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, March 27, 2012 — We left Sitka in a hurry after an 8-hour turnaround at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27, and headed out across the Gulf of Alaska to fish for halibut and blackcod in the 3A (halibut) and CG (Central Gulf blackcod) regions (the areas overlap). The weather was very nice running across, so baiting up was easy and enjoyable. We baited all our gear, then started fishing upon our arrival at the halibut grounds in the Seward Gully on Thursday morning.
Halibut fishing was good, but as planned we fished only one day of halibut, then shifted to blackcod for Friday and Saturday. The whales joined us while we were hauling, and helped us out with a few of the big ones. I made up a rhyme about the whales, "We feed 'em, and the Japanese EAT 'em!"
We cut our trip short a day because the ice we got in Sitka wasn't very cold, and was melting away in the hatch. That was the story from George, who was the one who put the ice into the hatch. It didn't matter; the decision to deliver had been made, so that is what we would do. We baited up a string on the haul-back to reduce our in-town time when we delivered.
The delivery crew was waiting for us at Resurrection Bay Seafoods' dock, first thing on Sunday, April 1. We baited gear while we were delivering, then we flushed out our hatch, took ice, I got a few groceries, and we were outta there by 4 p.m. If it didn't actually happen, I'd have said it was an April Fool's day joke; an 8-hour turnaround is fast, and this was the second one of the season… back to back!
So we were off again, hoping to enjoy nice weather and good fishing in the Gulf of Alaska!
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.
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.
The Northeast Regional Planning Body, a group of state, tribal and federal representatives from New England who are working to implement the National Ocean Policy and address critical New England ocean issues, is holding a series of public meetings in May and June.
The meetings are being held to discuss draft regional ocean planning goals and associated potential actions. The planning body seeks input on these goals and actions. Additional information on the group's progress can be found here.
The meetings will also provide an opportunity to review draft maps and products from initial efforts to gather information on the natural resources and diverse uses of the ocean, including fishing, transportation, energy and infrastructure, aquaculture, and recreation.
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