Matt Marinkovich’s weekly At Sea Diary entry is a popular feature of the National Fisherman Web site, and now you can post your own reflections on Matt’s experiences fishing in the Pacific Northwest and North Pacific.
Tuesday, April 2, 2012 — After leaving Seward in a record 8-hour turnaround, we were back on the fishing grounds on the morning of Tuesday, April 2.
We tried a different spot, and fortunately the whales must not have liked the fish from this area, because they weren't nearly as bad as when we were in the Seward Gully. We fished exclusively for blackcod, but wound up catching a few straggler flat-ones along with the black-ones. Fishing was good, the fish were big, and everyone was happy.
We were fishing in a period of increasingly strong tides (the strongest tides of the year fall just before Easter). When the tides get bigger, the current gets stronger, and when fishing in the deeper waters where the blackcod dwell (200-500 fathoms or deeper), it makes the gear very difficult to haul because of all the drag on the line as it is being pulled through quarter- to half-mile-deep water with a strong current. Plus, if we get hung up on a glob of lost gear or God-knows-what down there, it makes it a really sticky situation — one ripe for losing gear.
Because of these strong tides, our plan was to fish just two days, then fish halibut for one day, which lie in shallower water where the strong tide would cause fewer complications. But it turned out the tides were already incredibly strong, and on the morning of the second day, although we had already started baiting, we cut the trip short, and didn't even set the gear we had just baited.
We were going to use the baited gear for halibut, but unfortunately just as we were finishing up our blackcod fishing efforts, there was a problem with the rudder assembly, which could have left us without steering, so after a quick repair we headed straight in without fishing for halibut. Instead, we took the bait off the gear by hand, which isn't nearly as exciting, or profitable, as throwing it in the water and waiting to see what comes up!
We were all done and headed in on the evening of Tuesday, April 3. It was a short trip, indeed.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Callifornia crabbing: Here's a fun video shot on the decks of the Majestik while catching Dungeness crab off the coast of northern California.
Over 500 lots of seafood processing equipment formerly owned by Adak Seafood will be sold at auction on Tuesday, June 18, starting at 10 a.m. Hawaiian-Aleutian Daylight Time at the Hilton Garden Inn in Anchorage Alaska.
The equipment is located in a recently updated 250,000 square foot state-of-the-art processing facility in Adak, Alaska. Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Hilco Industrial, which conducts 75 machinery and equipment auctions in a wide range of industries annually, will conduct the auction.
Adak Seafood opened originally as Ada Fisheries in Anchorage in 1986. The facility, updated in 2005, is located on the island of Adak, the southernmost city in Alaska near the western end of the Aleutian Islands. The facility processed cod primarily, as well as halibut, blackcod, crab and pollock, Hilco says.
Alaska fisherman and commercial fisheries activist Kevin Adams was elected chairman at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute board of directors meeting on May 9 in Anchorage.
The governor-appointed board consists of seven members: five seafood processors and two industry representatives actively engaged in commercial fishing. Adams was appointed to fill a harvester seat by Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2004.
With 38 years of fishing experience in Bristol Bay, Adams has long been an active member in the Alaska fishing industry, ASMI says. He has worked for both the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation and the Bering Sea Fisherman's Association, and represents Alaska fishermen on numerous boards.
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