THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR FISHERMEN n SEPTEMBER 2020 … · 2020. 9. 9. · THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR FISHERMEN ® Pacific Fishing (ISSN 0195-6515) is published 12 times a year (monthly)

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR FISHERMEN n SEPTEMBER 2020

• Columbia sea lion cull

• The Custom Crab Pots story

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The downward trend in Alaska salmon size

An uneven salmon season

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IN THIS ISSUE

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR FISHERMEN

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Pacific Fishing (ISSN 0195-6515) is published 12 times a year (monthly) by Pacific Fishing Magazine. Editorial, Circulation, and Advertising offices at 14240 Interurban Ave S, Ste. 190, Tukwila, WA 98168, U.S.A. Telephone (206) 324-5644. n Subscriptions: One-year rate for U.S., $18.75, two-year $30.75, three-year $39.75; Canadian subscriptions paid in U.S. funds add $10 per year. Canadian subscriptions paid in Canadian funds add $10 per year. Foreign airmail is $84 per year. n The publisher of Pacific Fishing makes no warranty, express or implied, nor assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the information contained in Pacific Fishing. n Periodicals postage paid at Seattle, Washington. Postmaster: Send address changes to Pacific Fishing, 14240 Interurban Ave S, Ste. 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Copyright © 2020 by Pacific Fishing Magazine. Contents may not be reproduced without permission. POST OFFICE: Please send address changes to Pacific Fishing, 14240 Interurban Ave S, Ste. 190, Tukwila, WA 98168.

VOLUME XLI, NO. 9 • SEPTEMBER 2020

An uneven salmon season • Page 18

The Northern Hawk – CDQ flagship • Page 16

Columbia sea lion cull • Page 8

ON THE COVER: A precariously loaded salmon driftnet boat astern of a Trident Seafoods tender, July 5 in the Nushagak River, Bristol Bay, Alaska. Gusty Stambaugh photo

The downward trend in Alaska salmon size • Page 14

Company profile: Custom Crab Pots • Page 10

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Summer Chinook time: The troll season for king salmon opens today in Southeast Alaska. – kfsk.org

Warming threatens the world’s fish: Among the species researchers say are at risk are grocery store staples such as Atlantic cod, Alaska pollock, and sockeye salmon. – cnn.com

Counting halibut: The setline survey has successfully launched, the IPHC says. – iphc.int

Bristol Bay sinking: The fishing vessel Knot Crazy sank with no reported injuries. – kdlg.org

Bristol Bay promotions: As the salmon season heats up, retailers across the United States are promoting fresh sockeye, marketers say. – kdlg.org

Oregon’s historic action: The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted a Climate and Ocean Change Policy, becoming the first state fish and wildlife commission in the nation to adopt such a measure. – dfw.state.or.us

Valdez outbreak: COVID-19 is confirmed in 11 employees of Silver Bay Seafoods. – valdezak.gov

Alaska salmon season update: While optimism has increased, statewide production continues to lag comparable years with some areas well below normal harvest. – scribd.com

COVID relief money: Commercial fishermen may now apply for an Alaska CARES grant, even if they don’t possess an Alaska business license, UFA says. – mailchi.mp

Pebble watch: After decades of controversy, a decision nears on the proposed mega mine upcountry from Bristol Bay. – adn.com

Another American Seafoods outbreak: The American Triumph, a factory trawler docked in Dutch Harbor, has reported six cases of COVID-19 among its 119 crewmembers, officials said. – alaskapublic.org

At-sea outbreak: The coronavirus has raced through the crew of an American Seafoods factory trawler. – deckboss.blogspot.com

Alaska and the virus: Fishing communities feared contagion from industry, but it hasn’t happened. – alaskapublic.org

Alaska disaster relief: The state has posted distribution plans for millions of federal dollars allocated for the 2018 Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod and Chignik sockeye salmon fishery disasters. – deckboss.blogspot.com

Setting the price: A new analysis from BBRSDA examines the connection between sockeye market factors and ex-vessel prices in Bristol Bay. – bbrsda.com

Pebble watch: A Trump administration environmental report opens the door for approval of the controversial mining project near Bristol Bay. – adn.com

Anchorage outbreak: Fifty-six workers at the Copper River Seafoods processing plant have tested positive for COVID-19. – adn.com

Alaska salmon season update: Although the season has improved significantly over the past four weeks, many areas of the state are behind historical averages. – scribd.com

An Alaska tragedy: Southeast Alaska fishing communities are mourning four people killed in a vehicle wreck south of Petersburg. – kfsk.org

Alaska mask mandate: The Trump administration’s coronavirus task force urges Alaska to require masks for seafood processing plants. – adn.com

A letter to Warren Buffett: To save salmon, California Gov. Gavin Newsom asks the billionaire investor to back Klamath River dam removal. – latimes.com

Opinion: Army Corps of Engineers’ Pebble finding is a punch in the gut for Bristol Bay fishermen. – adn.com

Alaska salmon season update: Pink salmon production is now dominating the harvest, and chum landings remain way below average. – scribd.com

Semper paratus in Newport: August is proclaimed Coast Guard Month in Newport, Oregon. – newportnewstimes.com

Kodiak Island outbreak: OBI Seafoods confirms a COVID-19 outbreak at its remote Alitak plant. – alaskapublic.org

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Is the so-called “ropeless” fishing gear the silver bullet for solving the perceived problem of marine mammal interactions in Califor-

nia’s crab fisheries?Several profit-driven environmental groups, including Oceana,

would like the public and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to believe these baseless claims.

That’s because these groups are ramping up efforts to force California’s historic and economically most important fishery – which creates hundreds of millions of dollars annually for working families – to adopt expensive, impractical, and unproven new fishing gear which would force most crab fishermen out of business.

But the problem is that neither the science, nor any other reliable data, support their false claims. “Ropeless” gear is not a silver bullet – in fact, it’s actually dangerous – and ironically, it still has ropes. Nor are marine mammal populations currently at any significant risk.

Francine Kershaw, staff scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, has misleadingly asserted: “Off the West Coast, the number of deaths of humpback whales caused by entangle-ments are now high enough for the population to slip into decline.”

But the truth is there have only been four mortalities attributed to California commercial Dungeness crab gear since 2013, and none during last two seasons. So, the minimal mammal interaction with crab gear has a negligible impact on the health of these species. However, strikes by large ships likely cause 50-150 whale deaths a year off the West Coast, according to statements made by John Calambokidis, of the Cascadia Research Collective (CRC), a highly respected marine mammal study center.

In fact, based on preliminary data presented by the CRC at a pub-lic meeting in November 2019, humpback whale populations off the coasts of California and Oregon have grown by about 80 percent since 2013, and are estimated at 220 percent growth since 1998.

Meanwhile, Ms. Kershaw, blinded by the millions of dollars being thrown at her by nonfishing special interests, has also attacked lobster fishermen on the East Coast by falsely saying “entanglements are driving the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale to extinction.” However, Maine’s lobster fishery has never had a documented serious injury or mortality for any right whale, and no entanglement since 2002, which makes this a nonproblem.

But the lack of interactions with lobster gear hasn’t stopped for-profit environmental groups from pushing “ropeless” gear on the East Coast lobster fishery.

‘Ropeless’ gear doesn’t work, has buoy lines: One of the problems with “ropeless” gear is that it’s a misleading term used by the profit-driven environmental groups – and manufacturers – to make it seem harmless. The gear they are pushing all has buoy lines packed on top of the trap with an acoustic release trigger that in theory allows the buoy to go to the surface when activated. In practice, this adds to the problem of lost gear with ropes and buoys

attached. It’s much more dangerous to marine life because it litters the ocean unnecessarily with lost lines and other equipment.

How do we know this? Fishermen have tested the pop-up “rope-less” gear in the East Coast lobster and West Coast Dungeness crab fisheries. The release mechanisms failed 20 percent of the time and had to be abandoned.

Ropeless gear is cost prohibitive: Currently, fishing traps cost $160 to $225 each. But the pop-up “ropeless” gear will cost as much as $2,500 per trap. That means for a 500-trap tier operation to adapt an existing gear allotment to 100 percent pop-up gear, it would cost between $360,000 and $1,255,000.

All this extra money would be thrown at gear that is unmanage-ably slow and prone to be lost at sea. It would make profit impos-sible. And importantly, it would make marine mammal interactions with lost gear more frequent, not less.

A better solution: That being said, the commercial fishing industry is committed to our longstanding and successful work to reduce interactions between fishing gear and all marine mammals. That is why the California Coast Crab Association and Maine Lob-stermen’s Association have been working diligently on alterna-tive gear proposals that are better, more practical, affordable, and most importantly based on the best available science, something that “ropeless” gear is not. For many years, the commercial fleets on both coasts have been making modifications to their gear and to some fishing seasons to mitigate the risk to marine mammals. These common sense measures have resulted in huge reductions in interactions.

Conclusion: “Ropeless” gear and other new rules which the CDFW will turn into law in a few months constitutes a solution in search of a problem. These “solutions” being pushed by outside interests must be seriously reconsidered to reflect the negligible impact of the California crab fishery, its cultural and economic importance to our coastal communities, and the devastating potential consequences of the implementation of ideas like “ropeless” gear.

Testing of this gear has revealed many operational issues for the East Coast lobster fishery – which has thousands of small, inde-pendent fishermen. The technology is faulty, and furthermore, the economics of converting and maintaining this type of system are unsustainable. And it’s the same in California.

What’s more, do we really want to economically damage Cali-fornia’s coastal communities? There are more than 570 permitted vessels, according to NOAA, with nearly 2,000 crew and tens of thousands of shoreside jobs supported by the fishery in unloading, processing, distributing, foodservice, and retail. The economic impact is huge, so it bears repeating that this fishery creates hundreds of millions of dollars annually for working families.

In sum, if the CDFW doesn’t ignore the political pressure from special interest, profit-driven environmental groups, the continu-ation of California’s crab fishery – and the thousands of families who depend on it – and indeed the future of the entire West Coast commercial fishing industry will be in serious jeopardy.

Ben Platt is a lifelong crab fisherman and president of the California Coast Crab Association. Kristan Porter is a lobster fisherman and president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. More information at cacoastcrab-association.org and mainelobstermen.org.

Why everything you’ve heard about ‘ropeless’ crab fishing gear is false

If the CDFW doesn’t ignore the political pressure from special interest, profit-driven environmental groups, the continuation of California’s crab fishery will be in serious jeopardy.

COMMENTARY by BEN PLATT and KRISTAN PORTER

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Warming may benefit pink salmon in northern Bering Editor’s note: This article is adapted from a NOAA Fisheries feature

story posted Aug. 31.

As temperatures rise and sea ice melts, some species will do better than others. A new study suggests pink salmon may be one of those species.

“Our results suggest that warming is both increasing freshwater habitat and improving early marine survival of pink salmon in the northern Bering Sea,” said Ed Farley, the NOAA Fisheries biologist who led the study.

Pink salmon are the most abundant salmon species in the North Pacific Ocean. Over the last decade, their production has increased.

“We’ve been working in the north Bering Sea for about 20 years, and sporadically in the high Arctic. It has changed dramatically in that time. We didn’t expect to see this much loss of sea ice for 20 more years,” said Farley. “But it is already happening. The ecosystem is transforming. Seabirds have shifted from fish-eating species to plankton-eating species. Fish such as walleye pollock and Pacific cod are moving north in large numbers. And we are seeing big changes in salmon populations.”

Pink salmon have been in the Pacific Arctic region for thousands of years, but in relatively low numbers. Abundance in the Arctic remains low compared to areas farther south, but that may be changing.

Pink salmon have a two-year life cycle, spent in both freshwater and marine envi-ronments. Due to this short life cycle, they respond rapidly to ecosystem change. That means pink salmon can provide unique insight into impacts of warming on the Arctic ecosystem.

“A community-based monitoring effort called Arctic Salmon has documented a general trend of more pink salmon being har-vested in more places across the Canadian Arctic, especially over the last 10-15 years,” said Karen Dunmall, biologist at Fisher-ies and Oceans Canada. “While we do not believe that pink salmon have yet success-fully established in the Canadian Arctic, these harvests indicate larger changes in the marine ecosystem. They are an obvious and tangible example of the influence of climate change on fish biodiversity in the Arctic.”

“We think pink salmon are moving north, seeking new territory as the population grows in the south,” Farley said. “Until now, cold temperatures in freshwater rivers and streams were believed to limit pink salmon spawning in northern regions. As the region warms, more areas may open for spawning. There is also evidence that warmer sea tem-peratures benefit juvenile pink salmon early marine growth.”

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Adult and juvenile pink salmon. NOAA Fisheries photo


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On the horizonPacific Fishing magazine’s monthly digest of upcoming

management meetings and other notable events.

• Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting, Sept. 8-18, via webinar.

• Alaska Board of Fisheries special meeting, Sept. 16, by teleconference. The board will consider its 2020-21 meeting schedule in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• ComFish Alaska, Sept. 17-19, Kodiak. The trade show is canceled, but the status of forums and debates remained up in the air at press time. Updates at comfishak.com.

• Seafood Expo North America, Sept. 22-24, Boston. This event has been canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.

• North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting, Sept. 28 to Oct. 16, via webconference.

• Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers second annual meeting, Oct. 12. The event will be held virtually. More information at tinyurl.com/y3aavpo9.

• Alaska Board of Fisheries work session, Oct. 15-16, Anchorage.• Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting, Nov. 13-20,

Garden Grove, Calif.• International Pacific Halibut Commission interim meeting,

Nov. 18-19, Seattle.• North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting, Nov. 30 to

Dec. 8, Anchorage. The council is expected to set Alaska groundfish quotas for 2021.

• Pacific Marine Expo, Dec. 1-3, Seattle. This event has been canceled due to COVID-19 issues. More information at pacificmarineexpo.com.

• Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting, Dec. 11-17, Cordova. The board will consider Prince William Sound finfish and shellfish proposals.

• Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting, Jan. 4-16, Ketchikan. The board will consider Southeast Alaska finfish and shellfish proposals.

• International Pacific Halibut Commission annual meeting, Jan. 25-29, Victoria, British Columbia. The commission is expected to set catch limits for 2021.

• Alaska Board of Fisheries Hatchery Committee meeting, March 4, Anchorage.

• Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting, March 5-10, Anchorage. The board will consider shellfish proposals around much of the state.

States, tribes get authorization to kill sea lions preying on protected salmon, steelhead

Editor’s note: NOAA Fisheries posted the following on Aug. 14.

States and tribes can remove California and Steller sea lions from a management zone on the Columbia River and its tributaries

where they prey on at-risk salmon, steelhead, lamprey, sturgeon, and eulachon, under a new authorization by NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region.

The approval provides more flexibility in managing sea lion impacts on salmon and steelhead. For the past two decades, the growing issue of sea lion predation in the Columbia Basin has been closely monitored. Management solutions have adapted to address it. Under Section 120 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), thousands of threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead have been protected from predation.

The Endangered Salmon Predation Prevention Act amended the MMPA in 2018. It allowed removal of sea lions from a stretch of the Columbia River between the I-205 bridge on Portland’s east side and McNary Dam. The amendments also allow removal of sea lions from tributaries of the Columbia River below McNary Dam with spawning habitat of threatened or endangered salmon or steelhead.

Part of larger strategy to protect salmon: Sea lions prey on adult salmon and steelhead migrating upriver from the ocean to Bonneville Dam, Willamette Falls, and other tributaries to the Columbia River.

Studies indicate that sea lions may remove large proportions of migrating salmon and steelhead. Their total consumption has been estimated at more than 10,000 salmon and steelhead in some years.

“This is one element of a comprehensive strategy that also addresses impacts at dams, hatcheries, and through harvest,” said Chris Yates, assistant regional administrator for protected resources in the West Coast Region. “Removing sea lions is not anyone’s first choice, but this provides the states and tribes flexibility to manage these impacts.”

Task force recommendations: As the MMPA requires, NOAA Fisheries earlier this year convened a task force to review the appli-cation and provide a recommendation. The task force is made up of representatives from federal and state agencies, tribes, and con-servation and fishing organizations. The task force recommended that NOAA Fisheries approve the application and grant the new authorization. Applicants for the authorization were:

• The states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho• The Nez Perce Tribe• Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation• Yakama Nation• Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.The approval also includes tribes that help manage sea lion

impacts on the Willamette River.The authorization allows for removal of up to 540 California sea

lions and 176 Steller sea lions over the next five years. The numbers are based on recommendations from the task force; information in the application describing the risk to salmon, steelhead, stur-geon, and eulachon; and expected benefits to these fish from sea lion removals.

Unless a zoo or aquarium is interested in taking the sea lions that are removed, they are humanely euthanized.

Bounties and market hunting once drove California sea lions toward extinction, but they rebounded under the protection of the MMPA, now numbering more than 250,000. The eastern stock of Steller sea lions has also increased over the last decade to more than 70,000 animals.


Waters off Southern California chosen for aquaculture potential

Editor’s note: NOAA Fisheries posted the following on Aug. 20.

Efforts to improve seafood security and aquaculture opportunities in the United States moved forward today. NOAA Fisheries announced federal waters off Southern California and in the Gulf of Mexico as the first two regions to host Aquaculture Opportunity Areas.

The selection of these regions is the first step in a process designed to establish 10 Aquaculture Opportunity Areas nation-wide by 2025. These two regions were selected for future Aqua-culture Opportunity Area locations based on the already available spatial analysis data and current industry interest in developing sustainable aquaculture operations in the region.

“Naming these areas is a big step forward,” said Chris Oliver, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “The creation of Aqua-culture Opportunity Areas will foster the U.S. aquaculture industry as a needed complement to our wild-capture fisheries. This type of proactive work creates opportunities for aquaculture farmers and maintains our commitment to environmental stewardship.”

Aquaculture Opportunity Areas are called for in the May 2020 Executive Order on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth. They are defined as geographic areas that have been evaluated for their potential for sustainable commercial aquaculture. Selected areas are expected to support multiple aqua-culture farm sites of varying types including finfish, shellfish, seaweed, or some combina-tion of these farm types. To identify each area, NOAA will use scientific analysis and pub-lic engagement to highlight spaces that are environmentally, socially, and economically appropriate for commercial aquaculture.

“While NOAA has selected the regions for these first Aquaculture Opportunity Areas, the exact locations will be identified based on best available science, including data-driven siting analyses using hundreds of data layers of ocean conditions and uses,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, acting assistant admin-istrator for the National Ocean Service. “Stakeholder input is also essential to ensure the Aquaculture Opportunity Areas are sited in the best locations for aquaculture and to avoid conflicts with other industries or envi-ronmental harm.”

There is no predetermined size for an Aquaculture Opportunity Area. Each of the first two areas may accommodate approxi-mately three to five commercial aquacul-ture operations, but this will vary depend-ing on the specifics of the location. The size and shape of operations in each area will be determined as part of the Aquaculture Opportunity Area identification process. During this process, NOAA will work with federal and state partners, tribes, and inter-

ested stakeholders to determine the appropriate size of each. This will include using best available science to consider aspects such as:

• Types of species likely to be cultivated• Maximum number and configuration of operations within

an area• Maximum annual farm production based on carrying

capacity modeling• Monitoring considerations.“Along with the advanced spatial analysis, public input is vital

to this process” said NOAA Office of Aquaculture Director Danielle Blacklock. “In the coming months and years, we plan to conduct outreach, requests for information, and listening sessions to allow our stakeholders to share their insights into the creation of these opportunity areas.”

Seafood farming, if done responsibly – as it is in the United States – is increasingly recognized as one of the most environmen-tally sustainable ways to produce food and protein. Aquaculture Opportunity Areas and an expanded domestic aquaculture indus-try is critical for the economic and environmental resiliency of our coastal communities, and national food security.

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by DANIEL MINTZCOMPANY PROFILE

Seth Griggs is the third-generation operator of Custom Crab Pots in Eureka, Calif. Photos courtesy of Custom Crab Pots

POT PIONEERS For Dungeness fishermen, Custom Crab Pots delivers innovation and adaptability

One of the West Coast’s few manufacturers of Dungeness crab pots has multigenerational family ownership and is the first manufacturer of square pots, which offer more catch volume.

Eureka, California-based Custom Crab Pots is now operated by 43-year-old Seth Griggs, the third generation of his family running the business.

It started out modestly in the 1970s, when it was known as Betty’s Crab Pots, named after his grandmother.Seth’s grandpa, Wesley Justin Griggs, and father, Harvey, grew the business together.“They bought an answering machine and hit the road with flyers and started passing them out all

the way to the Washington coast,” Griggs said. “And when they came back, they had an answering machine full of orders and we were in business.”

Now, Seth co-owns the business with his mother, Elona, having begun work when he was a boy. He did odd jobs around the warehouse until “I managed to convince my dad to let me rubber-wrap my first pot when I was about 8 years old.”

By 2005, he said, “I was pretty much in full control of everything that happened in and around the warehouse.”

Pacific Fishing is profiling companies with a deep legacy of support for the fishing industry, providing essential products, services, and innovation.

In the spotlight this month: Custom Crab Pots

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Shape shift: Pot designs have changed over the years, aligning with regulations and evolving as customers requested customizations.

But the most radical change focused on shape – about a month before his father died in 2015, Griggs floated the idea of making square pots.

“I mentioned it to him and he said, ‘Who’d even buy a square pot?’” he recalled. “And I said, ‘How do we know? We haven’t tried.’ And he was all like, ‘OK, fine – make your square pot.’”

Griggs proceeded and spent a few months on rigging up the tooling needed to produce the first square pot.

He said a customer, Half Moon Bay combination fisherman Steve Melz, was “very helpful in the R&D department, if you want to call it that.”

Talking about how to make pots that could go deeper, hold more line, and include more surface area, they set out to buck conventional wisdom.

“I said, ‘It’s kind of funny, Seth, fishermen say square pots don’t fish’ – and we kind of took that as a challenge,” said Melz.

Using prototypes with four- and two-tunnel designs, Melz mixed the newly made square traps with the 40-inch and traditional 36-inch round traps “that I had fished with all my life and gotten accustomed to scratching with.”

Placing bait jars in the center of square traps didn’t produce encouraging results. But using two diagonally located bait jars in the four-tunnel traps was a game changer.

“They outfished the round traps,” said Melz. “If round traps had 13 to 15 (crabs), the square traps had 19 or 20.”

Square pots range in size and weight, and Melz said heavy-duty 38-inch square pots weigh between 110 and 120 pounds, which is suited for larger boats with more crewmembers.

“For going out deep with a big boat looking for maximum production that is going to hit the opener and leave, it seemed like it was definitely the way to go,” he said.

For Griggs, the test results proved out his instincts.“They worked – that was the main thing. Square pots actually

did fish,” he said.Custom Crab Pots introduced the square models during the

2015-16 season and has since advanced what Griggs described as “a pretty solid square pot design that’s a lot more user-friendly than it was in the beginning.”

Current square pots now have four nylon mesh tunnels and are “definitely more in tune with the way a round pot would feel.”

But there is a difference – Griggs said the square pots catch 20 percent more crab volume.

“If you’re on an opener where every pot counts, that little bit of extra room adds up,” he said.

More round than square: Sales of lighter-weight square pots have been “huge in the sports scene” and with charter boats. But Griggs said many commercial fishermen are still “uncertain,” and he sells more round pots than square ones.

These days the company’s pots are made with UV-resistant rubber and nylon tunnels for a lifespan of 12 to 15 years. Options on size and weight have expanded over the years.

Originally, only two-tunnel designs were offered, but now there are three- and four-tunnel options. Pots can be outfitted with wire or nylon mesh, there are multiple guard options, and options for more than the standard two escape hatches.

Whale entanglement has become a high-profile issue, and with rope-less gear being tested, there’s potential for doing things differently.

“I have put it out there that if there’s anything we can do from a manufacturing standpoint with the crab pots, we are open to

accommodating the new technologies on the market,” said Griggs.Fire sales: California fishermen lost thousands of crab pots in

the May 23 fire that destroyed a storage building at Pier 45 on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf.

“There were quite a few fishermen that we’re pretty close with

A pot with a nice catch of Dungeness


COMPANY PROFILE

who basically had their entire crabbing operation wiped out,” Griggs said, and his business was one of the few options crabbers had for getting new pots.

The fire happened early enough in the year to meet production demand before the upcoming season.

“We’re getting to the point where we’ve just about finished all the gear required for guys that were affected in that fire,” said Griggs. “They have time to get it rigged, get back on their feet, and get back out on the water when the season opens.”

Custom Crab Pots will have made about 2,000 replacement pots and possibly more by the time all the fire-related orders are done.

“The guys that lost their gear in the Pier 45 fire have been our number one priority, to make sure that their gear is produced first to make sure that they can retain their livelihood,” Griggs said. “I know that they’re really counting on us to make sure that these pots are done and that they’ll be ready to go when the season opens.”

Jobs producer: It’s been “a little difficult to get employees” with this year’s COVID-19 concerns, but Custom Crab Pots is taking precautions by spacing out employees in its open warehouse, which has a lot of air flow.

Typically, the operation includes up to 25 employees, depending

The present-day warehouse at Custom Crab Pots

The new square pots have proven quite effective in catching crab.“This is our old warehouse in 1981,” says Seth Griggs. “I’m the small boy in the image at 4 years old.”

on demand for the year. Griggs said some years there have been as few as seven workers and as many as 30 in others.

Generally, the cost of a completely rigged commercial crab pot ranges from $250 to $300.

In addition to supplying pots for the West Coast Dungeness fish-eries, Custom Crab Pots outfits Alaska’s Dungeness fisheries, ship-ping pots to Kodiak, Juneau, and “all the little spots in between.”

Demand for pots varies year to year and from area to area, depending on the frequency of storms and numbers of lost pots. Griggs said that in 2019, about 80 percent of his pots were made for Alaska. Those are typically lighter, weighing about 40 to 50 pounds on average.

The weight of West Coast pots varies, depends on which part of the coast they’re used. In the San Francisco Bay area, pots as light as 55 pounds can be used, but generally pots weigh about 80 pounds and can be as heavy as 135 pounds.

Heavier weight is for deep-depth crabbing to make sure pots don’t get moved around.

“We can pretty much dial in any weight the customer wants and any configuration they want for their gear,” Griggs said, hence his company’s name.


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CUSTOM CRAB POTSAT A GLANCE

Tim McCabe, a 14-year employee at Custom Crab Pots

Custom orders: Add-ons make customer orders “unique to them,” said Griggs. “It’s almost like a signature for them, and if somebody else sees one of their pots, they know exactly whose it is.”

Customers have asked for grounding placed in various positions, additional uprights to bolster different areas of a pot, double uprights, and stainless steel crossbars.

“Some want wires drawn between welded tunnels to hang bait jars on or some kind of hook welded into the frame to hang something on,” Griggs said. “They think of it, we build it – 99 percent of what a customer can think up for us to build, we’ve been able to build it.”

Griggs is among three West Coast pot man-ufacturers, and there are two in Canada, plus a couple of “garage-style manufacturers.”

He described Custom Crab Pots as the only multigenerational, family-owned com-pany making traps.

“I’m in a unique spot where I remember being that little boy in grandpa’s barn, mak-ing crab pots and seeing the welding rooms and smelling the burnt rods and know-ing where we’ve come from and how the machinery has changed,” he said. “I’ve got three boys of my own and, so far, they want to build crab pots. So, hopefully there’ll be a fourth generation there.”


SCIENCE

Alaska salmon are returning to rivers smaller and younger than in the past, study findsThe size of salmon returning to rivers in Alaska has declined

dramatically over the past 60 years because they are spending fewer years at sea, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Salmon are critically important to both people and ecosystems in Alaska, supporting commercial and subsistence fisheries and trans-porting nutrients from the ocean to inland areas, fertilizing the eco-systems in and around the rivers where they spawn. Smaller salm-on provide less food for people who depend on them, less value for commercial fishers, and less fertilizer for terrestrial ecosystems.

For years, people in Alaska have been noticing that wild salmon were getting smaller, but the reasons have been unclear. In the new study, published Aug. 19 in Nature Communications, researchers compiled and analyzed data collected over six decades (1957 to 2018) from 12.5 million fish by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. This unprecedented dataset enabled them to see patterns of body size changes for four species of salmon – Chinook, chum, coho, and sockeye – across all regions of Alaska.

The results showed that the decreases in body size are primarily due to salmon returning to their spawning grounds at younger ages than they have in the past. Alaska salmon can spend up to seven years at sea, although this varies by species. During this time they feed and grow to maturity, migrating great distances in the North Pacific Ocean before returning to fresh water to spawn.

“There are two ways they could be getting smaller – they could be growing less and be the same age but smaller, or they could be younger – and we saw a strong and consistent pattern that the salm-on are returning to the rivers younger than they did historically,” said corresponding author Eric Palkovacs, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and associate director of the Fisheries Collaborative Program in the Institute of Marine Sciences at UC Santa Cruz.

No smoking gun: The researchers identified a range of factors that appear to be driving this shift, some acting across all regions and others affecting only certain species or populations.

“There’s not a single smoking gun,” said first author Krista Oke, a postdoctoral scientist initially at UC Santa Cruz and now at

University of Alaska Fairbanks. “Small contributions from a lot of factors are adding up to drive these changes.”

Two factors – climate change and competition with growing numbers of wild and hatchery salmon in the ocean – have clearly contributed to size declines across all species and regions, Palkovacs said. In contrast, the effect of commercial fishing appears to be important only for some salmon populations. Similarly, the results were mixed for another proposed driver of size declines, the recov-ering populations of marine mammals that prey on salmon.

“We know that climate drives changes in ocean productivity, and we see a consistent signal of climate factors associated with decreasing salmon size,” Palkovacs said. “Another consistent asso-ciation is with the abundance of salmon in the ocean, especially pink salmon. Their abundance in the North Pacific is at historic highs due in part to hatchery production in Alaska and Asia, and they compete with other salmon for food.”

Increasing risk: The observation that salmon are returning to freshwater streams at younger ages implies that the ocean is becoming a riskier place for them to be, he said. By staying in the ocean longer and growing larger, salmon can have greater success in spawning and lay more eggs, but each additional year increases the risk of not returning to reproduce at all.

“Natural selection has always pushed in both directions, but the balance between the two is changing, pushing harder against the older, larger salmon,” Palkovacs said. “It seems that the ocean is becoming a riskier place to be.”

According to Oke, understanding exactly what is going on in the ocean to drive this shift is a difficult challenge that will require further study.

“That’s the next hard step I hope we can get to soon,” she said. “It could be that they’re having to spend more time feeding, which is putting them in risky places. Lots of things could be happening to increase the overall risk of mortality in the ocean, but we weren’t able to pin that down.”

The consequences for people and ecosystems, however, are more clear. Smaller salmon means fewer meals per fish for subsistence fishers, lower profits for commercial fishers, fewer eggs laid to sustain salmon populations, and fewer nutrients to support the productivity and biodiversity of freshwater and riparian ecosystems.

“Smaller fish is a real problem for people who depend on salmon for their food and well-being,” Oke said. “For commercial fishers, smaller fish tend to fetch lower prices, and below a certain size they can’t be made into high-value products and might have to be canned.”

Nutrient delivery: On the ecosystem side, the nutrients deliv-ered by salmon runs provide critical support for bears, insects, birds, trees, and juvenile salmon themselves. Palkovacs noted that an extensive body of research has tracked the movement of marine nitrogen from salmon into the terrestrial ecosystems around the streams where they spawn.

“Salmon go up into these small streams, and whether they are caught by predators or die after spawning, their nutrients are trans-ferred into the forests and freshwater ecosystems,” he said. “It’s a classic salmon ecosystem service, and the amount of nutrients they deliver depends on their body size.”

One additional year in the ocean makes a big difference in the size of salmon, as seen in these two female sockeye. The top salmon spent three years at sea, the other two years. Andrew Hendry photo


The study had its origins in a working group organized by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at UC Santa Barbara through its State of Alaska’s Salmon and People project. With funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the researchers were able to work with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to com-pile data the agency had been collecting for decades, but which was dispersed among different field offices in various smaller databases.

“At NCEAS, we had two data scientists who compiled all the data into one massive database on Alaskan salmon that is now publicly available,” Palkovacs said. “It took a lot of time and energy, but that’s what enabled us to do this comprehen-sive analysis.”

Oke added that getting the data in the first place was no small task either.

“When you think about the fact that we used data from 12.5 million salmon, that’s how many times someone from ADF&G measured a salmon. It’s an exceptional amount of work to make a dataset like this possible,” she said.

In addition to Oke and Palkovacs, the coauthors of the paper include corresponding author Peter Westley at University of Alaska Fairbanks, as well as researchers at Alaska Pacific Uni-versity in Anchorage, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, NCEAS, McGill University in Montreal, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Simon Fraser University, and Tanana Chiefs Conference, Fairbanks.

– UC Santa Cruz

Mick Leach measures fish in the commercial fishery on the Lower Yukon River as part of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s sampling program. Photo courtesy of ADF&G


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The Northern Hawk – a 10-year point of pride for CVRFTen years ago, Coastal Villages Region Fund took ownership of

one of Alaska’s mightiest commercial fishing vessels – the 341-foot Bering Sea pollock factory trawler Northern Hawk.

It was a monumental step not only for CVRF, but the Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program.

CVRF, based in Anchorage, is one of six nonprofit corporations holding lucrative Bering Sea catch shares under the federal pro-gram. These companies arrange for harvest of their shares for the benefit of disadvantaged Western Alaska villages.

While other CDQ companies have stakes in major fishing vessels, CVRF is alone in its outright ownership and operation of a vessel like the Northern Hawk.

The Northern Hawk previously was part of the American Seafoods fleet. In 2010, American bought out CVRF’s share of the company, using the Northern Hawk and some smaller vessels as currency.

Although the Northern Hawk has never called there, CVRF designated the village of Chevak as the vessel’s homeport.

When they get a chance to see the ves-sel, the villagers CVRF represents – from school kids to elders – gleam with pride, says Mike Coleman, Bering Sea operations general manager for CVRF.

The 341-foot factory trawler Northern Hawk. Photos courtesy of CVRF


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TS“They know it’s their boat,” he says.

“They’re not leasing the boat.”The Northern Hawk is a sophisticated

fishing machine. Capable of catching and processing millions of pounds of pollock at sea, the vessel carries a crew of 128 people plus two fishery observers. The factory ship produces a variety of products including fillets, roe, fishmeal, and oil.

A few villagers, maybe five to 10 each season, work aboard the Northern Hawk, Coleman says. But like most other large Alaska fishing vessels, the crew is global. You can find Filipino, Mexican, Vietnamese, Polish, Senegalese, and other multicultural crewmembers aboard. That presents a chal-lenge for the galley staff who must cater to varied diets.

Last spring, the Northern Hawk com-pleted its five-year certification at Lake Union Drydock Co. in Seattle. This fall, the Northern Hawk will install a new winch for towing a live-feed camera to help avoid bycatch.

From the beginning, CVRF has itself oper-ated the Northern Hawk. CVRF also does its own product marketing into Europe and Asia.

There were skeptics at first that a CDQ company could own and operate such a ship.

“It was kinda rough the first couple of years as far as the industry accepting us,” says Coleman. “We’ve proven ourselves.”

– Wesley Loy

Grading roeReleasing pollock from the net

The Northern Hawk at sea


An uneven salmon season around AlaskaBristol Bay or bust: While Bristol Bay gillnetters enjoyed a

strong salmon season, fishing was dismal in other parts of Alaska.At the end of August, the statewide catch stood at 107 million

fish, and the year looked likely to finish well short of the preseason forecast of 133 million.

At Bristol Bay, the industry persevered through coronavirus constraints to land a terrific haul of more than 39 million sockeye. But many fishermen went home grumbling after the major processors posted a disappointing base price of 70 cents a pound ex-vessel.

Elsewhere around the state, fishing was terrible.At the Copper River, driftnetters mustered only 4,000 Chinook

and 94,000 sockeye, far short of the weak forecast of 771,000 sock-eye. Fishing and prices were so poor in the Prince William Sound region that the city of Cordova on Aug. 5 passed a resolution encouraging state and federal officials to declare a disaster.

The situation was even worse at Chignik, which saw another collapse of its sockeye fishery. Chignik stakeholders are still awaiting $10.3 million in federal disaster relief for the 2018 fishery failure.

Another major story this season is the broad decline of Alaska’s chum salmon fishery. The statewide chum catch stood at about 5.5 million fish, far short of the 19.5 million forecast.

Enforcement action: Federal prosecutors on Aug. 21 an-

nounced that James Aaron Stevens, 46, of Kodiak, would plead guilty to “knowingly submitting false records concerning the loca-tions and regulatory areas where fish were harvested.”

A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Anchorage said Stevens, the owner and operator of the F/V Alaskan Star and F/V

Southern Seas out of Kodiak, falsely reported individual fishing quota halibut and sable-fish between 2014 and 2017.

“Over the course of 26 fishing trips, Stevens falsified records related to approximately 903,208 pounds of falsely reported halibut and sablefish, with an approximate dock value of $4,522,210 and a market value of $13,566,630,” the press release said.

A plea agreement signed by Stevens and filed Aug. 21 in federal court said the defendant agreed to a $1 million fine and a year and a day in prison.

A court hearing was set for Sept. 21 on the matter.

Trident’s kelp cultivation plans: The Alaska Department of Natural Resources announced a preliminary decision to offer a 10-year lease to Trident Seafoods Corp. for a 25.67-acre aquatic farm site for cultivating bull kelp, sugar kelp, and ribbon kelp.

The project area is in Cook Bay off Long Island, approximately 5 nautical miles east from the city of Kodiak, the state said.

The Russians are coming! The Bering Sea pollock fleet was

startled Aug. 26 when Russian military vessels appeared.“They are telling American fishing vessels to move out of the

way,” Brent Paine, executive director of United Catcher Boats, said in an Alaska Public Media report. “They’ve got some submarines and destroyers and nobody knows anything about it.”

Alarmed fishing vessels contacted the U.S. Coast Guard.U.S. defense officials said it was a Russian military exercise taking

place in international waters, according to an Associated Press report.

False Pass falling-out: The Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development association has taken Trident Seafoods to court over their soured partnership in a processing plant at False Pass.

The suit, filed Aug. 18 in federal court in Seattle, says that in April 2018, APICDA sold a 75 percent interest in its False Pass plant to Trident.

The two companies agreed to expand the plant, and the expan-sion project began in January of 2018 with Trident “in sole control” of the project, the suit says.

“Trident’s budget for the expansion of the plant was $6,000,000 and APICDA agreed to pay 25 percent of that cost,” the suit says. “However, without prior notice or consultation with APICDA, Trident actually spent a total of $14,400,000 on the plant expansion.”

APICDA decided it wanted out, and under an operating agree-ment had the right to require Trident to purchase APICDA’s 25 percent interest, the suit says. But Trident “refused to close on the purchase.”

Trident had not yet answered the lawsuit by press time.

Wesley Loy is editor of Pacific Fishing magazine and producer of Deckboss, a blog on Alaska commercial fisheries.

ALASKA NOTEBOOK by WESLEY LOY


In a press release, the company said the California fish farm will boast “the same high standards for discharge treatment” as in Belfast, Maine, where Nordic is building a similar facility.

Marianne Naess, who is heading Nordic’s California project, thanked the community for its “warm welcome” and support of the project.

It will be built at the site of a former pulp mill near Eureka and will produce 33,000 metric tons of fish per year. The project has indeed gained local support, but fishing communities coastwide are concerned about saturating the market with farmed salmon that is cheaper than wild-caught.

Although Nordic has yet to announce the type of fish it will produce, Atlantic salmon is the likely choice.

The company expects to have all of its permit applications submitted by sometime in November.

In the wind: As the West Coast is being eyed for offshore wind

energy, a federal advisory committee is concerned that projects are “racing forward” without adequate analysis of impacts – including impacts on commercial fishing.

Released this summer, a report from a working group of the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee concludes that “meaningful outreach to stakeholders directly or indirectly affected by wind farms” has been lacking.

Commercial fishermen are among the “key stakeholders” listed in the report.

“Due to the potential size and impact of these facilities, it is imperative that the public and stakeholders know in advance all changes to coastal waters, ecosystems, access, and viewscapes,” the report states.

The report also notes that the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has formed renewable energy task forces, but they “do not have members from fishing communities.”

Leasing of ocean areas is administrated by BOEM, which identi-fies broad “call areas” for offshore wind development.

Three call areas have been identified in California, and a process for creating them in Oregon is in place. One of the California areas is off the coast of Eureka, and two are offshore of Morro Bay. The areas are 20 to 30 miles offshore and they range in size from 200 to 400 square miles.

As noted in the report, a fishing advocacy group, the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, has a 10-year memorandum of understanding agreement on offshore wind development with BOEM and NMFS that ensures fishermen will be involved in all stages of agency processes.

But the report finds that the industry-funded agreement “could be more effective with additional resources to expand and formalize it nationwide.”

Aerial counts: Starting in September and going through Novem-

ber, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will partner with Washington State University on a project to use drone technol-ogy to advance conservation efforts for summer Chinook salmon.

A drone will be used to identify and inventory salmon spawning nests, called redds, in the Upper Wenatchee River watershed.

Daniel Mintz reports from Eureka, Calif.

Key West Coast stock surveys canceledCOVID-19 fallout: The last thing the West Coast fishing industry

needs is doubt about stock assessments, but that is what’s happen-ing with the cancellation of three 2020 research surveys.

In early August, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced the cancellation of the groundfish bottom trawl survey, California Current hake research cruise, and California Current ecosystem survey.

The agency cited challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.“These are difficult decisions for the agency as we strive to meet

our core mission responsibilities while balancing the realities and impacts of the current health crisis,” NMFS said in its announcement.

The groundfish survey covers the entire U.S. West Coast and is what NMFS describes as “the primary source of fishery-independent data for the management of multiple West Coast fishery stocks.”

Without its data, there’s potential for “increased uncertainty in upcoming stock assessments,” according to NMFS.

The California hake survey would have provided data and aided preparation for a 2021 U.S.-Canada acoustic-trawl survey. Its cancellation postpones “the required acoustic system comparisons between the U.S. and the new Canadian survey vessels used for data collection.”

The California Current ecosystem survey, also known as the summer coastal pelagic species survey, covers the entire West Coast and collects biomass information on a range of key species.

Data on Pacific sardine, Pacific mackerel, northern anchovy, Pacific jack mackerel, and market squid will be limited with the survey’s cancellation.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council manages sardine and mackerel, and NMFS says it will work with the council to “mitigate the impacts from the loss of survey data this year.”

Pacific Seafood fine: A month after agreeing to pay a $190,000

penalty for discharge violations at its Westport, Washington, plant, processor Pacific Seafood is paying another $74,500 in penalties for similar offenses at its Eureka, California, facility.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the settle-ment in a July 27 news release reporting that during an inspection, the agency found the company illegally discharged wastewater “directly” into the Eureka Slough, which feeds into Humboldt Bay.

The EPA inspection followed up on notices of violation from the city of Eureka for untreated discharges into the city’s sewer system.

The discharges into the slough were related to the facility’s shrimp, oyster, and crab processing operations. Pretreatment of wastewater from shrimp processing was bypassed and rinsing water used on oysters and crabs was discharged directly into the slough, according to the release.

Adequate secondary containment was lacking in indoor bulk chemical storage and outdoor chemical storage areas, and the inspection noted that “wastewater from the de-shelling process was observed entering a storm drain.”

Aquaculture update: Last spring, Norway-based Nordic

Aquafarms announced it would submit a first round of permit applications for a land-based fish farm that would make Northern California’s Humboldt Bay the West Coast’s aquaculture capital.

The advent of COVID-19 cast doubt on that timeline, but on Aug. 17, Nordic did what it said, on time – the company submit-ted an application for a wastewater discharge permit to a state water agency.

WEST COAST by DANIEL MINTZ

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P2428 – 26' BUFFALO BUILT IN 2009, 325 MERCRUISER, JUNES CRAB BLOCK, HYD PACER WASHDOWN. PACKAGE INCLUDES TRAILER AND 75 POTS. TURNKEY. ASKING $75K.

P2422M – COMPLETE REBUILD/REPOWER BY GLEGOR’S BOATS IN 2017. FPT MARINE N671570 MAIN, RATED 500 HP. ZF 208 GEAR 1.74.1 RATIO. 18 KNOTS. PACKS 14K IN 10 INSULATED FISH HOLDS. IMS 7.5 TON RSW. KINEMATICS DECK EQUIPMENT, VHF, SOUNDER, SONAR, RADAR AND 3GPS. SPARE DRUM, PROP& SHAFT 6 SHACKLES, TRUCK INCLUDED. ASKING $200K.

P2384M – 32'X12' ALUMINUM TOPHOUSE FLUSH-DECK BY CURRY. 3K HRS ON REBUILT 425HP 6V53 GMC. TWIN DISC 509MG GEAR. DIRECT DRIVE HYDRAULIC. PACK WEST 7.5 TON DIESEL DRIVEN RSW SYSTEM. 2K WATT INVERTER.15K CHILLED IN 9 HATCHES. GARMIN 3210 W AIS INTERFACE AND GARMIN 520 GPS PLOTTERS, COM-NAV 1001 AUTO PILOT. MOTIVATED SELLER. ASKING $175K.

September 2020 Photo Contest Winner:GREG GABRIEL

The F/V Spectre in Sleepy Bay, Prince William Sound, Alaska

To enter the photo contest:• Post the photo on

our FB page: facebook.com/PacificFishing

• Email it to us at [email protected]

Winners are announced monthly and published in the magazine.

Thank you to everyone who entered the photo contest this month!



Full Service Marine BrokerageIFQs • LLPs • Permits • Vessels • EscrowMarine Documentation • Estate Liquidation907.235.4966www.alaskaboat.com

Established 1997Located in Homer, Alaska

HOMERMARINETRADESASSOCIATION

WWW.HOMERMARINETRADES.COM

Choose Homer for Your Boat Work

Homer59 36'02oN151 24'34oW

The F/V Morgan is ready to fish

your IFQs!The F/V Morgan is a 32' Delta, available to fish all classes of quota in all areas. It’s a like-new, fully-equipped, clean, and comfortable boat. Professional crew with 15+ years experience in the fishery. Flexible schedule and competitive rates. No #2s, best prices. For more information, contact Jonathan Pavlik • (907) 314-0714 Cell • (907) 784-3032 Home

YourAD HERE

Where to begin.Are you a young or beginning producer with dreams of a successful future in the commercial fishing industry?

You’ve come to the right place. Our AgVision program provides financing for producers age 35 or younger, or who have less than 10 years in the business. Qualified applicants have less restrictive loan underwriting standards, a mentor and an abundance of educational resources.

Ready to build a life in the commercial fishing industry? We’re ready to help.

800.743.2125 | northwestfcs.com

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Dock Street Brokers(206) 789-5101 (800) 683-0297

www.dockstreetbrokers.comFor all the latest permit & IFQ

listings please call or visit our website.

IFQ NEWS*Price differences reflect the range from small blocks of D or C class on the lower end to unblocked B class unless ortherwise indicated.*

HALIBUTAt the time of this writing, landings are well below historic average for this time of year. Market activity remains limited, a result of the ongoing pandemic and weak grounds prices. It is reasonable to speculate that the allowance of temporary transfers of IFQ pounds without emergency medical reasons has lessened the need to buy/sell during such uncertain market conditions. The latest is as follows:

AREA ESTIMATED VALUES2C $45.00/# - $57.00/#- No activity despite reduced asking prices.3A $35.00/# - $44.00/#- Ublocked available.3B $20.00/# - $27.00/#- Buyers looking for unblocked.4A $10.00/# - $15.00/#- Buyers available at reduced asking prices.4B $10.00/# - $18.00/#- Blocked and unblocked available.4C $10.00/# - $18.00/#- No activity.4D $10.00/# - $18.00/#- Unblocked available.

AREA ESTIMATED VALUESSE $12.00/# - $18.00/#- Limited activity despite reduced asking prices.WY $14.00/# - $18.00/#- Unblocked available, offers encouraged.CG $9.00/# - $14.00/#- Recent activity, unblocked available.WG $6.00/# - $10.00/#- Some recent sales at reduced prices,AI $1.50/# - $8.00*/# (A class)- No activity.BS $1.50/# - $8.00*/# (A class)- Recent activity, limited availability.

SABLEFISHAt the time of this writing, salmon seasons are ongoing and market activity for black cod IFQ remains limited. There continues to be a strong supply of unfished IFQs available, with lack of demand being the limiting factor. We remain cautiously optimistic that an improved grounds price will increase market activity. The latest is as follows:

ALASKA PERMITS ESTIMATED VALUES

WEST COAST PERMITS ESTIMATED VALUESCalifornia Crab Variable - Call for info Reduced prices have resulted in a slight increase in market activity, but sales remain limited. Permit values remain dif-ficult to determine due to the limited number of sales. Call for more information. The latest is as follows:- 175 pot: $30k-$50k range. - 250 pot: $45k-$60k less than 40’. $50k-$100k for 40’+ - 300-350 pot: $70k-$150k. Low availability.- 400-450 pot: $100k-$280k. Value dependent on length.- 500 pot: $250k-$450k+. Highest value in 58’ and above.

California Deeper Nearshore $33kCA Halibut Trawl $70k - $100kCalifornia Squid Variable - Call for infoCalifornia Squid Light/Brail Variable - Call for infoOregon Pink Shrimp $50k - $65kOregon Crab Variable - Call for infoSome demand for 500 pot permits over 58’.- 200 pot: $45k-$60k. - 300 pot: $110k - $200k.- 500 pot: $200k - $300K for <50’ & $6k-$7k per foot >50’.

Puget Sound Crab $135kPuget Sound Drift $12kPuget Sound Seine $100kWashington Crab Variable - Call for infoRecent listings at reduced prices, offers encouraged.- 300 pot: $90k - $160k depending on length- 500 pot: $300k - $400k depending on length

Washington Pink Shrimp $38k - Leases availableWashington Troll $21kLongline - Unendorsed $110k - $130k - Leases available-Cash buyers looking, sellers wanted.

Longline - Sablefish Endorsed Variable- Tier 2 and 3 permits available, prices reduced.

A-Trawl Variable - Call for info

Power Troll $25kArea M Drift $185kArea M Seine $170kArea M Setnet $55kBristol Bay Drift $155kBristol Bay Setnet $63kCook Inlet Drift $23kKodiak Seine $36kPWS Drift $130kPWS Seine $140kSE Dungeness (75-300 pots) Variable - Sellers wantedSoutheast Drift $70kSoutheast Herring Seine $100kSoutheast Salmon Seine $175kSE Chatham Black Cod $420k

Permit Information



FOR SALECalifornia market squid boat with permit and all fishing rights, virgin light permit. Boat and permit priced to sell for $569,000. Call Don (949) 279-9369.

FOR SALELive bait boat for sale is rigged for California squid market brail. Permit available at higher price boat as she sits has two anchovies nets a HMS. Permit and sardine permit $325,000. Call Craig (949) 279-9369.

F/V ANGIEUnique Opportunity - Direct marketing,

catcher/processorSuitable for a small group of trollers, gill netters, seiners, set netters, or use as a floating lodge. Rigged additionally as factory troller with Alaska permit. Complete tender, processing and transport with current direct Salmon markets established for those who want to sell their fish for more money. Excellent for remote locations and small villages. Completely self contained, with ice machine, water maker, blast freezing, cold storage, vacuum packing and onboard fillet machine. Over 2 million invested, come and inspect. Vessel and equipment excellent condition, available immediately. (206) 369-2486.

FOR SALEHave several California lobster permits for sale. Some with traps. Priced to sell. Prices start at $105,000. Call Don Brockman. (949) 279-9369.

FOR SALEOwner retiring, F/V Stella Marie for sale, 1993 Curry, Bristol Bay boat, 32 X 14.6, 16K gross ton, double wall fish hold construction, Lugger 6140L, 8000 hours, 10” bow thruster, extensive electronics, new top house and major upgrade/remodel 2019, including new 10 ton PacWest RSW. Call (360) 391-1087 for list of upgrades and survey, $450,000. Also 2 stacked storage containers with all contents, tools, nets and 1990 Ford F150, $50,000.

CAT AUXILIARY SEAWATER PUMPS8N-8454, CAT #315-5137. Rebuilt by Brennan Diesel. $3,000 each or $5,000/pair + freight. Call (253) 830-4855 or email [email protected].

BLACK COD POTS100 Dungeness Gear Works, 48" round nesting AI style pots with stacking pins, stuck ground-line, and all the jewelry. New in March, fished 4 short trips. Fishes fine, but we have too much gear. $48K FOB, Cordova. Email [email protected].

FOR SALE2016 58' x 24' Steel Beach Seiner. Packs 150,000 lbs, twin 350 HP Cummins mains, three generators, RSW system. 2 hydraulic cranes and galvanized boom with topping winch, hoist winch, vang and power block slider. $2,350,000. Contact Kylie at (907) 209-6136 or [email protected].

FOR SALE46 ft. Little Hoquiam Blue Fin Crabber/Toller. Top of the line fiberglass boat. Best ride on the ocean. Oregon troll permit with or without the boat. Ready to fish. $325,000 asking. Call Doug (360) 580-3027.

Boats/Permits/IFQs


PACIFIC FISHING classifiedsBoats/Permits/IFQs

See all our listings at www.dockstreetbrokers.com

HALIBUT IFQ2C-C-B: 3,700 lbs ..........asking $48.003A-B-U: 7,200 lbs ..........asking $46.003A-B-U: 20,000 lbs ........asking $46.003A-C-B: 1,100 lbs ..........asking $40.003B-B-B: 700 lbs .............asking $20.004A-B-B: 7,500 lbs ..........asking $16.004B-B-U: 21,000 lbs ........asking $20.00

SABLEFISH IFQCG-B-B: 6,700 lbs ..........asking $13.00SE-B-U: 55,000 lbs .........asking $18.00SE-C-B: 2,600 lbs ..........asking $18.00WG-B-B: 4,000 lbs ..........asking $10.00WG-C-B: 4,500 lbs ..........asking $10.00

(206) 789-5101Dock Street Brokers (800) 683-0297

BB20-012 32’x13.5’x3’ aluminum Bristol Bayboat built by Kvichak in 1989. 550 hp Man2848LEmain,rebuiltin2016.ZF320Sgear.Bowthruster. Packs 14k# in (8) fish holds. 7.5 tonPacWestRSW.MaritimeFabdrumw/levelwindand Kinematics power roller. Head w/ shower.Availableafter2020season.Asking$355,000.

SP19-009 35’x13’x5.5’ fiberglass, flush deck,gillnetter built by Carlson in 1992. Cat 3208TAratedat435hpw/TwinDiscgearw/3.5:1ratio.Lots of recent upgrades. Packs 10k lbs in (3)insulated fish holds. Deck equipment includeshayrack, leadslinger, pot hauler, aluminum reelw/ KEM drive and levelwind. New fuel tanks.Updatedelectronics.Fullgalley.Acleanandwellmaintainedboat.Asking$175,000.

BB20-013 32’x14’x32” aluminum, Bristol Baygillnetter, built by All Points in 1988. LuggerL6125A rated at 440 hp w/ Twin Disc MG 509gear. 6cube&4.9cubehydraulicpumps. KeyPower10”bowthruster.ColdSeaIndustries7.5tonRSWchills12klbsin(7)insulatedfishholds.Kinematicinternaldrumdriveand36”sternroller.Upgrades in 2019 include new starter, driplessbearing, rebuiltshaft,propandmore. Completeand redundant electronics package. Full wraparound fly bridge w/ Lexan windows and heat.Spaciousgalley,(4)berths,head,shower.Callforasurvey.Asking$290,000.

CO20-010 54’x17’x7’steelhull,aluminumhouse,combinationvessel.Builtin1978byMorroBoat,then wedged at Fashion Blacksmith in 2012.CumminsQSL9mainratedat285hpw/TwinDisc509gear.40kWIsuzu/Mergenset.3,000gallonfuel capactiy in (5) tanks. Packs 28k lbs craband 24 tons tuna in tanked/insulated fish hold.Deckequipment includesJunescrabblock, baitchopper, Kolstrand gurdies, Junes tuna pullers,andbaittank.Electronicsinclude(3)GPS,VHF,SSB, (2) radar, sounder, plotter, Furuno sonar,ComNavautopilot,andcomputer.INCLUDESCAandOR500potcrabpermitsandOR/CAsalmonpermits.Turn-keypackagereadytofish.Callforsurvey.Asking$1,200,000.

CR20-009 40’x15’x4’fiberglasslobsterboatbuiltbyH&Hin1999.460hpLuggermainw/TwinDisc.12-14knotcruise.Tankedfishholdpacks8,000lbs. Small aft hold used for storage. Stainlesssteel davit, rubber deck mats, two steeringstations, and open stern. Complete electronics,including autopilot. Longline permit and gearavailable.Verycleanandwellmaintainedvessel.Asking$235,000.

CUSTOM CRAB POTSPREMIUM DUNGENESS POTS

Serving Fishermen Since 1979 Best Quality Best Price

(707) 442-3717 601 Bay StreetEureka, CA 95501

FOR SALE47' Skookum Tradewinds power troller. Very comfortable live aboard. Completely rebuilt 453 with zero hours. Rebuilt T-Ram, new SS shaft, new bow sprit, new Comnav Auto pilot with full function remote, all new electronics, new paint in hold, slush bags. $150,000. Call or email Bill Lewis (907) 738-1054; [email protected].

FOR SALE – SQUID SEINER STEELSteel vessel will make a great tender or longline boat also boat adventure see to fish albacore 25 years ago. No Permits or nets. Priced to sell $289,000. Call Craig (949) 279-9369.

F/V ANNA47' steel troller/sailer. Steel for price of wood. Isuzu 6BD1 130 h.p./550 fuel/good sails/alumi-num poles & hayrack/full electronics/new alumi-num pilot house, new hydraulic system and all new wiring 2005/drop in slush/crab tank/large insulated & glasses fish hold. Turn-key. Stika. Vessel scheduled to be professionally painted on June 1, 2020. $85,000. Contact Bill Lewis (907) 738-1054; [email protected].

FOR SALELobster business for sale for California starting at $105,000. Call (949) 279-9369 for details.

FOR SALEGeneral gill net transferable for California $11,000. Call Don (949) 279-9369.

FOR SALEHave a California market squid light brail permit transferable for $410,000. Call Don (949) 279-9369.

7.5-TON HYDRAULIC 10-TON HYDRAULIC 8.5-TON SPLIT DIESEL5-TON HYDRAULIC

50 HP ELECTRIC20-TON ELECTRIC 35 HP ELECTRIC

800.562.1945 | www.IMSpacific.com | [email protected] | 4816 15th Ave. NW, Seattle, WA 98107

Integrated Marine SystemsIMS

Manufacturers of Refrigeration

SELF-CONTAINED RSW SYSTEMS SPLIT RSW SYSTEMS CONDENSING UNITS FOR CHILLING AND/OR FREEZING TITANIUM & COPPER NICKEL CHILLERS LIVE AQUATIC REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS

PARTS FOR ALL MAJOR BRANDS OF REFRIGERATION IN-HOUSE DESIGN, ENGINEERING & INSTALLATION SERVICES

SIMPLE. RELIABLE. BUILT TO LAST.

Documents

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR FISHERMEN n SEPTEMBER 2020 … · 2020. 9. 9. · THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR FISHERMEN ® Pacific Fishing (ISSN 0195-6515) is published 12 times a year (monthly)