anxiety and frustrations. This is the worst anyone has seen in the crab industry for 40 years.”

Reed and Toste agree that Dungeness crab fishing is vital to Washington State. “It is an amazing and valuable fishery,” Reed said. “It is good for the state of Washington and very important to coastal communities.”

There are about 30 to 40 boats in the tribal fleet and 228 in the non-tribal fleet, according to Reed and Toste.

Stay tuned.

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F/V Ash Sinks Off Oregon Coast

Greetings Fishies.


Sad news today. From the Associated Press:

"A fishing boat sank at the mouth of the Rogue River on Saturday with three men aboard, officials said. The Coast Guard was searching for the crew of the Ash, a 43-foot boat from Port Orford that overturned at about 3:40 p.m. A 47-foot rescue boat crew from Station Chetco River was joined by two HH-65 helicopters. A life raft was spotted but no crew members were aboard, according to a Coast Guard spokesman in Seattle."

Stay tuned.

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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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You Give 13 Miles and What do You Get?

Hello Fishies!

To paraphrase an old song – the 13 miles is what was given to dungeness crabbers. That is the 13 southernmost miles of Washington State’s 140 miles of coastline. Thanks can be given to the negotiations between the state and the Quinault Indian Nation. The 13 miles are from the Washington-Oregon border north to Klipsan Beach, along the Long Beach Peninsula, as well as Willapa Bay. The Oregon and California coasts will be completely open.

Once the rest of the coast is open to the non-tribal fleet, those fishermen who crabbed the 13 miles that open on Dec. 1, will be able to fish an additional five miles up to Oysterville 10 days after the start date. They will have to then wait an additional 30 days to fish the rest of the coast. Washington crabbers who use permits to crab in Oregon and California will also have to wait those additional days.

The agreement that was finally reached, calls for a 40 day head start for the tribe, which was December 1. This will put the start date for non-tribal fishermen at about January 10, nearly 6 weeks after our traditional opening date and long past the Christmas and New Year market. Gee, maybe we will be able to get you folks crab for your Super Bowl parties.

According to Ray Toste, president of the Washington Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Association, Westport crabbers had “no voice” in the process of starting the season, and said the issues were the most complex he’s seen in 40 years spent crabbing. Toste is a fishermen who lives in Westport.

“In the last 3 or 4 years, the whole coast - or major portions of the northern coast - were closed because of quality issues. But this is the first time that crab were ready to go when the season opened, and it was the first time the state had to directly deal with the tribal problem. It’s got the entire fishing industry in disarray. This is a real mess.”

Crab fishermen are more than a little frustrated with the way the season is being laid out by the state Department of Fish & Wildlife.

According to Heather Reed, from the State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, “There are two main management tools that the state uses to ensure the non-tribal and tribal fleets each get 50 percent of the harvest. One is the length of the head start the tribal fleet gets. The other is the amount of time “special management areas” are closed to the non-tribal fleet. Both of those issues were being negotiated.

"Once a start date is confirmed for the tribal fleet, the tribes will be able to fish in their “usual and accustomed areas” and make use of their head start. The Quinault Nation’s area is from Point Chehalis at Westport, north to Destruction Island.

"The state’s objective is to put these management tools in place to provide the tribal fleet with the opportunity to harvest 50 percent. The state has already reached an agreement with the Quileute and Makah tribes."

The state Department of Fish & Wildlife sent a letter to coastal Dungeness crab fisherman on Nov. 22, and in it the department estimates that the coastline from Klipsan Beach to the U.S.-Canada border will be open to the non-tribal fleet between Jan. 1-15, at least a month later than the traditional opening date and after the lucrative holiday market. The start date in this stretch will be finalized once the Quinault and Makah tribes complete their head start.

The stretch from Destruction Island to Sand Point will open on Jan. 16 according to the state’s agreement with the Quileute tribe.

Non-Indian, non-tribal, non-treaty = non-fisherman.

Stay tuned.

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Boat Gossip

Hello Fishies!

I have been away and unable to dispel some false information. Thankfully someone has set a few of you straight. Despite the claims that certain posters are “good friends” with the guys on the show, nothing could be further from the truth. And, tsk tsk tsk, don’t believe everything you read just because it's on a certain forum or by some one claiming to be inside the industry.

The Cornelia Marie is most definitely not Opilio crabbing – the crab itself is not ready for harvest. However, the rumor mill, and believe me fishermen are tremendous gossips, has Capt. Phil in terrific need of an ego adjustment. Might not be enough room in the wheel house for both……

Dave Millman has recovered handily from his ankle injury and is at home in Hawaii with his wife and kids.

Hiram did not crew for any boat during the king crab season. If my information is correct, he is currently working construction.

Mike Fourtner is crewing aboard the Icy Mist for Pacific cod. He is not expected to return to the Time Bandit. The Hillstrand brothers will be performing most of the crew duties themselves for the oplio season.

Captain Corky, who skippers the Aleutian Ballad, is currently waiting out the Dungeness crab mess in Washington state. He is the owner of the Watchman, sister ship to the Maverick. I do not believe the Aleutian Ballad has any opilio quota to catch.

The dungeness crab season has the captain of the Maverick in limbo. While Capt. Rick has plenty of bairdi crab to catch, Capt. Blake will be busy again this year running his family boat for dungeness. If he has a late start again this year, you may not see him for opies.

I have been unable to run down information regarding the post about the Northwestern being run upon any rocks.

Stay tuned!

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Test Price?

Hello Fishies!

The weather is good, the crabs are healthy and the Christmas and New Year's market is just about upon us. We fishermen are confused as to why seafood buyers - led by mega-processor Pacific Coast Seafood Co. (or P Coast) - won't budge on the price. Since this company buys the majority of the crab, other processors generally follow the company's lead.

All of the sudden P Coast has agreed to $1.60 per pound - 25 cents less than California crabbers are getting this year. But not until a new round of testing. These tests determine how well the crab have filled in their shells. Recent state testing has already shown that the crabs were fine. Hmmm…wonder why?

Crab shed their shells or “molt” every year. This allows them to grow. The states collect crab and test them to assure that the crab are in fact full in the shell and ready to be harvested.

According to a recent newspaper article, Brent Searle, special assistant to the director of the Department of Agriculture, was puzzled over the demand for more testing. The Dept. of Ag “oversees” the negotiations between crabbers and processors. This is so the different fishermen’s groups can barter without violating federal antitrust laws.

Searle is further quoted as saying, "The state tests did yield in most areas the highest fill-out of any tests in history. One of the processors (Pacific) does have the capacity to hold supply ... but we don't have any data on the company's inventory. There's been a lot of time and effort spent refining the state tests and that still doesn't seem to give the processors enough confidence in what the tests are saying."

Every year we are allowed to “set” our crab gear approximately three days ahead of the season opener. This pre-season soak time allows crab to gather in the pots so that when the season opens there is something to catch. The weather for the pre-season set time was good. One week into the open season, the weather has been perfect. Now P Coast allows the processors to raise the price and the boats to go – and the weather forecast is not good.

This is still a derby fishery. Everyone will go fishing, regardless of the weather.

Stay tuned.

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Hello Fishies!

The weather is good, the crabs are healthy and the Christmas and New Year's market is just about upon us. We fishermen are confused as to why seafood buyers - led by mega-processor Pacific Coast Seafood Co. (or P Coast) - won't budge on the price. Since this company buys the majority of the crab, other processors generally follow the company's lead.

All of the sudden P Coast has agreed to $1.60 per pound - 25 cents less than California crabbers are getting this year. But not until a new round of testing. These tests determine how well the crab have filled in their shells. Recent state testing has already shown that the crabs were fine. Hmmm…wonder why?

Crab shed their shells or “molt” every year. This allows them to grow. The states collect crab and test them to assure that the crab are in fact full in the shell and ready to be harvested.

According to a recent newspaper article, Brent Searle, special assistant to the director of the Department of Agriculture, was puzzled over the demand for more testing. The Dept. of Ag “oversees” the negotiations between crabbers and processors. This is so the different fishermen’s groups can barter without violating federal antitrust laws.

Searle is further quoted as saying, "The state tests did yield in most areas the highest fill-out of any tests in history. One of the processors (Pacific) does have the capacity to hold supply ... but we don't have any data on the company's inventory. There's been a lot of time and effort spent refining the state tests and that still doesn't seem to give the processors enough confidence in what the tests are saying."

Every year we are allowed to “set” our crab gear approximately three days ahead of the season opener. This pre-season soak time allows crab to gather in the pots so that when the season opens there is something to catch. The weather for the pre-season set time was good. One week into the open season, the weather has been perfect. Now P Coast allows the processors to raise the price and the boats to go – and the weather forecast is not good.

This is still a derby fishery. Everyone will go fishing, regardless of the weather.

Stay tuned.

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The Dungeness Crab Kabuki Dance

Hello Fishies!

Believe it or not there are many different commercial fisheries here in the U.S. As I am involved in fisheries on the west coast and in Alaska, that is where my focus will lie.

For now, it is time to move down the coast to the lower 48 and concentrate on Dungeness Crab. Some of you may be familiar with this sweet meated crustacean, and some of you will read about it simply because it is crab! As an enticement – some of the folks involved in the Deadliest Catch are captains and crew aboard dungie boats.

The government has set the opening lift for dungies on Dec. 1 of the year. This opening can vary depending upon the results of certain tests. (More on those tests later.) Suffice it to say that the result of the testing this year is very good.

But the boats are still tied to the docks, their decks loaded with crab pots. Bait is still in the freezers, the processor crews sit idle. The boat owners, skippers and crew meet every few days, up and down the west coast. The meeting places are usually large, dimly lit, with poor acoustics and stellar barkeeps.

There are some meeting places where every person tries to out shout each other. They are certain that their opinion is more notable than others. One thing they all agree on – they will not fish for the opening price of $1.40. The crabbers are holding out for $1.60 – both prices are reminiscent of the 1980’s.

The dungie fishery is one of most poorly managed, over capitalized, politically charged and processor controlled of all the fisheries. As we move through the season on our way towards opilio crab, I hope to be your guide in this maze. Some of the information may bore you to tears, some may shock you, and I am absolutely certain that you will find a few of my opinions outrageous.

Stay tuned!

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A Minor Posting Needs a Major Clarification!

Greetings Fishies!

Seems that I need to give you a little clarification regarding the status of the fishing vessels that are participating in the Deadliest Catch Season 3. In my earlier listing of the boats I mentioned that there were 4 major and 4 minor. The major boats are those that have several camera/producers aboard. The minors are those with one stationary or fixed camera. It is possible that there was a camera person aboard the minor boats - we will have to wait and find out!

In one post on the Discovery Channel's Fan Forum an individual was just a wee bit on the hasty side in assuming I was being derogatory by using the major/minor terminology. It was not I who decided the status, that was up to the producers of the show - Original Productions. It is only in terms of the amount of filming being done aboard the boats - it has absolutely nothing to do with the history, ability etc of the boat.

Let me remind you that the opilio season has yet to be filmed and it is always possible that those roles may be reversed, other boats added and some deleted. And with the creative editing that they seem to like to do, who knows what could happen!

Regarding the Time Bandit: Yes indeed the Hillstrand brothers sold most of their king crab quota. I am uncertain as to when this occurred and when and how their crew was informed of this. Suffice it to say that the crew we saw and loved is not aboard the boat for king crab. At the last moment some king crab quota was looking for a boat to fish it and the Time Bandit was available. This will give them a bit more face time. I certainly hope that the film editors will tell us the full and true story about it all.

The Rollo was not filmed for DC Season three king crab. I have no information regarding the reason why. What I have been told is that due to the shenanigans on deck, the boat was booted out of their insurance pool. Far too much of a risk. Perhaps that has something to do with it - and then again - perhaps not!


Stay tuned!


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